6 Months

Emma turned six months old on Tuesday!  She is getting big so fast.  

She is 27 inches long (92nd percentile) and 17 lbs (74th percentile).  She is so chubby and sweet, we just love kissing her cheeks!  She love to look at her hands and they entertain her a lot.  She is very easy going and mellow.  She has found her voice and loves to talk and cackle at things.  She is still breastfeeding and we have not started solids yet but maybe will after I get through a couple big work-weeks.  She is a good night-time sleeper and although she wakes up to eat twice during the night, she goes to sleep very easily.  We had her in our bed until about 3 weeks ago and move her to the crib.  The transition was so smooth!  I miss having her close but I know she likes to have her space in there.  She is almost sitting up without assistance and today she rolled over because she wanted too.  (she rolled before but I think by accident).  I love her so much.  She really is the best baby.

Sophie is such a great big sister.  Always playful and attentive with the baby.  She looks for ways to help.  Emma just loves her.  She watches her play and follows her all around the room with her eyes.  Sophie loves preschool and loves to write and say her letters.  She can count to "100 by tens" and has such a great memory.  She loves to read before bed and has almost all the favorite books memorized.  She is still a picky eater!  She loves playing outside.

We are so lucky to have these two sweet girls!

Treehouse

Now that the baby is a little older she is a lot more mobile and interactive with things.  Today Sophie has a field trip for school.  I have made a recent resolution to try to get out of the house more to do fun activities.  I used to be pretty good at this... then I got pregnant.... then I had a baby.  needless to say we haven't done girls-day-out for a while!

We went to the temple to have a picnic.  Sophie was all into that!  This girl loves her some Doritos...

With Sophie's left-over birthday money we got a season pass to the children's museum in Ogden.  We have had a pass before when Sophs was 2.  It's nice that its close.

She loved riding the horses and pretending to be a cowgirl. 

Her favorite-hands down-was playing school.  I would write small words for her to sound out or draw pictures for her to write on her little chalkboard.  She LOVED it!  I had the baby in the baby carrier and she fell asleep.  Since this was a quiet area we stayed here about 45 minutes playing.

The baby was a happy camper, like always.  

We stayed a few hours but it had been a long day and it was time to go.  She was so sad.  She said she wanted to pick one activity so we played on the fire engine for a while.

We treated ourselves to ice cream on the way home.  Sophie always gets covered in it, ha!

What a fun day!  We only saw about half the museum so I'm really excited she loves it even more this year and we'll have a great activity to entertain us through the winter!

Feeding the Missionaries!

We've been asked several times but just haven't been able to have the missionaries over for dinner.  Finally our schedules aligned!  My aunt came over to visit and bring us some candy and she stayed for dinner too.  

They were SO cute!  Elder Paredes (from Ecuador) and Elder Sioka (from West Samoa).  They were such great young men and a lot of fun.  Sophie made them color pictures from her barbie coloring book!  HA!  They taught a cute little lesson and were so patient with Sophie.  It was so nice to invite that special spirit into our home.

Happy Birthday Sophs

Sophie turned 5!  What a big day!  We made sure we did lots of things today.  Kale had work off so it was fun.  We went to the doctor and the dentist.  She loves the dentist!  She does great there.  We went to Toys R Us and let her pic a present with birthday money her Great Grandma and Great Aunt/Uncle sent her.  She picked some Frozen Barbies and a little dog that zooms around the floor, barks, shakes his tail, and "begs."  Sophie loves stuffed animals.  She has WAY too many.  I swore I wouldn't be that mom, but I am!

Sophie loves her preschool.  She has some hard days getting a long but is getting much better.  Her teacher is great and Sophie likes her a lot.  Sophie loves tracing and writing letters.  Often times I'll see her writing letters out in the air with her finger even!  She loves doing little worksheets from preschool work books.  She especially loves going on field trips.  We went to a petting zoo last month and we are doing a pumpkin themed field trip this month.  Sophie is very tall for her age!  Everyone comments on that, but look at her parents!  She still has long thick hair and beautiful blue eyes.  She always wants to get her hair cut and I never understood why until just recently--it because her long hair is prone to snarls!  She loves playing outside.  I wish I had more energy to play out there with her.  She loves the trampoline, swing/slide, riding scooter/bike, and drawing with sidewalk chalk.

Sophie is such a good listener.  She remembers everything you ever say.  She has been having some times lately where she gets "mad" and loses her temper.  She is also pretty sensitive/emotional about everything and anything which is nothing new.  She loves Monster High, Halloween songs, dinosaurs, dolls, and barbies.  She loves watching movies and playing with the iPad.  She loves working on arts and crafts.  She is still a picky eater and her favorite foods are: "banilla" ice cream, fresh snap peas (without the pods), scrambled eggs, gogurt, apples, and then fast foods like McDonalds breakfast pancakes, McDonalds French Fries, corn dogs, and pizza.  She loves snack foods too like chips, crackers, marshmallows, and fruit snacks.  That's about it!  It gets to be challenging to feed her sometimes.  At her appointment we learned her iron is low so we are going to start some special vitamins.

Sophie loves being social.  She has really come out of her shell!  She loves saying hi and talking to people.  She loves hanging out with her Grandma (who babysits when I work) and always has fun.  She is excited for her new baby cousin due in April, who she has affectionately named Mittens.

She is a good girl and we are so blessed to have her in our family.  Here are some pictures from the big day today!


First we had breakfast with Grandma at Jeremiah's.... mmm!  Then we headed to the dentist.  Grandma bought her this cute fox at Jeremiah's.

We hung out at home until it was time for the doctor's office.  She was so worried she would have to get a shot!  She was crying before we got there.  So naturally she was glad when she didn't have to get any shots.  They did prick her finger to check her iron levels and that was pretty traumatic.

Next Stop: Toy shopping with her birthday money!  Thanks Bettolo Great Grandparents and Aunt S&E!

Sophie loves pizza and fish tanks.  So... we went to Kale's favorite pizza place!  Sophie just usually eats the pepperoni's off the pizza and Kale likes cheese pizza so it works out pretty good.

Sophie wanted a minion party and specifically requested a "purple minion" cake.  I was pretty worried at first because I couldn't find anything like that, but luckily Kale works with a TALENTED lady who MADE this cake.  It was awesome, and Sophie was so excited!  She kept taking bites out of the fondant!

Her favorite present was this HUGE dinosaur her Grandma SueAnn got her (at a yardsale, score!).  It is interactive, it growls, eats a leaf, turns and twists its head, plays music, and kids can sit on it and bounce.  It was a huge hit... she loved it!  Another favorite was a hulu hup.  Sophie was pretty dang good at it!

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

Tumbling

If you've followed us on the blog you may remember last year we tried a ballet class.  It was kind of a disaster.  Sophie was exceptionally stubborn and naughty.  She'd be excited to go, but once she;d get there she didn't' want to participate often.  Needless to say, we stopped going after about half the classes.

Well, fast forward to now.  Sophie has been asking to go to ballet class all summer.  I thought we'd try a different avenue and do tumbling.  I didn't even know but a lady in my neighborhood owns a tumbling gym and does lessons for the little ones.  How awesome is that.  Sophie started in an older class but it was crowded and she had a hard time with the over stimulus of it all.  So... we tried a smaller class with two teachers and she has done so great.  She loves it and is always trying to practice at home... on the couch!

They do back rolls, summersaults, and are learning handstands and cartwheels.  She loves going to tumbling!

Neighborhood Paaaartay!

We had a little ward party today.  I had to work but got off at 4.  It was fun to see all our friends and neighbors.  Plus, it is a no-cook-dinner night!  I brought my favorite salad from OOB.  Sophie loved seeing all the kids and running around playing.  We are so happy we have such a great little community.

I caught Kale mid-chew but the look on both of their faces is priceless in this one!

Thank goodness for my favorite baby-carrier (My Beco)

Sophie's Bike Crash

I was visiting Kylie and we were cleaning.  We sent Preston on a walk.  He had Emma in the baby carrier (she was almost asleep) and Sophie was riding her bike around their neighborhood.  The last "leg" of the block had an incline and Sophie got going too fast and despite Preston's valiant efforts to chase after her with the sleeping baby, she crashed!

Sophie was crying, Preston was frazzled, and Emma woke up and was mad.  He scooped Sophie up and ran home with both the girls.  Poor Sophie was just covered in blood and so upset.  Preston tried to call us (poor guy) but we were vacuuming and missed it.  Sophie had a scrap on her nose, a bloody nose and mouth, a bump to her forehead, a HUGE road rash scrap to her knee, and a chunk out of her toe.  I threw her in the tub to wash all the blood off to really assess all the owes.  She was so sweet and such a trooper.  Poor Sophs!  ...and poor Preston... what a traumatic day.  He is a good Uncle and Sophie keeps saying how strong and brave he was that he tried to catch her and then he carrier her and Emma ALL the way back.

Happy 4 Months!

Can you believe Emma is 4 months old already.  We had her check up and she is:

25.5 inches tall (90th percentile)
14lb 10oz (71st percentile)

She loves to put her hands in her mouth and gnaw at them, being held, looking all around her, being outside, and being entertained by her big sister.  She likes the mobile on her bouncer and loves looking in mirrors.  Her hair is still missing, although she has a cute little patch in the back an it even had it's first snarl this month!  She is going through a no-nap phase right now where she just won't nap, or only naps for 10-40 minutes at a time.  She mostly sleeps through the night.  Grandma SueAnn watches her 2 days a week while I work and they have a lot of fun.  Sophie loves to help and
hug little Emma.

We have tried to do some fun things this month.  We have been to the pool several times.  The water is always too cold for Emma but she likes looking around, napping in the stroller, and I walk around in the water with her just dipping her toes in.  Grandma and Grandpa took the girls to the fair.  It was a lot of fun to see the pictures (I was working) and Sophie talked all about it.  We have been to Lagoon a few times this month again, and it's always a blast.  Emma is such a good baby and so tolerate of just hanging out there.  She lasts for hours!  I love how mellow and sweet Emma is.  Her favorite place to be is either being held or in her bouncer.  She kicks and makes it wiggle and laughs at the little animals on it's mobile.  She still sleeps in our room, either in the rock n play or in our bed.  She is wearing size 6 and 9 month clothes, and we recently bought her some cute little shoes (My mom found them at a yardsale and they are adorable!)  She loves her baths so much!  We love Emma So much and are so lucky to have her in our family!

Davis County Fair

I work most every Saturday.  We made big plans and I hoped to get called off because I couldn't get coverage for the entire shift... but of course I had to work.  I was able to make it to a few yardsales with my mom and I was glad I did.  She had found this yardsale with tons of baby girl clothes and they were the right season and so cute!  We found these little shoes.  SO exciting!

I was supposed to be going to the Davis County Fair and then to Lagoon, but I was so tired from work and pretty grumpy I had to work, so I decided to stay home with Emma and just send Kale and Sophie.  They went to the fair first.  Grandma Sue and the cousins and Sophs got to ride an ELEPHANT!  So cool... Sophie couldn't stop talking about how fun it was to ride Jenny, the elephant.  Thanks Grandma Sue!

Sophie love animals.  She seriously would have one of each if I would let her.  She kept talking about wanting a bunny.  She was SO Excited to pet this little guy!

They went to Lagoon for a while afterwards.  Kale is such a great dad.  They had a fun day! 

Emma and I hung out at home after spending the morning checking out what was left of the yardsales with my Mom.

Love to see the Temple

We went to the Ogden Temple Open House tonight.  It was so beautiful!  Sophie kept talking about how she was afraid to have to go to Space and wondered where Jesus was.  Every room she kept asking if it was our turn to see him yet.  I tried to explain the temple was his house and we could only feel his spirit there.  Then she kept saying she missed Joseph Smith, ha.  That girl is so cute and says the funniest things.  Emma was a little angel and slept in the carrier the entire time.  It was POURING rain and we got all wet.

We ate at the new Cafe Rio by our house afterwards.  The girls were so good!  We are so lucky.  What a great day.

Happy Pioneer Day!

The July holidays are some of my favorite.  I had to work the 4th of July, but my mom took Sophie to the parade and activities while Kale stayed inside the {cool} house with the baby.  I also had to work July 24, but only part of the day.  The day was good but I was glad to come home to my family and my sweet girl!  We went to my Mom's house because my brother and cousins had planned a little BBQ.  After we ate, my mom talked everyone into helping haul the hay in the field.  Oh boy!

Kale and Sophie just rode around the field on the 4-wheeler.  Kale wants no part in manual labor.

I rode in the truck with the baby and my sister.

The boys and my mom hauled the hay.  It didn't take long with all the helping hands.

Then it was time for the real party: Fireworks!  Sophie loved it.  Jeff was the foreman for the job and had the industrial-size lighter.  Sophie wanted to "help" with just about everything and he was so cute and patient with her.  She loved the fireworks!

We just hung out and watched with the baby.  We spent the time passing her between the three of us and protecting her ears!  She is such a darling baby and SO good!  We are so lucky to have her.

6yr Anniversary

Kale and I had our 6-year anniversary on June 23 (Monday).  The cousins were over so we waited a few days to celebrate.  We went out to eat for our date tonight.  Emma came with us, but it was still so much fun.  I love Kale and think he is just the best husband and dad a woman could ever ask for!

Cousins

We had the cousins over.  It wasn't planned but we were excited when we got it all worked out!  Can you believe I got four little girls and myself ready for church and we were pretty much on-time?!

Monday we went to Lagoon.  I must be crazy - I was outnumbered!  

The girls had lots of fun on the rides.  I mostly watched/directed.

Emma was such a good girl as always.  She really just goes with the flow.  We love her so much.

The cousins loved Emma and I appreciated the help from Lex!

We had a yummy lunch packed and after a short break we were back at it!

We stayed at Lagoon for five and a half hours.  It may have been longer but my flip-flop broke!!

The next day, Tuesday, I was still crazy.  After a fun visit from my Pals, Whit and Em, we packed up and went to the pool! 

The girls had a blast and I loved that Sophie was more independent.  We had yummy snacks and hung out there for almost three hours!  I wore Emma in my mesh swim wrap but she still didn't love the water and sun.  

We had a fun three+ days and were so glad we could have the cousins over!