Christmas Pictures!

By now all of our cards have been mailed and should be arriving in your mailboxes shortly. (And if not, then apparently we need to add you to our address book!) :) After Thanksgiving Deb took family pictures for us, then took a few of Sophia trying her first candy cane. Sophia loved it and was not happy when we took it away!











Merry Christmas!

Christmas Time!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree while Sophia took her nap. (Yes, the tree is fake -- sad but true. ) When she awoke we plopped her in front of the tree and she stared, unsure what to think.





But that didn't last long. We put a few "safe" ornaments at the bottom for her to investigate -- and she quickly gave them a thorough inspection.





I think she approved.



The snowman was a hit too.



Since that morning, our coffee table has served as a barrier to the tree.
Every once in awhile she'll stop and stare at the tree -- probably wondering what it's doing in our house -- and then continue on her merry way.
Family Christmas pictures coming soon!

Thanksgiving Fun!

The last few days were full of family, friends, and lots of food! :) Sophia enjoyed meeting a few relatives for the first time.

She also learned to close her eyes when any dogs headed her way as a good old-fashioned slobbery kiss was sure to follow.

Fun with leaves!

Raking leaves (or in Keith's case, using a leaf blower) has never been this much fun before. :)

Watching the leaves fall...






After a few more photos, Sophia decided she was finished and wanted a better look at the camera.





Happy Thanksgiving!

Making faces

It took me awhile to figure out that it wasn't the green beans that gave Sophia the funniest faces, but the fact that the food was too cold.

Halloween Fun!

Friday was a busy afternooon! We toted Sophia around for her first Halloween, enjoyed some candy, and took lots of pictures.



Sophia wouldn't smile with Great Grandpa, she was too busy chewing on her lips with her new teeth!



Sophia was fascinated by Gigi (Heidi's cat) and Charlie (Hank and Nan's dog) -- see above photo! :)

Saturday Fun....

Sophia entertained herself while Mommy cut out coupons...





And then we all headed to the park...

Five Things I Hate to Admit....

First time I've been "tagged" in a blog... here are my five...

1. I love sweeping but I hate vacuuming.

2. I make a daily to-do list. I usually add to it during the day -- after I've accomplished something I'll write it down and cross it off. Vacuuming is never on the list. Ever.

3. Showering is usually on my to-do list.

4. I envy Keith's ability to spend money just for the fun of it. I agonize over every spending decision. Seriously -- we have "fun money" budgeted -- why can't I use it? Last week I had a hot chocolate after grocery shopping. I didn't use a coupon, there wasn't a sale, and it wasn't cold outside. If Keith hadn't been so proud of me I would have felt guilty the whole time I drank it.

5. I never wanted to blog. It was Keith's idea.

Now that that's taken care of.... Dana, Becca, Shayla, and Joy... consider yourselves tagged.

Pulling up, going home, and sweet potatoes!

Last Thursday, just before bed, Sophia was crawling around the floor exploring. Keith and I looked up from the couch and saw this head popping up from the other side of the coffee table...

The coffee table is no longer "safe." Now what?
The same night she also successfully sat up after crawling. Yesterday I left Sophia in the middle of the living room surrounded by her toys to check on supper and came back to this sight --

Sophia had crawled to Keith's shoes and had a shoelace half-way to her mouth when I returned. Guess the smell of feet and shiny silver pattern was more exciting than the toys! She's no longer a timid crawler -- she's fast!

On Friday we headed to Keith's parents for Sophia's 6 month pictures (to be added later) and Sophia had a grand time in her newest toy! Can you tell how much she likes it?

And a few Saturdays ago Sophia had her first taste of sweet potatoes. A few days later we decided to let her explore the texture with her hands in hopes that perhaps she would stop grabbing the spoon before every bite. It worked! Here she is after exploring -- and covering herself in sweet potatoes and oatmeal.

Pics of the day...

A new coat!


After pulling herself up again.


And today's favorite activity -- diving over the back of the keyboard to reach the dangling toys.

As usual, Sophia fell asleep tonight with a big sigh as I rocked her. She remained completely limp but then began to very faintly blow raspberries. They were so weak at first that I was sure I was imagining it -- but then they got louder and louder. I was shaking so hard from holding back the laughter that I was sure she would wake up. She didn't -- even as I placed her in the crib she stayed "asleep" while she blew raspberries. Amazing.

And as far as pictures, if you are a Facebooker (is that really a word???) there are more on Keith's page...

Here she comes!!!

One of the many reasons it's getting more difficult to accomplish anything while Sophia plays alone...


Checking out the receiver...


Getting closer...


Got it!

One of Sophia's favorite places is her exersaucer -- but her fascinations have changed from the toys on the saucer to the tags on those toys...






Notice the line up of toys -- all tags facing Sophia (not my doing, but her own). It's part of our morning ritual. Sophia sits in her saucer, toys surrounding her. She turns herself around in the saucer until she has chewed on all tags and thrown all toys on the floor. If I'm fast enough to retreive toys (like her favorite purple elephant) I might buy a few more minutes to get the house in order or finish a workout -- otherwise, game over!!! :)

Growing up

The past few weeks have been full of more "firsts". The most fun has been the giggle that Sophia is using more and more often -- in response to our laughter, a funny face, tickling her toes, or peek-a-boo. Yesterday while Keith stood on the tub to tape and mud the new walls, I brought Sophia out of her room from a nap. Keith turned around and said hi and Sophia laughed outloud at him. Keith did look a little comical -- and we sure had a good laugh at her reaction. She also now rolls around the living room to get to her destination. Her current favorite is the TV stand filled with electronics. Time to baby proof! And a few times, she has army-crawled to reach her favorite toys. We are constantly amazed at how quickly she seems to be growing up. The first five months passed so quickly!
If you have Facebook, these pictures are nothing new, but here they are anyway.

Our newest skill -- sitting up without assistance -- for a few long seconds.

Organics deal

We were at a friend's house last night and heard about a great coupon deal. Check out the link here -- spend $10 on brand-specific organics and get a $5 Barnes and Noble gift card -- or spend $20 and get a $10 card. It can also be used twice per household. (If the image doesn't show up, click on Savings Center.)

Road Trip!

Last Friday we set off on our first real road trip with a baby! We left bright and early -- 3 am (yawn) and made it past Omaha before Sophia woke up. Both of us were nervous about how Sophia would handle the 12 hour trip, but she was awesome!

A South Dakota (semi)photo story.....

Only an hour or so from our destination we needed out of the car -- so we stopped at the South Dakota landmark .... Wall Drug! Sophia picked out her first souvenir while we walked around -- a furry stuffed buffalo.


When we finally arrived, we visited Keith's grandparents for a bit. The next few nights we stayed in a hotel -- Sophia apparently knew we were not at home -- and woke up every hour and half that first night to remind me. Keith wore earplugs so he could catch up on sleep after driving all day. He asked me in the morning, "how did Sophia do?" Apparently the earplugs worked pretty well. :)

Saturday we had a four generation photo shoot...


And how can you visit Rapid City and not stop by Mt. Rushmore?


Then we took the road behind Rushmore for the profile view...


And Deb took a family picture (yes, that's drool all over my sleeve!)


I knew there was a big drop off behind us during that family photo, but I didn't want to look. So Keith took a picture to show me later. Glad I didn't turn around to look. :)


We continued down that highway until Jan turned off on a side road. We're used to following blindly, so we didn't think much of it, until the road got rougher and the ruts got deeper -- then Keith called his mom. Deb explained it was all Jan's fault, the Garmin said it was a shortcut. We were hoping we weren't going to have to find a way to turn around (we didn't). And then the radio started those weather beeps -- a thunderstorm was on it's way. We made it out alive, though it did feel like something from a horror movie for awhile there.

Our view...


Deb's view of us breaking in the Rendezvous...


And my view of Sophia.


When we finally left the National Forest trail and made it to a highway, Keith told me to snap a picture -- we'd been driving through those trees just a few moments before.


We left Monday morning (bright and early again) and made it home in time for supper. When we walked in the door, I put Sophia in her exersaucer. I've never seen her so excited. She "talked" to her toys for a long time and was so animated. I'm sure she was telling them all about the trip to South Dakota and the blasted car seat and meeting her great grandparents. Great trip, definitely worth it.