Sophie News and a Lot of Videos

This little clip is from when we were in Sacramento walking around the capital building. Sophie does a good job of steering Steve off the grass.

Sophie is officially walking now. Before our trip, she'd only taken a handful of steps at a time, with lots of coaxing. And she'd do it maybe once a day. When we got back she decided she was going to walk everywhere. This clip is about a week old, and she's improved quite a bit since then. She walks now more than she crawls. I suppose this means my baby is a toddler now because she's . . . "toddling"? It makes me a little sad, but I love watching her walk around the house with her arms in the air like a chimp and a huge smile on her face.

Sophie's been getting a lot of teeth lately, poor thing. She had a runny nose the whole time we were at my parents' place, but she wasn't cranky, so I thought it might have been allergies. Then we got home, and I noticed two of her top molars were halfway in. A few days later I noticed the bottom ones beginning to poke through, too. That brings her teeth total to 8 (6 on the top and 2 on the bottom) plus two bottom molars on the way. We've been trying to teach her about plates and forks, too. Plates (with food on them) always end up being thrown. Even the ones with the suction cups on the bottom. She likes using a fork, but doesn't have the coordination yet to poke her own food, so we poke it for her and give her the fork to put in her mouth. She thinks it's pretty cool as you can see.

I found some organic animal crackers at Costco with a pretty low sugar content, so I bought some hoping Sophie would like them. Oh she does. A lot. She's also gotten in the habit lately of smearing food in her hair. When she does this at dinner it doesn't bother me as much because she'll be getting a bath pretty soon afterwards. She did a pretty good job with the crackers the other night.

Gratitude

Every year around the 4th of July I tend to get sentimental and especially grateful for what I have. Here are just a few of the things I've been thinking about the last few days. . .

I'm grateful to have Steve. If you didn't know, Steve proposed on the 4th of July five years ago. Not many people have a photo of the actual moment they were proposed to. We do because Steve did it in public. At the fireworks in Idaho Falls. With the help of the DJ who was at the station that tens of thousands of people were listening to at that moment because they had choreographed music to the firework show. If you think that's pretty gutsy of him, consider the fact that we hadn't even talked about getting married nor had we gone ring shopping. Steve and I just knew it was going to happen. We never even had a DTR the whole time we were dating. I couldn't have asked for a better husband. He is my perfect match. I'm grateful for the timing of events in our lives that allowed us to meet and eventually fall in love.

I'm grateful that Steve had the opportunity to serve our country, as tough as it was for the both of us. Being one of those women who sends their husband off to war made me understand, to a small degree, the sacrifices so many in our country make. Even if the reasons for the war are argued over, our soldiers are willing to do whatever is asked of them. I'm grateful for that.

I'm grateful to live in a country that lets me worship the way I choose. I'm grateful for the Gospel in my life and the freedom it gives me. I'm grateful for the Savior who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves me, listens to me, and blesses me with more than I deserve.

I'm grateful to be a mother. It's something that I never fully understood until I became one (you were right, mom). I'm grateful that I don't have to work, and that I can stay home and take care of Sophie. I'm so grateful for her sweetness and innocence. She reminds me that we should forgive easily, love each other unconditionally, and gratefully take note of the beauties of the world that God has given us.

Happy 4th of July :)

We're Home

We've been home since Saturday, but I couldn't bring myself to sit and blog until we got unpacked and I was able to clean my house. Then I had to do Posh Mama stuff . . . and I still have to sort through the piles of clothes in my room and put away the stuff I can't fit into and won't be able to fit into for at least a year, which is about 75% of it. Man. It still blows my mind how fast my body grows and shrinks (although it seems to grow faster than it shrinks) when I get pregnant, have a baby, then get pregnant again. My poor body deserves a break after this.

Anyway . . . I'm glad to say that everyone I gave the flu to has completely recovered. (By the way, the victim toll went up to six. My grandma got it after we left her house last week, but luckily it wasn't too severe.) What better way to say you care than to spread a nasty, vomit-inducing bug around your family?

Here are a few pics from the last couple of weeks.

I love how peaceful it is up at my parents' house. Luckily we were there during the 2 weeks it happens to be green in the back forty. This is a view from the back deck.


Sophie loved going out there and walking up and down the stairs. Speaking of her walking . . . I'll give you an update about that a little later :).


Here's a shot from the front. You can see most of Idaho Falls from here. By the way, I talked to my mom last week and there were a couple of days where they couldn't see the city because of all the smoke that blew over from the California fires. Luckily it's finally clearing up here and the skies are blue again.


If Abby (the cat outside on the deck) was around, chances are Sophie was right in her face. Abby spent a lot of time outside while we were there. :)


Grandma had to do a lot of baby-proofing now that Sophie can pretty much go where ever she wants. She replaced a lot of breakable knick-knacks with books and toys. Sophie was in heaven.


Oh yeah, there were other people there, too. Grandma, Aunt Hillie, Sophie, and me.


On the way back to the Bay Area, we stopped in Sacramento for lunch and walked around downtown.


The gardens around the capital building are really pretty.


Two days after we drove back from ID/UT, we drove back out to the Sierras to spend a couple of days at Steve's family reunion. It was the first time we'd taken Sophie camping, but according to a discussion we had after we got back, it wasn't really camping. I'll explain later.


From the left we have Steve's parents, his Grandma Perry, the three of us, and Steve's sister, Kimi. (By the way, I know I don't look that big in person. I've only gained 5 lbs so far, but my clothes were really baggy. See my ankles? Uh huh. Ok, enough apologizing for a pic that probably isn't as bad as I think it is.)

Checking In

Final stomach flu toll: 5 (luckily two of them didn't include barfing and none of them included Sophie)
Days left at my grandparents' house: 1
Hours left to drive: 13
Times I took my camera out of my purse during the trip: 2

Thanks again for being our family photojournalist, Dad . . .

Once upon a time in Idaho the wind wasn't blowing hurricane speed, so we ate dinner out on the deck.

Spreading the Love

Our stay in Idaho has had a pretty rough start. Unlike last time, we didn't fly, so we didn't have to worry about security ruining our suitcase. That was a relief. But once again, we aren't the healthiest bunch on the block. Here's a quick summary of the past three days:

Day 1 - Monday

• Woke up with the stomach flu and spent the whole day unshowered, in my pj's, writhing in misery on the couch and running to the bathroom every hour or so. (Luckily my mom wasn't too busy with work so she could watch Sophie up in her office. Thanks Mom :))
• Sophie was as happy as a clam going from room to room scattering toys all over and chasing the cat.

Day 2 - Tuesday

• Felt better, left the house once to go to lunch with my 'rents at Johnny Carinos. MMM.
• Played lots of Wii Tennis with my sister and made Mii's for everyone in the family.
• Had a nice long chat with my cousin Sarah, who came over to say hi. I've missed ya, cuz.
• Sophie was as happy as a clam going from room to room scattering toys all over and chasing the cat.

Day 3 - Wednesday

• Mom woke up with my stomach flu and spent the whole day in her bedroom.
• Dad started to get a little sick himself, but luckily it wasn't bad enough to keep him bed-ridden.
• I, feeling back to normal, yet terribly guilty for spreading my yak-germs to my parents, left the house to visit a friend in town.
• Sophie was as happy as a clam going from room to room scattering toys all over and chasing the cat.

When I get in situations like these, I try to look for the good...

• My Wii Fitness Age is only 30, which isn't bad for taking the test the day after I had the flu.
• Because of the late late spring that finally came to Idaho, the weeds and plants that usually make me miserable in June haven't worked their magic in the air. I've been allergy med-free since I got here. The cat isn't even bugging me, which is odd.
• Sophie has been so good since we've been here. I think a change of atmosphere has been good for her. Having a cat around the house helped, too.
• Steve will be here tomorrow. I miss him.
• After yakking my brains out all day Monday, I'm really glad that I don't get much morning sickness. Women who go through that are not just rock stars, they're superheros.
• I felt my little 4.5 inch munchkin kick for the first time. :)
• I finished Stephenie Meyer's new book, The Host. It sucked me in, but not quite as violently as the Twilight series. Aside from the qualms I have with the female main characters in both books, I think she's amazingly creative.