The Newmans

Sleep

2010-03-03T15:58:00.000-08:00

We borrowed a toddler bed from my sister weeks ago and finally got around to setting it up. Sophie couldn't wait to have a new bed and asked to have it every time she saw it in the garage. I didn't want to mess with a good thing, so I just contined to put it off. We finally gave in, and from the moment it was up, Sophie couldn't stop playing with it. Climbing in and out, putting her dollies to sleep, messing it up just so she could fix it, and on and on. It was cute, but I was skeptical of the night, especially since she was in a new room. To my amazement, this little girl sleeps as if she's always been in a bed. And my favorite part is watching her make it in the morning. She meticulously fixes the quilt so it hangs just right. (wonder where she gets that!) I'm still getting used to seeing her in her bed. Just another reminder that she's growing up.

Claire, on the other hand, prefers sleeping a bit more sporatically. She doesn't like the traditional 8 hour block of sleep, but rather 1-2 hour naps all through the night. I'm getting used to the dull, sleep-deprivation headaches in the morning. Still, I find myself wanting to eat her up in the daytime. She is obsessed with hands, not just her own anymore, and will play with and suck on my fingers while happily kicking her feet. Even now, I'm typing one-handed so she can do her thing. She's becoming a little person, and already seems a bit sassy, screaming sometimes just to hear her own voice. I'm discovering all the differences and similarities between her and Sophie already, and can't wait to see more.

2010-02-11T21:15:00.000-08:00

This is how Claire can be found most of the day, not in the Bumbo so much, but eating her hands. I cannot get enough of it!

What's wrong with me?

2010-01-08T16:22:00.001-08:00

My blog is dying. It's my fault. This is my attempt to resuscitate it. No apologies, I'm just going to pick up from here.

Claire is going to be 4 months old soon, and I honestly can't believe it. She's still a newborn, right? All I can say is we are completely enjoying her. She is smiling, even laughing at times, and is sweet as can be. Sophie has been incredibly adaptable to this new addition and tries to help. Sometimes she is legitimately helpful too. When Claire cries in the grocery store, Sophie rocks the carseat for me and tries to show her toys. Claire already loves her and I can see the seeds of sibling bonding being planted. They will be friends one day. I hope. Claire has discovered her hands and contentedly sucks on them all day long--even when they are covered in spit-up. Gross, I know, but I actually find it adorable. She still naps in her swing and I'm not about to change it because it works so well. We recently got Claire the Bumbo chair at Target and the jury is still out on whether she likes it or not. I hope she warms up to it, though, because I get a kick out of seeing her in it.

Sophie is definitely gaining her independence, but I feel I'm learning more about patience than she is about being independent. If I touch the door she is trying to open, she screams at me. If I try to help zip up her jammies, she screams at me. You get the idea. We just smile and take a couple deep breaths. She is quite adorable, though. Always the little mommy, she loves giving her "naked baby" (All her babies are identified by color) a bath, nursing her, or bouncing her on a ball to keep her quiet. I'm seeing her mimic my actions and totally loving it. Mothering two girls has me learning to multi-task and sometimes makes me a little crazy, but overall I honestly love it. I mean, just LOOK at them!

Okay, I LOVE this picture of Matt's mom. Doesn't she look like a celebrity incognito? She is fabulous. Also, I'm nursing Claire, which is a little strange for a picture and rather uncomfortable.

Sisters

2009-11-04T22:08:00.001-08:00

Claire

2009-09-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

I forgot how much I enjoy having a tiny newborn. She smells sweet, she sleeps all day, and I love her scrunched up little body. Definitely beats pregnancy. These days I can be found in pajamas, hair undone, no makeup, holding this precious little baby.

Her arrival was extremely untimely, coming on the same day we were scheduled to move, but somehow it all worked out. My mother-in-law ended up taking me to the hospital while Matt loaded the moving truck. Once there, I learned I was already dialated to an 8. An 8!! I suddenly got a panicky feeling that I might somehow miss my "window" for an epidural, or even worse, that Matt might miss the whole thing. I remember saying to the nurse, "I definitely don't want to go natural. Please tell me I can have an epidural." I probably reminded her about 14 times and I'm sure I was annoying, but I always hear those stories about other women missing their opportunity. I got the drugs, Matt made it to the hospital, and Claire was born at 11:43 am on Saturday, september 19th. At 6 lb, 8 oz, she is a lot smaller than Sophie (8lb, 14 oz) was.

We're mostly settled in the new house now, but there are still loads of boxes to go through. How did we accumulate so much stuff in only 7 years?! Luckily we have a basement, so anything we're not sure about just goes down there. I hate clutter, and I hate being unorganized, but I'm trying to work on one box at a time. For now, I'll keep holding my little Claire and ignore all the junk in the basement.

Finally!

2009-09-11T09:04:00.000-07:00

Remember this? After 8 "short" months, we are finally moving in on September 19th. I'm also scheduled to have the baby about 5 days later, so it's all coming at once. We'll be busy over the next few weeks, to say the least, but we can't wait!

Happiest Place on Earth...

2009-06-11T15:18:00.000-07:00

We recently spent a few days in Southern California. Newport Beach, to be exact. We had such a great time visiting our good friends, hanging at the beach and Disneyland. Here are a few highlights from the trip:

Sophie LOVED the water! Sunday we walked along the beach and she probably could have stayed there all day.

Couple things about this picture:

1: Matt is wearing a wetsuit straight out of the 80's...can't say I wasn't a little embarassed. It actually says "Heat Zone" across the front.

2: Is it just me or do they both look like they are posing for some photo shoot? It was actually freezing that day, hence the wetsuit, so maybe that had something to do with it.

PS Matt spent about an hour surfing and looked pretty good while doing it...not so goofy anymore, huh?

THE BLAKES:

Our good looking, gracious hosts for the trip. It was so good to hang out with them and they were completely hospitable. They let us use their car, carseat, stroller, eat their food, stay in their home, and they took us to all the fun places to eat and hang out in Newport.

These two go way back...their families used to vacation together in Lake Powell, where many good times were had. Also spent those wild college days at BYU as roomates.

I tried to minimize any photos taken next to Julianne. She is way too pretty, and I felt way too pregnant. Don't let her good looks fool you, though. She is SO sweet!

DISNEYLAND, OF COURSE:

Favorite ride, hands down was the merry-go-round. This one happens to be located at the mall and cost about $1. Later realized we could have saved a lot of money by riding this one all day.

Yes, we are cheesy. We take all the predictable group shots and no creative spontaneous ones. I will probably always be this way.

BALBOA ISLAND:

We took a ferryboat ride to Balboa Island the day of Sophie's birthday. This was probably my favorite day of the trip. We walked along the pier, Matt and Sophie rode the ferris wheel, ate yummy pizza, and we even took pictures in a photo booth...something I haven't done since high school, but it was a fun way to remember the day.

Favorite moment of the trip: The look on Sophie's face when she realized the dessert with a candle in it was for her! She was so cute with the goofiest smile on her face through the entire "Happy Birthday" song. Priceless.

Wasting no time on that birthday dessert

Sophie and Davis enjoyed riding next to each other in the sit-n-stand stroller. An arranged marriage between these two is already in the works and these pictures will be great for the wedding video one day. :)

Again, I'm thinking of the future wedding video.

Just a cute picture of Sophie taken by Julianne.

So sad to say goodbye! We definitely were not ready to leave.

Sidenote: Sophie is also expecting a child! We got some pretty hilarious shots of her posing with her "belly" and I just had to include one!

It's A Girl!!

2009-05-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

I have no idea why it's taken me so long to post about this. The first trimester of this pregnancy had me feeling nauseous and lethargic, so I guess that was my excuse then, but after that, I really have none. I just got lazy and kept putting it off. I'm now almost 21 weeks along and due September 25th. From the looks of my belly, though, you might guess I'm at least 6 or more months along. I get a REALLY big belly and this time it's happening more quickly. This is all sounding a little pessimistic, but I'm actually quite excited and happy now that I'm feeling better.

I was so glad to learn we are having another girl. Truthfully, I'm scared of boys. I mean, I definitely want a boy, and probably next, but for now, I feel safe with girls. Sophie has been a relatively easy-going child and plays contentedly with her babies and hasn't ever been too big into making huge messes. I like that. Plus, we already have the girl clothes and all that stuff, so it will only be that much easier. I can't wait to see Sophie with a sibling. Definitely going to rock her world (and ours), but nonetheless, I can't wait!

There is no way I can catch up on the last 3 or 4 months, so I'm not trying. Here are a few recent pictures.

Hoping

2009-01-29T13:12:00.001-08:00

Here is the home we recently put a bid on. It is a short sale, so we'll see what happens. At this point, we are just waiting and hoping.

M.I.A.

2009-01-29T12:48:00.000-08:00

I realize we have been missing in action lately. Matt and I have been living with my parents for the last 3 weeks, and have done no blogging while we are here. We don't have the ability to upload any pictures, so we'll just catch up later.

Lots has happened.

Holidays

2009-01-06T13:11:00.001-08:00

Another Christmas come and gone....it happened so quickly, I didn't even get to chronicle it. We have had lots of snow lately...lovely, fluffy snow, so my family went sledding (I call it sleigh riding, but Matt has assured me I am incorrect, since we did not actually ride on a sleigh. I still like my term better)

PS Do we look cold? It was cold.

PSS Matt made the hat I'm wearing...my Christmas gift. Isn't it cute?

A close-up of THE hat. What a lucky girl I am. Ignore the gross cold sore on my lip

Be honest, does she look like "Randy" from "A Christmas Story?"

Christmas Eve was especially exciting. My parents received their mission call. Drum roll, please.....The Philippines MTC. My mom will be the medical advisor and my dad will be her assistant. You can see the look of shock and horror on my mother's face as thecall is read, but we are all confident in her abilities. (Sorry about the picture, Mom, but it is just too perfect) They leave March 30, and will be missed greatly! What can we say...the Philippines await!!

Santa came....brought Sophie a cooing doll and a baby stroller. She adores them both, but we didn't get any pictures of her playing with them. Bonus: the doll has a secret recording that says: "Islam is the Light" Didn't pay extra for that.

I'm actually laughing out loud as I post this picture. Family portrait Christmas morning with the camera on a timer. The best we could do. I have been told I'm sort of a "group shot" kind of person. I have to agree. Every event, I try to at least get a group shot. No artistic candid shots, just lurpy group shots.

It wouldn't be Christmas without an evening of lights at Temple Square...and yummy dinner at the Lion House. Ever had their rolls with honey butter? Mmm.

New Year's Eve, eery resemblance to white rapper, Eminem. He could not have been more in character as he sang to the "Beastie Boys" on Rock Band. A moment I will forever store in my brain. I think he really felt like a rock star...have to admit, I didn't exactly hate it.

I am his groupie

Our lovely hostess/host for New Year's Eve party

Had to include this picture...Sophie found this bead hat in Gramsie's box of dress-ups and would NOT let me take it away. Wore it all day. Maybe it makes her feel like a princess. Who knows.

Give Thanks

2008-12-02T13:25:00.000-08:00

A perfect Thanksgiving, in my opinion. Growing up, my family and I spent Thanksgiving at my Aunt's house in Kalispell, Montana. We managed the trip in a wood-paneled station wagon with 9 people in the car. My mom would have my younger sister on her lap, and I and my older sister would sit in the front seat between my mom and dad. The other four siblings sat in the back seat. It was definitely tight, but I look back on it fondly.

This was the first year Matt and I were able to spend Thanksgiving with my family, and for me, it was bliss. I love the quaint little town, my Aunt and Uncle's cozy little home, and the wonderful smells of Thanksgiving dinner. It was very nostaligic.

One of the best parts of the trip was playing games at night. We were in a hotel, so we all put our kids to bed, plugged in the monitor, and met in my parents' room for intense game-playing. We laughed a lot, stayed up late, and ate plenty of popcorn and junk food.

We also took Sophie to Madagascar 2. Surprisingly, she sat through the ENTIRE show. I only had to leave about 5 minutes early to change her diaper. We shopped, of course, but we didn't do the 4 am thing. Not worth it in my opinion. Kalispell has a great little downtown with some fun shops. We spent more time there than anything. Lastly, we ate. We ate at some yummy, unique restaruants, and we enjoyed the after Thanskgiving turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce. My fav. A perfect Thanksgiving, in my opinion.

30

2008-11-17T13:38:00.000-08:00

This guy turned 30... about 3 weeks ago (So I get behind on blogging sometimes.) I threw a surprise party for him, which apparently wasn't much of a surprise after all. He had some hints along the way.

Anyhoo, we had a lot of fun with it. I asked everyone to bring an inexpensive, or even free gift of something that reminded them of Matt. He's such a funny, quirky guy, some pretty great ideas came out of it. Among them were: a bidet, a dented toy car (A story from high school), plastic money, an afro wig, a home perm kit (yes, he once permed his hair), a weird plastic skull head with hair (story from high school involving a locker war). We laughed at the stories everyone had to share about Matt and also enjoyed a little cake.

I also put together a memory book as a gift for Matt. I asked several friends and family members to contribute pictures and stories to make this a really special gift. I spent countless hours on the computer putting it all together, and it finally arrived in the mail on Saturday. I was so excited to show Matt, and this is what it looked like:

The cover--looks pretty good (even though my picture of it isn't so great) But once we opened the book up, this is what we saw: pictures of some guy HUNTING and drinking beer. I was mad at first about the mix-up, but then we got a pretty good laugh about it!

I'm not a fan of hunting, so these pictures of gutting a dear completely gross me out.

Yeah, that's right, drinking from a beer bong.

Hopefully the REAL book will arrive in the mail soon!

Halloween

2008-11-12T13:04:00.001-08:00

I know, delayed Halloween posting, but better late than never, am I right? I got behind on my blogging because of a surprise birthday party I threw for Matt recently (more info on that later)

Halloween this year was a lot of fun, especially since Sophie actually grasped the concept a little bit. She insisted on carrying her own treat bucket (who can blame her?!), and it was hilarious to watch her decide on which candy to pick. Lots of suckers. And thanks to this candy-filled holiday, she now officially knows what candy is, and asks for it all the time.

Check out this adorable picture my friend Veronica took of Sophie. Yes, she is a rock star photographer. Check her out http://veronicareeve.com/

Wheeler Farm

2008-10-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

My cousin, Vanessa, and I are only 2 months apart in age. We have always been pretty close and spent lots of time together when we were younger. We were kind of weird, though. When Vanessa slept over at my house, we would sneak up to the kitchen late at night and eat, get this, homemade dill pickles. We loved them, and would usually make several trips to the fridge.

Fast forward 20 years, we have toddlers only 6 weeks apart in age. I love how it all worked out and we try to get these two together once a month. This month we made the trip to Wheeler Farm and let them see cows, sheep, horses, chickens, and my personal favorite, baby pigs. so cute. We also took a ride for the steep price of $1.50 on a wagon to tour the entire farm. (I love how inexpensive Utah is!)

Sophie showing me Hayden's eye

Annual Funk Halloween Party

2008-10-14T10:43:00.000-07:00

Not a great picture, I know, but the lighting in a church building is not the best. Halloween is one of my family's favorite holidays, and they love to go all out on the party. (No costumes this year--separate story)

Here's what we did:

1: Dinner of chili, rolls, salad, and doughnuts. This has been the menu for as long as I can remember. It's comforting.

2: Pumpkin carving/decorating contest. Matt and I made a "Sophie" pumpkin. Didn't really look like her, but we had fun doing it. I thought we had a chance at winning, but my brother beat us out with a "Hamburger" pumpkin. Clever.

3: My sister made up her own game of "Survivor"--Halloween style. She's the clever slash crafty one in the family, so we leave that stuff up to her. You can see pictures below of the dress-up relay part of the game. I know these games are cheesy, but we have a lot of fun with them.

4: I did face painting for the little ones. I love how excited they get to have a lame little spider painted on their cheek. It's cute.

That about sums it up.

The winning pumpkin

Sweet action shots from the relay game

Dinosaur Park

2008-10-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law and I spent the afternoon at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. The weather was perfect, which we are desperately trying to enjoy before it is gone. I think Sophie is still a little too young to really appreciate the dino exhibit, but she had a great time playing with her cousin, Alivia. There was this great little playground specifically designed for littler kids. They both loved climbing the stairs, going down the slide, but most of all, playing in the sand.

Another highlight of the day was putting Sophie's hair in pigtails for the first time. Her hair has the strangest growth pattern right now. It's very short in the back, but long on the sides. We just laugh and say that she has an extreme A-line cut. Very chic. I think I will take her to my hairdresser in a couple weeks to get it trimmed.

What do you think?

2008-10-06T20:46:00.001-07:00

I recently came across this blog:

seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com

Tell me what you think. Heads up: it's not real, it's a parody.

Check out my sweet new header

2008-10-02T19:31:00.001-07:00

Creepy, I know. This picture is totally random and has nothing to do with my post, but I felt like I needed something. Let me explain. This was Sophie's first taste (and probably last) of a slurpee. She was completely off her rocker and our sides were aching with laughter after watching her. Not sure we should have compared her to Jack Nicholson from The Shining, but the resemblance is uncanny.

Anyhoo, back to the subject. I spent a week in California with my talented, beautiful friend Mandi and she created this amazing header for me. Not only did she design my blog, she also made adorable head accessories for Sophie, (check out rubysclips.com) hooked me up with free gym classes which left me aching for days, took me shopping, lunching, cooked me delicious meals and desserts, and above all, entertained me with her charm and wit. Oh, and not to mention the most beautiful "botanical gardens" I have ever seen (wink, wink) Seriously, though, this girl has more talent and creativity in her little pinky than I have or ever will have in my entire body. Yes, cliche, but I'm not great with words. Thanks for the good times, Mand (Can I call you Mand?)

Disappointingly, I did not snap a single picture, so just imagine what the pictures might have looked like.

Glasses

2008-08-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

We recently got glasses for Sophie, but not this kind...

...this kind

Everybody has asked me how I knew Sophie needed glasses. Around the age of 11 months, I noticed her right eye was starting to cross, so I took her to the Opthamologist, The doctor said she is cross-eyed as well as farsighted. (I STILL don't understand how they can tell a baby is farsighted. completely amazing to me!) When the doctor told me she would have to wear glasses, I totally felt like crying (silly, I know) For one, I was worried about how I was expected to keep glasses on a one-year-old. And two, I know it sounds shallow, but I was worried about her looking like a nerd. It has all worked out much better than I expected. She not only tolerates the glasses, but loves them. Who knew. And I still think she is as adorable as ever!

Food, Parade and Fireworks

2008-07-09T13:05:00.001-07:00

What better way to celebrate the 4th! We spent the weekend in Burley, Idaho with my sister and her family. All the usual elements for a great holiday were present: festive red white and blue pancake breakfast, parade, afternoon BBQ, and of course, fireworks. Since Burley is such a small town, we had the best seats for the firework show. We didn't even have to camp out or wait hours in advance. They set them off at a golf course overlooking the Snake River, and I have to admit, I was really impressed! It was fun to be so close and I could not stop myself from oohing and ahhing. I was nervous about Sophie since this was her first real firework show, but she loved it!

Birthdays and Vacations

2008-06-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

I need to play major catch up on my blogging, so this is going to be a long post. Our most recent excitement was Sophie's first birhday celebration. She turned 1 on Sunday, June 1st. It was a pretty low-key party with cake, ice cream and a few presents. Matt and I gave her a little car she can either push or ride on and she LOVES it. In fact, last night Matt had to let her sleep with it in her crib! It was the only way to get her to go to sleep! We took it out of her crib once she had fallen asleep, but not without snapping a picture first. We had a good laugh about it.

We also recently got back from our visit to San Ramon, California. We had such a great time visiting friends, shopping, and eating out. The weather was a little cool, but we still had such a great time. We miss California, but we are getting more and more used to being back in Utah.

CALIFORNIA TRIP

Sophie loved the sand...so we burried her in it!

I got to spend some time with the family I used to nanny for. They were so sweet and took us to dinner and gave Sophie a present for her 1st birthday.

We were able to see my friend Brinly's brand new little baby. He was so sweet and tiny!

Try this...

2008-05-01T12:44:00.000-07:00

I probably spent 30 minutes on this website. Matt and I had a little competition going to see who could type the fastest. Try it, it's addicting!

89 words

Speed test

She's got skills!

2008-04-28T14:57:00.001-07:00

I can't believe how big Sophie is getting. Here are a few short videos...

Sophie has been giving kisses lately...even to herself!

Sophie's first words

She is already "reading" books!

Neked Little Bum!

2008-04-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

Lately Sophie has really been hamming it up for the camera, and I couldn't resist posting this classic little naked picture. After her bath, Sophie's favorite thing to do is pull all her clothes out of the dresser. She also yells a bit while doing it. I wish I knew what she was trying to say. I just sit back and enjoy the show, and have to reorganize her drawer every day. Totally worth it, though. She's still a little wobbly with standing, but definitely getting better.

We also went to the park on Saturday and enjoyed the beautiful 73 degree weather. It was so appreciated after all the cold we have been through this year. (Note to California friends: I noticed that on Saturday you were suffering through 97 degree weather. I do have to rub it in your faces because, man, did that day feel good for us!!) Only kidding. :)

Sophie loved the swing!

This weekend we also had the chance to get together with some of Matt's old roomates from BYU. We always have so much fun together, but it doesn't happen often enough since it's hard to get everyone in the same place at the same time.

We attempted to get a group picture of all the kids, but you know how that goes.

I had to include a picture of Sophie and her cousin, Sydney (whom we live with) They have become such close friends!

Sophie is obsessed with Sydney's hair. She is constantly grabbing at it, and Sydney is such a good sport about it.

So proud of herself for standing!

Where Is Spring?

2008-04-02T08:05:00.001-07:00

I don't want to complain too much here, but it is April 2nd and SNOWING outside right now. A little depressing, I have to say. We are definitely missing California at this point. We did, however, recently enjoy some warm weather. We spent three days last week in sunny St. George. It was BEAUTIFUL, and one day it even got up to 80 degrees. We went swimming, played at the park, had a pic-nic, and just enjoyed the nice weather. We didn't get very many good pictures, but here are a few from the trip.

Random pictures...

2008-02-23T10:25:00.001-08:00

I know I'm not very good at keeping my blog updated, and it's not just because I'm lazy. Well, okay, maybe that is part of it. But mostly, we just don't have that much going on! My daily routine of cleaning, shopping, and playing with Sophie just doesn't seem exciting enough to share with everyone.

Anyway, I definitely wanted to post some pictures from the most random Valentine's party I have ever been to, or maybe that has ever existed. It was hosted by Matt's family and, get this, it was a Nacho Libre themed, dress up if you want, white elephant, pot luck party. There were some pretty crazy, homemade costumes, which made it totally worth it. We had some pretty good laughs.

Here are some other highlights from this month...

We have a season pass to The Treehouse, the children's museum in Ogden. Sophie loves playing here, especially with her cousin, Sydney (we definitely need to get a picture of them together.)

Sophie just discovered the convenience of taking a drink right out of the bath water....even against my attempts to distract her otherwise.

This may quite possibly be the cutest picture ever. I'm loving the bed head and matching mischevious grins.

Playing on the inflatable slides at Classic Fun Center in Layton...Matt is clearly the most enthused of us all!

I'm in love with this little contraption...the Ergo Baby (thank you S.R. and Tesha!!!) Almost daily, I put Sophie in this while I get things done around the house. It has been SO convenient....and sometimes puts Sophie right to sleep.

Poor thing looks like an orphan here...or maybe she's just ashamed of getting prunes all over her face. Either way, it's still a pretty cute picture.

Lisa Turns 27!

2008-01-19T20:03:00.000-08:00

Lisa turned 27 and she looks better than ever! She is a great wife and I have loved growing old with her. She makes me laugh more than ever, and I respect more and more all the time as I see her in her role as mother. I have been impressed by her willingness to sacrifice for me and Sophie.

At the end of the day when I come home to her and Sophie, I remember what is important. Sometimes, I wish I could just hang out with them all day. I would probably drive Lisa nuts though - I wonder what retirement will be like!

Anyway, life is good, and I have loved having Lisa in my life. I have now been with her for about a fifth of her life, which is quite a lot.

Lisa is a great person and I am excited to live the rest of my life with her. I look forward to every new adventure because she is such a good sport and always willing to go along with my crazy ideas. She is an awesome woman and I love her a lot!

No more snow!

2008-01-15T20:42:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so the year we move back to Utah is the year we get dumped on with snow. I do not want to sound like a pesimist, because I do think the snow is beautiful (at times) but c'mon, I'm measuring 15 inches of snow in one storm. I just need to ease back into the cold, so this is a little much right now. I'm definitely ready for some spring weather.

Sophie does not have a snow suit, so I had to wrap her up in a fuzzy blanket to keep her warm.

I have not posted new stuff for a while (surprise, surprise) Here are a couple pictures from the last month or so.

Amidst all the Christmas bliss!

I love when Sophie gets rosy cheeks

My niece Emily and I went ice skating on New Year's Eve. It was her first time and she was already much better than me, which isn't saying much since I am pretty unathletic. We had a good time nonetheless.

Sophie Eats Prunes

2008-01-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

Here is a little video of Sophie eating some prunes. She is now eating solids pretty well now. She really likes Cheerios.

Sophie Meets Santa

2007-12-13T11:50:00.001-08:00

We recently had our ward Christmas party, which we attended despite the 6 inches of fresh snow and bald tires on our car. We made it to the party okay, but not without some anxiety (mostly on my part) We slid around a bit, and hit a few curbs, but we made it. Once there, we were able to relax and eat some delicious food, visit with friends, and Sophie met Santa for the first time. She was surprisingly calm through the whole thing. I expected some tears since she has been going through a little separation anxiety lately. She must somehow have known that this man is connected with fun toys! It was hilarious to watch her examine him. She just stared at him for the longest time! I'm guessing next year will probably not go as smoothly.

Getting home after the party was a bit more challenging. We were unable to make it up any sort of a slope, since our tires were so bad. Not good, considering our house is surrounded by hills. Matt's brother eventually came to our rescue and towed us back home. After replacing the tires, we are now ready to travel in the snow, although I think I will still avoid it!

Nobody looks happy here

Happy Birthday, Matty!

2007-11-19T13:27:00.000-08:00

We recently celebrated Matt's 29th birthday. It was pretty low-key since Sophie was sick with her first cold, plus Matt prefers a small celebration anyway. Next year, though, we will definitely go all-out for the big 30! We had the usual cake and ice cream and opened presents. We got to celebrate a little more over the weekend with a short trip to Park City. It was fun to relax, shop, and eat out during such a beautiful weekend!

So let me just tell you a little about this birthday boy! He is one of the most easy-going, likeable, fun, hard-working persons I have ever met. Anyone who knows him might agree. Often Matt is the life of the party, and some of his close friends may know what I'm talking about. I'll never forget this one night in Provo while we were dating. We were hanging out in his apartment, a frequent occurance in those days, and I can't remember what prompted it, but Matt came out of his room in a wife-beater tank top, surfer-looking, nappy, blonde wig, and electric guitar. He proceeded to rock out on his guitar and even slid down the hallway on his knees (he got a pretty nasty rug burn from it, but all totally worth it!) It was so hillarious, and I'm thinking I might have to ask him to bust that move out again sometime.

Matt is also very talented, and I'm still surprised with what he can do. It seems like anything he atempts, he excels at. He loves wakeboarding, skiing, crocheting (a hidden gem of a talent), playing Settlers and Acquire, surfing, playing pool, basketball, golf, soccer, building web sites, playing the piano, (he can even play the organ!), and I'm sure I'm still forgetting some. A little story about Matt's talents: Once while we were dating, I wanted to learn something Matt didn't know how to do. I bought a harmonica, a "learn how to play harmonica book" and learned how to play a couple easy songs. I thought at the right opportunity I would showcase my hidden talent to Matt and impress him. I did so, only to find that he knows how to play the harmonica! He continues to impress and amaze me!

I'm still not sure how I got Matt to marry me, but I'm glad he did! It's been an awesome 6 1/2 years together! I love you! Happy Birthday, Matty!!

The birthday boy!

Celebrating in Park City

Pebble Beach

Playing Acquire in Carmel

Swamp Thing!

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-05T19:55:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if this qualifies as child abuse or not, but I felt pretty guilty about putting Sophie in her Halloween costume. Although she looked adorable in it, she certainly was not comfortable. She ended up resembling the little boy in "A Christmas Story." (You know the one I mean!) Most of the time the peas were totally in her face and she made the best of the situation by sucking on them. It was pretty gross by the end of the night. We were unable to take her trick-or-treating around the neighborhood as we had planned, since Matt didn't get home from work until about 7:30. We did have time for a quick stop to grandma's house for a little treat bag and a visit with the cousins before we had to get Sophie to bed. She was such a trooper, and stayed really content most of the night!

Turning over a new leaf!

2007-10-28T22:43:00.001-07:00

Okay, so the day after we had Sophie, Matt got super motivated and created this blog. He was so excited about it, and it was cute to watch him as he posted something nearly every day and even blogged about the diaper genie! I loved that he was so into it and enjoyed reading his posts. As you can see, the motivation has been lost somewhere along the way, and we have not updated it in MONTHS!! I have decided to take over and hopefully will be able to keep up with it.

So much has changed with our little Sophie in the past couple of months. Next week she will be five months old (seriously where does the time go!) and is now able to roll over, eat sold foods (so far she has only had rice cereal and sweet potatoes) and grabs ANYTHING within her each. I am accepting the life of wearing minimal jewelry, and feel I should consider cutting my hair shorter since she is constantly grabbing at it. :) She is so much fun and our new favorite thing to do is make her giggle. It is honestly the best sound ever and hopefully we will be able to capture her laughing on the video camera. We have not had much luck so far...as soon as she sees any kind of camera, all the magic is lost. She stops doing whatever she was doing and stares at the camera. We love this little baby so much and feel blessed to have her in our lives!

Sophie LOVES to eat! This was her first taste of rice cereal

In Park City celebrating our 5 year anniversary

We have so few pictures of us all together. One day we will get a good one.

Hanging out with the Blakes

The Student Surpasses the Teacher

2007-06-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

We were so overjoyed to receive so many great gifts for Sophie from friends and families, but this one took the cake. A friend of mine from college by the name of Amanda Perron crocheted this cute little Puritan-style cap for Sophie!

The story is, I started crocheted just before my freshman year of college. I had broken my leg, so I got my Grammie to teach me to crochet since I didn't have anything better to do. I got pretty good, but always kept it a secret from my college roommates. Then, I decided to "come out of the closet" and they were so open to it. I even got one of my roommates hooked (no pun intended). Amanda was another friend that joined our little crochet club and I taught her everything I knew. She has now surpassed my abilities and has a legitimate and enviable skill. It was so thoughtful of her to put all the time and thought into making this cap and booties. Also, be sure to check out the latest photo album here.>

SOME PHOTOS FROM SOPHIE'S BLESSING
(JULY 1, 2007)

Clearly not one of her finer moments, but she still looked beautiful!

Sophie ended up pooping all the way through the beautiful dress my mom made. We tried to get a couple of pictures before we had to change her.

My sisters came all the way to California for the event

HANGING IN SAN FRANCISCO

Half Moon Bay...It was FREEZING!

What a view!

We waited an HOUR to ride this trolley

Sophie and grandma

So Far So Good...

2007-06-24T16:55:00.001-07:00

We had another great week. We didn't mention that Sophie went in for her two-week appointment and weighed 9 lbs. 14 oz. and grew an inch. This is good considering that babies typically lose about a pound after birth, so she essentially lost a pound but gained two back. Now, she is probably well over 10 lbs. and I start to feel that when I carry her in the car seat. I am going to have a massive shoulder muscle from carrying that thing. I can't figure out why they don't invent something better to carry her, maybe some sort of strap that hooks onto the car seat that you sling over your shoulder.

Speaking of inventions, we were watching "American Inventor" this week, and I saw that a guy stole my idea! It was the baby bidet! I was surprised that they didn't give the idea much air-time. The judges and/or producers of the show must not have changed many diapers, so they don't have an appreciation for the baby bidet.

We took Sophie to church today, which was great. We saw a lot of friends and felt really good after, and Sophie behaved quite well(mostly slept the whole time). Life is great!

The Honeymoon is Over!!!

2007-06-17T21:59:00.000-07:00

We have been spoiled! We had Lisa's parents in town for the first week, and my parents for most of the second week. This week, we will brave it all alone. Hopefully we can make it! We were trained well for parenthood (plenty of friends and family who have kids, Kaiser classes, and parents there in the first couple weeks). There is no way we can fail now!

It was a lot of fun having our folks here. I got a chance to golf once with my Rubert, my father-in-law, and twice with my dad. We also got the crib put together, did some shopping here and there, and just had a nice relaxing time. It was also a great opportunity to be with my folks before they head out on their 1.5-year mission to Brazil next month. It is strange that next time we will see them in person, Sophie will be a year and a half. We plan to make use of modern technology so we can talk, email pictures of Sophie, and maybe even get webcams set up so we can chat through Skype, but we'll see if my parents actually are able to do that. At any rate, we'll find some way to keep them in the loop about her development.

Gramsie and GrandBob

They both sleep much prettier than I do...I usually have a little drool coming out of my mouth

This baby does not like to be swaddled...she prefers her arms free!

Bath Time!

2007-06-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

We finally did get around to giving Sophie a bath this week. She didn't like it too much. She does like the warm water, but not the cold air around her.

We have this little foam pad that has contours to her body. It is really nice because it keeps her in place, and she is slippery when wet!

We still have to be careful about her umbilical cord. We just use a rag to sponge bath her, but in a couple weeks, when the umbilical cord falls off, we will be able to submerse her. The umbilical cord is pretty weird. When she was born, it was really long and looked like twisted surgical tube (the stuff water balloon launchers are made out of). Now, it just looks like some dead skin though.

One of our first family photos

Nothing like a sleeping baby!

We were lucky to have grandma and grandpa with us during our first week as parents

What an Invention!

2007-06-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

Have any of you seen the Diaper Genie? It is a great invention! Why didn't I think of it? It is basically a covered garbage can for diapers (to keep the smell down), but it also has an innovative way of packaging the diapers. It is just a long tube of plastic. When you put another diaper in, you rotate it so it twists the bag and seals off the offending diaper. It is nice because the plastic is also scented so it keeps the odor down quite a bit. Sophie's poopies aren't very stinky right now, but I have already gained an appreciation for the Diaper Genie, and I am sure I will even more in six months when she starts eating solids and the poop gets really interesting.

I actually picked this one up for free through http://www.freecycle.org/. Lisa is always opposed to my scavenging ways, but successes like this add ammo to my cause. It is basically a Yahoo Group where you get emails of people in your area that are giving things away for free. You just go pick it up at their house. It is great!

Aunt Tesha came to visit all the way from Hawaii

Sophie loved the sling, but quickly outgrew it!

I didn't think Sophie ever really looked like a newborn. She is only 10 days old here, but looks like she is at least a month or two.

Looking a little mischevious!

Second Night Home Waaaay Better!

2007-06-05T06:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, now we are figuring things out. With the help of Gloria and Rubert, we kept Sophie up late last night. First, we took her out for her first outing to Target to get the glider chair and ottoman, which will come in handy at night. We weren't able to find the crib, but we don't need that for a while. She just sleeps in a bassonet, which she is still adjusting to since it is open and doesn't really feel like the womb. She did poo all over it too, so maybe that was a message.

Anyway, we kept her up at night, not letting her sleep, and it paid off. She slept for about 6 hours only getting up to nurse. It was a great night compared with the night before. We are pretty stoked! It is amazing what gets us excited now!

My babies!

She loves those hands

Reality Hits!

2007-06-04T18:17:00.000-07:00

Lisa's parents made the 12-hour drive from Utah to come help take care of Sophie. It was a good thing they drove because they were able to bring a bunch of the gifts we couldn't bring back from the baby showers in Utah.

We had our first night alone with Sophie on Sunday night. She slept all day on Sunday, so she was up all night! She is a night owl! We are going to have to change this party girl's sleep patterns because it is killing us! We went to bed around 11 PM, and got up around 10 AM, but we probably only slept 3-4 hours each in that entire span. Our bodies really need to adjust to getting 1-2 hours at a time! We didn't appreciate the hospital nursery as much as we should have!

Anyway, it was a reality check of how things are going to be for the next little while, and also how we need to have a little more discipline in keeping her awake in the day, especially in the evening, so she will sleep through the night. You live and learn!

Sophie has always loved sucking on her hands. Right after her birth, she began sucking on her thumb wich wasn't too hard to find since she has HUGE paws.

Home From the Hospital

2007-06-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

We made it home from the hospital today. It was a little weird putting Sophie in the car seat and actually driving on the freeway. Lisa made me go 55 MPH, even slower than my normal 62 MPH (optimal fuel efficiency speed). I safely navigated us home, and it was a lot better than being in the hospital. Now we have privacy and we don't have people waking us up every couple hours.

Because this time of year is pretty busy for babies, the hospital was very full, and we ended up having to share a room for some of the time. That was a pain, especially hearing our neighbor's baby cry all night and the husband snored louder than Lisa's dad! Luckily, I sleep through anything so I actually got some pretty good rest, but Lisa sure didn't! She is a light sleeper, and every time a nurse came in, a baby made a noise, the light flipped on, etc., she would wake up. Hopefully she can catch up on some sleep one of these days!

We also filled out the birth certificate and committed to the name Sophie Grace Newman. We chose Sophie because we liked it, and also because it is Lisa's great grandmother's name. We chose Grace also because we like it and because it is the name of my Grammie. She has a great heritage to live up to given these names.

I had a chance to upload the pictures from our digital camera now that we are home, so now they can be viewed by clicking the following link:

Click here to see the Sophie Birth Photo Album

Labor was Hard but Worth It!

2007-06-02T07:11:00.000-07:00

After 26 hours of labor and being more than a week overdue, Lisa finally gave birth to Sophie Grace Newman at 8 pm on Friday, June 1. She is a beautiful blue-eyed, brown-haired girl weighing 8 pounds 14 ounces and is 21.5 inches long. She is beautiful and well worth the wait! We just kept our eyes on the prize and we were rewarded big time!

It was an emotional roller coaster. We were supposed to go in at 6 am on Thursday, but the hospital was so full and Lisa was lower priority since she was being induced. The seemed to take forever, but finally Kaiser (our medical provider) called and said we could come in at 5:30 PM. It was finally here!

Lisa went on Pitocin and was on it all night. By 5 AM the next morning, she still hadn't progressed much and was only dilated to a 2 1/2 - that was depressing because we didn't see light at the end of the tunnel, had fears of a possible c-section, etc. Then, things started moving on Friday morning and we were excited but Lisa felt a lot of pain, until she got the the epidural - we love drugs! She started pushing around 7:40 and 20 minutes later, Sophie popped out. It was exciting that it was so quick, but because it was so quick, and since Sophie was big, Lisa was torn a lot (4th degree tearing). She will have a rough recovery and we will be in the hospital until Sunday night as a result.

We thank you so much for your thoughts, concern, prayers, and love. We have felt it in the events leading up to this moment. Thank you for supporting us as we face this new frontier and phase in our life!

Making myself comfortable while waiting the 27 hours for baby Sophie to arrive

Matt is practicing the "baby burrito wrap" on himself first

Proud papa!

Please Let Us Come Have Our Baby!

2007-05-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

We were supposed to go in today (Thursday) at 6 AM for Lisa to be induced. When we called, they said the hospital was too full and there weren't enough beds. I guess you are low priority when you are induced. So, we ended up just hanging around the house. I worked on the flooring in the kitchen, and Lisa just tried not to pop. She looks really cute, but she is definitely in her fourth trimester and looks like she swallowed a basketball.

I was unable to find a single picture of matt and I together while I was pregnant, so unfortunately all the pictures are of me and my growing belly!

4 months along. This was taken on my birthday (January 14, 2007)

About 5 months pregnant

5 1/2 months

6 months...and growing!

7 months...and I didn't think it could get any bigger!

Welcome to Sophie's Blog!

2007-05-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

Like most new parents, my wife (Lisa Newman) and I (Matt Newman), are pretty excited about our new bundle of joy, and we want to record every moment of her life and share it with the ones we love. There is nothing like the birth of a child that makes you want to get a camcorder, take pictures at every opportunity, and share that with people (even if they don't even want you too!).

Therefore, we have created this blog as an easier way to record the events leading up to the birth of our daughter Sophie Grace Newman, and her early life. If Blogger and Google are still around when she is old, it might also be a great journal for her to look back on.

MAUI 2006 NEWMAN FAMILY REUNION