Outside is Fun

Jake spent the afternoon doing Man Stuff today. He was up on the roof patching tiles that had blown away during our wind storm earlier this week AND fixing the evap. Sophie and I enjoyed our time outside on our make-shift grass (a foam pad with a quilt draped over it).

She's Old Enough for Her Own Computer, Right?

This morning we found a "laptop" at a garage sale for Sophie. I sat her in front of it and helped her push some buttons, and then left her alone, and she totally figured it out.

She'll push a button, and it'll make a noise and then sing a song, and when the music stops, she hits another botton. She's all grown up working at her little computer.

Tooth # 2 (with Proof!)

Jake and I were determined to get a clear shot of Sophie's pretty little mouth, and we were especially motivated today, because tooth #2 broke through.

Here it is!

The one on her right (our left) came in first, and now you can just barely make out a little tiny bud on her left.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Sophie, Jake, and I had a fun time together as a family at the Diamondbacks game this afternoon. Sophie LOVED laying out with us, she kicked her feet up and took in the atmosphere.

AND, while we were there, we saw 4 Elders and 4 Gin Blossoms (they played a show in the outfield after the game, but I spotted them just walking casually among us commoners). All in all, it was a pretty exciting day.

As you can probably imagine, Sophie was wiped out by the end of the game, and fell asleep in her car seat as we were leaving the parking lot.

Journal Jar #5: Birthdays

(Here is a picture of my Journal Jar, so you know that I really do pick out a random question each week from an actual jar)

What was my favorite birthday?
What was the best birthday gift I ever got?

Well, my favorite birthday is an obvious one - I met my husband at my 22nd birthday party.

However, the reason I had a party in the first place was because, ever since my 17th birthday, I have had HORRIBLE birthdays. I know, I know, if you're expecting something to be awesome, it's bound to disappoint. But I was just on a terrible birthday streak, so I decided to do something about it, and threw myself a party. The funny thing about it is that the party was actually 2 days before my birthday, and my actual birthday turned out to really suck. But, at least I got to spend the day thinking about that new cute boy I met, and hope that he'd call sometime.

As far as my favorite gift, I can't really think of anything. My 2 favorite childhood gifts both came at Christmas (my birds in high school and permission to get my ears pierced when I was 9).

What about you?

Scary Toy & A Brave Girl

This video was taken the same day as the "sitting pretty" blog photos were taken. Enjoy!

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

A Tooth! A Tooth!

Yesterday Jake felt a tiny little tooth bud in Sophie's mouth. So tiny that it wasn't even visible yet. This morning it was barely visible, and extra cute.

Today she also cannot nap. Is it the tooth? It's my only guess since she's usually an AWESOME napper. I even broke like 10 rules at our house this morning and gave her a complete 2-armed swaddle, layed her in her swing, cranked it up to speed #3, and turned on the music just to get her to sleep. She hasn't slept in her swing for months (and for a 5-month-old, that's like 1/3 of her life), but she would have none of her crib this morning. Anyway, I tried to digitally capture the little tooth, but have you ever tried to take an up-close picture of the inside of a baby's mouth? Not easy. Here's what I came up with (excluding all the extra-blurry pics):

And no, you cannot see teeth in any of these pictures.
Even if you look carefully.
Sorry.

Sitting Pretty

Spring Break (Part 3: Home)

PART 3: HOME

We spent the last third of our vacation here at home, where Sophie learned some new things about being a big girl.


She seems to understand how to open her mouth for the food, but after a couple minutes of feeding, she starts to try to suck the spoon. She thinks big girl food is delicious though.

This is her trying to figure out what Jake just put around her neck (pre-eating)

Journal Jar #4: Talents

What talents do I have that I want to strengthen?

I really enjoy sewing and making crafts, and both of those things are things I've been trying to improve lately. I always try to keep a project going, so that I am working on improving my skills every week.

I also can play the piano, and though I am not good at it, it is something I've been trying to strengthen lately. I even worked hard enough on a hymn to play it during opening exercises of the Young Women Sunday class one week.

Spring Break (Part 2: Mexico)

PART 2: MEXICO

We had a great time in Mexico. Nothing beats waking up to a nice sunny morning at the beach, walking down to the sand, and buying freshly made burritos for breakfast. We enjoyed the sand, the sun, the water, and the time with our family.

Sophie & Jake heading to the beach

Just hanging out with the family

Sophie sporting her new shades

Mabel & Sophie kicking it in the motorhome

Practicing her standing skills

Spring Break (Part 1: Mesa)

Our Spring Break can be broken down in to 3 parts.

PART ONE: MESA

We began our vacation last Thursday with a trip to Mesa. It was a relaxing time with family, and Sophie got to spend time with her grandmas, her friend Kirt (Sophie is 2 1/2 months younger, but weighs the same - she looks much chunkier than him in these pictures) and some semi-cousins (Robin's kids).

This is Sophie absolutely giddy as she plays with her grandma.
Grandma can make her laugh and even squeal.

We all had a great time until Sunday when I came down with some crazy flu. My body decided not to keep anything I offered it for 24 hours, and then I just felt generally lousy for the next 48. It wasn't so bad. It's just annoying to not be able to eat anything. Luckily no one else caught it, and I was feeling well enough to go to Mexico on Tuesday (see part 2 tomorrow).

House Guest

This is my front door. I have an awesome spring wreath on it to celebrate the season. However, if you look closely, you will see that the wreath, while made of artificial twigs, has some real twigs attached to it now.

While we were in Mesa for the weekend, a neighbor bird decided that my screen door would be the perfect place to build its house. And while we really don't use this door much, I'm not sure what to think of my new house guest. There aren't any eggs in it yet, so it must have been built in just the last couple of days.

What do you think?

Journal Jar #3: What Is Your Full Name?

What is your full name?
Why were you named that?
If you could change it to anything, what would it be?

My name is Abigail Kristin.

I was named after Abigail Adams, the 2nd First Lady of the United States. My mom really liked her and respected her, and so that is where I got my name. I just found out this year that my middle name was chosen because it's the name of my dad's favorite cousin.

I used to not like my name (as probably most elementary school kids did). The reason I didn't like it that much was because I didn't know any other Abbies growing up. I thought that my parents picked an outdated name, so I was embarrassed by it. Little did I realize that that was a GOOD thing. I remember wishing my name was Julie when I was a kid. I thought Julie was a fabulous name, and I envied the Julies I knew. My liking of this name came partially from my favorite movie.

I now really like my name, and definitely wouldn't change it (Although I did change my last name 3 years ago - mostly because I had a hard time writing it in cursive. Oh, and cause I got married). I like that Abbie/Abigail is extremely popular for a baby's name now. When I was born, it was ranked like 246, and now it's like #3. I like meeting 1-year-olds with my name.

The Pacifier

Last week, Jake and I were taking Sophie for a walk and discussing her pacifier. We had intended on intruducing Sophie to a pacifier to help soothe her to sleep in her early months of life. We really wanted her weaned by 5 or 6 months old.

Lucky for us, Sophie never really got the hang of keeping the thing in her mouth, so she wasn't a full-time user (Just a social sucker). She did, however, NEED it to take a nap or go to bed, and it was about the only thing to calm her in the car when she was fussy or tired.

So as time wore on (speed back up to last week's walk now) we began to feel feelings of regret for introducing the pacifier. It was approaching weaning time, and this girl is addicted to the thing. Plus, she was having a hard time soothing herself to back sleep if she dropped it, since she needed the pacifier to help her sleep. But at the same time, we really appreciated her pacifier for helping her sleep and for helping her stay calm in the car.

So, imagine our surprise when, about 2 days after this conversation, Sophie decided she just didn't need it anymore. I put her down for a nap one day without it (cause it was in the other room and I just didn't feel like going to get it), and after that, any time we tried to give it to her, she just spit it back out. She just doesn't need it anymore.

She set her own pacifier timeline. I still take one with me wherever we go "just in case", but she hasn't had one in her mouth at all for about a week now. It made me realize/remember that this girl is on a schedule of her own. She decides to do things, and then just does them. She sat up all of a sudden one day, and she dropped the pacifier cold turkey. It made me decide to let her drop the swaddle when she's ready. She obviously knows better than we do.

5 Months - And Look What She Can Do!

Sophie decided yesterday that she can sit up all by herself.

March 6th

March 6th, 2004

March 6th, 2005

March 6th, 2006

March 6th, 2007

Today is my 3rd anniversary. I am a very lucky girl. I love you Jake.

(To see our story, go here, here, here, & here)

Journal Jar #2: High School Teachers

Who Was My Favorite High School Teacher?

My favorite high school teacher was probably Mr. Webster. I had him 2 different semesters for English. I always did really good in his class, and it was his class that helped me realize that I have a talent in writing.

I also liked him as a teacher because, even though I was SUPER shy, and probably only talked in class like once, he remembered me a couple years after graduation. I was floored. What a great teacher to remember your students like that.