Busy Busy Busy

It has been a crazy busy month since we made an offer on our new house. We have gone through alot of ups and downs but it hopefully will start slowing down soon.



For those who don't know, we took possession of our new home on October 30th as part of an early possession agreement. We spent the following week doing alot of cleaning and getting ready for the "big move". We cleaned the floors, got the area rug layed down in the living room, clean and lined all the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen, and even started moving a couple of boxes over. On Halloween, we decided to spend 1/2 the trick or treat hours at the new house and the other 1/2 at the old house, mostly because it was bath night and we needed to get Sophie to sleep. I'm not sure what happened but we ended up having no trick or treaters. Hopefully next year will be better. We did get to dress up Sophie when we went to a Halloween party. She was so darn cute, here are some pictures that we took of her in her costume.

On November 7th, we made the big move! And boy was it big. I don't know where all the stuff we had was in the old house but there were many truckloads made over to the new house. Thanks again to Mom and Dad Boyd and Wade and Crystal for all of your help that day. We couldn't have done it with out you!


Sophie did great job during the move. She stayed with us girls at the new house and kept us entertained while we unpacked the kitchen. She even "borrowed" Auntie Crystal's scarf, hat and Blackberry. Oh boy are we in trouble in her older years. What a little diva we have.

The first couple of nights were a little rough for Sophie. She did great the first night but after that it was very tough. She didn't want to sleep in her new room. The second night, I spent most of it holding and rocking her to keep her calm. She finally fell asleep and I put her down and she was fine the rest of the night. But I knew that this couldn't be this way for the remainder. So the next night, I had to let her fuss. I went in about every 20 minutes just long enough to reassure her that she was okay. She finally fell asleep on her own. Now, we literally just have to say that it is "night night" time and she heads to her door and all but puts herself to bed. We both are so glad that she finally has adjusted to the new home and new room.


We decided one night we would give her a bath in Mommy and Daddy's tub. We didn't put on the jets for long because the noise they make scared her and we put her in the duck tub to make sure she had some cushion if she slipped. She looks so small in this tub!


Tonight as a special treat, we gave her chocolate milk for dinner. She didn't drink much of it (which surprised us) but she did seem to enjoy it. Here she is giving mommy the "are you taking another picture" look :).



We closed on both houses on the 13th. In fact, we joked that technically we were homeless for about 2 hours. Overall, the closings went well. Our attorney is great and had everything in order for us. There was only one small hiccup. The bank had put the "rent" we had paid for early possession into the contract when we had already paid this directly to the seller. Our attorney quickly got this corrected for us even though the sellers wife didn't understand why they had to take this off the settlement papers (which in turn raised the amount they owed) but our attorney handled it well for us. We will definitely would recommend Mr. Grosso to anyone. He is an awesome attorney and really made this all run smoothly for us! We are just so glad to be done with all of this.


Overall, things are going great. We have been spending alot of time unpacking. Our goal is to get the garage cleaned out before the first snow flies and it looks like that might happen. Tomorrow, we plan on hanging up all the drapes and if we get everything that needs to go downstairs in, then we will lift the paper that has been protecting the floor. All and all it is coming together. Eventually we will be able to find everything :)

Many Many Updates

I know it has definitely been a long time since I have blogged. Believe me it isn't due to not having anything going on.

Sophie is growing leaps and bounds and definitely keeping Brock and I on our toes. There are plenty of nights full of giggles and laughter from our precious little girl and she enjoys being tickled by Mommy. She truly is a joy to come home to every night!

On September 16th, we took her in for her 18 month check up. She did very well and didn't have any shots (What a relief for Sophie!). She still doesn't like the doctor's office and starts crying as soon as any of the staff walks in the room. I'm hoping some day that she will get over that but I'm not so confident it will happen. Here are the stats from that visit: She weighed in at 25 lbs 10 oz or the 64th percentile. She was 34 inches in length or the 93rd percentile. For now, it looks like she is going to be tall.

She is now up to 10 teeth that have popped all the way through. She has both of her 1 year molars on the bottom and tonight we noticed that she has popped one of her first molars on the top. For the month it seems like every time we turn around lately she has another tooth coming in.

She still is a bit of a fussy eater and refuses to eat veggies. We have tried and continue to offer them to her but she really wants not much to to do with this. We talked to our pediatrician about it and she said that it is not uncommon for kids at this age to not want to eat veggies but to keep doing what we are doing in offering them. We also asked her about offering her the V8 Fusion to supplement till we get her to eat veggies the traditional way. She was fine with this as long as we diluted it down. So we have started offering her this and she loves it! I guess there is more then one way to skin a cat!

Over the past couple of weeks, Sophie has had a bit of a runny nose. Nothing too alarming so I chalked it up to teething since she has had a runny nose every time she is popping another tooth. However, last Monday she just didn't seem right so I decided it was probably best to go ahead and get her into the pediatrician. Turns out that she had a respiratory infection and an ear infection. Nothing too major and nothing a little bit of an antibiotic couldn't get rid of. Tonight is her final dose of the antibiotic so hopefully that is the last of that!

We still are working on the closing date of the house. Right now, it is between the 30th of October or the 13th of November. Problem is that the guy that bought our house wants the 13th of November and the guy that we bought the house from wants the 30th of October. Unfortunately, this can't happen so our poor agent has been stuck in the middle making phone calls trying to get this rectified. Hopefully this will all be taken care of pretty quickly so we can move on and move in :)

For now, Brock and I have both been packing the house and going through alot of stuff. I did not want to move items that we no longer needed and have been pitching things left and right. We both cannot wait till this is all done and we are settled and can get back to some normality!

New House!

I know I have plenty to blog on but we have some popele waiting for these pictures. If you can't tell by the title, Brock and I made an offer on a house last night and it was accepted this morning. Below are pictures of our new home some of these are from an old listing and some are pctures that I took last night. So here we go:

Front of the house

Back of the house
(this and the previous was taken after it was first built. there now is grass on the property)


One of my favorite parts of the house.
The KITCHEN with Granitecounters, fabulous cabinets, an island, and a pantry!


Here is a picture of the pantry!

YIPPEE FOR STORAGE

One of the three bedrooms upstairs!

The Master bedroom with a lighted trey ceiling.

View of the living room from the kitchen.

The white doors is the coat closet and right there is the entry way.

View of the living room from the entry way

Gas Fireplace

Hallway to the bedrooms and bathroom.

Door at the end of the all is a linen closet

HUGE laundry room with built in ironing board!

Master Bathroom with whirlpool tub and shower

Finished bathroom in the basement

unfinished basement

Framed bedroom in the basement

tandem 3 car garage.

Rest of garage (windows and door to side of the house)

Another picture of the tandem

15 Month Appointment

Today was Sophie's 15 month well baby appointment. She did very well and only received 2 immunizations.

Drum roll....Here are the statistics:

Weight: 22 pounds 9 ounces or 50 percentile
Height: 32 inches or 90 percentile
Head Circumferance: 48 cm

Or the translation, she's tall and skinny and has a big noodle :)

We have....

Ever since we had our little girl I've been looking forward to do this. Today was "that day"....we have












PIGGIES! I'm so excited and she is too darn cute (although I might be a bit bias)

LONG week!

This past week has been a particularly long week for us. Our original plan for the weekend was to have mom and dad Boyd over to our house and have a painting party in preparation of putting our house on the market. However, that was just not in the cards for us this weekend.

My dad, George Joseph Spicka, Jr., had been in the hosptial very sick for the past several weeks. He had not been feeling well for quite some time. On the 8th of May, he went in for a pacemaker to regulate his heart. He was really doing well for the week following his surgery and was moved to a regular room from ICU. The following Monday, he was scheduled to be moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation center to start therapy. However, when the physician went to check on him in the morning, he had taken a turn for the worse and had moved him back to ICU. By the afternoon, he had really gotten bad and had called to find out if we wanted him put on any type of life support if he coded. Needless to say, Brock and I packed up the car and headed north. His condition kept getting worse and on Tuesday evening he passed. Brock and I were so fortunate the I was able to make it up to see him before he passed and say my goodbyes and that my sister, Jennie, and I were able to be with him when he took his last breaths. It gave us peace to know that he had family with him. While he and I didn't have the greatest of relationships, he was my father and did the best that he knew how.

Brock and I decided after the long emtional week that we had had, that we would take one of the days that we had to spend as a family (Brock, Sophie and I), to do something together. So we make a trip to the Brookfield Zoo. We had such a good time and it was great to get out and get some fresh air. We didn't bring our camera with us, so we stopped and got a disposable. While they aren't the greatest pictures, they allowed us to capture the time. Here are some pictures from our trip:

Trying on the hard hat in the Dinosaurs Alive Exhibit Gift shop

"After lunch, I want to go here"

Daddy and Sophie in the Hammill Family Play area

Playing hard

Family in front of the zoo sign

Saturday afternoon, we made our trip back to Bloomington. It was so great to be home and get back to reality. We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and getting ready for the week ahead.

Busy Busy

Sorry, I haven't blogged in a bit. As you read in our previous blog, Brock and I are on the hunt for a new home. Most of our time has been spent doing research on the internet and going to open houses.

This weekend was no exception. Well a small one as my mother came down for a visit from Chicago on Saturday. It was a nice visit and pretty uneventful.

But Sunday we were back at it. We had 4 houses on our list to see. One was in a new subdivision that is opening up which we ended up just driving by and scratching from our list. It was way on the south end of town and it looked like more of a hassle to see then it was worth. Another one one our list was extremely dated and the layout was just plain strange. Closet space wasn't that great. There also was in the same subdivision as our sitter. It was a nice home, but it didn't really excite us. This was probably because of the first house that we went to. It just plain spoiled us. The layout was great, the master closet was amazing (I know it's hard to get excited about closet space but we were), the storage was fabulous, the laundry room was awesome (another thing most would not be excited about). While we haven't put in an offer for many reasons, one being that we definitely have to get our house sold first, it is one that is currently on the top of our list. The only downfall that we saw was that it backs up to a major street but that shouldn't be a problem with the 6 ft privacy fence. Right now I'm going on that if it is meant to be it will happen.

Today, Brock and I will meet with a mortgage officer to see about a contingency pre-qualification to determine how much of a loan we can get and how much we can afford (which normally is two different things. Next, we'll really start working on getting this house on the market. We both just think it is time, we have well over grown this house and while we both love this house (it was our first home and the home we brought our first child home to), it is definitely time to consider a move.

SICK.....AGAIN :(

Well today started out as normal. We got up, got dressed, dropped Sophie at the sitter's, went to work. Sophie really wasn't acting like herself but she didn't seem to be running a fever or anything like that. Well about 9 a.m., I got a phone call from our sitter. Sophie's cheeks were starting to turn red and looking like they were breaking out in a rash. At first, I thought let's watch her and see if anything changes but the more that I thought about it, the more I thought I should get her in. We went to the pediatrician. She was running a low grade temp (100.2) but her ears looked fine, lungs sounded clear, and over all was checking out okay. They looked in her throat and that was a little red so they did a strep test which came back negative. So we chalked it up to a virus that just needed to run it's course. Back to the sitter's we went. In the five minutes that it took to get to our sitter's home, her temp had raised a whole degree.

So I called back, they said that they still didn't need to see her but to make sure we keep fluids going in and watch her temp. If any new symptoms came up, to call. She's been very tired tonight and her fever was still there. She took a small cat nap around 5 and we gave her some Tylenol. She's now playing (12 minutes to bedtime) and seems to be doing okay. We're going to see how she is doing in the morning and if she still has a fever will probably have Daddy stay home with her. We're suppose to go to a wedding this weekend but if she still isn't feeling well then we'll just send a gift to her home and stay home to rest.

Keep your fingers that she will get over this quickly!

Craziness

Well our craziness continues. Brock turned the big 34 on the 16th of April. For his birthday, Sophie and I ordered a cookie cake from Cookies by Design to be delivered to work. He was nice enough to play a prank on me. I had wanted to get a picture of it for posterity sake. I had set up for one of his friends from work to take a picture. Well it came while his friend was at lunch. If you know Brock, he can definitely EAT. Well he dove in. Our friend came back and about died. Well two days later, he was nice enough to tell me that he had gotten a picture and it was all a prank on me and his friend. NOT NICE!

That Friday, we went out to Kobe with some friends for dinner to celebrate his birthday. It was YUMMY and fun! We laughed so hard. Sophie kept poking our friend in the arm to get his attention. It was just darn cute.

Saturday, the Brock's mom and dad came down to celebrate with him. I made a yummy dinner and Brock's mom brought a strawberry pie for dessert. We had a great time visiting. We got a chance to look at our front steps which Brock and I have talked about replacing and it's come to the time that we just need to get it done.

So Brock really shocked me this week. He and I have known for a while that we really need to get a bigger place. Well this week, he and I were talking and he and I came to the decision that this is going to have to be sooner rather then later. We have just really outgrown the house that we are in and there really isn't a lot that we can get rid of. Sooooo, our plan is to go to the bank and see what we can get pre-qualified for. Get the work on the house that we want to get done and put this house on the market and find ourself a new house. Brock put it this way, he is ready to pack up now. But we have to make sure that we get things done in the right order. We have found a few houses on the market that we like. If it is meant to be then they will be there when we got to buy.

Onto other news, Sophie has started walking unassisted. She surprised us on the Saturday before Easter. While she doesn't do it often, we saw her take her first steps. She is really starting to grow up so quick. She truly is a ham and just make Brock and I laugh so hard. We just love her to death.

MIA????

Does anyone know where the magical blogging fairy has gone???? I'm looking for her and can't seem to find her and she truly is slacking on blogging for me. So I guess I'll just have to buckle down and do it myself.

Okay on a serious note, sorry we've been MIA for a while. It wasn't due to lack of events but more because of lack of time. Our lives have been very crazy with family gatherings, gatherings in general and illnesses. What little time we've had left has gone to spending time with Sophie.

Many of you already know that we had Sophie's first birthday party on February 21st at our home. Although we had a forecast of a horrible blizzard, the weather held out and several of our friends and family joined in to celebrate with us the first year of life for our little peanut. The menu was filled with lots of yummies including Italian Beef, pasta salad, chips, jello salad and of course yummy cake! Below is some pictures of the event:

The decorations in the living room

The kitchen decorations

The birthday girl makes her appearance

The smash cake

The regular cake

The gift table

Auntie Crystal and Uncle Wade arrive

Auntie Jennie and Sophie have a heart to heart
(I think Auntie Jennie was bribing her with puffs.)

The birthday girl (after an outfit change into something more comfy)

Daddy and Sophie

Sophie sharing her cupcake decoration with Dudley

Happy Birthday Sophie
(Auntie Tracey added the special effect with her camera...isn't it cool!)

Thanks to all who were able to come!
We had a great time and it was great to see you all!

Our family has a spree of birthday's all together. Dad's (aka Gramps/Grampy/Grandpa) birthday is the 25th of February. The following weekend on the 28th, we made a trip to Danville to spend the day with him and celebrate his birthday. It was a great trip and so good to celebrate with him also!

This year Brock's Grandpa turned 81 on March 16th and our family had a birthday gathering for him at Bruce and Patty's on March 15th to celebrate. Patty cooked a fabulous meal of steak and potatoes and of course yummy cake was served.

The following weekend was a small break so Brock and I decided to make it a "family day" for us. For Sophie's birthday one of my cousin's had given her a gift card to Build A Bear. The closest one is Peoria. Brock, Sophie and I made the drive to Peoria, went to Build A Bear where Sophie made a new "friend" (a Kitty named Whiskers). Afterwards, we walked a the mall and then headed to Old Chicago for dinner. It was great to have a day just for us.

On April 3rd, Brock's Grandma turned 79. So on March 28th, Brock, Sophie and I made a trip to Danville to Mom and Dad's house to celebrate Grandma's birthday. Mom made a fabulous meal of beef roast, baked potatoes, broccoli casserole and carrots. For dessert, she served a choice of coconut cream pie, lemon meringue pie, or brownies. Everything was fabulous and we had a great time celebrating with Grandma.

With Easter right around the corner, we decided it was a good time to bring Sophie to see the bunny. We weren't sure with the shy stage that she is going through how she would do but knew that if we didn't take her then we would regret it later. We were shocked that she didn't even cry. She did wonderful! Below is the picture from her visit with the bunny.

Between all of this, Brock and I came down with horrible colds. While I think we are over the brunt of it, we're both still fighting to get rid of this thing once and for all! Fortunately, we haven't shared this with Sophie and hope it stays that way.

Other notible events: Sophie is now up to 5 teeth and we think that she is working on more. Last night she woke up in the middle of the night (which she hasn't done in FOREVER) just screaming. Finally, we gave her some Tylenol and in about 15 minutes she was back asleep and slept the rest of the night.

Also, we think that Sophie is going to take off walking at any moment. This week she has started really using the walker that she got for Christmas. She will get behind it and just take off walking. (usually with Brock or I behind her to make sure that she doesn't go down the stairs or hurt herself). Occassionally, she will fall but just laughs it off.

With all this in mind, Brock and I decided it was a good time to block off the kitchen and now are the proud owners of a large gate for the entry way to the kitchen. So far the cats really haven't been bothered by it and it is doing it's job of keeping her out!

Other then that, our lives have been pretty uneventful ;). Next week is Easter and the following is Brock's birthday. Hopefully you won't be hearing these updates in December :).

1 Year Well Baby Visit

Today was Sophie's one year well baby visit. Overall she did well but still seems to be going through a shy stage. She got three vaccinations today (Prevnar (a.k.a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine), MMR and the Chickenpox vaccine. She still to do okay with them. Although she was exhausted later today when she got home. Soooo here are here latest stats:

Height: 30 1/4 inches long or 85 percentile
Weight: 22 lbs 1 ounce or 65 percentile
Head circumference: 47 cm

They also did a urine test. My pediatrician likes to check for any types of bacteria at 1 year of age which all turned out fine. I talked to her about Sophie's love of milk (do you sense the sarcasm). She said that we could start off by going 3/4 formula to 1/4 milk and then slowly start taking out the formula and subsituting it with milk. I also mentioned to her that she is refusing to drink out of a sippy cup. She was not concerned at all about this and said to just keep trying at this point and to not make it a tramatic experience for her. So for now that is what we will be doing. Hopefully she'll take hold of it soon!

She told us that Sophie is doing well and is perfect on her development and to not stress at this point.

Sophie's 1st Birthday Festivies

Just wanted to post some of the highlights of the day.

The morning started with opening a few gifts. One from Auntie Debbe (She's a good friend from work) and one from the Thompsons (Her sitter and family). Thanks to you both for such great gifts and for thinking of Sophie on her big day!

Opening her gift from Auntie Debbe

Opening her gift from the Thompsons

Showing off the gift from Auntie Debbe

Playing with the toy from the Tompsons

Afterwards we had breakfast, playtime, and a bath. By the time all of that was done. it was time for the morning nap. She slept for about 2 hours and then we got ready for her 1 year pictures. She wasn't very smiley (I think I have a shy one on my hands! I'm not sure where she gets it though because Brock and I really aren't that shy of people) but we still got some great shots. I've posted some (these are the raw photos. I haven't had time to scan in the ones with the effects on them. But they turned out great! (Sorry you'll have to turn your head for some of them, I forgot to turn them before I uploaded them :))

Finally, we went to Logan's Roadhouse for dinner to celebrate "The Big ONE". Sophie had a side of mashed potatoes which she loved. We tried giving her some milk (which she has not been fond of from the start and tonight was no different.) She had a few sips here and there but nothing like when she has her formula. We were kind of bummed that they didn't sing to her but we really had a good time.

At the table at Logan's sporting her "Baby's First Birthday" bib

Then when we came home we took her first birthday picture (it's something that Brock's parents did with their boys and we have decided to continue on the tradition...techie style :))

Happy First Birthday, Sophie. We love you tons and are looking forward to many more years!