bumble bees

 Although I planned to have the girls be ladybugs this year for Halloween, Ella like the idea of being bumble bee's better.  It worked out well and we had a great time dressing up for various festive activities.

 

 

 Ella loves Sophia a little bit too much sometimes.

This year Ella got really excited about Halloween.  Some of our favorite things this Halloween have been:

• Buzzing around (Ella would randomly ask me to "buzz her")
• Ella spinning in her tutu
• seeing spooky (or "fooky" as Ella says) decorations- especially "fooky fiders"
• reading Halloween stories
• preschool Halloween party (Ella asked to go over to preschool everyday for an entire week in anticipation! When we got to the party our neighbor Shannalee answered the door in a witch costume so Ella tried to turn around and go home.  Shannalee had to take off her hat and wig before Ella would stay.)
• Dressing up for our ward Trunk or Treat
• Grandma Liz coming over to bring us treats Halloween morning
• Going trick or treating at NuSkin with Abuela, Nena, Gabe, and Gavin
• Trick or treating and watching "Scared Shrekless" at Daddy's work

Unfortunately we weren't able to go trick or treating around our neighborhood with our friends because I noticed sores on Ella's tongue at 5 o'clock Halloween night.  I called the pediatrician and found out that Ella has Hand, Foot, and Mouth.  She has been miserable.  We are not looking forward to cold weather and more sickness.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that Sophia doesn't get this virus.

neighborhood preschool

 We are doing a little preschool with three other little girls in our neighborhood.  Right now we are only meeting on Thursdays from 9:30-11:30 because I wasn't sure if I would be able to do more with Sophia, but I think in January we are going to start meeting twice a week.  Ella LOVES school and asks to go almost every morning.  Her little friends Abby, Kinsley, and Aimee are adorable and we have a great time.

2 months

On September 15th we took Sophia in for her well visit and found out that she is:

24 inches long (above the 97th percentile)

11 lbs. 3 oz (75th-90th percentile)

and has a head circ. of 39 1/4 cm (85th-90th percentile)

We love our little Sophia and continue to be amazed by what a sweet baby she is (and by her crazy hair!)  She still wakes up 3 times a night, but other than that she is the easiest baby I can imagine.  She loves her daddy and gives him smiles all of the time.  We have to work for them, but Daddy gets the most smiles and they come the easiest when he tries. Although she doesn't love tummy time, she doesn't complain, she just rolls from her stomach to her back.  What a problem solver :)
 

Lagoon

This summer we've managed to stay super busy.  I'm so glad that Sophie is an angel because if she had a difficult temperament there is no way I could have kept up with all of the family activities since her birth.

  

notice the Buzz Lightyear arms

At the beginning of September we went to Lagoon with Gustavo's family.  Ella had a great time with Abuela, Gabe, and Nena.  She loved the slow paced airplane and boat rides, but was scared by a lot of the children's rides because they were surprisingly fast.  She is such a cautious soul (I have no idea where she got that from.) It was so funny to watch Gabe laughing with pure delight while Ella held on for dear life on the same ride.  We love being close to family and having so many opportunities to get together. 

Sophia's Blessing

Sophia was blessed by Gustavo on September 4th.  It was a beautiful blessing and we were so grateful for all of the family and friends who came to support us.   We had a little get together after church in our yard (we FINALLY have a space big enough for our whole family to gather!) Unfortunately I took absolutely no pictures that day.  I was sad when I realized that, but I was busy getting things set up, feeding the baby, and then visiting with loved ones.  My mom added the sweet little cap sleeves on Sophia's dress and made the adorable headband.

My great great grandmother, Anna Sophie

Gustavo's grandmother, Caridad

I decided a long time ago that I want all of our babies to have family names.  Sophia Caridad was named after my great great grandmother, Anna Sophie Wilhelmine Heine. (Yes, I realize we named our baby Sophia and my ancestor's name is Sophie.  That is because I remembered incorrectly, but was set on the name Sophia when my aunt kindly corrected me.)  Caridad is a family name on Gustavo's side.  It is his Grandmother's name, aunt's name, and sister's middle name.  I LOVE the family significance of this beautiful name that translates to charity in English.  Although Gustavo's grandmother and I haven't been able to speak together due to the language barrier, I have heard many wonderful things about her and am impressed by the strength she has exhibited throughout her life.  I do not know as many details as I'd like about her journey from Cuba to the United States, I can only imagine how much courage it took for her to bring their children amidst such difficult circumstances.  I also love that she was a teacher her entire life.  My girls have incredible women on both sides of our families to look up to.  I hope that Sophia will see the hard work, dedication, and strength that each of the women who hold the name Caridad display.  I also hope that she will be service oriented and learn to be truly charitable in all of her dealings.

first month

Sophia is a wonderful baby.  She loves to eat so I feel like I'm constantly nursing and we aren't really on any kind of schedule (besides eat, play, sleep).  Sophie is getting less gassy and hasn't been spitting up quite as much.  She used to have at least one fussy period every day, but that has gotten much better because she seems to be figuring out how her body works.  She will sometimes go 4 hours before her first feeding in the middle of the night, but that isn't consistent.  She usually wakes up every 2 or 3 hours at night.  At around 6 weeks she started getting a feel for nighttime, meaning that she'll usually fall asleep right after eating so I'm not up all night long anymore.  We love our sweet Sophie.

Sophie makes the most adorable faces after she eats.  I love how she stretches her legs up and arches her back while tipping her head.  It is SO CUTE!  I regret not getting pictures of Ella doing this so I attempted to get one of Sophie. This is usually how she ends up.  She is so sweet.  I'm still amazed at how tiny she is, but I know that it won't last long so I'm trying to enjoy every second.  I would stay at home in my sweats all day long if I could.  I love my little girls.

our helper

the girls in matching jammies when Sophie was 3 weeks old

When we came home from the hospital Ella's whole world had changed.  She loved her baby sister, but didn't love that Sophie got Mom and Dad's attention too.  Ella acted out in every possible way.  Within the first week she stopped eating anything that had nutritional value, cried about everything, threw countless tantrums, bit me because I wouldn't let her keep a Barbie shoe in her mouth, asked to nurse, wanted to get in the crib, had me change her diaper on the changing table, and did just about everything else I feared.  She hated when I nursed the baby.  Absolutely hated it!  I don't know if it was just because the process was new and strange to her, or if it was because I spent so much time doing it, or if it was because Sophie had one on one time with Mom doing something that Ella couldn't. Through this difficult period of transition Ella has always loved Sophia and has wanted to help her whenever possible.  Sometimes she wants to help too much.  Ella believes that giving Sophie her pacifier is always the best thing to do.

 When people asked Ella if she helped Mommy she simply said, "No."  It was the truth.  Fortunately the more she adjusts, the more willing she is to help me out.  For Christmas Laz and Allie gave Ella a lawn mower.  She loves mowing the lawn with Daddy.

I am happy to report that now, in Sophie's 8th week of life, Ella is back to normal!!!  She sleeps well, eats about as well as can be expected, and has stopped acting out more than an average 2 year old.  The second our "normal" life changes she starts to act out, but I'll still take it!