Adventuremart.

Well I had my first real adventure as a mommy, but I’m positive it won’t be my last or the most exciting . . . I needed to go to Walmart and get some things. After lunch Sophie passed out in the car so I was going to take her home and put her down to nap longer. Well she ended up in her bed talking to herself for an hour. I finally went in and got her and decided to go ahead and go to Walmart. I decided I’d put her in her stroller since it’s easier to tote her around that way instead of in her infant seat.

I pulled up, parked and went around to the back and popped open her stroller. I was just going to sit her in it so I then went around to get her out of her seat. I started to sit her down in her stroller and thought–that’s weird my hand feels wet. I looked at my hand and it was covered in poop. Ah yes. I immediately thought–great her car seat is probably covered in it! I looked in the car and got my handy-dandy anti-bacterial baby wipes out of her diaper bag and wiped myself down and the seat out. Then I realized that she now has it in the stroller. Great. I took her out and laid her on the floor in the back of the car and changed her diaper. Lovely. Thank goodness I keep extra onsies in her bag! So we changed clothes and a diaper. I decided to use my shopping cart cover and see if she could sit up enough (she’s not sitting up good unassisted) to sit in the cart.

I cleaned out the stroller and folded it back up and off we headed to the front door. I was carrying her with her facing out. Man, she’s heavy. My arm started to hurt just from carrying her from the car to the front door. I sat there and fiddled with that darn shopping cart cover for 10 minutes all while holding a baby in one hand. I finally got it on and plopped her in there. She wasn’t so steady. I held her arm and pushed the cart with one hand. This was going to be an interesting shopping experience.

I had to get some notebooks so I got those first and decided to prop them behind her back. That kept her from being so far back in the seat, halfway falling over. Then I got a box of something and put in on her right side and another box and put it on her left. She was then snug in the seat and could sit up! She chewed her little teether ring and talked to herself. She seemed to have a jolly ole time. I got all my shopping done and then decided to [stupidly] use the self-checkout. Halfway through the cart she starts to get unsettled and cries. Then she’s crying and wont’ stop. I’m scanning items and waiting for the stupid computer to say, “Please place item in the bag. . . .Wait for assistance . . .” I go over and get her out, hold her with one arm and then scan the other items. I have to carry her and push the full cart to the car. My arm was about to fall off by the time I got to the car–big little girl!

Anyway . . . so I got home and told David, “Now I can tell you a very good reason why I never go to the store unless the nanny is here or you can watch her . . . ” A while back he asked, “So why can’t you just go in the daytime and take her with you? . . .” Man, that is a true adventure! It was funny and she was a trooper. She hadn’t had a nap afterall and she was creeping up on her bedtime by the time it was all over! She slept from 6pm-8:30am the next day!

Life.

Well had a good week last week! I was pretty busy with work, baby and dogs! On Tuesday we had dinner with David’s old pals, David Lippe and his wife Rachel, and Taylor Hampton. We met at Babe’s Chicken. Man I love that place–yum! We called in Kelsey that night for the first time and then I loved her so and she’s going to be our nanny during the week (Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday). On Wednesday I picked up a little 4.5-lb Maltese named “Pearl” and have been doggie-sitting her. She’s tiny and all the dogs like her.

Thursday morning I went to tour one of the Montessori schools I’ve found that I would like to send Sophie to once she’s 18 months. This was The Montessori Academy of Arlington. Wow. I really love their teaching philosophies and what they do with the kids! They are really big on teaching independence, how to treat others, conflict resolution among other great things! Little 2-year olds were able to pour themselves a glass of OJ and wash their little dishes and put them on the shelf when they were finished! It was so neat to watch. They were so proud of themselves and the teachers do a lot of “good job!” and other praises–just what I’m wanting for our little princess! They also have a 30-acre lot with trails and gardens and all kinds of great stuff that they let the kiddos do and learn. Anyway, I go tour another school this week and I’ll probably look at a few others just to see which is best for us in many areas.

This week David’s company (that’s him and 3 guys) are going on a camping trip to Lake Texoma from Thursday thru Sunday. I’ll have little Sophie all to myself. Of course my mom is going to be here for Tracy’s big Mary Kay debut party this weekend so I suppose I won’t be too alone!

I haven’t put a pic of our canine crew on here in a while. Poor fellas. I was afraid that would happen after Sophie entered the picture! Anyway I really didn’t pose the dogs for this picture. I walked into the bedroom the other night to get ready for bed and this is what they all looked like. The funny thing is they are lined up in the order that we got them: Amos, Trevor, Jake then Noah!

Giggle Box.

My dad was here for the weekend and then I’ve been trying to get stuff done around the house and with work . . . so I fell behind on blogging . . . but the weekend was filled with fun since Dad stayed with us for the first time! I know he had to sleep on our crummy futon but we liked having him on this side of town!

Sophie has been a bit off of the usual that we’ve known. She’s woken up a few times in the night just crying her head off. Poor baby she almost sounds like she’s had a bad dream or something. I just go in and give her snuggles, she likes snuggles and hugs. I know she’s teething but I think she has a little bit of a cold or something. She’s been pretty congested and speaking of . . . she had her 6-month check up last Friday (May 29th) and the doctor said she was congested and we could give her kid’s Benedryl. But the good parts are her stats! She weighs 15-lbs, 12-oz and is 26″ long. That’s more than 1.5 pounds in a month! She was 14-lbs, 6-oz at 5 months when we went for her shots!

We’ve always had Sophie sleep in her own crib since she was brought home from the hospital and so she’s never been able to sleep in bed with us. By that I mean we even brought her to bed a couple of times in the mornings and she would be restless and not sleep. So, we’ve never really tried it but those couple of times. Anyway Monday night it was thundering pretty good over here, loud claps and such. Amos was a basket case. Well at about 5am the rain started along with the thunder and then Sophie woke up crying pretty hard. I don’t know why but she did. So I went in there and was going to feed her and then thought–I don’t think she’s hungry, let’s see if she just wants some snuggles–and I took her to our room and put her in bed with David and I. David grabbed her up and snuggled her right next to him and she went straight to sleep until 7am when David had to get up for work. She was so darn cute. We were all happy that we got to snuggle with her in bed. Although I was not asleep from the minute I put her in bed with us because I was worried I’d roll over on her or something so I never really went back to sleep fully after that. Regardless, I liked being able to snuggle up with her close.

On another note about our little princess . . . the nanny search is over! I’ve found a nanny! I interviewed 4 great candidates and narrowed it down to this one. She has a great, witty and fun personality that is very easy to warm up to and get to know. She loves dogs. She has lots of experience with babies and kids. She is very punctual, like 10 minutes early (that Hiebert blood in me doesn’t do tardy). . . . and she lives about 2 minutes away from us, an added bonus! Anyway we were supposed to go eat dinner last night with David’s good buddies, Taylor and David Lippe (and his wife) and we weren’t able to meet them until 8pm. Well I was not going to go because I didn’t want Sophie out past her bedtime because she’s not been in bed early enough for the past several days due to our crazy schedules. Then I said, “Well I can call Kelsey and see if she can babysit.” So I called her last-minute and she was so great! She said she’d do it. Sophie was asleep at 7pm and so she was already asleep when she got here but she got to hang with the furkids and watch TV. Well we got home around 9:30pm and she said Sophie never got up. She played ball with the dogs (eh-hem, Trevor), folded all of Sophie’s laundry and put away all the dishes that were cleaned and still in the dishwasher! Whoa–so she’s hired! She is actually going to do a “trial” day next week just in the case that for some reason I don’t feel that it’s a match but I’m feeling good about her so I think we’ve found our gal! So looks like Miss Kelsey will be our nanny! Hooray!

Now to end this on a note that will keep you smiling. Last evening after David got home he was doing his usual playing with Sophie and I was in the kitchen. I suddenly heard Sophie absolutely cracking up from the other room. We’ve made her laugh and giggle but I’ve never heard her laugh so hard and genuine. I went into the office and David had her in the port-a-crib on her tummy. He was just making a “boo!” sound and she thought it was the funniest thing ever. I got it on video. Way too cute. You can hear David and I cracking up too . . .

Mary Poppins.

Sophie is so much fun! She smiles all the time now. The second she wakes up she smiles at me. If I look at her and ask her anything she’ll smile at me. She’s so cute!

She is teething and she seems to sometimes be a bit miserable but she’s been great at night once again. She slept 14 hours last night uninterrupted (we went in and fed her like we always do at 10pm or so). She napped yesterday for 3 hours and today for 2 hours 45 minutes.

I was sick last week and seem to be so behind in everything! But I’m getting back on track and also on the fast track to finding another nanny for us! We did the math and daycare is the same amount so we have opted to do a nanny because she will clean the house some too (that’s enough for me to get one!). I’ve interviewed one nanny Monday, and had another one today. I got a little hard-core with the interview process as I think it was my fault that I have been through a couple now. I didn’t do the homework just right and so now I’m doing it as I should have from the beginning. I made a web page with our info on it and then an online application that the potential nanny can fill out. It’s great! All the applicants have said how much they love the online app and that it’s a great application! {Pat on the back} (You can check it out by clicking here if you so desire.) We’ll let you know who gets the prize. I have one other girl I’ll interview this weekend and then I’m going to decide. They are all great, according to the answers they gave on their online application (and I asked some hard questions!). I made a binder with each girl’s application, highlighted parts that stood out, and then made a sheet at the back to list strengths and weaknesses. I’ll compare and discuss with David, then we’ll decide.

We have also discussed that we want to send Sophie to Montessori school when she turns 18 months (earliest you can send them). So we’ll have a nanny for a year and then send her to school for a few days a week. I know cousin Kelton starts his Montessori in 6 months! Big boy! Anyway . . . I go tour two schools in the next few weeks to watch a classroom in action and see what I think of the Montessori philosophy and how they conduct their programs. I’m excited about Sophie going somewhere to grow and learn in a manner that we feel is best for her!

Tracy watched Sophie for an hour for me the other day while I went to a client’s. She got this cute pic of Oliver and Sophie. Oliver is really good with Kelton and Tracy thought that he was even more gentle with Sophie. She said, “I think he knows she’s a girl, he was so sweet to her!”

David is doing really well with his Biggest Loser contest. He lost 3 pounds already and is working hard every night before bed. He has a program that a guy at work has on DVD called P90X. So he watches it on his computer and works out in the office. We also inherited David’s Grandpa’s workout bike. I need to pedal while David lifts weights!

Well Dad comes into town tomorrow so I’m going to clean up some. He’s staying with us! Yippee, he hasn’t stayed here before! Ok. Well I’m off to clean . . . .

Funny How Time Slips Away.

One year (I can’t remember which now, it was at least 6 years ago) Tracy, my cousin Lara and I put a video together for our grandparents that had a slew of still images that contained old photos of my mother and her sister as kids and us as kids growing up. Some had video footage and even some 8mm footage of my mom and my aunt as kids. It was a great video and we put it all to music. One of the best songs on there was one by Willie Nelson called “Funny How Time Slips Away”. It’s a great song and it’s title holds true (play video at bottom just to hear the music while you read the rest of this post, it’s for effect). Floods of memories can come back with the right song in the right place. . . .

David’s Grandfather passed away Friday evening. He had been ill but no one is ever ready even when it’s “time”. You know I recall meeting both of his grandparents (his grandmother passed in 2003) before we started dating. I was chasing David at the time and hadn’t caught him just yet. I worked at Petsmart as a dog trainer in Lewisville and David would come into the store with his parents and grandparents on occasion. They were always sweet to me and liked me before we started dating. After I snagged David dinners became a regular occasion at his grandparents. We usually ate over there every Sunday evening. We continued it quite regularly until just in the past 12 months or so, with Sophie and all sometimes we haven’t been over there but we had a lot of great dinners over there . . . memorable anyway.

Grandpa was slow, grumpy and a typical old man–but of course there was something you just liked about him. He always liked to talk about dogs and cats with me and he’d share his, “Did you see that commercial with the little dog . . . .” He was always up for a good meal at a pub and if David and Paul, or better–David, Paul and Bill–were around he’d always want to do a shot of whiskey! He very obviously loved his only two daughters–Susan (my mother in law) and Margaret, as well as his four grandkids–Paul, David, Bill and Angela. He had an even bigger smile when he’d show you pictures of his great grandkids–Ian, Morgan, Abbie and now our little Sophie.

It’s funny how certain events make memories boil over–good and bad, happy and sad. The tune of a good song can make you remember as far back as your childhood and the passing of a person can make you realize that you do in fact have to cherish everyday of life and everyone in it because you don’t know when you may not have another day to spend with that person.

Family never was on my priority list, it was above it. It was off the charts . . . I would never put anything in front of family no matter what it was. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that more strongly than I do now; since I have a little one to bring up in this world. You’ll read a passage or a blog or a viral email you got that tells a heart lifting tale that makes your eyes blur with tears as you read but after you read this one make yourself do something to never forget. Never forget those you love, those that love you and those that need love.

My father started something that I hope he does continue. Earlier in the week I received a letter that was addressed to Sophie. It had her name and her name only on the outside of the envelope. He made a personal note to tell her how much he loved her and that everyone around her loved her. He said he hoped to write her several letters as she grew older. . . . and I plan to keep those letters in her little file folder that she has until she is able to read and appreciate them.

There could be nothing more remarkable than reading a letter addressed to you to tell you how much you are loved. I do not know what the world will be like when Sophie reaches the age at which time I’ll feel ready to let her read those letters but I know that they will be more valuable than anything else in the world.

I look at her each day and think that I love her so much now and I don’t want her to get bigger and find an age when she doesn’t want me in her room. When she cries she wants someone else to hold her tightly. So I know that every day of her life I have to tell her that I love her no matter what. I can tell her what my dad always, always, always told me and Tracy–I may not always like what you do but it will never make me feel any differently about how much I love you.

Being a mom puts your mind in whole new light for life. I like the new light. I think Sophie will bring the best out of me and I hope to bring the best out of her. . . . don’t take life for granted or anyone else’s.

(This is the Elvis version of the song. Gotta love Elvis.)

I ♥ Monday.

What a great Monday this turned out to be! I had the day off, I usually try to keep Sundays and Mondays dog-training-free. Anyway, Tracy came over around 10:30am and she was sans Kelton (he goes to daycare on Mon-Tues) so we decided to take a nice walk to River Legacy Park just down the street. This is a gorgeous park. Here is the description of it off of their website . . .

River Legacy Parks is a 1,300 acre oasis on the Trinity River in the heart of north Arlington. The Parks currently offer more than eight miles of paved trails winding through thick forest and expansive greenbelts. . .

Well we walked for about 45 minutes and then headed back home to go get David for some lunch. Sophie passed out halfway through our walk. She had her shades on and we had some cute pics of her passed out with her head propped by her fat cheeks on her shoulders, slumped down in my jogger stroller.

After we got home from lunch I let the dogs out and was about to feed Sophie. Heard a knock on the door. It was my neighbor. She says, “I think your dogs are out . . .” and I look and only 2 of my 4 are around. Jake and Trevor had busted through the fence we share with the neighbors on the left. It was only a matter of time. That fence is rotten and disgusting. Four boards busted and Trevor and Jake busted right through. Why Noah didn’t follow I have no clue but the poor neighbor’s husband had taken off down the street after Jake and his wife said, “The little guy went that way” and just pointed in the other direction down the other street. I went down that street to get Trevor. I wasn’t too worried, he comes back as soon as he hears me, Jake likes to travel! Trevor was about 8 houses down. I called him and he came running to me, tongue hanging out. Then the neighbor came up the street holding onto Jake’s collar. So we got the dogs inside and I went out to fix the fence with the small-gauge wire we had. It looks hideous but it keeps the dogs in.

After that Sophie only ended up napping for about 45 minutes so we went to Southlake to get some stuff and then hit up a Starbucks on our way back home. Sophie was happy as a clam to get out of her car seat and just hang out in mommy’s lap at Starbucks. Tracy got some video. Folks please keep your eyes on the baby. Mommy had jogged in the heat and mended a fence and didn’t shower. Eyes on the baby . . .

Baby Bloopers.

Another weekend gone. Sophie is growing bigger every day and more fun too! We love to laugh at her funny sounds, spits, screams and vicious leg kicks! She is active and bouncy. She’s loving tummy time much better now that she can hold that head up really well and I’m also trying to sit her up with assistance to help her get prepared to sit up on her own unassisted.

Today the weather was remarkable. David decided to mow the grass and so Sophie and I decided to lather up with sunscreen (both used Neutrogena Pure & Free Baby SPF 60). I put her jumperoo on the porch and she stayed there and bounced while I cut some of our bushes and pulled some weeds. After that she got a bath. The sunscreen was pretty thick and stuck on so I decided she needed a bath. She loves her bathes and splashes around like a little duckling!

I took my little mommy mini-vacation to Barnes&Noble this evening. I call my outings to any store “mini-vacations” because they are my relaxation and way to get away. Sad but that’s it. So I stay at those stores sometimes for hours just walking at a turtle’s pace and looking at everything. When I’m at B&N I just read books and books and then buy the ones I want. Tonight I got a few new books for my baby/parenting library–“The Vaccine Book” by Dr. Sears (because right now I have Tracy’s and I know she uses it a lot), “First Meals & More”, and “365 Activities You and Your Baby Will Love”. Oh yeah, and “The Baby Book” by Dr. Sears. Geez, Dr. Sears is like the Pediatrician, isn’t he (and his sons)? Anyway . . . he’s got some stuff I don’t agree on but overall the guy has some really great stuff for parents!

David’s company is going to do a contest for money that goes along the lines of Biggest Loser. I’m not sure the time frame but whomever loses the most weight “wins”–obviously in more ways than one! I’m going to join him so that Sophie can be the only one around here with rolls on her!

Did you say brownies?

Tonight I thought I heard stirring in Sophie’s room about 10pm. I went in and she was just lying in her bed wide awake, holding onto both of her feet and playing with them. She went to bed at her normal 6:30pm but for some reason she woke up! She was happy as a pig in mud, just lying there holding her little footsies! I could smell a poopy diaper when I leaned over the crib so I got her up and changed her. I decided to go peek around the corner in the kitchen as David was making late-night brownies. David will bake for himself when chocolate is involved. So I popped her around the corner and it was funny because it scared David. He didn’t know she was awake and I had brought her out of her room.

Man I think she’s got to be 16-lbs by now. She’s so huge. Check out this photo. Her hair looks undeniably red here. I’m here to tell you that it really and truly doesn’t look at all red in person. But here it really does!

Oh Poop.

Nothing like steam cleaning carpets at 4:30am that have been doused in baby poop. Daddy was half asleep and thought she was finished with her business while on the changing table. He removed the diaper way too quickly and then well it didn’t “hit the fan”, it hit the floor . . . and the trash can and the changing table.

Sophie was still recovering from her thrown off schedule I assume. She woke up screaming at 4:30am. Then this happened. So I was cleaning and doing laundry at that hour.

Poop is cleaned, floors are smelling like sweetness and we are getting back on track today! We already had some apples and watched our baby signing video and now we are down for a nap!

I ♥ Mommy

Well I had my first Mother’s Day and am very excited that I get to have many more to come! David took Sophie to Grandma’s house Saturday afternoon while I was at work. He wanted to take me to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, we used to frequent the “factory” pre-parenthood so we looked forward to the date!

I was really tired after a long day of working on my feet so we just hung around the Barnes&Noble bookstore next door to the restaurant and then headed home. On Sunday we slept in a little bit but then went to breakfast at la Madeleine’s. We had a 2pm reservation for McCormick&Schmick’s Seafood in the Northpark Mall with David’s parents. We met them there and I got to see my little girl for the first time in over 24 hours. I wanted to give her a big squeeze and kiss on those cute little cheeks!

The lunch was quite yummy but too long for Sophie and it completely threw her normal schedule off and she didn’t have but one nap all day (she usually has 3-4 naps a day.) We got home around 4:45pm and she had slept a little in the car but by now she was so over-tired and stimulated that she couldn’t get back to sleep. We let her play in her jumperoo for a bit (her favorite) and then fed her and put her down for an earlier bedtime of 6pm (usually it’s around 6:30-7pm). She still couldn’t get to sleep and finally fell asleep around 6:45.

She then woke up just kind of screaming at about 7:30. I was baffled, went in and she sounded incredibly stopped up in her nose. It was like she needed to blow her nose but the poor little thing couldn’t. She still cried and cried when I held her so I knew that she was in some discomfort or something. She was exhausted. She started to fall asleep with her head up like you do when you are sitting at a desk and you bob your head. Poor baby. She couldn’t breathe though, she would try to put her thumb in her mouth but when she did that she couldn’t breath because her nose was so stopped up and getting worse since she was crying so hard. I used the bulb and tried to suck the snot out of her nose but that didn’t do much. Daddy took her and stood in the hot steamy shower with her for about 10 mintues and that seemed to help. She stopped crying for a bit. Then she started again and wouldn’t stop and again tried to fall asleep while we held her but couldn’t because she couldn’t breath well. It was really pitiful. We decided to try to give her some formula and see if she’d wear out eating and fall asleep. It worked and she finally fell asleep around 8pm.

Now rewind a day back to Saturday. Daddy decided to let Sophie watch her Baby Signing Time DVD in her highchair without the tray since it has a 5-point harness. I crack up at this picture. She’s really serious. She’s learning those baby signs! For some reason I really laugh when I look at this picture! She looks like a man staring at a football game . . .