3 Years Ago, Today

Love you Nick, Always and Forever!

1 Year Old!

I seriously cannot believe that Sophia is already 1!!! This year has gone by so fast as Mom's out there know. And this time around I think it has gone by exponentially fast (2 kids = 2x's as fast). When I think about all of the things that we have done this past year it seems like a lot of stuff and that certain things (trips to the beach, zoo, NJ, snow storms, etc.) do seem like awhile ago, but when I see pictures from the hospital it seems like yesterday that she was born.
At one year Sophia is walking, talking, playing, and just being busy all the time. She is a happy, smiley baby who we can't get enough of! She has 6 teeth is wearing size 3 diapers and sleeps through the night, about 12 hours, (mostly!!) with one wake up around 5am (for a drink of course!) She takes 2 pretty predictable naps during the day that are anywhere from 1 to 2 hours long and can still wear most of her size 12 month clothes. (although now that it is getting warmer and all her summer clothes are 12-18 months she is moving to that size!) She can be found most times turning pages of books (preferably ones with babies in them, her favorite) saying Baby, starting to drink from sippy cups, eating all table food, and dancing to music!
She has actually started to slow down (growing wise) at the Dr we found out she was
21 lbs 13 oz (55%) only a gain of 1 lb 11 oz in three months
30 3/4 in (90%) only a growth of 3/4 in in three months
18 in head circumference ~70% (I haven't really kept track of this but I don't think her head is exceptionally large)
This year she has had 4 ear infections (including a trip to the ENT, one bout of bronchitis, and is headed to the allergist (we think). And who can forget her hospital stay at 4 weeks for her unknown virus!
A year in pictures...

We love our baby girl and what she has added to our family!!

11 Months Old!

Another month has gone by so quickly and my baby girl is growing up so fast!

We officially have a walker!!! About a week after she turned 10 months Sophia took off and hasn't looked back. She rarely crawls and walking has become her primary form of transportation!

We have let go of the baby food altogether and she eats all table food now which has been kind of challenging since eggs and milk are still off the table for another month, but we have been making out ok and she loves to eat!!!

She also has 4 new teeth, all on the top. They all came in at the exact same time! We are now up to 6 teeth (2 on the bottom and 4 on the top)

The best shot from our photo shoot

About to tear up the sign

Are we done yet?

Look at those lips!

Hanging with my bubba!

Walking down the hall

With my baby!

Walking!!!

10 Months Old!

My baby girl is 10 month's old today!! How time flies! She has now survived 2 snowstorms (one without power) and took her first steps about 2 weeks ago. She hasn't really taken off yet but she is ready to go.

You can find her most days reading books, standing, and turning pages of books. She LOVES books! She has also said her first official word. Baby! She points to herself and says "baby" she sees babies in books and says "baby" it is so cute and I can't wait to see what her little voice is going to sound like as she learns new words.

We had a little trouble with the photo shoot this month because she just doesn't want to sit still! But here are the best shots!

So serious! (as you can see at this point I had to tape the ripped sign back together!)

I even brought in reinforcement but no dice!

Silly girl!

There's the smile but no sign!

Looking at the "baby"

Reading the baby book

Playing with Carter

There's my big girl!! Love you!

Blizzard of 2010

This blizzard had the potential to be great fun, a whole weekend with the family snowed in watching movies and playing Wii while the snow fell peacefully outside. What it turned into was probably one of the most stressful weekends I have ever had. You see...we lost power. At about 3 am Saturday morning we saw a flash and heard a boom and realized the beeping in our house meant the baby monitor was no longer working because the transformer box outside our house had just exploded. We then proceeded to hear about 3 more booms of the transformers down the street exploding. Probably the worst thing that could happen during a snow storm of this magnitude.
We spent the next day in layers and layers of clothes with the gas fireplace on playing endless games of Candyland, Hi-Ho Cherry-O, and Chutes and Ladders. Reading endless library books, and listening to Daddy and the neighbors shoveling the driveways and cars out of the snow. I have pictures but everyone reading knows what it looked like.
At about 4pm the neighbors got together and started shoveling the actual street because the BGE truck needed to get down it to get our power back on. We stuck out the night and slept under piles of blankets with two sets of PJ's on, and when we woke up and the thermostat read 57 degrees, I knew we couldn't spend another day in the house. We drove up to a hotel by the mall and took baths and naps and watched TV while Daddy came back home to dig out his car. At about 3:30 the power came back on and Nick came and picked us up to come back to the piles of dishes and a refrigerator and freezer full of spoiled food. But we were glad to be home with heat and it warmed up by bed time.
Now I know we were pretty lucky (my parents lost power too and they were down to 48 degrees before they got heat back) we have a gas stove so I could cook and a gas fireplace with a battery pack to start the fire, but knowing that my parents and Nick's parents were without both of those luxuries was stressful, no they don't have babies in the house, but they are our parents and we couldn't help them. And people are still without power and food or a place to go.
What makes things worse is that they are now calling for 10-16 more inches of snow tomorrow night! So now while I type this I am listening to Nick shovel our deck outside so that it won't collapse (I don't think it could take another foot of snow), the washer and dryer going so that I know I have enough warm clothes and PJ's for my kids if the power does go out again in the wind they are predicting, and the dishwasher going so that my dishes don't pile up if the power goes out. The trash in my garage is getting smellier and smellier as the remains of my refrigerator and freezer are rotting away and I am renewing library movies on the computer so that I don't have to pay fines if I can't get them back on time.
Again I know we are pretty lucky, and we have a plan if the power goes out again (back to the hotel immediately) but this all still stresses me out. Hey a year ago I would have been in HEAVEN!!! A week off of school with the HUGE possibility that the days won't have to be made up because of the state of emergency!!! What school teacher wouldn't love that?!?! But instead I am worried about losing another $100 worth of food and getting driven insane by a 3 and 1/2 year old that has been stuck in a house for 4 days!
Thanks for reading my rant I hope everyone is staying warm! We are...for now!!!
Oh yeah! And my baby girl took her first steps today!!!

9 Months Old!

My happy little girl is 9 months old today!!

We have no real big news to report this month. She has gotten her second tooth on the bottom and has been ear infection free for over a month! She has really gotten into standing on her own and playing as well as turning pages in books.

We did go to the doctor this month so here are her stats...

20 lbs. 2 oz - 75%

30 inches - 90%

No scheduled shots this month but she did have her 2nd H1N1 shot and got her blood taken to test iron levels (which were fine!)

Standing and playing at my exersaucer

Turning pages in my Pooh bear book (which was also a huge hit with her brother!)

Carter - Self Portrait