Life Goes On

Sophia is now three months old!  She has gotten better at sleeping.  If we don't let her nap anytime after six, she usually sleeps six or seven hours at night.  She LOVES to suck on her hands ... she even prefers them to her pacifier most of the time.  She tries so hard to laugh, but so far it sounds like a cross between a cough and a shriek.  I just keep waiting for a giggle to just pop out any day now.  She continues to love staring at her feet.  She hasn't quite figured out how to grab hold of them yet, but she did grab onto her hanging toy on her activity mat all by herself the other day, so I'm sure she'll be grabbing her toes soon.

She has really great head control and prefers to be vertical the majority of the time.  We are constantly helping her to sit and stand up.  And when we hold her, she likes to be up and looking out.  She helped Daddy with HOA business on Saturday.

We had a really great Easter.  We spent most of the day at my parents' house.  We colored eggs.  I'm still working on perfecting the rainbow dipped egg.  I try it almost every year.

Tim did some awesome crazy designs with a sharpie before he dipped his eggs.  He is so creative and talented!

Other than that, life continues as normal.  Tim busts his butt at work all day, and I hold down the fort at home.  I am extremely anxious for fresh vegetables from my garden, but that would require the weather to consider leaving winter behind.  I've decided that Utah only has two and a half seasons.  We get summer, half a season of autumn, and winter.  It skips spring altogether.

Anyway, here's a funny video of Sophia.  I call it: Sophia and the Tongue.  Ignore Tim's voice in the background - he's talking on the phone for work.  Have a great day!

Baby Blessing

Today was Sophia's baby blessing.  It went really well.  I am so grateful to have the priesthood in our home, for a husband that holds the priesthood and can bless our family with the things the Lord has for us.  Tim is so spiritual and wonderful; he got all choked up giving the blessing, which is typical for him.  He thinks it's embarrassing, but I love it!  You can feel the Spirit as he is the mouthpiece for the Lord.

I am also grateful for family and friends.  We had quite a full house after the blessing!  It was wonderful to have so many wonderful people here, helping and visiting.  We love each and every one of our family members and friends!  They are such a great support to us.

I had the opportunity to share my testimony today in Sacrament Meeting, and I'd just like to echo that here.  I know that God lives.  I have every witness that He is, that He loves me, and that He loves each and every one of His children.  I know that He supports me through all of my trials, and He enjoys blessing me and sending happy things to my family.  I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only true and living gospel on the earth today, and through it we can find true happiness.  I know that the Book of Mormon is a true book.  It has brought me so much guidance, comfort, and joy.  Again, I am thankful for the priesthood and I know that it is the power of God on earth.  I know that the Lord is there for me always, as He is for all of you.  All you have to do is turn to Him.  I know that our trials are meant to strengthen us, and they bring us closer to our Heavenly Father.  I am so grateful for my life and my faith.

And now ... the pictures that you all come to this blog to see!  :)

Proud Mama and Daddy

Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Garrett

Grandma and Grandpa Ward

Grandma and Grandpa Brandt

And a couple of pictures of the beautiful blessing gown that my mother sewed for her!  You can't see it in these pictures, but she also made some adorable booties.

New Toys

We bought Sophia an activity mat with a "singing" bird attached to it.  She absolutely loves the bird!  I will try to upload the video I have of her, and hopefully it works.  I've never posted videos before.  If you watch carefully, you'll see that Sophia will talk and coo at the bird, then get upset when the bird stops singing.  I think it's hilarious!

We also bought her a swing, which makes a nice napping place.  :)

And she "discovered" her feet yesterday, sort of.  She kept folding herself in half from the bottom up to look at them.  :)

She sleeps pretty good now, although not consistently.  We've had a couple of nights where she sleeps seven hours straight, but that's very rare.  Usually it's between four and five hours, then another two or three.  But she is getting better at going to bed, instead of complaining about it for an hour.  But that might not last either.  :)  I'm learning to take things as they come.