2007 Recap

With the rush of the holidays and our sudden departure out of town for New Years, I wanted to go back in time a bit and post some of my favorite pics of the year along with a little recap.

January

Oh my goodness... to look back on this and see how tiny Sophie~Bug was one year ago is startling! She was just beginning to venture away from mommy to play independently in her kitchen in her room. She ADORED her big brother, Grant.


February

Mastering the fish face! Her little personality was finally beginning to blossom and she would give us the most expressive faces! This picture cracks me up!


And, the time of the infamous first (and last) pedicure for Miss Bug! Morgan painted her toenails and for the first day, she giggled and seemed to love it. However, the next morning, she woke up and was terrified of her toes and did not want to have her socks off! She would scream this terrified cry whenever she saw her toes. We had to wait until she was asleep a few days later to take the polish off. LOL!


We also had tragedy strike our household as our beloved Cricket passed away from Mitral Valve Disease... she was gone within 12 hours of symptoms beginning. We miss her so much! This picture was taken a few days before she died.



March

The discovery of bubbles!! One of her favorite things was to be outside with her bubble tumbler! We obviously had some warm weather in March for us to be outside!


All three kids went outside to play with their Christmas motorized presents!



We would crack up watching Sophie as everytime she pushed the button on her Dora bike, she would jerk backwards and almost throw herself off! It was so funny to watch!


April

Professional Pictures of Sophie right before her 2nd Birthday... she was such the ham when normally she is so shy!!



Sophie struck this pose after reading too much of Gia's Mommy, Holly's blog! LOL




Ironically, during this photo shoot, my best friend and Sophie's Godmother was in labor with her fifth child... her husband and kids were out of town for Spring Break since she was not due yet. After this sitting, I went to meet her at the hospital where I got to be labor coach as her sweet baby boy entered the world!


Within that same time period, Grant was rushed to hospital via ambulance after having a seizure. We spent 10 of the next 30 days in and out of hospitals trying to determine what was going on. Turns out he was having a reaction to some medication he was put on. Thankfully, he is just fine now and no more seizures since April. Very scary time!


May

May brought the birthdays of both my girls! Sophie turned two on May 3rd and had such a ball at her birthday party!


I surprised Morgan with a trip to NYC for her 15th birthday, just she and I! We had such a good time staying in Times Square, going to see Wicked and shopping! We did all the tourist things... visited Ground Zero, took a boat tour to see the Statue of Liberty, went through Chinatown, Little Italy and Soho! It was so much fun!!


We even met some celebrities while we were there... Ozzy and Sharon were Morgan's favorites. They were a little waxy!


June

Warmer weather arrived and school's out! A new member of our family joined us... little Tucker, an Imperial Shih Tzu... he was so tiny!! Our other dogs were grieving the loss of Cricket so badly and Tucker definitely brought some spunk back into our house!


We visited Churchill Downs for the kids first time at the track! It was such a fun time and one of my favorite pictures of the year!


July

Sophie~Bug still adores her big brother and follows him around everywhere. I love this picture of the two of them.


August

BACK TO SCHOOL!! Yes, the time of year that all parents lament the fact that summer is already over, but yippee... the kids are back in school and no longer BORED!!

Morgan started her sophomore year in high school and ran varsity cross country.


Grant started 7th grade at a new middle school.


Sophie~Bug returned to daycare after having the summer off at home with our nanny and was really into wearing pigtails!!


Twas also the month she decided to boycott taking baths and would only take showers!


September

Last days at the pool. Sophie is NOT a water bug. She is a stair hugger. Nothing we could do this summer would get her into the pool beyond her knees. She LOVED being at the pool but would just sit and watch everybody else splash around. She looked good though!!!


And, my baby boy became a teenager, turning 13 on September 30th! We celebrated by going to his favorite Hibachi restaurant with Nana and one of his friends. This is a picture of the polaroid they took of us.


October

October 5th marked our TWO YEAR Forever Family Day. These have to be my favorite pictures of all time! I took Sophie out into the backyard in her white dress and snapped a few pictures... Whenever I look into the dark brown eyes of my little girl, I am continually amazed at the blessings I have received.



And, down with the crib and get the new toddler bed!! She was thrilled to play on it and pose... but when it came time to go to bed... no go!! She will only sleep in "Mommy's Bed" and we are still working on getting back into her own bed!


And, of course, Halloween!! We made our annual trek to the pumpkin patch! Sophie discovered how awesome her big sissy is! She loves to copy everything she does and follows her around everywhere! It is SO CUTE and Morgan is eating it up!




We were a bit scared of costumes this year, so Sophie went as a UK Cheerleader!! Here she is with my Godson, the pirate! It did not take her long to figure out that if you went up on a front porch and mumbled Trick or Treat, candy would be deposited in your pumpkin!


November

November was a special month for me... I was able to return to Guatemala on a Mission Trip with a group of adoptive Moms and visit Panajachel and San Jorge. I was able to meet my sponsored child, Dayli, through Mayan Families. She and her little sister, Fristy, are just so adorable. The trip was life altering and I cannot wait to return in 2008 to do more hands on work there.


I was also able to visit briefly with Sophie's foster mother. It was so wonderful to see her again and I look forward to returning in 2008 with Sophie for her to see her now.

Back at home, Sophie loved posing in her new traditional Guatemalan clothes that I brought back from Pana.


I was able to catch the amazing relationship between my big kids and their little sister in our annual Christmas Card photo shoot. I just love these pictures of them together!



December

The most magical time of the year! Days spent with friends and family wishing each other good tidings and celebrating the joys of the season. Sophie would have no part of Santa Claus this year, but knew there was something big going on. It was so much fun watching her take everything in!




My three together on Christmas Day.


The year was full of love, tears, happiness, fear, excitement, sorrow, new experiences and most of all... faith. Thank you for sharing 2007 with us.

Love and FROG!

Sarah, Morgan, Grant and Sophie~Bug