"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends."-1 Corinthians 13:7-8

Whoa December, slow down! CanNOT believe 2012 is almost over.  It doesn't seem too long ago that I was having a heart-to-heart with Rob about our struggle to become parents and the challenges we had already overcome, and still needed to.  I remember making my new year's resolution to leave it in God's hands and to just live my life. No more dwelling on the what if's of the past, or the what if's of the future. In order to do this, I decided to put together a mini ceremony for our 2 angel babies.  I printed the dates that will always be remembered, and included the following "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends."-1 Corinthians 13:7-8. Forever in our hearts."  I told Rob I wanted to fold these up and put them inside 2 white balloons and release them into the sky.  The Sunday we decided to have our little ceremony came and it was "one of those days" that I was feeling more depressed than usual.  I think I stayed in bed as long as I could, and Rob secretly went to Party City and got the balloons for us.  This simple act brought me to tears and I knew that he believed in my strength to face this day.  I didn't feel ready to let them go, it's like I didn't want it to seem like I was forgetting their existence. Now I know, that would never happen.  Those 2 experiences and 16 months of wondering and praying have changed who I am and made me appreciate life so much more. Not only this, but it has truly made our marriage stronger and brought us closer than I imagined was possible.  He is my rock.

Sure enough, we got pregnant 2nd week of January. Everything is eventual.

Anyway, didn't mean to bring up the hard stuff.  I was just thinking about where I was in my life a year ago.  In an open grassy field, with Rob, releasing these balloons. Shedding a few tears as it started to sprinkle outside, it was such a beautiful Sunday morning. 

I feel so grateful for the blessings I have in my life.  It's not perfect by any means, but it's finding something positive in each challenge posed in front of you, that helps you endure.

Mmk, time to update happy baby moments!  It was really cute, I was talking to Rob last night and he says, "Are you documenting the new stuff that Sofie is doing???"  This was in reference to this last week, which we feel like has been a week of growing up for her. I said, "Whaddaya think my blog is for?!? Duh!"  Hahaha.  I just love how involved Rob is with our little girl. His face lights up when he sees her after being at work all day, it melts my heart. le sigh

So yeah, about that.  Now that she is awake a lot more during the day, she just loves her "play time".  This used to just mean looking around and smiling, cooing, and reaching.  Even when we first used her gym, she would kinda swing her arms and kick her legs around.  As of this last week, she is grabbing the toys in front of her.  Kung fu grip! She tries to pull it towards her.  We also noticed she has been using her left hand more, which is interesting! Rob's excited because apparently this could be dollar signs for her future as a professional athlete. With her genes, it's bound to happen.   Haha! We would also love her just as well if she was a klutz with no athletic ability, c'mon meow.

  
She really is growing up before our eyes (i know i say this all the time, but for realsies).  There has been less colic lately, more coos and way more playing. No more newborn "eat.sleep.repeat."  I love spending time playing with her while she tries to do new things.  Schedule is getting pretty good, she has slept through the night twice this week. I'm still not ready for her to go to her crib yet, hehe.  Probably next week, we shall see. 

One new, but not-so-awesome trend is not liking car rides or sometimes, being in her car seat in general *YIKES!*  This really poses a challenge for me.  5-10 minutes into the car ride, she gets pretty pissed.  I'm planning on getting some shades for the windows, so I can let her see more and possibly play with a toy or 2. Definitely put a damper on our Saturday evening plans.We were pretty excited about attending Uncle Will & Aunt Patti's Christmas party and then swinging by Bea's Ugly Sweater Party. As we went to drop off cupcakes that I baked for Bea's party, we realized it was not in the cards.  Not to mention, it was raining pretty damn hard.  The minute we left the house, she got upset and screamed the whole way there. Man oh man, wasn't gonna try that for another 30-45 minutes.  Long story short, she didn't even go to sleep until midnight! Talk about throwing her off her groove.  Hopefully we can make it to Uncle Kevin & Aunt Pam's party this weekend.  We really wanna introduce Sofia to everyone!

Today we had lotsa fun with our favorite preggers, Paulina. It was an official mommy initiation because the minute I handed her over, she had the biggest blowout I've ever experienced! Whoa mama!  Poor baby was brewing that one up for awhile.  It went all the way up her back, just after I got her dressed in a cute, festive outfit too! Haha.  Take 2, and she spits up on Paulina.  *facepalm* It's what you have to look forward to. It was too funny.

One last new, and absolutely adorable thing she has been doing is twirling her hair.  It's hilarious! When she goes down for a nap, or is waking up and is in a "half awake/asleep" type of stage.  She puts her hand back there and starts to pull or twirl her hair.  So freaking cute (Yes, I'm obsessed with my child)

 
 Post-partum Lex update:  I ended up taking 4 days off of Insanity (boo!), my cyst is doing much better though.  It was super sore and I had bruising all around it and was still squeezing tissue out. Sorry if that's TMI.  Poor Rob was helping squeeze it out and almost got nailed in the face.  He definitely gagged, haha.  Anyway. I'm playing catch up and am almost done with my 2nd week. I'm curious to see how I do on my fit test. Go team, Go!  

Mmk, that's all for this week.  I'm excited to share another picture of our little munchkin.  Since I went crazy with the Christmas onesies, I'll be able to dress her up every day this week until Christmas. Haha :D.   

Hope everyone enjoys this wonderful Christmas with their loved ones.  I know that we will, no matter what :)

Xoxo

Lex