Category: Just Because

  • California.. So much to be THANKFUL for!

    We are back!! And we had a blast!!

    First off, Sophia handled the flight to San Diego and back like a rockstar! She was up for a little bit during take off and landing, other then that she slept. It was such a relief and Nate and I were both happy that she got a nap in.

    When we landed in San Diego we were immediately greeted by Russ and Sophia went right to him! She was so happy-it was the cutest thing ever. We loaded up everything in the truck and went back to Gpa Russ’ house where we relaxed for the evening since it was late, and Russ was going out with Carly for her birthday- (Happy Birthday again Carly!). Sophia also made sure to chase Gee & Malikeye. Nate, Sophia and I settled in for the night-excited for the weeks adventures and family time. The next day we had breakfast, and went on a family walk around the neighborhood- the weather was fantastic! We then went to lunch and went to 57 degrees so Nate could help his dad out with a few things. We made plans for the week which included: going to Legoland to see the Aquarium, Sea World, San Diego zoo and walks on the beach. Without going into every detail of our week-we accomplished all those things AND more. It was fantastic!

    Our first adventure was to Catalina Island, where we had lunch at the Catalina Island hotel and went for a walk on the beach. Sophia was skeptical of the sand at first, but after Gpa Russ found her a sea shell she was in LOVE! She ran and walked up and down the beach and was mesmerized by the ocean waters.

        

    The next day we drove out to Legoland and went to the Sea Aquarium. Sophia was able to stand next to and watch the fish. She was also able to touch some sea life, which she did with NO hesitations! She is so outgoing and loves trying new things. She liked watching the fish next to the tanks best!

     

     

    A few days later we made our way to San Diego Zoo. Sophia loves animals so we knew this would be a treat for her. We saw the giraffes, elephants, monkeys, tigers and a few others. It didn’t take too long for her to get tired out and she fell asleep. Nate and I walked around for a little bit longer before we headed home.

     

    Our next adventure was to Sea world. We weren’t to sure Sophia would be able to keep up with the dolphins and Shamu swimming around, but she was beyond thrilled with the dolphin show. She would get so excited when the would jump and swim around. On the other hand, for Shamu-she wasn’t excited at all and wanted to move on. This was probably a combination of no nap and that Shamu really didn’t swim much-Nate and I were disappointed as well. We went to the Shark exhibit as well-but Sophia fell asleep here too. Our little girl was tuckered out!

    In between our adventures we went on walks on the beach and the boardwalk-San Diego is so pretty and the weather was great most days. While walking on the Boardwalk we were able to bring Sophia on the Merry go Round which she loved as well. Sophia also had a favorite restaurant (as well as Nate and mine too! ) which is Old Town Mexico-its DELICIOUS! We were also able to spend some quality time with Gpa Russ and Carly. Our hearts are full from all the family time we got and we are blessed that we had this opportunity to spend some time with Gpa Russ. Nate and I both feel its important for Sophia to spend time with all of her family. We cant wait to come back again soon!

     

     

    Last, but not least, for Thanksgiving this year we got to celebrate with Grandpa Russ and Carly! We decided to stay in and have a home cooked meal. Russ and Nate cooked the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberries and more and we all sat down and had a family dinner! We have so much to be thankful for and we feel so blessed to be able to spend time with Russ and Carly and celebrate some holidays here- since we aren’t able to for all of them!

  • FIRST Kindom family vacation..

    We are headed out today on our FIRST family vacation, just Nate, Sophia and I!! We are flying out to visit Grandpa Russ and Carly. We will be gone from November 18th-28th.

     Nate and I have mixed feelings about this trip, only because of the flying aspect. Sophia has never been on a plane and we aren’t sure how she will handle flying. We checked into everything, upgraded to first class and she is going to be sitting on my lap. We are also gate checking the stroller and car seat free of charge! -Cant get any better than that!! The flight is roughly 3 hours, and we will be packing toys, snacks, bottle and DVD player with Toy Story 3 for her to watch. Hopefully Sophia will fall asleep on the flight and it will be peaceful for all. We are worried that we will be “those” parents with a screaming child, but there isn’t much we can do if it happens. Another thing that is of concern is that Sophia JUST got over an ear infection 2 weeks ago. I brought her into the doctor yesterday and she said that Sophia still has some fluid by her ear, so she gave me an RX for antibiotics just in case and some numbing ear drops as well-just in case.

    Other then those few concerns we are more then excited to be spending time with family and bringing Sophia to a few tourist attractions while we are there, that she is sure to enjoy! I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving and I will post when we get back 🙂

    HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

  • Our Sunshine..

    Here are some of our favorite pictures of Sophia throughout the summer. She is such a goofy girl and she shows it through all her facial expressions..

    Cheese..

     

    Playing outside at the park..

     

    Sophia in her new Adirondeck chair        Our Vikings fan cheerleader..

          

    Some pictures I took while Sophia was playing.. I love these Kodak moments when they arent posed..

     

    Lastly, this shirt says everything about her personality.. I <3 her!

  • 101 Market Corn Maze ..

    This year we were also able to go to the 101 Market corn maze for some fun and to get pumpkins for carving! We went with Grandma Julie, Auntie Steph, and cousins James & Cole. The kids had so much fun playing in the corn pit, going to the petting zoo, and playing in the bouncy house. James also got to race his rubber duck in the water!

    Playing in the Corn Pit..

     

    Sophia wasn’t too sure right away, but then she loved it!

     

      

    James & Cole playing in the corn pit..

     

    Having so much fun in the bouncy pumpkin..  

     

    James racing his rubber ducky.. He won!

  • Apple Jack Orchards.

    This fall we made sure to be outdoors as much as we could before the freezing weather came! This is such a great time for doing fun new things as well. Sophia is at the age where she loves exploring new things, and is so intrigued by it all. We also love being able to bring her to new places and be able to experience those “firsts” with her.

    We went to Apple Jack apple orchards and took Sophia on her first pony ride. She loved it and was so upset when we took her away. She was quickly distracted by her cousin James that came with and the two of them had a blast playing on the hay bales

    taking pony rides..

     

    Playing in the hay bails..

     

    James & Sophia, they had so much fun..

    I love this picture, just had to add it ..

  • 1st Birthday Party Pictures..

    For Sophia’s 1st birthday we chose a theme of pink, brown and white. We borrowed a bouncy house from Aunt Rachel for all the kids, which was a hit! We had all of our family and friends over for a BBQ and cake/ice cream. In total there was a little over 50 people that came to celebrate our girls 1st birthday. Boy did she have a blast too! Here are some pictures of her big day!

    Our Birthday girl!!

    Bouncy house..

      

    Opening gifts..

    Eating her 1st birthday cupcake..

    Our birthday girl had such a great day! Thanks to all that came out and celebrated with us 🙂

  • Sophia is walking!!! (plus some updates)

    WOW! Its been along time since i posted on here! I will bring everyone up to speed on our hectic life..

    SOPHIA WALKED TODAY!!!!
     
    She is such a fun little girl.. Some of her favorite things to do are: climb stairs, walk with push toys, play with Tupperware and go swimming. We recently enrolled her in swimming lessons to get her used to the water more and she just LOVES it now. Our last class is this Thursday, but we will probably be signing her up for more since she has so much fun. She now has 5 teeth, working on the 6th. Her bottom two teeth, top front two teeth and one tooth on the left of the top front tooth are in, she is working on the other top tooth to make it 4 on top-2 on bottom. She has been on the go for quite some time too, crawling-speed crawling, walking with push toys and climbing stairs. She sure keeps us busy. And as of today she is now walking, these past 10 1/2 months have gone so fast, we cant believe our little girl is now walking..I will be uploading some current pictures and hopefully i can get some video of her walking..
    Sophia walking..
     
     
    We also took Sophia to her first county fair. We went to the Carver county fair and Sophia went on her first merry go round ride and also one of those big giant slides.. Sophia was a bit sketchy of the merry-go-round, but she loved the big giant slide. She clapped at the top and put her hands in the air. Guess she is not afraid of heights like mom.
    Carver County fair..
     
     
    With Nate and I, we are just enjoying watching Sophia learn and grow. It is so fun to watch her play and interact/learn with her toys.. She has such a great personality and sense of humor. We are so blessed. Nate is on the mend from coming down with pneumonia 🙁 He is doing much better now. Thankfully Sophia and I didn’t get it. Nothing new with me, just working and trying to plan fun activities before the summer is out. State fair opens this weekend! 
    This is how Sophia LOVES to sit on everything now. She has to have her leg up resting on everything.. This is her in a target shopping cart, eating snacks
  • Misc fun pictures of Sophia

    I haven’t updated some fun misc pictures of Sophia in a while, so here is some that were our favorite. She has such a goofy personalty as you can see displayed throughout the pictures.. She really brightens our life and brings joy to us!

    We had a fun day at our friends Nicole & Brandon’s parents lake. Sophia LOVED this Adirondack chair, she wasn’t to fond of the lake though.

     

    Sophia loves clothes and is always trying to put them on..

    My pretty Princess!

      

    SO serious.. I love that i captured this..

    I was getting ready one morning and Sophia was playing, she got quiet and I looked and this is how i found her, sleeping.. <3

  • First family vacation & some updates..

    Sophia had her 9 month well child visit on Monday (07.05.10) and she is doing great! She weighs 19lbs and is 27inches long, her head is 17.5 inches around-big noggin! The doctor commented on how strong she is, and I agree that she is.

     
    We went to Craguns in Brainerd over the 4th with my whole family and we all had a blast. Sophia went on a pontoon boat ride, her 2nd boat trip ever. She didn’t like it when the water splashed her and she was sleep deprived from not to long of a nap, but other then that she had fun. We tried playing with her in the sand, and she isn’t a fan of that yet. Cant wait for next year 🙂
     
     
    Sophia is cruising along fast. She is crawling, climbing up stairs and walking along all furniture. It wont be to long before she is walking alone. We have also been incorporating some “adult” food into Sophia’s meals and she is LOVING it. She really enjoys feeding her self and so far everything we have tried she LOVES. Her top teeth have also just barely popped thru the gums, so she now has about 4 teeth.
     
    We cant believe how fast time has flown since our little princess was born, in 2 1/2 months she will be turning 1. Time to plan that big party.
  • Getting SOO big..

    Happy “late” Fathers Day! Sophia and daddy spent some quality time together in the morning before church and then after, Nate went golfing. Sophia is also become quite the crawler, she has speed crawling down even 🙂 She is also pulling herself to stand on everything and yesterday she stood all by herself, not holding onto anything. She gets into just about everything, but she is in such a fun stage right now that we both love it 🙂 She also tries to copy things you say, in baby talk of course but it is very adorable. She has mastered, “mama” “dada” and she says what sounds like “go” and puts her hands in the air. She is a chatter box. Her top 4 teeth are being very stubborn and have not quite broke the gums yet. Hopefully soon.

    Sophia standing ALL alone!

    Being silly and playing- she is so goofy! <3

      

    Speed crawler…

    We also took Sophia swimming for the first time on friday. I put the pool on our deck and filled it with warm water and set it in the sun while we waited for Sophia’s cousins James and Cole to come over. It turns out Sophia DID NOT like swimming. We think the water got to cold, even though it was in the sun. I think the wind made it cold. We will try again though. Here is a picture of Sophia in her cute swimsuit. You cant tell on her face, but she would cry if i even attempted to put her in the water..
    One last picture, cause I think its so cute! Sophia LOVES Meeka so much-
    We <3 her so much!!