Post Chirstmas Update

The wondering travelers have returned! We went to Mom's house for christmas eve and drove to Dallas for Christmas day with Gigi. It was fun for Sophy to play with her cousins LilliAnn, Grayson, and Evie. She had fun with her second cousin Hana, but they tended to fight just a little bit. We all had a good time and my family was way too giving to Sophy! In fact we almost couldn't fit it into our car to go home. She got a table and chairs from santa to go with her play kitchen and lots of play food and dishes.

We got home early on thursday morning and had a busy time going to the grocery store and putting the house in order. While we were gone the facet out front broke and was leaking into the yard. So Jeff spent half the day fixing it. It works now luckly! We did have to go half the day without water though.

I spent most my time taking down and putting up christmas decorations and cleaning house. My friend Jessica came over with our dogs (they watched them while we were away) and spent some time letting the kids play. It was nice to be home. Jeff put the play kitchen together today and we had fun putting out her play dishes and food. Sophy loves it. She pretends to iron and cook and wash dishes! The kitchen is SO cute. My mother in law did a great job picking it out and Jeff did a great job putting it together.

( The first picture is of LilliAnn, Grayson, and Evie in front of the tree. The second is Sophy with her Poppy ready for church on Sunday morning. The third is of Sophy sitting at her table in her new play kitchen.)

Here's what baby center says about the baby: Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long. His eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. And you can certainly feel him move. He's oblivious to your schedule, though, so don't be surprised if he starts working out just when you're settling down for the night. If you're having a girl, her vagina is formed now, though it will continue to develop until birth.

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!!

We had Jeff's Christmas party yesterday. It was a lot of fun, but kinda long. Sophy got awfully cranky by the end because it was during nap time. We made sure we got her a nap when we got home, that helped her mood quite a bit. Before the party we took Sophy to see Santa at Northpark Mall. For those of you who haven't taken their kiddos to see Santa I highly recommend going there. The santa was really nice and had a real beard and everything. The best part? There was little to no line! I took Sophy there last year and it went very well. This year however as soon as we went to hand her to santa she started screaming and continued screaming until her daddy got her. We ended up taking a family picture, it was the best we could manage with her dislike of santa. Maybe we can get a beter picture next year with her baby sister!

We had our Ultrasound today! It was very exciting to see the new baby! She is 100% girl! There was absolutely no question about that. Even I could tell and I'm not too good at those things. She looks a lot like Sophy, same head shape and chubby cheeks, but she has a pointy nose compared to Sophy. I am really excited now to see what she looks like for real. Jeff also got to see her for the first time. It's amazing how real it all became today. I have had 4 ultrasounds, but this one was different. At this one they counted legs, arms, fingers, organs, and a whole lot of other stuff. She was sucking her fingers and moving a lot. She did a complete 180 during the course of the scan. She is completely healthy and has all the apropriate organs and limbs. That's always nice to know. She didn't like us to look at her face or profile and kinda annoyed us a little with that one, but it just gave us a taste of her personality.

Here's what baby center says about 19 weeks: Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and he measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the length of a small zucchini. His arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of his body now. His kidneys continue to make urine, and the hair on his scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. If your baby is a girl, she has an astonishing six million eggs in her ovaries. They'll dwindle to fewer than two million by the time she's born.

Tiny Candy Houses!

I was sitting in my doctor's waiting room waiting for the nice nurse to call my name when I saw an article in the christmas Martha Stewart Living about Gingerbread houses made out of graham crackers. I thought they looked Super cute so today Trish came over to make gingerbread houses. We learned something today.....they may look cute, but it's NOT fun to make. Just think how the poor employee who had to make those houses felt! Anyway, we finished the houses and made them look cute and took pictures. So I thought I would post a couple pictures of my houses so you could see and enjoy all the hard work I put into them. They are FAR to fargile to travel with so I felt the best way for everyone to see them was through pictures. Merry Christmas! (The green house is made of sour straws, gumdrops, starburst, and lifesavers with a Mike and Ike Mailbox, and a skittles/ kissables path. The Yellow house is made of lifesavers, skittles, marshmellow, gumdrops, and mike and Ikes with a gumdrop/ gummybear mailbox and a gumdrop/ kissables fence. The red house is made of lifesavers, peppermint sticks, and redhots with a peppermoint mailbox and a skittles/ kissables path. The snow is coconut with marshmellow trees, and a candy stick/gumdrop lightpoll and a Nerds road and sidewalks.)
Sophy is finally over her cold and Jeff is well. I unfortunately got worse when I finished my antibiotic, so I had to go back to the doctor. She sent me to my GP and she put me on 3 weeks worth of some MASSIVE strength antibiotics. So I'm finally feeling better.
I am 18 weeks along with the baby. I think we finally agreed on a name. Jeff at least can't think of any I like better and I can't think of any he likes better, so I guess we're settled. We have an ultrasound next week. I'll be happy to know that everything is ok. Jeff gets to go so that will be fun, it's his first time to see the baby.

Big Storms Hit our Home!

We went to Kansas City for Thanksgiving. We got to see Katies new place and hang out with family. On the way home we ran into a long wait at the turnpike toll booth. It was so slow going that I was able to lean out the window and take a picture. The sad part is that the sign in the picture says "1 mile to Toll Booth".
After we got home I had a doctors appointment. She said everything looked good and we got our 20 wek ultrasound schedualed. Jeff went with me and we got to hear the heartbeat. A big winterstorm was predicted for this week and boy did it move in! It started yesterday and hasn't seemed to stop since then. We now have about 5 inches of snow in our yard with deeper drifts in places. I wanted Sophy to get to play in it, but it was TOO cold. So I waited until the wind died a little and kept her in a protected area of the yard. She was very bundled up and she had a hard time moving around. At one point she giggled and sat down, then her eyes got really big and she looked at us and started to wimper. She was cold and she couldn't get up! So her daddy helped her out and took her inside. I hope everyone hit by this storm is able to stay inside and keep warm.

16 weeks!

I'm officially 16 weeks along and I feel great. I've been a little sick, but I'm not tired and I can eat again so I feel great. We are supposed to go to Kansas City to visit for Thanksgiving tommorrow. So I have been cleaning and washing getting everything ready to go. I've had to go christmas shopping and get all the presents wrapped up so I will have all the presents for Katie's family ready when we get there. I think I'm almost done, just have Paul's left to wrap. I also got all the christmas decorations up. Well not all of them, but most of them. It looks so pretty in here! In prep for leaving for the holiday I made the whole family visit the doctor. Jeff has been coughing and congested and so has Sophy so I thought it better to make sure we are well before we travel. Turns out I had a sinus infection and Jeff had the start to one, Sophy was the shocker! She had double ear infections, a sinus infection, and the infection had moved behind her eyes too! So off we went to the pharmacy to get the family medicines. We are all on antibiotics and decongestants. Doctor said to call if Sophy's fever goes up, but other than that we are ok to travel. At least we all got a good nights sleep last night for the first time in a while. On the new baby front, I think we finally came up with a name! Of course I can't tell, but I think everyone will like it! It's completely different than any name I've previously mentioned so no one knows what it is! I've started trying to teach it to Sophy, but she's having a hard time with it. She said it once, it was SO cute!
Here's what baby Center says about the new baby: At 4 1/2 inches long (head to bottom) and 3 1/2 ounces, your baby is about the size of an avocado. In the next three weeks, she'll go through a tremendous growth spurt, though, doubling her weight and adding inches to her length. Her lower limbs are much more developed now. Her head is more erect than it has been, and her eyes have moved toward the front of her head. Your baby's ears are close to their final position, too. Some of her more advanced body systems are working, including her circulatory system and urinary tract. Her heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, circulating her total blood volume through her body many times. (By the end of your pregnancy, this will increase to about 190 quarts.) The patterning of her scalp has begun, though her hair isn't recognizable yet. Although closed, her eyes are moving (slowly), and she's even started growing toenails.

15 weeks!

For those of you that wanted to leave baby names I have a helpful tip..... think pink! That's right! I had an ultrasound today that said I was 15 weeks pregnant with a little girl! Yea! How can I be so lucky twice? Jeff isn't thinking it's too lucky though. Oh well. I think he's just too good of a daddy for little girls. Since Sophy is interveted and a drama queen we are wondering if this one will be out going and calm. It'll be fun to see how they get along. So it looks like pink is in our future for a long time. And play kitchens and dressup! I mean really, can you see me with a boy? I know my parents wanted a boy so that Grayson would have a playmate. Oops! I guess Aaron will have to take care of that next time! So that's 5 girls and 1 boy for mom and dad, and 3 girls 1 boy for Tammy and Ron.
As far as health, we are fine. The baby is 4 ounces! Sophy is doing well. We are still on a search for decent diapers since our old ones changed styles and now leak a lot. We've tried Sams diapers, white could, and target brand. I think we'll just spend the money and go back to Pampers. I get coupons from them anyway. We'll I have another Ultrasouns in 4 weeks. So I'll post another picture of the new baby then. I'll post an update on my birthday and Aaron's party tommorrow.
Here's what babycenter says about the baby:
At around 4 inches long, crown to rump, your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 ounces. He's busy inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, which will help develop the air sacs in his lungs. His legs are growing longer than his arms now, and he can move all his joints and limbs. That means his hands are more functional, too. Sweat glands are appearing, and although his eyelids are fused shut, he can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, he's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but his taste buds are beginning to form. And if you have an ultrasound, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or girl!

Names....

So I think I'm opening the name debate up to everyone. So with a few rules we'll take your baby name suggestions!
Girl:
1) The name must either start with an S or end in ia.
2) The name must be able to be shortened to a nick name
3) The name must not start in a vowel.
ex. Sophia/ Sophy
Boy:
1) Must start with a J.
2) The name must be able to be shortened to a nick name
3) The name must not start in a vowel.
ex. Jesse/ Jess
Happy Suggesting!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Aaron!

14 weeks and growing strong!

I snapped some pictures of Sophy in her cute Cinderella outfit. She actually has two cute cinderella outfits, however she didn't fit in them until now. One we got when she was a month old. The other was given to her for her 1st birthday. So now at 15 months she finally fits into them. So here are pictures of Sophy in her cute clothes that finally fit. I used the cool camera feature on one of them. It was before I really figured out how to use the feature, but that's ok.
For those of you who don't know, sunday is my birthday. I'll be 25. I feel a lot older than that. 25 just seems to young for someone who is having their second kid! We also have an ultrasound coming up soon. Everyone needs to start praying that we can see little parts early so I don't have to wait until december to find out what we're having. If you hadn't noticed I'm not a patient person. I'm ready to know NOW!
I'm 14 weeks!It's funny because even with the early setbacks this pregancy seems to be going faster than the last one. I guess because I have Sophy keeping me so busy this time around. Speaking of Sophy...She has been one grumpy girl the last two days. She'll stand next to me and just wimper! Nothing is wrong as far as I can tell, she's just grumpy. Maybe because I've been so moody lately. These hormones of mine are not conducive to a happy home! At least Sophy seems happy today, maybe she'll keep it up.
Here's what baby center says about the baby now: Head to bottom, your baby's 3 1/2 inches long — about the length of a lemon — and weighs about 1 1/2 ounces. Her body's growing faster than her head, which now sits upon a more well-defined neck. By the end of this week, her arms will have lengthened and will be in proportion to the rest of her body. (Her legs still have some growing to do, though.) She's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair all over her body (called lanugo). Her liver starts secreting bile this week, a sign that it's already functioning properly, and her spleen starts contributing to the production of red blood cells. She's also producing and discharging urine into the amniotic fluid, a normal process that she'll keep up until birth. You still can't feel your baby's movements, but her hands and feet (which are now half an inch long) are more flexible and active. Thanks to brain impulses, her little facial muscles are getting a workout as she squints, frowns, and grimaces. She can grasp now, too, and she may be able to suck her thumb.

Sophy's bible class

Sophy always loved her bible class. I love how cute she is playing with the other kids and sitting in her little seat cut out of the table. I was inspired by my friend Sara to snap some pictures of her in class. Today was take Daddy to Bible Class day so I thought it was a good day to bring my camera. I think Jeff had fun watching her bible class and seeing how well she behaves. I got a new camera on saturday so I got to play around with some of the new features. My current favorite (I say current, because I just started to learn about all it can do so I'm sure I'll have other favorites as I learn more) is where you pick a color and how big the range will be and the camera only records those colors on the picture and all else is black and white. It's a neat little feature.

Haloween and 13 weeks!

Sophy had a blast for Halloween. She was a little Lamb and boy was she cute. She loved to knock on the doors and get the candy. Then she had no problem walking right on in! Luckily we only went to houses of friends. We went to the doctor today and Her weight has dropped a little, but she is growing over all. She's heathy and happy.
I'm 13 weeks along and I'm feeling fine. I have a small sinus infection, but the doctor gave me medicine for that so I'm ok. I also discovered something other than wather to drink! I found I kinda like the purple rain gateraid. The orange one is ok too. I tried a few other flavors and I did NOT like those.
Here's what Baby Center says about the baby:
Your baby is still tiny. In fact, he's only about 3 inches long crown to rump — roughly the size of a jumbo shrimp — and weighs just about an ounce. Despite the small proportions, there's a fully formed baby inside your womb now. Much more proportional than it was a few weeks ago, his head is now only about a third the size of his body. His tiny, unique fingerprints are already in place. His kidneys and urinary tract are functional, and he's starting to urinate out the amniotic fluid he's been swallowing. As you start your second trimester, most of your baby's critical development will be completed, and your odds of miscarriage will drop considerably.

Halloween Party

Sorry I'm so late posting this week. We've had technical difficulty this week. I got some super cute pictures of Sophy and Ruthie trick or treating at the OC dorms, but my camera decided to die and I can't seem to get the pictures off it. So if I ever get htem, I'll post them on here. Until then you'll have to be happy with second hand pictures from the halloween party we went to.
We went to a halloween party with our class on friday night. It was a lot of fun. There was a hay ride which Sophy LOVED and a lot of food. The Foster's even brought the new baby! He's SO tiny! Absolutly adorable Jen. Sophy has been a little under the weather, but she's fine now. She has also been sleeping all night in her own bed for 2 full weeks now. It's very nice to not have a one year old pushing you out of your own bed!
As far as the new baby goes I'm 12 weeks and some change. I went off the pegesterone and I'm starting to feel a little better. I hope that soon I'll find out what this little one is, but I have a feeling it's a boy. So I guess only time will tell.
Here's what baby center says:
Your baby's hit the two inch mark (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce. Her face is beginning to look more human. Her eyes, which started out on the sides of her head, have moved closer together on her face, and her ears are near their final positions. Your baby's intestines, which have grown so rapidly that they protruded into the umbilical cord, will start to move into her abdominal cavity about now. Her kidneys are secreting urine into her bladder. Her nerve cells have been multiplying rapidly, and synapses (neurological pathways in the brain) are forming. Your baby may have acquired more reflexes by now, including sucking, and she'll even squirm if you prod your abdomen, though you still won't be able to feel her move for several weeks.

Sophy gets a hair cut.

Jeff was complaining that Sophy had bangs that were a little too long. So He finally convinced me to cut it. So here are pictures of Sophy's new hair cut. I think it's weird. She looks cute, but much older now. My baby is a toddler! pout. I guess she had to grow up even if I didn't want her to. She's also learning to sleep in her own bed. We've had some issues with that, but it's finally going well. She didn't like nap time and decided to destroy her room in her effort to prove that she was in control and not mommy. Mommy was NOT happy about that. So after that she learned that she has to stay in her bed at nap time until mommy comes to get her. She caught onto that one pretty quick.

10 weeks

I'm officially ten weeks! The week that wouldn't end is finally over! Hopefully no more pushing back the due date. If so I might not ever have this baby! I'm having a hard time eating lately. I'm not so much sick as I can't find anything I want to eat. Everything looks/smells/tastes gross to me. Poor Jeff is stuck with dinners that suit whatever whim my body took that day. Such as beans and corn bread, or dinner rolls and milk. I eat a lot of toast and milk lately. I miss being able to just eat what I want. Sophy is doing well. She's growing again. She has had bad allergies lately. That and teething make for a very messy baby. I feel like all I do is wipe her face all day. She's decided she loves bananas again. She'll eat two or three in a sitting if I let her, which I don't. We'll be testing the whole milk again soon. As soon as the formula we have runs out we'll try again and see how she does this time around. Doctor thought she just might need a little more time. She is walking all the time now and running most of it! She gets into everything now! She also has a new favorite word: "no".
Mommy: "Sophy come here."
Sophy: "no"
Mommy: "Sophy do you want me to change your diaper?"
Sophy: "no."
Mommy: "Jeff are you keeping an eye on her?"
Sophy: "no."
Jeff: "Yes I am!"
Mommy: "Sophy do you want a banana?"
Sophy: "yeah. yumm."
Just some of the conversations that have been happing around here. She has also mastered two word sentences. "mommy, up!" ; "mommy, empty" ; "mommy, baba" ect.
It's fun watching her world expand.
Well here is the new baby update via babycenter:
How your baby's growing: Your baby is no longer an embryo! Though she's barely the size of a kumquat — just an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, she now has completed the most critical portion of her development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in her body rapidly grow and mature. Her vital organs — the liver, kidney, intestines, brain, and lungs — are now in place and starting to function (although they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy). Her liver continues to make blood cells, and the yolk sac, which previously supplied these cells, is no longer needed and begins to disappear.During the next three weeks, your baby's length will more than double to nearly 3 inches. Her head is proportionately smaller now than it was a few weeks ago, but it's still almost half the length of her entire body. Her forehead temporarily bulges with her developing brain and sits high on her head; it will later recede to give her a more human appearance. Each day, more minute details — including tiny fingernails, toenails, and peach-fuzz hair — start to appear on her body. Her fingers are now completely separated; her arms bend at the elbow and curve slightly; her hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over her heart; her legs are lengthening; and her feet may be long enough to meet in front of her body. She is busily swallowing amniotic fluid and kicking her legs.If you could take a peek at your baby this week, you'd be able to clearly see the outline of her spine through her parchment-thin skin. Spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from her spinal cord.
Edit: The pictures are of Sophy in our bed talking to the remote like it was a phone. Cute huh?

New Baby!

Here is the update on the new baby. I went to the Doctor on Monday. She did a full blood work up and I still need to get the results on all that. She had me scheduale an ultrasound which I had today. It went very well. All looks good. The due date is officially changed to May 9th, 2007. I'm 9 weeks one day. So I'll have to figure out how to change my ticker. Maybe I'll leave it the same since I'll be delievering a week early anyway. So I won't be posting a baby center update until next week when I'm finally 10 weeks for real. Here is a picture of my new baby at 9 weeks. He/She/It looks like a teddy bear. Cute huh? Well that is all there is to tell until I hear more news.

Halloween is coming!

Since I haven't posted pictures of Sophy or talked too much about her lately I thought I would do an all Sophy post! I have an ultrasound tommorrow so check back later to find out new baby and Shannon details. This one's all for Sophy!
Here are some of Sophy's halloween pictures! I was afraid she would out grow the super cute Monkey outfit before Halloween so we went ahead and took our portraits. We wanted to take some of the other super cute costume...a lamb, but the we accidentally saved some we didn't want and couldn't take the oters. Oops! So we only got one of the cute Lamb costume. It's bigger than the monkey one so I hope to retake those later when we have more money. So for now here are two of the monkey pictures and one of the cute lamb pictures we DIDN'T order. So when I try to show you the ones we got humor me, because it's one you've never seen.

nine weeks....

Sophy is doing very well. She is walking a lot. She talks all the time and has called many of you on the phone, even if you didn't know it. I have started getting Really really sick. I don't like that part. Pregnancy is too long. Man I wish you could be pregnant for like 3 months and it would be over. That would be nice. Oh well. Here's what baby center says about the baby:
How your baby's growing: Your new resident is nearly an inch long — barely the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce, but he's poised for rapid weight gain now that his basic physical structure is in place. He's also starting to look more and more human. His embryonic "tail" is now completely gone and his body parts — including organs, muscles, and nerves — are kicking into gear.His eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. He has earlobes, and by week's end, the inner workings of his ears will be complete. His upper lip is fully formed, too, and his mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The tips of his fingers are slightly enlarged where his touch pads are developing. All major joints — his shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles — are working, enabling your baby to move his limbs. As for his heart, it has divided into four chambers now, and the valves have started to develop. External sex organs are there, but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks.

8 weeks

For all wondering: I am well. I have been a little sick, but nothing too bad. Sophy is walking most of the time now. She still drops into a crawl when she wants to go REALLY fast. Like when she notices a baby gate left open or when she's chasing one of Aunt Trish's cats. Man does she love those cats! She calls them "meow meow" instead of kitty. I think it's cute. She also calls the dogs "arf arf". He most favorite thing to do right now is talk on the phone. She will sneak away with my cell and try to call people. She has only suceeded twice. So if you get a random call from me with lots of silence chances are it's actually Sophy. When she can't find, or get away with, my phone she'll just pretend. She loves her toy phone and often she'll just use a toy or her hand.
I talked to my doctor finally about the ultrasound. It took FOREVER to hear back from her. Anyway she said that the ultrasound is often off on dating that early, so, she said to stick to the original due date until later on when they do the 20 week ultrasound. Ummm......ok. I guess that makes sense. So according to my old due date of April 30th I am now 8 weeks.
Here's what Baby Center says about the baby:
Your baby is now 5/8 of an inch long, about the size of a kidney bean. She's constantly moving and shifting, although you won't be able to feel these womb wiggles for several weeks yet. Her embryonic tail is disappearing, and her eyelids practically cover her eyes. Still slightly webbed, her fingers and toes are growing longer. Her arms have lengthened, too, and her hands are now flexed at the wrist and meet over her heart. Her knee joints have formed, and her feet may be long enough to meet in front of her body. With her trunk straightening out, her head is more erect. Breathing tubes extend from her throat to the branches of her developing lungs. The nerve cells in her brain are also branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. Though you may be daydreaming about your baby as one gender or another, the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl.

Ummm...Six Weeks?

I went in for my first Ultrasound today. I had the best tech EVER! She was nice and actually talked to me about what I was looking at. Of course it helped that she was my friend from church. Thanks Kacy! According to the ultrasound I am only 6 weeks one day along! That explains the low levels of hormones and the lack of symptoms! That means that the levels are actually really good and not low at all! Yea! I think I'll have to go back in two weeks to try again. We did see a heart beat, but couldn't really hear it. So here is a picture of my little grain of rice, yes that's right, it doesn't even look like a peanut yet! So the new due date is May 9th! Now I just have to wait for the doctor to call and confirm all of this! Yea for Good news. And yes, it's just ONE! No twins for me.

Extra Extra....Read all about it!

My 7th week of pregnancy

(I'm writing this but I won't post it until after we tell everyone. So if you stumble upon it after the fact don't think you missed it. I just want to have a record of what this pregnancy is like. I'd like this baby to have something different from Sophy.)
Ok, I've finished the 7th week of pregnancy. So I'm in the 8th week. I hate the way the count it according to the time you've completed not the time you're in. It makes it feel like a whole week has to pass before you get credit for it! Grrr! Anyway I still don't feel pregnant. I'm REALLY tired, but that is really it. It's so different from my pregnancy with Sophy. I was so sick all the time with her. I think that it must be a boy. My back is really hurting though. I went to the chiropracter today. It was nice. I go again on wednesday. I have my ultrasound on wednesday. After the ultrasound we'll finally know if everything is ok. I'm ready to know that everything is fine. Then we have the joy of telling everyone. Ok so here's what babycenter says about the baby right now:
How your baby's growing: Your baby still appears to have a small tail (actually, it's an extension of his tailbone), which will disappear in the next few weeks. But that's the only thing getting smaller. Now almost half an inch long — roughly the size of a raspberry — he has elbow joints and distinct, slightly webbed fingers and toes. In his oversized head, both hemispheres of his brain are developing. His teeth and the inside of his mouth are forming, and his ears continue to develop. Eyelid folds partially cover his tiny peepers, which already have some color, and the tip of that nose you'll be tweaking someday is emerging. His skin is paper-thin and his veins are clearly visible.Your little one also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. His liver is busy producing red blood cells, and a loop of your baby's growing intestines is bulging into his umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from his tiny body. You can't feel his gyrations yet, but your baby is like a little jumping bean, moving in fits and starts around his watery home.

Sophy's stroller.

For Sophy's birthday present my sister Heather's family gave her a special gift. It is a baby doll, a infant carrier for the baby doll, and a stroller for the baby doll. I think sophy is a little confused as to what they are supposed to be used for. I have often had to help Sophy take the infant carrier off her head after she's done wearing it as a hat. She also kept trying to stand in the stroller. I put the Baby doll into the stroller and pushed it around the room to show her what it was made for then I gave the stroller over to her. What did she do? She promptly took the baby doll out of it, for a minute I thought she was going to hug the baby..aww sweet, right? Nope, she threw the dolly on the floor, on her head I might add, and proceeded to climb into the stroller herself. So I gave it up as a lost cause and closed the stroller and put it away until she was a little older. As she was playing in the living room today she found it under the couch, opened it (still not sure how she figure out to latch it), and climbed in. She even put her legs in the straps! Do you think maybe she wants to leave the house?

Our Little Climber!

Sophy has become such a climber! As she's grown it's just gotten worse because she can reach more! So now I keep catching her climbing onto or on things all over the house. I decided to take a few pictures of our little monkey on the things that seem to be her favorite to climb on. So here is Sophy the Monkey Child! She has also started saying certain things alot. She started saying "dadu" Kinda like Mork on Mork and Mindy "nanu nanu". Only it's "Dadu dadu". It cracks us up! She says "yeah" a lot too. Not "yes" just "yeah". She'll babble a lot like she's talking about something very important in a different language and the stop and look at you and say "yeah?". It's very funny! She has also started saying "mena mena mena" which just as it sounds is gibberish. It's important to us because it sounds just like Hana did when she was babbling. All you Dallas folks know what I'm talking about! It's like a flash back, only Sophy is smaller.

SO BUSY!

We have been so very busy around here. I feel without any time to post. I have so many pictures to show and so little time to go through them. Between traveling, doing my errunds, cleaning the house and cooking once Home, Sophy's doctor's appointment, and my Homemade gormet party I feel like it's been a whirl wind month. So here's the updates:

Once home we spent a lot of time cleaning and shopping and getting everything unpacked. We Had a homemade gormet party last night. It was a meal making party where everyone came over with their meat and made 5 meals to take home and freeze. A lot like suppertyme, but cheeper and easier. It was a lot of fun having everyone over here cooking. I placed my homemade gormet order today and can't wait to get my yummy mixes! For everyone that didn't get to come we having one at Lisa's house next! You'll have to ask her about the date.
I took Sophy to her one year appointment yesterday. She got her shots, boy she didn't like that! The MMR shot was the worst! She screemed SO LOUD! It was not fun. She was sleepy, but refused to sleep the rest of the day, but she slept well last night! Here are the official stats:
Height: 25%
Weight 25%
Head: 95%
So she's a little girl with a giant head! He said it's a little early to do real milk since her tummy didn't like it, so we are supposed to try again at 15 months. He said since milk based formula was fine she isn't lactose intolerant, but ratehr since she's small it'll just take her longer to be ready to digest milk. He also said she was beautiful and right on track developmentally! Yea! Go Sophy!
It looks like Jeff will be traveling in October, not to Japan, but traveling none the less. So he'll be gone 4 weeks int he next two months! Yuck! Of course he'll have all of december off so I guess I can't complain too much!
Sophy is currently trying to climb out of her wagon (which she climbed into by herself) in the window sill which is NOT big enough for her to fit into. The whole time going "mama, help". Help is the new word today. On sunday she started saying "baby". She seems to be adding words left and right anymore. Earlier today she was crawling under the piano bench and she started crawling on her feet with her butt in the air. With her bottom in the air like that the bench wasn't tall enough and got stuck on her. So she's crawling alone pulling the bench behind her looking at me like "why can't I go any faster?". It was very funny.
I thought I'd add some pictures of Sophy's birthday party. It went really well. She loved her cake. Thought everyone would like to see the pictures.

My friend Sara's new business

Hey everyone! My friend Sara has started a new business and I thought you all might like to see it. Check it out online at www.photocardcafe.com. If you want, put a link to this website on your blog if you have one. It would really help her out!

A little update.

We have been traveling for over a week now. We started off on monday the 7th heading to Omaha. While Jeff worked at the base Sophy and I spent lots of time with Momo and Popo. Otherwise known as Jeff's grandparents. We went to the zoo, boystown, the sac museum, the wildlife preserve drive through safari, and much more! Sophy had a blast hanging out with her great-grandparents. It's so sweet to see how much they love her! And she loves them right back!
On the next monday Tammy came to pick up Sophy and me and take me to Kansas City to visit there with her and Ron, Jeff had to stay to work. We spent time with Katie and Molly and we went to the Children's Farmstead here in Overland Park. Sophy and Molly loved it. They got to go on a wagon ride and pet the animals. On Sheep in particular REALLY liked Tammy! It was funny. Sophy even rode on a goat. I have lots more to tell about our trip and I plan to tell all about it, but I can't put up pictures until I get home, so it do it justice I will wait till I get home. Edit: I'm home. Time to tell the rest! We went to Chuckie Cheese with Katie and Molly on Friday. The girls loved it. I was scared Sophy wouldn't like it because she wasn't to happy with the rides at Incrediable pizza the one time I took her there. This time she loved the rides. We doubled up on Sophy and Molly so that they could ride twice as much! Sophy liked the tractor that played Old McDonald. She kept singing "e.. e.. e.. e.. i.. e.. i.. e.. i.. e.. i.. e.. e.. o.."! It got old after a while. Katie and I took pictures and made sure that we won tickets so we could get prizes for the girls. It was a lot of fun. Good Idea Katie! On the following monday we went to Katies Ultrasound with her. It was really neat being on the other side of things. She's having a boy! Yea. Just what she wanted! Congrats Katie!

A few more pictures

Here are a few more of our portraits from yesterday. They are all so good that these aren't even the ones I ordered! Can you believe it! Just wait to see what we actually ordered. Sophy is doing really well. I was afraid she'd have a tummy ache after all the cake yesterday. I tell you that girl can eat whatever she wants! Tummy of iron like her daddy and matabolism like her mommy used to have.
Sophy is talking up a storm. It amazes me how even if she's not saying an actual word she still sounds like she's talking. All her little babble sounds like sllables and consenants, we just don't understand her! It's the international baby language I suppose. It is just so funny when she looks at you and starts in telling you something with such a serious look on her face. You just know she's trying so hard to tell you something, I just wish I knew what was going on in that head of hers! She's also a lot of fun to play with. She can officially take a few unsteady steps. She loves to hold toys in her teeth and to pick something up and say "this" and expect an answer as to what the item is. She loves a game Uncle Aaron calls "merchant" where she hands you something then takes it back and hands you something else and then takes it back and so on. Often repeating toys in the process.
Here are a list of her current vocabulary:
Mama
Dada
Nana
Baba (bottle)
This
Tish (trish)
Awon (aaron)
Hi
Bye
Uh Oh
Duck
Ducky
Jeff (not said often)
That