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!

Happy 1st Birthday, Sophie!

It is hard for me to believe that my little girl is already one year old. It seems like just yesterday, Brock and I were anticipating her big debut not even knowing if she was a boy or a girl. I can still remember the morning of February 18th, 2008 when we woke up bright and early to go over to the hospital to be induced. I still remember the walk up the ramp to get to the mother-baby unit. I remember feeling nervous and excited all at once. Who would have dreamed how much our lives would change(for the better) that day?

Today our little angel turns one year old. She has changed so much in the last year. Brock and I joke about remembering the days when we could lay her down, run in the other room for something and she would still be in the same spot when we returned. Now we enjoy chasing her up and down the hallways, helping her "practice" walking (oooh she is so close), and enjoying her giggles as she plays with her toys.

Happy 1st birthday, Sophie. Mommy and Daddy love you and couldn't imagine our lives without you!

Just seconds old

Mommy with her little girl!

Our little Angel!

Sophie playing toys 1st birthday morning

Poor Baby! :(

Well we thought this weekend would be pretty much uneventful but Sophie had other ideas.

We had put her down for her nap. It had been a little over an hour and things were pretty well quiet from her room (other then her noise machine running). When suddenly we hear a scream coming from her room. We aren't 100% sure what happened. We are assuming she stood up and lost her footing but she hit her lip on something and gave herself a fat lip. We gave her a cold washrag to suck on which stopped the bleeding. It is definitely bruised and swollen. Poor little munchkin :(.