Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad, Vacuum?

Sophia's new fear and possibly her first one is the vacuum. I use to be able to set her in her bouncy or swing while I moved around the house to vacuum. This last week she started screaming when she heard the loud noise. So seeing as how this is a chore I have to do while she is awake I held her with one arm on my hip and proceeded to vacuum with the other arm. Every time I turned the vacuum on she gripped my shirt for dear life.

Sophia has also been busy practicing sitting up on her own. She does ok for a little while and then usually grabs for a toy and loses her balance. She's also been enjoying her swing more now that we crank it up to level 6. We can't wait for it to warm up here so she can enjoy swinging at the park. Her newest toy is her ExerSaucer. I don't know who was more excited about that her or I. Here are some pictures of Princess Sophia from the last couple of weeks.

Mitt wins Michigan!!!

Yes, we're Mitt supporters and this win for him is BIG!!! He needed this momentum to continue on in the race.

Rob has become quite the political junkie. Fox news is on all the time in our apt. so as I walk around doing house work and taking care of Sophia I can't help but absorb all the news on the primaries and caucuses. I've learned so much already in this presidential race. This is a very important race. There are so many issues at hand that will impact our lives: health care, war on terror, economy/taxes to name a few. So whatever party line you fall on please exercise your right to vote. We are so blessed to live in a free country with democracy!

Giggles

I finally captured Sophia giggling on video. It's the cutest thing. Just watch.
P.S.
So you can actually hear her on the video go down to the bottom of my blog page and pause the music player. It's the two little lines in the left hand corner of the player.

Rice Cereal

Sophia has officially stepped into the world of solid foods. She's been eating rice cereal for the last week and a half. What fun and what a mess. So the first time I mixed it I followed the directions on the box for: " baby's first meal". Not such a good idea. It turned out like soup instead of cereal. It was running all down her chin. Image feeding your baby formula with a spoon. It was like liquid cereal. I got a little smarter after talking to my sister and she said just mix a little cereal and water until you get a good consistency. Much better with that advice. Thanks Stephanie. I think Sophia enjoyed it a little more also. I know every Mom's blog out there has to have a video of her baby eating rice cereal for the first time.... I wouldn't be a good mother if I didn't post such a thing :) So I guess what I'm saying is that I know you've seen these videos 100's of time including your own babies........ but indulge me a little and watch our cute little Sophia.

One of my Christmas Gifts....

So for Christmas I received Photoshop Elements. I've been wanting to learn how to do digital scrapbooking. So with PSE 6 and a great tutorial program from scrapgirls I was on my way. This is my first layout. I know it's simple, but it's a start. I'm excited to continue to dive into photoshop and discover all of the neat things I can do with it. Thanks Mom and Dad. I love it!

Good- Bye CA

No trip to my parents house would be complete without an outing to the beach. So on Sunday evening before we left town we drove down the street to the beach to watch the sunset. It was beautiful and the smell was wonderful. Sophia just stared at the ocean. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. It was the perfect ending to such a memorable week.

Sophia's Blessing

The highlight of the trip to Cali was Sophia receiving a baby blessing at church. In the LDS religion it's tradition to give infants a blessing. This is usually given by the father. Rob gave Sophia a beautiful blessing that brought tears to my eyes. A microphone was held close to Rob's mouth so the congregation could hear. Sophia just shy of 5 months thought it was a toy and grabbed hold of it during the blessing. Rob having his eyes closed during the blessing wondered why his voice was going in and out. We had a lot of family come from out of town to be there for the blessing. It was a very special day.

My Fam

Rob's Fam....His parents and his Sister Rachelle and her family

Great Grandpa and Grandma Clark

The Sisters

My Aunt Linda and Uncle Rob

Family and Friends

Sophia was able to spend so much time with loved ones. Some she met for the very first time. Here's a cute pic with her cousin Bree. ( Matching outfits courtesy Aunt Stephie)

Christmas in Cali

This year it was so nice to spend Christmas with my family in California. It was nice to leave the cold for a little while. My Mom and Dad took such good care of us. I felt very spoiled. Mom baked so many treats and made some very yummy candy. We also ate some wonderful dinners. I gained a few pounds which doesn't help with the baby fat I was already trying to loose. This week of holiday food was a setback. But so worth it.

It was also nice for Sophia to spend some time with her Grandparents and meet her Aunt Ashley for the first time. Sophia was also spoiled. There was always a pair of hands waiting to hold her and entertain. She loved it. And so did Mom. Rob and I were also able to go on a few dates to the movies. It was great to have babysitters.

Christmas morning with Sophia was fun. She grabbed and tore a little at the wrapping paper with some help. She had no clue what was going on. I can't wait until next year when she's older.

Sophia continues to be our angel baby. This was her first time flying and she was so good on all of our flights. She slept during most of the air travel, making my job very easy. I even watched a movie on one of the flights.