Bouncy Chair

Sophie loves bouncing. Her favorite thing to do is lay in someone's arms as they bounce on the exercise ball. She also loves her bouncy chair as long as someone is bouncing it rhythmically for her. We took the toy bar off of it since we use it so much - for ease of getting her in and out of it.

On Sunday, we were invited to dinner with a couple in the ward who had a baby almost exactly one year before Sophie was born. This is convenient because they know almost exactly (calendarly, that is) when Sophie will begin new tricks. They asked us if she had started reaching for toys yet, and I said no, but thought, "maybe it's because we haven't given her the opportunity to try it".

So the next day we attached her toy bar back onto her bouncy chair, and it turns out she loves it. Yep, we've been stifling our baby's intellectual growth for our own convenience. Luckily she's pretty resilient, and I think she's caught up to her age level in the past 2 days.

Sophie Loves Her Papa

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Thanksgiving dinner was at my parent's house, and we had a big 18-person dinner, even without 6 of my immediate family members (2 brothers , 2 sisters-in-law, & a neice & a nephew).

On Friday, I got to spend the afternoon with Robin, Tucker, and Charlotte. I was feeding Sophie there, and I made a comment about her to Tucker:

Abbie: "I smell a baby bottom."
Tucker: "I smell a baby top."

That evening, we headed back to my parent's for Grandma's 80th birthday party. It was quite a celebration with all of her children and a large amount of her grand- and great-grandchildren in attendance.

On Saturday, Jake headed back to Tucson for the UofA/ASU game, and Sophie and I hung out in Mesa until Mike, Stephanie, Mabel, and Oliver came home from their vacation. Mabel and Oliver are always very nice to Sophie, and Oliver even touched her head this time.

Here are some pictures from Saturday. We were playing in the field at Nana's house.

Alarm Clock Mystery

We have 2 alarm clock radios in our room. One is on our nightstand next to our bed, and is used as a clock and a morning alarm. The other is in Sophie's swing and is used solely for white noise. They are plugged into different outlets on opposite walls of the room. Neither is connected to an outlet controlled by a lightswitch or anything.

Here's the weird part: Whenever our radio alarm turns on, Sophie's radio turns off. It's not just the alarm, it's whenever the radio is on on that clock. And Sophie's noise will start right back up again when we turn our radio off. So we have to turn the alarm off right away in the morning, because Sophie wakes up the instant her white noise isn't playing anymore. If we turn the alarm radio off soon enough, her noise will come on quickly and she'll go right back to sleep.

Can anyone explain this?

Blog Confusion

That's it. You are all grounded from seeing a new picture of Sophie today. I feel like a terrible mom for taking pictures that make it look like I covered my baby in laundry. I feel an actual blog entry to set things right is in order (not just the corrective comments made yesterday).

WE DID NOT BURY OUR BABY IN THE LAUNDRY.

Jake had an empty laundry basket, so he put Sophie in it. He then walked over to the dryer, pulled out the clean baby laundry, and placed it in the basket BEHIND Sophie. There was no laundry on top of her. He could see her while he was holding the basket.

I took the picture and posted it on my blog before I realized that it looked like she was completely covered. However, if you will notice, there is light shining on her face in the picture. We only have an overhead light, so there's no way she could have been covered.

Have I answered everyone's questions? Do you all feel better now? Well you shouldn't, cause she looks extra cute today, but you'll never see it.

Laundry Time

Sophie is such a good helper.

Today, she helped her dad fold the laundry.

My Poor Little Sophie

Sophie already went through 3 outfits this morning. All before 9 o'clock. She's having a hard time keeping her breakfast(s) down. It doesn't seem to hurt her, it just makes her sad and exhausted.

Here she is now.

She's wearing nothing but a diaper, and is taking a nap, swaddled in a nice warm fleece blanket, listening to her radio. And yes, she's on the kitchen table so that I could eat breakfast.

Cutie Pie

The Best Deal In Town

All of the children's books at Savers are 69 cents. We have found several brand new or barely used books there, and have greatly increased our book collection. We even found 6 or 7 on Monday - 50% off day. It's hard to beat a new kids book for 34 cents.

Check out our finds!

For Family Night yesterday; Sophie, Jake, & I headed to the park. Sophie & I walked around the park trail and hung out on a quilt while Jake played basketball. We had a great time.










Sophie tried some tummy time, but was too tired to practice lifting her head up.

Big Day on Saturday

Sophie, Jake, & I ended up at Old Navy on Saturday, only to find ourselves in the middle of a sale. All of their clearance items were an additional 50% off the lowest sales price.

I got some cotton pants for $3.50 and Sophie got this cute sweater and a shirt.

Why Interrupt a Good Thing?

We got done with our errands this morning at about 11:45.

It's now 2:00 and this is what Sophie looks like:

I figure if she's happy, why move her?

Baby Faces

She got tired of the photo session at the end.

Kitchen Improvements

Jake and I finally decided to update our kitchen table. The old table was our first purchase together, and we both hated it. Hmmm, guess there wasn't a lot of communication going on there during that purchase.

Before
After

We both really love our new look though. (And I've started to sneak some winter decorations into the house, as you can see from the table centerpiece)

The best part: We sold the old table & chairs for $50 and got the new table for free, and the chairs for $30. A $20 profit, in true Jake & Abbie fashion.

Camoflauge

Has anyone seen my baby?
She's missing.

Congratulations

Jake's brother Adam got married last weekend to Michelle!

Not only am I happy for them, but this really helps out the women in this family. Before I married into the family, Jake's mom was outnumbered 5 to 1 - men to women. And before this year, we were still severely outnumbered. But 2006 brought the addition of Pia, Sophie, & Michelle. It's now 5 to 5. We finally caught up with them. And the 5 of us are a lot stronger than the 5 of them. (check out these muscles)

Halloween Party 2006

A Chef with a Bun right out of the Oven

The 3rd Annual Halloween Costume Party was a success. The turnout was smaller than years past, due to several friends moving out of state, but we had a good time. Also, a baby can keep a host pretty busy, so not as many pictures as normal were taken.