Announcing...

So, we're not really sending out baby announcements to everyone we know. Sorry if you were anxiously waiting by the mailbox. We're ordering just a few cheap-o ones from Sam's to send to out-of-town family, and I was able to cut and paste the "preview" after I made them on-line today. Here's what they look like. For a cheap-o generic announcement, I think it turned out pretty cute. It's a little blurry, but consider this your official announcement!

7 Things You Might Not Know

So the whole tagging thing seems a little silly to me, but I like the concept behind sharing things about yourself that your fellow blogging friends probably don't know. It's just fun.

Anyway, we were tagged by a friend and I'm going to go ahead and do it. Here are the rules that she sent me: Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.* Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.* Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog...

I decided to hodge podge things about all three of us.

1.) Katie: I don't like showering. Yes, you read that correctly, but only for the reason that it's just a hassle. I like the shower itself and find it quite enjoyable, relaxing, and refreshing. However, I don't like all of the work that comes after the shower. Dry my hair. Choose a new outfit. Put on make up. Style my hair. Slather on lotion. And on and on. It takes too long! If body odor and greasy hair didn't exist then I'd be quite content to never shower again.

2.) Sophia: She loves fresh air and sun. It was definitely our life-saver when she was first born, because the weather was so nice for so long. If she was crying or fussy, all we had to do was step outside and she calmed down. We'd go on walks and she'd fall sound asleep, but the second we stepped back inside (even if we kept walking around the house) she'd wake up and start crying again. Luckily Mom & Dad like being outside, too!

3.) Matt: I was born in the same town that Tea Leoni calls home.

4.) Katie: I love mashed potatoes. I could eat them all day. It is my favorite "meal" food. As far as my all-time favorite food it is a close tie with ice cream. I think I love both equally. One year at Thanksgiving, my aunt was in charge of bringing the mashed potatoes and she brought INSTANT mashed potatoes. That's just plain wrong!

5.) Katie: Speaking of Thanksgiving...it is my FAVORITE holiday. I love it because my whole family gathers out at my aunt & uncle's lake near Warrenton, MO. They've turned part of the barn on their property into a loft and we smoke the turkey in the big smoker outside...we also deep fry one. :)
It's better than Christmas to me, because the food is SO GOOD, the weather is still nice enough to take a long walk after we stuff our faces, and there's not the stress of getting presents for everyone. We just get to talk, play games, laugh, eat, and be together out in nature for a day. LOVE IT!

6.) Matt: He loves to cook. I'm always surprised at the new creations he comes up with. I enjoy cooking, too, but at the end of a long day at work it's the last thing I want to do. Matt, however, doesn't mind getting in the kitchen and coming up with something new and creative! (I took over this one for him, because #3 was lame and he was being a bad sport about thinking of something else.)

7.) Katie & Matt: We want to live out in the country. That may not be a surprise to some of you, but it is something we both dream of! We want to buy some land and build our own home someday...hopefully designed by Katie's brother who is an environmental architect.
My (Katie's) dream includes a weeping willow (my favorite tree) and a big oak tree in the front yard. I also want lots of woods surrounding our house so that our kids can built forts like my brother and I did when we were growing up.
Matt's dream includes a big greenhouse where he can have reptiles, birds, and lots of plants. (This will not be attached to the house if Katie has any say in the matter...it will have a huge pad lock and bolt on the door so little children can't sneak in without their father.)

And even though I think the tagging thing is silly, I'm going to do it anyway, because it's the only reason I ended up doing this myself. I'm not going to add comments to their blogs, so if you girls read this post and want to do it...then consider yourself officially TAGGED! :) And if you don't see your name below, but want to do it...then consider yourself tagged, too!

1.) Erin D.
2.) Jen N.
3.) Jessica B.
4.) Stephanie H.
5.) Katie H.

The Happiest Baby On The Block

Katie and I finally watched "The Happiest Baby On The Block" DVD last night. It was recommended by the nurse who taught our "baby" class and a lactation consultant. The St. Louis Public Libraries did not have the DVD in their system, but Katie's mother was able to obtain it for us through her library network. After Katie's mom watched it and gave us a glowing report, we were eager to find out how to have the happiest baby in this sector of the universe. I'm sure baby Wookies are pretty happy as they live in the lush wroshyr forests of the beautiful planet Kashyyyk. It has been a long time since I have played any Star Wars Battlefront games.

Ever since our little Wookie was born (she has a lot of hair, c'mon!), we were convinced that she was one of those few babies who refused to be completely swaddled. While we were in the hospital and adjusting to the first few weeks at home, she would scream and wiggle until her arms were free or we released our little bird from her cage. I'm sure she will use that analogy in a decade. Well, we stopped swaddling her completely. Sophia has been somewhat cantankerous lately, constantly fidjeting, waking herself up repeatedly during the night, and waking up whenever we would put her down. We were hoping our movie would remedy the situation.

As we watched the DVD last night, we realized we had given up on swaddling too soon and learned a number of new techniques to pacify and relax our little girl. After our movie time, we tried the techniques mentioned in the DVD and Sophia was soothed immediately. We swaddled her tight and followed the rest of the "program." We were amazed and still are. The developer of this approach and his methods are truly genius. If you have a baby and have not seen this, rent it, now. You, yes you, dear reader, rent it. Unless you are the baby whisperer already.

Good science demands replication of experiments. Last night's experiments confirmed our initial hypotheses and we are anxiously awaiting the collecting of data tonight. The pictures below depict little Sophia Grace sound asleep, comfortably and tightly swaddled. I swaddled her, positioned her at her preferred side angle, swung her for a few minutes, and she was out! Using the methods introduced by the DVD, we can soothe the wildest screams and squirms in minutes.
We already knew some of the information and had developed or stumbled upon our own techniques, but the DVD was immensely helpful.

Swaddle-Side/Stomach Position-Shush-Swing-Suck=Boojah!

What a cute little girl!

Our Little Pumpkin

Today we went to Rombach's pumpkin patch! It's in the area I grew up and I have a lot of fun memories of going there as a kid, so I wanted to start sharing the memories with my daughter. Sophie wasn't so sure about this adventure with Mom and Dad. She definitely wasn't the happiest pumpkin in the patch. I can't blame her, though, we were pretty unrelenting in trying to get a cute picture of her amongst the pumpkins. Here are some of the shots we got.

Sophie propped up against some pumpkins. Check out her cute pumpkin socks. Her bib reads "My first Halloween."

Propped up in a new way...still not happy.

Here's the dialog that occurred before the picture above:
Dad says: "Let's put her on top of a giant flat pumpkin."
Mom says: "What? Just lay her down all sprawled out?"
Dad says: "Sure. Why not?"
Mom thinks: This is really going to tick her off and won't be very cute.

Turns out...it was cute. Funny and cute.

Personally, I think this is the best shot we got all day.

The family.

Beauty Sleep

Sophie is getting more fun every day. She's finally responsive to us and is smiling more and more! Morning is my favorite time with her. I love how happy and giggly she is right after she wakes up. It's just so sweet!

Lots of people ask how she's sleeping, so I thought I'd answer it on the blog, too. She does great at night. Once she goes down anywhere between 8pm and 11pm, she'll sleep really well between feedings, and usually only wakes up once during the night. Some nights she'll go 5 or 6 hours between feedings, but usually it's 3 or 4 hours. Overall, she's letting me get rest and I don't really feel overly tired most days. That said, I am looking forward to her sleeping through the night for the first time.

We started using our cloth diapers last week. It was recommended to start using them when she reached 8lbs, and she was 9 lbs 5 ounces at her 4 week appointment on Oct. 6th, so we figured it was time. It's going great so far! They're still a little big, but she's doing well with them and doesn't seem to mind. These aren't just any cloth diaper. Forget the whole "pre-folds" that you have to pin together and put a cover over. Oh no. These are some serious diapers. They work just like disposables, but you don't dispose of them. You just take out the insert and wash them. I highly recommend them if you're considering using cloth. Go here to find out more!

I took this picture today:

She's snoozing in her diaper with the magic pacifier. I think I've created a monster with that thing. We try not to use it too often, but we've been relying on it more and more these days. It just works so well when she's tired and can't stop crying in order to fall asleep. Oh well. We'll probably pay the price later, but for now it sure is helpful.

With that aside...isn't she stinking cute?! Check out the rolls on that tummy of hers! She's gaining weight like a champ!

(P.S. Yes...we usually do put clothes on her. Today just seemed like a good day to go topless!)

All You Need Is Love

One thing is for sure...our little girl is loved! She will never be without people to coo over her and bathe her with smooches. And really, what more does she need? Okay...maybe a little food and a diaper change every now and then, but some good lovin' is equally essential!

Both of our families dote on her, but this post is a shout out to Matt's side of the family. Here are some pictures of her adoring fans:

Uncle Mitchell

Uncle Peter

Great-Grandpa Meyr

Great-Grandma Meyr

For some reason I don't have any pictures of Aunt Joy on our camera...so we'll remedy that very soon and get her picture posted! When Uncle Nathan comes for a visit, we'll get a few shots with him, too!