Updates: Daycare experience, Couples Retreat

Well let's talk about October 7th. That day was one of the hardest days I have ever had as a mother. I knew it would be rough, but wasn't sure what to expect I guess. It was Sophie's first day of daycare. We have been looking on and off for a long time (over a year) and I have looked at several daycares and just haven't felt right about it. My mom babysits when we work but sometimes I feel like we are relying on her too much and thought that Sophie could use the social experience of doing daycare once a week. Since I work every other weekend and Kale is home then, really we just need someone about 6 week-days per month. We were accepted into the daycare at my work after being on the waiting list for a while but it is SOOOO expensive! So I ran across a daycare out here right near our house. It is out of a lady's home. Her and another gal run the daycare and it seemed really great. It was clean and updated, in the basement of her hours, and they seemed like they really knew what they were doing! All the kids there were normal-looking kids, ha. The price was fair and it was great to be just minutes away from our house. We decided we would take her there once a week and my mom could babysit the day we needed once every other week.

I worked, so Kale got Sophie up and got her dressed, fed her, and headed to the daycare. I had gotten everything ready and laid out clothes and breakfast. He had been feeling anxious and emotional about it and was super worried about how it would go, especially the 'drop-off.' The plan was that Kale would go in with Sophie and start to play and get her distracted so she felt comfortable then sneak out. That usually works for us with nursery. We expected for her to be sad and cry but were hoping it would be busy and fun and she would make it through the day. That plan was crushed. The lady, we'll call her T, said that despite Kale's concerns, 'it's the best way to do it' and grabbed Sophie from Kale and told him he should leave. Of course, her personality is to cry and be scared. She still has some major stranger danger. Kale said she was just grabbing for him and trying to squirm and that she was hysterical. He had to leave and head to work. Being at work was hard for both of us. I finally couldn't take it anymore and had to call for an update. Luckily I talked to the apparently nicer, younger lady, we'll call her K. K said that you were pretty fussy even still and that you were having a hard time but that it would be ok. At the time I could hear you crying in the background. Another nurse came in early for me, as I had planned for there being a possibility you wouldn't last. I tried to think rational and decided to run an errand hoping that would give you more time to acclimate and I hoped things would be better. I was feeling anxious and sick to my stomach the entire time I ran errands and pretty much sped home after to get you.

I walked in to a young teen downstairs in the daycare with all the kids. She said to wait right there and I heard her go get K. K came down and said Sophie was sleeping on the couch. I looked down at her on the couch and she had wet, swollen eyes. They were red and her eyelashes were soaked and clumped together. I could see the tears pooled in your eyes while she was laying there asleep even, and there was dried snot all around her nose and mouth. I was devastated. She said that she pretty much cried all day. She said Sophie wouldn't let any kids get around her and when they would she would start crying again and it would take 15 minutes + to calm back down. She said that she wouldn't eat or drink a thing. They finally got her to take a few pieces of bread that T had to 'hand feed' her.. She said T held her most of the day and Sophs finally fell asleep on T's lap. That makes me feel sad because T seems like she is all business and I hate imagining her being passive aggressive with an attitude like "well I'll show you" or something to Sophie. Maybe she was kind and loving, I'll never know, I just have the feeling that she probably isn't... K said that they tried putting her down for a nap because she seemed so exhausted but that Sophie wouldn't even lay down, even with the bottle that they forbad you to have initially. (Sometimes Sophie has a bottle for comfort and they said no but I packed one anyway). They said she finally fell asleep on the couch so they just left her there and that you had been asleep about 45 minutes. I picked you up and you woke up and hugged me and laid on my shoulder. I apologized to K because I knew it must have been hard for them too. She said the only time Sophie stopped crying was when they put her in the highchair alone in the kitchen.

I took Sophie home and gave you a big hug and kiss. I felt so bad to see her sweet face so sad. Her diaper was soaked and her lip was bleeding inside so I don't know if she got bumped or just bit her lip. Her little eyes were red and bloodshot and almost swollen to shut. It makes me feel horrible to even re-live how I felt. Sophie was so glad to be home that day.

Earlier in the year I got a groupon for the CLAS Ropes Course Couple Retreat. We redeemed that this month. It was a lot of fun. It was Sophie's first time with a babysitter from our neighborhood and since she had quite an ordeal the day before at daycare, we were super worried. The babysitter came over and we were able to sneak out. We headed to Provo. We got there and were excited for all the fun activities.

Our group got to do this big swing. It was fun. I almost didn't do it because I am terrified, more than a normal phobia, of heights. I agreed to do it but only went up halfway. It was still fun and I was glad I went on it. Kale loved it. He was trying to flip but couldn't quite make it over.

Next our group tried this other activity that you have to walk on a tightrope and use each other to balance and see how far you get. I thought we'd get far since we have long arms, ha, but we didn't do that great. That was probably my favorite activity of the day and I really wished we could have had more time to try it. Next was rock climbing. It was a 40 foot wall. It was scary looking. Kale didn't really have a desire to try it but I talked him into it. He did really good and almost got to the top.

Next it was my turn. SOOO scary! I hate heights and I have huge feet so I wasn't sure I could balance my entire body on some little rock thingy.

I went up about 10-15 feet and then I was stuck and my ankles were hurting so I was done, ha. At least I tried and it was fun.

It was such a fun day, I really loved it. We did a zip line and Kale did something called a leap of faith where you jump off a platform and aim for this ring. He got the ring, yay, way to go Kale! We had Costa Vida and there was a guest speaker but we headed home because it was such a long drive. Sophie did great with the babysitter. She is super nice, kind of quiet, but really mature and great with kids. She said Sophie didn't even cry and slept really well. We were relieved she did ok.

We took Sophie to nursery the next day and she was terrified. I feel like we have taken like ten steps backwards. We talked a lot about things and decided that for right now daycare wasn't the best idea. I called them on Monday and they said "we can't have a child who isn't going to adjust" when I told them we didn't want to continue bringing her anymore. It kind of bugged me. Oh well.

That next week Sophie was super fussy. She was getting her molars and then I think she is just a bit traumatized about everything! It was a hard week. Luckily I had a lot of time off that week so we could just hang out. I love hanging out with Sophie, she is such a sweet girl and I love her so much!

Pumpkin Patch

My mom's work was having an activity at a pumpkin patch place in Layton. It was a lot of fun! The line was long when we got there but moved fast because they had about three or four tractors taking groups on the hayride to the pumpkin patch. Sophie was hungry so she was kind of grumpy while we were waiting in line but we did lots to distract her and pretty soon it was our turn!

We got situated on the trailer/hay and Sophie was so sad and crying. I think the loud tractor and all the people around scared her. As soon as the tractor got going though, she was having a blast and she LOVED it! She kept saying Wee! The tractor kept going through mud puddles because of the rain today so I was worried it was going to splash us since we were closest to the tire. It was quite an adventure. It was a fun ride to the pumpkins though.

We picked our pumpkins. We found the cutest little baby pumpkin for Sophie. It's perfect, I love it!

The tractor gave us a ride back to the start. We got in line for pizza. Sophie was sure hungry, she ate three entire slices of pizza! I was dying laughing at her. That girl loves her some pizza!

Yay for Fall!

Sophie's Birthday!

What a fun day! We woke up around 8 and Kale made waffles, one of Sophie's Favorites! We ate and hung around. Kale got a haircut, and then I went to run some errands (cake, balloons). My Mom brought the goat and kittens over first. Her friend from work had them and was so nice to have them over for the party. The goat was adorable. His name was LeBron and he was pretty friendly. He was really nervous I think and had a lot to say at first. Sophie loved hearing him baa and petting him.

There were four little kittens. Man they are so cute! They are just little fur-balls. Two were kind of mean and would hiss at you when you'd go to pet them.

Sophie went down for a nap. I was worried she wouldn't nap because she was so excited about the animals but she did. We finished getting everything ready and Sophie got up just in time for a bath and to wear her outfit. I am not a sew-er at all. I know basic stuff. I tried making a pillow case dress but it was huge on her. I tried to troubleshoot and quickly fix it, and it basically ruined it, so I had to re-cut everything smaller and start over. It was quite the ordeal. I have been working on it all week and it was finally ok and she looked super cute in it. I can't believe she is two, she is such a blessing in our lives and I just LOVE her so much!

The horse, Pedro, came over and we saddled him up. He was really pre-occupied with the cows in the next field and kept whinnying at them. The kids thought that was pretty cool. Sophie didn't' want to ride him but loved to pet him.

We had chips, hot dogs, and water/squeeze its! I had a lady on etsy design our invitation and water bottle wraps to match. MMM, it was so much fun!

My Dad is so cute. We just pawned off a kitten to him. I was glad he came. He is such a hard worker and always has lots of other projects going on so I know it was a big deal to skip out on his Saturday work to come help at the party and bring the horse. He is the best Dad and Grandpa!

I made some favor bags: kitty, piggy, cow, rooster, and horse!

We tried to go all-out with the animals. We had animal balloons, animal decorations, plates, water bottle wrappers, and favors! It was fun planning it all out.

Well we fell in love with this kitten that Kale named Gus. He is such a cute little fur-ball. We decided we wanted to have him stay at our house for a little bit so we can decide if he'll be a good fit for our family. He is super cute and so nice. I have allergies so I am unsure of if it will bother me. The great thing about it is that if we need to, we can just take him back up to the barn where he was born and throw him out there with his siblings/mama. My sister, Kylie and her husband Preston are also keeping another kitty.

The kittens were a big hit. Probably one of the favorites! We had a Grandpa Ferret and some baby chicks, too.

Sophie's little friend, Anna, loved riding the horse! Leila was a good helper and rode with the smaller kiddos to help hold onto them while we gave horse rides. She is a natural!

Preston, the cook, did a fabulous job!

Their kitty, Larry, named by Kale. Kale loves giving animals weird names that are people names. I am not a supporter, I love funny animal names.

So LeBron wasn't too friendly overall. He wanted attention but wasn't going to hold still and be clobbered. Poor sweet Anna was trying to pet him and then all the sudden he put his head down and rammed into her! We were all laughing because he knocked her down. Poor girl!

Sophie doesn't' like singing lately. Even if we try to sing her favorite songs she gets mad at us for some weird reason. So of course, the cake and singing "Happy Birthday" didn't go over well. One of my friends said "It's her party and she'll cry if she wants too!"

After cake, we opened presents. Sophie got super distracted after opening the first one though! Ha!

It was such a great party, thanks to all the family and friends that came. We are so lucky to have such great friends and family and it meant so much! I love my Sophie so much, I can't believe she is already two years old! She seems so big!

Today she had her 2 year check-up. She is 38% in weight (11.6kg) (up from 19% yay!!!) and 88% in height (35.25 in). She got one shot and the flu mist. She is a happy healthy girl and we are so happy she is in our lives! Happy Birthday to my Sweet Sophie Girl!

Busy Busy Busy

I have working hard on getting ready for Sophie's party. She will be turning two on Saturday. I can't believe it's been two years already, I just love Sophie so much. I have been working on lots of things. We are having a barnyard theme because Sophie is so into animals lately. We have quite a few animals that will be attending. I have made a few things too: the favor bags and I even attempted a little dress out of this cute fabric. I haven't tried it on yet so hopefully it fits (I am a novice sew-er). It has been stressful these last few days because I still feel like there are so many things I need to work on and get done before. My yard is a mess. Luckily my house is fairly clean.

This month I have been precepting a nursing student (basically like a mini clinical teacher). She has been so sweet and I have loved working with her. She was due to have her first baby Oct 7. He had other things in mind and on Tuesday she asked me "how much bleeding is normal?" I put her in a wheelchair and down to L&D she went. Poor girl, I would hate being caught off guard like that. She lives in Logan but thankfully her husband was in Ogden so he got there quickly. She had her baby that morning, just ten hours short of finishing her precepting rotation!

Sophie starts a new little daycare next Friday. We have her going every Friday. The place is great, the teachers seem wonderful, and the price is right. My mom has been babysitting when we work for the most part, but I am hoping that having Sophie go to the daycare once a week will help her social skills and feeling comfortable with other people. I think it will be hard at first, and I am glad I don't have to be the one to drop her off (that's Kale's job). I think it will be hard because she is only going once a week so I think it will take some time for her to adjust. I hope all goes well, but if not we'll go back to spending Friday's with her Grandma!

Recently I got a new calling. Let me tell you how it happened. They asked to 'meet' with me. I knew something was in the works... I just had that feeling. I met with two of the bishopric counselors and they asked me to teach in Relief Society. Initially I told them no and why: that I work every other Sunday, and that Sophie refuses to go to nursery, and that I feel like I'll be taking away from Kale being able to learn (he only goes when I go). They asked me to think about it and I did ... I know you can't really turn down a calling and that I should at least try. I told them I would take the calling and give it an honest effort. A day or two later I get a call (Tuesday) from the relief society presidency and they tell me my lesson is Sunday! Ack! Super stress mode. I spent a few hours preparing the lesson and all these things to add to it. I was worried about filling the time. So of course, the day I teach, they have announcements for almost half an hour. I barely got through half of my lesson and my time was up! I was pretty nervous but tried to not talk fast and actually look up and get input from the ladies in my ward. I teach again on the 9th and am worried about it because the lesson is so straight-forward and it's only two pages long. It's on the Gathering of Israel.

Well I am sure I will blog soon about Sophie's party... keep an eye out for some fun pictures!

Fat

It's been two months since I made the choice to really work hard at losing weight and started my bootcamp. The bootcamp was only four weeks long, but I have tried to carry on the good habits. I am definitely not working out as often and as intense at bootcamp but I try to make healthy choices and be active. I like to hike, bike, take walks around the neighborhood, and try to hit the gym after I work and when Kale is home in the evenings or on his late mornings. Working out for me is the hardest thing, and I miss being able to have the time to do that. It is just my personal opinion, but to me it's just not realistic to expect to work out for 1+ hours each day with a young family. I honestly would much rather do something together as a family or to do something when Sophie is asleep. It is very hard for me and I feel selfish when I do workout and miss out on spending time with Sophie. I looked around at different gyms and got a membership at a local gym but the hours are a bit limited so it's hard sometimes to get there. Luckily my work has a gym that employees can work out in after hours. I loved doing the bootcamp and plan on doing it again around the new year. It was the best priced and most flexible bootcamp I can find. I looked in to a lot and tried to find one closer to my house but really I just loved the Biofit bootcamp I did. The trainer was awesome, the times were the best for my schedule, and the price is very fair. The only drawback is that it was in Layton which was quite a drive for me. I wish I had a friend that lived very close that was in a similar situation and had similar goals. I know some of the ladies in my neighborhood go running, but it's at 530 am and they run like 5-10 miles. I am definitely not there! Plus I like to do circuit training/cross training.

The food part has gotten a lot easier for me. For a while I took an appetite suppressant but now I only take that once or twice a week. I really rely on an app called MyFitnessPal that helps me track all my calories and physical activity. It is so easy to use, I can scan barcodes and search a huge database for foods. Right now my caloric goal is 1560 calories per day. It can be hard to do on eating alone so I usually have to do some sort of activity. At that caloric goal for my weight I can be down about 2 lbs a week. The hard part for me is that I'm an emotional eater, especially when I am bored or stressed. I love to snack. Also, I am 'cheap' so I hate to waste food. I don't listen to my fullness, instead I eat what is left or what is put in front of me. I have tried to make smaller portions for me and only cook what we will eat or immediately separate leftovers. My husband hates anything healthy, so that is also a big challenge. He loves greasy foods, pastas and carbs, and pizza. Plus, healthy fresh food is so much more expensive!

I try not to weigh every day but sometimes it's fun to see the fluctuation. I can fluctuate about 3-4 lbs each day! It just goes to show the importance of weighing at the same time of the day wearing the same thing. Today I weighed in and am down 19 pounds from my weight 2 months ago! I am very glad. I haven't measured my inches for a while since bootcamp, but in the month I did bootcamp I lost about 15 inches overall. I haven't noticed a big difference in the way my clothes fit but Sunday I was actually able to fit into a skirt that has been too tight for a long time. It is very encouraging and I hope I can stick with it. Hopefully I can continue to lose weight. I am down 19 pounds and have 24 to go to get to my initial goal weight. I will be happy to get there, and from there would like to lose an additional 15 to be to my ideal weight.

Utah State Fair

We had such a fun day today! We missed the Weber and Davis County fair so we went to the Utah State Fair today. Sophie is so into animals lately, I hoped she would love it! We picked Kale up on our way. I was bummed because after we parked and got to the gates it was 7 and it was only open until 8. We had originally planned to be down there around 4 but then Kale picked up a shift so he worked until 6. We still had a lot of fun. We walked around for a while looking at some of the booths and checking out the rides and then we finally found the animals! We saw the pigs first. Sophie was in seventh heaven in there! I just put her down and let her roam and she loved being able to walk around to all the cages. Most of the pigs were laying but there were a few really active ones and she even got to hear some oinks! Pigs aren't very soft so the first few she pet she didn't seem like she knew what to think about them. Pretty soon though she would walk from cage to cage and pet the ones that were laying. I think when they have their face pointed at her or are trying to smell her, it made her a bit nervous. Pigs don't seem to have a great life, they just oink and waddle around and lay and there were TONS of flies on them. There was a mama with about 6 little baby piglets and they were so cute, I totally wanted one (if only they stayed small and soft).

Next we went to see the sheep. It was stinky in there, and Sophie kept saying "cucka." (how do you even spell that word?). It was pretty funny. The sheep were bigger and moving around a lot more because most of them were eating their dinner. Sophie loved to just watch them and I think she was just mesmerized by them! By the end of the walkway she was feeling brave and we found the sweetest little sheep and it let you pet it. Sophie was loving it and just going to town patting and rubbing it's little face! So cute!

Next we saw the cows. They were just tied up to a fence - they weren't really fenced in and I didn't want to get kicked or hurt trying to pet them. We tried to pet the end one but Sophie was too intrigued by the fan that was ventilating the building than the actual cows. The next building had goats in them. This was a fun one! There were tons of goats and they were much more inquisitive and would come right over to the fence and some would step up on the railing to say hi! Sophs loved walking around and watching but most goats were a bit too forward for her to pet them. A lady had some out on a leash and she was able to pet it. It liked her and kept trying to nibble her hair. So funny!

Next up we saw a few ponies that were giving rides. We thought about paying for Sophs to ride but weren't sure if she'd like it and we were short on time since it was almost closing time. So, next we saw the chickens. Sophie really liked them but the lady said not to pet them because they would bite. You weren't happy about that restriction so we quickly left. We went to see the vegetables and there was a display of bees. You loved the pumpkins (True October Baby!) and kept patting them, trying to pick them up, and sitting on them. It was hilarious! We stopped by the bunny area, then went and got some mini fried doughnuts, then headed for home. We stopped at the California Pizza Kitchen but by then Sophs was pretty tired and grumpy so we ate quickly and headed home. It was a fun day, I love seeing Sophie and her love for animals!

Lagoon

Kale had to work today so we didn't have plans but then my friend, Dari, invited us to come to Lagoon with them. Sophs and I made an omelet, and she scarfed it down. I think eggs are one of her top three favorite foods. We got ready and headed down to Lagoon. Normally I would ride frontrunner and then the shuttle but Sophs was kinda grumpy and I didn't want to be stuck down there if she had a melt-down. She fell asleep on the way down, of course. I let her sleep for a bit then we jumped on the shuttle and met up with Dari and her family. Sophie, who normally LOVES Lagoon, cried on every ride just about, and in between rides too. I don't know what her deal was, we've been more than a handful of times this summer and last summer and she has always loved it. She was riding rides at 8 months old and never cried like today. I think that the lack of a good nap played a part in it.

The only parts she did like was when we road the carousel and when she got to play in the water. Chris and Dari went on a ride together so I took the kids: sweet Owen, Lola, and Sophs, to kiddieland. We parked everyone by the big water ball and got out to play. Sophie loved it, she is such a water bug, and she was soaking wet when we finally left!

After the water ball Lola spotted some cheetos in her diaper bag. Those were quickly eating, and some sweet lady helped us avoid a meltdown by giving us a bag of hers that she said were extra. What a nice lady, I hope some positive Karma goes her way!

On the way out, we got some cotton candy and Sophie was frantically enjoying it. She was shoveling it into her mouth, an her hands and mouth were covered in cotton candy, like a pink Santa beard! It was hilarious, apparently she really likes cotton candy! Sophie went down for a nap when we got home. She needed that nap! We had a family party that night, so I went in to wake her up so we could get ready. I love seeing babies and kids sleep (especially my own), for some reason it just make me want to giggle out-loud. She just looked so peaceful and it's kind of funny to see the way she lays and her mannerisms when she first wake up (sometimes she looks offended, poor girl)! I went in today and she was laying on her pillow with an empty bottle in her mouth. It was resting on the pillow, you weren't holding it it. Yes we still use a bottle to help Sophie get to sleep. We just put about 1-2 ounces of warm water in the bottle for her nap and bedtime and it only stays in the crib. She drinks the water fast and basically uses that thing as a pacifier. She was laying on her side and was kind of curled up and had tons of blankets around her. It was cute.

We had the party at our old house in Farr West where my Aunt now lives. Sophie was walking around the back yard like she owned the place (well I guess she still kinda does). She was snarfing down chips and trying to drink people's soda. It was hilarious to see her just be-bop around the crowd. I snapped pictures, we had dinner, and then we played some volleyball. Sophs was so attached to her Grandma. I think she was within 5 feet of her the entire night. After the game (it was pretty dark) we sat on the deck and played and visited with everyone. Surprisingly Sophie let some of my cousins hold her and my bestest cousin, Heather, was tickling her and biting up her arm and not only did Sophie tolerate a 'stranger' but she was laughing hysterically! I have some pictures that I will eventually upload but I have lost my USB cord for my camera so my pictures are forever trapped because this stupid MAC doesn't have a SD card reader built in (ghetto). I miss my HP.

Waterfall Canyon 2

You would think I learned my lesson about hiking waterfall canyon from last time when I thought I was going to die... but nope!

Kale got home from work and we headed out to meet friends for our hike. We went with Kale's friend from West Jordan, Jesse, and my friend Whitney and her husband and daughter. The hike was fun this time because there was light and we could actually see instead of the last time we went when it was dark before we started. It was a hard hike and I noticed that I am not as in shape as I was last time we went. I was getting pretty tired and super sweaty, but we made it to the top. I had Sophs in the Beco and love it!

Here is a picture of my friends, Whitney, Wade, and Emery! Wade made the hike look easy packing a baby; he was the leader and never had to stop for a breath like me!

Sophie did really good and hardly fussed at all! We made it to the top and hung out for a bit until it started to get dark. I took Sophie by the waterfall and it was misting us; it felt nice after the hike up!

Sophie loved getting down and scaling over the rocks and playing in the small little stream.

She was pretty sad when we had to load up and head back down. Plus it was getting close to bedtime for both babies. We made it down so much quicker than what it took to get up there! After the steep parts I turned the Beco so that Sophie was on front and we could hug and cuddle. She is so sweet, she just lays on me and snuggles right up. I think the Beco is one of my most favorite things and we use it so much! It's nice to have something comfortable enough and versatile enough for anything we need. Who wants to lug around a stroller everywhere anyway?

Great Grandpa's Pillow

My Grandpa just LOVES Sophie. He loves to see her, buys her special treats that she likes, and talks about her visits for days after! When she was smaller he was about the only 'stranger' she would let hold her. He loved it an just enjoys having her over. He fell about a year ago and was down overnight and had to be hospitalized after so now we all keep an even closer eye on him. My mom usually has the bedtime responsibility of wrapping his legs and helping him get ready and get into bed. Tonight she had to work a grave so I went over to help him. Sophie likes going over there. She usually stays by me while I wrap Grandpa's legs. Then he gets up and heads in the kitchen for a drink and a prune. For some weird reason, Sophs love prunes. She'd eat an entire bag if I'd let her. He has one and Sophie has one. He gets ready for bed and I help him with his CPAP machine. Sophie always has a look of concern so he tells her he is ok so she doesn't worry. We tuck him in, lock up, and head home. Tonight when I was getting things locked up, I came out and found Sophie laying on her favorite pillow. It has a big rooster on it. It's like a decorative pillow but she loves it. She carts it around his house. Tonight she was laying on it. It was one of the cutest things. She is such a funny girl!

Nature Center

I tried to plan fun, different things this summer. One of those was visiting the Nature Center. We went for a little toddler class: one was called music and movement earlier in the summer, and we went to one this month about Mud. It was fun for Sophie. First we looked for bugs and dug around in the dirt and sand. Then we went out where there were big pots of mud and there were pretend worms hidden and we got to get all messy and muddy looking for them. Sophie did not like the mud part. As soon as she'd touch it, she would rub her hands together to get the mud off. It was kind of funny to see the girls be much more cautious about getting dirty and the boys just dug right in and were such a mess. Sophie's favorite part was the was off the worms bucket (a big sand pail full of water - this girl loves water). She spent most of the time playing in it.

She was a good helper, she gathered all the clean worms for the teacher. After that we got cleaned up, saw some fish, a tortoise, and some birds and talked about making houses with mud, then read a few stories and made treats with pudding, oreo mud, and a candy worm! Sophie only ate the worm, ha!

A few weeks later we went for a nature walk on our own. First we visited the birds. They have an owl, hawk, and an eagle among some others. Sophie loved looking at the birds. The Owl even hooted for her and she thought that was cool! Then, she was talking "eagle" and it was actually pretty cool. She'd talk in her jibber-jabberish and the Eagle would cock his head and make noises back to her. She liked it and didn't want to leave the Eagle's cage. The day was so hot so our nature walk wasn't as fun as I hoped. I started with Sophie in the Beco but we were both so hot and miserable.

So since the trail was really nice I let her walk and she loved it. She'd stomp on things, pick leaves up, and brush past the trees and bushes as we went past. We saw a few birds and a big marshy pond. It was fun in the shade, but near the end of the trail we were in the direct sunlight and it was so hot! Poor Sophie was flushed and super grumpy - I blame the heat!

I just love my Sophie so much! She is so much fun and I love to do new things and see her reactions to thing we take for granted. We saw a deer and she thought it was so cool! It paused for a long time to look at us then jumped off and she was super excited. Having a daughter is the best thing in the world! I just love that girl!

Hogle Zoo

Today we went to the zoo! Part of the deal with our Dinosaur Park Pass was discounted admission to the Zoo this summer, which was rad, for a Zoorassic theme. We took Sophie's cousins, Alexa and Eva. What a fun day! We brought the wagon but Sophie wanted nothing to do with it so I carried her in the Beco and the neices rode in the wagon. It was SOOO hot but we still had a lot of fun. We were there about two hours.

They had dinosaurs throughout the zoo. This dinosaur happened to be a spitting dinosaur that would spray water and move and roar at us. It took all three of you by surprise!

We stopped by the elephants. There was a baby elephant that was so adorable. They were all eating hay so it was fun to see how high they could stretch. Next we went to the tiger area. Sophie found a puddle so that was the highlight of her trip I think, ha! Next up was the giraffes. I was surprised at how well it went because I think this was the first animal that Sophie actually focused on and watched. Sophie has a hard time transitioning to the next thing. So usually when we leave something, she has a little tantrum/breakdown and doesn't realize that the next thing we do will be fun too. It is hard sometimes and I wish I could reason with her better.

Next up was the primate building, which was her favorite place. There was a gorilla in one room and he was hilarious. Sophie loved him. It was cool because she could get right up close to the glass and that was the only thing separating you from him. He was really active and doing a lot of silly things - like flinging poop and sticks, swinging from his toys, and walking all around. It definitely kept Sophie's attention. Kale stayed with Sophie while I took the nieces to see the other primates in the building. Sophie would check out other animals but always wander back to her gorilla friend. She was smiling and waving at him, and she'd say "HI" in a really funny Sophie voice. Kale said once the gorilla kind of snuck up just under the window and then popped up really fast at her and she got startled and jumped backwards. The gorilla thought it was pretty funny that he caught you off guard. That didn't stop her though, and she was right up at the window again.

Outside the primate building there was a huge dinosaur and Sophie immediately ran up to it to hitch a ride. She stayed sitting on him for quite a while. When we finally had to take her off it was quite the hysteria, such drama...

We went to another building with smaller monkeys and even though Sophie didn't bond with them as much, she enjoyed watching them. We found these cute wooden horses and sat everyone on them and Sophie loved it. She kept patting and petting the horse's mane. She stayed on that thing for quite a while! The cousins got bored so we saw some other animals while Kale and Sophs stayed behind to keep riding the horse.

It was just as hard pulling you from this horse as it was from the dinosaur. We went to the last spot with bats an gophers and stuff. Then, there was a huge playground with slides and a teeter-toter. Everyone had a lot of fun there. Sophie was going down the slides all by herself which she thought was pretty cool. She figured out to fan her legs out on the side of the slides to keep a slow pace. On the way out of the zoo we stopped by the water ball and Sophie just plopped down and loved it. She loves water so much! After the zoo we met up with Kale's side of the family at the Spaghetti factory and had dinner. Sophie doesn't like pasta, or the bread they have there, so it's always hard to keep her quiet and happy. We usually give her a cup full of ice and she practices stirring and spooning the ice. Another go-to thing is to bring in the iPad and play her favorite TV shows. That always works and boy are we glad! After dinner, we headed home. It was such a fun day to play at the zoo, I hope we can go again soon.

Weber River

My cousin has been here for about a year visiting while her husband was working overseas. It has been fun to be with her since she has always lived back East since she was married. Today she was heading back, so we wanted to hang out before she left. We had dinner at Jeremiah's, Sophie's favorite restaurant. She eats like a truckdriver there! She was grumpy though, phew! Next we went to the Ogden Parkway and went for a little walk. On the way back we stopped by a small little pool by the river. There was a log separating it from the really strong current so it was really mellow. It was sure freezing though, wow! I could barely keep my feet in so I didn't even understand how it wasn't bothering her feet.

It started with Sophs just standing/wading in it, put pretty soon she was practically submerged! She made me nervous when she went out to the log and tried to climb over! I was so fearful of how rapid and fast the river was going! Finally when we had to go, Sophie had a tantrum/meltdown (of course).

We dropped my cousin off at her car and headed home for a nap. It was fun and we will definitely miss having Melissa and Aaron around.

That night we went to a viewing for one of my neighbors growing up, Shawn Barnes. It was so sad, I was teary and emotional about it all. Sophie did so well, she sat so reverently while we were waiting, so that was good. I feel so sad for the family and his ten day old baby. It made me really appreciate what I have and how grateful I am for my family.

Bootcamp

Here are a few more pictures from the recent Albion Basin adventure. These are not the professional's pictures, they are just some we took after. I love my baby girl!

Here is a picture from our hike, look how pretty it is up there!

Bootcamp ended for me on Friday August 6. In the four weeks of the bootcamp I was able to lose a total of 10lbs, and 14 inches overall; the most significant were: 3 inches in my chest, 4 in my waist, 2 in my hips. It was really great and I have missed the intense workouts since I stopped, believe it or not! I wish I had the money to do it more often. I have survived two weddings so now will be able to focus more on working out. I have continued to do well with staying under my calorie budget, but working out has not gone so well. I have done little things, but not the intense workouts I was doing and not every day. It's kind of a bummer, but I've lost about 3 more pounds since I stopped bootcamp, so I hope it continues to go down. I love the app: myfitnesspal and log all my food intake and workouts there to keep track. It is so helpful.

I am so sad the summer is almost over! Time has flown by and there is still so much I would love to do. This fall Kale will be working full time, plus picking up a few shifts at his on-call job. I will be working 3/4 full time. We are thinking about putting Sophie into a day of daycare to help acclimate her to others. She's got some pretty good stranger-danger anxiety. It's just that much more of an expense so we are trying to decide what to do. She still can't be left alone in nursery or she screams, ha! That girl is strong-willed... wonder where she got that from :)

Drive-In

Today after Kale got home, we went to the drive-in. It was a lot of fun. We ordered and then got Sophie out of her carseat and she hung out in front with us. She had so much fun pressing buttons and turning the volume up and down. Our food came and it was DELICIOUS! Sophie loves fries, and ate my entire order! I was glad - less calories I have to burn off :)

We ordered a shake but Sophie doesn't really like ice cream (weirdo!). Kale and I shared it. It was delicious. Being calorie conscious makes me appreciate meals like this more often! Yum!

Violet

My Pal Violet was one of the best things we've gotten for Sophie. She loves that thing and packs it around everywhere. You can personalize it so it says Sophie's name, plays songs that we choose, personalize it for favorite color, food, animal. It's a lot of fun. When Sophie was younger we relied on the lullaby feature so much, it was very calming for her. Sophie also has a purple blanket that is her favorite. Unfortunately they don't make that same style anymore. I have bought VERY similar ones but she always goes to the purple ones (we have two). She is funny about them, and drags them everywhere. I sure love this girl!