A childs experience.

There are things that I wish I had gotten to experience as a child. I had friends growing up who had been able to do so much that I never got the chance to do. This isn't a pity party...my life wasn't perfect, but it was mine and it made me into the person I am today (for better or for worse lol). But I don't want my children to miss out on those things. I want to make sure I take time out of our schedules, no matter how busy they may end up, to do things that build a good childhood.

I don't know any better way to put these out there except to list them:

• picnics
• building snowmen
• building sand castles
• camping out in the living room
• camping out in the back yard
• feeding the ducks
• going on weekend "adventures"
• Disneyworld
• Dress up

There are also the things that I want my children to know how to do before they move out and experience life on their own.

• How to sew.
• How to knit.
• How to cook.
• How to bake.
• How to change a tire.
• How to change oil.
• How to grow a garden.
• How to balance their checkbooks.
• How to put out a fire.
• How to build a fire.

There is no such thing as a perfect childhood. There's a lot of pressure on parents to give that to their children. But I think it's so unrealistic. I think ideally we should be doing all we can to give our children experiences that they can look back on fondly. That we should give them tools to help them in life. Obviously avoiding any major tramatic event would be preferable, but sometimes things happen in life....we can only control the things we do with our children and for our children. But life happens, and that's something that is unavoidable. So along with all of this, I hope that I can be the type of Mom to them so that when life does happen, they can know that I will be here. That they can always turn to me.

Sophia just spit her paci across the room, so I'm taking that as a cue that nap is over. Time to get back to work!

There will be no Santa pictures this year.

I know. I'm a horrible Mommy. How can I deny my four month old from sitting on the old mans lap and screaming her Christmas wish-list at the top of her lungs for the entire world to hear???? Well because I just don't think it's the best idea this year. First of all, she doesn't like to be held my people she's not sure of, and men are even less likely to hold her peacefully. Second, there will be other snotty nosed, germ covered kids sitting on Santa's lap. (I bet Santa has a great health care plan!) I don't want to risk her getting sick, the one cold we've already battled was enough to suck the life out of me for a few weeks. I am not prepared for another, especially if she is sick over Christmas. And lastly (aka Third), I think that Santa pictures are way over priced for a baby. While I buy her way too many clothes....I draw the line at over priced Santa pictures (yes I understand that this comment is coming from the woman who spent 10 bucks to get a letter mailed to Sophia from Santa at the North pole....priorities).

Next year I will arm her with vitamin C, hand sterilizer, and an adorable outfit. Next year we will get Santa pictures. (And next year Mommy will plan ahead of time and we'll go to a photo studio to get them taken and not the mall!!)

Sophia is FOUR months old.

I can't even believe it. Four months ago she was born and our lives were forever changed. She has grown and changed so much in the past four months. I look at her and I'm amazed by what she's accomplished in her short beautiful little life.

I weighed her today. I did it twice to be sure. Once she came in at 19 pounds, and the next time 19.5. Go ahead and take a moment to get past the shock. Of course this is unoffical as I'm not using any great technique to weigh her. She's my little chunky monkey...and I love it!

Because of her intake of formula, the pedi and I had already discussed starting Sophia with baby food at 4 months...so basically today. I was playing it by ear. I don't want to rush her. If she took to it well...we'd go for it. If she wanted nothing to do with it..we'd wait. I also wanted to make sure she wasn't in a bad mood because I wanted this to be a fun experience for her. Her first ever REAL food was avocado's. Neither Cody nor I even like avocado's. But I had ready how they were full of good fats and tons of vitamins, and I knew that's exactly what she needed. Avocado's are also a great first food because they are soft (easy to make) and easy on their digestive system. I couldn't really tell if Sophia liked them or not. I was telling her what they were called and how if she liked them life would be much easier when she's older and goes to eat out at Mexican Restaurants. At the beginning she seemed to enjoy it. Over half the way through you could tell she was starting to have enough. Seriously it's all so new...I was NOT going to push her. When she was done we'd quit. She ate almost a whole ounce! At the first cry we stopped. I'm of course watching her closely for any reactions, and we'll try again tomorrow.

Feeding her the avocado's today made me realize that I'm very proud to be feeding her home made baby food. Not that there's anything wrong with jarred food. But I enjoy that she's eating food that doesn't have a ton of extra stuff in it. I like that it's something I have made for her. And I like that one day I can tell her about her fun first food that I don't even think you can buy in a jar!

I did get some pictures of Sophia today. But I am not going to post them until tomorrow. So you'll have to check back then. In the mean time I've got to search for a cookie recipe for a cookie exchange and I need to wrap some presents!

It was a Ghostrider Christmas Party

I'll be honest....I didn't know what to expect. Having never been to one before and all. Next year will have a lot to live up to. First I can't even believe that we danced in front of everyone! I am beyond excited about my leopard print snuggie (with bonus reading light!). I am wearing it while I blog....it's so comfortable. And kid all you want....I asked for one for Christmas anyways! It'll be much easier to keep warm while holding/feeding/cuddling with Sophia. Since I can't very well completely cover her with a blanket!

I wish Cody could have been there tonight....I know he would have had a good time. Here are two pictures:
Here we are dancing, it's me, Lisa, Nicki and Heather:

And here we are in our ugly sweaters. It's Me, Lisa, Nicki, Ashly, Heather, Marsha and Ashley (I'm naming people off by memory, so it may not be in the right order)