'Tis the season...

....to be jolly! What a wonderful season is here! Despite today being a very dreary, misty day outside, it can't overpower the Christmas season. I love this time of year. I actually spent last night making cookies for our department Christmas party tomorrow night. I have finished my shopping and nearly all the presents are wrapped under the tree. A few days ago, we got to catch Sophia's first interaction with the tree.

Playing on the floor with mommy

"I think you have something in your teeth mommy!"

Sophia is now getting up on her hands and knees and has started rocking forward and backward. It doesn't last long... :)

But, she's also now sitting herself up from her belly. We went in to her room the other night when she woke up crying. Found her sitting up in the bed. Lowered her bed in case she gets any ideas to start pulling up!

Fascinated with all aspects of the tree...

What a perfect gift for this Christmas!!

I couldn't help it....

I know I will be chastised by some for changing the layout straight to Christmas, bypassing Thanksgiving, but I am so looking forward to this first Christmas with our sweet little one. So, for you who "tsk tsk"... don't worry, it's all gonna be a'right. :) And I couldn't wait to get "Breath of Heaven" on the playlist. I actually haven't excluded Thanksgiving because every single day since April 28th has been a constant prayer of thanksgiving to God for our blessed little one! Even on days like today when she doesn't want to nap and I have 1,000 things to do.

Could they be any more precious??
These are some pics we took at Olan Mills in September.
And yes, we have the copyright release :)

First Halloween

Here are some pictures of our first Halloween with Sophia!

Getting ready to go to the South Texas Maize just outside of Hondo, TX. There were many more things for kids to do when they are older than Sophia, but we got some good pictures out of it!

Great "cowch" for photo opps! :)

She's wearing a John Deere bib, but I don't think that was a John Deere tractor!

Our next stop was to Matthews' Learning Center where Sophia goes during the week. Carolyn had set up a wonderful place for fall pictures out front!

Playing with our friend Amelia.

Cutest little ladybug...EVER! :)

Getting in some fun time with Mrs. Matthews


The last stop of the night was to our church where they had a Fall Festival. They had lots of stuff for the older kids too, but here was a photo opportunity that was set up. They were taking and printing pictures for visitors for FREE!

Ready to ride off into the sunset....

The Wayward Blogger, or, how I never imagined how busy I would be after having a baby.

Wow, I'm so ashamed that it has been so long since I've blogged! There has been so much happening that I don't know where to start.

Six months ago, at this moment, our precious baby girl joined us in the world! It is so amazing how fast time flies. Everyone says this, and I always agreed, but now it seems to have increased speed exponentially! I am so grateful that we were able to bring Sophia into the world safely. There are so many tragedies that I hear about, that it breaks my heart, and I thank God everyday for our little miracle.

We had our 6 month check up on Monday. She weighs 16 lbs, 2 oz. and is 25.25 inches long. She is right at/around the 50th percentile for everything, except she's in the 99th percentile for preciousness :) She is sitting very well on her own now and may be on the verge of crawling. She's able to get her legs up under her, but hasn't quite yet made the final lift. And she has 2 bottom teeth that have erupted seemingly overnight!

About 2 weeks ago, we started rice cereal. She really was not very interested in the actual cereal, but did really enjoy chewing on that spoon! We kept at it and she did just fine. But yesterday, we found something she really liked! Carrots. She opened her mouth wide for each spoon she saw. It was so much fun. Tonight we did it again and she was just as willing. Pictures of the first feeding are below.

Other than that, everything is going just fine. We are having such a great time with our little girl. This weekend is Halloween (and we get to turn back our clocks!). Sophia is going to be the ladybug from Children's Place. I'm so glad we found it on sale and it was the last one. I had been looking at it for a while. Tomorrow she will get to dress up at the sitter's for their Halloween and fall celebration. Pictures should be on Carolyn's website soon. We also plan to go to another pumpkin patch on Saturday morning, this time with daddy. And Saturday afternoon we have a cook out at the Matthews' and our Harvest Festival at church. Whew! Glad I get an extra hour to recuperate!

With pawpaw in Fredericksburg, TX

Is that the look of innocence? I doubt it!

Our first feeding - much more interested in teething on the spoon!

At nawnaw's house in Waco. Sitting so pretty.

At the pumpkin patch looking for another teether!

Nana and Pawpaw at the pumpkin patch!
Wish we would have known Tracy was there that day!

5 Months Old

Baby girl is now 5 months old! Where did the time go? It is flying by way too fast and I just want it to slow down! She's growing so much. We got a weight check last Saturday and she weighs 15 lbs, 6 oz. She is up from 13 lbs, 9 oz from 5 weeks prior, but it was on a different scale, so not sure if it's exact. But, looks like she's still growing! And she has the sweetest disposition. Every morning I wake up to a smiling girl. I'm savoring every smile because I know there may (probably will) be a day when she wakes up hollering for me to get out!! :) She's starting to sit in the "tripod" position for several seconds by herself. She's rolling all over the place. She starts on her back at one end of the crib and ends up on her belly at the other end. We've had the crud here the past couple of days. She is not happy when I have to suction her nose, in fact, she screams like I've just given her a shot! Hopefully this will pass soon. But, 5 months without sickness is pretty good to me! We have not started cereal yet. I'm holding off as long as I can. It's so tempting, but we're planing to wait until just before her 6th month birthday at the end of October.

Here's some pictures!

Wild thing....this hair has been sticking straight up all day!

Here is the 5 month old baby girl wearing her other Baylor outfit.

Last weekend, we participated in the Uvalde Walk for Autism. It was nice to have hubby and baby girl with me. She's ready to go!

Always happy!

Our family!

Pooped at the end of the day, but always
happy to have her chicken to chew on!

In other news, we bought a bigger vehicle. I've been in love with Toyota's Sequoia for a long time, so we found one a couple of weeks ago and came home with it. It's big and spacious, and I can put the stroller in the back without having to struggle! Can't wait to travel in it in a week to our friend's wedding in Fredericksburg!

Everything else is going well. We're looking forward to a quiet weekend here at home to catch up on some rest!