2013!

Okay, so I know I am super late with this post, but hello 2013! I'm not sure how it will top 2012, but I am excited to see what this year brings for our little family...like Sophia's first birthday (umm..how are we ALREADY even thinking about this?!)

2012 was a big year for us.

We found out we were having a GIRL!...

...celebrated our first wedding anniversary...

Photo from the amazing Taylor Lord!

...introduced Sophia Rose Rivera (the sweetest, cutest, best baby ever) to the world...

...and celebrated seven months of her perfect little life!
And this year, I've set a resolution to be around more for Sophia. I don't want to be the absent mother that is always at work, missing out on all the big moments in her daughter's life.

Hopefully this year also brings us our first house and a chance to make that house a home. We also get to celebrate Johnny's 30th, Sophia's 1st, my sisters' college & grad school graduations, several of our friends' big days, and all the moments in between.

Cheers to 2013!

Sophia's First Christmas

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. Sophia had a lovely 1st Christmas!

 She enjoyed looking at Christmas lights with a few of her furry friends.

And she loves her new little wagon. Every morning Auntie Tiffany takes Sophia and her little passengers on a daily stroll to say good morning to the townspeople (my dad).

 Sophia even gets story time in her wagon.

Then on the 26th, this little beauty turned 7 months old! Ack, it is going by way too fast. She is eating sweet potatoes, butternut squash, applesauce, and pears! And her new favorite thing is her own reflection. Her bathtub is right next to the mirror. When she catches a glimpse of her reflection, she breaks out in a giant smile and tries to climb out of the tub to talk to herself. What a hoot! Sophia changes so much every day. But no teeth and no hair yet for this little babe. I'm okay with delaying the whole teething experience, but hopefully she gets some hair soon. I'm ready to clip some bows to that sweet little head.

Now it's time to prepare for Sophia's 1st New Years!

Christmas Fail

So I had visions of grandeur for this Christmas season...so many plans to make this the best Christmas that Sophia won't remember. But work is relentless this time of the year, and I'm barely staying afloat. But I did manage to bundle up Sophia for some morning errands.

We made a fun trip to Target (one of my favorite places!!) and finally bought Sophia some Christmas pajamas. A couple other stops later, and Sophia was tuckered out!

We still need to put up the mini "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree Johnny and I got last year for our first apartment together. My sister nicknamed it the "Charlie Brown" tree because it is a sad, skinny, little tree. But it's our first family tree, and I love it! In the meantime, I leave you with this photo taken by the Cheng Family Christmas Tree.

Happy December!

It's finally December and the best time of the year! Merry December and Happy Christmas! It's time to deck our halls, trim the tree, and elf the shelf (maybe? I still can't decide if it is creepy or cute).

6-month-old Sophia is all ready for her first Christmas season.

She gets to meet Santa soon...I've been putting it off because I can't stand the thought of spending my day off in a crowded deal-seeking frenzied mall. And because we never know what to expect from our dear Sophia. There's a strong possibility that she'll cry the entire time...like she did when my sweet friend, Chelsea, tried to take her Christmas card photo. I couldn't even set her down for a second!

Exhibit A of Sophia's photo shoot meltdown. 

But check out Chelsea's blog and little baby Max!

In other milestone news, Sophia is sitting up like a big girl! And rolling over from tummy to back and vice versa. Rolling has proved to be a more efficient mode of transportation than crawling for her. She's also going through a phase where she is learning to talk and fascinated by the sound of her own voice. She just sits and squeals (squeaks) loudly. And she'll talk to anyone who will listen. I wonder who she got that from...

Sophia loves watching cars drive by, looking at her reflection and her shadow, listening to music, and chewing on the tags of her stuffed toys. She also loves to sleep on her tummy. I will set her in her crib on her back, and she'll roll over before she can fall asleep.

What's next for her? A trip to the Christmas tree farm, more solid foods, and lots of holiday festivities!

Thankful

Tomorrow, tomorrow...tomorrow! Tomorrow my little Sophia will be six months old! Where did the time go?! There is no way she is already half a year old!

She has become the sassiest and sweetest little girl. And she's finally growing like a champ! 

How can you not love that little face?

We fed Sophia her first meal on Thanksgiving. She was not impressed.

We've tried again every day since then, and she's definitely come around to eating solid foods. We're still on the sweet potatoes, but I can't wait for her to try different veggies.

After Thanksgiving dinner, Johnny and I were busy with all the Black Friday hoopla, so I look forward to decorating for Christmas in the next week or so. My sisters put up a Christmas tree already, and Sophia loves the twinkling lights on it. We lay under the tree and look up at the lights every night before her bedtime.

Stay tuned for six month photos and the Twenty-Five Days of Sophia's First Christmas!

Fall Festivities

I'm so excited that the holidays are here. They are so much better with a baby around!

 Last week we took Sophia to the pumpkin patch. She had a blast looking at all the pumpkins and just being outside. She is the happiest when she is outside.

And now that it's November, we are one step closer to Christmas, my favorite of favorite holidays! I can't wait to take Sophia around to look at Christmas lights. She loves loves loves lights. Sometimes in the middle of her midnight freak out sessions, Sophia will stop crying to stare at the nightlight for thirty minutes. So if Christmas lights will soothe Sophia, Christmas lights she will get!

We're also going through some changes here in the Rivera house. Johnny, Sophia, and I have some new roommates. The three of us are moving in with my parents temporarily. They are a major help with Sophia...and sometimes Sophia only likes her grandpa anyway. And it gives us an opportunity to save some money and decide on our next move. I'm hoping that this means our next step is a quaint little house ready for me to decorate complete with exposed brick walls and a chalkboard wall.

Sophia Rose changes. every. single. day. Her six month birthday is just around the corner. And her first taste of food will be Thanksgiving Day! 

Sophia has started "crawling." She puts her head on the ground, wiggles her butt from side to side, scoots along, gets tired, and flips onto her back. It's pretty adorable. She's also very vocal. She'll babble your ear off, and she can even say milk in Chinese. And she always has to be chewing something. If it's not one toy or another, it's her blanket or her little finger...or whatever else is around. Today, for instance, it was Johnny's nose.

Now that Sophia is a little older and more alert, I cannot wait to share the holidays with her (we'll have to find her some sweet little holiday outfits too...of course). I can't wait to pop Love Actually in the DVD player and sip a vanilla peppermint latte.

What are your favorite holiday traditions?

Life Lately

Sorry for the lapse in updates, but life has been crazy between work and raising a four-month-old baby!  Five months is right around the corner, and before we know it, we will be celebrating little Sophia's first birthday!

Here is Sophia and her long legs at four months.

We have quite a few updates as well:

• Sophia is such a morning baby. In the mornings, she will sit in bed talking to herself. And girlfriend sure has lots to say!
• She is dra.ma.tic. We have to be careful because she likes to fling herself backwards when she cries.
• She's also a genius. Well, genius might be pushing it, but she is a very smart baby. Sophia's cries are unstoppable when she is hungry except when we give her a bath. She knows that she gets to eat as soon as her bath is over, so we usually have a happy baby during bath time. She also hates her pacifier. Sophia has changed the way she cries so that we cannot get the pacifier in her mouth! And she knows that the rocking chair means bed time. We literally cannot sit on the rocker without her screaming unless she is on the verge of passing out.
• Sophia is very timid. Everything scares her. And I mean everything. She is scared of the dark, loud or sudden noises, her cookie jar toy, the sound of the door opening, the squeak of her Sophie the Giraffe...you get the point.
• The Aden and Anais blankets are her favorite. She's always clutching one.

• I'm looking forward to sharing the holiday season with Sophia. Next weekend we plan on taking her to the pumpkin patch! And I already have a running list of seasonal outfits for this precious girl that may or may not cost a small fortune...
• Sophia attended her first wedding recently, and she loved it. I had visions of her screaming during the ceremony, but she sat happily in my lap and sucked on her dress.

I hope to continue updating on a more regular basis. Johnny and I are taking a little vacation from work to take Sophia to Baylor Homecoming {SIC 'EM!!} and visit his family in a couple weeks. It'll be the first time Johnny has had time off from work since before Sophia was born! I know we are both looking forward to a little rest and time with Sophia before the crazy holiday season starts at work.

 Little Sophia celebrating mommy's birthday.

Ruffle bottom!