Sophia Renee has arrived!!

We are thrilled to have brought home a healthy baby girl this week!! I personally am a little tired, but over all just feeling a million times better now that Sophia is here with us and not sitting on a nerve in my back!! She was born on January 14 at 2:32 am. She weighed 7 lbs 6oz. and was 19.5 inches. She is a little cuddler that would love to be held all day long, while making her little cooing and gurgly noises of content. It seems that she already has a personality that is completely different than Alicia's at the same age. We have been enjoying every moment with her, and are looking forward to watching her develop her little personality and character. Below are just a few pics...

A full head of hair like her daddy and her sister. Enjoying the nice weather on Sophia's first day home...

Our first family photo in the hospital!Manny and Alicia both enjoyed the sand last weekend...Sophia was still enjoying my belly!
Alicia gets to enjoy the sand and water in the backyard with her Xmas gift from Grandpa Charlie and Grandma Peggy!

Keeping up

So, I've been notified that my blog is falling behind. I guess I am overdue for a good long post. So, going back to Alicia's birthday...My mom came to town the week of Alicia's birthday which was a huge help in preparing for her little party. Her birthday was on Friday and her party was on Saturday. Alex took her birthday off work, and we really just celebrated her for two days straight. On her birthday she got to open gifts at breakfast, lunch and dinner. We went to Friday's for lunch and she was stunned when the servers sang to her and enjoyed sharing her ice cream sunday with her daddy. The day was the perfect little birthday for her. I think that Alex and I have never enjoyed anything as much as watching her happy little face as everyone out here that loves her came to celebrate her. She had a great pizza party on Saturday, and Alex and I are really enjoying being able to celebrate special occasions settled into our home. Alicia's two year dr. appt. went very well. Her weight hit the 40th percentile at 26 Ibs. and her height was the 30th at 32 inches. Every day we hear her expressing new words and phrases...currently she has been enjoying letting me know when anything is too bright, or too loud, too hot, etc.

We spent Christmas Eve with Alex's family at his parents house. Alicia was showered with a mountain of gifts that she was more than ready to open after a recent birthday to get warmed up. Being the only little one around, she tends to be the highlight of most family gatherings, and is very spoiled. It was a great night of celebrating with Alex's family. On Christmas day we just stayed home by ourselves with Alicia. We started the day with our stockings and a few more gifts for Alicia, but spent most of the day relaxing.

I'm at the 37 week mark in my pregnancy, and couldn't be happier to be reaching the final countdown. While I feel like we are leaving the holiday season with a lot of great family memories, I feel like I can't look back too fondly on the season, just because I've been in so much pain over the last several weeks. It is also difficult for me to go through the entire season without having my family around. I especially missed seeing Alicia celebrate Christmas with her three cousins. This baby has been hitting a nerve in my back, and making life pretty rough for me, but it is all coming to an end soon enough!! Other than the back pain my pregnancy has been going as well as can be expected. At five months I felt huge compared to my last pregnancy, but now that I am almost done, I don't feel so ridiculously large. Most people comment that I seem really little to be so close, and I frequently run into strangers that don't realize I'm pregnant until I turn to the side or am walking away, because really all of the weight is just in the front. Alex calls me the basketball smuggler.

This New Years was probably our quietest ever!! Alex and I celebrated the ball dropping in New York at 9pm with some apple soda and then headed off to bed early.

Our puppy, Manny (after Handy Manny), has really become a member of the family. When we got him I think he was between 7 and 8 Ibs. Right now he is probably pushing 35 or so. We really don't know how big he's going to get, but his little paws have become massive!! He is literally growing so fast that I loosened his collar on Wednesday and left it a little big, and by Sunday, it was too tight. His neck had gained about an inch in 4 days!! He's a sweetheart though, and we are loving him much more now that he is sleeping till 7:30 instead of 5:30. He is great with Alicia and she really loves her puppy!