Seven Months

Dear Sophie,
7 months! I can't believe it! I know I say it a lot, but you are growing up way too fast, before our eyes! You are cuter and cuter everyday, and you have your own sweetest little personality! Your smiles and laughs are so adorable... you've even become a little bashful already, sometimes trying to hide those cute smiles of yours. You are such a playful little thing. You love to go in your exersaucer bouncer and play with the toys and just jump, jump, and jump! We have also tried the 'johnny jump up' and you really like that, and it's quite entertaining to watch you in it! You love to just sit on the floor and play with your toys. Last month at Christmas you got so many toys! I personally think the cutest one is the unicorn pillow pet Grandma and Grandpa Barlow got you. You absolutely love it, and it's about the size of you, so when you lay down and play with it on you, we can hardly see ya! You are sitting up so well now! You only fall over when you lean over to one side and can't stop yourself. You still don't like being on your tummy, but we're trying really hard to change that, to prepare for crawling. You are now only sleeping in your crib, and have done just fine with it. I'll admit though it was an adjustment for me, not having you right next to me in your bassinett. Your sleep patterns are a hit or miss, some nights you will sleep through the night, and others you will wake up once or twice. You are still fitting into 3-6 month clothes, and size 2 diapers. You're a tiny little thing! You hate having your feet covered, whether it be by a blanket, socks, or shoes. It's funny, cause you'll almost always just kick it off. You are starting to like baby food now. Your favorites are applesauce and pears and rasperries mixed. Sometimes we can't give it to ya fast enough! Your dislikes are peas and green beans, you'll just gag and spit it out. We're still tryin' though! I'm still nursing you, and it's going well. For awhile we would have a problem with you getting very easily distracted, but now you're doing better. When you're done, you'll definately let me know, by getting fussy and kicking and throwing yourself back. The last few weeks you have really recognized your voice, and will squeal and scream. You mumble "Ma, Ma, Ma" and "Da, Da, Da." It's the cutest thing! A new nickname I have for you sometimes is a little kitty, as you love to scratch things! Again, I still can't believe you are growing so fast. I wish there was a way to slow down time. I do love this age you are at though, you are just so adorable, and it's so fun to watch you learn new things. You amaze me everyday. I am so lucky to be your mama. I love you so much.
Love, Mommy




Here are months 6, 5, and 4.

2010

2010 was a great year! We had ours ups and downs like anyone else would, but it has definately been one of the best! Highlights were:

Buying our first home, and moving out to Tooele in February. It has been an adjustment, but a good one at that.

I quit my job at the end of Febuary, and became a stay at home mommy. I love being able to be home with my children. I cherish each and every day!

By far the best, adding the newest member to our family, Sophie Nicole Barlow born on June 5th, 2o10. She is such a blessing in our lives. She brings so much joy, cuteness, and love to our lives!

Andrew got promoted at Wells Fargo in June. His new official title is Business Application Specialist, and he is doing very well at it! He had to travel to Arizona in the middle of July for training, but luckily it was only for a week. We sure missed him while he was gone!

Jackson started kindergarten at the end of August. He loves going to school, and he has a great teacher, Mrs. Serr. I love when it comes time to go pick him up from school, and hearing all about how his days go. I mean don't get me wrong, I enjoy the time while he's at school, just me and Sophie, but I also miss him while he's gone.

Now for my resolutions for 2011:

* Spend less money, lower credit card debt.

* Blog more. I really enjoy being able to look back on our past, and see how far we've come, so this is a big one.

* Take a picture every day.

* Lose 20 lbs of excess baby weight. No more excuses, It's been 7 months already! I really need to get going. I started along the lines somewhere and lost a little bit, but like many other people, lost track.

* Work on my patience. Another big one.

* Strive to be a better wife, mother, and person in general.

Christmas

We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas. We woke up at 8 on Christmas morning so we could open presents before my family came over for breakfast at 10 am. We actually had to wake Jackson up in the morning, he was so excited on Christmas Eve that after we were finished wrapping presents at midnight he was in his room pretending to sleep. Jackson got almost all of what he wanted this year. His favorites were his dinosaur pillow pet, dinosaur blanket, and the race track. It was so cute watching him and getting so excited opening his presents. Something I will treasure forever. It was Sophie's very first Christmas! She got a couple new books, a mermaid toy, and a few other small things, and she was happy with that! My family came at 10, we had a nice breakfast with them, opened presents, and had a fun white elephant gift exchange. We then headed up to Salt Lake for lunch with Andrew's family. We had such a nice turkey lunch, we opened gifts and had a fun white elephant gift exchange, and played the yearly traditional candy game. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures with either sides of our family, wish I would have. We had such a fun Christmas, but the best part of all was spending time together as a family.