Last night Kim, George, Joe and I went for dinner at the "original" McCormick & Schmick's on Oak Street in Portland. Mom volunteered to stay at their house and babysit Sophie while we went. It's a good thing she did because dinner took a looong time. I don't think Sophie would've been that patient! It was fun to be with Kim and George and dinner was delish. Mom and Dad gave us gift certificates in our stockings at Christmas so we got to use those and another couple eating gave us a $20 off coupon so we ate out for cheap!

We got back to Kim and George's at around 9:30 and Sophie was sound asleep and mom was rocking her. I think my mom enjoyed being there with her much better than going for dinner with the 4 of us!

That was our big event for the weekend. Pretty low key. It's felt pretty good though. It's a lot easier for me to stay home and not do much when the weather is so crappy like it's been. Spring is always so nasty here. Now I know why we always went far away for spring break. I feel like it's rained more the past few days than it did all winter!

I'll leave you with a picture of Sophie that I snagged from my sisters album on Shutterfly. She loves to stare at this bug. It's amazing to see how fast she's changing. She's starting to have more and more expressions and I can definitely see her personality starting to come through. I love her!

Finally, a couple of Joe's pictures from Whistler! I cracked up when I saw the one to the left. Getting in a bobsled for a picture is definitely something Joe would willingly want to do. I would probably actually have to force him! Thanks to the Team Mom, one of the wives that went on the trip, he was forced to get in and smile. Yay for me!

Below is another picture taken by the Team Mom. Joe looks super proud to be standing up there with his huge silver medal! I don't think the guys liked having to take this picture either! I'm happy to have it though!

Last night I was reading Joanna's blog and came across the blog of the girl who bought my Jeep thanks to the links of Joanna's blog readers. Anyway, she had just written a blog about my Jeep (picture below!). I guess it's not "my" Jeep anymore....I just always refer to it as that! She took it in to Clary's for a service yesterday and something is wrong with the idling (is that a word??) and it's going to be about a $500 fix. I know it's not my fault, but I feel so bad about this! It seems like she's had nothing but trouble since she bought it. I never had any issues with it besides it being a total gas guzzler! One time I saw her and she asked if it ever just stopped running like at stop lights and drive-thrus. I said no, it had never done that, and she said she was at a drive-thru and it just totally died. I guess that could be the idling issue they're talking about? Whatever it is, I'm glad I don't own it anymore! I guess that's what Joe meant when he warned me about buying a Chrysler product? He wasn't very happy about that purchase. Thank goodness for the Subaru!

Hope everyone has a good weekend----TGIF!

I've been going through old pictures and just came across this one. I crack up everytime I see it! Have you ever seen someone frown so big!? This picture was taken in Yelapa about 3 years ago. Yelapa is somewhere we always enjoyed visiting while in Puerto Vallarta. And they have the best, most authentic Mexican food I think I've ever had. Probably not the safest to eat but whatever. Anyway, this frowny little lady wanted money after realizing the paparazzi had just gotten a picture of her. I wonder if she's still alive? She looks ancient but I have a feeling she's a lot younger than she appears.

Joe went skiing today with his cousin Gil at White Pass. Joe had the day off and unfortunately Gil is one of the many that has recently been laid off so he was able to go as well. He worked at an Internet start-up owned by Paul Allen in Seattle as a programmer. I'm sure he'll find another job soon but it just affirms how crappy the economy really is right now. Is it ever going to get better?

$570,000

According to the latest issue of Women's Health, $570,000 is the amount that a stay-at-home mom's services are worth per year. I couldn't agree more with this statistic. After experiencing my sister with Sophie, I really see that being a stay-at-home-mom is the hardest job out there. My sister is on-the-clock 24/7. Sophie depends on her for every little need. Going to work for 8 hours would be so much easier than taking care of Sophie all day/night. But what's the point? I understand that some people, especially single mom's, often don't have the option of staying home, but if it is at all possible, why would you give the up the opportunity of staying at home for someone else to raise your baby?

I struggle with this issue a lot, especially now that Sophie is here. I can't imagine my sister having to miss out on all the firsts. The first little sounds, the first big smiles, the first steps. How sad! There's a new daycare at the bottom of my parents hill and they are now accepting new kids. And as young as 1 month! Are you kidding me?! What's the point of having a baby? How can you really bond with a baby when you are only with them for a few hours out of the day?

Ok, even on that rant. I just read that this morning and had to share. I think stay-at-home-mom's should get some kind of kick back from the government. All the mom's who have 6 kids and are on welfare get help, why can't parents just wanting to raise their own child get something as well?

I'm so thankful Joe and I have the same views on this! I might not feel so strongly had my mom not been at home with us, but I'm so thankful she was.

The faces of Sophie. All within a 20 minute time period.

Sad Sophie

Smiley Sophie
Sleepy Sophie

A great weekend

Beautiful flower purchase from my favorite grocery store, Trader Joe's. Aren't they pretty?! I love the green things. Anyone have any idea what those are called? They are so vibrant! And I like the texture---exactly the kind of flowers I want at my wedding.

This weekend has been great so far! Last night we went to dinner at La Hacienda with Kim, George, Sophie, mom, dad, Big George (George's dad) and Julie. Any night eating at La Hacienda is a good one! If you haven't tried it you should. It's the old Casa Azteca but 100x better. It didn't use to be that good but now we are all in love. Especially with their homemade tortillas. So good! After dinner we all went up to mom and dads to enjoy a few more minutes with Sophie. She is changing and growing at such a rapid rate! It's unbelievable. I see her a lot, but everytime she looks different. Bigger, stronger...it's crazy. She'll be three months on Monday!

Today I slept in until 6:30. Amazing! I actually enjoy getting up early I just find it funny that I can hardly ever sleep in later than that. Not unless I'm sick or just totally exhausted. Anyway, got up and had a blissful hour or so of quietness and coffee. Wonderful! I then forced myself to get my butt kicked by Jillian with her 30 Day Shred. I kicked it up to level 2 and I was amazed that it wasn't as hard as I had feared. Perhaps I'm getting stronger. Imagine that! I do notice my reject leg hurts a little. I think it's from all of the lunges and squats. I remember my bone doc saying if it hurts don't do it, so I think I need to take it a little easy...maybe do the modified version? So frustrating.

At around 9:30 I got a call from my college friend Breann wanting to meet for coffee. I hadn't even showered yet but told her I could be ready in 20 minutes. Again, another advantage of my short man-do!! I met her and another girl I went to WSU with at Starbuck's for coffee. They are both dating guys from Longview. Small world! After coffee their boyfriend/fiance showed up and I called Joe and we all went for lunch. Jesse and Tylor are both really nice guys and Joe really liked them. They're both totally into motorcycles so that's pretty much all it took for the three of them to hit it off! We had lunch at the little cafe at the Kelso Theatre Pub. One of their friends, Brady, is the head chef so he made us pizza. The same kind I had on Tuesday that was so good....garlic and feta. So good!

It was great to spend time with them and catch up on everything. It's crazy to think it's already been more than 4 years since we all lived in the sorority together!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Today is my Grandma's birthday! Easy to remember, the first day of spring! Well, when the first day of spring falls on the 20th that is! I'm so thankful for her and the fact that we live close so we get to see her a lot. My Grandma Vincent passed away right after I was born, so Grandma Lois is the only one I've ever known. I'm not sure how old she is today, and I find myself not wanting to know either. It's just a number, right? I feel the same way about everyone in my life. I know what year my parents were born, but unless I do the math (yes, I even have to use a calculator for that!), I don't know the actual number. My sister is 7 years older than me, but unless I count on my fingers, I can never remember her actual age either. It's better that way. I really don't like to see people getting older. And besides, the older they get, the older I'm getting.

Anyway, we are all going to Applebee's (ick) at 1 for my grandma's birthday. Is it just me or does Applebee's have the most generic food ever? My mom and sister and I decided that everything comes already cooked, they just put it on a plate and warm it up. I'm not sure why my grandma likes Applebee's so much. If I remember right, one time there was a LADY BUG in her salad. And another time rocks. Like they forgot to wash the salad before putting it on the plate or something. Oh well, whatever she wants!

I can't believe it's Friday already. What happened to the week? And the month!? Joe really wants to go skiing tomorrow. I thought after 3 days of skiing at Whistler last weekend he'd be tuckered out, but I guessed wrong. I don't know why I'm not that excited about going. I guess I just am done with winter and everything associated with it.

Jessica delivered the rest of our engagement pictures yesterday to me at work! We are so happy with them! She did an amazing job! Here's a few more...