watch me grow...month 4!

How can it be that Sophie is four months old today? Time is really flying! We go to the doctor for her check-up on Friday. I'm interested to see how much she's grown.

A few milestones -
- She's rolling over (back to belly and belly to back)
- She has found her toes!

- We are officially finished breastfeeding...makes me a little sad, but it's time
- She's had a few tastes of cereal...she liked it better the second time than the first. I'm waiting to go to the doctor to give other foods.

- She loves to babble, especially when she's sleepy!
- She is giggling now, which is absolutely precious!
- She still loves bathtime, being held tightly, and having her bottom patted.
- She wakes up around 6:30 every morning and is normally asleep between 9 and 10 in the evenings.

Now for the "month by month" pictures!

About 2 weeks:

Month 1:

Month 2:

Month 3:

Month 4:

danny's birthday

Danny's birthday was last week and to celebrate, we went to a Bats game! We had four tickets, so we invited Lance and Vannah to come with us. We had a really great time, and Sophie was pretty well behaved. I took this picture while Danny was feeding her. She would not take her eyes off of him!

dad's day

With Sophie's baptism on Father's Day this year, I was a bit distracted from the hoop-la surrounding Father's Day. I was happy to celebrate Danny's first Father's Day with him. I gave him a photo book that I made for him and I think he really liked it. Father's Day, like so many other holidays, is just a tough day for me and my family. Yesterday was especially difficult because I reallywish my dad was there to see Sophie get baptized. It seems that having a baby has made the loss of my dad reach a little deeper than it did before. I miss him terribly, every day. And I'm so sad that Sophie will never know her Gramps. He would have loved her so very much and I just know she would have been crazy about him. Sometimes, it still doesn't feel real, even though it's been more than 2 years since he died. I know that it's not something we will ever "get over" and most days now are easier than before, but it still hurts and I still miss him.

This is just one of my favorite pictures of me and dad. I miss you.

Sophie's Baptism

Sophie was baptized on June 19, 2011, Father's Day. It was a really special day for all of us. Our friends and family came to the church, St. Louis Bertrand (where Danny and I were married), to take part in the baptism ceremony. In the church I grew up in, babies weren't baptized. They were "dedicated" to the church. Later in life, when that person was ready to accept Jesus and choose to become a Christian, they would be baptized. Danny and I attended a baptism class prior to Sophie being baptized and I really learned a lot. I've learned a lot about the Catholic church since Danny and I started dating (9 years ago!), but somehow missed out on the beliefs about baptism. This is not a theological blog, but I love learning about religion and different faiths. I loved learning more about the beliefs of the Church in this class and look forward to learning more as we, as a family, try to find a church home of our own.

All that to say, I did not take lightly the decision we made to have Sophie baptized in the Catholic church. We have committed to raising our daughter in the faith and will do our best with that! Thankfully, we have chosen godparents for Sophie that will help guide her as well. We asked Danny's sister and brother in law to be her godparents and they were of course thrilled to take on the challenge!

Sophie did great during the baptism. Just before the service started, she started to get fussy and I was praying that she would not have a major meltdown. Thank God for pacifiers! We gave her the paci and she fell asleep. She slept until the actual baptism. The priest pours water on the babies' heads three times. The first time, she stirred a little and the second a little more. By the third pour, I thought the paci was destined for a dip in the holy water, but thankfully I caught it before it went that far. Following the service, our family came back to our house and enjoyed some good BBQ from the Frankfort Avenue Beer Depot. Danny's parents brought a delicious cake and cookie cake. All in all, a truly great day!

Rolling, rolling and more rolling!

Sophie rolled over for the first time on Sunday night (June 12), but I didn't see it, so it didn't count. I did see her do it over and over again last night, though. She's so funny now that she has learned her new trick. She is changing and growing so much. Just a few weeks ago, she woke me up by babbling in the bassinet (even scaring me a little). Now, she "talks" all the time! Today, she's getting the rolling thing down and soon enough, she'll be crawling! I'm really trying to cherish every moment that I have with my sweet girl. Being a working mommy is just tough. My house will never be as clean as I want it to be, the dishes will pile up, and that's just going to have to be okay. I know I need to slow down and enjoy these precious moments with my little one. She's growing so fast!

watch me grow...month 3

at about 2 weeks:

month 1...

month 2...

month 3...

she was not very cooperative this month!





Sophie loves her Daddy!

Nursery Crafts Part 2

Everyone loves Sophie's head full of hair! We can't go anywhere without being stopped by strangers ooh-ing and aah-ing over her hair! With a lot of hair comes a lot of bows! I needed a way to organize all of her bows and headbands. So, Danny and I made a Bow Holder!

We started with a blank canvas and marked it with painter's tape. 

Then added brown paint...

And green paint...

After it dried, we removed the painter's tape! I touched up the edges a little with white paint...

Added some pretty ribbon...

Clipped on the bows...

And voila! A beautiful bow holder! It came out exactly as I hoped and I just love it!

Nursery Crafts Part 1

Before Sophie was born, I bought letters to paint/decorate to spell her name on the wall (or Joseph, if we had a boy). This weekend, I decided it was time to paint the letters and decorate the nursery some more!

The letters before being painted:

 With white paint:

 And on the wall in the nursery:

This cross is hanging at the end of Sophie's name. It was a baby shower gift from my sister-in-law and we thought this was the perfect place for it!

Preschool graduation

It's hard to believe that this sweet baby...

has grown into this...

I can't believe she's starting kindergarten in the fall. I just love her so much and am so proud of her (even if she gets too many "yellows" at school)!

Take me out to the ballgame...

We took Sophie to her first Bats game last night! My grandparents had season tickets to the Louisville Redbirds so we spent many nights at the old Cardinal Stadium watching baseball games. I always looked so forward to being able to spend an evening at the ballpark with my family and hope that we can create similar memories and experiences for Sophie! She did pretty well - she got a little fussy, but I think she was worn out and completely overstimulated!

Whoa! 

We have tickets again on June 16 (Danny's birthday). I am already looking forward to going again!

watch me grow...month 2

Here she is at one month:

Month 2:

Whew!

What a wild ride! This past month has absolutely flown by...it's hard to believe how quickly time is passing. This week I went back to work and boy, has that been an experience! I am absolutely worn out and incredibly grateful to be working from home on Fridays. I'm so looking forward to working in my pajamas tomorrow! Sophie is really struggling with taking a bottle, as in, she won't take a bottle. We have four different bottles/nipples and she doesn't like any of them. This weekend, I'll be working with her, trying to figure it all out. Yesterday and today, I ended up coming home for lunch so that I could feed her and help Danny to have better afternoons. Monday and Tuesday, I left work early to come home and feed her. Note to self for baby #2 - give baby a bottle a day very early on...don't wait until the last minute! I guess it all just snuck up on me! This week, Danny and I are both incredibly grateful for our families (my mom and sister have come over in the mornings to watch Sophie until Danny gets out of bed and Danny's parents have come by to help with screaming Sophie) and for jobs that have allowed us some flexibility in learning how to work and be parents!