Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Sleep

Bedtime in the big girl bed continues to go well. Sophie is sleeping in her bed every night. She is doing much better with sleeping through the night, but last night woke up a few times, whining for me (hence, the bags under my eyes today). Nap time doesn't go as well.


YouTube Video


YouTube Video


My girl

I know I post a lot of pictures, but when you have a kid this cute, what do you expect?




She's even cute eating an apple!


We had a really great, long Thanksgiving weekend. We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary, took our girls to dinner at Red Lobster (Danny and Vannah's pick, not mine) and on a tour through the Mega Cavern. Sophie was in awe of the lights and music!




We spent Thanksgiving Day with the Mintons. Sophie had a lot of fun playing with her cousins. She was worn out!




Saturday was Ashley's birthday and Mamaw came to town. Sophie and I took Ashley out for breakfast and then went home to make her birthday cake. Later, we visited with Mamaw and then went to dinner with Ashley, Aaren and Vannah before digging into the cake!



















Ashley's wedding is two weeks from tomorrow! The next couple of weeks will be very busy! Tomorrow, we will find out if I will have a niece or nephew in the Spring!

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Wedding Cake

I made this today. I have been making tons of cupcakes in preparation for my sister's wedding. I'm trying to perfect the cupcake recipe and now, I'm teaching myself to decorate cakes. Here's my first attempt - a birthday cake for Ashley!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Girl's Day

On Sunday, I was able to spend the day with two of my best friends, Macy and Rebecca. We had lunch together and then drove to Ferdinand, Indiana to visit the Monastery Immaculate Conception and watch a Christmas concert. Macy was able to give us a "behind the scenes" tour, venturing to places not necessarily open to the public. It is truly a beautiful place to visit. 


 This picture was taken from the cemetery in front of the Monastery. I believe that Macy said that St. Benedict taught to keep your dead in front of you, as a reminder that we never know when our time will come. I loved learning about the history of the Monastery and the Benedictine Sisters. I am so very thankful for two of the best friends I could ask for. I enjoyed being able to talk openly about our faith journeys, asking questions of each other, and being able to support each other on a spiritual level. It was a great day! I'm also so very thankful that Danny was off work and able to stay home with Sophie for the day. It's not very often that I get a break from being "Mommy!"
 

My girl

My happy girl eating breakfast this weekend...


Sophie has continued to sleep in her big girl bed every night! The past two nights, she has not woken up at all through the night. Last night, I stayed in her room until she was very sleepy, but still awake. She was able to fall asleep on her own. It's a whole new world at our house! As a reward for sleeping in her own bed, I took Sophie to the zoo on Saturday. It was a perfect day - small crowds and nice weather. 

Here she is having a little chat with a gorilla: 



And looking at the polar bear: 

Which reminds me of this picture, taken earlier this year, of Sophie watching the polar bear...




Friday, November 16, 2012

Last night's RCIA session was all about meeting the staff of the church. It was nice to meet several people in ministry and to meet the pastor. I remember when Danny and I got married that I was very nervous to meet the priest (Fr. Ralph) who married us. My exposure to the Catholic faith was pretty limited at that time, and for some reason, I felt like priests were on a different level and that I would not be able to relate to them. Fr. Ralph definitely proved this notion wrong for me. As we met with him several times to discuss our relationship and our upcoming marriage, I felt very connected to him and learned a lot from him (I especially liked that he told Danny to remember that I am his "gift" - yeah, that was my favorite part). 

Before we met the staff, however, we were able to see a member of the other RCIA group go through the Rite of Acceptance. It was really a beautiful moment. It was different that I expected - much more sacred than I thought it would be. I will go through the Rite of Acceptance on December 15th and am really looking forward to that. 

To continue this period of exploration, I am joining one of my best friends, Macy, on Sunday afternoon as we go to Ferdinand, Indiana to visit the Monastery Immaculate Conception, to attend an Advent Concert and shop at the Christkindlmarkt. I'm really looking forward to our little trip and learning even more!


During our Meet the Staff session last night, we were able to ask questions of the staff. One of the questions was asking the staff's opinion on what might be the hardest thing about being Catholic. I appreciated the pastor's response. He talked about how many times in life, the hardest thing about anything we do is sticking with it. He also shared that sometimes we feel like we know what God wants us to do, but then wonder if we are doing what WE want to do, thinking that that is what God wants us to do. Got it? He reminded the group of this prayer by Thomas Merton, which I have always loved:
MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"
© Abbey of Gethsemani

Big Girl Bed

After more than 6 weeks of Sophie refusing to sleep in her crib (and sleeping between me and Danny), we decided that maybe it was time to transition to a big girl bed. So, last night, we took the front part off of Sophie's crib, making it into a toddler bed. I cried a little. Such a bittersweet moment! Sophie loved it immediately! She jumped into her own bed. (And on her own bed, while singing "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." When she got to the "one fell off and bumped her head" part, she would slide off the bed and lay down on the floor.) Luck would have it that I found a great deal a couple of weeks ago and ordered Sophie a fleece Minnie Mouse blanket with her name embroidered on it, and UPS delivered it yesterday, as we were showing Sophie her new big girl bed. I was pleasantly surprised at how much she liked it. 

After RCIA last night, I talked with Sophie on the way home from Grandma and Grandpa's house, letting her know that we would be going to her big girl bed. She was excited. As soon as we walked in the door, she ran upstairs and got into her bed. I let her drink her cup of milk in bed and sat on the floor next to her. About 20 minutes later, she was snoring! She was so excited to get into her bed that I didn't even change her out of her clothes. I didn't want to distract her from the excitement of it all!



She woke up a few times during the night. I would hear her say "Mommy" but she wasn't crying, really. I just went to her each time and sat with her while she went back to sleep. She didn't fall out at all. Her longest stretch of sleep was about 3 1/2 hours....not too bad in my mind. Each time I'd get up with her (which was maybe 3 times), it would only take her a few times to fall back to sleep.

This morning, as I was in our bedroom getting dressed, I heard her call for me. She was standing at the gate at her door. When I went to get her, she turned and ran back to her bed, yelling "I don't want to!"  She didn't want to leave her room! I know that one night doesn't sound like much, for the battle we've been fighting the past few months, it felt like such a sweet victory to have our bed back! I will keep talking it up to Sophie and encouraging her to sleep in there again and again.

Here's my little munchkin this morning (continuing the obsession with all things birthday - wearing a Big Bird birthday hat). She was smiling before I took the picture. :)


Sunday, November 11, 2012

The last few weeks of RCIA have been a bit different. I actually missed one week, as I was home sick with some sort of virus. It was probably the best week to miss, as there was a guest speaker discussing annulments/divorce - not really a topic that applies to me. Two weeks ago, we attended Mass for All Saint's Day. This week, we joined with the other group to process the annulment talk, Mass, and we talked some about the Saints. I'm definitely still enjoying the group. I find myself really looking forward to every Thursday night.

I have asked my mother-in-law to be my sponsor in this process. I work with someone who is a parishioner at St. Albert and she had offered to be my sponsor, but I'm not sure that she's the best match for me in this process. Socially, I think she can help introduce us to other families there, but spiritually, I'm not sure that we mesh. The next few weeks will be very busy. We will be meeting the Parish staff during our time together this coming week. We'll have a week off for Thanksgiving and then a week or two with just our original group. I'll go through my Rite of Acceptance on December 15th at the Saturday evening Mass. I'm really looking forward to that!


It's been a busy month! It's hard to believe that we are almost half way through November. Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner!

Halloween at the Zoo...Sophie didn't care for it very much...she really prefers to be there when she can see the animals!
This is from our friend Aubrey's 1st birthday party...since then, Sophie has been completely obsessed with birthdays. She puts on one of Danny's old hats and begs us to sing "Happy Birthday" to her!

Just one example of Sophie's temper tantrums....I was trying to get her in the car to go to my sister's house. Instead, she decided to lay down in the driveway and yell "I DON'T WANT TO!" Adorable.

Sophie and her buddy

Enjoying Fall

One of Sophie's rare moments of sharing :)
 We decided to stay home this year for Halloween. I made a pot of chili and Danny's parents, my mom and aunt Sue and my sister Ashley and her fiance all came over to see Sophie in her Abby Cadabby costume. Danny took Sophie around the neighborhood to Trick or Treat and I stayed home to pass out candy. It was really a great day!


When Sophie and Danny came in from Trick or Treating, Sophie immediately asked for a banana and a cup of water. Guess she had no idea what was in her plastic pumpkin!

Sophie's Aunt Vannah made her an Elmo pumpkin. I think she liked it!



Night time snuggles

 Sophie and I had dinner with our friends Rebecca and Nick while Danny was out of town with the UofL Football team. Sophie LOVED playing with one of their dogs, Chino. She asked to ride him and tried to snuggle with him. She really loves animals.




Sophie continues to challenge us every day. She is such a funny little girl with a ton of personality. She's sassy, smart and a tad stubborn. She knows exactly how to make us laugh when she's being a little rotten.