Growing like a weed...

On Thursday, I took Sophia to the doctor for her yearly check-up. This visit included getting weighed, measured, and of course, shots:( In the past they only had to give her shots in her legs. This time, she was a little human pin cushion and had to get them in each arm and each leg. This broke my heart, because she cried so hard, and squeezed me so tight when I was holding her, so they could give her the vaccines.
After weighing Sophia and measuring her, the doctor always goes over what percentile Sophia is in with her age bracket. She weighs 22 lbs and 11 ounces (in the 50th percentile), and is 31 1/2 inches long (in the 90th percentile). This makes sense because on our vacation a couple people thought she was older than she is because she's pretty tall for her age. I am getting the feeling she will take after Jeff and probably pass me up one day.
I also forgot to mention that while in Florida Sophia cut two more teeth on the bottom, making that 8 teeth total so far. I didn't realize it until I was putting a little yogurt bite in her mouth and I saw two little white specks poking up out of her lower gums. The next day she had a runny nose and was a bit clingy, but then the day after, the teething was over and she was back to herself again:)
She is extremely busy these days and is really developing a sense of independence. She loves watching Mickey's Playhouse and Little Einsteins on Disney, and is constantly enamored with different books. I got her this book that is about animals and with each animal it has the animals hair or fur that you can actually feel. She loves this book and will pet the dog's fur or the horses nose for a half an hour before she will look up and realize she's bored and moves onto the next activity. We have been introducing crayons and Sophia is slowly realizing the crayons are to color and not to put in her mouth.
A recent behavior she has been doing is carrying her blankies around with her while she walks all over the house. I wasn't a blanky girl until I was two. But it's funny because if she's tired and ready for bed, she will go find a blanky and them come over to us and put her arms up like she's telling us, "okay, I'm ready to go to bed now." She is also at the stage where she wants to carry everything in her hands. If she sees three blkankies, instead of just grabbing one, she'll try to walk while carrying all three. If we give her crayons, she tries to hold ten crayons in her hands. It's pretty funny how their little minds work.
Sophia has always been a little love bug and very affectionate to me and Jeff and other family members, but now she has started trying to give every little kid or baby a hug when she sees them, even if she doesn't know them. I think it's her own way of saying "hi", lol.
Everyday we are amazed by what Sophia is learning and absorbing. She is such a blessing to our lives and we can't believe she is growing up so fast:( My favorite time with her is when I rock her to sleep. She holds me so tight and as I rock her, I look at her peaceful little face and can't believe she's my daughter. I feel so incredibly blessed to have this little angel in my life and to watch her discover new and exciting things and see how her eyes light up every time. Children are such miracles and we are cherishing every moment with our little girl.

It's good to be home...

We had a wonderful time in Florida and despite my worries, Sophia did amazing during the flights to Florida and back, and slept great in the hotel. I couldn't believe how happy and content she was on the flight to Florida, especially since we had to fly two hours from Portland to L.A., and then another four hours from L.A. to Miami. I made sure to pack plenty of snacks and books to keep her busy. On the flight from L.A. to Miami, we were lucky enough to have T.V.'s on the back of each seat and could choose from various movies and T.V. shows. We put on Kung Fu Panda for Sophia and when she got bored of her books, we would point to the screen and she would just stare in awe. The people around us even commented on how quiet and well behaved she was. I have a hard time sitting still, so when I saw Sophia sit still for six hours of flying, I just couldn't believe it!
We stayed at an amazing resort in Miami called Doral. This is where they hold the National Golf Championships, with golfers such as Tiger Woods. They still had the grand stands up and some big billboards for the tournament, because they had just held it there the week before we arrived. Jeff was really excited about playing the same course that Tiger Woods had played the week before.
Though the weather didn't turn out being as hot as I had anticipated, it was still pretty warm, the highs being in the low 70's. The nice thing about it being partially cloudy, was that I didn't have to slather Sophia in 50 spf every second to keep her from burning. We were able to take her on walks around the resort and see all of the beautiful surroundings. While we were there, Sophia really got into walking, and wanted to go for walks everywhere! She also started this thing, where she would hold out her hand to grab some one's finger, and then reach out the other hand, so that she had someone on both sides of her. She started off doing this to Jeff, Nelson, Barbara, and I. But by the end, if she saw a maid or even just a person walking by, she would reach out her hand, as if to say. "come on, lets go for a walk."
I was really nervous about her body adjusting to the 3 hour time difference, but because Florida is 3 hours ahead, it was nice because Sophia could stay up to go to the convention dinners, and I didn't have to worry about her being over tired. She especially enjoyed the last dinner that was a Hawaiian theme. They had coconut bowling, live music and dancing. Barbara took Sophia over to the musicians so she could enjoy the music, while Jeff and I were finishing up our meals. After we had finished, we went to go find Sophia and Barbara. When we got closer to the dance floor, we saw Sophia running around with another little girl that was 17 months, and three little boys, around age four. I guess before we had gotten there, Sophia had gone up to one of the boys and put her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder, and it looked like they were slow dancing, lol. And the only night I didn't bring my camera:( Sophia and all the little kids were so entertaining to watch dance and interact with each other. They looked like they were having a ball!
We caught a few sun breaks during the week. So we took advantage of it, and took Sophia in the pool. It was really cool because they had a huge water fall that splashed into the pool and it started off really shallow, to where Sophia could gradually walk in, and then it got deeper. She absolutely LOVED the pool! Barbara got her a little life jacket that was perfect for her and it helped me to feel more comfortable with her being in and around the water. She was quite the little fish and at times we had to hold onto her, to keep her from trying to wiggle out of our arms to go off on her own. Jeff would throw her up in the air, while they were in the pool, and then catch her. Sophia would just squeal and laugh! She loved splashing with her hands and feet and having us twirl her around in the water. I can't wait to get her swimming lessons!
On the flight home, from L.A. to Portland, Barbara and I ran into Keri Russel, with her husband, nanny, and son, River. At first I didn't realize that it was the actress, Keri Russel. We had seen two boys playing with a ball, and we thought, why not take Sophia over to play with them and run off some of her energy before she had to sit on the plane for a few hours. So we took her over there and they started playing, and then I looked up and did a double take. I couldn't believe she was standing right in front of me, and the little boy Sophia was playing ball with, was her 21 month old son, River. He was so cute and shared the ball with Sophia. Barbara and I thought it was so cool to have her on our flight. Then, when were were seated on the plane, Barbara looks up in to first class and asks me, "who's that guy up in first class, isn't that Brendan Fraser?" I looked up and said, "yep, that's Brendan Fraser." We couldn't believe we had two celebrities on our flight! Turns out they are making a movie together. Its a medical drama, based on a true story about a wife and husband that have a dying child, and they are trying to find a cure for their son. Now, I have to see this movie!
Our 7 day trip seemed like 3 and flew by way too fast, but it is so nice to be back at home. Nothing beats the feeling of your own bed. I think Sophia was happy, too, to be sleeping in her own crib with the familiar surroundings of her own room. It was so nice to take a break away from the busyness of our everyday lives. But it is good to be back, and especially comforting to be back with our family and friends.

Off to see some sun!

We are heading to Florida tomorrow morning bright and early. We have to be at the airport at 6:30am, which means I'll be awakening at 4:30am to make sure everything is in order and I haven't forgotten anything. As much as I'm excited to go to 80 degree weather, I'm a bit nervous about flying with Sophia at this age and with the sleeping arrangements. She has gotten so used to sleeping in her own crib with her water sound maker and her night light, that I'm not quite sure how she's going to do in a new setting. Plus, add in the 3 hour time difference. But I am going to do my best to re-create her bedtime surroundings by taking her night light and water sound maker to help comfort her.
She is a very content and happy child so I'm sure she will be fine. I'm just a worry-wort at heart and can't help it. If you could pray that our flight goes well and Sophia stays entertained and happy, that would be great! We fly down to California, have a two hour lay-over, and then we are off to Florida. It will be a long day, but all worth it once we get there. I know Sophia is going to have a wonderful time playing in the pool and being in the sun.
I will definitely post pictures of our trip when we get back. Until then, I hope you all enjoy your week and God bless:)

A Doozy...

It started Saturday, when Sophia was at my mother-in-laws and had an extreme blowout, so bad that Katie had to go to the store and get her a new outfit. Since then she has been battling something awful, but thankfully, it is finally starting to get better. I have been doing my best to change her quiet often and keep her in a dry diaper to prevent diaper rash, however, it is almost inevitable when her system is so acidic and she has had to go so often, poor girl:( Other than that, Sophia has had a big smile on her face and has been busy walking around and playing. Unfortunatley that isn't the end of it. Sunday afternoon I started having horrible stomach pains (like I was going to throw up). Jeff was still feeling okay at this point, and helped to get Sophia into her pj's and then in the evening he rocked her and put her to bed. When he came back dowstairs from rocking her, he said he felt like he was going to throw up too. We layed on the couch for a bit, both holding our stomachs and feeling queezy, and decided to go to bed. We both tossed and turned all night because our entire bodies ached and we couldn't et comfortable. At around 12:30 a.m. Jeff got up and went to the bathroom and ended up throwing up. After rubbing his back and going to get his cellphone so he could call his dad to tell him he couldn't come to work the next day, I ran to our other bathroom and threw up twice. Afterwards, Jeff and I had the chills and layed out on the couch in front of the fire and watched TV. We finally went to bed, but we were still achey, so we didn't sleep very well.
Monday morning, Jeff and I both felt like we had been run over by a truck. The best part was that even though we felt so crummy, Sophia would toddle around singing to herself or make a goofy expression and Jeff and I would laugh. She really cheered us up! After taking a shower (they always feel heavenly when you're sick), I went to the store and got us our "feel better food" :7UP, saltine crackers, and chicken noodle soup. This was what we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner yesterday. The hardest part was trying to take care of Sophia when both Jeff and I felt so horrible. But we got through it and were able to spend Sunday and Monday together as a family. So it wasn't all bad. Let's just say, I think I could go with out ever experiencing that flu again!

Twins...

Elle sitting in Sophia's lap

What cute little girls

So Precious!

Today, I took Sophia over to the Young's house to have a play date with Elle. Since Sophia and Elle both have the same outfit, we thought we would dress them up and take some pictures of them together. Well, trying to get these busy little girls to stay put for a photo is easier said then done. But we did our best and here are a few cute pics that turned out:)In the first photo at the top, Sophia was playing on the floor and Elle came right over and sat down in her lap-so precious!In the middle picture (this was towards the end, when they had both had enough of our cameras) believe it or not, Amy is crouched down behind Elle and Sophia holding them so they don't fall off the stools (it was pretty comical, lol). And the last picture, we put Sophia and Elle on the couch and Sophia wanted to give Elle a hug. Other than Sophia's 3 month old cousin, she doesn't really have any kids her age around to play with. So it is so nice to have Elle in the area to plan play dates with. It was so cute to see them interact and by the end of the play date, they were both pooped out! What a fun time with friends:)

Revamp...

Now that Sophia is older and is beginning to recognize animals and colors, we decided to redecorate her bathroom like a "kid's bathroom". Originally, it was decorated with red candles and had some fashion-style prints hanging in it. Now, we want it to have a fun, "under the sea" feel to it. I stripped it of all old decorations and was trying to decide how I wanted it to look: paint colors, towels, pictures, etc. So I went to a couple of stores and ended up finding some adorable children's bath decor at Target. I loved the bright colors and the octopus on the little trash can and soap dispenser had such a cute face. I thought Sophia would love looking at it while taking her baths. Now that I found the bath towels and decorations, Jeff is going to pick out a paint color and paint Sophia's new bathroom (we are thinking a light blue to make it feel like your under the sea). Last, I'm going to paint two paintings with sea creatures on them that match the soap dispenser (like starfish and crabs).I am so excited and can't wait to see how it all turns out! I hope Sophia likes her new bathroom!