Well... We weren't really planning on getting a puppy, although we knew we would eventually... So when some friends of ours said they weren't quite ready for the puppy they got, we decided to take her off their hands. ;)
Their kids had named her Honey Cutie Sweet Pea (or something along those lines), and instead of renaming her, we just stuck with Honey. She's too sweet! Like honey! And with her light color, it seemed fitting.
She's a three month old, Great Pyrenees/Akbash/Anatolian Shepherd mix. Yep. She'll be giant.
She is seriously the most chill puppy I've ever seen. It's kinda weird. She mostly sleeps and likes to be loved on. I wouldn't call her playful, but she does enjoy playing in Sophia's toys and with us a little. Definitely not as rambunctious as other puppies though. Can't complain!
She's the cutest, fluffiest, softest little doggy ever.
And I have a feeling she and Sophia will be great friends. ;)
Well, it's been a while since I've posted.
Oops.
I've been wanting to blog about our cruise we took in March, but haven't made it over to my brother's house to get all the pictures. (Aaron lost his phone at the end of the cruise and it had all of our pictures. So sad.)
So until then, here's a little of what we've been up to!
I started a permanent babysitting job a few weeks ago. From now on I will be watching a sweet, tiny two month old little boy twice a week while his mama is at work. He is absolutely precious. Talk about having baby fever. Surprisingly, juggling Sophia and the baby has been much easier than I thought it would.
I think Sophie's independence has doubled in the few short weeks we've had the baby with us. Not only has she wanted to help with baby, but also with a lot of other things.
She loves to pat the baby and say " 's ok, baby. 's ok." She loves to give him his paci any time he makes a noise, get his diapers and wipes out for diaper changes, and likes to help hold his bottle. She also calls him "honey" and constantly says "hi baby." Adorable. We're working on whispering and not touching the baby's face, head, or hands. We'll get there!
Mixing up some biscuit dough.
Mashing some avocados for lunch.
She's even been given two chores. Dusting the TV stand, and holding the dust pan while mama sweeps. She loves it! I still need to make some sort of sticker chart though. Or maybe not? She doesn't seem to need any convincing to help out.
Loves climbing and exploring. But also requires a "hand" (if you could only hear her little voice ask for our hand.. CUTE) when walking.
She's also really into switching out her shoes (constantly. Maybe I should move them to a higher drawer...) and bringing us clothes she would like to wear. Here she is wearing her swim towel/dress and her winter tights. So fashionable. My mom says it's payback time for all my "outfits" and "hair styles" I had while growing up.Oh dear...
We've also been having major sharing issues. This picture says it all. Our good friends Tish and Josiah were in town this past month, so we got to spend a lot of time with them. It was great! We also found out that although Sophia knows how to ask to share, she does not like sharing with other little kids. Have to work on that too...
I wish I could say that sharing is our only problem, but I'm afraid we're really starting to enter the "terrible two's." I mean, I don't even know what to do most times!
The screeching, squealing, screaming, running away from us, looking everywhere but our eyes when we ask her to look at us.The list could go on a on.
She has also started to push her limits (and ours).
Like see how far she can lean off the couch before falling.
Or standing on something before it tips.
Or how far she can push her bowl off her tray before it spills.
This morning, she spilled her plate of eggs and ran away. Aaron asked her to come back and clean then up and she just stopped and looked at him. Then heard the music I had playing, and did all her best dance moves and jumps looking right at Aaron. We both had to cover our faces to laugh. this kind of stuff happens all the time. Maybe we're the ones who just need to learn how to handle/discipline her. Ha..
I also took on another small babysitting job. Just for three weeks though. It's been great for Sophia! We get to see this sweet little eight month old twice a week on the days we don't have the baby boy. But only for a couple hours.
Mom's birthday was last week. Love this picture. Sophie love hers Nana!
Speaking of Nana... My mom got Sophia this purse at a garage sale. It's her newest obsession.
And one more, because it's too cute not to remember. Breakfast on the porch this morning. Ha! I showed Aaron these pictures and his words were "well, she is her mother's daughter!" Not sure if he meant I have terrible morning hair, or I'm a terrible morning person... heh. Probably both.
Not much has been going on around here lately... Just our slow, everyday life.
And I love it.
Lately, I've been feeling so thankful to get to be at home with Soph. :)
Snack time.
Box time.
Necklace time.
Color time.
Lights time.
Fun time.
Packing peanuts time!
Sleepy grocery shopping time.
Not-so-sleepy grocery shopping time.
Purse time.
Outdoor fun time.
Take-everything-out-of-the-cabinets time.
Eat dirt time.
Two minute hand wash turned into 45 minute play-in-the-sink time.
And a little bit of dance time.
First hair cut time! (Couldn't get her to stay still for an "after" picture.)
Talking on the phone time. (She's actually talking on her iPod.)
She does this all the time! She "talks" so much, and usually very loud! It's hilarious. I wish I knew what she thinks when she talks.
We've been signing for months, but I just now got in on camera. They're a bit Sophie-fied, but they're pretty close to the actual sign.
She definitely knows what and when to say "I love you" but can't seem to get her middle/ring fingers down, and pointer/pinkie up. Won't be long though!
It's been really cool to watch her communicate through signing since she can't say the words yet. Although, she is attempting to say some of them now. She also signs diaper, but has yet to tell me when she needs it changed, and we've been working on "share" the last few days.
A few weeks ago, we offered to watch Aaron's sister's girls while she and her husband went out of their anniversary. The girls had such a good time and were sad to leave, so we planned on having a sleepover within the next few weeks.
Aaron's sister and brother in law live in Eldorado, so the only times we get to see them are when they're in San Angelo for something. Well, I shouldn't say that. We could probably see them as often as we want. But with everyone having different schedules and the busyness of life, we only see them when they're in town.
Jennifer and the girls came in to town Saturday evening and left David at home since he had to work over the weekend.
The girls wasted no time and got to playing right away!
I think Sophia especially enjoyed having the girls over. She felt like a big kid and was included in everything Ayla and Miley did.
Even Jennifer and I joined in!
(we should really get some blinds for that window... heh.)
Sophia's new shopping cart from Papa and Mimi Byrd was a big hit! We already knew Sophia loves it, but it was great watching the girls play with it too! Now we know we will be getting many years of play outa this thing!
And thanks to my friend Mary for the great "smoothie pops" idea. Milk and mixed berries, blended and frozen in plastic popsicles. They made a yummy bedtime snack!
Sunday morning we made homemade blueberry and banana pancakes, and scrambled eggs. Wish I would have snapped a picture of that. Both Ayla and Miley were very helpful!
After church we headed over to my Dad's for our normal Sunday lunch together. I love that Jennifer and the girls were able to come. They had a blast with Micah-Ray.
What a great picture of Jennifer and Aaron!
Since the girls were having such a good time with Micah-Ray, we invited him over while Sophia napped, and Jennifer ran a few errands in town.
Do I even need so say how well they all got along? Hee hee.
It was a great weekend!
I love getting to spend time with the people I love.
It seems like I was always showing Sophia her toys, and encouraging her to play with them instead of following me around, but she never really "played" with any of them for more than a minute. She never really cared for the "baby" toys either. She just wants what we have. ...or what she's not supposed to have! For a new parent, this is frustrating. So frustrating. Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Buy them toys? Let the play? Why didn't Sophia ever play?
Ever since we started looking into clean eating, and living a healthier lifestyle (which is way harder than it sounds.. at least for us it is) I've started to rethink a lot of other things that are the norm in today's society. One of those being toys, and the way we let Sophia play/learn.
I wish I could say I thought of this all on my own, but I owe most of my ideas/brainstorming to the mom's at Play at Home Mom. They believe in positive parenting, and a play based learning. Awesome! Right up our alley.
I am so grateful for the many sources on the internet about life and parenting. I love learning how and why others do things the way they do, and being able to apply those things to our life.
So anyway, I cleaned out Sophia's toys.
I bought some super cheap containers, and filled them with things from The Dollar Tree and my craft closet.
Before
Goodbye, random plastic toys.
Hello, organization/simplicity/learning/sensory.
These are the toys we switch out weekly. Now that they're not all out at once, she has much more fun playing with them when I put them out.
Then...
We traded our old coffee table that we no longer use for my brother and sister in law's coffee table. It was a great trade! We both got our tables for under $10 at garage sales, and Arielle had always liked our table more than hers, so I asked if they wanted to trade and they did. Yay!
One of the things I liked best from the Play at Home Mom's blog was their "sensory table." So that's what I wanted to use the coffee table for. I would love to cut a hole for a big bin sometime... But this will do for now!
We covered the top with the backside of freezer paper, and taped it town underneath the edges of the table so she can color all of the table again, and again, and again. :) Oh, and we also bought foam corner covers. Safety first!
Then I headed to The Dollar Tree, and stocked up on some cheap goodies. Then raided the house and craft closet for interesting things.
I wasn't sure what to expect but everything I put together was a big hit! Sophia spent TWO HOURS "sorting" things into different containers. I don't even think she ever looked up at me the whole time we were in her room that night. I know it's partly because everything was new to her, but wow. She still loves all her containers, too.
It has been so neat to watch her play lately. Her favorite container would definitely be the buttons. Actually, we have a few button containers. She loves to move them around, then put them in the jar one by one, and close the lid after each one. I think she likes the "cling, cling" hitting the bottom of the jar, and the metal lid against the glass when she closes it. She also gets upset when others don't do it the way she wants to. It's pretty cute. Hopefully, that's not her mother's OCD coming through.. ha ha. I'm sure she'll be into counting soon, too!
Here's a little video of Sophia sorting the balls in the ball box.
and the beans...
and buttons.
We also had a random family painting session the other day, and let Sophia paint some "art work" for some frames above her table.
Here is our finished product.
Well, until I decide to add more to it. Heh. ;)
What's in the containers?
Well, the cool thing about all of this, is it will continually change to meet Sophia's interests. Also, pretty much everything can be used for "crafting" too, so I'm pumped about that!
Buttons
Bells
Giant, fuzzy pipe cleaners with cut up toilet paper tubes (also for stringing, or lacing)
Beans ... lots of beans!
Beaded necklaces.
We also have many extra containers of all sizes, and dixie cups for her to use.
And maybe you're thinking this isn't the best idea? All those little pieces?
Well, yes. But for Sophia, no.
This girl. She never seizes to amaze me. She's very good at listening when I tell her not to put something in her mouth. It usually takes one "no-no" and she won't do it again. If it even takes a no-no! We go lucky with that. ;)
There are so many things I want to add to her play/learning area! But for now, this is perfect. And I'm excited about it always changing!
As if this post isn't long enough....
Here are a few pictures I snapped from the other day.
"Hmm, what do I want to play with next? Oh yes, the balls!"
And hey, this is just really cool. We've been working on cleaning up and putting away after we're done with a box, and she totally does it! I'm really amazed at how much she understands. And how well she listens! Sometimes, parenting is so cool. So rewarding. Hee hee. (Oh, and I started putting a sheet down when we play. Easier to pick up beans and little pieces.)
I guess that's it for now.
This is definitely something I want to remember, and continue to do.
I also wanted to share this with those of you that read this! Gotta pass on these genius ideas. ;)
