Drumroll, please............

For those who have been patiently waiting, here are a few pictures of Sofia from the last couple of months or so. There's Sofalicious in her Halloween costume; sporting her glow-in-the-dark Halloween jammies; and playing inside Daddy's tuba. Enjoy!

I just want to love you, Clint Eastwood

OK, so how random is this post? But let me preface by saying, I have nothing but the utmost respect for Clint Eastwood and his craft. But this has been bugging me since last night, and I just have to get it off my chest:

For years I've joked about how the spaghetti western trilogy of "A Fistful of Dollars," "For a Few Dollars More" and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" all have the same plot: Tough, mysterious, loner man (a bounty hunter, nonetheless) travels through desert. Shooting and fighting ensues. Man travels through desert some more. More shooting and fighting ensue. Man continues to travel through desert. BIG BIG shoot-out/show-down takes place. Tough, mysterious, loner man goes on his way. So, last night David wanted to watch 1977's "The Gauntlet". Thinking this might be the Clint Eastwood movie to turn things around for me, I was eager to see it. What it turned out to be was this: Tough, mysterious, loner man (a police officer this time) must transport a witness from Vegas to Phoenix. I won't ruin the details for you in case you haven't seen it, but what basically ensues is this: Travel through the desert. Shooting. Travel through desert some more. More shooting BIG BIG shoot out/show-down. REALLY?! I just want to love you, Mr. Hollywood Legend Clint Eastwood--why are you making it so difficult? Maybe I need to go rent "Gran Torino"........

Storytime with Mr. W

One of my schools had its book fair last Saturday. It was held at a bookstore in town, and one of the entertainment events for the afternoon was "Storytime" with our phy ed teacher. He's so great with kids, and as you can see by the picture, he had Sofia totally enthralled by "A Charlie Brown Christmas".

New Look

I decided to change up the look of the blog. I liked my previous background, but I never felt like it made my blog "mine". I think this one suits me much better. What do you think?

Thanksgiving

As the holiday weekend begins its downhill slide, I figured I'd take a moment to give Thanksgiving its moment to shine. Poor Thanksgiving. When did it become the forgotten holiday? When did it become a mere excuse to overeat with family? (As if I need a reason to overeat.) Does it irk anyone else to see Christmas decorations up in homes and storefronts the day after Halloween? I've made it my own personal mission to give Thanksgiving its proper due. I'm determined that Sofia will know Thanksgiving and why it's important. So, here's a rundown of the Family Thanksgiving 2009:

David and I bought Sofia some cute little Thanksgiving books and spent the last week reading to her about the first Thanksgiving. Of course, there was a silly "Ten Turkeys On a Fence" book as well, but hey--it can't all be serious. We also watched the classic, "A Charlie Brown Thanksgving." We started Turkey Day at my parent's and then later went to David's parent's. Sofia had on a special dress for Thanksgiving and we were even going to take some family pictures. What ended up happening was that my hair freaked out (why?!) and then Sof fell asleep for the better part of 4 hours (which was OK, considering she had not slept AT ALL the couple nights before.) While she slept, I tried to battle my hair--namely my bangs. The battle could not be won, and in the end Annie ended up taking a scissors to my head, which resolved the hair issue, but by the time Sof woke up, it was time to head over to David's parents. There she proceeded to eat, spit up, and sleep some more. So much for the "fancy" first Thanksgiving portrait. Looking back, what would have made a great photo was David sitting on his parent's kitchen floor with a diaper-only clad Sofia (due to all the spitting up) trying to get the dog to cuddle up to the baby, and the dog wanting nothing to do with Baby Girl and only wanting to snuggle David. Great memories, nonetheless. So, what am I thankful for this year? Where do I begin? I am thankful for:

*my wonderful husband who loves being a daddy as much as I love being a mama.
*delivering a healthy and happy baby this summer who continues to be our healthy and happy little one.
*the friends and family around us who love Sofia as much as we do. It really does take a village, and we have the best one, hands-down. I don't know what we'd do without them--we are so blessed.
*David and I being able to continue in our careers when so many have lost their jobs and are feeling the pinch of a suffering economy.
*this little old house that has become our home. There is still more work to be done, but the remodeling and renovations have taught us so many things, in so many different ways.
*Coffee. Red wine. Shoe sales. Martinis with huge green olives. (But only when your brother-in-law doesn't steal your olives. Yes, that's directed at you, Dan.) Hey--you have to throw a little humor in there, too, right?

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Now the Christmas festivities may begin!

Monday Night Conversation

Scene: My parents' kitchen. David's finishing dinner and Andrew's watching the football game. TV commercial comes on. The following exchange ensues.

Andrew: Man, I wish we had a Popeye's.
David: Why? Do you want diarrhea?
Andrew: But they have crawfish.

This is why I love these boys.

Reflecting

I know, I know--I promised pictures of Sofia in her Halloween costume. I assure you, they're on their way. I just haven't taken the time to sit down and sort through them. (This coming from the woman who just sent out her daughter's 3-month photos to the relatives. Did I mention that my baby is now nearing 5 months old and soon it will be time to schedule the "official" 6-month photo shoot? Oh, well. Better late than never, I guess.)

Tonight David and I were sitting with the baby and just staring at her in amazement. (We're told this is common for parents--especially first-timers. Ha!) Anyway, we were discussing just how crazy it is to try and wrap our minds around how much life has changed since she arrived. November 1st marked the one-year anniversary of us finding out I was pregnant. The old cliche of "what a difference a year makes" definitely applies in this situation! Just a little over 365 days ago, David and I were looking at each other with a little of that deer-in-the-headlights expression and wondering what in the world we had just gotten ourselves into. When I think back about all the details of that day, I can still feel the excitement and fear and anticipation. Our little one has only been here for four months, and yet, we can't imagine what life would be like without her. Sofia, you are definitely the best thing to ever happen to us...

Mama's Night Out

Well, my back is somewhat better, but I'm still not 100%. It's still pretty sore and my mobility is still restricted. So, what did I do last night? I went out to a bar and found the perfect number of rum and Diet Cokes it takes to make my back feel better without being completely inebriated. (For those of you who need specifics, that number is 5.)

Before anyone judges my ability to parent or calls my social worker sister to come and take my baby away from me, I should probably clarify my story: My husband plays in a band. They're one of the top bands in the region, and I haven't been out to see them play in a year. So, David and my good friend Peggy convinced me that it would be a good idea for me to come out and hear the band and have some fun--"Mama's Night Out", if you will. The drummer's wife also came out last night and brought along some friends. The band sounded great, the company was great, and a wonderful time was had by all. My sister graciously agreed to babysit Sofia, and apparently they had a great time hanging out together as well.

It was fun to go out and remember what it was like to go with David to shows. Nowadays, whether he's on the road or in town, I'm at home with Sofia. It was a little taste of the past--but I wouldn't trade my present for anything. For Halloween tonight, the band plays another show, but I'll be at home with my sweet baby girl. We are dressing her up in costume and taking her to see her grandparents and some friends before David has to leave for the gig. Stay tuned for pictures!

Family Rocks

In addition to my parents taking care of us all day, Abby is on the floor having snuggle time with Sofia and Annie & Andrew just brought me a pomegranate julius. Plus, my mother-in-law called to check in on me and see how I was doing. How lucky are we?

So Miserable

My back was even worse this morning. Sofia woke up to eat around 5:00am, and it took everything I had just to roll (yes, literally roll) out of the bed. After she finished eating, I passed her over to David and immediately took a hot shower, hoping that would help loosen the tight muscles--no such luck. I couldn't--and still can't--hardly sit, stand, or walk; and there's no way I can bend over or lift anything. I did manage to slip on a pair of shoes (not sure they even matched, to tell you the truth...) and carefully set myself in the vehicle to go to work and prepare for a substitute for the day. (Only in this profession could you be in intense pain and nearly immoble, but still expected to get yourself to work, prepare for a sub, and find and book that sub all before 7:00am. But, that's a blog entry for another day...) Anyway, I got all my ducks in a row for the day and then got home so David could get ready for work. As soon as he was ready, he took both Sofia and me to my parents' house for the day. How humbling when you have to go with your baby daughter to be taken care of for the day! I got an 11:15am appointment with the chiropractor and my dad drove me, since I learned from my pre-sunrise adventure that even lifting my foot to accelerate or brake was enough to make me want to yelp in pain. The chiropractor worked her magic and told me that I would most likely be sore for another couple of days and to take it easy, ice the area, and take in plenty of water. If I don't feel like it's improving by Wednesday, I need to go in again. I pretty much spent the rest of the day just trying to find some way to be even the slightest bit comfortable and trying not to feel too sorry for myself that for the immediate future I can't even pick up my baby girl because of the mess going on in my lower back. I can honestly say this is probably the most uncomfortable pain I have ever been in (aside from Sofia's arrival, that is). I even broke down earlier this evening and took Motrin. Three of them. And now I think I need to have some tea and sit with my sweet Sofia and heal.

Oy, My Achin' Back

I'm not sure what in the world I did to my lower back, but I'm in terrible pain. Usually I can pinpoint what I did (or attempted to do) but this time, I got nothin'. I can hardly walk and have to have David help me sit down and stand up; he even had to put my shoes on for me this afternoon. To add insult to injury, I'm battling a cold, so every time I cough or sneeze, extra daggers of pain radiate through my lumbar and I have the overwhelming urge to swear a blue streak. I'll have to call my chiropractor and see if I can get in to see her tomorrow after work. Until then, I really should take something, but I hate taking medication. I'm one of those people who'll just sit and suffer through a headache rather than pop a couple of ibuprofen and move on. Why, I don't know--I come by it genetically, I guess. Both of my parents are the same way. Perhaps a more "homeopathic" approach is in order. Maybe the hot water bottle, a shot of Jagermeister, and an early bedtime will have to suffice....David, you're on Sofia-duty tonight!

Welcome to our Nutshell!

Why "Nutshell", you ask? Well, the reason is two-fold: 1. To put something in a nutshell is to abridge, condense, or summarize. This blog is my attempt to give you the "nutshell" version of what's going on in our lives. 2. Life in our home is sometimes akin to living in a nuthouse. If you've ever met me or my husband, no further explanation is needed! Welcome to our Nutshell-- I hope you enjoy your visit!