Merry Christmas!

I wish I had been on the ball, like so many of you amazing people, and sent out Christmas cards, pictures, and letters.  Unfortunately, it just wasn't at the top of my sleep-deprived priority list.  We did take some adorable Christmas photos of Sophia, which I will share with you later.
Christmas was really wonderful.  Tim spoiled me, as he always does.  Sophia picked up on the unwrapping business with no problem.  She loved tearing the paper ... and then trying to eat the paper.  She had a blast crawling around and trying to get into everything.  We spent the day with family, which was so nice.
Tim took the week before Christmas off to work on the basement.  He just finished with the sanding/mudding yesterday, so next is paint!  :)  I'll post pictures as soon as I remember to take some.

We have had such a great, richly blessed year.  Sophia has been healthy, as have we, and it's been such a joy learning how to be parents.  Tim is the best daddy, and Sophia truly loves him.  She gets SO excited to see him, even if she just saw him two minutes before.  The sleep-thing is non-existent.  Sophia just doesn't need as much sleep I guess.  We've tried earlier bedtimes, later bedtimes, light, no light, altering the bedtime routine, some forms of sleep-training, and still no success.  I should start weaning her in the next month as she gets close to her first birthday, and I'm hoping that will help.  It may be that she's just not big enough yet.  (She weighs fourteen pounds, one ounce - as of the 23rd.)  I don't know.  But she is a super happy child, and I'm not concerned that her lack of sleep is inhibiting her in any way.  (Me on the other hand...)

We look forward to the new year and all the adventures and surprises that it will bring.  We are both very grateful for the love of our families, friends, and neighbors.  Thank you all for your love, support, and friendship.

And now ... here's a few Christmas pictures of our little sweetheart.

I had to include this one to show off her HUGE denim-colored eyes.  :)  Plus, this face just makes me giggle.

We're in Trouble Now!

So, when I went to get Sophia on Sunday when she woke up from her nap, I found this:

Yup, she can pull herself up.  All by herself.  All the time.  And now, this is how I find her after almost every nap.

Here We Are Again

So, every time I think about this blog and the fact that I never update it, I feel awfully guilty.  ;)  But, I guess I'm far too busy experiencing life to be constantly telling everyone else about it.
Sophia is ten months old!  She is cutting her first tooth.  It's still not all the way through yet, so it occasionally causes some grief, but overall she hasn't been too upset about it.  It may be the reason she doesn't sleep very well.  That, or the fact that she's learning to crawl.  She can't crawl in the traditional way yet (on her hands and knees), but she's very close.  She can get up on her hands and knees, but then she usually just flops back to her stomach and scoots.
Halloween was fun.  We carved pumpkins with my family.  Sophia wanted to get in on the fun.

We dressed Sophia up in a cute ballet skirt and teeny wings for our ward's Primary trunk-or-treat, and Halloween.

Her new favorite activity is walking around while holding our hands.  It is a constant source of exhaustion to both her parents.  :)  She probably hasn't started to crawl yet because she'd rather walk.  She can walk herself around while holding onto the edge of her crib, her play yard, or other various things at the right height.  But when we walk her around, she gets giddy.  It's adorable how happy it makes her when she can grab our fingers and take off across the room.

Our latest project is in the basement.  We are adding a storage room next to the theater room.  And while we're at it, we're going to completely redo the theater room.  Mostly so we can add insulation.  Tim has been working hard to *hopefully* get it done in time for Christmas.  We have grand plans to make it all beautiful, and I'm so excited!

Tim finally got his CPAP machine.  Right now he's experimenting with different face masks to see what is the most effective and comfortable.  I've already noticed a difference because he doesn't snore anymore.  :)  And Tim has been less tired too, though it will probably take awhile for it to fully help him.  I don't get a whole lot of sleep anyway, since Sophia's sleep habits are less than wonderful.

Other than that, we're just plugging along.  We take each day as it comes and try to enjoy it.  I love to listen to Sophia's babbling and watch her excitement as she learns new things.  She is so smart!  We just love her to pieces!

I'd make promises to update more often, but I know I can't guarantee anything.  So, hopefully it won't be another month before my next post, but ... who knows?  ;)

How The Time Has Flown!

Wow!  I have been so busy that I haven't even had time to upload pictures and update our blog.  So much has been happening!  Sophia is nearly nine months old now.  We finally figured out a way to block almost all the light in her bedroom at night, which helps with her sleeping.  She still doesn't have any teeth, which I am grateful for.  The longer those little suckers stay down, the better.  :)
She isn't crawling yet, but she can get anywhere she wants by "swimming."  I've been trying to get a video of it, and when I am successful I will make time to post it on here.  She kind of rolls back and forth and pushes with her toes.  It's really impossible to describe, so you'll just have to be patient until I can get a video.  :)
She's doing well with food.  She eats anything pureed without complaint.  Pieces of food are another story. She hasn't gotten the hang of that yet.  I tried some teeny pieces of banana the other day, but she just kept spitting them back out.

This is her "smile."

Getting a closer look ...

She babbles all the time now, which I think is adorable!  Mostly "bababababa" and "dadadadada."  I can't wait till we can get her to say, "Mama."  :)

For those interested in how big she is getting - we took her to the doctor the end of September and she weighed 12 pounds 7 ounces.  Teeny.  I love it!  For the most part, she is still in 0-3 month clothing, with the occasional 3 month, and even rarer 6 month, depending on the brand.  She's just our little, little girl.

I had my birthday recently. *confetti and noisemakers*  I have a wonderful husband and amazing family that spoiled me.  I am so blessed.

Speaking of being blessed, wasn't General Conference AWESOME!?  I loved it!  I especially loved Pres. Uchtdorf's message at the Relief Society General Meeting.  It's so wonderful to remember that God will never, ever forget us!

Me being all crafty-like.  :)

So, with that, I leave you these pictures.  I gotta hurry and get Sophia up from her nap, or she won't go to bed on time tonight.  :)

She was so excited to get an apple all her own!  :)

Star Valley!

We spent a couple of days in Star Valley this past week.  The weather was gorgeous, with just a little rain.

We mostly just hung out in the cabin, watching movies and relaxing.  We had lots of yummy food, courtesy of our amazing cook.

Sophia did really well sleeping in her playpen.  And she also did great at eating her meals on the floor instead of a high chair.

We had our neighbors, the Eens, stay with us for one night.  Tim had fun playing with the boys.

We're following the leader ...

When it stopped raining, we were able to go for a walk and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

We really enjoyed just hanging out and doing nothing for a couple of days.  It was a much-needed vacation.  :)

Bright Starts Cluck and Learn Barn™

We were chosen to review the Bright Starts Cluck and Learn Barn™.

This adorable toy is part of Bright Starts' new collection of toys called, "Having a Ball."  This toy comes with four balls that can be popped into the top of the chicken or through the barn doors.  There are two modes of fun: "play" and "learn."  In the "play" mode, pushing buttons and dropping balls results in funny sounds and songs.  If you switch to the "learn" mode, pushing the buttons will teach the child the names and sounds of animals.  Dropping the balls into the top of the chicken teaches counting, up to the number 5.  It even teaches "open" and "close" using the lower barn door.  :)  The chicken can swivel to face either the doors or the buttons.

Since our daughter just learned to sit on her own, this toy is perfect to keep her entertained.

WHAT SHE LOVES:

*The bright colors

*The fun sounds

*The lights

She seriously loves this toy!  She will have to grow into some of the features.  She's a little small to be able to put the balls in the top, but she enjoyed watching me do it, and she loved the result.

She likes pushing the buttons and opening and closing the barn doors.  I think that was her favorite part.

Being seven months old, she was somewhat more interested in putting the balls in her mouth.  I appreciate that the balls are small enough for her to hold with one hand, but big enough that she can't get them all the way into her mouth.

WHAT I LOVE:

*The barn stores the balls, so I don't have to find a way to keep them together.

*The chicken and the little baby chick balls are SO CUTE!

*The barn is sturdy, since she wanted very much to tip it over.

Bright Starts makes some awesome stuff, and it's so affordable!  This toy is just another example of why I love the Bright Starts brand.  This toy is available exclusively at Toys R Us.

ALSO ... right now through September 16th, Bright Starts is giving away five of their Having a Ball Get Rollin' Activity Tables™!  All you have to do is "like" them on Facebook and fill out the entry form to be entered to win!  :)

*Disclaimer: We were given the product to test and review, but received no monetary compensation for this review.*

I Can Do It All By Myself!

Yay!

Green Thumb Update

For those of you who don't remember what our lime trees looked like, here's a little refresher:

And now here's what they look like:

Not a big difference, but the exciting thing is ... THEY'RE NOT DEAD!  I'm not very good at growing things indoors, so this is great progress for me.  :)

On the other hand, we have great success with our garden.  A little reminder of what it looked like at the beginning of the season:

And now, presenting ... our jungle:

These are our tomato plants.

So, we're gearing up for salsa and spaghetti sauce.  It'll be interesting to make it this year while taking care of a seven-month-old who only naps for half an hour at a time.  Yeah ...

Random Photos For Your Enjoyment

I just thought I'd post a few pictures we've taken recently.

I found her asleep on her stomach the other day.  So sweet!

Sophia liked the green beans better than Daddy.

Squeaky clean!

Mustachioed With Carrots

Sophia is almost seven months old!  Wow, time flies so fast!  It seems like we've only had her here for a couple of months.  But that's what happens when you're having fun!

We moved Sophia into her own room a few weeks ago.  She only really fought it for one or two nights.  She's doing much better with it now.  We finally got a table to go next to the crib, and we moved the baby monitor OUT of the crib.  Somehow she knew I could hear her through it, so when she woke up, she would roll over, grab it, and yell, "RARARARARA!!"  Then she would wait to see if I came to get her.  If I didn't, she'd yell again.

We went to the Hogle Zoo on Saturday.  Sophia couldn't have cared less, but Mama and Daddy had fun!  We got to see the baby elephant:

So cute!

And giraffes:

And DINOSAURS!

It was a really fun day.  :)

Sophia continues to do pretty good with her "solid" foods.  She has a bad habit of spitting and blowing raspberries right as I get a spoonful of food to her lips, which makes it end up all over me.  But she thinks it's hilarious!

But not too hilarious.

We enjoy life.  Every day.  It has its challenges, and its ups and downs, but it is so worth it.  Especially when we remember that this life is but a teeny moment in eternity.  So, we're trying to love every little thing that we get to experience here, and to build relationships to last forever.  :)