Our Beautiful One-Year-Old

We made it!  One whole year!  Last night Tim and I watched some old home videos, and it was amazing to see how much Sophia has grown!
For her birthday, we had a few gifts for her to open.  Mostly books.  They're her favorite.  :)

And, of course, we had to do the traditional cake smashing.  It was AWESOME!  Sophia had a blast smearing the cake all over.  And eating a little bit of it.

The funniest part was watching her try to get the cake off her fingers.  She tried grabbing at pieces, shaking her hands, and smearing it into the tray.  It was SO hilarious!

It was good times.  :)

And that's about all that's new with us.  Tim continues to work hard on the theater room/storage room project.  We finally found a painting technique we like.  When it's all done, I'll show you some before and after pictures.

We're just hanging in there, trying to make the most of each day.  Sophia's been kind of clingy lately.  I'm not sure if it's from a tooth coming in, or separation anxiety, or just because I'm the only other person around and she wants a playmate.  So, I haven't been doing a whole lot recently, other than being mommy.  Sophia crawls and cruises wonderfully, but hasn't shown an interest in walking independently yet.  She loves to babble and shriek, but no recognizable words yet.

We love our little girl, and we're so excited for all the milestones we will be reaching soon!

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.*