Category Archive

Since Sophia was about 9.5 months old I put her on a very regular schedule. She would take her nap at noon and go to bed at 7. For the last couple of days it seems as though she has a different schedule in mind. Today I tried putting her down for a nap and she started giggling, then grinding her teeth, then trying to poke he in the eye, and then she kept say “boo” which means book. Finally I took her out to the living room to play and she was as happy as can be. She chased the cats, played with her toys, danced around a bit. Normally by this time is falling over from being tired, but not today. Finally about 45 min later I took her in again and she started doing the same thing. I think it was her way of saying that she is not going to sleep and I can’t make her. It took me a while to get her down, but she did finally fall asleep. I really hope that she in not in the process of dropping her nap. That would not be good for mommy, mommy needs her couple of hours a day to herself. Brad’s mom told me that Brad had given up napping by about 1, so I hope that our daughter is smarter and follows her mommy’s footsteps.

Seeing as today it’s Halloween Brad and I took Sophie for a walk this morning in her monkey suit. She got smiles from everyone that passed us. Why wouldn’t she, that outfit  is adorable. She doesn’t seem too fond of it, but I like it and she is going to wear it. We did take some pictures, but I won’t have them ready today s check back tomorrow and I will some up.

I did have my ultrasound yesterday and it was a complete joke. The guy has absolutely no clue what he was doing. He kept asking me which side he should be looking at and what exactly he’s looking for. I made a doctors appointment for Friday and I will try to get another requisition from him to get it redone. It as seriously a complete joke, and I think that something like that should be taken seriously.

Brad’s mom is coming to visit today so I better get this living room cleaned up. Check back for monkey pictures.

I must admit that I am feeling a bit down right now. I think that my irrationality is getting the best of me. I have been having a very strong desire to have another baby right now even though I know that practically that is not the wisest thing to do. Brad and I are in a very unpredictable phase in our lives it’s really hard to be in a situation where you don’t know that’s going to happen next. We don’t know whether we’re going to stay in BC or go out of province. We don’t know what school he is going to attend or what kind of a job he is going to get. We have no clue how we’re going to pay off all our student debts that we have. We don’t know where we’re going to live or how we’ll manage. It’s tough not knowing what to do. Our primary thing to do right now is to eliminate as much debt as possible. And it’s not even the debt that’s getting us, it’s the interest that we pay on it. I wish that I could just get rid of it, I swear having debt is the biggest burden.

I have been very used to having income coming in. I have had a job since I was 14 years old, and when my doctor told me that I could no longer work due to my pregnancy situation my plan crumbled. Because of that my maternity leave was much lower. Now that Sophia is almost one I no longer get maternity leave money and we’re again at a point where we don’t know what we’re going to do. Because Brad got hurt at work about a month ago he has not been working. Sometimes I feel like things are not going well, but other times it doesn’t worry me all that much. We have a good support system and and that helps us a lot.

As for the baby thing, I have to say that I have been a little upset over it. I know that there is something wrong with my body, I have been feeling it for a little while now, but it’s only recently that I have been able to prove it. For some odd reason when Sophie was born I had a thought that we’re going to go through infertility. It was almost like a reminder to enjoy this baby because it may be a while before the next one comes. I’m not saying that we have infertility issues (we may) but I am obviously unable to get pregnant right now. In a way I know it’s a good thing, but in another way I know what a blessing it is to have a child and I can’t imagine not being able to have another one. Right now worrying is really dumb since we don’t have concrete answers, but I do think that I know my body well an I know when something is not right. It’s a really good thing that our birthday’s and Christmas is coming up, it will help us pay off some debt. I never used to like getting money for my birthday, now it’s nice because it gets us that much closer to being free.

Sorry for the whiny blog, I guess we’re all allowed to have down days.

Here are the promised monkey shots

I find it funny when people who don’t have children seem to think that being a parent is easy, and that being a stay at home mom is simply an excuse not to go out and get a real job. I know before I became a parent I thought that having a baby was easy. They are small, what on earth could be so difficult about taking care of a child? It’s also interesting to hear people say that their wedding day is the most life changing day of their lives, yet not all that much changes. People tend to focus so much on their wedding day that they forget that the most important day is the day after and the rest of the days to follow. I don’t mean to bring the value of a marriage down by saying that not much changes, I simply meant that you become husband and wife and after the honeymoon life goes back to being normal. You both have to go to work, you no longer run around like a crazy woman making sure all the details are taken care of. Being married is great, but I do not see it as being a life changing thing. When Brad and I got married it was exciting and thrilling, but neither of us felt that anything had changed. We still loved each other the same, still ate our meals together, only now we lived together instead of being in separate houses. It wasn’t until Sophia entered our lives that everything changed. I think that is why we didn’t want to have a wedding. Neither of us believed that the wedding day is the most important day of our lives, we believed that the days to follow that were the most important. Being with each other mattered more than having a “perfect wedding.”

Anyway, I just thought it is funny to hear people put such high value on their wedding days instead of putting it into their marriage. Once you have a child is when the realization of that most important huge day sinks in. It is when you bring a life into the world you realize what matters most and what is considered a HUGE thing.

I know for me what I dislike the most is when people feel “sorry” for us because we became parents so quickly. Yes she was a surprise, but I would NEVER EVER change that. It’s almost like they devalue our child’s life by asking whether she was a wanted baby. I guess I don’t understand people whom say that they do not wish to have children and even refuse to hold a baby. I have had someone say to me that its selfish to have children, I think it’s selfish to make such a statement. It is not until you become a parent that you know what real love really means. It’s not until then that you become selfless and realize that it is no longer about you. It is not until then that you really grow up.

So in conclusion, if you don’t have kids don’t speak about things you know so little about.

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We took some pictures of Sophie in her monkey suit that I will put up a bit later

I have been thinking what I should write about. Nothing new has happened in the last little while, and life is good, I guess I could write all the things that I am grateful for in my life.

1. My husband. He is the most amazing person that I have ever met. We have been through so much together and yet we’re so happy and in love. He is always there for me when I need him, he supports me in anything that I want to do. He loves Sophie and I more then anything. He works hard to support our family. I could go on and on, but I think you all get the point. He is an incredible man and I wouldn’t trade him for the world.
2. My daughter. Sophia is the light of my life. There is nothing more precious than watching your little baby growing up and learning new things. I love it when I walk into her room in the morning she gives me huge smiles and reaches out for me to pick her up. I love seeing the innocence in her eyes when we play. She is so beautiful and I can’t help but be proud for making such a wonderful baby. She is so patient and gentle, I could have a million of her.  I am so in love with my baby girl and so thankful that I have her in my life.
3. My family. They have been so good and supportive when Brad and I moved back to BC. They helped us out in so many ways. They love Sophie so much and I love seeing her eyes light up when she sees her grandma and grandpa. They have given me break when I need to get some sleep. Sometimes my mom would take Sophie for the night just so that Brad and I could get some rest. I love my parents, and I am so happy that Sophie gets to spend time with them.
4. My in-laws. We don’t get to see them very often, but they were so supportive of Brad finishing his degree. They helped him to get through school so that he wouldn’t have any student loans. They are always so excited to see Sophie and play with her. I hope that as time goes by that she will be able to see more of them. It’s nice that our kids will have grandparents to grow up with.
5. My life. I am so thankful that I have such a wonderful life. I am thankful that I am well and happy, and that I have such a wonderful family. I am happy that I do not have a pessimistic outlook on life and that I am able to see the good and get past the bad.
6. All my other extended family. They have been so great and loving and supportive. I wish that everyone had people like that in their lives.
7. There are many more things that I am thankful for, but I only wanted to list the most important ones.

Sophia being funny

Sometimes when I put Sophia to bed I just st by her crib and watch her sleep. She always looks so peaceful and innocent, it’s so precious. A little while ago Brad and I went to a park with Sophia and we were watching other kids playing and running around. I love seeing the innocence in children, the world hasn’t gotten the best of them yet. They have no perception of worrying about paying the bills, putting food on the table, they just enjoy life. They haven’t experienced hatred, betrayal, disloyalty. They have no inhibitions to walk up to another child and make a friend on the spot. How wonderful would the world be if we all had the forgiveness and the innocence of a child. It’s so sad that we all lose it, you cannot live in this world like a child.

You can see the innocence fading in the older kids that were at the park. You can tell that something is different, that they had experienced pain. I don’t really the turning point, but it’s there and you can see it in their eyes. I wish I could keep Sophia safe from pain, that she would always be happy. I know that is every parents dream, yet none of us are able to fulfill it. I have even heard some people say that having children and bringing them up in this world is a selfish act. I see how some would think that, but I believe you must be fairly broken to really feel that way. To me being a mom is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened. I believe that I didn’t know what truly loving someone meant until I had Sophie. It’s not something that you can describe, it’s something that is just there and you don’t know where it came from.

I have such a hard time hearing stories about child abuse, and murder. I don’t understand how anyone can hurt something so helpless and beautiful. How people can hurt kids that cannot defend themselves, how they can kill their children and claim that they’re better off that way and then be found not guilty. How can someone not live their child?

I always liked being around kids, but I don’t think I ever realized how precious childhood is until I had one of my own. My heart goes out to the kids that don’t have parents, the one’s that have no one to love and care for them. I could imagine how heartbreaking it would be to work in an orphanage. Kids don’t need much, all they want is for someone to love them. I see how much stuff Sophia has, but in the end I know she would be just as much of a happy baby is she had none of those things. She has a family that loves her more than life. I don’t understand why we as adults are so obsessed with stuff, why we think that the more we have the happier we will be. I am one of those. I want a house and a couple of cars, and money, In the end the things that make me happiest are the morning smiles that Sophie gives me, watching her play with her toys, her excitement to see me. Nothing will ever beat that.

I wish that no child would have to go through heart break. I wish that every child would have a childhood will with happiness. If only everyone could experience the joy of being a kid, this world would be a much better place. If i had only 1 wish I would wish that every kid would have unconditional love.

I am feeling good today. I didn’t sleep the greatest last night, but since Sophie sleeps in until 9 I got a nice and long morning sleep in time. I love just laying in bed and doing nothing. I wish would have savoured my pregnancy time a little more. All I had to do was…. nothing. I ate all day long while lounging on the couch in my pj’s watching TV. Ahhhhh that was the life. Too bad I won’t be able to do it the next time around.

Yesterday Sophia had a nice visit with grandma and grandpa Richert and also her great grandparents. She was a little scared of them at first, but quickly warmed up and gave them big smiles. I love watching both our parents with Sophia, the love that they have for her. I am so happy that he has such great grand and great grand parents. She is one lucky girl in that department. I wish that she could spend more time with them, but they were really busy during the summer and that made it really hard for them to get to know one another. Hopefully when Sophia is older she will get a lot of grandma and grandpa Richert time.

My mom made this amazing dinner which I happened to finish this morning. I love food so much and I have been incredibly hungry recently, so it’s all working out in my favor. When Sophia was ready to go to bed she went around the dinner table and everyone gave her big nite-nite kisses. Those ones are the best because that is when she is the most willing to give kisses.

We also went out and had some coffee with Brad’s parents and had a nice little chat. They helped us out with a big problem that we had and we’re very thankful for that. Overall, I am feeling great and thankful for our wonderful families.

Here’s some pictures of Sophia’s weird pucker

Sophia had her first official kiss from a boy. Brad and I went to a house warming party and Sophie got a nice pucker from Silas. We didn’t get the actual kiss on camera but here is one of them being cute.

Last night when i was falling asleep I was blogging in my head and now for the life of me I cannot remember what it was about. It sounded so good in my head and I swore to myself that I was not going to for get what I was planning in my head, and now I have nothing. Brad told me that the same thing happens to him all the time, except that he is not lazy like me and actually gets up and writes it down.

Sophia is doing really well here. She had another play date yesterday with Arianna, the little girls are so cute together. Sara and I took them swimming and the kids splashed and giggled to each other, it was so precious to watch. I love seeing Sophia interact with other children. She is so small but she already knows the difference between an adult and a child. She gets all happy and giddy anytime she sees a little girl. She doesn’t care for little boys too much, don’t really know why. I know I have said this before, but I really enjoy hanging out with people whom have kids. They understand, people with no kids just don’t get how different life is and how priorities change. It’s nice to hang out with someone that I have things in common with. I love being a mom.

Ohhh, so I went to a Pampered Chef party and I have been converted. I loved everything that the lady showed us. Of course I had to take a catalog home because from now on I am beginning to collect Pampered Chef stuff. My #1 on the list is to get a bunch of stone wear stuff. I love the way it looks and the way it tastes from it. Mmm, just thinking about it makes me want to bake. Seeing as how my birthday is coming up and Christmas I hope that I get some of that stuff for presents. I would be really happy

Sophie is currently napping so this is my opportunity to get some laundry done. Yay for clean clothes.

Bumbo 

Sophia is currently napping in her nice and big crib. I love nap time, there is nothing more precious than watching a baby sleep. Every time that I walk into her room while she is sleeping I want to crawl into the crib with her and cuddle. It looks so comfortable and warm there, I wish my big bed looked that cozy.

I’m not up to much today. This morning I made Brad his lunch and dropped it off for him. I hope he likes it. I love making him lunches, it makes me feel like a nurturer. I think that’s why I love cooking so much. I love seeing people enjoy the food that I prepared. I hope that when Brad and I buy our house it will have a big kitchen. The kitchen is the most important room in the house, and thus needs to be nice and spacey. Mmmm, I want to go and make something.

Anyway,  updates from yesterday. I went to get my hair cut and Leah is the only hair dresser that has ever cut my bangs the correct way. Seriously, I have gone to some really good salons and they always manage to screw it up. Thanks for not screwing it up for me I must say I am really enjoying how light my head is feeling, I love getting haircuts. It’s funny because as soon as she cut it and thinned it my hair went completely curly. I had such a hard time straightening it today. It’s sooo curly, I told Brad that I felt like a sheep.

Tonight I am going to a Pampered chef party, I think it will be really cool. I guess I should go and get some Zzzz in while the little one is napping.

Sophie getting rinsed off in the sink after a huge poo

Today I went to see my doctor about my chronic fatigue to figure out what was wrong with me. I wish doctors could just tell what is wrong with me without poking and prodding. I do not like being poked by needles. You’d think that after having a baby I would be used to it, but no I still do not like it. He said that they should get the results back in within couple of days. I kinda hope that they find something. I don’t like being sick, but if I am feeling like I am I would like some explanation for it. The lab did a whole blood could test and also tested me for a thyroid. I will keep you updated.

Sophia has successfully switched from 2 naps a day to only 1 nap. It’s really nice to not have to worry if she got both her naps in, but  at the same time it’s a pain to be stuck at home now. I am super paranoid about her being well rested, and if she doesn’t nap in her crib then she only sleeps for 45 min max. In her bed she can sleep up to 3 hours, and i would rather her sleep longer. Today she woke up after 40 min and started crying. I went into her room and we cuddled in the rocking chair and both fell asleep for another hour and a half. We haven’t napped together since she was about 3 months old. It was so sweet to wake up to my little sweetie next to me.

Right now she is playing with he princess wand that my mom bought for her. It’s funny that a baby so small already has imagination and can pretend play, I love little people. I think I am going to take Sophie swimming, the pool is finally open again. Better go and ger her ready. Enjoy the rain.

I think the title basically sums it up, I have unexplained fatigue. For some odd reason I have been feeling super tired for absolutely no reason. Yesterday I went to bed at 9pm and didn’t wake up until 8 am this morning, an by about 10pm I NEEDED a nap. And the funny thing is, is that this has nothing to do with Sophia. She sleeps 13 hours straight, so I no longer have to wake up at night to feed her, yet I feel like I have been up half the night. I wonder what’s going on???

Yesterday we took Sophie to Harrison Hot Springs beach and it seemed like she had a blast. The first thing she did is crawl straight for the sand. She has this huge fascination with the sand if we even try to come near her to take her away from it she throws a huge fit about it. She just sat in the sand going around in circles on her bum. It was very cute to watch. i couldn’t take my eye off her because I knew that as soon as I even attempt to look away she would stick a hand full of sand in her mouth. i don’t have issues with germs and I think it’s good for kids to experiment, but sand is really hard to wash out of the mouth. Sure enough she managed to get a couple of hand fulls in her mouth, and thought it was quite funny when I tried washing it out.

She is taking a nap right now so I am also going to go and try to catch a snooze. When I find the USB cord I will post some pictures from yesterdays beach day.

I was going to write a bunch of stuff yesterday, but I had so much to do that before I knew it it was bed time. Oh well, at least I wasn’t sitting on my butt all doing doing nothing. Not that I could do that anyway, but sometimes it’s a nice thought. Brad started a new job yesterday so that means no more going out to do whatever we want anytime we want. It was really nice to have him at home to spend time with his family, but he does get home at 4:30 so he still gets to see Sophia for at-least couple of hours before she heads to bed.

A couple of days ago I went on this huge cleaning binge, I wanted to get a bunch of stuff put away and get some clothes out for the fall. Sophie’s room was the most fun to go through, looking at all the clothes that she has grown out of. It was so amazing to see how much she has grown in 9 months. I found her coming home outfit and I was amazed at how tiny that little onzie really is. I also found her first diaper (not used) and I cannot recall her being that small, it just seems so odd. Sometimes when we’re walking through a mall and I see a newborn baby I swear that Sophia was never that tiny, but I she was, she was even smaller than an average newborn. Mmmm, makes me want to have another one. Don’t you love the irrational feelings of a mother? She is just growing up too fast.

Onto another note, I have decided to train our cats to be both indoor and outdoor cats. This way I can stick them outside at night and they won’t annoy me and wake me up numerous times. I let them out in the back yard yesterday, and I thought that they would run away, instead they walked around eating grass and sniffing every square inch. I think they really enjoyed not being bound in the house, I hope this continues.

Sophia is awake and wants mommy’s attention now, I better go.

Yesterday my mom and dad went to Toys “R” Us to find some good toys for Sophia. We have a lot of stuffed animals and newborn rattle kind of stuff, but she is getting older and more interested in toys so we figured now is a good time to go and get some fun things for her. When we got to the mall Sophie had fallen asleep in my sling which I love when she does because then she is not cranky and tired all afternoon. We passed a couple of dads with their kids and one of the guys made a comment that my way is the best time to go shopping- when the kids are asleep. I thought that was a little funny, I guess that way the kids don’t bother you.

Anyway, back to Sophia’s toy shopping. We got her some educational toys and this and that, but I thought that it would be nice to get her a baby doll. Every little girl has to have her first baby doll. I found this cute little baby girl doll for her and we went ahead and bought it. Once I took it out of the box she immediately grabbed it and went straight for the soother that the doll had in her mouth. It was really funny to see her try and put that soother in her mouth. All it is is a little nub in the end, and yet she spent a lot of time trying to get that thing in her mouth. My little paci-a-holic. Once she figured out that she cannot suck on that paci she gave up and moved onto sucking on her foot or hand, whatever was closer to her mouth. I think she is about to cut another tooth. I find that a bit seeing as how she doesn’t have any top teeth yet, aren’t those supposed to come after the first bottom one’s?

She proudly carried her baby doll for the rest of our mall trip and if I tried taking it away she would squeeze it as tightly as she could. My baby has a little dolly, how cute is that.

Now I am going t vent about my two dumb and annoying cats. Since we had Sophie obviously they don’t get half as much attention as they normally do, so they try and get it another way. During the day they are nice and quiet, but once we go to bed all the noise comes out. There’s chasing, meowing, knocking things over, walking all over us, scratching on Sophia’s door. Seriously, sometimes I just want to knock their heads together so that they would be quiet and I could get some sleep. Obviously I wouldn’t do that, but it has sure made me seriously consider getting rid of them. I love my kitty’s, but I want sanity more. Last night Twiggles managed to climb into my drawer and make it fall apart- at 3 AM!!!!!! Anyone want free cats?

Sophia’s Toy Box Car

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who took the time to email me about my post “back from the dead” and shared their stories. It was really nice to hear that I am not the only one who feels lonely sometimes. I also wanted to clarify some things from that blog. When I said that Brad and I had to make some decisions I did not mean regarding our relationship. I also got a few emails asking if Brad and I were having marital problems, so I just wanted to let everyone know that no we’re not. We’re very happily married and in no way considering breaking up, the decision that I was referring to was whether we’re going to stay in BC or move back to AB. Thank you for caring about us and making sure that we’re ok, and we are, we’re great.

Now that I have clarified that I thought I would talk about Sophie. She is napping right now and I am wishing I could join her. It’s so dark and gloomy outside that all I want to do is climb into my bed with a cup of tea and watch movies all day. Too bad I have responsibilities that I can no longer blow off. I wonder if Sophie would be up for spending the day in bed with me. I tried that once and it didn’t go over too well. She got really upset that she couldn’t go anywhere that I had no choice but to get out of bed and entertain her. Thank goodness for nap time, nap time is mommy’s lazy time.

Sophia has become quite the chatter box recently. She can babble up a storm and sometimes she is really loud. She can repeat mama and when she is angry she screams “ney ney ney.” I was once trying to feed and and she was obviously not hungry and she yelled ney ney mamam and shook her head back and forth. It’s too precious to see her developing her oh so strong personality and watch her try and communicate with us. I never knew such simple things would melt my heart so quickly.

Well it’s almost her wake up time so I better go and set out her toys on the floor and get some snacks ready.Have a good weekend

Sophia eating a honey stick

Picture for now, blog later. She won’t let me write right now.

My dad took Sophia swimming for the afternoon, so I get about an hour to myself to do whatever I want. Of course I pick to blog since it’s the laziest activity that I can think of. I like sitting on my couch, it makes me happy. I remember when Brad and I got married we had this old gray/black futon in our living room that we used to pull all nighters and watch movies on, and once I got pregnant I realized just how uncomfortable that thing really was. We then went out and bought a couch that I am currently sitting on. I don’t really know where that came from.

Today I have been reminiscing a lot, and thinking about how quickly time is flying by. At this time last year I was in my 3rd trimester wishing that the pregnancy would be over soon, and now my baby is 9 months old. I can’t believe how much she has changed and grown. I now know what people meant when they said that kids grow up fast.

Sophia is cutting another tooth or two. She has had her two bottom ones for 2 months and yesterday I discovered that the other 2 bottom ones  were coming in as well. I expected the top teeth to be next, and maybe they’re coming in as well, but I will not risk and put my fingers in that mouth. You put them in and you lose them. Her teeth are so sharp that sometimes it even scares me to put food in her mouth.

Onto another note, Brad and I bought the third season of House today and I am really excited to watch it. Since last year Brad had a class Tuesday nights we didn’t get to see house, so now that it’s out I bet we will watch it in a weeks time. I have a week spot when it comes to House, I love that show. I guess I should take advantage of the hour that I have while Sophia is gone and watch the first episode. Ok, time to go…..

Ahhh the old days when Sophie would lay around on the floor cooing at the ceiling fan, she was nice and content to just kick her feet in the air, now it’s a whole new ball game. The little kid is into everything. She has learned how to crawl and is picking up her speed every day. It’s really fun to watch her because she doesn’t crawl like a normal baby would crawl. She has one of her knees bent and the other leg sticks straight out. It almost looks like she is half walking and half crawling. I guess it’s better then her commando wounded soldier crawl. Brad and I had to re-arrange our living room in a way that would block off a portion of the room so that she can’t get out. The little walking space that we have is blocked with a basket of toys which she has managed to move and maneuver through the tiniest of space. I was actually quite impressed at how skilled she is going through obstacles. She she is crawling under the coffee table she knows exactly when to lift and lower her head, I think that’s pretty impressive for a 9 month old.

Right now she is sleeping soundly in her little crib. Ohhh how I love nap times. I have a feeling that her second nap is going to go out the window soon, as now it’s only 1/2 hour long and it takes me forever to get her to sleep. I’m not a fan of the dropping a nap transition time. It’s like 2 naps are too many and 1 is not enough. The same thing happened when she went from 3 to 2 naps, it took her a while to adjust, but she slept soooo much better after that.

As for the sleep department, can’t complain there. She sleeps like an angel. She goes down at 7 pm and I don’t hear from her until 8:30 am the next morning. I love her sleep schedule and I an so glad that I took the time to sleep train her. As hard and frustrating that it was, it had definitely paid off.

I am going to go and have some breakfast now. Enjoy your day

Sophia climbing on her friend Arianna’s stroller

I know my blog has been really boring lately, I meant to write things in the last couple of days, but I guess I never got around to it.

Sophia is doing well. Her sleep has been incredible, except that now she is practicing sitting up by herself and that wakes her up at night a lot. She has been doing that for a while, but for some reason decided that it would be really fun to do it in the middle of the night. Oh well, it’s kind of cute to watch her in the monitor while she practices in her crib.

I had a dentist appointment last week and again it was not fun. Now both sides of my teeth hurt and I can’t eat properly. I’m hoping that the pain will go away soon, I like food too much not to eat it. Brad has an appointment in the next couple of days and I do not envy him at all. His is just a cleaning though, I hope that he doesn’t have any cavities, those are expensive to fix.

Tonight we’re going over to a friends house for dinner. Brad has never met them, but I know the girl from high school. She is the one that Sophia had her first play date with, well not her her daughter. They were so cute together, too bad I didn’t get any pictures of the girls. Next time I will.

So, everyone is doing well and I will try to keep this thing updated more often. Have a good day.

Having fun with grandpa

Well we have a play date today so I will write about it later.For now enjoy some Cultus Lake pictures. The bottom one is of some little girl really wanting to hug Sophia.

Sophie at Cultus Lake

Yesterday I realized that we have to baby proof the house - PRONTO!!!!! This kid is out of her mind; she is so quick that half the time I think she’s just going to go off the couch before my reflexes kick in. She was sitting in her playpen on the highest setting so that she could still see us and not freak out when, out of nowhere, she was on her feet half-hanging over the edge.  I almost had a heart attack, but the playpen was about 5 inches within my reach so I quickly grabbed her. This led to dissemble her playpen and setting it to the lowest setting, which further prompted me to rearrange my whole living room to fit the new style of the playpen. I’m a little odd when it comes to that: I get bored of a certain look and have to move everything around to make it look different. I think that’s why I can’t live in the same place for too long, I get bored. Let’s hope that when we buy a house I will be content there for a while.

Anyway, back to my baby-proofing story. Sophie isn’t exactly on the move all by herself, but she is getting pretty close. She has been cruising for a couple of months now, but recently she is really adamant about going places. I try putting her on all fours to see if she will even try crawling, but all I get out of that is her moody whines. She has never liked tummy time and this just makes her even more angry than tummy time. If she is in a really good mood she will rock back and forth on her knees for a while.

She has also developed a new strategy for moving around when she is on her belly. She will go around in circles until she gets to the place that she wants to be at. It’s actually quite funny to watch, but it’s amazing at how quick she is at moving around. I keep telling myself to get that on video because who knows when she will stop doing it. Brad and I thought that maybe she will scoot on her bum to get places, but it looks like the belly swimming is working out well for her.

Overall our little princess has been doing very well. She is sleeping great at night and is mostly happy during the day, unless we don’t pay enough attention then the whining comes out. Well I better go and entertain her now, have a good weekend.

Sophia and her first balloon

Her cool chair

This morning my husband was doing his daily web search and when he came over to look at my blog he proceeded to tell me that it was boring. I guess he is right, I just haven’t had all that much to say lately. Things are going well in the Richert household, Sophia is growing and changing everyday, and that’s about it.

This morning I woke up and got Sophie up a little earlier then usual so that I could get her to take a nap before her swim class. Well being the air head that I have seem to become I forgot the actual time of her swim class and we ended up missing the whole thing. I guess I should have let her sleep in and take her normal morning nap. Now she’s screeching at the top of her lungs in her exersaucer. Oh how fun !!!!

She is starting not to like pureed food too much. I always made enough to last for a month or so and freeze it. I didn’t really like the idea of buying baby food that had a bunch of preservatives, and I liked making her food. This time instead of mushing all her food up I just cut it into little chunks. She seems to like it much more that way. I guess that’s what her little bottom chompers are for.

I should go get the little screamer, they are now turning into mad screams. Have a good weekend.

This summer is going by so fast. i can’t believe that my baby is already 8 months old. I swear I still remember the day that I brought her from the hospital like it was yesterday. I know it wasn’t that long ago, but it doesn’t feel like 8 months ago. Sophia has been doing really well recently. I finally got her to the point where she no longer wakes up at night. I got really sick of her waking up at night and looking for her soother, so I just let her cry it out one night and she has been an angel sleeper ever since. She didn’t even cry that long, but now even if she does wake up in the middle of the night she puts herself back to sleep without a peep. I love feeling rested. Ahhhh, no more night feedings, such a good feeling.

Today we’re going to take Sophie to the lake , and then later on in the afternoon she has her 8 month check up. I’m looking forward to seeing how much she has grown in the last month. It seems like she is getting bigger by the minute. The othey day I was looking at her newborn pictures and I blown away by how much she has changed. Even seeing a newborn baby I swear that Sophie was never that small, but I now that she was even smaller than then average newborn baby. I almost miss that stage, but not really. I like the sleeping through the might stage better.

She still refuses to crawl and wants nothing to do with being on all fours. Every time that I put her in that position she just cries and whines until I pick her up or she rolls over. She is trying to scoot backwards on her bum, but even that is not working out too well. She is all about the walking. She can actually run, I get tired out before she does. Ahhh the energy of a child, I only I could have it. Maybe I should go for some runs and get in shape so that I will be able to keep up with her.

Well I guess I should go get her diaper bag ready so that we can head out when she wakes up. Here are some comparison pictures. Enjoy .

8 month old

1 day old

Yesterday my parents took Sophia for the whole day and gave Brad and I some money to go out and have some fun. We headed out to Vancouver for the day and had a lot of fun there. We drove our car to the Surrey sky train station and then took the sky train to downtown Vancouver. I felt like such a little tourist there with my little Vancouver map. I guess that’s what happens when you live in a different province for a few years, you forget how to get places. If only I could read a map. I am the worlds worst guide, if you tell me to go somewhere unknown I will most likely get lost. Brad on the other hand is like a human compass, no matter where we are or how lost we are he can always find a way out.

Anyway, we headed to Robson and did some shopping there, and then went to Gastown for dinner. It was a cute little Italian restaurant, I forget what it’s called but it was very good. I really enjoyed getting away for the day and not having to worry about taking care of the baby.

We’re heading out to Vancouver tomorrow as well. My romantic husband is taking himself and I to some salsa dancing lessons. I am really looking forward to it, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Ok, that’s it folks, my wrist is in pain so I cannot type anymore. Here is a picture of Sophie having her first bath in a big girl tub.

Well I went to the doctor yesterday and got an x-ray, so I guess now I have to wait and see what the doctor says. It’s not feeling any better, so now I hope that he find what’s wrong and fixes my wrist. It’s not fun not being able to play with my baby.

Last week we took Sophie for her very first trip to the ocean. She is such a little water baby, as soon as she saw the water she started squirming and giggling. She really wanted to go all the way in, but seeing as how it was dirty I only let her put her legs in there. I didn’t want a bung of yucky stuff on her. The trip was actually hosted by a church that I attended as a teenager and seeing as how I knew most of the people there I decided it would be nice to go socialize. It was a little odd for me there though, I think it was the first time that I realized that I no longer fit into that group. I don’t know if it’s just been too many years, or if I have changed, or if they changed. It used to feel like home to me, but now I feel like an outsider. I guess people grow up and go in different directions. At least I have a lot of good memories there. A chapter in my life closed, but that’s how it’s supposed to happen. Life would be boring if we didn’t have new things to move onto.

I think I’m going to take Sophie to the lake today, it looks like a really nice day out. That’s it folks, that’s all my wrist can handle today.

Beach Pictures

I always complain about how I have nothing to do, well not anymore. Last night Brad and I went out to Fort Langley for a CD release of the Left. I had a lot of fun, specially because we got to go out by ourselves and didn’t have to worry about being back in time for Sophie’s bed time. My mom is very nice to babysit for us, we’re very thankful to have the extra help.

Tonight we’re going out again, we’re going to see Ratatouille ( I have no idea how to spell that correctly). I am sooooo excited for it. I will write all about our weekend at the end of the weekend. Come back on Sunday for updates

Sophia at the doctors office 

Today Sophie had her very first play date. A little while ago I blogged about how I felt that I no longer had anything in common with my friends whom don’t have children, and how being a stay at home mom can get very lonely. Well, since the wonderful world of facebook I have reconnected with some people that I had not seen in some time. The last time that I saw Kim was on our graduation day back in 2001. So yah, 6 years, but it was very comfortable and I had a lot of time catching up. She also has a little girl, Haylee, she’s about 6 weeks older then Sophia, but it’s not too big of a gap so it was nice.

We were supposed to get together with one other girl that we went to high school with, but we couldn’t get a hold of her and hoping that everything is ok. Maybe another time all of will get to go out. I was being a bit of an air head when I headed out this morning and forgot to take my camera with me, so I guess I won’t have any pictures from Sophie’s first play date. oh well, she will have many more to come. I’m looking forward to hanging out with her and our kids playing together. That’s it, that’s what we did today. Yay for a fun day !!!

I’m having a little trouble understanding what’s going through my little girls head. For some odd reason she has decided that it’s a good idea to wake up in the middle of the night and play. She has done this before, but I have always been able to get her back to sleep. Now she just wants me to hold her, and as much as I love cuddling with Sophie, I don’t love it at 2 am. It’s mommy’s time to sleep, and well it should be her sleep time as well. Weird kid. I wish I knew what to do about that. it’s almost like she has an internal clock that wakes her at the same time every night and tells her that it’s play time. I don’t really have much to complain about her sleep. She is an excellent, napper and goes down for bed easily, it’s the middle of the night waking that it the problem.

Mu husband is kind enough to get up with her in the morning and let me catch up on some sleep, but I wish that I wasn’t so tired in the morning and could spend the morning with my family.

Brad wants to watch Invisible Children with me, so time to go.

Since I haven’t posted much recently I figured I would today. I don’t really know what came over me, maybe a needed a blog break.

Things have been going well here. I had a wee bit scare last week, and have never been so happy to get my period. It was 9 days late, but it came and that’s all that matters. I think it made me realize how unready I am for another child. I think it would be nice to have kids close together, but right now my sanity is more important. No baby itch here, I’m happy not to have to worry about it anymore.

Sophie has been doing well. She has finally settled into a great napping routine. I can actually get about 3 napping hours out of her. She usually takes a nap at 10am and 2 pm, gives me a break to do some stuff and she is much happier when she is well rested. She still only has one tooth. I thought the other one was going to be there as soon as her first came in, but nothing else is cutting through.

Well I’m wearing one of those wrist bandages right now so typing is really hard. Have a good day

Forgive me for my lack of posting lately, but I just haven’t had all that much to write about. That and I have also been preoccupied with something else.

Yesterday my parent, Brad and I took Sophie to Harrison for the day. Since it was so beautiful outside we thought it would be fun to have a lazy day. I’m still loving the sling that I got a few months ago, it’s so handy during nap times. Well, seeing as how I don’t really know what to say and I’m not in the mood to blog I’ll just post some pictures.

Wait, they’re not uploaded yet..Oh well, I’ll do it later.

I was going to blog about this a few days ago (when she actually got her tooth), but I kept forgetting to. Sophie got her first tooth on June 15th. I knew that she had been teething, but the little sharpie took me by surprise. When she was 3 months old I was convinced that she was teething, had all the classic signs. She drooled like a mad dog, chewed on EVERYTHING around her, and had huge red cheeks. Nothing came for months. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the unexplained fevers that she had, well I guess now I have an explanation. It wasn’t a virus like that horribly rude doctor told us, she was cutting a tooth.

I was actually checking her gums and she bit me, those little things are really sharp. I can see her other bottom one is right behind the one that just popped through.

That’s it, I just wanted to share our first tooth excitement. I’ll post a picture later.

Yesterday I did something that I haven’t done in years, I went to the gym. Yes you heard me, I went to work out. I think I was just as shocked at myself as everyone around me. My body hurts now, but I had a lot of fun there.

Before I was heading there I put Sophia in her exersaucer so that I could get some work done. Somehow she got a hold of a piece of paper and started munching on it. I didn’t think it was a big deal as she loses interest in things pretty quickly. The next thing I see are a bunch of holes in the paper and a huge piece in her mouth. By the time that I got to her she had swallowed that chunk of paper. So much for it not being a big deal, I let my kid eat paper. I guess it really is not that big of a deal, I just have to be more careful now.

Back to my  going to the gym story. I went for a 20/20/20 exercise, which concentrates on butt/thighs/stomach areas. I know that I am skinny and all, but my body doesn’t feel as tight as it did before Sophie so I have to take care of that. I also went to be healthier, as I am incredibly out of shape. It was a good workout, and I wasn’t the only one huffing and puffing by the end, I am proud of myself.

Ohhh Brad is out of the shower, my turn. I love taking showers. Laters……

Sophia by her crib, just after a nap

Today I had my dreaded dentist appointment. I have nothing against the dentist, it’s just that every time that I go in there I get bad news. I was born with genetically bad teeth, so rarely is there anything positive to report from such a visit. I went in for a regular check up and my annual teeth cleaning. Well, it was more like my first teeth cleaning in 2 years, but at least I got it done. When I was pregnant with Sophie I got really sore and bleeding gums. I tried getting in to see a dentist, but no dentist wanted to take me on as a patient; apparently I had to have an initial visit before they would even do a cleaning, but the visit included x-ray which I couldn’t have due to pregnancy. I thought that was kind of dumb, but that’s just how they did it there. When I told the dental hygienist this, she simply shook her head. Pregnancy is already so hard on your teeth that it seems odd not to do something about it. Apparently I had gingivitis problems that caused gum inflammation. Great, just what I wanted. She cleaned my teeth really well and made some follow up appointments to get my cavities fixed. You’re going to love this…I have 9 cavities!!! Yikes, I guess that’s what happens to people with bad teeth. On top of all of that, I have to get 4 crowns on my front teeth because they are so ground down from my nightly teeth-grinding, that they are no longer protecting my molars from being destroyed.

The 4 crowns are considered a cosmetic procedure and hence are not covered by dental. Each crown is about $800.00, so it’s a lot of money. I guess I will have to wait a while to get that done. I really hope that Sophia gets Brad’s teeth. The guy hasn’t been to a dentist in 7 years and I bet all his teeth are doing better then mine.

Well that is it, that was my eventful morning. My gums and teeth are hurting really bad after that cleaning, I hope I can get all this dental work done before we have another baby. If I find some money for it…..

No picture today, I don’t fell like uploading one. Have a good afternoon…

I haven’t felt like blogging much. I suppose I just don’t have all that much to say. Sophie has been doing very well. Her weird fever has gone away, thus her days are much happier. I love seeing her big smiles and giggles. She lights up my day. I know that I complain a lot when she is cranky, but I really love her with all my heart. She is such a joy to have.

On Monday she had her last swimming class and received a little swimming diploma. It was sooo cute, I can’t believe they give those out to babies. I am so glad that I took swimming classes with her; we had a lot of fun and she learned a lot. It seems silly to take a baby to swimming classes, but it is very useful. She learned to prepare to be submerged under water, how to kick her feet, and to float. We’re actually going to take another course starting July 7. My mom is going to buy her a little kiddie pool so that she has somewhere to have fun during the hot days.

That’s it, that’s all I have to say for now. Here’s a picture of Sophie and her swimming diploma

I never thought that  would see my 7 month old baby have tantrums. I always thought that the tantrum stage starts around the age of 2, oh boy was I wrong. I don’t know if they will start full blown or if she is just acting out randomly, but I do know that it has began. Yesterday I was offering her some food and she starting swinging her arms back and fourth and making really loud screeching noises. Of course the food went flying up in the air and landed on top of her, and that just made her more angry. I wish I knew why she is throwing fits like that. I’m pretty sure that at this age she is unable to rationalize and try to manipulate us, there is no way that she is doing that. And I know that at this age she won’t understand “NO.” I thought that I would have a lot more time than 7 months..ahahah.

I’m in the process of reading Positive Discipline, as I in no way believe in hitting, pinching, flicking, or smacking a child. Not that I would even consider something like that at this age, but I figures that once the toddler years approach I want to have some sort of a clue what I will be up against. I just know that I am completely against spanking children, to me it’s just plain child abuse I don’t care what peoples reasons are. I think we as parents have a responsibility to teach our children right from wrong and how to deal with their emotions, not smack it into them. It always made me so mad seeing a parent hit their kid and say “don’t you hit your brother,” how hypocritical is that? I guess I just don’t get it how someone can inflict pain on their precious little child. I know that I could never do something like that.

Anyway, I don’t really know why I ranted about that, I just felt I needed to say that. Back to Sophie’s fits. I think that she flips out because she is unable to do the things that she wants to do. What I mean by that, is when she sees a cat walk by  she wants to touch it but she can’t reach the cat. I can see her legs going, but she is just not strong enough to chase the kitty, so instead she just screams in frustration. I have seen her do that on daily account for a couple of weeks now. Yesterdays food throwing was a new one for me. I guess when you have two temperamental parents you’re bound to be the same, the poor kid had no hope

So if you have any suggestion on what I can do to help her at this age I would love to hear them. I guess the biggest thing that I can do is distract her with something else. I just don’t want her always feeling frustrated, and it seems like lately that has been the majority of her days. She is a happy little girl, when she has what she wants.

Sophie has had a very light fever for the last few days, so yesterday I decided to take her to the doctor hopefully to rule out an ear infection - cranky, feverish babies are not that much fun. I had to make a last minute appointment and the receptionist got Sophia and I in for a 4:30pm appointment. I thought, “Great”; in Edmonton our doctor’s office was very busy and I was lucky if I could get in that week that I called, so this was a nice change. When we arrived, the nurse looked at me and asked whom the appointment was for. When I told her we were there for Sophie she said that this doctor we are about to see doesn’t see babies (well, he “sees” babies - he just doesn’t really like to examine them). Ok, well, I just booked the appointment, it was not my responsibility to check whether that doctor takes babies or not - her chart says how old she is, so if anything they need to get a receptionist that can read.

Once the doctor got there he quickly looked at her, jabbed a stick down her throat - of course she flipped out because he gagged her, and in the end said that there is nothing wrong with her. If there was nothing wrong with her then she wouldn’t have a fever now would she? He said that, if anything, it could be a virus and it will pass on it’s own. Great - thanks for letting me know how I can help my baby feel better.

On the way out he walked up to the nurse and told her, in a very clear and annoyed tone, to weigh the baby and that he DOES NOT see babies as patients. Sheeesh buddy, it’s not like we purposely booked with you just to make you mad. He’s a doctor for Pete’s sakes, if someone needs help he should be civil and helpful. I was a little peeved at the whole situation, and my poor baby still has a fever…. thanks a lot doc.

Anyway, Sophie didn’t sleep well last night. She woke up at 5:00am and didn’t fall back to sleep until 6:30am and then was up for the day at 7:22am. Poor kid was sweaty and cold at the same time, I gave her some Motrin and finally she knocked out. Grrrr.

Oh, at least we found out her most up-to-date weight: 16lbs 13oz.

Sophie and mommy taking a nap

Quit staring at my ugly pajamas, I was cold…

We had quite the adventure yesterday. After our swimming class Sophie decided to take a nice 3 hour nap, and mommy was very happy with it. Well, once she woke up I thought that it’d be best if we took her outside for a bit. Seeing as how it wasn’t the nicest day out we decided to go out and get some coffee. On our way to the coffee shop I remembered that there was a bad that I wanted to get at the mall and we took a little detour there. I was sitting in the back seat with Sophia and all of a sudden she started grunting a lot. I didn’