Sophie 4 years old

Sophies measurements

38.5 inches 18%
30 lbs 0 oz 11%


Sophie is such an amzing little girl. She is so smart it amazes me. She is strong willed and determined when she wants to do something she will do it and no one can stop her. She is so protective of her little brother she through a total fit when we had to give him shots. She tries to get him to stop crying everyday when I get ready by entertaining him with toys and playing little games with him and gets sad when it doesnt work. She is so ready to grow up she told me the other day that after she turns 4 then she will turn 5 and then she will be 16. She is an absolute animal lover particularly cats and horses. She now asks for playdates with her firends almost every day. She is bossy and sassy which she has been from the beginning so that has not changed. I remind myself that one day this will be a great trait if she can learn to use it at the right moments. She is so beautiful and goofy and caring and I am so happy that I get to watch her grow and learn.
Some funny things she has said lately

"ba-sagna" instead of lasagna

when grandpa told her he was pooped after playing with her for awhile she quickly said "go wipe your bum then"

"santa is not bringing me a big black rock he is bringing me a wowwee alive cub mini"

she tells her daddy everyday that he cant go to work beacuse he needs to stay home and watch barbie and the three musketeers with her

when she opened her birthday presents she said several funny things " oh my gosh, oh my gosh " " I wanted this my entire life" " oh man"

Porter 9 months

Porters 9 month checkup.
length 28" 41%
weight 15 lbs 12 oz 1%
head circ. 46.5 cm 83%

Porter is still just a little guy with a big head. He refuses to crawl or have anythign to do with it. He has to be the most stubborn child I have ever seen. He lays on his tummy and yells at us. He scoots backwards and in circles trying to find something to grab and pull back up on. He walks around couches and tables but has no interest in being on his tummy. I don't know why it makes him so mad but he will have none of it. He also does not like to be left alone now. It used to be I could set him down with some toys and go get ready for the day now he cries the entire time and refuses to even look at his toys. As soon as I pick him up he is smiling and laughing. What a stinker! He has two teeth on the bottom now.

Sophie turns 4!

I cannot beleive that my baby is already 4. Time flies! This year she wanted a jack Skellington party so we had to be creative beacuse no one had nightmare before christmas party supplies. She picked out a Frankenstein Pinata which all of the kids loved. We also had a face painter come the kids looked so cute with all of their faces painted she is talented and did a great job. We played some halloween games and did a scratch art craft. I made Jack Skellington cupcakes and we had a blast. She got absolutely spoiled with presents.

Halloween 09

This year Sophie was Dorothy and Porter was the cowardly lion which fits Porter perfectly he cries at eveything. Porter looked chubby for the first time in his life and I could not stop laughing at him this costume was hilarious and adorable. Sophie looked absolutely beautiful as a little Dorothy and she still has to wear the red sparkly shoes everyday.

Pumpkin Patch

Sophie had her first school field trip and was so excited. We went to the Black Island Farms pumpkin patch. They had so many fun things we will definitely have to go back next year. Sophie is still my little scaredy cat though. All of the other kids ran circles around her up to all the different homeade slides and she would have none of it. I hope she learns to loosen up soon I'm afraid she is going to miss out on childhood. I like that she is safe but she is afraid of slides, somersaults and even crossing bridges on jungle gyms.

Porter update

I forgot to add Porters measurements.

Length 25.1" 7%
Weight 12 lbs 14 oz 0%
Head Circ. 44.7 cm 71%

Porter is already doing so much better. After only a few days of supplementing he started sitting almost on his own and he is even scooting backwards when on his tummy. I feel so relieved to see the difference in only a few days. We still don't completely understand the huge decline in weight but we are now pretty sure that he was even starting to get dehydrated. His diapers are actually wet now when before he would go all day and barely need changed. I'll continue to push extra calories and we'll see in a few weeks where his weight is at but I really feel like we are on the right track and hopefully he will be back on the charts.

Porters 6 month check up

So we had Porters 6 month check up yesterday and got a little bit of a shock. When they weighed him he only weighed 12 lbs 14 oz which is only 8 oz more than over 2 months ago. He is not even on the charts for his weight it has completely flatlined. When she started naming off developmental milestones we realized he is falling behind he isn't even trying to sit up on his own and he doesnt scoot or bounce when laying on his stomach he just sort of lays there or rolls over. His doctor thinks because of his lack of nutrition he simply does not have the energy to progress. She said that for whatever reason he is not getting the nutrition he needs from nursing and we need to give him more calories through formula supplementation. What little he was getting from me he was burning off by working so hard to get it. I feel absolutely horrible I felt that Porter has been off for a little while now and I couldn't figure out why he seemed so fussy. She wants us to bring him back in a few weeks to make sure he is gaining and if not they will switch him to a high calorie formula and do some lab work to see if anything else is going on. I gave him a bottle today and his whole demeanor changed he went from being fussy after two nursing sessions to talking and smiling and laughing. I know that it doesnt make much sense but I can't help feeling like I failed him in some way all I wanted was for him to be healthy and happy and somehow I feel like I am to blame. The one thing a mother should be able to do is keep her child fed. He also had a appointment with a pediatric dermatologist last week at Primary Childrens and we found out that he has ichthyosis (pronounced ick-thee-o-sis) he will always have really dry flaky skin that looks scaly similar to fish scales. As we walked through the halls of PCMC we could not be more grateful that we were there for a minor skin condition when so many others were there for much more serious reasons. I know Porter will be okay and that we have the healthcare he needs from a wonderful pediatrician but I am worried sick about him right now and I pray that we can figure out what is going on with him.

Summer In Review

It has been a crazy summer for us. We have been going non stop and I am looking forward to some down time. Both of my sisters were able to visit with all of their cute little ones. First Jeannie came in June it had been 9 years since we had seen her. She has 3 kids one of which we had never met Olivia 4 and two others Josh who was 1 the last time I saw him now 9 and Kellie who was two now 11. They had been living in Maryland and are now on their way to Kansas (army). Jeannies husband Ben is in Iraq but will be coming home in a couple of months. We promised each other when she left that we would not let nine years pass by again. It was so much fun getting to know the kids and they absolutely adored our dogs. Sophie and Olivia were inseperable and I am certain that they will miss each others company. I know I will miss all of them. In July Kassi, her husband Allan and kids came. I had seen them a little more recently when sophie was just 2 we spent a month in kentucky with them and they came to visit that december so a year and a half ago. Kassi has 4 littles Logan 8, Cayleigh 6, Gabriel 5 and Victoria 3 months. They also brought Allan Thomas their oldest son with them. It was so much fun going everywhere with them and getting to see how much they have grown. It was especially fun seeing Tori, Porter and Brynleigh together they were all born within months of each other and it was fun to see the differences in stages and personalities. We did so mnay fun things with them I don't even know if I can remember it all but some of the festivities included a barn dance, a couple to trips to Marks farm, the Zoo, lagoon, aquarium 2 fairs, 4 birthday celebrations whew no wonder I'm exhausted. Cayleigh and Sophie hit it off as well Sophie loved being able to hang out with a girl that is older than her she looks up to her so much it was super cute to see and Cayleigh even taught her all the words to her favorite Hannah Montana "boom da clap". I'll try to catch it on video. Here comes a million photos and dont miss Sophies funny video from Lagoon.

Pioneer Day

Sophie was in the Ogden Pioneer days parade with her grandma and grandpa Strong on the 24th. She looks adorable in her little dress and she was so excited to be in the parade and wave at all the people. She was right at home being the center of attention not surprisingly until someone from the newspaper came to ask her questions and then she had nothing to say. Thanks for the fun memories Grandma and Grandpa Strong.

Lagoon

Sophie had so much fun at Lagoon this year she was much more brave about which rides she would try. Her expressions were hilarious and I hope these memories will always be remembered. She absolutely loved Dinosaur egg drop with dad but hated ladybug bop with mom (they are the exact same ride mind you). She begged to go on terror ride but wouldnt open her eyes once inside. Her and dad tried out the new dragon ride which is a ride similar to music express (goes in circles and up and down but then it stops and goes backwards and it is really fast). She came off of the ride with this angry face and told us that she would not ride that ride ever again! She is so dramatic in everything she does she is always making us laugh. Classic mad Sophie face I cannot promise that I will not one day be using that photo as blackmail.

Dance

Sophie started a dance class with her little friend Maklee Rhoades. She is having so much fun and is always excited to show me what she learned. She is hilarious to watch she has no coordination and just watching her try to figure out how to jump through hula hoops proves very entertaining. She wears herself out every week and I caught her fast asleep in her tutu.

Large cockroaches

One day I walked out on my front porch and glanced up to see this above me on my archway. I ran back inside the house freaking out and called jeremy to tell him about these large cockraoches. He laughed at me and told me to take a pic because he was certain they were some other kind of much smaller bug than I was describing. I tried to take a pic with my phone but I was not about to get close and you could not see them on my phone camera. I took a pic with my digital camera and ran down stairs to show da he looked at the pic and said are you sure thery are not bats and I said no they are HUGE cockroaches. He gave me some bug spray and sent me upstairs as I was getting ready tp spray them I took a closer look and saw this

yep not cockroaches BATS!!!! If I wasn't freaking out before I was now! UGHH!

Barn Dance

Jeannie and her kids got here just in time for the annual Fowers barn dance. Everyone had tons of fun. Sophie wore her new pink princess cowgirl hat and loved dancing with the big people we even caught a clip of her dancing with the bishop she did pretty good. The kids all raced stick horses and little Olivia beat everyone. Josh wanted nothing to do with it but somehow we got him out there anyway. Kellie made a friend and spent most of the night with the horses.

planting the garden with Grandma and Grandpa Strong

Sophie was so excite to help. She helped a little more than daddy wanted accidently stepping on our only two cantalope plants, woops! Sophie runs to the window to check on our garden quite often and stares at the plants in amazement that she actually grew her own veggies.

Mark's farm

Mark was nice enough to take us around the farm not once but twice. Once for Jeannie and once for Kassi. They all had a blast and I think I can speak for everyone and say the crowd favorite was the horses. Although I'm not sure I'll be riding again anytime soon. They stuck me on Brookes horse Shorty sweet horse but has a mind of her own she wants to run not walk and when you try to slow her down she starts turning in circles and shaking her head I was certain she was going to buck me off. Chicca was the perfect kid horse and did great. Mark showed the kids some fresh chicken eggs, some piglets, baby goats and even baby mink.

Swim Lessons

Sophie also did swim lessons this summer. She surprised us with her bravery. She has always been very timid around water and although she was nervous she now dunks her face in the water and back floats wonderfully.

Manti Pageant camp trip

Manti pageant was so much fun. We got to test out the trailer for the first time and everything worked great and it was so nice to have our own space for the kids. Kimber planned this trip and she did such a great job the campsite had a pool and a playground. We had tons of fun hanging with the cooks, rhoades and the stoddards. I tried to explain to Sophie what a play is and I told her that it is like a movie but with real people. She was so excited and then about 40 minutes into it she turned to me and said "mom this movie is really boring". From the perspective of a three year old I guess maybe it was but we sure enjoyed it.

4th of July

4th of July brought the usual parades, fireworks, carnivals and picnics. Tony entered some of his restored military vehicles in the parade and Jeremy ended up riding on the back of one of them. They were the hit of the parade. Sophie enjoyed watermelon and sparklers at the stoddards house picnic. Porter just wasn't sure what was going on. All in all we had a blast!

Dinosaur Park with cousins

We went to the dinosuar park with some utah cousins and had so much fun. Sophie made poor Grandpa swing her for hours I should have warned him that she never tires of that activity. My super sweet sister-in-law Christan brought pizza and snacks for everybody she even brought bubbles for all of the kiddos. Thanks so much Christan you made the day so much fun for everyone. We only managed to lose 2 kids on our excursion so thats a success right? Sophie is still talking about the dinosaurs that she is entirely convinced are real. I keep telling her they are fake but she insists that the dinosaurs inside are real hte ones outside are pretend.

Cousins

Here are a few of the pics I caught of the cousins while they were here.

Jeannie and Kassi

Josh, Logan and Gabe

Olivia, Cayleigh and Sophie

Kellie, Annika and Logan

Allan Thomas and Brynleigh aka the baby whisperer

Grandma and baby Tori


There were so many memories with family here I loved every minute of it. Logan was baptized while he was here and baby Tori was blessed. We are so happy they chose to do it here so we could be a part of it. Gabe, Josh, Kellie and Jeannie all celebrated their birthdays with us as well. Thanks for all of the fun memories we love you and miss you already!

Grass

We finally have grass! yay I am so elated here is to many backyard bbq's and fond memories of children playing in the backyard. Thanks so much Larry, Chris, Stoddards, Mark, Aaron, Jay and Jeannie you guys are the best you helped us out so much and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!