Watch Out Preschool, Here Comes Hopey!

This past Tuesday was a pretty exciting day at the Witzig house!!! Our very own Miss Hopey started preschool!!! :) Of course, the day wasn't complete without a few tears...shed by me...but it was a smashing success nonetheless!!! Here are a few pictures of Hopey's big day!! 

I wanted to get pictures of her in the classroom with the other kids, but I was trying my hardest to refrain from being "that parent"... I somewhat succeeded... :)

Three Years of Hopey

As hard as it is to believe, my rootin' tootin' cowgirl is turning three today!! She's only been in this world for three years, but I can't remember what life was like without her in it, and I sure don't want to. My precious little Hopey Doodle, I love you so much it brings tears to my eyes. You're my favorite girl in the entire world, and I hope you never forget it!!! If you see my little girl today, please wish her the biggest happy birthday ever!! :) 

Hopey's new shirt...I think you might like it! :)

Hopey's been absolutely dying to share her new shirt with you! So, without further ado, may I present Hopey's new shirt! :)

More Two Year Old Pictures!!

Look at that!!! I said I'd post more of Hopey's pictures, and I'm actually DOING it!!!!! :) And since it's pictures you're here to see, it's pictures you're going to get!! Enough chatter from me!! :) 

Sneak Peek

My amazing friend, Nicole Green, has completely outdone herself again!!!!! A few weeks ago, Hopey and I met Nicole at The Flying Cupcake for Hopey's 2 year old pictures. As usual, we had a blast, and in THIS mom's opinion, these are the best pictures I've EVER seen!!! ;) (I'm her mom, I can say that right?) Anyway, if you click on Nicole's name at the beginning of this post, you can see the preview of Hopey's pictures on Nicole's blog! The picture below is just a sneak peek of the pictures to come!! :) And once I get the cd of the whole shoot, of course I'll be posting more! :)

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY HOPEY DOODLE!!!!!

Two years ago today, we were blessed with our precious little girl!!! Happy Birthday to you my little Hopey LuLu!!!!!! WE LOVE YOU SO STINKIN' MUCH!!!!!!!!!!! 

The Catwalk

Last weekend at Nordstrom, Hopey got to walk down her very first runway! And believe it or not, she did REALLY well!! A few of you have been asking me how this came about, so I'll just give you a quick run down of what happened.

A few weeks ago, Hopey and I went to Nordstrom to buy her a new pair of shoes. The same sweet girl that always helps us was there again this time, and she picked out the perfect pair of shoes as always. Anyway, as we were going up to pay for the shoes, she and several of the other employees from Nordstrom approached me and asked if Hopey could be in their upcoming fashion show. I tried to explain that Hopey wasn't really that kind of girl, but they told me they thought she'd do well. I figured no matter what happened, it would probably be hilarious, and I could at least get some pictures out of it! :)

So, on Saturday, we took Hopey over to Nordstrom bright and early. We were rushed into a fitting room with several "fashion consultants" who made sure I had everything on her just right. I was then whisked away and told that Hopey would be taken down the runway by a fashion volunteer. I was extremely worried about how she might react to a stranger, so I gave her my box of Tic Tacs as a distraction.

Of course, all of my worrying was for nothing because Hopey seemed to LOVE being the center of attention! (Surprise, surprise!!) She got all of the Ooooo's and Ahhhh's she could have ever dreamed of, so she had to show off a little bit. She did this by showing everyone she passed her Tic Tac box. Anyway, we really did have a super fun time, and yes, I did break down and buy the dress that she modeled! What can I say, I'm a sucker for toddler's Christmas dresses! Okay, that was much longer than I had orginally planned, so without further ado, here are a few shots of the day!

And so it Begins...

Yes, I guess you could say that potty training has officially begun in our house. And I wasn't the one who decided it was time, SHE was!!!! Also, please don't think I always let her sit on the big potty like that. She has her own little potty at home, but we were visiting grandma and grandpa, and she decided she just HAD to go in the potty rather than her diaper!

Experimenting

Over the past week, I've really been trying to get to know my camera on a more personal level. I've been experimenting with different lenses and different settings, and out of 386 pictures, I have maybe six "keepers." What can I say, I'm a work in progress. Anyway, I just wanted to post a couple of the decent pictures I took of Hopey. And PLEASE, if you're a true photographer, pretend that I never mentioned these were some of the best ones that I took!

Kisses

Hopey recently figured out how to give someone an actual kiss rather than an open mouthed lick. The only problem with this new found talent is that she wants to give everything and everyone she meets a big smooch. For example, last weekend, I was trying to get a picture of the beautiful cookie mess she had all over her face. And apparently, this must have seemed like the perfect opportunity to show the camera her appreciation.

Already??

As you probably already know, I'm the picture taking addict in our family, and I'm almost always BEHIND the camera. For this reason, once a month I hand Brian the camera and ask him to take a picture of Hopey and me. If I didn't do that, I don't think we'd have a single picture of the two of us! Anyway, I just went through the last batch of pictures and had to do a double take when I saw this month's picture of us. Look at her face. This is the look I used to give my mom when I was 17, and I just knew that she was "totally uncool" and "had no clue". I thought I still had a few years before she was giving me this look!!

Pure Happiness

I can't even put into words how much joy these two bring me...

My cup runneth over.

I was Inspired!

Last week, my good friend Debbie posted pictures of her daughter in pigtails, and they were oh so cute! Anyway, that got me thinking that Hopey definitely has enough hair to at least try for some pigtails of her own!! For your viewing pleasure, here's my first ever attempt at pigtails on a little girl who can't stand to have her hair touched! :) And I'm sorry, I know the pictures are all extremely similar, but you only have your first pigtails once!

Oh to be One Again...

After going through Hopey's pictures from this week, I've come to the conclusion that the life of a one year old is pretty sweet! :) Here are some pictures from a week in the life of Hopey!