8 months old

Dear Sophia,

You are growing fast my darling. You are getting to be such a big girl, you don't look like a little baby anymore. You still aren't crawling yet, but if we put you on your hands and knees you'll stay there and rock for a few seconds. Maybe one of these days you'll get it, but if not that's ok too!

A couple of days ago, you learned to drink from a straw. What a big girl! I'm so proud of you. You are eating more "big girl" food these days. I think you are over purees. You love to pick things up with your two little fingers, you are a pro now. You are eating meat too, you love chicken! I gave you a piece of broccoli last night for the first time, I don't think you are a fan.

You are babbling a ton, but you still haven't said any real words yet. We get a lot of babababa, boof (that one always makes me laugh), papapa, dadada. I'm still crossing my fingers you'll say mama first ;)

We have been signing to you for a few months now. You haven't signed back to us yet, but I think you will soon. You are starting to make movements with your hands, but nothing that resembles a sign. So far we are teaching you the sign for milk, more, eat, and bath. I can't wait until you can start communicating with us!

You are such a sweet, smiley girl. We are so lucky to have you as our daughter. I love you more than you will ever know.

Uncle Gregg giving you kisses

Love,

Mommy

Pigtails

I can't believe Sophia's hair is long enough to put up in pigtails. She looks so darn cute with them in. It makes me a little sad though because it makes her look like a big girl :(

All of her loot :)

I'd say she is just a tad spoiled :p

Feeling very blessed

I can't believe Christmas is over already. I love Christmas, it is defintely my favorite holiday. I love the excitement and anticipation, cooking and baking, shopping, and all of the family time that goes along with it. Let me just say, this year really lived up to the hype. The only thing that was missing was my mom being here, that part was hard, but hopefully she will be here soon!

This year was especially great, because it was our little bug's 1st Christmas. She was definetely spoiled by everyone. She has more toys than she knows what to do with. Pop bought her a toy box, so now all of her new toys have a place to go and won't be scattered around the house. Sophia and Bittles had to test it out first :)

We spent Christmas eve at Sophia's godfather's house eating tamales and spending time with family. Sophia had fun being with all of her cousins. She even played dolls with Emily and Natalie. We let her stay up later than usual so she could hang out with everyone.

We woke up bright and early Christmas morning, Sophia drank her morning bottle and then we dug right into the presents. Sophia had a blast even though she had no idea what was going on. The paper and boxes were the best part for her of course :)

Christmas is different to me now that I am a parent. I know she won't "get it" for a couple more years, but it was so much fun watching her have fun. I am so excited to start traditions and make it special for our girl like my parents did for me.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas as much as we did. Here are some pictures from our day. Oh and these were taken from my new camera Rudy suprised me with :)

Uncle Gregg

Tio Domingo

I hate this picture of me but she just looks so darn cute :)

With Pop

My girl loves her books!

Laughing with Aunt Jenni

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Taking it easy and Christmas cookies

This weekend is going to be a lazy one. Rudy is leaving this afternoon to go hunting with the guys, so it's just me and my girl. We both are feeling kinda yucky right now, so it will be good for us to stay home, snuggle up and try to get better, quickly!

I *attempted* to make Christmas cutout cookies this week. Horrible idea when you have a sick, teething baby. It was just bad all the way around. I threw the dough together in a frenzy, trying to get done as quickly as possible while Sophia whined the whole time. I put the dough in the fridge and layed her down for a nap

Once she woke up and was in a semi-better mood, we rolled out the dough and started cutting away!

The recipe said to put parchment paper on cookie sheets, place the cookies, then back for about 10 min. Easy right? Well for some unknown reason, I thought parchment paper was the same as wax paper. It's not! A few min after the cookies were in the oven, I started smelling something weird, like a burning smell. I opened the oven and smoke started billowing out! Uh oh, glad I pulled them out before a fire was started! I quickly threw them on the cookie sheet and put them in the oven., minus the wax paper :)

I took the cookies out and let them cool while I made the frosting. It was a mess and didn't really taste that good either. I need to find a better recipe. Here is the final product, they ended up coming out looking like a 2nd grader made them lol, oh well. There's always next year!

Oh and here is a little bonus video from yesterday, we went outside to enjoy the sunshine for a bit. It did us both some good as you can see :)

Early Christmas present

A few weeks ago, Rudy told me that I was getting my Christmas present early and to be looking for it in the mail. I was curious as to what it could be and kept an eye out everyday when the mail came. Well, it finally arrived this past Thursday...

I was so suprised! That only left me with two days I had to wait :) I had never been to see The Nutcracker before, but always wanted to go. Rudy and I have talked about going when we first started dating 5 years ago, but for some reason we never went. He told me he had already asked his mom to watch Sophia, so we were all set!

He had to work, but went in a little early and got off just in time. We dropped our love bug off and headed out to The Bass Hall! It was decorated beautifully for Christmas, I wish I would have taken more pictures. I love that place, I am in awe every time I go. We quickly found our seats and waited for the show to start.

The show was amazing just like I thought it would be. I can't wait to take Sophia in a few years. I would like to make a tradition out of it and bring her every year. I think she would love it! There were so many little girls there all dressed up in their big dresses, bows, tights and fake pearls. They were all carrying around their dollies, it was really cute.

It was a great Christmas present and I am so thankful that I have a husband who is so thoughtful. It was so unexpected, such a great surprise. I know you will be reading this, so thanks again babe...I love you :)

In other news, Sophia is starting to stand! She wants to pull herself up on everything. She hasn't mastered it quite yet though. She also made a small attempt to crawl last weekend...uh oh, I thought the Christmas tree would be safe this year. Maybe not...

The Christmas season has officially begun!

Saturday was the annual Christmas parade and Christmas on the Square. It was also Sophia's very first time to be on a float! It went ok seeing as it was waaaaaayyyy past her naptime and it was pretty chilly, but I guess it could have been worse. She enjoyed being outside and seeing all the people though.

We got there a couple of hours early to set up and decorate the float, Sophia decided to munch on some leaves while we waited :)

Everyone loved her of course, every person we passed on the street ooooed and ahhhhed over her. She did look pretty cute in her hat I must say!

After the parade, we came home so Sophia could take a quick nap and then we thought we would go to Christmas on the Square. Well, that didn't really work out as planned. We got there and it was freezing! We had her bundled up in her jacket and tucked her in to her stroller with a big blanket but it was just too cold. We walked up one side of the square then turned around and headed back to the car. There's always next year I suppose!

I have 95% of my Christmas shopping done, presents wrapped and Christmas cards out in the mail! I'm ready! I am so excited for my little bug's first Christmas :)

7 months old

My sweet girl turned 7 months old yesterday.

::Sigh::

The time seems to fly by faster and faster every month. I can't believe it's already time for another letter...

Dear Sophia,

This last month with you has been so much fun. We celebrated your first Halloween, your first Thanksgiving, and you got your first 2 teeth. I can't believe how quickly you are growing up right before my eyes. You babble all day long, maybe I'll hear "mama" sometime soon :)

I thought by now your might be crawling around everywhere, but you still have no desire. I can sit you on the floor with your toys and you are perfectly content to sit there and play. That's ok with me, at least I don't have to worry about you pulling the Christmas tree down this year. You are a pro at sitting though!

Some of your favortite things these days:
Food-Anything and everything, you love it all! But sweet potatoes are probably your favortite
Paper-You love to crinkle and tear it up, it's such a fun toy :)
Bittles, Harley, and Hogan-Since you noticed them, you can't get enough. I feel so sorry for Bittles, she has lost a lot of fur lately because you love to pull it out!
Books-You love to look at them, touch them, and even eat them too since everythng goes in the mouth these days! You love for us to read to you, I hope you are a reader like me when you get older!
Mickey Mouse-I turn it on in the mornings sometimes and your face lights up and you grin from ear to ear. I think you love his voice.
Bath time-It's so fun for both of us. You have a blast in the tub and I love watching you. You make me laugh every night.
People-You just love people in general, I don't think you have ever met a stranger (which will be a problem later missy!) You smile at everyone and let anyone hold you.

You are one happy, smiley kid love bug. I am so lucky. You rock my socks. I love you.

Love,
Your mama