Tot Chef

Sophia has been really interested in helping me cook lately, but the first time I agreed to it, I was cooking pancakes and she ended up burning her finger pretty badly on the pan. Since then, I've been trying to think of more kid friendly recipes that she could help with. My first thought was baking cookies, but she ran out of the kitchen in terror when I turned on the hand mixer, screaming "Oh my gosh! I scare me!" After I coaxed her back to help me, she ended up being more interested in eating the cookie dough rather than actually baking the cookies (I can't say I blame her!).

Tonight I thought I'd give it another try, so I bought the ingredients for personal pizzas. Sophia was really excited at the opportunity to cook again, so she immediately pulled up a chair. She did a great job putting the sauce and cheese on the pizzas.

She wasn't excited about putting olives on her pizza, but she kindly put some on my pizza.

Once the pizzas were ready to put in the oven, she watched them cook with total fascination.

The finished product actually turned out really good and we both ate a good portion of our pizzas. (Notice the Sophia-sized bite already taken out of hers!)

Our pizza night was such a great success, I'm thinking about making it a weekly tradition, although I may have to reconsider once I have some baby weight to lose!

Easter Pics

I know, I know.....these are really late, but as every good procrastinator knows, they're better late than never!

Painting Easter Eggs

Sophia's first Easter basket

Hangin' with Aunt "Tee-cee"

Showing off her Easter outfit

On the hunt for Easter eggs

7 Months

I had my 28 week OB appt today and my blood pressure and weight are great. My belly is measuring a little big at 30 weeks, but that was a relief since my last ultrasound showed the baby was a little small. I passed my glucose test with flying colors and my hemoglobin was normal. My sciatica and headaches have gotten worse, but unfortunately my doctor didn't have much advice. She offered to take me off of work early, but I declined at this point.

We talked in depth about what our plan of action would be if my placenta hadn't moved and she reassured me that the odds of hemorrhage were low. She felt that if I made it to term without bleeding, it'd be fine to wait until 39 weeks for the c-section. Since I was so nervous, she said I could go ahead and get my ultrasound today and see her back next month.

I'm soooo glad I got the ultrasound today because it showed the placenta had moved totally out of the way! Woohoo!! So no c-section and no more worries about bleeding and bedrest! Our little girl is now measuring within 3 days of her due date and weighs 2 1/2 pounds. The tech took some 3D pictures and it was amazing! It looks like Will is going to have another mini-me, but according to the tech, she already has a full head of hair, so maybe she'll at least get that from me!

This last one reminds me of someone else I know......


And here are some pics of my growing belly.



I hope the last 3 months of this pregnancy go by quickly and smoothly. We still have a lot to do to get ready for this little girl, but I'm getting anxious to hold her in my arms!

Pictures

We have quite a few cute pictures that are definitely worth sharing but haven't made the blog yet. Some are a little old, but we've also been trying out our new camera. Of course, the day the new camera arrived, I found our old camera in a small coin purse that I carry in my regular purse. We decided to go ahead and keep both cameras since we'll likely be doing a lot of the "divide and conquer" method once the baby arrives. Now we won't have to worry about missing any cute moments, we'll just have to argue over who gets the new camera and who gets stuck with the old one!

Looking cute in the backyard with Daddy

Showing off her playdough jewelry

Modeling one of the dresses Gramma made

Modeling another one of Gramma's dresses

An impromptu family portrait

Concentrating on a sidewalk chalk masterpiece

Getting tickled by Daddy

Playing dress-up in Mommy's shoes and ski hat

Showing off those big blues

"I Wuv Bubbles!"

Sophia has always been a bubble fanatic, so when she saw a toy called the Bubble Windmill, she just HAD to have it. It's basically a hand held bubble machine. She carried it in her lap throughout the store, threw a fit when I had to hand it to the cashier, then carried it with her on the car ride back home. As soon as she got out of the car, she sprinted to the backyard to give her new toy a try.
At first she tried to use it the old fashioned way

After a quick demonstration, she figured out how to work it, but she pointed it straight at her face!

The next attempt was a success, and she spent over an hour playing with the Bubble Windmill (while I did some studying for my recertification exam).

She even blew some bubbles for her baby sister!

In two days, she's gone through 3 bottles of bubbles! I ended up buying a gallon of bubble mix, so hopefully that will get us through the rest of the week!

Sophie-isms

Sophia is making the transition from toddler to little girl at an alarming speed, but there are a few cute toddler traits that she is still hanging on to. She still has several vocabulary words that are unique, and I've meaning to write them down so I don't forget.

water - "mo" or "marlow"

baby - "mamy"

oranges - "ernies"

raisins - "raineys"

bathing suit - "mamy suit"

blanket - "meek" or "mick"

crib/bed - "night-night"

food - "num-nums"

horse - "neigh"

cow - "moo"

Trent - "da" or "puppy-da"

Gramma/Grandpa - "ee-ma" or "ge-ma"/ "ee-pa" or "ge-pa"

Katherine - "kathy"

Elizabeth (our neighbor) - "bee"

Traice - "tee-cee"

When she wants to ask where something is, she'll say the first syllable of the object she's looking for, followed by the object. For example "Where's Daddy?" sounds like "da Daddy?" and "Where's the ball?" sounds like "ba ball?"

Since she was an infant, she has had a fascination with covering her face, and the fascination continues with a few new twists. She now calls the game "night-night" and likes to have us participate with her. Her favorite place to play "night-night" is on her trampoline. She also likes to play "night-night" on our bed, but she likes to go through our dirty laundry first and find one piece of my clothing and one piece of Will's instead of a blanket.

Sophia at 6 months

Playing "night-night" with our dirty laundry

Playing "night-night" with Mommy and Trent under her favorite "meek"

And she still puts a hand over her eye and sucks on her wrist when she's tired. It'll be interesting to see when she finally grows out of it, but until then, it's so stinkin cute!

6 Months

I am officially 6 months pregnant, and I am so thankful that I'm two thirds through this pregnancy. It has definitely taken more of a toll on me physically than my pregnancy with Sophia. I have had ongoing issues with sciatic pain and low back pain, and have tried yoga, chiropractic care, massages, and taking it easy, without much improvement. I hate to admit it out loud, but it has finally gotten better this week and I have no idea why, so hopefully it continues to mysteriously improve.

I have also had problems with headaches. I haven't had a migraine in over 3 years, but I have had 2 this pregnancy. I've also had regular tension headaches, and have actually had a headache for 6 days straight now. I have medication that helps, but I feel guilty for taking it while pregnant, but I also feel guilty when I lose my patience with Sophia because I have a pounding headache.

I had my 24 week appt last week, and my weight and blood pressure look great. I had another ultrasound and the placenta has moved a couple millimeters, but it is still less than a centimeter from my cervix. It needs to move another 20 millimeters for me to avoid a c-section, and although I still have plenty of time, the odds of it moving get lower the further along I get. I was surprised to learn that my cervix shortened from 5 cm to 3 cm since my scan 4 weeks ago, but the length is still within normal. The tech also saw a synechiae (a band of scar tissue) that stretched from the bottom of the placenta, across the cervix, and attached to the other side of my uterus. I'm not sure why it has never shown up before, or why it is there in the first place since I've never had any surgeries or infections, but my OB said it shouldn't effect the pregnancy or delivery. The baby is also measuring about 1.5 weeks smaller than my due date, but again my doctor said it's nothing to be worried about. I'm concerned about all these changes, but I trust my doctor and will have another ultrasound in a month or so to follow-up on everything.

The good news is that we're still having a girl, and according to the tech, she is a "wild woman!" She was kicking and moving like crazy during the scan, and she even waved at me! Unfortunately, she was moving so much that we didn't get any good pictures, but it was fun to watch her in action. I am also overdue for a belly picture, but we can't find our camera. I'm hoping that it's hiding in one of our suitcases and that we didn't lose it in the middle of Disneyland over the weekend.