A Sad Trip to Dallas

So Jeff, Sophy, and I went to Dallas yesterday. My great grandmother died on saturday so we went down for the funeral. She lived a long life and it really was more of a celebration of her life than a sad day. It honestly was the most uplifting funeral I've ever been to. The best part was seeing all the family. We haven't all been together since my wedding...and I was a little distracted at that occasion. Also Since Heather and Graham wouldn't be able to come down for christmas it was a nice chance to see them. We of course took the oppertunity for a family picture.
Thanks to everyone who prayed for my great grandmother and my grandmother. Also thank you for the flowers and cards. It meant very much to all of us.

Let it Snow!

It's snowing! I love the snow. There should be no cold weather without snow in my opinion! I bundled Sophy in the cute coat mom picked out and out intot he snow we went for her first pictures in the snow! Super cute! Ihope the snow just keeps piling up! Boy I've got a lot of scrapbooking to do now! I also took some christmas pictures of Sophy. She's just too cute!

What to feed the baby?

Well we've now moved on down the road from rice cereal to mashed carrots...yummm! Sophy gave me the best look of "what did you just put into my mouth?" when we started them yesterday. She did seem to like them after a while though. I made her food myself. I got a handout from the doctor on how to make your own baby food. It was very helpful. I made baby carrots this time, next we try bananas, then peas or green beans, then applesauce. After that I might have to buy a few of her meals. I'm not sure about my ability to puree meat and not be sick...let alone feed it to her! Carrots...I can handle carrots. It's a LOT cheaper to make your own! My goodness for the cost of 2 jars I made 8 jars worth! Of course I'm going to have to buy a few jars of baby food just for the jars! My bottle warmer will warm baby food, but you need the little jar for it to work. I can use the microwave, but it doesn't evenly heat the food, and it tends to be too hot! I'll try to post a picture of Sophy's adventure with carrots soon. I'm having problems with my pictures right now. Hopefully I'll get it fixed soon!

Fun with Food!

Not too much is going on right now. We helped Kris and Nicki move (kinda) today and got to see their new house. It's very nice. Also I thought I'd share a cute picture of Sophy enjoying solid food!

Doctor Visit

We went to the doctor. He was really nice! Sophy didn't like her shots, but who does. At least this time she's the only one that cried. She has run a slight fever ever since, but she was supposed to, so I guess that's normal. She is 75th percentile in height and head, and she dropped to 50th in weight. I though she seemed hungry all the time! Apparently my body just can't keep up with her high motabilism! I wish mine were a little higher! So the doctor had us start feeding her some solids. We started with rice cereal. She seemed to like it, but it sure was messy! The wonderful side effect? She slept all night long! It has been a while since I got a full nights sleep! I liked that part! Other than her weight the doctor said she was beautiful and perfect in every way!

It's beginning to look a lot like christmas!

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was very busy, but lots of fun. My arents and grandad came to celebrate with us since my brother lives in town too. The meal turned out great! It looked and tasted great, but did anyone take a picture? Of course not! it was a little disappointing to not have a picture! We played games and ate and watched football.
After Thanksgiving we went shopping and decorated for christmas. Since we got a new house and it has such tall ceilings I decided my 6 foot tree just wouldn't look right anymore! We bought a 9 foot prelit tree. It fills the space perfectly. I put my old tree in the entry way, so it's still being used. We even got new matching stockings this year. It took a while to fully decorate, and I still have a little more to do, but I think it looks nice.

weekend plans....

We had a rather uneventful weekend. We went shopping on friday and were able to pick up Sophy's 3 month pictures. They turned out GREAT! I had to run home and frame them right away.
On friday I took pictures of Sophy and Alex. It went ok until Sophy got sick of it, then it was time to stop: right that moment. When she knows what she wants she wants it then and will settle for no less. She is a little spoiled, but that's because we love her so much.
Trish came over on sunday afternoon to babysit. It was only the second time we have gone out without the baby since she was born. We went to see the 4th Harry Potter movie. It was really good. It was nice to walk through the mall and relax knowing Sophy was well and safe and I got a break. I love her dearly, but it's nice to get a break every now and then.

Play time with Doggies.

I bathed the dogs last night. They smell so good! It's amazing the difference. I also let them run around the house all night since they were clean. I even got on the floor and let them get to know Sophy a little. She tried to pet them. Dauby let her, but Aveada wasn't so sure about those little hands. Aveada has been really good around her though. For the most part she acts like Sophy isn't there, at least until Sophy starts to cry. Then she looks at me like "hello are you going to make her stop?". It is rather funny. Dauby is pouting because it finally got cold and he has to wear his shirts and sweaters again. He hates being cold, but also hates wearing clothes. You'd think he'd make the connection between the two!
Sophy has been having a rough morning. She's normally so happy in the morning, but not today. Luckily Jeff stayed home from work today! I'm getting spoiled! That's two fridays in a row! He's really good about helping out with Sophy so I can watch Alex and the both get attention. We have very few plans for the weekend. Mostly I have to clean the house since next week is Thanksgiving. Yikes time flys!

Pie and Sleep.

Sophy Slept last night! I laid her down at 9:30 and she got up at 7:15! Both Jeff and I had gotten grouchy and snippy, so a good night's sleep was needed! What a blessing! She is now happily watching Good Morning America while I type this.
I got my Kitchen Aid mixer in the mail yesterday! I of course wanted to open it up and make somehting right away. However with two babies in the house I had to wait a while to play. I finally got both babies happy and I made pumpkin pie! Jeff also got me the Ice Cream maker attachment. I hope to play with that today. It's kinda funny- I've been complaining because it was too warm for november, then it finally gets cold and here I am making ice cream! How silly! I think I might make cookies or something tommorrow. I'm going to get so fat!
Alex hasn't shown up yet today and Sophy is so happy that I think I'm going to go play with my adorable daughter!

New Sites and Long nights!

I've been going to Physical Therapy for two weeks now. My P.T. Dr. Simms is nice, but a slave driver! He makes me do so much work! It's not easy turning Jello into abs. It is a lot easier to stand up now though! Who kows I might actually look human again when this is all over!
Sophy decided that she was quite happy to be awake around 9:30 last night and no attempts on our part could convince her she wanted to sleep. Just trying would make her scream! She was happy only if we didn't try to make her sleep. She finally got so mad at us she wouldn't even calm down enough to eat! I tricked her with a dum dum to get her to eat. It worked and she calmed down and ate around 11:00. She slept soundly until 4:30am. Then she was ready to be up. Needless to say I'm VERY tired today.
So I convined Heather to make a blog. It'll be super fun if I can help her figure out her template! Her code is different I think...who would ever think I'd be talking about code or templates? It's true what they say: you learn something new everyday! I've learned alot in the last few days. Anyway you can check out heather's stamping site with the stamp night link.
I started a new blog devoted to recipes. So all you cooks...check it out and send in good recipes. It's going to become my go to for dinner time! Just use the Recipe of the week link. Once we get it working properly Heather will be posting there as well.

Loads of fun!

Today is Laundry day! Oh what fun! Loads and Loads to be exzact...hee hee. Ok so that wasn't so funny.
Sophy has a new habit of screaming all evening long right before bedtime. It's not a fun habit. She'll finally calm down right before she falls asleep. The good part is she's sleeping longer again. All night most nights. We think she's in the early stages of teething. Poor little girl. It's so hard when you know your child hurts and there's nothing you can do for it. Do any of you wise parents out there have any ideas?
It's amazing what you can learn from other parents/generations. For instance: I was trying to give Sophy a bath in the sink at my grandmother's house. Only Sophy kept slipping out of my hands because of the soap. My grandma suggested that I place a towel in the sink. This way she doesn't slide around and it's softer for her. What a great idea! So simple, yet I wouldn't have thought of it. See, that's why Sophy is named after her!
I learned how to make links last night. It's very helpful to have a programer in the family (thanks Greg). You can now find links to our friends sites and to pictures! I'll be adding more pictures As I go! Check back often!

My Birthday!

It's Monday. Two days after my birthday and it's time to go back to the real world. Jeff got a new computer and it was supposed to be delivered today so he stayed home to get it. He was very excited to get it early this morning and started putting it all together. It's odd having Jeff home because it makes it feel like it's Saturday, but at the same time baby Alex is here. He's a little boy I watch during the week. He's 3 days older than Sophia. It's kind of like having twins during the week. It's kind of nice to be able to play with him sometimes. He's so different than Sophia. They both excel in different areas. Alex is very verbal and Sophia is very active. She loves the Jonny jump up (thanks Darla and Jason!) and Alex can sit and babble to you for hours!
Jeff got me a red KitchenAid Mixer for my birthday! I love it. He also got me the Ice Cream Maker attachment. It hasn't come in the mail yet, it was sent by railroad, but I can't wait! I'll be cooking up a storm when it gets here! I also got a lot of scrapbook stuff and a yummy smelling candle from friends and family. I love my birthday. I wish it came around twice a year!

My first blog...

Ok so I'm so not technical at all. I just want a way to show off baby pictures..hee hee. I call myself the dowager because I was the princess for many many years...now I have my own little princess! And boy is she a cutie! So I guess I have to pass the title. I was emailing out updates often, but this is a little easier on a busy mom.
I'll have to put more updates in here often.
-Dowager Princess Shannon