Train Show

Ever since I can remember, I have been going to train shows, train museums, and train shops with my Dad. He is a train enthusiast. I was first introduced to trains when I was around 6 months old. When my mom went to work, my Dad would drive us to McDonalds where he would get french fries, then we would go to the train yard. He fed me french fries while we watched the trains and then I would go to sleep. This year Sophia joined in the fun. The three of us went to the Train Show at the Convention Center in Louisville. Sophia had a wonderful time gazing at people, talking to other babies, and learning about trains from her Grandpa/Pardie/Pop Pop (there hasn't been a decision on his name yet). Her Grandpa even bought her a Thomas the Train engine with Annie and Clarabel the coach cars. They are the wooden trains with the magnets that hold them together. I remember playing with a set similar to it when I was young. Sophia always has a wonderful time with her Grandpa and we hope this will become a family tradition.

Looking at trains with Grandpa

Deciding what to buy

Watching the trains go around the tracks

There they go again

I am having so much fun

Don't I look cute in my Conductor hat?

Lazy Saturday

This Saturday was a lazy one. Cory let me sleep in while he played with Sophia, then we all took a nap together. Sophia never even changed out of her pajamas. At least not until nighttime bath when she put on fresh pjs. It is so nice to have those days occassionally. I know both Cory and I felt overdue for one. Sophia loves hanging out with her Daddy. They sit on the couch together, eating snacks, and watching TV. She also loves to walk around. She likes to hold on to the coffee table and walk around it throwing everything she sees onto the floor.

Snacking together

Playing together

I love my Daddy

I'm going to throw this on the floor. Ready? Pick it up.

Monkey See Monkey Do

Angie and Libby came over today for some quality play time. The girls are so funny together. Each of them laugh at eachother and go for the same toy at the same time. Sophia is definately a ham and Libby is quiet and a thinker. I am pretty sure Libby will be a Rhodes scholar. It is becoming more and more difficult to get Sophia in an action shot. She sees the camera and hams it up. She just waits in her pose until you snap a picture. What have we created? It might have something to do with the over 600 pictures we have of her. Maybe....

The girls continue to imitate eachother. Libby is now proficient at raspberries and Sophia sucks her thumb whenever Libby is around. I wish she would suck her thumb in the middle of the night. It might save all the middle of the night wake ups to put the binky back in her mouth. I know, I know. All you "self soothers" out there are appalled that we do that. Sorry. So far self soothing has NOT worked for us. Quite frankly she has a stronger will than we do. This week I attempted self soothing again and the end result was an hour and a half of screaming. No soothing. No nap. Not good. So, we will just continue to go with the flow since we can't reason with her anyway. And we will also hope for the day that she sucks her thumb in the middle of the night. That is until she is 7 and she won't stop sucking her thumb. Boy, parenting is really a game of picking which option is less "bad". But I love it.

Playing together

A picture of me?

Sucking her thumb and hamming it up for the camera. Isn't she talented?

Fun with Auntie Jessica

Auntie Jessica is so much fun. She makes me laugh and sings silly songs to me. I love hanging out with her.

Our Roaring Fire

What better way to spend a cold Saturday night than building a fire?! It was our first fire in our new house and was so much fun. We are not the handiest of people so it did take a while, but we did end up with a nice, warm, roaring fire. I loved it. We even had smores.

I am man. I make fire.

Smore time

Yes, I know it is the middle of January and my Christmas decorations are still up. They are so pretty though. Don't worry. They are coming down today.

Look Momma, I can feed myself

Sophia has finally figured out how to manipulate the spoon. She has known for a while how to use the spoon to test her gag reflex, but never to put food in her mouth. No better time than breakfast to try again. This time we tried with green beans. I know, everyone's favorite breakfast, but with all fruit now being out of the picture yet again, that is all there is. She made a huge mess, but did manage to get some of the green beans into her mouth. She is such a smart gal. The little secret is that when she feeds herself she actually eats more than when Momma feeds her. HaHa. One point for the parents. (We are so far behind we'll never catch up.)

Sophia Grace

Oh, yeah. Jessica can feed herself too.

Ping to the Pong

This weekend my best gal, Jessica, came down from Indianapolis to visit with us. We always love having Jessica here. She is a riot. We had a small ping pong championship. It was great fun. First up was Jessica and Cory and then Jessica and I. Sophia even got in on the action by playing with the little ball. We are all just a tiny bit competitive so it was a lively game.

The posed shot

The "action" shot

Jessica a la Matrix

The girls face off

Play Date

Sophia and Libby always have fun on their play dates. It is a great way for Angie and I to spend an afternoon together. Though they are on different schedules, they still manage to find time to fight over toys, kiss eachother, and talk to eachother. Sophia can be a little aggressive when it comes to giving Libby kisses or hugs. Today she pulled Libby's shirt right off her arm. Good grief. But all in the name of love I guess.

My Girls
They are so much fun. I love them both. I am so happy that Angie and I have gotten to be such good friends. I hope that our daughters will continue their friendship. I look forward to many parties, birthdays, and holidays spent together.

Our Beautiful Butterfly

This evening Sophia took a bath in the big tub with the jets on and then snuggled up in her beautiful butterfly towel from GUK and GAC (Great Uncle Ken and Great Aunt Cheryl). She looks so adorable. Of course, as parents you are allowed to take pictures that serve no other purpose than to make you laugh. So we took some of those. It helps to get a good laugh in. Especially in these trying days of teething. Hope you enjoy them as much as Cory and I did.

6 Months Old

I can't believe that Sophia is 6 months old today. It seems like yesterday that she was born. The morning sickness and outgrowing maternity clothes doesn't seem like it was that long ago either. She has brought so much joy into our lives. Everyone with children tells you this will happen but you don't really understand the kind of joy until you have a child. For the first time in my life, I am totally and completely happy. If I accomplish nothing else but being a mom to little Sophie Bear or Monkey then I will be a happy woman. She has given me so much strength and a higher self esteem but I am not all that sure how. Enough mushy stuff......


She is so funny. She walks now with help. She is still not all that impressed with rolling over and hasn't crawled yet. It seems like she thinks that those things are for babies. She wants to skip right ahead to being a "big girl". I am certainly not ready for that. She loves animals. She chases our two cats, Roman and Simone, around as much as she can. And she loves her Uncle Pancho although he is not too sure about her. She loves her talking dog, her talking Pooh Bear, and her bear her daddy got her. She lights up whenever Daddy comes in the room. She giggles and acts shy, but just for a second, and then reaches for him. They have their own special language of raspberries that they speak to eachother. She is beginning to pull up on things in order to stand. That includes pulling up on me! She is such a ham. She has gotten used to getting her picture taken and people telling her that she is cute so now as soon as she sees a camera, she hams it up with a big smile. What a crazy girl.

She is the love of my life. Here she is hamming it up "big girl" style.

MiMi's Applesauce

On January 4, Sophia had her first helping of MiMi's homemade applesauce. The tradition of homemade applesauce dates back to well, before you could buy applesauce. MiMi made Sophia her own batch of applesauce called Sophia Sauce and we finally tried it out. Sophia kept making horrible faces but kept wanting more and more. Sophia Sauce seems to be a success. She gobbles it up every time. Thanks MiMi.

My friend Libby

January 9, 2007

Christmas 2006 (Don't they look cute in their matching outfits?)

Libby and Sophia just love being with eachother. They are nine days apart and are told that they look like twins. They love playing and drooling over eachother. Today when Libby and her mom, Angie, were over at our house, Libby's hair was dripping wet on one side. It took only seconds to realize that it was wet from Sophia giving her "kisses". Libby teaches Sophia so many new things. She taught her about rolling over and just today she taught Sophia the joys of "the thumb". Angie and I have a great time hanging out together. It is so nice to be able to share the joys and struggles with another mom who is going through things at the same time as you are.

Hanging out

Sophia just loves hanging out with Momma and DaDa. She is so sweet and such a happy baby.

Opening Presents

Sophia just loves to open presents. She is getting better and better at it. She does love that paper. Any kind will do whether it is tissue paper, wrapping paper, or boxes. I am posting a few pictures so you can see how good she is at unwrapping.

Christmas 2006

The Cissells enjoyed their first Christmas together as a family of three this year. Christmas seems to mean so much more to us now. Imagining the birth of Jesus while looking into the eyes of your child was a new experience for both Cory and I. Sophia brought a new joy to such a special day. She of course is the best Christmas present we could ever receive. It was fun to see her "open" presents. Not content to just open her presents, she helped everyone open theirs as well. It was a fun day.

This Christmas was celebrated first in Indiana with Cory's family and then in Florida with my family. It was so great to have enough time to spend with both families for Sophia's first Christmas. Cory's family came over to our house for Christmas so I was responsible for the dinner. I was so nervous. It turned out pretty good. Sophia got her first chance to open presents and looked so cute in her Santa hat.

After her trial run in Indiana, she really "got into" opening presents. She helped everyone especially her Aunt Julia open Christmas presents. It was so fun having all the family together. There were fifteen people under the same roof for the Christmas celebration. The get together even included a game of Family Feud arranged by my sister Julia. The game was heated due to some cheating. You cheaters know who you are.

Thanks to all our family for making our Christmas so wonderful and memorable.