Visiting the Beerys in Boone

Over the holiday weekend we packed up everything but the kitchen sink and headed to Boone for a nice long weekend full of fun site seeing and visiting with my brother and sister-in-law which we hadn't seen in almost six months.

We started out Thursday morning around 7 am with hopes that Sophie would do well in the car.  She did but we hadn't even left Ohio when Daddy managed to get pulled over by a state trooper and was given a rather large ticket...to give him the benefit of doubt he really thought the speed limit was 65 and it was 55 and he was only going 68.  We shook that off and the next six hours went smoothly. When we arrived on Thursday Michael greeted us, soon followed by Lisa.






They took us up to see Howard's Knob and out to dinner at the Dan'l Boone Restaurant.  It was a lot of food, but delicious.

Friday we had no idea that the weather was going to turn out as nice as it did.  Rain was expected the entire time but sunshine prevailed and we were able to hike pushing the jogging stroller on the carriage trail up to the fire tower.

Sophie enjoyed the bumpy trail and took a nap for part of the way while the rest of us enjoyed the sunshine and fresh mountain air.

Later we also stopped along the parkway to take some pictures and since our camera was so complex the guy thought he had taken the picture and didn't so we started to clear out and then ended up getting back together to get the better of the two pictures.  We also went to the Mast General store where Sophie got her sock monkey and then we finished up the evening back at their house with Pizza and the movie Avatar.

Saturday morning Aunt Lisa read her some books and they played..and Uncle Michael and her watched ESPN together and played (note the basketball and soccer ball).

Later that morning we hiked the greenway where Michael and Lisa get their jogging in several times a week, we also walked around and did some shopping downtown Boone, downtown Blowing Rock, and at the outlet mall as well.

Sunday we went to one of the Lutheran churches the two of them rotate at and heard Michael preach..he did a great job..and then we headed back to Ohio.

Sophie did a fabulous in the car and in her stroller and she slept all three nights.  She along with us had a wonderful time.   Good first vacation!!

Race for the Cure

Saturday morning we joined 52,000 people downtown Columbus for the Race for the Cure.

I organized a group from work of 24 associates and their families, "The Excelerators."  It was a beautiful sunny day, temps in the 60's and was absolutely amazing to see that many people come together for such a good cause with their many shades of pink to support those who have fought their battle against breast cancer and won and those who we are fighting the good fight lost their lives.  We all had a great time walkers and runners.  

Sophie seemed to enjoy watching all the people in their pink wigs and then when all was said and done she fell asleep.

I'm Big Stuff..Sitting Up

The past few weeks have been a lot of fun with Sophie...she has learned a few new things...

She is sitting up without having us help her balance.  She does really well, minus the occasional wobble.  She is really enjoying being independent and seeing the world from a different perspective, she actually gets upset when she can reach her taller toys from her belly.  We do our best to give her as much sit up time as we possibly can. 

She recently has discovered how to say baa, da, ma, ga.  She bibble babbles a good portion of the day. Her daddy says she is a lot like someone else he knows..wonder who he could be referring to ( me :)

Another recent development is her sitting in her high chair and eating baby food. Some of her favorite foods are apples and carrots.  However, bananas, sweet potatoes, peaches, and pears seem to go in her mouth quite easily..green beans and peas are a little more challenging, but when mixed with rice cereal no problem.

Last but not least she has discovered how to turn herself in a circle up on her arms..not crawling yet though..soon enough.

Swinging and Sliding...

This past Friday we had Sophie's swing set delivered, but it rained all weekend so we didn't have a chance to take her out to swing.  Last night it was still in the low 70's and sunny so we took her out and put her in her swing...she loved it.  So we decided to give the slide a try with Daddy's help and she loved that too..lots of smiles and giggles made the money spent on the swing set priceless.

Sweet Six Months

Sophie is now six months old. I took her for her check up today and she is now 16.2 pounds and 26 1/4 inches long.  She is in the 50th percentile for weight and height and is in the 90th percentile for head circumference.  So she is average size wise except for her big noggin which she gets from her daddy since he has trouble finding hats to fit him.  The doctor has given me the okay to put her in the jogging stroller so we'll definitely being doing that this week, and she's ready to start eating baby food. She loves rice cereal so I'm sure she will love fruits and veggies too. Yesterday I decided since her hair is getting longer to do her first pig tails, she didn't seem to mind them and Daddy nearly melted when he came home from work at how adorable she was with them..me too.  As for other updates she is now trying to push herself up to crawl, hasn't quite succeeded yet..but it won't be long.  She also seems to favor the color orange.  She likes her basketball,  the orange key on her piano, the orange cd in her cd player, orange buttons on all of  her toys, and her orange tiger.  She really loves sucking on her thumb recently  and her soothie monkey is a close second. Looking forward to watching her continue to grow and learn new things. She is definitely a happy baby and we are thankful for all the smiles she gives us everyday.  

She's on the Move..

Sophie as of today is on the move..no not crawling yet.  

She has however, discovered an alternate route for the moment...she rolls over until she gets to her books or basket of toys.  When she gets there she reaches for whatever it is she is going for and gets it.  Guess it's time to start baby proofing the house because once she figures out the crawling we are in trouble.  

Below you will find the series of events that took place as I sat by with the camera.  

Here is Sophie just playing laying nicely on her blankie..

                                        













  Here is her books stacked nicely just the way daddy left them...

Here is Sophie laying in the middle of her books that she knocked over after having rolled about five times to get to them...she also removed her socks and wadded up her blankie..

Here's her books after I removed her, her socks, and her blankie from the rubble.

The Many Faces of Sophie

Who Knew You Could Bounce Yourself to Sleep

This afternoon since Sophie loves her Jumperoo so much and I wanted to check my email, so I put her in her Jumperoo in the computer room so I could watch her.  She was bouncing away and playing, giggling, and having a great time.  

I all of a sudden heard little snores, looked over and due to her little cold she had fallen asleep.  Guess she'd worn herself out..but as a mommy I couldn't resist I had to take some pictures..here they are.

Sophie's 1st Easter

Sophie's 1st Easter lasted an entire weekend by starting the day Saturday with a cold.  We then packed up the car and headed to Grandma and Grandpa B's house.  Mommy, Grandma, and Sophie headed to my friend Melanie's baby shower for the afternoon.  We had a great time and Sophie made a new friend Linus.  Later that evening we had a nice dinner and then relaxed.  Sunday morning we got up and the Easter bunny had been there..Sophie got several new books, her first sippy cup, some more rice cereal, socks, and a new teething toy.  We then got dressed in our Easter best and went to church with Grandma and Grandpa B, followed by breakfast.  After breakfast we returned back to their house, packed up the car and headed south to Aunt Becky and Uncle Eric's for lunch.   Well the Easter bunny left some loot behind for Sophie there  too..some clothes, a few more books, and other fun goodies.  After a nice lunch, Sophie and her cousins Austin and Aaron went outside for an Easter egg hunt.. With some assistance from Grammy and Mommy, Sophie made out pretty good, and so did the boys.  We spent the wonderful sunny Easter Sunday outside in the 70 degree weather.  

5 Months Old...

Five months.. Where does time go?  Every time I look at you I see myself.  Others have said the same thing that you look a lot like mommy.  I see some daddy in you too especially your little chin and your smile.  Your hair is getting lighter, almost a strawberry blonde color to it.  You are definitely developing your own little personality. Your smile lights up a room and your laugh brings mommy and daddy to our knees laughing too.  We love that you still want to snuggle into our chests and shoulders when you are tired, but are becoming such a big girl wanting to sit up with help to play with your toys and really show your independence flipping over on your own all of the time to get yourself to the toys you want to play with.  You are now in the beginning stages of cutting teeth and you are slobbering enough during the day to fill a bucket, and are chewing on anything you can get your hands on..sometimes even mommy and daddy's fingers.  The way you interact with both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins is just amazing. On car rides many times mommy finds you telling me about your day through your babbles, and would not trade it for any music on the radio.  You love to bounce in your jumperoo, be outside in the sunshine riding in your stroller, and taking your bath.