Skewing the stats

So apparently, our chi will be out of whack for 2007 if we post fewer blogs in a month with 31 days (i.e. December) than in a month with 30 (i.e. November). Since I take the GMAT in 3 days, I'm doing whatever it takes to keep our chi in balance, so here you go - another post less than 3 hours after the previous one.

I must admit that the past 3 hours have been spent migrating our video of the week feature from Photobucket to Google Video, which involved a whole lot more fiddling with our blog template than it should have. As a result of all the tinkering, I figured out how to center the video and accompanying text in the sidebar though (XTML is quite different from HTML, you know)!

The main reason for this migration is that Google Video allows unlimited quantity and length - this keeps me from having to delete old videos, which results in dead links in our archived blogs. The second reason is that Photobucket includes a big frame around our video, whereas Google is all video - no frame. Third, lets face it, I already use my Gmail account to access Google Analytics and Blogger - so now I can use the same login to manage our videos. I guess I'm just being lazy, but only having to log in once to do everything for the blog is convenient.

Don't worry photobucket, inc. - I still plan to use you when I want to have a permanent link to a photo! (In other words, please don't delete my account).

Now - non blogger friendly

It has come to our attention that our settings prevent family members who do not have blogger accounts from posting comments on our blog!


In the giving spirit of Christmas (and because you have no idea how excited we get reading comments) we are giving posting access to everyone.


Now when you click to leave a comment, you will see the following options.


If you don't have a blogger account, we recommend "Other" because you can leave your name and website (so we know who you are). Of course it might be more entertaining for us to guess who "Anonymous" is!

Bring on the comments!!

Holy Hands & Knees, Batman!

Well, Folksies, she is crawling. Yes, CRAWLING. How old is she, you ask? Six months old, I answer. Wow, isn't that a little early to be crawling? YES, I respond -- I thought this wasn't supposed to happen for, like, TEN MORE YEARS!!!

Alas, it has begun.

Apparently, Sophie woke up yesterday and thought to herself, "Self, today I think shall crawl." At about 11:45am, just before we left for her 6 month checkup with the doctor, I glanced over and Sophie was in the plank position. Very surprising, as I'd never seen her do anything like that before. Then, around 3pm I look up and there she is, on our fours inching slowly forward. Luckily, at this point, most of the time her crawling takes her backward. But I have this little itty feeling that by dinnertime tonight she'll be having crawling races with her dad. And probably tomorrow morning she'll hop the crib fence herself and walk to the kitchen. And by Sunday morning she'll look at me and say, "Well, good morning, Mother. What a delightful weekend we're having! Would you prefer omlettes or french toast for breakfast?"

Ok, so I'm being a little dramatic. But just a little. My baby is CRAWLING!

Some photos:

Before leaving for the Doctor's office

After returning home from the Doctor's office

And here is our Fearless Scoutmaster off to conquer another evening of merit badges!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Bryce, Lisa & Sophie!

Christmas Eve at Sally & Josh's house

Sophie wearing the bow from Aunt Renee's gift
With a box like this, who needs a play pen ?Bryce's twin brother, Cris, came to visit for a couple days just before Christmas - it was GREAT fun to have him visit!

This and That

Yesterday Sophie wore this cute Christmas jumper that a friend gave to us. I've decided the girl looks great in red. She looked so sweet and Christmas-y all day long! Took a few pics (of course) to capture the cuteness of it all.
Su-Do-Ku has been my latest craze -- it's a great way to pass time while nursing. Lately, Sophie has also picked up interest. Mostly she just likes the book cover -- whacking it with her hand and trying to a get a good taste of the pages. Mm-mm-good. Some pics from last night as we bonded over the latest puzzle.

Internet Crack

A friend of ours uses the term "Internet Crack" for all those addicting nick nacks that are available on the internet.

In the Christmas spirit - here's today's favorite, it's called Elf Yourself! You can send an e-card of this dancing elf to your friends. Click on the photo below to see one we sent our friends Adam, Lauren and Isabel.


Here's how it works:

1. Upload a picture of yourself (or anyone else really) here. It allows you to zoom, rotate, and even edit the points of the circle so it captures as much face as possible.
   
2. Enter the recipient's information and yours.
   
3. Call an 800 number and record a brief message - note that it speeds the message up so your voice sounds higher (this could be funny if you recorded in a high voice to begin with).
   
4. Send the email.

You get a copy as well - you can see how this could fill hours of time, can't you?

You Know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen...

Coming home from Target on Saturday I passed a car sporting these reindeer antlers and about died laughing!!! HOW AWESOME IS THIS?!?!I'd never seen these before, but am SERIOUSLY considering them as Christmas presents next year to all of you! They are so totally awesome!!!

Blankie Mania

More proof of a blankie baby... Sophie snores away while curled up with this blanket courtesy of Geoff & Debbie. These days all we have to do when laying her down for bed is give her this blanket and she's happy as a clam. I know some people have issues about kids and blankets, but when naps and bedtime are this easy with a blanket I say... BRING IT ON! Just pray that we never lose it... :)

Rubber Ducky, I'm Awfully Fond of You

Sophie loves Love LOVES running water. And she loves a bath. As she gets more mobile, she especially loves having toys to play with in the bathtub. Currently, all we have in the way of bath toys is this little rubber ducky. Perhaps Santa will surprise us (haha) with some new bath time toys!

A few pics from tonight's bath time adventure...

Tonight's Top 10 List

My cousin, Steve (cousin-in-law if you want to be technical) creates these awesomely hilarious Top 10 lists (talking of which, you guys should post one of those to your blog - perhaps a Top 10 of the Top 10 Lists). This is not going to be anywhere near as funny, but well... I'm bored. So here goes!! Tonight's Top 10!!!

(ps - I actually wrote this post last night and then our lovely internet died and instead of throwing it out the window I just gave up and went to bed. So here it is again... one day late. I suppose I should actually title this yesterday's Top 10 List.)

Top 10 Things to Do When Your Husband is Studying for the GMAT and Your Baby is Sleeping in the Next Room:

(drumroll, please!)

10. The dishes

9. Pull out the tap shoes and shuffle off to buffalo!
Oh wait, tap shoes + sleeping baby = hmmmm...

8. Su-Do-Ku

7. Sew totes! (Mom, this is the one I sent Melissa)

6. Search for a good sugar cookie recipe

5. Listen to Christmas music

4. Check everyone's blogs

3. Harass Marci about not posting to her blog in the last 8 hours

2. Get ready for Christmas!

1. Browse through all the millions of pics we've taken of our sweet Sophie
And now that I've listed all my options here, I think I will... GO TO BED. Good night!

Merry Christmas Baby

Bryce's sister, Besty, said this non-stop last Christmas. "Merry Christmas, Baby!" Only it was more like, "Merry Christmas, Baaaaaa-bee!" Anytime I hear that now, I will think of you, Betsy. :)

Anyway, Sophie wore her Christmas dress to church today! She looked so cute in it, so of course we had to take some pictures of her. Here she is in front of our little Christmas tree. I think Sophie is actually taller than the Christmas tree!

The Tooth Fairy Lives in the Washing Machine

How often does this happen??

I opened the washing machines yesterday to move a load of towels to the dryer and what do you know, there was a dollar bill stuck to the side of the washer!! Totally awesome. If that were a more frequent occurrence I'd do laundry all day long.

Bumper Bowling

Sophie is learning to sit up! It is a bit like bumper bowling right now -- esp when we place her in the Boppy pillow to practice. She'll lean to one side, bounce off the Boppy bumper, self-correct and then lean to the other side and repeat. In the last 2 days she's gotten really quite good. A little sitting professional. It's so funny how babies seem to just wake up one day and say to themselves, "Today I will sit unsupported!" And then they do and never look back. Anyway, here are some cute pics taken today during a sitting practice session in her crib.

In these pics Sophie is modelling an adorable T-shirt dress some friends gave us. We love it. But the best part of a T-shirt dress is that it can double as both T-shirt and dress (imagine that)! Here, Sophie shows how cute it can be as a shirt... I couldn't decide which of these pics was cuter, so I figured I'd just better include them both...

The Elusive Teeth

Didn't really point this out earlier, but if you look at the bigger version of this picture, you can just make out both of Sophie's teeth (circled).

Tradition

I went in to check on Sophie the other night and found her like this. I could be wrong, but I think we have a blankie girl...

T-E-E-T-H-I-N-G

It's official. Sophie has 1.5 teeth. The first one cut through her gums a couple weeks ago and the other night we spotted #2 making it's way up to the surface. I have to admit that I was really rather hoping she'd be one of those babies who waited until 10 months or so to cut teeth. Oh well. What can I say? She's just an advanced baby! We'd been waiting to make the big 1st Tooth announcement until we had a good picture of said tooth. It looks like it will be a while before we get a pic of it, though, since it's on the bottom and every time we try to capture it on film Sophie sticks out her tongue... Anyway, I suppose in an effort to ease her aching gums, Sophie chews on EVERYthing. When we put her in her saucer-thingamabob she starts chewing on whatever is in front of her and then slowly rotates and makes her way through all the toys on the saucer. Here's one of her attacking the little rubber daisy. Poor flower -- never stood a chance.


Her most favorite teething toy of all time is not any of the bright primary-colored plastic toys we have. Rather, it is a drinking glass. Preferably a cold one. And most of the time one that Bryce or I am drinking from. She loves Loves LOVES to try to hold the glass with her hand and lick the outside -- I think the cold glass feels good on her gums. But her favorite of all is to hang on to the top of the glass - as if she were going to drink from it - and bang her 1.5 teeth against the glass (both teeth are on the bottom - next to each other). We've noticed that she usually angles her mouth so that her gums where tooth #2 is sprouting get a good cold rub. It's quite a site to behold. Pictures just don't do it justice. So, I guess that means you all will just have to come visit! Our sofa bed awaits you!!

ps - for those truly interested, if you look closely at this top pic, you can see her 2 teeth through the glass...