A Day in the Life...

So, what does a 10 month old baby do for fun you may wonder???

Here are just a few photos of our days around here and what our little Rosebud loves to do!

Smiling and eating a "mum mum".  Smiling is her favorite thing to do!

Here she is waiting to get the oil changed at the Subaru dealership.  She is looking like her Mama in this picture.  She was miss personality and visiting with all the other customers.  She is quite the people watcher!

Oh yeah...riding the lawn mower with her Poppi.  This is one of her new favorites!  She sings while riding.  It's pretty cute (but her Nani isn't a fan of her riding so young!).

Wagon rides in the sunshine with Cousin Cade.

Hey everyone!

Cade says "hi" too!

Friday fiesta night at Carmen's.  Sofia and Cade are telling the waitress what they would like to eat tonight! Sofia is saying, "Um, yes.  I believe I'll have some sliced avocado and Cade here will have a side of rice.  Oh, and a pitcher of your lager beer please.  Thanks!"

Getting ready to go hunt some dove. Ok, not really, but she is getting ready to hunt something!  Just kidding.  The gun's not real.  Calm down.  We only let her play with the REAL small pistol ;)

And what 10 month old doesn't love getting packages from Gramps in California!  She looks super excited about this one!  It could just be the box itself and she would be happy as a clam!

So, that's just a little bit of what Sofia has been up to lately.  Drinking beer and shooting guns.  Maybe we should find something more age appropriate for her to do...

Happy Monday!  Now, I only hope that everyone gets my humor. 

 Bye!  I gotta go get the door.  DCS is knocking!

Easter Weekend

We had a very busy and memorable Easter weekend as I am sure most all of you did!  On Saturday we went to visit with J.R.'s Mom and Step Dad in Wartrace, TN.  They live near a strawberry farm and we enjoyed lunch and then a visit down to the strawberry patch to pick berries!  Sofia loved it mostly because it was time spent outside, which is her preference these days, but she also got to experience lots of "firsts".  First ride on a golf cart out to begin the picking...

Riding past the chickens and bee/honey containers (I don't know what these are properly called)...

Deciding which row of strawberries would hold the key to the most beautiful and delicious of choices...

Helping Daddy pull a berry right off the vine...

Riding on her Daddy's shoulders.  Isn't this every child's favorite place to be transported around?

Sofia with Grandma and Papaw.  She was very interested in those bright red edibles but unfortunately still isn't quiet old enough to indulge in the juicy, sweet taste of a strawberry.  Sorry baby girl...

Daddy reading her very first Easter card to her as she explores the basket with goodies inside!  Empty eggs but what 10 month old needs anything inside a good plastic egg?!  

Rayley Beth, Sofia, Maggie, and Emme Grace at Nani and Poppi's house on Easter Day.

She absolutely loves going to be with her Nani and Poppi and all her cousins!  

Our little family of three on our first Easter together.  We started the day by going to church with Holly, Brad, Rachel, Eric, Sara, MaryKay, and Jim.  Sofia loved the singing and music at church!  She was singing along and even doing a little hand raising.  This made us laugh but makes me so happy to see her enjoy praising God, even though she doesn't realize she is, but I like to think she is getting in on the action :)  It was a wonderful start to a day of remembering and celebrating the reason for Easter.

Family gatherings in anticipation of the big event...HUNTING EGGS!

Let the hunting begin!

Sofia and Cade enjoyed the hunt via wagon while Holly, Brad and myself did the actual picking of their eggs for them.  There was a lot of, "hey, let me see your egg!", and then back and forth.  Typical for their ages.  Cute!

Alex going for one of his eggs!  My Mom makes it fair by labeling each egg with a child's name and an equal number of eggs.  That sure is different from when I was little and as soon as the word "go" was said it was each child for themselves! It also makes it easy to know each kid gets 20 eggs and at the end when we count we know if there are any eggs that went unnoticed  and we need to keep on looking!

Maggie enjoying a shiny purple prize!

Sofia and her cousin, Cade.

It was such a wonderful first Easter!  Full bellies, time with family, and weather that couldn't have been ordered to more perfection.  With each celebration spent with our new little addition I am reminded how much I love this little girl.  She is a ray of sunshine in my world and lights up the room when she enters it.  My heart is full to the rim and it makes me so happy and thankful that she is surrounded by so much love even outside of her Daddy and I.  

I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead and that you got to enjoy time with family or friends as well.  Take time to be with those you love because it is so important to be loved and be happy!

Happy Monday!

Happy Friday and Happy Easter!

 I was thinking today as I sat nursing Sofia for her morning nap about how blessed I am to be able to stay home with her and experience all she learns and does each day.  This girl and I know each other so well and continue to grow as a mother and daughter.  It is still surreal to me at times that I have my very own baby.  Thinking about celebrating Easter and spending time with family and friends as our own little family just makes me so happy.  I truly did not think that I would ever have a baby of my own, and now looking back I realize that going through tough times and feeling pain is just a part of life that makes us appreciate things more when the time finally comes, whatever it may be.  I questioned God so much when we were trying to have a baby and now I praise Him for giving me all those years to learn and grow.  I want Sofia to know that patience is important and that God always delivers, just not always in the package we expected or at the exact time of arrival we want...but He loves his children and takes care of them.  

Capturing memories of times with our baby girl are so important.  I wish I had a better camera but I am thankful that at least what I do have works well enough :)  If anyone has an iPhone then you probably know about how wonderful the camera is on it, and I love that because it is with me at all times and ready to catch a memory on the spot!  Instagram is one of my favorite apps.  I love what it does with a picture and makes it even better!!!  Here are just a few of my pics taken via Instagram.  

This first picture of her playing with her ear is one of my new favorites.  She does this when she nurses or is tired.  It's precious!  When I look at photos of Sofia it makes me smile because she is always so happy!  She rarely fusses or cries and that makes me very proud.  J.R. and I try to give her everything she needs and I believe that comes across in her personality.  We just love this little girl!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend and gets to spend it with the ones you love and celebrate to real reason, our Lord, with those people.  

Happy Easter everyone!

My "Savannah Tree"

 There are so many things I love about Spring.  Knowing that summer and all it has to offer is just around the corner, the trees and flowers blooming and coming to life once again, and throwing on a pair of flip flops to head outside instead of bundling up in a coat and all the winter garb.

One of my very, very favorite things about Spring though is getting to see my "Savannah Tree" bloom!  It is my favorite and most special tree in our yard.  I tell J.R. all the time that if we ever sell our home that it has to be in the contract that this tree in particular does NOT come with the house!  Mama's digging that baby up and it goes where I go!

See, before my job became to take care of the lovely Sofia Rose, I was a nurse.  A Pediatric Oncology Nurse at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital here in Nashville.  It is a wonderful hospital and although I pray we never have to take Sofia there if we do I know that she is in wonderful hands.

The question I got most about my job was, "How in the world do you work with little babies with cancer?!?".  My reply was always the same...I couldn't imagine doing anything else.  Those little angels and their families made my job worth getting up every morning for (not to mention driving in traffic!) and even though it was the toughest and most emotionally draining job at times, more than not it was extremely rewarding.  Babies or infants with cancer sadly do not KNOW they have cancer. They are fighters like you have never seen!  It became difficult for me when they were a little older, say preteen to teenagers.  They KNOW they have cancer, and usually know what all that involves.  Chemo, radiation, hair loss, weight loss, being away from their friends, etc.  But what made me feel like I was doing a job worth doing was when they started to get better or go off therapy.  That is "how" I did my job everyday.  Helping them, being there for them and their families, and even helping some of them when they didn't think they could go any further just by sitting and crying with them.  Laughing with them was the best though!  I laughed more at my job than I bet most people do in a year at their job!!!!  I love those children...especially the ones that have gained their wings in heaven.

I always say that more children survive than pass and that is true.  But as we all know some of them fight and fight their little hearts out until it is just not enough.  Not enough chemo, not enough radiation, nothing else works and their little bodies need to be with God.  One child in particular who is dancing and singing in heaven now is Savannah.  She was my little buddy!  She started treatment for Rhabdomyosarcoma the same year I started working in our clinic.  She passed away the same year I had Sofia and didn't return to work.  Long story short, at one point in my career I decided to transfer to the NICU at VCH and was only gone for about six months before realizing that I missed Oncology so much and came running back!  When I left though, Savannah and her mommy gave me a gift, and part of that gift was my Savannah tree.  It is a patio peach tree and blooms these beautiful blooms!!!!  I love it.  So much.

This is it blooming this spring.  It becomes even more full and then has the most beautiful little green leaves.  When Savannah passed away last year it was beginning to bloom.  I cried every time I passed it.  My heart ached and still does.  I know she is happy and healthy now and could not possibly be in a better place than with her heavenly Father, but the selfish part of us human's is that we want our loved ones here with us.  I still wonder to this day what exactly it was about my Savannah.  I took care of so many children and I LOVED so many of them, but there was just something about that girl.  We clicked like sisters.  

I miss my job.  I really do.  As much as I love staying home with Sofia and I would never take back the decisions we have made, I do miss it.  There is plenty of time for work in life though and right now the most important job for me is to raise a caring, God loving, wonderful little girl.  I hope she makes as many people smile as Savannah did!  If she does I will know I have done good as a Mama.  I wanted more than anything for Savannah to meet Sofia Rose.  At least Sofia heard her talk to her through my belly and knows what her voice is like.  Savannah loved me and my unborn baby and that made me happy :)

I took this photos of Sofia today in front of the tree now.  I can not wait to tell her all about the sweet Savannah and how much fun she was!  Boy oh boy, will I have some stories!

 I love you Savannah and I miss you so much!  And to Savannah's Mommy I send all the hugs and kisses in the world!!!!  You are wonderful and I love you too. I can only pray that Sofia loves me the way Savannah loved you.  So as much as I miss both of you girls, know that I think of you everyday when I pass a small tree in my yard.   xoxo