On the Move...Again

Last night Dave and I signed the lease for our next home - a little 2 bed, 2.5 bath townhouse in Draper. It will be our fifth place in 7 years, and hopefully a place we can stay at until Dave finishes school in three years. It has a bigger kitchen than our last place, a bigger dining area, and a small backyard that I'm sure Sophie will enjoy when she is older. We are close to lots of stores, restaurants, and entertainment and still located halfway between Dave's school and my work.

I was really hoping to have 3 bedrooms this time around, but I've learned from watching HGTV that it's almost impossible to find a nice home that's the right size, in the right neighborhood, for the right price. When you only have a short time to look you normally have to sacrifice something and this time it was the third bedroom. Oh well - now I have something to look forward to with our next move :)

Our new place - we don't move until July after our summer travels, so right now I'm just having a good time imagining how I am going to set everything up

Swimming with Cousins

Today my sister came over for a little while and we went down to the pool at our apartment complex for some swimming. Sophie never got in the water - it was too cold - but cousins Anne and Will had a good time.

Sophie enjoyed the breeze and looking at the bright orange umbrella up above

Anne always gets a kick out of riding Dave around the little pool like a dolphin

Watching the fun from the sidelines

Banished

One of my favorite baby items has been the Brica Travel Bassinet I received as a gift from work - it is super light weight, folds flat, and is really easy to take anywhere. Sophie slept in it for about the first 8 weeks of life, and now it's her bed whenever company comes and she get's kicked out of her room.

When she used to stay up until 2 am we would just put the bassinet on the coffee table in the family room since she was the last one to bed. Now that she goes down at a more reasonable hour she needs a place that's a little less public so we put her in our closet. It's kind of like Harry Potter's cupboard under the stairs, but at least there are no spiders :)

Quilt from Grandma Betty

This week we received a hand-stitched quilt in the mail from Dave's grandma. It's beautiful and I can't imagine how much time she must have put into making it.We are excited for Sophie to meet her great grandma when we go to North Carolina in a few weeks for a Howe family reunion!

It's hard to see the detail without looking at it really close, but all that texture comes from her little stitches

Sophie all dressed up for church - I finally bought her some cute little bows because she had zero hair accessories

Sophie at 2 Months

Last week Sophie turned 2 months old and I went back to work. So far we are all adjusting to the change quite well. Sophie has enjoyed spending so much time with daddy, and Dave now understands how it is possible to stay home, get nothing done, and still be exhausted at the end of the day. Her big accomplishments this past month were learning to smile and discovering that it's better to sleep and night and be awake in the day - hallelujah!

~ Sophie at 2 Months ~

• 22.5 inches long (50th percentile) and 10 pounds 9 ounces (50th percentile)
• Is wearing size 3 month clothing, which fit great except for pajamas that all seem to be too short
• Goes to bed around 10:30 pm, wakes up for a feeding around 3:30 am and then goes back down until 6:30 am when I feed her again before leaving for work
• Is a very happy baby unless food is involved - if she is hungry her patience lasts about 5 seconds before she starts shrieking
• Tries to put anything within reach into her mouth - binky, fingers, toys, blankets, etc...
• Is learning to hold onto toys and wave them around, although she frequently hits herself in the face when she gets really excited
• Is very vocal and "talks" to us all day long
• Smiles all the time!

Dave also took Sophie in for her 2 month check-up and she got 5 shots - poor girl. She had a sad look on her face all night, even when she was sleeping :(

Smile!

Sophie has been smiling (for real) for a few weeks now, but I've had the hardest time getting a picture of her.  Her favorite place to smile is on the changing table, but diaper change is really not the best time for pictures. All the other times the camera is either on the other side of the room, she stops as soon as I turn it on, or she's moving around like crazy so the picture is a complete blur. Today, however, I finally caught it on camera!

I took Sophie outside in the late afternoon to lie on the grass, and by this face I would say she liked it :)

She seemed fascinated by the sky and was happy staring up at the blue for almost an hour - I think this will have to be part of our daily routine. Don't you just love her long eyelashes?!

Wide Awake!

Good morning! We are wide awake at our house today. Something clicked in Sophie when she turned seven weeks old and nights, and in turn the days, have been so much better! She still loves to stay up late and seems incapable of feeling tired before 11 pm, but once she finally goes down, she will reliably sleep for a 3-5 hour stretch, wake up to eat, and then sleep again until about 7 am. I am really loving this new schedule and hope it sticks!

My First Mother's Day

It was very exciting to celebrate this Mother's Day as a mother! It took several years to get to this point, but looking back over our journey, Dave and I both agree that we would not change a thing. During those years of waiting Dave and I were able to enjoy the blessings of a great marriage, good jobs, gaining more education, and many fun adventures both as a couple and with family. We grew together and learned a lot about trust, patience, gratitude, and love.

We, of course, are now very excited to be parents and have Sophie as part of our family. She has brought so much joy to our lives!! Being a mother has been one of the hardest and most rewarding things I've ever done. I've only been on the job for about 50 days so far and have already learned so much. I have a new respect for all you mothers!

I have been thinking about how becoming a mother has changed me, and I have decided that it hasn't changed me, so much as amplified everything about me. I have become "more" - more patient, more flexible,  more accepting of things that aren't "perfect", more tired, more crazy, more reliant on the internet to answer life's questions, more efficient, more careful, more caring, more reflective, more appreciative of the little things, more humble, more loving, and more full of love. It is great to be a mother. 

Four Generations - I am so grateful for the women who came before me, and now for this new little girl and all that will come because of her!

Orienteering with Sophie

Today we went orienteering with Sophie. We chose to run the beginner course this time since it was stroller friendly. It was an easy course that was probably only a mile long and had all the flags located in plain sight only a few feet off the paved path. We were racing against Nat and Brodie who ran the 3 mile course through brush land and what my sister called "mini cactuses" (she now understands why long pants were recommended). Can you guess who won?

Pre-orienteering nap with mommy and daddy

Continuation of the pre-orienteering nap - she slept through the entire thing

Dave at one of the flags

Chilling with daddy in the shade while we were waiting for Nat & Brodie to finish

Diaper Change is More Fun with Daddy

Daddy-daughter bonding time - music by the sound machine, lyrics by Dave