Santa Claus is Coming to Town...

WARNING:  Lots of Christmas related posts coming your way!  My goal is to be caught up prior to New Year's Day...anyone want to take bets on if that's actually going to happen?!  LOL :)

Santa and Sophie at Old Town Spring

(December 5, 2010)

She was totally fascinated with his beard and there was a lot of petting and pulling going on.  

The catch ~ Santa's beard was real!  Poor Santa :(  

The Two Amigos with Santa!  

(December 5, 2010)

At least she's looking at the camera this time ;)

Santa and Sophie at Taste of Texas 

(December 20, 2010)

A great night with friends!  By the way, this was the calm before the storm.  About a millisecond later, she was crying :(  Santa is torture I tell you...just absolute torture! 

P.S.  Santa did not take offense to either the beard pulling or the tears.  He still made an adequate absurd delivery of toys on Christmas Eve!

Old Town Spring - Capturing Christmas Part 2

When we had our Christmas portraits taken at Old Town Spring, we also met up with Aunt Debbie, Uncle Daniel and Julian for some hang out time and of course, pictures with Santa!

The town is really cute ~ precious little houses that sell any number of things ~ candy, toys, food, Christmas decor, and the list goes on and on! We are definitely planning to make a repeat trip next Christmas and hopefully, this time Kevin will get the turkey leg he missed out on this year. He was quite disappointed that they were sold out when we were ready to leave :( Maybe next year, Honey!

And now for what you've all been waiting for...MORE PICTURES :)

Family and Friends ~ doesn't get much better than that!

Our little cuddlebug :)

If we only knew what they were thinking...

The two amigos all bundled up!

Capturing Christmas!

Yes, I was very excited about Christmas photos this year :)  Can you blame me?  I have a sweet, adorable baby girl to share this Christmas season with.  And that's the best Christmas gift that one could ever ask for! 

We went to Old Town Spring to meet Sabrina for our photo session and for the record it was COLD!  You can tell in a few of the pics that Sophie was just a little chilly (but it made her snuggly which I happen to love)!  Crazy Texas weather ~ you can just never tell from minute to minute :)

Here are a few of my favorites :)  Thanks Sabrina for capturing these memories for us!  We are truly grateful :)  See you in a month!

Already Eight!

Months old that is!  Where in the world did the time go?  It is almost Christmas and this time last year Sophie still had another four months of baking left to do.  That is just absolutely crazy to me!  She has totally changed our lives ~ I truly had no idea that you could love another human being as much as I love her.  She is definitely the light of our lives!  And why wouldn't she be ~ have you noticed how stinking CUTE she is???  Yes, I'm biased as her mother.  But honestly, she REALLY is one CUTE kid!

At eight months, our sweet Sophia is...

• MOBILE
• MOBILE
• And MORE MOBILE
• Crawling, Climbing, Pulling up on EVERYTHING, Letting Go and Trying to Stand Unsupported.  Did I mention yet, that she is incredibly MOBILE?!
• Into anything you don't want her to be into...favorite "no-no" items...cords, fireplace screen and picture frames.  By the way, there is just absolutely no way to fully child-proof a home ~ believe me, we tried!
• Loves the dogs :)  Annie = AAAAAAAAAAAA at a very shrill volume.  George = Bubu (and if that doesn't work George becomes a much shriller version of Annie.)
• Can say the following words:  Bye Bye (with a wave), Mama, Dada, Bubu, Baba and a number of other jibberish things that we entertain as true conversation :)
• Missed a week of school due to a cold, a virus, then an ear infection and severe congestion.  For the record, she still sounds AWFUL when she coughs.
• Clothes are a nightmare...6-months are the right length but too big, 9-month onesies fit ok but are still too big, and basically my kid needs to wear leggings of some form at all times as she is too skinny and too tall for most jeans. 
• Is still in Size 2 diapers but I am going to change that on our next diaper shipment.  Moving on up Kiddo!
• Weighs in at a whopping 16 lbs.  I threw that whopping in there just because it makes me feel better!  She's tiny ~ what do you do??
• Loves baby food, especially yogurt. Strawberry is her favorite, but peach and banana are satisfactory.
• Has tasted her first "solid" food...you know those little dissolvable yogurt drops and rice cake looking things...yeah those things.
• Met Santa Clause!  And did very well I might add :)
• Has a brand new pair of Roller Skates.  That is sort of an inside joke which will be explained in a separate post ~ Stay Tuned!
• Still loves school and all her friends.  She also seems to really enjoy her big girl classroom (6-12 months) which is definitely set up for more mobile infants.
• Has the best smile and laugh ever.  Though it has been missing for the last week...stupid sickness!
• Had her Christmas pictures taken ~ also a separate post to come (I'm a little behind on blogging!).
• And I'm sure I'm leaving out a million and one other things, but the most important is this ~ you are our precious, perfect gift from God!

We love you Sophia Grace!  You truly are our little angel!

Always and Forever,
Mommy and Daddy (and George and Annie)

Here is Sophie at almost 8 months old.  I failed to take a picture ON her birthday for the first time ever :(  Granted we were both miserably sick, so I'm going to blame it on that!  You can also use this as a sneak peek to the upcoming Christmas post previously mentioned!

My Little Pink Bundle of Happiness :)

All bundled up and ready for school this morning!

Super Duper Cute...

...and sort of sad :(

We have started the "cry it out" method...and I hate it...but it works...and I hate it! Did I mention I hate it?  Thankfully after a couple REALLY long nights, Sophie actually puts herself to sleep, or in some cases back to sleep, pretty well.  And the crying typically only lasts ten minutes at the most ~ which may seem like a long time, and it is to a Mommy's ears, but it's really not that long (at least that's what I tell myself!).

Anyway, think what you may of our parenting tactics, but I promise she is happy and healthy!

Today she was refusing to take a nap via swing or rocker so, enter Mommy putting her foot down.  After seven minutes (yes, I do time it!), this is the result...

Now how many of you just went, "awwwwwwwww"?!?!?!?!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, I'm sure you all know what I am most thankful for this year!  She looks a little like this...

We had a wonderful (but long) trip to visit family this past week.  I am so thankful that this little turkey of ours is such an amazing traveler!!!  Our road trip from Monday evening to Friday evening went something like this ~ Pearland to Newton, Newton to Doyline (LA), Doyline to Newton, Newton to Kirbyville, Kirbyville to Newton, Newton to Pearland. Needless to say, we were all exhausted when we got home last night, but it was totally worth it!  I love spending time with our families and letting them form bonds with our sweet girl.  She certainly stole some hearts this past week!

I'm not sure what I really want to write about!  I have a ton of pictures ~ don't worry I will limit them for the purposes of this post ;)  But one would think I'd have some sweet flowing words to write regarding Thanksgiving.  But mainly I just want to remember to be thankful EVERYDAY!

Several months ago (July 27th to be exact) I was having a bit of a pity party about going back to work in what was then less than a month.  And instead of wallowing in my own pity, I took a minute to write down what I was grateful for ~ I counted my blessings.  And at the time, I only shared that entry with one other person.  But now, I realize that to count your blessings is something you should share!  So here it is...

Count Your Blessings, Name Them One by One...

I am grateful for my life. I am grateful for my family, especially my daughter. I am grateful for my friends. I am grateful for my job, even if in reality I am dreading going back to it. I am grateful for wonderful puppies who bring me tremendous joy. I am grateful for the blessing of being able to take a vacation with my husband and daughter. I am grateful for toothless smiles and even monster meltdowns. I am grateful that my dog is alive, even if she is handicapped. I am grateful for my home and the material things inside of it. I am grateful for the rain even if it causing my aforementioned puppies great stress at the current moment. I am grateful for the love of many and especially for the love of one amazingly perfect, blue-eyed angel. I am grateful for the ability to know that things might just get better in time. I am grateful for the knowledge that everything will work itself out in the way it is supposed to, even if I'm not good at allowing that to happen sometimes. I am grateful for a superb daycare who I pray will take excellent care of my daughter while I am away. I am grateful that she will become socialized and friendly. I am grateful for a dream pediatrician. I am even grateful for the purple spit up which literally just made it's way down my arm. I am grateful for hugs and kisses. I am grateful for each of our nieces and nephews. I am grateful for doggy doors which are currently keeping my panicked dog inside the house out of the rain. I am grateful for my husband's job, even if he works a lot. I am grateful for our cars. I am grateful for our clothes. I am grateful for our food. I am grateful for the sun. I am grateful for Mylicon, Gripe Water and Prevacid. I am grateful for wonderful parents. You know this list could go on for a while...but how often do I really sit down and make a list of everything I am grateful for. Not enough. Because more than anything, I am grateful that the Lord has blessed me beyond measure and certainly way more than I could ever deserve. I am blessed and for that I am grateful.

And now, looking back on that entry, I realize how true each of those things was.  How everything did work out.  How Sophie is social and loves other kids.  How that aforementioned purple spit up is no longer a part of our lives.  How those medicines are no longer necessary, with the exception of an occasional dose of Mylicon.  How amazingly blessed I was then and am now.  

There is no way to ever list everything that we are grateful for ~ not if you really sit down and think about it.  Cause you see, I could add a hundred other things to that list...I am grateful for a wonderful church, for wonderful nursery workers who love our child, for a wonderful family, who while spread out these days, is always there when you need them, for chickens which make my kid laugh (see above), for lunches with best friends, for the cold front, for our fireplace, for the just purchased fireplace screen, for child proofing products (even if they are annoying), for jokes and laughter, for tears, for store sales which saved us money on Christmas presents, for the ability to afford Christmas presents, for a husband who got down Christmas lights out of the attic while I had lunch with Jaime, for dogs who love you even if they are attention deprived, for soldiers and their families ~ many of whom were separated on Thanksgiving just so we could be free to be with ours, for the chance to catch up with some special friends in three weeks and counting...see what I mean.  It could go on and on and on.  And that's what is amazing about it!  We are blessed ~ amazingly blessed!

I'm sure you are sick of my ramblings now, so now that I've bored you, I'll give you what you have been waiting for...that's assuming you didn't just skip all that anyway :)

Sophie & Mawmaw Richardson

Sophie showing off her Tutu!

Playing with Grandma :)

Photo Shoot Time! BTW, pine cones are VERY interesting :)

Sophie with her Great-Grandparents  (Left)

Sophie, Me and Papa John (Right)

Kevin and Alicia (+ Baby Kaden)

Uncle Robert and Aunt Pat (Left)

Kaelyn + Crutches :( (Right)

 

Kristin, Kaelyn and Scott

      

 Thanksgiving evening at Mimi's!  Almost game time :)

 Playing with Aunt Amy, Uncle Kelton, Ashton, Kylie (not shown) and Mimi

Friday at Nana and Pawpaw's

 Sarah, Sophie and Emma

 Playing with Sarah, Nana and Grandma (Left)

Loving playing with Sarah (Right)

For the record, yes, that was a narrowed down version of the Thanksgiving pictures! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

Tutu for Turkey Day!

This past weekend I decided I would attempt to make Sophie a tutu.  Meaning I decided I didn't want to be paying for them for the next umpteen years :)  However, I will admit that I ordered her turkey shirt (not pictured), but hey...making a tutu is much easier than sewing!  Maybe I'll add "how to sew" and "how to crochet" to my bucket list...or maybe I'll just keep using Etsy for those things :)

It's a little poofy, but I think she happens to look ADORABLE!  I can't wait until we get her turkey shirt in and can put the whole outfit together :)

Thanks Kristin for sending me instructions!

 

Super Seven!

This past Saturday our sweet girl turned SEVEN months old.  I have no idea where the time has gone but it surely has gone by quickly!  Every day we spend with her is a blessing beyond words ~ she is an independent, determined, opinionated (Yes, they can be opinionated without words and just think what it will be like when she does have words!), precious, loving, melt your heart little girl with a heart of gold, amazing smile, and the ability to right your world even on the worst of days.  She truly is a gift from the Lord that we cannot even begin to thank Him for! 

At seven months old, Sweet Sophie, you are still and always will be the light of our lives!  We love you more than words can say! 

At seven months you ~

• Love school
• Are best friends with Avarie
• Think the ballet bar and mirror in your classroom are by far the coolest toys ever.
• Are a little piglet!  You love pretty much all baby foods, especially yogurt.  The one exception is definitely oatmeal or rice which you seem to think is Mommy and Daddy's way of torturing you.  We have since given up on the whole oatmeal/rice idea.  Hey, you win some, you lose some!
• Still have five six-ounce bottles a day.
• Weigh approximately 16 lbs
• Wear Size 2 diapers and six-month clothes.  Mind you the waist in your six-month pants is still huge!  The three-month waists fit perfectly but then you look like you are wearing high-waters.  I have yet to find a solution for this dilemma!
• Get excited about bath time
• Squeal with joy when you see the puppies after your long day at school ~ this by the way, is super cute :)
• Are in a stage where you cry getting into your carseat.  Thankfully this stops once we are moving.
• Are also in a stage when you cry when we walk out of a room ~ even if we can see you from the kitchen.  Luckily, this stage has not transferred to when we drop you off at school.  That would break our hearts and certainly not be a good way to start our day :(
• Enjoy church nursery ~ though this past Sunday your previously mentioned stage took hold.  But since you love your nursery teachers, the crying was only momentary.
• Like being read and sung to.  
• Listen to your cd of nursery songs everyday on the way home from school.  Thank you Aunt Jaime and Uncle James!   
• Can sit up like a pro, crawl, pull up, and climb...our world is forever changed...
• Trying to learn to stand up on your own.  We've had a couple of successful two-second attempts but not a conquered milestone just yet.
• Your favorite toys are the ones that make noise.  Go figure ;)
• Actually don't mind your pack-and-play right now, just as long as your favorite toys are in there with you.
• Teething ~ enough said about that.  I sure wish these things would pop through already!!!
• Wake up typically once a night, but a pacifier or patting of the back usually takes care of that. 
• Have extended your bedtime until about 8pm and still wake up around 6am.
• Officially had your FIRST EVER diaper rash yesterday.  Thankfully, I had some super duper diaper cream and it cleared it up overnight.  Thank you Dr. Smith's!  I guess seven months without a diaper rash isn't too bad...
• Seem to really pay attention when we practice our signing.
• Are talking in vowel sounds really well...which leads me to the next milestone...
• Your official first word = Dada!  If I wasn't so stinking proud of you for saying your first word, I might be just a little disappointed.  My time is coming though ~ we are working on Mama EVERYDAY!  I have to say that given you spoke your first word on your seven-month birthday, I am just too thrilled to be sad that Daddy won this one!

I'm sure I'm leaving out a ton of other things, but we are just so, so proud of you kiddo!  You are truly amazing and we couldn't love you any more than we already do.  Though I always say that and somehow, I always fall more in love with you than I was the day before! 

You will forever and always be our little angel!

Hugs and kisses,
Mommy and Daddy (aka Dada)

Can you tell these pictures are getting a little harder to take?!

November 13, 2010