128 Ounces of Liquid

Sophia has finally made it through the three-month growth spurt!  She can now go three hours between feedings during the day, and she sleeps six hours at night pretty consistently.  I took her to the doctor last Tuesday and she weighed 9 pounds, 9 ounces.  She is happy, healthy, and adorable!  :)

I had a really great "first" Mothers' Day.  Tim was so sweet and did everything he could to make my day wonderful.  He made me breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  He changed diapers and let me hang out with my family for the evening.  He is a truly amazing husband!  I am so blessed!

I went to the urologist last Wednesday.  They did a metabolic exam to see if they could find what was causing my kidney stones.  (Which are, incidentally, calcium phosphate, in case you were really curious about that.)  He told me essentially that my body's calcium, magnesium, etc. were at levels that were good for preventing stones.  I just need to drink twice as much water as I had been drinking.  He recommended drinking three-fourths of a gallon of liquid a day normally, but while nursing Sophia I should drink closer to a gallon of liquid a day.  128 ounces.  It's difficult!  He also said my citric acid levels were a tiny bit low, so I should add lemon juice to my diet.  Overall, I'm just grateful there wasn't a huge list of things I'm not allowed to eat.  But the water intake will take some getting used to.

Other than that, things have been pretty normal.  Sophia and I really enjoyed the nice weather last week and went on a walk every day.  We would also sit out on the front porch and just enjoy the sunshine.  I don't mind the rain as much as I do snow, but I am going to miss our walks until the weather improves again.  Tim works hard at his job all day, then does his five church callings, and is the HOA president (and maintenance person).  He amazes me with how much he can get done!  And he still finds time to help me out with the house, the dishes, the laundry, and the baby.  Again - I am SO BLESSED!

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well.  We love you all!

She does better with tummy time ... sometimes.

We found this adorable chair - just her size! - but we weren't willing to spend $80 for it.

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.

Picture Happy

I just wanted to post a few more pictures while Sophia is taking a nap.  She slept for almost seven hours last night!  Woo hoo!  Now, if we could just make that a habit...

 She loves to throw her arm over her face while she's sleeping.

I just can't get enough of her round little cheeks!! 

 Whenever we put her in the car seat with the cover my mom made, she is just fascinated by the dots.  She stares at them with a look of awe and wonder.

 She prefers to do tummy time on the nursing pillow.  And she loves to suck on her arm, or her hand, or whatever happens to be closest to her mouth.

 Awwww....  :)

 I finally caught a smile on camera!  Hooray!

We decided to dress her up for church.  This is the only dress that fits her, and she looks so darn cute in it!

Two Months Old

Sophia is now two months old!!  She is doing great!  She smiles and "talks" all the time.  I have long conversations with her every morning, and she smiles her biggest smiles for her daddy.  :)  At her two month checkup on Monday, she weighed 8 pounds, 12 1/2 ounces.  She was 22 inches long.  The doctor says she is developing well.  She has a little reflux, but it's not too bad.  She didn't like the shots, of course, but handled it pretty well.  Her eyes are still dark blue, but getting a little lighter.  She is still eating about every two hours during the day.  The question I get the most often is: how is she sleeping?  I put her to bed between 10:30 and 11 p.m. and she sleeps for about five hours.  Then after I feed her, she goes right back to sleep for another two to four hours, depending on the night.
Tim is so amazing!  He works hard all day long and helps out at night with Sophia.  He is a great support to me and I love him very much!  He likes to invent songs to sing to Sophia, and she loves to hear his voice.  She always turns to find him when she hears him come into the room.
I am continuing to adjust.  Just when I thought I had the hang of it, I had another kidney stone attack yesterday.  So, that has set me back a little.  It's a little difficult to keep Sophia happy when I'm lying on a heating pad all day to control pain.  But we do the best we can.  I am so grateful to have a husband who holds the priesthood.  He and my father were able to give me a priesthood blessing yesterday, which I know is the reason this hasn't been worse than it has.  The worst of it only lasted about two hours, and it's been pretty minimal since then.  I love having the gospel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in my life.  It makes everything not only bearable, but happy as well.  The truth that God lives and loves me - and each and every person on this planet - is so comforting and joyful.  I thank my Father in Heaven everyday that I have the gospel in my life, because I would be so lost without it.
Just so everyone knows, we are going to bless Sophia on April 10th.  Our Sacrament Meeting starts at 9 a.m., and we will be having a little lunch after.  Hopefully the weather will be nice and we can eat outside.  :)  Anyone who wants to come is invited, but please let me know if you are planning to come so we can plan enough food for everyone, and I can get you directions to our church.
A big THANK YOU to everyone who has been such a big support and help with all we've been dealing with!  I appreciate all the kind words, the gifts for Sophia, and even just the offers for help.  I am truly blessed in my life!

Super cozy for a walk outside!

Kind of a smile ... and you can see her baby acne that has since cleared up.

Sitting in the big people chair!

Smiley!!

Sophia is now six weeks old, and yesterday I got my first real smile out of her.  I couldn't get a really great picture, but I got a couple of okay ones with my phone.

She is now finally in newborn sized diapers, and certain newborn sized outfits don't completely drown her.  We gave her a bottle for the first time on Sunday.  She did pretty good - she drank it all, and didn't fight it.  She did seem to think it was a little strange.  Other than that, things have been normal with her.

Tim continues to work hard.  He's been teaching classes at work, which has taken a lot out of him.  But he still comes home and helps out.  He's excited that Sophia is being a little more social, as am I.  It makes her seem more like her own person, and less like a doll I need to take care of.  We finally got Tim a new truck, with an actual back seat to put Sophia in.  It's an awesome truck - smooth, quiet, and powerful.  I love it!

I've been good.  I'm anxious for Spring to get here.  My daffodils started to come up, so hopefully that means it's really close!  I can't wait to be able to take Sophia on walks and get fresh air.  This house can get a little stuffy when I'm here all day every day.  I had an appointment with a urologist about my kidney stones.  I have one on each side, about 2-3 millimeters each.  He said they could pass on their own, or we could do the sonic thing to break them up.  But I'd have to go under general anesthesia, which would mess with nursing Sophia.  So, I think we're going to just wait until I'm done nursing her, and then we'll break them up if they haven't come out on their own yet.  So, here's crossing my fingers that they stay put until then!

Well, that's about all from us for now!  Hopefully everyone is doing well!