I Soooo Missed My Baby

i was going to title this "i'm never leaving sofia again..." but then the thought came about the future when she's 15 and giving me white hairs, i have maybe 4 or 5 other kids driving me up the wall, and jeff has planned a cruise with the bliss and pretes, and so i thought otherwise. i'm sure i'll leave her again.

i'm sitting on my bed, in pjs, with a blanket. sick. finished my chicken noodle soup and eating crackers. thought to myself, "i have insomnia, so i won't sleep...nows the time to blog about this past weekend."

it was my first weekend away from sofia. for FIVE days. i went to san diego to surprise both my grandma for her 75th b-day and my sis, aya, for her bridal shower. jeff didn't want me to take sofia...can you imagine a 8 month HUGE lady in the airport, chasing after a very HUGE 18 month toddler, who doesn't sit on laps, or sleep on planes? SO, he took her to kansas with him. can you believe that?? what other dad would drive 15 hours with a teething toddler? on a side note, on the drive to kansas, she slept about an hour. that's it. poor dad.

anyway, jeff went to visit his sister kelli and rhino, attend the opening of the temple in kansas city, and spend time with matt/maddie/traci/chad/ash who all drove in as well, with their kiddos. here are some pics he took. it was so reassuring to see pictures of my daughter, bathed, clothed, and even headbanded. thanks ash for sending me iphone pics to prove she was alive!

sofia and wells...

at the temple, with tio mateo

i promise she had headbands to get that mullet look out of her face, but it comes off after about an hour or two of wearing it...

primos: blake, paige, and claire

don't know what she's screaming for here...but i know she was pretty grumpy the entire time bc she didn't sleep well...

there's this new game that jeff has been playing NON STOP on the ipad. i blame rhino and chad!! what have you done to my husband????

when i came in to the family (engaged), claire was born. look how big she is now!!

jeff told me that carly was the best big sister for her. thanks for watching out for her, car. also, loved this booty shot of sofia...

this is a long post. sorry. thanks to all those who are still reading. i'm pretty sure not even my husband reads this, just looks at the pictures. if you're reading this, jeff, post a comment and prove me wrong. don't text him, trace!

san diego was wonderful. i don't have pictures of my nana's 75th b day, which was fabulous. but as soon as i get those, they will be posted!

ariel is getting married in june and i can't go because i will just have had baby boy crane. i'm soooo sad to miss it. so of course i had to attend the shower. the bridal shower was AHHH-MAZING. seriously, over the top, so i can't imagine what the wedding will be like.

since her name is ariel, they planned an "under the sea" shower. she was named BEFORE the little mermaid came out, i promise. they copied her. just like the new pixar movie coming out called Princess Sofia. copiers.

where does my mom find all this stuff? tj maxx, ross, and marshalls. my fav stores.

it was a brunch...the best waffles i've EVER tasted, with assorted toppings, and different syrups made from scratch (i wouldn't even attempt that), bacon, and more.

look at these cupcakes! i didn't even want to eat one because they were so pretty.

each water bottle had a "love quote" on it that you had to guess. i stink at romantic comedies.

when you entered, this was the address table. i loved the rug so much, i brought it back with me, and it is now under sofia's crib.

the happy couple, ariel and rob...

my sister, sarah, me (unflattering of my tummy), bride-to-be ariel, and my sis-in-law porcia.

it was a wonderful weekend. my mom and i spent endless hours together and bought sofia clothes, and baby boy clothes, and ate lolitas (my fav taco shop). i also got to see my dad and carmen.

melody surprised me thursday night, when i flew in, with a sibling dinner! me, sarah, mel, and hector. so fun, and the burger i ate was the most flawless burger i've ever had. i'll have pics of that as soon as mel sends them!

at my dad's house here. i love that with each subsequent picture, a person is added...

sarah, me, hec

add daddy lou here (and a more flattering picture of my tummy)

and now add mel for the finale... (she's been losing a TON of weight for the wedding...and giving it to me...she looks amazing, doesn't she?)

oh how i love san diego, even though i thought of sofia and jeff every minute of the day and longed to be with them. it was a needed break before baby 2 comes.

Moving on Up

we like tax returns. we made a little list of things we wanted to get before baby 2 (which we don't have a name for yet). this was high on our list...

what we hadn't anticipated was princess sofia taking it over, and demoting dad to her chair...

it's big and comfy and we are excited to be able to get a few things that we couldn't afford with sofia. thank you government.

Quick update on me:
i'm still pregnant. i'm almost 32 weeks. i thought i'd write down the different symptoms i've had with this baby than i had with sofia, mainly to compare to my future pregnancies. here are the 3 major differences, that i can think of:
Sofia:
1. major leg cramps
2. all i wanted was fruit
3. major arthritis in my hands (couldn't use scissors by the end of pregnancy)

Baby boy:
1. major insomnia (I usually fall asleep by 3 am, every night)
2. all i want is fries and ice cream
3. he does not stop moving, he's either going to be a soccer baby or a boxer. this makes me a lot more tired for some reason (probably from a combination of all three of these, the insomnia, eating bad foods, and him kicking non stop)

Any baby name ideas?? HELP.

It's Been a Fun Week

last weekend we enjoyed a quiet, family filled, general conference weekend. we started a tradition of "cinnamon rolls and smoothie saturday" to kick off saturday conference. sofia really loved this decision:

in preparation for easter, my eager husband had a few "practice rounds" for sofia. he would hide empty easter eggs, and make sofia find them. i'm surprised he didn't time her, and make her do jumping jacks if she didn't find them all. we were prepping for the big community easter egg hunt that you'll see later in the post....

also in preparation for easter, my sweet mother sent us an easter package. we were so excited! grandma queen is the best at being sofia's personal fashion expert. i took a few pics for you to see what was inside:

an easter dress for sunday:

a fun dress for summer:

of course, a bathing suit for the upcoming season (with matching sandals and hair clips):

there was also easter candy, another 3 outfits and shoes for sofia, and a maternity shirt and dress for me. nevertheless, sofia enjoyed the box the most:

the day before easter was brutal. we woke up early to go to the provo riverwoods mall "all you can eat" pancake breakfast. we were the first ones there (that's how early we were).

(notice the bruise on her forehead? yeah, she ran in to the bathroom door yesterday):

after the riverwoods egg hunt, we went to first annual lavell edwards stadium hunt. we registered, but so did 4,000 other people. to say the least, it was packed.

the field was filled with eggs, candy, foam fingers, byu towels, football cards, and special prizes (like football tickets, tours of the locker room, etc).

it seriously was like the hunger games. there were even little "cornucopias" with eggs and prizes around them. jeff and sofia were in serious mode during this hunt.

it was a successful day, lots of eggs and candy won (no special prizes). all and all, the experience was worth it.

testing the waters

sofia is a mermaid. i'd say fish, but mermaids are prettier (i mean if they existed). she loves the water. you should've seen her last summer at our local water park, 7 Peaks. we can't wait to take her this summer, we already have our season passes...and pretty much plan to go daily.

anyway, jeff decided to test out her life jacket in the bath. now she wants it every time.

sorry they are semi-naked pictures.