Happy Holidays!

From our home to yours! May this holiday season bring you many blessings! Love to you all!

One

I know I'm about a week late on this, but it's the thought, right?!?

To my sweet baby girl:

You are one! One year ago, my life changed in a way that I never could have fathomed. Late on Tuesday, December 8th, you made your debut into this crazy world. I was exhausted after nearly 30 hours of labor, but I knew one thing, I already loved you more than life itself. I would do anything for you. I went back to work only 4 weeks after you were born. I knew it was going to be hard to go back to work and leave you home, but I knew the longer I stayed home with you, the harder it would be to go back. I was only working 3 days a week, so that made it a little bit easier. You were so lucky because at the time, your daddy was a stay-at-home daddy and you got to spend your first 7 months at home with dad! He loved every second of it!

It is so fun to see your little life evolving every day, right in front of me. Every day presents a new challenge for you and you are a little go-getter and face everything head on. You are so smart and pick up on everything so quickly. You love to repeat everything that mom says. Your favorite words are "hi", "bye", "dada", "please", "papa", and "Scott". It bothers me a little that you don't love to say "mama", except when you are upset! You love to watch Harry Potter with your dad. Strange for a one year old because they are pretty dark movies, but it's still so cute! Your most favorite thing to do right now is talk on the phone! EVERYTHING you touch becomes your phone. It is seriously the cutest thing and you have been doing it since you were about 8 months old! You are so outgoing and so independent. Dr. Joe said at your check up today that all of your mannerisms are typical of a very intelligent child...but I already knew you were smart! From day one, you have been so curious about everything that goes on around you, and that has never changed.

I love getting ready with you in the morning because I think it is so cute when you try to put your own makeup on and you try to do your own hair! You LOVE putting lotion on, and even moreso, you love eating it! You are such a diva! You were so spoiled on your birthday and you did not care one bit about the toys, you wanted the clothes! Every outfit you opened you put it on your head to try it on!

You have such a strong personality and you are my very best friend! I love spending every spare second that I have getting to know you and watching you learn and grow. Thank you for choosing me to be your mommy. You are truly a blessing in my life and I can't imagine life without you in it. Happy 1st birthday, baby girl!

I love you more than anything!

Mommy

Sophia's First Halloween!

I don't know what is happening, but seriously, where has this year gone?? I can't believe it is November and I REALLY can't believe my baby is going to be a year old in a month! Crazy!

Well, her first Halloween was pretty low key for my liking! Grammie and Papa were in Vegas for the weekend, so they were not around to celebrate. Tina had to work, so she didn't do her annual Halloween bash. It was just kind of blah this year!

So on Saturday, we dressed Sophia up as a baby elephant and took her trick or treating around the block over to Aunt Candy's house. Then we hung out over there for a bit and made yummy caramel apples! After that, we got some McDonald's and went home and went to bed. Sunday, we dressed her up again and went to Grandma Red's house. She made some chili and Auntie Soom and Micheal, Mandi and Gage all came over too. It was a fun, but quiet weekend! Nice to have a 3 day weekend at home with my babe and my baby!

I don't know...

Where the time has gone! Summer has come and gone and I don't even remember 75% of it! Last post, school had just gotten out, and here we are, starting back up again! Where to begin....

My sweet baby girl is almost 9 months old already. I can't believe how fast time is flying by! She is growing up so fast, especially over the last month or two! July 19th, she started crawling. As soon as she started crawling, she was able to pull herself up to standing on things. So, I'm sure she'll being walking all over the place really soon! Last week, grammie taught her "patty cake". She LOVES it! Now she has started to try and sing it on her own. She starts clapping her hands and whispers to herself "pa pa pa pa"...Oh, it's the sweetest thing ever! And whenever she hears someone say "yay" she claps! I LOVE her little clap! She also started waving "bye bye". She hasn't quite mastered that one yet. She knows how to do it, but her timing sucks! It usually happens after we are long gone! I am absolutely loving this stage of her life. Everyday is a new experience for her and I love that I am able to witness and share it with her!

Last month, Sophia and I got in a nasty car accident. We were headed to my mom's house before work. I was turning left and dummy ran a red light and hit me pretty much head on. All 3 airbags on the driver side of my car deployed. Baby's car seat popped out of the base. Thank heavens we had someone watching over us that day! Sophia cried for a quick second after it happened. I think more because it woke her up than anything. She did not have a scratch on her. I had a really nasty bruise on the back of my arm from the side airbag, some seatbelt bruising, and some chemical burn on my hand from the airbag. Everytime I think back on it, all I can think about is how lucky we were to walk away from it nearly unharmed. The guy who hit us had no car insurance and no driver's license. Go figure. He walked away with a ticket. A slap on the wrist. Anyway, my car was totalled. Which sucks. I wasn't quite ready to give up my Civic yet, and I was really close to having it paid off. So I'm still a little sad about that. After much fighting with the insurance company, we got a settlement on my car, as well as some compensation for personal injury. So I was able to take that money and have a pretty decent down payment on a new car. I got me a brand new, pretty white Toyota Yaris! Yep, Scott and I now have matching cars! Aren't we cute?!? Here is a small taste of the damages...

In other news, Scott has been working since the beginning of summer now! He works 1am-10am, which we hate pretty bad! So he comes home, goes to bed until I get home from work. Then we hang out until he has to leave at midnight. We still get the same amount of time together, but I'm home alone at night. It gets pretty lonely. But, it's a pay check for the time being. We'll keep looking for something better, but until then, we are happy that he is back to work.

Not much else to update on. It really has been a pretty uneventful summer! Peace out!

I probably should...

Blog more! It's been more than a while!

Baby Sophia is now 6 months old! At her 6 month check up she weighed in at a whopping 13 lbs 2 oz and is 24 whole inches tall! She is such a little peanut! She is trying really hard to crawl right now. She scoots herself all over the place backwards, but can't quite get the crawling forward thing. She can sit up by herself, but she has ADHD like her mother and can't sit still for longer than a few seconds to enjoy the view! She has started eating solids now. Her favorites are peas, squash and sweet potatoes. She is so much fun right now! Everyday is a new adventure for her and it is so fun to watch her learn and grow!

Here are a few of the pictures I had done for Father's Day for Scott and my dad...

On a side note, Scott got a job!

3 Months...

I can't believe my babe will be 3 months old in a couple days! It's so true, you don't realize how fast time flies until you have a child! I really am enjoying every moment of being a mommy to this sweet little spirit. Every day is a new adventure. She is constantly growing and changing and learning and discovering new things! I love her purity and innocence. There is nothing more beautiful in the world than that. She is such a precious little being and I am constantly amazed that she is a little piece of me!

So for Valentine's Day, my mom had some pictures done for my dad. Neither one of them is really all that into the whole sexy boudoir thing, so she did pictures with her grandbabies. I am so glad she did them because I really needed to get this dress on Sophia before she grew out of it! The pictures turned out SO cute! Mandi really did an awesome job! Here are a few of my favorites...

Ok, so that was a little more than "a few", but seriously, you can't say you didn't enjoy it! She is such a little love bug! So, that's all! Nothing new in my life!

My Love....

So my baby girl has a bad case of reflux. Last week, when she was at my mom's, she had been so fussy for 3 days straight, which is SO unlike her! So my mom brought her into work and Kathy saw her. She said it sounded like reflux and put her on some Zantac. Once she started the Zantac, she was a totally different kid!! I'm so relieved that's all it was!

This is what makes my days at home my happiest days! I love this girl!

Well...

I don't really have much to tell, so I'll share pictures!

If you've heard the stories, Gage really did not like Sophia when she was born. In fact, he referred to her as "that baby" (i.e. "Is that baby gonna be there?") So having slumber parties in the middle of the day on Grammie's floor is a HUGE step for him! I LOVE this picture!

She didn't really care much for mom this day. I just wanted a smile!

This one is for Grammie!

A little half smile!

She loves her bath time!

I can't believe my baby is already 2 months! It's amazing how fast time flies after you have a child! It is so bittersweet watching her grow. I wish she could stay little and cuddly forever, but I LOVE every single little milestone! There is nothing better than being a mommy to this sweet little girl!

I LOVE.....

Everything about this little girl!