New Baby Cousin

Angela Sue arrived safely, and quickly I might add, this afternoon weighing in at 8.5lbs and measuring 19 inches. Congratulations, Chris and Oli!

Chris was looking great and in happy spirits this evening for my visit. She started her IV at 7am, broke her water at 8 am, and had a beautiful baby girl by 12:15...way to go!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Tuesday marked Charlie and my third wonderful year of marriage! Hoorah! It was an exciting day as Grandma B also turned 90 years old and Charlie's sister, Chris, was scheduled to have her new baby born that day....BUT....

Everyone had the FLU...Boooooo! Stinky old flu! Charlie has been in his sick bed since about Friday evening, taking a short break for Grandma's birthday party on Saturday, and returned to it with a high fever and serious cough. I had a short stint of a little bug and all of Charlie's family has since come down with flu symptoms as well! I guess we passed more than cheer at grandma's party, huh?!

So instead of anniversary celebrations, I was busy following my husband around with a can of Lysol and keeping my fingers crossed that Sophia wouldn't take a turn for the worst. Grandma B was also sick and unable to enjoy her day, and Chris had to have her induction rescheduled...UGH! I know she's anxious to get that baby out. The big day is tomorrow, though, so we're all properly excited!

Sophia continues to have bowel issues and the doctor recommended that we avoid dehydration by giving her fiber to "bulk up her poop" and Pedialyte to keep her hydrated. Well, let's see, first off she hates the Pedialyte and refuses to drink it. Second, the fiber isn't bulking up anything, just making it shoot farther and wider than ever before! God help me but I cleaned up the largest poo-plosion (a word I coined myself, but feel free to use it) this side of the Mississippi earlier this morning. Her mood is not affected much, thank goodness, and she hasn't developed a fever, but I think I'll be phoning the doc back tomorrow if things don't change!

I included a pic from our wedding since nobody seems to be too photogenic this week!

Touchdown!

Traveling Light?

How long are we leaving for, again??

Papa Leo playing with Baby Girl!

Charlie and his Grandma Hirner

Sophia with Great Aunt Mary, and Great Aunt Pat in the background! (and who said all Hirners look alike...oh wait, maybe)

Sadly we had another funeral to attend this weekend. Charlie's Uncle Mike passed away last weekend after a long and hard battle with cancer and the funeral was this past Friday in Palmyra, Missouri. Palmyra is north of St. Louis a bit and about a 3-4 hour drive from here. Charlie's dad, Leo, is one of ten children and Mike was the youngest. It was very sad, but I guess the positive note is that you have a lot of support with a family that big! The hardest thing I think is that Grandma Hirner has now buried three of her children in her 90 years.

We only went out of town for seriously 24 hours, but by the looks of our luggage you could guess a week! It was obviously our first overnight outing with Sophia and maybe, just maybe I over packed...and would you believe I forgot something!! I left Sophia's tights for her dress sitting on the top of her dresser. Since it was much too cold to go without leggings of some sort she looked ultra swanky in her velvet dress with purple courdoroy pants underneath. Oh well! She did a super job in the car ride, but since we left in the evening she was lonesome in the dark backseat and slept the entire time. Charlie and I cuddled, talked, and joked over the center console for our ultra romantic Valentine's night! By the time we got to the hotel, unpacked, and set up the Pack n Play Sophia was bright-eyed and ready to play! Charlie was fast asleep as I cuddled her in bed until about 1 am and then she was back into her "crib" for the night.

She did very well throughout the church service and was happy to meet all her family at the luncheon. She entertained everyone with her loud singing and talking. Hopefully we'll meet up with the extended family again under happier circumstances.

My Valentines

You're missing the full effect of the heart shaped snail on her shirt and festive embroidered heart jeans...love it!

Sophia and Grandma enthralled by a special Valentine's Matlock...

3 colors of roses are perfect for my ecclectic tastes

Valentine weekend proved to be very busy indeed! Sophia and I ran around during the day delivering Valentines to worthy folks! One of our stops was Grandma B, who was very happy indeed to see us! Sophia and Grandma played and played. She cooed and cuddled with Grandma B and even decided to take this moment to learn how to roll back the other way! Woo Hoo! She was lying on the floor and all of a sudden, rolled back over! She became very adept at rolling from her tummy to her back, but just wouldn't go the other way, but now we see the light! She did it a few more times that day, but hasn't done much of it since...hmmm, very curious.



My darling husband surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of roses delivered to the house. It even came with it's own coordinating vase and I love it! He was quite proud of himself for picking out such a colorful and fun present! I must admit that I was impressed by his choices, but even more impressed by the fact that he was organized enough to get this done and ordered BEFORE Valentine's Day! :) I am still enjoying their wonderful scent and the splash of happiness they give our house! Good job, Honey!



Walter even had a grand day at doggie day care where they had a Valentine's party and he got a bath. When Walter came home he was toting a bag of doggie treats, a bottle of bubbles and a Snoopy Valentine given to him by one of the other dogs! Too cute! I love doggie day care!

Puppy Love

If he would just come a little closer I could get him...

Starry-Eyed Sister

Many of you, like us actually, were worried about what Walter's reaction to the baby would be. Overall, he is really just a peach with her, but some days I think he could kind of take her or leave her. In fact, sometimes I think he feels like he should protect her just because we like her so much, not because he feels some sort of duty to her.

What we weren't expecting however, was how much Sophia would love Walter. She is absolutely enamored with him. She could be fussy and crying and if Walter walks in the room, all is well! She will track him all across the room and just giggle and laugh whenever he comes near. She reaches out to him and smiles at him all day long. It even looks like she has some sort of innate skill that knows how to pet him. Granted, she is still a baby and can be very grabby with his fur at times, but she will pat him and stroke him and loves to feel his soft fur. It is seriously the most precious thing you have ever seen.

I think that Walter loves all the attention and when we're not looking, repays the love in his own way!

More Schedule Changes

I don't know what you're talking about, Mom, I am NOT tired.

Does this look say it all or what?? Although Sophia has continued to be an awesome sleeper at night, she is beginning to resist those daytime naps. She is truly afraid she's going to miss something, I think. I have been putting off trying to get her on a consistent nap schedule because it's really more work for me. I really have mixed emotions about it.

On the one hand, it will be nice to get her on a schedule so that she doesn't get that late afternoon crankiness, and I will have a guaranteed bit of time to get some things done around the house...but on the other hand...this now means that I will have to be home during a certain time and I will have to actually plan my outings and my lunch dates around this. Hmmmm.

One of the things I have loved best about this working from home gig is the ability to make lunch dates. It is so Johnson County wife of me, but truly I love it. A scheduled nap will no doubt put a kink into many a lunch plans, but ah, motherhood isn't without sacrifice I guess!

The doctor said now's the time to start working on it. So for the past few days I have been experimenting with putting her down in her crib. I haven't actually found a time that I'm consistent with, but we're conquering the first step of actually using her bed! This has been amazing helpful as you may have guessed. I do think that she understands this is place to sleep and her cries are mostly out of protest of being left alone. Today, though, she barely cried at all and is still asleep after over an hour...hooray!

Caucus-Schmaucus

Okay, okay, I know that this is Sophia's blog, but trust me if she were old enough to know what was going on, she would be outraged too!

So, this has been a hectic week with the Super Bowl, the greatest day of the year in Charlie's opinion, followed by Super Tuesday, always a highlight of any election year. This year for Super Tuesday, Kansas decided to hold a democratic caucus in lieu of a primary. Remember now, that KS is run by a legislature that is controlled by the Republicans and they just couldn't seem to rustle up the money needed to hold a primary for the Dems. So, hey...let's caucus! What a grand idea, or was it?!

For those of you living here you have probably already seen on the news what a nightmare this caucus turned out to be. With only three location sites in our entire county, each one was overrun by over 2,000 people waiting to exercise their right to vote. Quite honestly, I didn't even know there were that many Democrats in the entire state, much less my county! But the point here is this: why on earth did the planners of this event so grossly underestimate its draw? This is one of the most important elections in our lifetime and there has continued to be an all out battle between Hillary and Obama to get the party nomination. I continue to be baffled at how both local and national media coverage seemed to think that everything would be "clear" after Super Tuesday! Hello???!

Without giving you all the nitty-gritty details, at my caucus site there were well over 2,000 people who all waited for hours on end in the freezing sleet and snow to cast a vote. I am proud that Mom and I were some of the people who persevered to make our voices heard. In this upcoming year of more and more campaigns I urge all of you to make your voice heard. Go and vote as often as possible, become an informed decision maker, and fight for change, no matter who your candidate, because this country is in dire need! And whatever you do, write your congressperson and demand a primary, by golly! Oh, and one last thing, because I can't resist, it so utterly apparant after yesteday's debacle why it was that President Elect Gore could never take office! The hanging chads may have met their match with the KS caucus! This country needs to put democracy back in our country before moving on to others!

For you KS Republicans out there, your caucus is this Saturday. Please go and vote, and while you're at it, vote for McCain...we can easily beat him!

Oh, I Remember Them!

Sophia has recently rediscovered her feet! Many of you remember that Sophia was breech, Frank Breech to be exact. That means that she had her feet folded up into her face the entire time. When she was first born she would bob her feet near her face all the time, but that was mostly because she was still kinda stuck in that position! But, since she's unfolded, she forgotton about her long lost playthings. Well, each day those little tootsies come closer and closer to her mouth...she hasn't achieved the toe-suck yet, but it's coming soon!

She has also discovered her tongue and is constantly rolling it around and sticking it in and out of her mouth. She makes sounds while she's doing this and is just absolutely enthralled by her new trick. The latest video shows her exploring both her tongue and her feet as she entertains herself as Mommy changes diapers!

How to Wear Out a Baby...

Step 1: Wash the baby

Step 2: Dry the baby

Step 3: Dress the baby

Step 4: Let the baby play until worn out!

More Shelby

Okay, I just had to add some more cute pics of Shelby and her never ending birthday---oh, the joys of being 12!! After the family party she was lucky enough to have a birthday party with her friends at a local Holiday Inn (actually the same one where we had our wedding reception) where they got to eat pizza, swim, play, and generally create havoc as only children do best.

Charlie and I were invited as guests of Stacy and Pam, not Shelby, to keep them company and entertain them for a while before they were surely up all night listening to the crunching of potato chips, giggling, whispering, and wondering exactly what was going on in the next room! We had a blast hanging out and Sophia slept through the whole thing, so it was perfect.

I was struck however, and really the main reason for wanting to post this, at how willing this group of girls was to pose and look cheeky for picture after picture. I wondered if I would be so sure standing bikini-clad amongst strangers, dripping wet, and smiling for the camera---Uh, no I would not. In this day and age of young people being so much more consumed by pressures from the media and elsewhere to have a certain look and to be so skinny, I was refreshed to see a group of girls throw out that notion and just have fun. They looked adorable and were truly enjoying themselves. It was a perfect moment of kids being kids, another notion that seems to be lacking in this country lately! Although these thoughts really make me sound kind of old, now that I'm a mom, I think even more about the pressures put on little girls and the pressures of just growing up and being a kid in this crazy new time of technology and sex. I hope that Sophia will grow up with many of Shelby's same traits: kindness, sense of humor, and a knack for having fun!