Saying goodbye to an old friend

Early last week I received the news that an old high school friend of mine had suddenly passed away. He was only 31. He had been sick for a few days and didn't go to the doctor. On the 4th day he was rushed to the hospital and passed away 30 minutes later from internal bleeding.

Omar was a great guy. Always smiling, always stirring up some trouble, always having your back. He was a wonderful human being and the world lost an amazing man much too young.

RIP Omar. You are so loved and so missed by so many.

50 weeks

Today Sophia is 50 weeks old. I can't believe that in 2 weeks she'll be 1 year. I'm sad that the baby stage is quickly coming to an end. Before having Sophia I remember our friends with kids telling us the baby phase goes by so fast..I never believed them until we became parents ourselves. Isn't that the way it always goes though?

This morning Sophia showed us her newest trick...crawling down the flight of stairs backwards. I couldn't believe it! Where on earth did she learn this from?!

Jeff came home yesterday with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Some possibly rough times are coming our way and I am fearing for our future. I'm just praying that God guides him and takes care of us no matter what situation we end up in. The positive of this possibly difficult situation is that we could end up in the US sooner rather than later just not where we had hoped.

CIO

Our sweet little girl has learned to play us. I was wondering when it would happen. I really thought it would be a little while longer..but no, it's happened.

I've been torn for a very long time between letting Sophia cio to go to sleep or rock her to sleep. I didn't have the heart for a very long time for cio so I always rocked her. Well in the past week she figured out that crying at bedtime makes mommy and/or daddy come running!

On Monday night we did her usual bedtime routine..bath, Goodnight Moon with daddy, kisses, bottle, rock with mommy, go to sleep, mommy puts baby in crib and we sleep til morning. HA! She got through the routine except the part where we go in the crib and sleep til morning. As soon as her head hit the mattress she sat up and started crying. Of course my instinct is to pick her up and console her...so I did...this went on forever and ever. I thought I was going to be rocking and consoling all night long. BUT that day my allergies were crazy and I was miserable and I had little patience for any sort of shenanigans. So I told her I loved her and gently lay her in her crib and walked out. She cried for nearly 2 hours and it took every bit of willpower that I have to not go running in to rock her..but finally she fell asleep and slept til morning.

Of course she's continued this new phase of testing mommy and daddy. However she seems to learn very quick. The past few nap times she's started to cry and then within 2 minutes she's out. That first night was so rough though.

Anyway, I can't believe I've finally had to do this method. I never thought I'd see the day. Never say never, right?!

A bunch of sickies

Since returning from our trip to Arkansas two weeks ago my allergies have been going crazy. Constant watery eyes, sneezing, runny nose. It's pretty miserable.

Now it looks like Soph has a cold..which means the all night sleep can go right out the window for the next week. GAH!

Last night she woke up at midnight. I went in to check on her and cuddle her and she fell asleep so I went to place her in her crib and immediately she woke up and started crying...this was after I'd held her for nearly an hour. I didn't know what else to do so I let her cry....something I don't normally do. Of course as soon as she started crying and saying "mama, mama, mama" I couldn't stay away. So I went in to rock her some more and she pulled the same thing. I had to eventually let her cry herself to sleep..it was heartbreaking but I felt like I had no other choice.

This parenting job is so tiring and so hard sometimes. Times like these make me wish I were closer to my mama so I could get a break for just a bit. I just need to count my blessings. I'm thankful for such a precious healthy girl that fills our lives with such joy. She is truly our greatest blessing!

Pinch me, I think I'm dreaming

We got back from Arkansas last Tuesday night. It was a LONG day of travel but Soph was a champ. Sweet girl makes friends wherever she goes so the plane ride was pretty easy!

We finally had the opportunity to check out real estate in Hot Springs. It was the first time we've left Soph with anyone and thankfully she did really well with my mom and my brother.

As soon as we returned home, Sophia started sleeping through the night (Just like you said Jen!)...she's been teething so we've had the odd night where she's waken but that's to be expected. It's so nice to be getting a full night of sleep again. I thought I'd never see the day! I can't believe she's sleeping 11 1/2 hours a night..bliss! And she wakes up so happy. It's wonderful.

So now we are back to our usual routine. I am slowly working on planning her birthday party..I can't believe she's turning one in a little over a month. It's exciting to watch her grow, but can't it just slow down a little?

In other news, I've been doing lots of spring cleaning. It feels good to let go of stuff that never gets used or worn. I had to go through all of my shoes and get rid of a ton of them (SAD!) because my feet grew a half size from my pregnancy with Sophia. I guess I'll be doing more shoe shopping!