My Crazy Girl

Sophia is nearly seven months old and she definitely has her own little personality now for sure. She has been doing a few different things lately that are pretty strange and amusing...well, kind of.

First of all, she puts everything in her mouth. Not at all odd for a baby. Some of the things are fine for her to put in there, toys, her bibs, burp cloths, her hands etc. Some things really are not. The remote, my iphone.....my feet. On two separate occasions I caught her licking my foot...thankfully one of the times I had my slippers on....not that it makes it any better, I've had that pair of slippers for quite some time and while I haven't walked outside in them (I don't think) I have walked pretty much everywhere else in them. And the other time she licked the side of my bare foot (which is SO gross...for her and me, I HATE my feet being touched, let alone licked, ugh!) before I noticed she was aiming for it. As you can tell she is not very discerning about what goes in her mouth. Except.....for the one thing we actually want her to put in her mouth....Puffs!! For those reading (anyone?) who don't know, Puffs are these little star shaped cheerio type of snack for babies that basically just dissolve in the mouth, no real chewing required. She will pick them up and push them around whatever surface they are on (yeah, they usually end up on the floor) and even open her mouth and let me put one in...but no way is she putting it in her mouth on her own. I can't decide if she doesn't know that is what she is supposed to do, is just lazy, or just doesn't really like them.

Next, she has never been a fan of tummy time. I was so surprised when she finally turned over on to her back and even more surprised when she turned over from her back to her tummy. She just doesn't seem to like to be on her stomach and usually whines/cries pretty quickly and just puts her face down until we decide that we'd rather her not smother herself and just put her on her back to play. I guess making her endure a little tummy time each day has paid off....but gone a little too far the other way....now every time we put her in the crib to sleep she immediately turns on to her stomach. And she doesn't really like it, she scoots all around and tries to turn back over (sometimes the crib rail blocks her from doing so and then she gets really mad)...and then she seems to give up and just goes to sleep....on her tummy. Michael and I never know if we should flip her back over or leave her to sleep that way. The first few nights she went through this I didn't sleep much, I was pretty sure she would just leave her nose down on the mattress and not bother with the whole breathing thing. However, she seems to be ok sleeping on her belly so now I don't worry so much. But she still is not a huge fan when we purposely put her on her stomach to play.

She has been doing some really cute things too lately. She nods her little head randomly and ends up looking like a little bobble-head. I've tried to ask her yes/no questions so it looks like she is answering me with the affirmative, but she kinda just does it whenever she wants to, even if I haven't said anything to her at all. It's pretty cute and when I laugh at her for doing it, she smiles and knows she is being cute. She also has been pretty non-stop with saying Da Da....sometimes on and on and she gets louder and louder. It's cute, but I sure wish she would say Ma Ma. I try to get her to say it but she answers with a head nod or even worse, Da Da. Eventually I know she'll say Ma Ma....I'm not giving up hope!!
I definitely love this age, Sophia is learning so much and becoming such a big girl and I can't believe how different she is now from when she was born! :-)

A Year's Worth of Blogs

One year ago today I decided that I would start a blog (read my first blog here). I had a lot more time to blog then (well, during down time at work and when I wasn't super exhausted after work) but even with a new baby I have still managed to find some time to put my thoughts (or random ramblings...ooh, good blog name...where was that when I was trying to come up with a name last year?!) into blog form. Some months I have sure missed the blog boat (where was I this past October and November??) but other months I tried to keep up with life as I know it and did a fairly decent job (nine in December, my most blog-worthy month...must've been doing some catch up!). I am hoping that this year of blogging will be more entertaining and accomplished a lot more often. I really have liked blogging, and other than the occasional pain in the neck I encounter when I try to upload pictures, I find it to be a fun and useful outlet to talk about what is going on with me....if anyone really cares! And if they don't, that is no big deal. I really like to read the blogs of others, sometimes even if I don't know the person at all. I can stay up late into the night and read blogs...usually it will start with reading my sister's blog (The Watkins Wire, an awesome blog) and then I will read a blog that she follows......and then read a blog that that person follows...and on and on until I can barely keep my eyes open. I hope that someone might someday find my blog that way and find it interesting enough to follow. Although I must say that I don't think my life is interesting enough for thousands of followers, haha. Thank goodness for that!! I definitely don't need a reality show worthy life and am perfectly happy with the way things are. But I feel like I do try to be entertaining every now and then...and life surely hands me plenty of crazy things that can be considered blog worthy. For example, I watch WAY too much reality tv. Like, I really need to find a hobby. But these shows are so out there most of the time that I can't contain my reactions and comments...thus, I take to my blog to express my shock/outrage/general disbelief at the crap I waste my time watching. Who knows what I will be blogging about this year, reality show wise. You can pretty much be sure there will be a few blogs with that subject matter though. Maybe one sweet day I can post a blog about how I gave up reality tv for good...hahaha! I have tried some of the generic weekly posts (Random Thoughts Thursday, Friday Five) that I like to read on other blogs...but can't seem to keep up with on my own blog and only do sporadically. I guess what works for one persons blog might not catch on for another persons blog. I do like to try different things with my blog, even to keep myself entertained and excited about blogging. This next year of blogging I want to make sure go a bit deeper, maybe throw some anxieties, fears, worries out there. More than just a 'here's what I did today' blog. Definitely put the stamp of my life on my blog.
I think that if you have the time and you have something to say, anyone can blog. The best thing about blogging is that it can be whatever you want to make it. For me it is kinda like an online journal....things that matter to me, things that drive me crazy, make me upset, make me happy. Anyone can read it, but nobody has to, I'm just putting it out there. Thanks to those who have been following along and reading my blog. Welcome to any new readers. And if you aren't following me....well, that is ok too....but you don't know what you're missing!! :-)

Just My Luck

Today was one of those days that I have on occasion that things just seemed destined to not go my way.
I did get up at a decent time and went to the gym to take my class....it got my blood flowing and I was sure it was going to be a great day. Nothing like a good work out to start off a great weekend. I got my shower and fed the baby and then I figured I would finish off some of the chores that I didn't get done yesterday....like the laundry. I swear I do like 10 loads a week. Today I needed to get our white load done....which if you have ever seen my husbands' socks, you'd understand why I always use bleach in the white load. :-)
Anyway, as I was transferring over the load from the washer to the dryer, I must've leaned over too far and pressed up against then little tray that you pour the bleach in. So what, you might say. Well, not long after that Michael said to me, 'hey what is that on your shirt'? Hmm. A big bleach stain on my pretty much brand new Ralph Lauren t-shirt (which was, by the way, on sale at Marshall's so I wasn't out a lot of money....definitely not the point....I think I had worn it maybe twice)....and since it was a purple shirt, well, the bleach did it's job and took the color right out. And now I have a new shirt to sleep in. :-(
Not the only crap thing to happen in my day. After I decided I was done with chores for the day, I thought we might take a drive while the sun was still out and since it was such a nice day. So I go to get ready (which basically means brush my hair and teeth and powder my nose, haha) and as I am grabbing my compact to put on a little powder I drop the thing on the floor. Thankfully the mirror didn't break (my luck has been crappy enough, I don't need 7 years of it!) but the powder cracked into a million little pieces all over the bathroom floor and some plastic piece out of the compact broke off. It wasn't brand new but those things are not cheap (why can't my skin just not break out from the cheap drugstore powders??) and now every time I want to use a little powder it is going to be a mess (since you can bet I was picking up every usable piece from the floor). SO annoying.
I probably should've just gotten into bed and pulled the covers over my head. But I didn't. Two crappy things did not a bad day make after all. We ended up having a nice outing and also, even more exciting, booking a trip to Hilton Head for early May in an awesome condo right on the beach. I am very excited for that. It will be Sophia's first trip to the beach, not that she will know or care, haha. But I love the beach and want her to get used to it and love it just as much. We already ordered some cute mini beach towels for her, a big beach blanket for us, a baby float for Soph for the pool, and a little sun-shade tent thing to put her in so she isn't in the direct sun. It's going to be so much fun!
I guess the moral of the story is that crappy bad luck things can happen, maybe even a few crappy bad luck things and there is still good to be found in each and every day. But, just to be safe, I am not leaning over the washer anywhere near the bleach tray ever again, even if I have to make Michael transfer the white clothes to the dryer every time!! :-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I don't think I am Irish. Maybe there is some tiny little fraction of Irish in my blood, but I am just not sure. Either way, St. Patrick's Day is here and can be a fun holiday to celebrate...if you like green beer and ham and cabbage soup, which I do.
Last year was a very uneventful St. Patrick's Day because I was pregnant. No green beer for me. The year before that wasn't bad....Michael and I had been married within the previous few weeks....I think we went to a bar close to our house and had a green beer or two a piece. Definitely nothing crazy.
If you want to talk crazy St. Patrick's Days I will have to go back several years....to my college days. I went to GA Southern for college...just a short drive away from Savannah. And Savannah just happens to have the best St. Patrick's Day parties around. They used to dye the river green...no idea why that stopped but it was probably because some 'save the planet' type of people deemed it to be bad for the environment or something like that.
Anyway. My freshman year of college, my Dad happened to have a meeting on the weekend before St. Patty's Day....and it was held at the Hyatt right on River St. We had to have wristbands to get in and out of the hotel....there was some serious partying going on right outside our windows! My Dad took me out in it a bit, but because I had finals coming up I was NOT supposed to go back a few days later for actual St. Patricks Day. Um, yeah, ok. I actually did resist until about dinnertime that night and then decided we HAD to be there! The awesome thing was that I still had on that hotel bracelet....this was key so that I didn't have to pee in a nasty porta-potty and could use the hotel bathroom as much as I needed to.
Fast forward a couple years to when I was a junior. My best friend, Tracey, was in town visiting me and we had all intentions of hitting River St for the best St. Patty's Day party ever. We ended up with a group of my guy friends and literally walked from one end of the party and back to the other end, drinking and having a blast, all night long. There was some drama in the group when one of the guys spontaneously kissed me and one of the other guys was furious about it....we sang along to the loud music that was being played from the stores (Chumbawumba?! Ha!)....the street was jam packed with thousands of people...I am sure we used plenty of the porta-potties and didn't even care....and I think we saw some guys trying to steal a car as we were walking back to our own car. It was definitely the most fun I have had on a St. Patricks Day.
The following year was different. Not as fun. River St tried to make it more controlled, the cups for beer were a lot smaller (and it wasn't green, just the cups were), the street not as packed with people. I haven't been back since.
I think this St. Patrick's Day will be much more laid back and casual....maybe I will put a green bib on Sophia and maybe I will make some cookies and use a little green food coloring in the mix or make them in the shape of a shamrock. Maybe Michael and I will have a green beer after Sophia goes to bed. I have had enough of the crazy celebrations for this holiday and now it's time for the more family oriented version. But I still like to think about the memories of St. Patty's Day's past!!! :-)

Six Month Update

Sophia had her six month check-up today. I cannot believe my little baby girl is already six months old. The time has gone by so fast. And she has changed so much in that time!
Her stats: 17 pounds 3 oz, 25 3/4 inches long, head 17 inches
She can do so many things now....smiles often, can almost sit unassisted, can roll over from belly to back and from back to belly, spits a lot, says da da and ba ba, giggles a lot (which always leads to hiccups!), seems to know her name when we call it, plays peek-a-boo, eats cereal (rice and oatmeal) and fruit and loves veggies, likes to play with her toys (like stuffed animals and teethers, etc)....she sleeps well and although she doesn't have any teeth yet, it seems like there are a couple on the way on her bottom gums. She is a happy baby, doesn't cry too much, although she definitely does favor mommy and daddy right now and really needs to warm up to others before they can hold and play with her. But she will certainly give anyone a big smile from mommy's arms!
I can't believe how much she has changed our lives. Last year we were just anticipating her birth, didn't even know she was a she yet, and were both excited and apprehensive about how she would make our little family complete. The year before that we were just getting home from our honeymoon shortly before and were settling into married life. Having Sophia with me 24/7 makes me a much happier person....we chit chat with each other (although I hardly have a clue what she is saying!) and play on the floor and wait for daddy to come home from work so we can all play or eat or cuddle together. Even though I only leave her for an hour or so at a time for the gym, or a few hours at a time to go into work once a month, I still miss her so much when she isn't with me! I hope Michael and I are doing a good job as parents, and Sophia is such a good baby that I hope that some of that can be attributed to us. She can be very laid back and easy going, like her daddy. And she can have a temper, just like mommy! She is such a mix of us both, but has her own adorable little personality too. I love her SO much, seem to love her more each day, and can't imagine a minute without her.
It has been the best six months of my life so far. I wouldn't change anything and I am looking forward to how much she will change and grow in the next six months and the months and years beyond that as well.

Outrageous is an Understatement

Wow. Yet again I have been sucked into a ridiculous reality show on TLC. This one is called Outrageous Kid Parties. I just watched exactly one episode and almost broke my ankle running to get my laptop to blog about it.
I really don't even know where to start to explain how ridiculous and over the top this party turned out to be. It was for a six year old little girl....who her mother claimed she lived in a fantasy land of make believe and princesses and all that and she just wanted to capture that child-like innocence in a great princess-themed party. I think the mother was the one in the fantasy world....the tally for the cost of the party was $32,000. No, I didn't accidentally add too many zeros. Thirty-two grand. For a six year old. The total of both mine and my sister's weddings did not add up to this total.
Just to break down a few of the more ridiculous costs.....the invitations cost $3000. All the invitations I have ever sent in my life (graduation, my wedding, my daughter's recent christening, etc), including postage, do not add up to this.
The cake was $2000. For six year olds. It was many tiered and looked like a wedding cake. Again, add up all the cakes I have ever eaten and you won't get to two grand. And the cake at my daughter's recent christening wasn't exactly cheap. Even a hundred of them wouldn't equal this one birthday cake.
The dress for the birthday girl was $750. My wedding dress was not much more. And it was for my wedding. Michael has given me the "do you still want to be on our bank account?" look for just looking at a cute pair of $35 Ralph Lauren shoes for Sophia...no way would I dare spend that much on a dress she would wear for one day. (Side note....I definitely have purchased cute dresses or outfits that Soph will only wear for one day...but you can be darn sure it was on sale...and I probably had a coupon too!)
I have watched many a reality show about over the top weddings and how expensive they can be. Shows that include enormous price tags for the wedding dress alone. I guess if you are an adult, assume that your wedding will only be one day in your lifetime, and want to blow as much money as the cost of a house on one day, have at it. But to spend that much money on a child's birthday, a day that occurs once a year, is so insane! What will these people do for this little girl's sweet 16?? Which reminds me of another ridicuous show...My Super Sweet 16. At least these parties usually include a car (and we all know the cost of a Mercedes doesn't come cheap, haha).
I know we are going to spoil Sophia a lot as she grows. Maybe we will buy her a car if she is a responsible teenager. Maybe we will contribute a lot to her wedding day, if we have it to give. But I know, without even consulting my husband, that we won't be spending anywhere near thirty-two thousand dollars for ANY of her birthday parties. And I don't think that makes us bad parents....maybe just budget conscious??!! She will have nice, memorable parties every year, but we won't go into debt to make that happen. Or, more importantly, we won't turn her into a spoiled little brat who expects us to drop bucket-loads of money on her parties.
I am about to watch another episode about a lady that is going to spend thirty grand to have a circus party for her two kids.....oh my God, she just spent $4000 on a cake!! What is wrong with these people??!!
Once again, I just need to turn off the TV and cut out the reality shows....something to give up for Lent, perhaps???!!! :-)

The Baptism of Sophia Rose

The weather wasn't so great on Saturday, March 5, 2011. It was chilly and drizzly....but the day turned out perfect. First was a great ceremony for Sophia's baptism, which was held at St. Brigid Catholic Church...the same church where Michael and I got married. Deacon Leo, who also was part of our wedding, presided over the ceremony. Sophia was such a great baby, she didn't cry or even make a lot of noise or anything. And she even hammed it up for pictures afterward! I think she knew the whole thing was for and about her. So many family and friends who love Sophia showed up. Once we finished with the formal part of the day, we all went over to my parents house....for a fabulous party! The food was excellent, the cake was huge and my parents really went above and beyond. I can't thank them enough for such a great party to celebrate Sophia's baptism. It was a perfect day that lasted till well past all of our bedtimes. :-)
Here are just some of the great pictures of the day (see more here) of our sweet little girl on her big day!
Sophia with her parents and godparents.
The main event!
Happy girl!

Santoros/Mercers/Watkins...the whole family!

These were just some of the great shots of the day...lots more on my facebook page and on my sister's blog (linked above). It was a very memorable and special day and we are so thankful for our great family and caring friends who shared this great day with us and for our sweet little Sophia Rose!

Anniversary/Sophia's 1st Aquarium Trip

Here are a few pictures from the GA Aquarium, where we went on our 2nd Anniversary. It was Sophia's first trip there and she really seemed to enjoy it a lot!
Daddy wanted to crawl through this with
Sophia....Mommy knew she wouldn't be able to get up!!

Soph loved watching the fish swim by.

We had such a fun time and Sophia really liked all the fish. I know she is going to love the aquarium even more as she gets older and I know we will bring her there a lot!