Thailand Sofia

Here's a picture of Sofia's namesake.  She lived across the street from us in Thailand and was such a sweetheart.  Unlike typical Thai's she was so affectionate -  She would run up to us and give us great big hugs. She would often come over to our house to give us flowers she had picked.  On the days I worked at the preschool she would always come and talk to me if I didn't have anyone to play with.  :D  Both James and I loved her so much and knew we wanted to name a daughter after her.  I'm pretty sure our Sofia won't have the same brown skin or hair or eyes, but we hope she has a little bit of her personality.

A Name and a Blessing.

Sofia Mae Flammer

This past Sunday James gave Sofia her name and blessing.  It was a neat blessing that seemed to match her sweet personality.  Grandma and Grandpa Flammer were able to come and now we're starting a week of fun with them.  Here are a few pictures of Sofia in her blessing dress. 

I tried getting some pictures of both her and Hannah together, but this is what we ended up with:

1 Month

Um, I'm a little behind in this post, considering she's now 5 weeks old.  Better late than never, right?  And, I did actually take (or attempt) pictures of her when she really was 1 month. 

I can't believe she's already a month old.  The past few weeks have flown by.  People always told me the time flies by with children.  With Hannah I never believed it.  It inched by hour by hour, particularily at night.  :D  However, it's now flying by.  Really fast.

Here are the 1 month stats:

weight: 8 lb 9 oz
height: 21 in

 

The past week or so she has started sleeping better.  We now can regularly expect to start out with 2 hour intervals for feeding at night, and then down to 1 hour or sometimes more before morning.  Most of the time she actually goes back to sleep when she's done eating.  Hallelujah!!  She's doing pretty well.  She has been spitting up quite a bit and has gotten more fussy, but I'm still just thrilled that she's sleeping as well as she is at night.  :D  Overall, we're doing pretty well, despite appearances of this picture:

Hannah wanted to hold her.  Maybe that's what's causing the crying?

Swinging good time

We pulled out the swing to see if Sofia liked it a few days ago.  I'm not sure how much she likes it, but Hannah LOVES it.  Since she's not allowed to swing in it herself, the next best thing is pushing her sister in it.

Here she is after being reminded to push "gently:"

Here she is looking to see who's watching:

I'm not sure Sofia likes it all that much, but she usually tolerates the pushing for a minute or two.  Hannah's learning to be gentler, but we make sure we ALWAYS do up the seatbelt.  Some days I really wonder if Sofia will survive to reach age 1.

Bummer

This is what happens when Hannah jumps and lands on my glasses:

They broke into 2 pieces.  Bummer!!  I went to the optometrist and spent $300 for an exam and glasses.  Double Bummer!!

We're Alive

We've now had 2 full weeks of 'real life'  Translation - Grandma is gone, James has been working long hours at work and school and church, and it has been me home with the two little kiddos.  Here's what's happened:

- we've learned there is one grocery store with shopping carts too small for Sofia's car seat

- there are 2 other grocery stores that will hold her car seat, but then there's very little room for many groceries.

- Hannah likes to help Sofia roll over

- Hannah is oblivious to the fact that Sofia cries when she is hit, clawed at, or pulled off the couch.

- Sofia has only been pulled off of the couch by Hannah once in the past 2 weeks.

We're all still alive......I'd say it's been a successful 2 weeks.

Grandma

I should have posted this a while ago, but just came across the pictures and remembered I hadn't done it.  Grandma Flammer came after Sofia was born to help out.  Can I just say...wonderful?!  It was great to have her here for the company and for all the help.  The extra set of hands was very useful with distracting Hannah, and having a yummy home cooked meal every night was a heaven send.  Hannah spent lots of time helping her out in the kitchen.  Here's a picture of them at work:  

and a picture of her with Sofia:

Thanks so much for all the help!!

The Past Few Days

These past few days have been really good.  Grandma Flammer has been here to help - and those extra 2 hands have been wonderful.  Everything with Sofia seems to be going pretty well- she is a pretty chill baby and we are VERY happy with that.  She eats, sleeps, and poops pretty darn well.  So, that makes life much better.  Everything she does, we think back and it was lots harder with Hannah.  I'm not sure if that's because Hannah was the first, or if it's just because she was a more challenging baby.  Maybe both?  Anyway, here are a few random pictures of the past few days.

I personally love this one.  I was trying to get Hannah to kiss Sofia for a baby announcement picture, and this is what we ended up with.  It seems more realistic than having them both smile.  :D

 Here they are snuggling together on Valentines Day after work!

Family Pictures

Here's our most recent family photos.  Our family of 3 right before leaving for the hospital:

and here we are right after getting home from the hospital.  Our new family of 4:

I'm thinking we should take another photo sometime soon when we're all looking a little more chipper.  :D

Hello Sofia!

Well, at 1:30 AM this morning Sofia decided the time was right, apparently someone forgot to tell Sofia that her parents usually go to bed at 9:00 so she may have been the first baby born when both parents were sleeping (Britt really wishes she would have been sleeping!).  Britt went to the Doctor yesterday for a checkup and he told her to head over to the hospital.  We got to the hospital at 2:00 in the afternoon and they hooked Britt up to check the heart rate and contractions, then we proceeded to walk the halls of the 5th floor for 4 hours waiting for a bed to open up in delivery (Britt and I really missed the glory days of Logan Hospital)  We finally got a bed at 9:30 and from then until 1:30 it was a contraction marathon.  Britt was a trooper as always.  I tried to talk her into an epidural, when she declined I asked the nurse if I could get one.  I envy the guys manage to miss out on the hard labor part of delivery.  Any who, Britt did great, I wont bore with the gory details needless to say we now have a 7 lb. 1 oz. 20 inch bundle.

I personally think that Sofia is a genius, after practicing for just a few seconds she was able to pull off a pretty good Elvis lip impersonation.  Maybe Hannah can teach her to say 'thank you, thank you very much!'

I am somewhat partial on this picture, but this may have been the 'reality check' moment when Hannah might have been calculating the implications of being a big sister and having to actually share her room and mommy time.

There is something absolutely amazing about holding a newborn baby.  With all the feelings of inadequacy comes an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for wonderful parents (Britt's and mine) and the joys associated with family.  I am a lucky man.