and just a few weeks into the new year we welcomed sweet little Sophia.
Sophia still had a cold but it didn't bother her one bit. She was very excited to get her hands on her stocking that has been hanging by the fireplace for weeks. 
We helped Sophia unwrap her gifts. She enjoyed exploring everyone's new things. She loved these little egg balls that rattle and daddy's hand lotion.
After we had our little Christmas just the three of us, we had my family over for brunch (no one took pictures!) and then went to Nana and Pappy's for a few more gifts. We spread the unwrapping out some because it was too overwhelming for Sophia.
She received lots of wonderful toys (more pictures to come). A favorite was the doll she received from Nana and Pappy. She loves this doll. Nana told her to "kiss the baby" and she put it right up to her mouth with a great big grin on her face. Love. 
We went to the live pageant service at our church. Sophia loved being in church. She hasn't been to a service since she was just a few months old, as she is far to noisy for a normal church service. The pageant service was the perfect one to take her to. There were lots of kids and even live animals so no one minded that Sophia was a chatterbox. She enjoyed pointing out everything to mom and dad. "Look mom lights!" "look a donkey!" "look windows!" "look people!" or at least this is what I imagine she was saying.
After the service we headed to Nana and Pappy's for dinner. 
Pappy Clark showing Ms. S a few special ornaments on the tree. 
Sophia doesn't "get" gifts quite yet and really is not very interested in the unwrapping process at all. So with a little help from mom and Grandma all of her gifts were opened.
Inspecting her new shopping cart. She was very interested in the little girl on the box.
Sophia, you are so curious! From the moment you wake up in the morning you are pointing at things and "asking" mommy and daddy to tell you what they are. You are on the move and going places fast! We love watching you grow and learn new things each day. We love you sweet girl!
The Carter family (I have to hunt down last year's picture, lets just say things have changed! and we love it!)
We may have a future as a rock star...
So I rushed home and in my worried, new mom state decided Sophia must be thirsty and nursed her. Well, can you guess what happened roughly 30 minutes later? Yep, she vomited all over me. Duh. I learned my lesson. We canceled our plans to visit Carl's sister and called the pediatrician. Pedialyte was purchased and we got ready for a long weekend.
Needless to say Sophia was not a fan of Pedialyte. It's basically a really gross, kid version of gatorade. The Pedialyte Popsicles went over a little better but we could still only get about an ounce or two in her :/
All in all though, Sophia was a great sick baby. She slept really well (16 hours on Sunday) and was her usual happy self accept while vomiting. Her parents on the other hand... well we both got it a few days later and were really crabby!
After another nap (life of a baby :)) we headed out to Grandma and Grandpa's for turkey!
Sophia enjoyed playing with the spoons and a butter knife until mom declared it not safe and took it away. It's true, we get away with more when just dad is around.
Playing with Grandma's horse that we weren't sure whether we wanted to laugh or cry about.
Sophia, you are just a joy! You are so bright, curious and on the go! You love playing, hugging your mama, and exploring new places and things. Your mommy and daddy love you and love watching you grow!
Sophia also helped pick out some apples. She was surprisingly not interested in the apple trees. Normally Sophia gets very excited about trees and wants to eat the leaves. She was having a bit of a serious day though. Well, until the wagon ride, more on that in another post.
We did manage to get some smiles out of her :) It was a lovely Fall afternoon and we came home with apples, pumpkins, and maple donuts. Yum! I love Fall foods!
We had a lot of fun anyways and enjoyed see the adorable bear cubs and the orangutans. The orangutans really enjoyed showing off for the crowd. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough with the camera to capture one of them waving, smiling, and sticking out his tongue.
Sophia enjoyed being out and about exploring some place new. She shrieked so much that she scared a few other zoo guests.
We finished off our trip with dinner for Sophia and Honey Hut ice cream for mom. Mom did a better job keeping her food off her face...
It was a great day and we can't wait to take Sophia back next year!
