Hi! (sheepish grin...)

So I swear that I wasn't able to log onto my blog the last 10 times I tried.  I thought that Blogger had done something, changed some settings? I don't know...but I swear it didn't work.  So I tried again today.

And it worked.

No problem.

OK, so here I am.

Want to see my little sweet pea?  Here she is!  This is going to be our Christmas card.  She is HUGE and smart, and charming, and perfect.  Here's a quick rundown of her stats:

- Eating everything under the sun...still enjoying veggies.  We are blessed with her eating habits.

-  Sleeping:  Right smack dab next to one of us as always. =)  Wouldn't have it any other way.  We completely got rid of her crib last spring and bought a full size mattress where one of us parents sleep each night, whomever isn't with baby girl in our bed.  She goes to sleep at about 8 each night and sleeps til 7 or so. 

-  Potty Training:  On hold.  We were going strong in early fall, but then got tripped up so Doris felt it was best to wait a little while.  I'm fien with it.  Sofia still likes to sit on her little potty, but nothing comes out anymore.  We aren't pushing it, especially now since we're going away for Christmas and diapers work way better on the road.  I swear, though, that her size 6 diapers aren't going to fit much longer and that's as big a they come, so we need to figure it out soon.

-  I think Sofia is about 40 inches tall and weighs about 35 pounds.  She is wearing size 4/5 (NOT 4T, regular 4!!) tops and 4 bottoms except in jeans where she's still a 3T.  Sizes are weirdly inconsistent.  She is in shoe size 9.5/10.

-  Girlfriend still can't jump.  WTH?  She tries and tries and tries.  Sometimes she gets air, but usually not so much...

-  Talking up a storm....knows her letters and even some sight words.  College applications are going out shortly.

Momma stats:

-  Still working as a middle school counselor
-  Still trying to balance life
-  Trying to figure out what this blog should be all about these days...

My goal is to update more.  Like I just said, I'm not sure what my blog goals are, but I figure if I start writing, maybe that will make itself known.

My next job is catching up with all of YOU!  I can't wait to get reading!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#2?

Hi there...it's me.  Just checking in.

It's been so very crazy at work and I haven't had a moment to read most posts, let alone write one.

So here's what I've been thinking about lately:  Baby #2.  Or, rather, NOT Baby #2. 

It seems like SO MANY people are pregnant again!  And if they aren't already pregnant with #2, they're trying.  I definitely feel in the minority here.  But the question here really is whether or not I don't want another one or if the fact that it's highly (HIGHLY) unlikely that I'll get another one, am I telling myself I don't want one?  I think I really don't want another one.  I know that might change over time, but life is just too perfect and easy right now.  What if #2 is fussy and cranky and awful?  What if #2 has special needs that are so involved that it takes away from Sofia?  What if #2 makes me lose my mind?  What if #2 makes us have to file for bankruptcy because we will be SO BROKE!?  What if, what if, what if....

So don't have one.  Done.

But here's the problem:  It's those frozen embryos.  What do we do with them?  I can't throw them out.  I feel like I need to try.  But it's crazy to try if we don't really want another one, right?  That's why we're giving it time to see how we feel next year.  I just don't know what we'll do.  There's only 2 and they are staying frozen until we figure this out.

In Sofia news, life is great.  She is perfect and wonderful and I love her more every single day.  She is such a big girl and I can't believe how we are actually having conversations now.  Even though she doesn't have a ton of words, she nods and gets excited and we talk all day long!  She knows exactly what we're saying and responds appropriately or follows directions.  She's a genius.  =)  Just kidding...not really.

One of THOSE People

So I naively thought that I had some sort of super power because I had not become one of those people who talks about their child incessantly.  I thought it was a bit curious, though, because I seem like the type of person who would be talking about their child all day long.  People ask me how she is and I'll just give a brief response like "She's great, really starting to run these days." or I'll just answer direst questions.  I spent some time wondering why I didn't go on and on and on about her all the time.  Sure there are some people that I would (and could) gush to, but for the most part I was under control.

WAS.

Here's what I've learned.  I didn't talk about her too much because there wasn't a whole lot of stuff to talk about.  But now? Man!!  She is doing a new cute thing every minute of the day!  There is MUCH to report to anyone and everyone within a 10 foot radius of me.

I am one of THOSE people now.

And what do I tell them?  Just anything and everything that Sofia does each day.  For instance, the other day, I heard her babbling like usual and thought nothing of it.  Then I really listen and realize she saying "Un...ooo...ree..." and I look and she's counting the gel window clings we have! One, two, three!  What?  We've counted before, but always with me as a model.  We hadn't counted anything the whole afternoon and now she's counting on her own?  Brilliant child.  College applications are going out next week.

Do I think I'm getting on any one's nerves yet?  No, not yet.  But that day is just around the corner.

What am I, 14?

TMI ALERT!  Read with caution.


I have bled through yet again another pair of jammie pants!  What is going on with me?  Last month I went through TWO PAIR of jammie bottoms!  I now have no flannel jammie bottoms left.  What is going on in my uterus?  The problem seems to be that I'm bleeding inconsistently.  There will be barely anything and then a HUGE flow that makes me leak within 2 hours.  I haven't had these issues since I was in middle school and learning about the whole period thing.  And since I'm putting it all out there, let's call it what it is - clumpy. 

YUCK.

And if I'm being honest, I kinda bled through my panties here at work this morning.  It's not awful and doesn't warrant a trip home, but ewwwww!  Being a girl sucks sometimes.  And I'll be honest that early menopause isn't something that I'm afraid of.  Bring that bad boy on!

Missing Home

How did I live without my blog for so long? Maybe I'm just excited to be back and once the freshness wears out, I'll feel differently, but right now I am just loving being back in my bloggy world! 

Coming home after spending the holidays at home (Buffalo home, childhood home) is always hard.  I start fantasizing about what life would be like if we lived close to my family.  It breaks my heart to watch my mom say goodbye to Sofia.  I start thinking about how my mom could see her almost every day and the happiness that it would bring her. I feel that it is so important for Sofia to grow up close to family, but then I wonder if it is worth the cost to us both literally ($$, jobs are scarce there) and figuratively (Russ does not want to live there for various reasons: weather, opportunities, lack of diversity, and more).  We love our life, though, and I can't imagine how it could get any better.  Maybe if they moved here?  Which will never happen.  It's hard.

Here's what I fear:  We move back and their (my family's) world does not stop for us and we don't see them as much as I think we would.  The amount of quality time Sofia spends with my mom now is huge.  On visits, they are spending 24/7 together.  If we lived there, it might be a 6 hours per week?  More or less sometimes?  It would just be more regular time.  The weeks/months apart is really hard.

So my is coming to visit in 2 weeks for my birthday.  Very exciting.  I'm trying to figure out what fun things we can do.  My birthday falls on a Saturday so I want to do something all day with Sofia, my mom, and Russ.  I'm a little obsessed with figuring out where I want to eat.  Sofia does very well in restaurants so anything is a possibility.  I haven't been with my mom for my birthday in years, so I'm happy.

When you guys are writing your blog, does the fact that this is a permanent record that your family (spouses, kids, siblings, possibly parents, friends) will someday read?  This thought inhibits what I write.  All the time. (strangely enough, I have no problem with these people reading about my personal stuff *think aggressive wiper post*.  It's my feelings towards certain people that I don't want down on record.  It would most likely just be venting, but I'd hate for one day anyone thinking I didn't love them because I vented about them in a blog once.  Hmm...

Here we are!!!

It's been an embarassingly long time since I've posted.  I've got no excuses.  But it's SO GREAT to catch up with everyone (though I've barely even gotten started with that!).  I have to be honest and say that for some crazy reason, it is still funky when I try to comment on some blogs.  It takes forever and then the screen freezes and I have to wait for it to refresh and it frustrates me.  So, if I'm not commenting, it's not because I'm not reading...

So, our little Sofia is a big 16and 1/2 months!  Here's the latest:

Sleep habits:  With one of us every night - right in the bed now!  Ha! We recently gave up even trying to get her in the crib.  She sleeps a solid 12+ hours with us in bed and we are happy.  Nuff said.  I'm done making excuses or giving into pressure to sleep train.  She's happy.  We're happy.

Eating habits:  EVERYTHING.  Last week she enjoyed butternut ravioli and shrimp.  She seems to eat anything we put in front of her, but then will weirdly dismiss simple foods like last night when she refused peanut butter and jelly.  She is nothing if not inconsistent here, except with her favorite food - peas!

She is totally off bottles and loves any straw, big or small. 

Actvity:  She likes to count things, even though doesn't say numbers.  She just sort of grunts for "one, two, three!"  She is running everywhere and I'm not sure why she feels the need to get places so quickly.  She still likes her cuddle time and will spend morning cuddled watching TV with me in bed.  She loves to help with everything, like folding laundry and emptying the dishwasher.

Talking:  Regularly says "momma", "daddy", "bye", "no", and "yeah".  But that's about it.  I feel like she should be more advanced with her language, but I know I need to be patient.  She understands everything though and follows directions well ("Sofia, please bring these socks into momma and daddy's room and put them on the bed" task complete in seconds!  Love it!)  Many times I don't know how she could possibly know some of the things she knows, but she demonstrates new knowledge every day.

Health:  Excellent.  No colds, no fevers, no stomach bugs. She really hasn't been sick at all and we're thankful.  She is still measuring in the 95% for height, 94% for weight, and 97% for her head.  She is wearing size 2T everything and size 7 shoes.

Everything this baby girl does is amazing and I love her more every minute of every day.

Some pics: