Sophie shoot

So Andy and I dressed Sophia up to take her picture here at home, and she was NOT happy about it. We did end up with a few of her with dry eyes :) and want your help picking which one we should get printed for our house! Please leave a comment letting us know which one you think is the best for hanging on the wall!

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

As you can see, we had some difficulty with the background. Andy and I had to try and hold the blanket up in the background, take the picture, keep Sophia sitting in some, and try to keep her happy and looking at the camera. We could have used about 4 more hands... still, what a doll! Please vote!

Giving the ole blog a face lift

Well, back in September I had written a post. My mom emailed me after reading it to let me know that my "cloud picture" was seriously gloomy and I should consider changing it. I thanked her for her advice, told her how much I love that cloud picture that I took myself while in Costa Rica, and promised that after we had Sophie and I wasn't pregnant (or still looking pregnant) I would put up a picture of the four of us (yes, Berkley, you are still a part of the family.) So today I attemped just that, got distracted and redid the whole thing!

Problem 1: we don't have any good pictures of the three of us, much less the four of us. So I threw one of just Sophia and I up until we can take one at least with Andy in it, if not Berk dog too.

Problem 2: how in the world do I make the picture smaller?? If you know, please help me! (Yes, I clicked "shrink to fit") Help!

Please note: this is not even the full picture. Obviously when taking the picture, Andy did include my whole head.

Thanksgiving

I know Christmas is this week and I'm just now posting about Thanksgiving, but time just seems to fly by! And our little Sophie is growing up too fast! We went to Georgetown for Thanksgiving to be with my family. It was our first time to travel with Sophia and it is different! It no longer takes 2 1/2 hours to get to Georgetown from Fort Worth- it took 5, but without traffic, probably would have taken 4. We learned a few things on our first trip:

1. Sophie does not like eating in the car.
2. Mommy doesn't like trying to nurse in the car with creepy smoking guy staring.
3. The McDonalds in Waco is a very scary place.
4. Bringing the vibrating infant seat and bath tub is a necessity.
5. Never, ever, forget your breast pump.

The only thing we should have brought that we didn't was the Baby Bjorn. Other than that, I must say I packed us pretty well. My mom also stocked up on a bunch of stuff so we wouldn't have to bring it, which was a big help. Sophia got passed around to all the women and a few very brave men, but mostly just Uncle Dustin- her favorite uncle in the whole wide world. :) Here's a slew of pictures:

Lord, we give you the thanks for all you have done this year! We have so much to be thankful for- it has been a year of blessing after blessing. We want to use all you have given us for your Kingdom, your Glory, your purposes here on earth. Thank you!

Sophie the Giraffe

There's a very popular toy called "Sophie the Giraffe" which is totally cute. It's a teether and if you're interested, click on the picture to purchase one from Amazon. Isn't she cute?!

Well, we have our very own "Sophie the Giraffe," and she's even more adorable!

Way back when I had recently found out I was pregnant and due in October, I found myself shopping at this consignment store. I found this little giraffe sleeper there for about two bucks. I didn't know yet if I was having a boy or a girl, but figured a giraffe was gender neutral enough, so I bought it thinking I'd use it as a halloween costume. Well, as Halloween approached, Andy got sick, running a fever and throwing up. Sophia also started to show signs that she wasn't at the top of her game. Needless to say, I didn't want to put my baby with a 99.5 fever in a hot halloween costume. So we missed our first non-official holiday. The other night we decided to put it on her just so we could see what she would look like and whether it would even fit. We had so much fun looking at her in this costume that we've decided to put it on her frequently throughout the winter until she outgrows it. Here's to our very own cute little giraffe!

Visitors...and more visitors!

Over the past month we have had many visits from family and friends- thank you for being a part of our lives and blessing us with your company! Sophie is so loved already by you all- what a lucky girl!

I have to apologize to a few of you for not getting your picture during visits. I started off doing a great job of it, but have been a slacker with pictures over the last two weeks. SO... Taylors, Peppards, Reeves, Underwoods, and Hannah: I am so sorry I missed getting a picture of you with Sophia. Please remind me next time we see you, which will be soon. Other than my mom, you've all been our most frequent visitors! Shame on me. :)

Here's our Sophie girl!

What a beautiful whirlwind the past five weeks have been! I love being this girl's mama! She is such a sweet baby. Andy and I can just stare at her in awe that God would entrust us with her care. What a joy and heavy responsibility we bear. It is wonderful.

I continue to be amazed at the goodness of God to us in our pregnancy, delivery, recovery, and now in parenting. Everything has gone so wonderfully. Delivering Sophia will forever be one of the greatest events of my life. It was a joy filled, fun experience that I hope never fades from my memory. Raising her has been a string of happy moments since. It hasn't been without exhaustion, indecision, worry, or frustration. But even in those times, I step back and remember that I'm fretting over details that are not the most important thing.

Here are just some snapshots of D day:

Lord, thank you for all you have done! Sophia is beautifully made by you and we are so delighted to be her parents. She is such a joy to us and we acknowledge your goodness in giving her to us! Our hope is that she will bring glory to you in her life!

Please join us in praying: that Andy and I would be given the wisdom to raise her and that God would be even now preparing her heart for the Word, that it would take deep root in fertile soil so that she might believe and trust Jesus with her life!

Sophia's nursery!

We have finished the nursery! Before we started, the nursery was just an empty cream colored room with lots of plans. :) Then, we painted:

I took some heat for painting our daughter's room blue. Could it be a subconscious urge because I'm afraid I'm really having a boy? Maybe. However, blue is my favorite color. And I think you can agree that the finished product is clearly a little girl's room.

One of the first things I set out to do was create a library. It's the teacher/reader in me. Most of these books come from my classroom. The board books are mostly from our wonderful shower and purchases I have made along the way. Nearly 25 of them are filled with sweet love notes to our little Sophia. I want to point out some special things in this picture: the banner above the bookcase was hand made by my friend Sara as a gift and we love it! The rocking chair is the same one my mom used to rock me to sleep as a baby. The large pink blanket was made by my aunt Barb when I was born and has all my measurements, birth date, etc. It's called my "ducky blanket." The bear in the rocking chair is Molly. I got Molly as a little girl- she was a gift from my aunt Sandy all the way from Germany.

I love balloon shades, so when I found this one at Target, I knew it would be perfect for Sophia's room! The end table is one of my favorite furniture pieces in our house- it was a great find on a flea market trip with girlfriends to La Grange. (I'm still waiting for our next trip, girls!) The dresser and matching mirror are antique pieces that my dad refinished. They were in my room all through growing up!

I knew I wanted to go with a dark wood for the crib, rather than white. It was actually quite hard to find, as most of the cribs we found that we liked were white. We just loved this one when we saw it! (It's also very practical- it will convert into a toddler bed, and then into a regular full size bed. People are so clever these days.) The rug was a great find at Ikea. The decor above the crib was hand-made (as if you couldn't tell) by Andy and me. I went with a bird theme, so I loved the idea of incorporating real branches. We tried to soften the look with the ribbon and wallpaper letters from the Land of Nod. This was so fun to make together and we love the way it looks! The cradle was made by my dad and I used to be rocked to sleep in it as a baby. It's been so special to get to incorporate so many of my childhood things in this room!

I wanted to get a close up of the crib, because the bedding is one of my very favorite things we got (Brooke collection from Pottery Barn Kids). I love how colorfully whimsical it is! There is so much pink out there, I fell in love with the multi-colors right away! The mobile is also one of my favorite purchases, from a super cute boutique in Austin (Baby Coco right off Kerby Lane). This is also where the dog, Auggie, comes from. Growing up, I had a very special Gund dog named Mutsy. I have lost Mutsy over the years, so when my mom and I saw this one made by Gund, she felt she had to get it. It's the softest thing ever!

We aren't completely done, as we're still on the lookout for a few lamps. If you see any great ones out there- please let me know! The room is super dark- I had to use a flash for most of these pictures, even though I took them at two in the afternoon. Now that mostly everything is done, her clothes are washed and hung in the closet or folded in her dresser, hospital bags are packed, etc., we are waiting. We have only twenty-something days to go until she's here, but we are beside ourselves with excitement for all the little joys awaiting us!

Lord, thank you so much for the gift of Sophia! We have loved watching her grow in my belly, feeling her move and kick, preparing for her coming, and the anticipation of seeing and holding her. We acknowledge your goodness to us in her! Our hope is that you might be magnified in her life. Please open her eyes to Truth, transform her heart to one that is in love with you. Teach us to be parents of grace. As the beginning weeks and months will feel like a series of sacrifices, would you constantly remind us of the Fatherly Sacrifice you have made for us, your children, in Jesus! We love you!

What we've been up to...

We've recently had some great family times I wanted to share! A few weeks ago we went with some friends to lake LBJ for the weekend. We have been trying to all get together to do this for a few years, so I'm so glad it finally happened! We enjoyed some good boat time:

The trip just wouldn't have been complete without making a few waves. Here's Andy being a showoff:

We had such a great time with these sweet friends and look forward to the coming years of returning to the lake together with our growing families! We love you guys!

This past weekend we also got lucky enough to snag some tickets to the TCU game at Cowboy Stadium from our good friends at PlainsCapital Bank. We had never done football quite like this before: in an owner's box with nice leather seats, free open bar and buffet (with delicious mac and cheese- I had seconds) and a personal attendant there to clean up after you. My favorite things about it included the comfy seating, the easy access to a restroom (hello, I'm 9 months pregnant here), the free food and drink, the close seats (I hardly needed my glasses), but most of all, the lack of drunk college boys there to ruin my good time. The only downside to doing football the yuppy way: no nachos. :(

Way to go Frogs! Thanks for the close game and for kicking it at the end so it was a complete victory! Ra-ra-TCU!