We're Moving!!!

You heard it correctly...the Jaeggmeyers are gettin' outta Dodge! The sun has set on our years in the condo, and after much deliberation, saving, and planning, Tony and I have found a place that is perfect for this next phase of our lives. Almost serendipitously, a frriend of mine from work announced that he was going to be renting his home. The location was perfect--Granada Hills, which is as close to the Santa Clarita Valley without actually being IN the SCV--, the price was right, and the size was great (3/2.5 PLUS a pool/spa...yippee!). We jumped at the opportunity, and we'll be moving in first weekend in June.

Our current home, not surprisingly, is a total disaster and life is a little bit chaotic right now. Being that this is the end of the school year, I am also frantically trying to tie up loose ends here as well. On top of which, I am also trying to pack up my classroom for the big move to the new campus (for those of you who don't know, I am moving to a brand new campus this coming fall. I am a member of a pilot school design team and will be teaching history at the new school. Exciting stuff! More on that later). Thankfully, Tony is almost finished with his first semester back at school, so he will likely get the lion's share of the final packing and unpacking for the move. Lucky for me, he's amazing and is just as excited as I am about the big move.

To tide everyone over until I update again (and we all know how often that is!), here's a shot of Sophie helping me move...



~To be clear, she's reading books to her mimi (blanket) and the bucket. Everytime I pack a box, however, she insists on sitting in this one. Cute.~

Time Flies

Two years ago today, Tony and I met an incredible little individual. Over the course of the last two years, that little someone has blossomed into a bright, bubbly, and beautiful little girl. We fall in love with her every day, over and over again, and never stop being amazed at this person we have the privilege of calling our daughter. Two years seems like such a small chunk of time, but I keep marveling at how much has happened in these last two years. I look at my baby, who's not a baby, now and can't believe that that little person is the same baby I brought home from the hospital two years ago. Each day, Sophie learns something new, says something hilarious, and is forever adding to and developing the her that she is becoming. And what's best, is that Tony and I get to watch it happen!

I can go on and on. My baby is 2...that's the bottom line. Happy birthday, my sweet Sophie Bean. Mommy and Daddy love you so much.

Pavlova...

...except that Lydia isn't Russain. In any case, she certainly has the talent. To be clear, my niece is only 7, AND this is the piece that she's practiced "only a little bit". She rules....

Jumping Beans

I know, I know...I haven't posted in ages. Trust me its for a moderately good reason...busy with work, busy with studying, busy with family. Holidays and whatnot.

Until I finally find the time to bring everyone properly up to speed, here's a lil' somthing to tide you over...

She's a Maniac, Maaaaaniac...

It's important that everyone knows what a talented dancer Sophia has become...

Bean to English Dictionary

There are about a thousand other updates that I need to post, but this is an entry that has been swirling in my brain for months now. Sophia talks so much now, and her little voice and baby lisp just kill me they are so cute. Some of her words are so funny to hear that they need to be shared with everyone. Sadly, a person can't get the full effect of the cuteness unless you hear it first hand, but I figure a little translation guide would be the next best thing...

1) "mommeeeee": aka, "mommy". When she's really tired or fussy, she'll scrunch up her face and then say "ooohhhh, mommeeeee". It's pretty adorable.

2) "daddheee": aka, "daddy". Dad is pretty much the coolest thing in the world lately. He's the go-to guy for all things fun.

2) "puhpeee" or "Loolee": the dog. She follows poor Lucy around the house all day every day looking for an opportunity to sit, lay, ride on, or in some other way torture the poor creature. Lucy, thankfully, is pretty patient.

3) "kihee" or "titty" or "Saffooo": that'd be the cat. Sappho is far less patient than the dog. On another note, I'm pretty grateful for the fact that Sophie doesn't say kitty much outside the house. I just imagine lots of raised eyebrows when my 17 month old is yelling for her "titty".

4) "boobee": depends on where we are. She's big on birds lately, and "birdy" usually comes out sounding like "boobie". Unfortunately, birdies are only outside, so there are quite a few "boobies" that the neighbors end up hearing. Sophie also really likes identifying body parts. In this case, I think the translation is pretty self explanatory. :/

5) "copper": no, she's not a fan of police shows. A couple weeks ago, we had a fire nearby and there were helicopters that kept flying by. She LOVES pointing out airplanes now. Almost all planes end up being coppers, however.

6) "oggee": not a ganster, although that would be pretty rad. This would be yogurt. Sophie would eat her body weight in yogurt.

7) "ermeal": oatmeal. If she's not eating yogurt, she's eating oatmeal. There are days where she eats it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

8) "dee doh": that would be her ding dong, otherwise known as her belly button. She's big on pulling up her shirt and showing it to you at various points during the day. She also has a book that she calls her tummy book where she likes to find the dee dohs on the monsters in the book.

9) "caca": before you start making poop jokes, let me clarify that "caca" is cracker. Crackers are anything small and crunchy, from cereal, to actual crackers. I popped a mint one time and she asked me for a cracker. :)

10) "cock": probably my favorite and most embarassing. This means clock. She likes to find them in various books, and she frequently asks to borrow ours (although she more frequently knows that the ones on our wrists are called watches).

11) "Suffee": she just started saying her own name. She usually will point to her chest when she says it, just in case the listener didn't originally know who she was talking about. :)

There are a ton more, but I wanted to give everyone my top 11. Being that I haven't blogged in about a century, there are lots of other updates. To tide everyone over until that long awaited day when I actually am completely up-to-date, here's a little taste of the cuteness that is my kid...



~enjoying a pretzel during our beach day with Jana and Ryden~

In Memory of...

As most of you know, our nephew, Tyler Sikora, died just recently. He was an amazing individual with a beautiful spirit, and he will be missed by everyone who's life he ever touched. Whatever you might believe, Ty is in a better place now, and can play sports the way he always wished he could.

The day after Ty's death, he and his bother's friends organized a candlelight memorial at Crescenta Valley High School (where Tyler was playing basketball when his heart gave out). The pictures are a few from the vigil. The outpouring of support and emotion was extraordinary, and again a testament to how special Ty truly was...

Tyler Matthew Sikora

In memory of our son, brother, grandson, nephew, and cousin. We will all love you and miss you.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/15-Year-Old-Collapses-and-Dies-During-Basketball-Game-94661194.html

Call of the Wild

I think this one speaks for itself...



...she's going to hate me for this one day...

Interior Designer for Hire.

She's a Gourmet...

To be clear, Sophie dumped all her cheerios out of the bowl onto the living room floor. She proceeded to place them one by one back in the bowl and "drink" them individually.

525,600 Minutes--Part Deux

One year. One year! How is Sophie already one year? I know every parent says it, but I really, really mean it. I can't BELIEVE that it's already been a year since Sophie was born. I've been playing the 'one year ago today' game for about a week now (I feel like play that game a lot...). One week ago yesterday , Tony and I undertook the task of walking all the way to the dog park in hopes of encouraging Bean to make her debut before my induction date. One week ago last Tuesday was the first day of my maternity leave. One week ago this Wednesday, I had my first panic attack because I realized I was about to become a parent. You get the idea. Now my baby is about to become a toddler. Exciting, but a little sad at the same time.

Since Thanksgiving (seriously, I'm the worst blogger ever. Who waits 4 months between entries?), there have been lots of exciting updates. Bean started walking New Years weekend. Just stood up and toddled from Tony to his mom like it was the easiest thing in the world. Granted, she looked like a drunken sailor at first, and there were plenty of crash and burn moments, but at this point, she looks like she's been doing it all her life! She even can squat down and pick things up without having to hold onto anything anymore (that's a skill, for those of you who are thinking, "big deal, I do that all the time!"). Sophie is also talking up a storm. Her favorite word is "hi", which she says to everyone and anything. You are usually greeted with a cheerful "hhhhiiiii" when you walk into her room to get her out of the crib. Strangers are persistently greeted as well on the streets. "Daddy" and "doggy" are interchangeable, and she will frequently repeat "dahdeee" until either Tony or Lucy appear. She's picked up a few signs also. Actually, she's known the sign for "light" (opening and closing your hand at the ceiling, although she kind of just twists her wrist back and forth) for awhile now, and is starting to finally remember the sign for "all done" (waving open palms face down back and forth), too. She can show you were her (or your) nose is, and pretty consistently can show you her belly and eyes too. Her other new trick to put the phone (or remote control, or calculator, or anything really with a keypad) next to her head. Not always her ear, but she seems to know that phones (or phone like objects) go next to your head. My kid rules. :)

We're doing a small bbq at my mom's house this weekend to celebrate her birthday. Mostly, we want to celebrate the fact that we made it through the first year unscathed, and that we managed to keep her alive. Go us! Some carne asade, some beer, and family and a few close friends is the perfect way to celebrate our amazing little girl.

I'm sure there is more I should be talking about, but I'm a little too nostalgic to be thinking much past Sophie right now. Stay tuned, and I might even update on Tony's and my happenings as well!



Three months (I don't have a younger pic available!)


Eleven months. How does that happen?! (P.s. She was having an interactive experience with some cottage cheese)

Blessings

In light of it being Thanksgiving week and the baby shower I attended yesterday and all, I've been doing a bit of reflecting. In my musings, I reminded again how truly blessed I am in my life. I have a job that I (used to) love where I know that I am making a difference in people's lives everyday, a roof over my head, an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, the best friend a girl could ask for in my sister, great parents...my list could go on an on. I have friends that inspire me and challenge me everyday. I have friends that I have known since I was 7 (Jana), 9 (Erin), 12 (Andrea, Jamie, Christina). I have reconnected with dozens more over the last six months thanks to the magical world of virtual networking. I don't think many can say that their group of friends--the ones that are invited to all the major events of their life and their kids' lives--consist of people that they've known since you were in elementary and junior high school. There's not a day that goes by that I don't smile at the idea that Sophie and Ryden will grow up together the same way that Jana and I did, or that I can get parenting advice from Kristen, who was in my preschool class, or that Sophie's aunt was also one of my good friends from high school.

I am a bit ashamed that I complain at all about the things that I don't really like about my life, as my worst day is the best day that someone else could ever aspire to. So in honor of it being Thanksgiving week, I am just going to enjoy my blessings, and be glad for all the amazing things I have in my life. :)

Pictures

Because I STILL haven't uploaded anything to snapfish (I have like 4 months of pictures. Ugh)...




~I'm 7 months old!~








~Modeling her new hoodie. She's pretty fired up about it.~











~Rocking the excersaucer~















~The early stages of a toothy grin. There's 4 teeth in that little mouth of hers. She's cutting 2 more as we speak!~
















~Do you love the tights as much as I do?~
















~Checking out the view from her tummy.~

Cruising and Ladybugs

Bean and I are playing last night, which is pretty typical for a weekday evening. The dinner has been had, the jammies are donned, and really we are just enjoying ourselves until it is time for bed. Lo and behold, what does my daughter do, but hitch herself up, and start crawling across the living room floor (it might not have been quite as effortless as that, but that's pretty much the gist). She looks like a drunken sailor right now, and it takes some time to move a few feet, but crawling is crawling, and my kid is officially mobile!

In other news, Bean had a great first Halloween. Tony and I drove down to San Diego on Friday night, and actually got to spend an ENTIRE weekend with his family (I should probably clarify that Tony FINALLY has weekends off! It is amazing what two days off in a row can do for a person!). Anyway, the drive down was a little bit rough. For those of you familiar with SoCal, and the area known as "the crush", you know how terrible the traffic can be. Minimal lanes, no median, and everyone and their brother is all trying to travel through about a 17 mile stretch of freeway. But I digress. In this section of freeway, there is also a huge costume store that is literally spitting distance from the freeway (my SoCal people, I'm sure, all know which store I am talking about). Apparently, Friday was the single best day in the history of the world to buy a costume, and the entire population of Orange and LA counties were piling into this establishment doing a little last minute shopping before heading off to whatever party was planned for the weekend. The only reason why I mention this is that Tony and I were caught in this poop storm. We spent over an hour trying to make our way past this store. From Dodger Stadium to the store is about 20 miles...it took us well over an hour to drive this stretch. I mention this only because Sophie has never been much of a fan of traffic. Thankfully, she slept through the worst of the traffic, leading Tony and I to believe that we were in the clear. No sooner had we passed the exit to the store (literally, hundreds of cars and people spilling out into the parking lot...it was ridiculous), then we started hearing the first squeaks and murmurings from the backseat. After a 10 minutes of fussing, she fell back to sleep again, only to wake up 20 minutes later and cry. For at least 40 miles, she cried, wailed, whimpered to be let out of her carseat and be put to bed for reals. She was pretty miserable by the time we reached Tony's parents' house, but after a bottle and some cuddling, she was sound asleep.

I bought her a costume over a month ago, even though I knew how silly it is to take a seven month old trick or treating. She isn't going to last for more than a few houses, there were no guarantees on the weather (which was beautiful, by the way), she's an armful which would make carrying her a challenge after awhile. At any rate, I bought the costume anyway, because it was too stinking cute not to. I dolled her up after dinner, with this as the result...



...Seriously, how CUTE is she? Tony and I went to maybe 3 houses with her, just so I could feel like I got some miles out of the costume, and then took our niece and nephew to another half dozen before we headed back home. I'm pretty sure that she'll be a ladybug again next year so I can feel justified in buying her costume in the first place.

The rest of our weekend was lazy, relaxing, and much needed. Our nephew, Max, celebrated his first birthday last week, so we had a small family party for him on Sunday. Max, by the way, was a lion this year...



I hope everyone else had a great Halloween. I can't believe that we are a little more than three weeks from Thanksgiving! Where does the time go?! Stay tuned for more updates!

Half a Year...

Sophia is 6 months old (well, truth be told, she's almost 6.5 months old, and I am just slow on the pick up...). I can't believe my little bean is already a half a year old! Tony and I marvel constantly how much she's grown and developed since March. Truly, when we look at pictures of her from when she was first born, we hardly can recognize that baby! In 6 months, Sophie has:

* learned to roll front to back, and back to front.
* decided that tummy sleeping is the greatest thing in the entire world.
* started eating cereal (rice and oatmeal)
* started eating pureed yams, squash, green beans, peas, apples, and avocado. She LOVES the yams, apples, and squash. The jury is still out on the other stuff.
*cut three teeth. She has two on the bottom, and one on the top. We think the second one on top is moments away from making its debut.
* learned to drink from a sippy cup. She drinks water now like her life depends on it.
*started hitching her back legs into a crawling position. Tony and I are going to be in for it when she goes mobile...
*learned to sit up on her own. She also thinks playing while laying down is for babies.
*learned that standing is the greatest thing ever. She balances herself (with help still) against the coffee table, the couch, us, and gets the biggest grin on her face when she does so.
*started saying "dadadada", "mamama", "cahcahcahcah", and "dahdahdahdah". The last 2, I think, are "cat" and "dog". It might be my overactive imagination, but she seems to say those only when Sappho (the cat) and Lucy (the dog) are nearby. Our friend, Julie, is also convinced that Sophie says, "ok, bye bye", but I haven't heard that one myself.
*gotten this close to sleeping through the night. She has a night every 10-14 days when she makes it all the way through. Unfortunately, I started back to work 3 weeks ago (I am SO NOT a fan of working mommyhood), and hanging with various babysitters has thrown her off her game a bit. I'm sure once her permanent nanny starts (a week from today), she'll work it all out. Getting a full night's sleep again is a dream that Tony and I feel like is still too good to be true.

6 months. I think its going to take me at least another 6 months before I am going to be used to this!..

6:15

That's what time Sophie woke up this morning. 6:15. Am I complaining? Heck no! She slept for the entire night! 6:45-6:15. The end might be just around the corner! Cross you fingers, everyone!

Milestones...

It seems that I have proved myself a liar. I find that it is almost a month (longer???) since my last entry, and I still have not posted new pictures, let alone keep anyone current on the life and times of Sophie Bean. The highlights from the past month are:

1) We had Sophie's four month check up on July 14th (jeez! Can I be any later in my blogging?). She's healthy as a horse, according to her pediatrician. She is in the 95% for height, and 80% for head circumference (her body is FINALLY catching up to her noggin. I was afraid I had given birth to a bobble head). My little dumpling also came in in the 100% for weight. The doctor assures me that there is nothing to worry about, and she will burn all of her thighs (I mean, weight) off once she's more mobile. He also said that the reason why she wasn't rolling all the way over yet was because of her weight. Well, I never!

2) Sophie is slowly stretching her night in hour increments. Now, she pretty consistently makes it until 4-5 before she's up and ready for a feeding. Tony and I can ALMOST see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sleeping the entire night might not be a distant memory after all!



3) We definitely have a talker on our hands! Sophie has about a million interesting things to talk about now that she's found her voice. She babbles to Tony and I, the cat, the dog, the trees, her feet...pretty much anything within her sight line is going to get an ear full. Now, if we could just understand what she's talking about!

4) In the last three weeks or so, Sophie is also much more interested in standing. I think buying her an excersaucer might have had something to do with it (practicing being vertical or something...), but she LOVES standing on laps. She gets a huge grin on her face...she KNOWS that she is the smartest one in the room.

5) Just this past weekend was a virtual trifecta of important events. As we sat on the floor and played on her mat on Friday afternoon, low and behold, what does my little girl do but flip herself over onto her tummy. She looked up at me as though to say, "what's the big deal?". Now that she's figured it out, she won't stop, even though she still hates to be on her tummy. it seems as though I've officially become the baby flipper until she works out how to turn from front to back. By yesterday, she seems to have decided that if she was going to roll over to the right, she might as well learn to go left as well...so she did. On Saturday, Tony walked into our bedroom with Bean and announced that she had cut her first tooth (seemingly overnight, as there was no tooth on Friday). She is moderately more fussy as a result, but I have to say that the first tooth wasn't too bad (I hope I can say the same when her molars come in!). Finally, on Sunday, Tony and I gave Bean her first rice cereal breakfast (her doctor wanted us to start at four months, but I felt like that was too early). Her first attempt was, well, messy. Since then, however, she seems to really take to it. Last night, she was even leaning forward to get to the spoon sooner it seemed. Cute!

In other news, I have about five weeks left before I am officially a full-time teacher again. Tony and I were this close to having the perfect nanny. Terisa started last Monday, and worked last Wednesday as well. She unfortunately called this past Monday to tell us that her engine blew up...and she has no way of getting to Santa Clarita otherwise. It was like glimpsing Paradise and then having the doors shut in my face. So now we are back to square one. *Sigh* Its stressful knowing that we have to have someone sorted out in the next few weeks, as after September 8th, Bean will have to hang out at home by herself. Wish us luck!



Otherwise, we have been laying low and trying to stay cool. Two of our very good friends from San Diego are both due to become parents shortly (actually, our friends, Brian and Laura, already did. Now we are just waiting for Brian's sister, Becky, to have her baby). We both couples give us the word, we'll make another trek down to San Diego to welcome the new babes. The beach weather in Carlsbad will be a nice change from the Hades-like conditions of living Mojave adjacent. :)

Well, there are literally a TON of pictures that I need to post now, and I will make no promises anymore of when that might be. Stay tuned!

Where Does the Time Go?

Ah! Sophie is almost four months old already! I can't believe it! I also can't believe that I missed posting anything about her three month milestones entirely. What kind of mother am I?

Well, as of this Saturday, my baby girl is going to be 16 weeks old. July 14th marks her actual four month birthday. I keep tabs on both because I think I might be a little bit crazy. Ce la vie. But where to start? We had a great first Mother's Day. Tony made a great picnic and we headed up to the local park for the afternoon. Sophie loved sitting in the shade and watching the trees in the wind, Lucy sniffing at the grass, the clouds, everything. She is so observant and never seems to miss anything. Father's Day waas equally wonderful. Tony's awesome parents drove up the Saturday before and surprised him so that they could be there to celebrate Tony's first Father's Day with him. Sunday was spent visiting with his brother and wife. He also bought an Iphone, which has pretty much changed his life. :) Tony wanted to spend his day just hanging out with his family, so we stuck pretty close to home. He gets so few opportunities to just be with his daughter, that he couldn't think of a better way to spend Father's Day. I think he was in heaven all day!

Not too long after Mother's Day, we reached another big day...well, night, to be exact. We put Sophie to bed at her normal hour, fully expecting to be up with her at 10-11 like usual (which would be about 4ish hours of sleep...). Low and behold, we wake to hear her crying at not 11, but 2 am! Yay! The difference of sleeping for 7-8 hours instead of 4-5 is like night and day. We almost feel human again! And aside from a pretty hairy week while we housesat for some friends of ours (Sophie did NOT like sleeping at Diane and David's...AT ALL!), she has pretty consistently stuck to her new schedule. What is even better is that my amazing husband has been taking the first night feeding with her since she was five weeks old. Now that there is only one feeding, momma gets to sleep pretty much all night! We might work out a rotation, as Tony is still pretty tired when he gets up for work, but he loves the private time he gets with her each day.

What else? During our housesitting week, she also started laughing. Baby laughter is one of the sweetest sounds ever, but when its coming out of your own kid, and its the FIRST TIME you are hearing it, your heart just melts. She still only laughs when mommy or daddy are being REALLY (I mean REALLY) goofy, or she's loopy-tired, but its certainly a start. Last Monday we also snapped this photo...




...of her. I can't believe how quickly she's growing! She's also moments away from rolling over. Coordinating her arms to get out of the way when she makes her move is her biggest hurdle, but with a little help from Tony or myself, she can pretty much work it out.

In other news, Tony and I had a great Memorial weekend (except for the almost 4 hour drive we made down to San Diego...Sophie was not a fan). Tony also finally took a five day "paternity leave" last week which was awesome. He was able to stay home with Sophie last Monday while I went back to work for one day. He had a great day, and LOVED getting to have one-on-one daddy/daughter bonding time. We are also in the process of interviewing nannies, which is stressing both of us out. We've met with six women, and 2.5 of them are contenders. We have another interview this afternoon, and we are hoping to have a decision by this Friday. While (almost) all of the interviewees are nice enough, with varying levels of experience, both of us are realizing how very much WE want to be the ones staying home and raising our daughter. Currently, that doesn't seem to be an option, but we are DEFINITELY looking for opportunities that would allow one or both of us to be home with Sophie all the time. We are headed down to San Diego for the fourth, and are looking forward to some QT with his family. Our good friend, Nicole, will be in town from Texas so that she will finally get to see Sophie, and her husband (also Tony's best friend), Tim will hopefully be making an impromptu trip to meet up with us as well. In the midst of the driving and visiting, we'll also be celebrating our nephew, James', fourth birthday. Talk about time flying!

Photos will be up on snapfish in the next week. There will be TONS, as I think there is half of May and all of June to post! Hopefully, I will learned a lesson about procrastination from this! Probably not... :) Happy 4th, everyone!

A little preview, to tide everyone over...

Keeping Faith

I've been following a blog for the last month about a little girl named Faith. Her mother, Shelly, is a friend of my friend, Andrea. Both Faith and Andrea's son, Drew are heart kids...that is, they were both born with very serious heart defects. Both Faith and Drew have had numerous heart repairs, the most recent for both kids being the same surgery. Drew had his surgery last May, and Faith had hers just this past March. Drew is a remarkable five year boy who for the first time can run, jump, and play almost like any other five year old. Faith, however, died just this past Monday morning after an extremely long and arduous hospital stay.

I've never met Shelly, and I never knew her daughter either. I only heard about their situation through Andrea, who had posted links to Faith's blog on her blog and facebook site. I read Shelly's updates on Faith almost daily, however, as Shelly's candor and honesty about her feelings over her daughter's situation were incredibly touching. As I read about Faith's passing, tears streamed down my cheeks. I felt her loss, and what is more, I felt Shelly's. Sophia is only three months old, and the impact her little life has had on mine cannot be described unless you actually are a parent. She is inextricably tied to me. Whatever pain she will feel in life I will feel also. To lose a child has to be an uncomparable devastation.

Shelly is a remarkable mother. Her daughter's passing, while painful, has touched her mother deeply. Faith's short life was a testament to loving unconditionally, making her loved ones feel special and unique, and finding beauty everyday. As a result, Shelly has committed her life to doing the same. Her journey is truly inspiring. In the end, the life that Faith lived, and the message that Shelly has shared with hundreds of strangers, is the life that each of us should strive to live everyday.

Life IS precious, and a gift that should be cherished. Each of our loved ones should know how important they are, and that their presence in our lives is a blessing. However fleeting an impact it may seem to be at the time, we should learn to appreciate the positive influence it has had in our own lives. Like Faith, and Shelly, to love unconditionally and to value the blessing that life is is a quality we should all embrace. I know that I am going to remember to appreciate all the blessings that life has to offer, as they are fleeting and temporary. A little girl who I never met reminded me to always keep faith.