off to San Jose!

Sophie and I have a Japanese lunch date with Kristen, Tanner and Talan! Exciting :)

5 months is the best age. Every day Sophie and I go out and do stuff all day, she's my little side kick, my bff :) I got a pedicure yesterday and she sat on my lap the entire time just watching mommy's toes get painted. I dipped her feet in the water, she loved it! Soon enough she'll be getting her little piggies pained too!

Happy 5 month birthday to our little one!!!

loooong update!

On the days Matt works and I have my 6am boot camp, Sophie stays for an hour with my mom. I was sooooo nervous at first. I couldn't concentrate in class and I think I probably cried a little. The first day I came home my mom and Sophie were outside waiting for me, poor little thing was not very happy. The 2nd time she cried for about 10 minutes and then fell asleep in her swing. The past few times however she has either slept the entire hour or hung out with my mom, sans crying!!! It's like a blessing to me, I can work out guilt free. Feels good! After boot camp today Sophie and I went to my moms kindergarten classroom and hung out with the kids for amphibian day. We helped them make all kinds of fun projects including frog ice-cream floats! My mom is so creative. Her kids love Sophie and will be in 5th grade once she starts school there. They promised me they would look out for her :) They sang and danced for her, keeping a safe distance of course...who knows where their little hands have been lol. After Sophie's first day of school we went to my mommy's circle group. This is a group I joined a few weeks ago, where women meet with their babies and just talk about things that are going on in their lives, issues with sleeping, eating, etc...

The class is ran by a doula who has been delivering babies for 30 years. I am learning a lot from her. One of the things she told me was that 5 months may be a bit too early to start rice cereal as grains aren't the best thing for babies at this young age. Sophie took to eating solids easily however I don't want her to get constipated or get belly aches from it. She recommended we wait until 6 months when we start the fruits and veggies. She also explained that it's a myth that rice cereal helps a baby sleep better. (a lot of our friends were telling us this so we assumed it was true without reading about it ourselves) In fact studies show they sleep worse if started too early. I came home and researched it. She was right. SO we're going to wait a few more weeks, no big deal. I'm fully aware that every baby is different and some may choose to start their babies as early as 4 months. We're making this decision because we feel it's what's best for Sophie. I feel so blessed I have her as a resource and she has actual data on my questions, not just opinions. She also gave us a bunch of handmade clothes her mom had made for her daughter. My mom was her daughters teacher so she feels a connection with me and thought they would be going to a good home! Awesome! Homemade is the best!

We stopped at Whole Foods for Guac ingredients and some chicken.

There was a package from my dad on the doorstep. His mom collected salt and pepper shakers (she had over 5000) and is getting rid of them as she doesn't have much longer to live. My dad picked out a special one for Matt and I, and one for Sophie :) I will post photos soon! Gotta go clean and cook and kiss this baby! xoxoxo

a day with Sophie's Godmother

Sophie feeding herself

Playing not eating!

Discovering

Sweet moments with her Godmama!

There you go Soph!

road trip!

The guys and Soph bar tending the baby shower

The clothesline with all of the handmade onesies by Alyze! SO cute.

Enjoying the shade on a hot day

mommy daughter lovin'

mommy daughter doggy lovin'

family photo with the bestie and Oliver.

another milestone

We're starting Sophie on rice cereal tomorrow!! Pretty exciting stuff. We don't have a high chair yet so I'm going to start the search for a good one. Any recommendations?? My main requirement is that it's easy to clean and folds up. I ordered the book "Superfoods" by Annabel Karmel. I have another of her baby food cookbooks but this one looked just as awesome. Like magazines I love cookbooks. The internet just doesn't do it, although it would be a lot cheaper! I did order them used :)The other book I ordered is "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" It came with high recommendations from many people. Sophie sleeps in her crib, but the crib is in our room and now that's she's approaching 5 months I think it's time she goes to her beautiful nursery! It's harder on me than it is on her obviously :) I'm sure all moms understand!! Or maybe not, maybe I'm the crazy one who can't seem to sleep away from her baby. Yikes! Oh well.

Tomorrow we are off to a baby shower for one of my best-friends sisters. Alyze is here from NY so it's EXTRA special. I've never been so excited for a baby shower!!!! Sophie has her outfit all ready of course. Sunday we are meeting up with our pastor after church to finalize Sophie's dedication on May 2nd. My mom is really making it a special day with the lunch she is throwing afterwards. There is a color theme and all! That's where I get my love for party planning! Never a dull get together in my family. Poor Matt didn't know what he was marrying into ;)

Waiting for my other best-friend Sarah to have her baby. She's 7 days overdue so it could happen any minute! We're gonna go visit them in Visalia as soon as we can. I told Sarah I want to get her one of those food delivery services instead of baby stuff. When Sophie was born that's all I wanted, and it didn't really happen so Matt and I got a lot of take-out. And Kristens chili!

Boot Camp on Monday!!!

It's a good life and Sophie makes it the best life Matt and I could ask for.

mama's helper!

Helping mom wrap ashley's baby shower gift. This is hard work!

I'm a good helper right mom??? I crunched all the tissue paper up just right for you.

Dinner!

I finally decided to go through all of my magazines and rip out the stuff I actually want. (rather than storing a whole stack of magazines in a house with zero storage lol) I'm one of those people who still likes magazines. There is something more satisfying about turning the pages and finding a recipe or story rather than sitting in front of a computer. (which I HATE doing but seems to be the way to go this day in age) So while Sophie played happily next to daddy and I (with a magazine actually. She loves paper), we went through these beautiful picture books and pulled out recipes that sounded good to us...or just to Matt. Example: pecan and parmesan crusted catfish with okra salsa. I'm sure you can guess which SOUTHERN mag that came out of!! I plan on filing them into binders by meal. I planned on making one of them tonight but my darling friend Kristen sent me an awesome cooking blog that has very fresh recipes, and a lot of them are vegetarian!! So I found this:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/04/classic-cobb-salad/#more-6035

And that's what's for dinner!!! As I type this Sophie has been reaching out and typing random letters on the keyboard!! How cute is that??!!! Ahhhhhh she's so smart!!! :)

Sophie's Stats

Height: 25 inches- 75th percentile

Weight: 14 lbs 6 oz- 50th percentile

Head is normal and in the 50th percentile

She smiled and cooed for Dr. Espinas- was a very good girl. Her shots shocked her more than anything but she calmed down right away. I made Matt go in. I stayed outside, ready with lots of hugs!!!

She's almost 5 months!!

We can't believe it!! She's a big girl and growing so fast! Today we have her 4 month shots and check-up. Curious to see her weight and height...

Keep ya posted!

I'm a mommy!!!

Matt and I were talking about mothers day and I was trying to figure out our plans and asked Matt his thoughts and he said, "I don't know what do YOU want to do?"

AHHH!! I forgot I get to have my first mothers day!!! YAY!!!

big girl toy!

busy girl

what dad.

sophie fat face!!

Lily's birthday

Pretty bald baby!!

cuddles with mommy!!

reading to my girl and the birthday girl

Cousins!!!!

Montara fun!

cousin love

wearing her pumas!

giggles with papa

lunch by the water

outdoor time with our baby!

searching for seaglass

on the menu:

Cajun marinated crab cakes, tequila-lime tilapia (for Matt) artichokes and leftover cous-cous and guac! Perfect menu for a hot day! We're off to watch a movie in our awesome new bed and cuddle with the worlds cutest baby! Happy Friday! xoxoxoxo

Big Girl!

Sophie slept in her crib last night! She's growing up so fassssttt! I want another one LOL!!!

WF rave #2

I know I posted about my undying obsession and love for Whole Foods already but I had another amazing experience there today lol. Need to share. I went to get Matt some seafood as he is eating more of it lately and I can't find any near us that is as fresh. The worker at the fish counter was SO helpful. He even offered to marinate everything for me, with different marinades of my choice. I got tequila-lime shrimp kebobs, cajun crab cakes, lemon-basil tilapia and red snapper. Now that Matt only works until 5pm we can BBQ when he gets home! After that I went to check out the butter. We don't use much of it in our household as I didn't grow up eating it at all. Occasionally we put it on toast or a bagel so I wanted to see if there was any other options that were healthier. I asked a worker and he didn't know much but asked me which one I was interested in. I showed him one, and he said "okay, it's yours to take home for free!" I guess if it's something you can't test right there they give you the whole container or box of food for free! It's something so simple and small as those actions which keep me shopping there. I made sure to fill out a comment card to the manager about both of them!

Dinner tonight: Grilled red snapper for Matt, baked tofu for me, and sides of cous-cous, butternut squash and homemade guac!

Sitting on my bike! Do these diapers make me look fat Mom?

When Daddy is home everyone is happy!! We always do so much and have such a great time as a family. We finally got our new bed today. Our last one was used so this is going to be a huge treat! We took Indie to the dog groomers and the vet, went to get apples for juicing and hit up the mattress store all before 10am! It's spring cleaning in the Meldrum household so with the ergo on I've been doing many squats to pick up toys and blankets, and Matt does the grimy stuff like stove scrubbing and trash duty. It's a team effort! He still has one more day off tomorrow so we're happy little campers over here, just relaxing and loving being parents!!! My friend Brooke went into labor this morning. She never wanted to find out what she was having so it's going to be an awesome surprise when the little person makes his/her debut! Exciting!

Happy Easter!

Whole Foods.

Sophie and went this morning at 9:30am...I was soooo anxious to just BE there. I swear Whole Foods is like a little piece of heaven for me! I promptly put Soph in the Ergo and BAM she was asleep. She will usually sleep for about an hour if in the Ergo so I looked up, said a little thank you and took my sweet time. I ate testers, made a salad for lunch in their salad bar (extra tofu!) tried some pro-biotic drinks, browsed the baby section and picked out TONS of veggies to juice. Beets, carrots, kale...everything looked so fresh! I need to make it over there more often. After I paid she was still sleeping so I ate my lunch, went and had a wheatgrass shot and felt totally relaxed. We now have a kitchen full of fresh, amazing, healthy comida! Matt is really trying to lose weight and he's doing such a good job staying away from processed food and sugar. We get a lot of inspiration from that show Jamie Olivers Food Revolution. Greatest show EVER. I think everyone should watch it.

After WF we headed to Target, this time with Soph in her sling. All in all we were out for about 3 hours and it really passed the day away which is awesome. We came home and she fell asleep for another 2 hours (laying on me of course lol) We are waiting for daddy to come home!! Today is his last 7-7 day!!!! It's like the best gift we could have been given. Soon he'll be home before dark and we can all have dinner together. YAY! Sophie turns 17 weeks tomorrow!!

Easter!

So excited for Soph's 1st Easter!! She has 3 outfits lol.

I am making breakfast tomorrow morning before church...blueberry muffins, fruit and super healthy smoooothies!! I also have an Easter basket for Matt. Last year I did the baking soda bunny footprints like my mom used to do for me. He loved it! Will do again this year :)

Photos to follow of Soph tomorrow of course. Oh and I have an awesome video of her rolling over. She's totally naked. She loves being naked! I also am excited to put on her pastel yellow diapers tomorrow. Sooooo adorable. Perfect color for the holiday! As you can tell I love holidays. I plan on making each one special for her, from here on out...Matt and I are looking forward to creating traditions with her as that's really important to me. My mom brought over a bunch of Easter decorations for her, so I will start this year by decorating the house and as she gets older she can help me and play with the little chickens and bunny toys...all the while looking forward to waking up to her Easter basket! I love having a daughter. Matt and I love being parents :)

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!

SF!

Matt and I picked out these skinny jeans for when Soph is 12 months. Um, can we talk about the zipper?? Dying.

3 of my favorite people!!!

Natalie has all of the fun photos. Us on the trolley, in front of the pier...but these were in their condo they had for 2 nights during their visit from So Cal! We spent the entire day in SF, and Sophie kicked butt. She was such a good baby. We had lunch at the wharf, after taking Matt and Soph's first trolley ride ever! It was such an amazing day with amazing people. It's funny but after doing something new like this I feel so proud and accomplished that we made it through without any fires. I can't say enough how wonderful my friends are, and even though we only see Nat + Bri once a year our friendship falls right back into place. They brought a little Easter gift for Soph, adorable onesies, thankfully for when she's 9 months. She's growing like a weed! We convinced them to hopefully come for Pumpkin Fest in October, Bri and Matt will play a round of golf at Ocean Colony in HMB. Finally use the gift cert I got Matt almost a year ago! More photos to follow.