Sonya: "I very love my baby..."

...and I've decided that I want to be a baby again too!

If Cole gets swaddled, I want to be swaddled...


If he gets to sleep in a bassinet, I want to sleep in a bassinet...


If he gets enormous plastic toys, so do I!



(thank goodness she hasn't been asking for diapers! This is just a phase, right?)

Sonya's actual birthday...

For Sonya's real birthday, we celebrated with some cupcakes, friends, and family at OUT OF THIS WORLD. It was just a casual little afternoon get-together. Although we took tons of pictures...these ones of Cam are my most favorite! Cam climbed up three stories , to the tallest tube slide in the kids play area, and slid down with Sonya on his lap. Unfortunately, he got stuck...and a mountain of small children got clogged-up behind him. I was fortunate enough to have a camera waiting. I love how Sonya is COMPLETELY CRACKING UP watching her dad come off the slide!





Here's a video of Sonya enjoying her birthday cupcakes:

Sonya turns four!

This year, Sonya celebrated her birthday three weeks early. We were worried that, with Cole's emminant arrival, Sonya's actual birthday might get overlooked. We had a combined princess party with Sonya's good friend who also has a December birthday.


The festivities began with a rockin' dance party!






The girls replenished their strength with a lunch of mini hotdogs (little smokies in a split roll) and hamburgers (half a meatball in split roll).


After a gift exchange (we had each girl bring a small wrapped present, put them in a pile, and had each girl unwrap and take home a gift), the girls sat down to cake, cookies, milk, and princess costume accessories.

Sonya's Essay: What I forgot to tell you I did on Summer Vacation

Did I mention that I oggled Blake Lewis. I fought by way to the stage of the concert and stayed there for half an hour. I have a huge weakness for boys with guitars!

I ate a ton of food. Sushi, mushrooms, shrimp, and Nutella are still my favorites...but a hotdog is always satisfying!

I froze on the Oregon Beach a couple of times.

I hiked lots of waterfalls. This is my new friend, Cecile.

I had some cousins move to town, and I LOVE THEM!!!

And, I'm sure it comes as no surprise, I danced!

While mom is away ....

Last weekend, Karren went to California to visit her friend and see her one year old twin boys get baptized. This left a weekend of me spending time with Sonya. So, what did I decide to do? Go to a National Park, of course. This time, we returned to the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park on the Oregon and Washington coasts.

We visited Fort Clatsop, Fort Columbia State Park, and Cape Disappointment State Park.  Here, Sonya is playing around at Fort Clatsop ....

...... and introducing herself to Sacagawea. 

Sonya also earned her Presidential Level of Junior Ranger.  This park gives out a patch with the award which is much cooler than just one of the plastic gold shields.

We had a lot of fun, but we still would have preferred mom to be home with us.

Quote of the Weekend, "Dad, I need to eat a lot of food so I can be fat like you."  Nice!

Believe in Pink Cupcakes

Here is the video from Sonya's Dance Recital last month.



This video is provided courtesy of Maury Ennis (kmzkmg@mac.com). Thank you Maury!

Sonya's Dance Recital

Sonya had her time in the spotlight today as she performed in her dance recital. Every parent thinks their kid is the best, but in our case it is true. A video will come in a while.

We have to thank Miss Kim for all she did. Sonya loved the class and looks forward to it next year.

Father Daughter Campout

Sonya and I went to a Father/Daughter campout to Champoeg State Park with a few other dad's in the ward.  Despite the Father's not actually being in any of these photos, we were there!

I am a Child of God Performed by Sonya Brie Wilde

A Whole New World

What happens when your children are quiet?

Sonya was playing with Lucas in our backyard and they seemed to be playing great together.  Ksenia asked, "Should we check on them?"  Karren replied, "They aren't crying, I'm sure they are fine."  Despite my better judgement, I didn't move.

When we went outside a bit later, a planter box full of strawberries that used to look like this:

Instead looked like this:

Where might the plants have gone to, you might ask?

That's right ... the hot tub.  Karren had been wanting to get rid of this eye sore for a while now and this afforded her the perfect opportunity.  If you now ask Sonya where the hot tub went, she will tell you a man came and took it away because she threw mommy's strawberries in it.

Sonya the Dancer

Sonya has been taking dance classes with Miss Kim at Young Learners Dancin' School and she really LOVES it. Cindy Pederson from Timeless Images Photography snapped these gorgeous photos of Sonya. We can't wait to get the proofs (and yes, we will be sending one to all grandparents). Thank you Cindy and we hope to work with you again soon!

Sonya's recital will be on Saturday, June 18th at 2:30 PM.

Happy Mother's Day 2011 ..... Love Sonya

Made in Primary today.

Sonya's new obsession

Happy Easter

Easter this year was pretty low key. On Saturday, we attended the premier of Disney's African Cats. I won tickets through work and they had some activities before the movie. Here, Sonya is learning about reusable items. :)

Then it was off to the Stake Center for the annual Easter Egg hunt. Sonya knew exactly what to do and ran to get those eggs.

Sunday was really kicked back. Sonya sang for the first time during Sacrament Meeting with the Primary. When she came back to her seat, she was beaming. Sonya loves singing Primary songs around the house and really knows the words well.

That evening, we were invited over to our Home Teacher's, the Sanchez family, house for dinner. Great food and great company and an awesome way to end our Easter weekend.

Sonya and Sydney - A Sleepover

Craziness:



And Sleep:

Marshmallow anyone?

Sonya recently participated in a Marshmallow Experiment conducted by some of the young women in our ward. Is it a problem that my daughter didn't wait at all? I choose to believe that she knew she couldn't wait the full ten minutes, so why bother at all!

Dancing Queen

Sonya loves to dance! It seems to be her most favorite thing at the moment. I love this picture with a best friend last summer, long before any formal training.

Doesn't she look like a graceful little butterfly 'flitting' about and doing a 'courtesy bow'. My sweet princess...

Ya.....Then come these moments when Sonya thinks she is all alone, no one watching. I would draw your attention to the fashionable footie jammies with high heal look, very "in" this season; add a complimenting head piece and you are a dancing diva! "LESS IS MORE, sweet princess, LESS IS MORE!"

I love this video of Sonya with her friends. Sonya believes the little boy in the video is the love of her life, the famous "King Colin." It seems that he will stop at nothing to impress her, and here illustrates his dancing prowess! I secretly hope they will get married so that I can show this, and similar videos at their wedding!