Shopping Fix

I went to the mall on Thursday -- probably the first decent mall I've been to since we moved here. You'd think that living in the Bay Area would mean amazing shopping on every corner, but not in our neck of the woods. There's actually a "mall" within walking distance of our place and another one just down the freeway, but seriously . . . they're pretty sad. They don't even have Gap's. Even the mall in Idaho Falls has a Gap.

If you venture about 20 minutes in any direction, you'll find some great malls, but I hadn't been until Thursday. Sophie was quite a trooper. She lasted about 2 1/2 hours riding around in her stroller. As long as I fed her and took her out to let her wiggle once in a while, she did great.

The particular mall I went to had a Nordstrom. I love Nordy's. I get a little tingle up my spine every time I go in and hear the piano playing. I don't buy things there very often, for obvious "we're still in school" reasons, but last week they were having their Half-Yearly Sale. Hallelujah. I found a cute non-maternity-but-could-still-work-as-maternity top for half-off. And another little tingle went up my spine as the cashier wrapped it in tissue paper and put it in one of those cute little paper shopping bags with handles. You don't pampered like that at very many places.

Lounging

Lately Sophie likes to climb around on the couch and give us hugs or sit by us and chill. Unless we distract her with something, she's up and climbing around again in about 15 seconds. "Piggies" seems to work pretty well at keeping her still.

I had just done "piggies" with her about 10 times before this and started to get all mixed up about which "piggie" does what. It's embarrassing, but I love what Sophie did after I finished.

Sophie crawled over and sat herself right next to me. I love it when she does that.

One of her favorite things to do is perch by the window and watch for the neighbor's cat.

Memorial Day Late

I feel like a horse's backside for not posting something yesterday. After all we've gone through with Steve being in the military, I should be shouting praises from the rooftops to the troops who have given their lives for our country. I really am grateful, but I tend to keep military-related things, especially personal feelings, to myself. Although Steve has been back from Afghanistan for three years now (on Sunday to be exact), I still have emotional "shudders" from when he was gone. It's a sensitive subject if I delve to deeply.

Just know that I'm proud of Steve and the rest of the men and women for serving our country, and I pray for those whose loved ones gave their lives.

Governor's Day celebration at Camp Williams in UT. September 2007.

My Dad, the Bishop

My dad got put in as Bishop of my parents' ward on Sunday. This is a first-time calling for him, and like anyone who receives such a calling, he feels pretty overwhelmed. I had to laugh, though. I made the comment to him that he'll have to quit swearing.

(I hope he doesn't mind me sharing this. I thought it was funny. And endearing. )

He goes, "I told the Stake President that I swore and drank Diet Coke, but he wouldn't budge. He told me not to let the Primary kids hear me."

I'm really proud of my dad and know that he'll do a great job in his new calling. I'm glad that he'll have more opportunities to share his testimony publicly because it's always heartfelt and full of the Spirit. He's great with people, especially the youth, and he'll influence a lot of the ward members for good.

My mom's excited because now she'll get released as Relief Society President. :)

"Gimme a Hug"

isn't something you'd expect to hear from the person you just rear-ended. Rear-ended is a strong word, though. Our bumpers "kissed" as I simultaneously rolled to a stop and stared out my side window in a daze.

We both pull over. A girl about my age with long blond hair pulled severely into a ponytail gets out of her car. We both inspect the tiny, circular scratch on the bumper of her Camaro.

"Don't worry about it, honey" she says.

"Are you sure?"

"Yah. Gimme a hug."

We embrace for a second, then return to our cars and merge back into traffic.

Too Much of a Good Thing

Last week was quite a scorcher for us. We'd been enjoying 60-70 degree weather for weeks and then BAM! 99 degrees of pure torture . . . because we don't have air conditioning at home. Not many people do around here aside from the occasional window unit. Supposedly extremely hot weather isn't normal around here. Sophie basically ran around in a diaper for three days while we tried to keep cool. She slept surprisingly well for how hot it was but always woke up with sweaty, matted hair.

Naturally tan abs. Lucky girl.

Her birthday happened to be the hottest day of the week. Steve and I got her a little pool for her birthday, so I set it up and we went outside to cool off. She put her feet in a little bit but was more interested in the food I was eating. (Surprise)

Saturday we went to Sacramento where Steve's family hosted a birthday party for Sophie. The best (and eventually the worst) part of the party was watching her destroy a cake. I thought all week about what kind of cake I wanted to make for her, but in the end decided on chocolate with marshmallow frosting. What the heck, right? Cake is cake.

If you can't spare three minutes to watch her in action, here's a quick play-by-play:

Waiting anxiously for something edible to be placed on her tray.

She decided this was the best tasting thing she'd ever had in her life and devoured about 1/3 of it by handfuls.


Mom should have stopped her before this happened. She rubbed it in her eyes and ended up getting a rash all over her face and her torso. I'm not sure what caused it, but I'm guessing it was the chocolate. Or maybe just too much chocolate.


The rash went away within 20 minutes and after a good scrubbing, she was back to the party opening presents from the family. (Thank you all, by the way!)

Epilogue: About an hour after that last photo was taken she threw up all over the both of us and the floor. After everything was out of her system, she was back to normal. I think we'll hold off on chocolate cake again until birthday #2.

Happy Birthday Sophie!

Everyone says that the first year goes by really fast, but it really hits you when your own baby turns one. It's amazing how much they change.

I think this was a few hours after she was born. Those were the days . . . I could put her on the couch and she wouldn't go anywhere. :)

Coming home from the hospital we realized that getting a carrier-car seat might be a better idea.

She grew out of the carrier at 9 months and is back to the same car seat. She hardly looks like the same baby!

I threw this one in 'cause I liked her bed-head.

Here are her latest stats:

Height: 30.5 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 17.5 lbs (5th percentile)
Number of Teeth: 5
Favorite Foods: fruit, bread, string cheese, Cheerios, Mexican food

Interests: books (especially pulling them all off the shelf), the piano, bottles of nail polish, cell phones, cats, peek-a-boo, being chased by dad, wanting a bite of whatever mom or dad is eating

Sports: Throwing things down the stairs, then going down head-first to retrieve them; walking around with the help of mom or dad's fingers

Latest tricks: Unknowingly stood up by herself for about 5 seconds. When she realized what she was doing, she panicked and looked for something to hold onto.

Communication: She understands a lot of things we say to her (book, o's [Cheerios], outside, downstairs, upstairs, banana, drink, kitty, "Where's....", "Go get it", "Turn the page", "Put it in here", "Are you sleepy?" [when we say this to her, she puts her head down on the floor or on our laps]). I think I heard her say what sounded like "drink" and "book" the other day.

(By the way, if anyone would have told me a year ago that I'd be pregnant again on Sophie's first birthday, I would have laughed. Then I would have probably curled up in a ball and started crying. I really didn't enjoy being pregnant. Somehow you forget all that . . .)

Week 10 Appointment

I had my first pre-natal appointment this morning. I didn't forget how uncomfortable the first appointment is, but I sort of shoved it to the back of my mind. Everything came rushing back as I put my feet in those stirrups. *Shiver*

Stats look good, though. Due date is December 10th. There's only one baby in there (whew). And it did a little dance during the ultrasound. I figured I'd have another spunky one.

"What? Quiet little Sophie, who's always well-behaved has spunk?"

Spend a few minutes as a fly on our wall, and you'll see a totally different baby. :)

Mother's Day Weekend

I had plans for a cute, sentimental Mother's Day post because technically it's my first Mother's Day as a mother. (The little stinker was born late so I missed it by two days.) But relaxing on the couch while Steve took care of Sophie was much more appealing. So, Happy Mother's Day to all of the mom's and grandma's in our lives. I hope I can raise my kiddos as well as you raised us :) We love you!

It's been a great Mother's Day. Steve made breakfast this morning (grits, eggs & toast. . . mmm. It's what I really wanted!) and helped out a TON for dinner after church. He even bathed the wiggle worm, which I'm very grateful for. Thanks honey :)

Yesterday we took a jaunt down to Carmel to visit my Uncle Del and Aunt Marlene. (Actually he's my dad's uncle, which would make them "great's".)

We went down to the beach and walked around a bit. Sophie's pretty lucky to have made it to the beach so early in life. I was 18 the first time I went.

Sophie was probably looking at a dog.

This is a view of Pebble Beach. I hear it costs about $425 to golf there. Yikes.

There were dogs running around all over the place, which had her undivided attention.

Cinco de Mustache, among other things

No, not Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mustache. Around here the guys grow mustaches for May 5th. We had a little Mexi-party to celebrate. (I think there was more celebrating for the wives that the husbands would be shaving in a few hours.)

And to decide who got the first swing at the pinata, the wives got to pluck a hair out to see who had the longest. I thought Steve had it for sure, but he tied with Kevin, then had to arm wrestle.

It was a long, grueling match, but Kevin ended up winning. (I think it was because Steve was sore after working out a couple days before.)

Yesterday Jeremy was in the area and dropped in to hang out with us for a few hours. (If you don't know, Jeremy is one of my brother's best friends. He's practically part of my family.) While Steve was in school yesterday morning, Sophie and I took him up to see the temple because he hadn't been there before.

That hat should look vaguely familiar to all my friends at BSI. I had some extras in my closet when we moved, so I gave him one. He wears it all the time.

We met up with Steve later and went up to Lake Chabot where Steve's school was having a little shin-dig. We went out on the paddle boats for a few minutes, and I think Sophie was long overdue for a nap because she didn't seem too impressed with our boating trek. Maybe it was the life jacket.

Passing the Time

Sophie's gotten pretty wiggly during diaper changes lately, and because she loves books, we usually give her a small one to entertain her while we take care of the dirty work.

Speaking of books. I think she's said "book" a few times. It's hard to tell, though. I also think I heard "kit" (kitty) once or twice, too.

I think we might have a future bathroom reader on our hands.

Lunchmouth

Those of you who have been around Sophie know that she loves food. You wouldn't guess by her petite little body, but she can really pack it in. If Steve or I come into the room with food, she'll climb all over us until we give her some. And she won't leave us alone until the food is gone.

(Some times when I'm really hungry and don't feel like giving her half of what I have, I hide in the kitchen and eat so she can't see me. Is that mean?)

This is what she had for lunch today, which is typical:

2 kiwis
1/2 c chopped watermelon
a handful of cheerios
a mini glass pyrex bowl full of applesauce & oatmeal
3/4 of a string cheese

Then two hours later Steve came into the living room with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She crawled over onto his lap and he gave her about five Sophie-sized bites for every bite that he took. . . until the sandwich was gone.

For her sake, I really hope she inherited my dad's metabolism.

Happy Birthday Devin!

My little bro is 24 today. Isn't he cute? :)

Stuff White People Like

I ran across this blog a while ago and thought it was pretty funny. It's called, "Stuff White People Like". The guy who writes it basically pokes fun at things that, well, white people typically like. I liked it enough to add it to my fav link list over there. Check it out and tell me what you think!