All In A Day's Work...

Here are some things I work very hard at doing throughout a typical day:

There are these two grown-ups around here who need constant supervision and entertainment, and sometimes it's quite hard to provide that all day long! Often I have to go to extreme measures to keep them happy, like by "climbing" into this basket just for something new.

I read lots of books to them...

...and sometimes I even sneak a chance to read to myself!

Staying clean is hard work, but I love my bath time, so that helps.

And it is not easy being a champion sleeper, both during the day as well as at night, but I am! I love my crib and blankets and pillows, and I take 2 sometimes 3 long naps during the day (2-3 hours each) and then usually sleep about 10 hours straight at night. Hard work, but I love it!

Little Fish

We had so much fun swimming in the giant bathtub, even though the water was cold! Sophie's well on her way to becoming a champion swimmer like her aunt Julie!

Tag, I'm "It"

Well, I got tagged by Tonya Joy and so I'm going to fill this out as Becky since I really can't guess what Sophie's preferences to these things would be. We haven't learned to communicate that well yet. But I wanted to do something a little different with being tagged while still allowing you to get to know me a little better, so hopefully it works. These are the ABC's about me:

*ACCENT- I love how Poles speak English--their accent is so cute!
*BEST FRIEND- My spouse who I never get tired of being with and who is so good about putting up with me!
*CHORE I DON'T CARE FOR- I hate doing floors! And I don't like bathtubs much either. I'd do almost anything else before I'd choose to clean either of those.
*DOG OR CAT- We'll never have either, so I'm becoming reconciled with that. I guess it's guinea pigs for us.
*ESSENTIAL ELECTRONICS- DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) which is basically the only workout I ever get (we actually bought it with working out in mind and we love doing it! How's that for rationalizing such a purchase!)
*FAVORITE SALAD DRESSING- Brianna's Strawberry Viniagrette to put on strawberry spinach salads. Mmmmmm!
*GOLD OR SILVER- Traditionally it's been silver, but I've got a lot more gold in my living room than I'd have ever guessed! (i.e. picture frames)
*HANDBAG OF CHOICE- I loved my fake Prada bag that I got on the streets of New York a year ago (you know those ones where the guy will swear that it's real but he'll give us a killer steal on it anyway--yeah right!) I'm so sad b/c it just died, so I had to get a new one that I don't love anywhere near as much. :(
*INDULGENCE- Going out to eat. I love it, but we have to really limit ourselves, so you can be sure we choose wisely when we actually do splurge! (Usually for me that means Cafe Rio or Costa Vida.)
*JOB TITLE- WIFE & MOM!! I turned in my official teaching title, but that is definitely still included in a Mom's job description.
*KIDS- Just one so far--Sophie Jo. I love the name Lucy, but I don't think Joseph's going to come around on that enough for us to have a little Lucy someday. We'll see--stranger things have happened! (He doesn't hate it, but he doesn't love it like he loves the name Sophie.)
*LATEST PERSONAL PURCHASE- I bought a long undershirt so that my crazy long torso will actually remain covered and I won't suffer from what my mother calls "gaposis." Hey, it's not my fault that you blessed me with such a long torso that's hard to keep covered when I bend over!
*MOST FREQUENTLY CRAVED SNACK- Skittles
*NAIL POLISH OF CHOICE- Any kind that gets put on by a professional pedacurist! (hint hint! Nah, I already know what I'm getting for Mother's Day, and I love it!)
*OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAYS- The only two times I've ever stayed overnight in a hospital were when I was born and when I was birthing my daughter. Otherwise I've never even gone there for anything else but to visit my dear daddy! I know, I'm lucky!
*PHOBIAS- I'm only afraid of Sophie ever getting seriously injured, and I worry about it enough that it probably constitutes being a phobia. I wish I didn't, but I think it gets implanted into you without your even knowing it when you become a mommy. It's probably in one of those millions of shots they give you in the hospital.
*QUOTE- I know it's used a lot, but I've always loved this quote by Marianne Williamson (often misattributed to Nelson Mandela):

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

*REASON TO SMILE- My Family! (especially when Sophie learns something new or just smiles at me)
*SIBLINGS- Geoff who's just turned 30 and is such a great uncle to Sophie, Peter who has got such a darling wife and baby boy, Jonny who's the greatest missionary in Tennessee, Scott who brings a smile to my face just thinking about him, and Julie who graduates this year from Skyline High (I still can't believe that) and will be at BYU with us next year! Yahoo! (I also am blessed with the greatest parents in the world, and also the greatest in-laws you could ever hope to marry into!)
*TIME I RISE IN THE MORNING- I get up around 7 when Sophie wakes up, but then I am naughty and feed her in bed so that I can rest a little bit longer.
*UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME- I can drink water through my nose (thank you, Girl's Camp!)
*VEGETABLE I REFUSE TO EAT- Cooked spinach. It's the only food that's ever made me throw up from eating it, and I don't think I'll ever get over that. Raw spinach leaves are great, though!
*WEBSITE- Other than all the fun blogs on my favorites list that I love to visit, my new favorite site was shown to me by Terrah and I have to admit I've become addicted to reading (I guess that would also qualify for WORST HABIT, too. The site is called Mormon Mommy Wars at http://www.mormonmommywars.com/. Check it out if you have a second. (The funniest post is "Adventures in Arizona".)
*X-RAYS- Just on my teeth at the dentist.
*YUMMY FOOD I MAKE- Sticky chicken and rice.
*ZOO ANIMALS I MOST LIKE- The penguins.

Now I have to go tag a few others! I choose Terrah, Jandee, Annie, & Elizabeth whose blogs are all cute and I love to read!

A Sophie Sampling

I'm such a huge help to mom when she's doing the laundry! (Yeah, right.)
Whew! All that playing wore me right out!
Dad decided to see how I liked spaghetti noodles. I learned quickly how to suck them up into my mouth and enjoyed it immensely!

Devious

I look like I'm plotting something quite devious here.
Shades!

The sunglasses were too much fun, and I wanted to look at them and not keep them on my face!

Tiptoing through the Tulips

We went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point and walked through all the beautiful tulips and other flowers there along with Gramma Lamb. Sophie was by far the prettiest flower in the garden, and we took some pictures of her "tiptoing through the tulips" while we were there.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Geoff!

Uncle Geoff celebrated his first anniversary of his last birthday today (the same day I turned 7 months old!), and if you can guess why he won't call this a birthday, then you can probably guess what age he turned. :) We wish him a wonderful day and a fabulous year ahead, and we want him to know we think he's great and love him lots. Thanks for being a great uncle (and brother/brother-in-law!)

The Park

Yay, Daddy is done with school, so he came to play with us during the day! We had a little picnic at a nearby park, and my first real park experience ever also ended us up on the swings and slide. It was lots of fun and we all took a little nap on a blanket under the cool shade of a tree. Life doesn't get much better than that!

Outside on a Sunny Day

My favorite thing is to watch when the cars go by!
I love jumping on the trampoline with daddy!

When daddy took a little study break we went outside to play in the grass, jump on the trampoline, and enjoy the sun and beauty around us. We love the spring, and bring on the summer!

Sneezes

Sophie always manages to pull off a sneeze or two while she's eating, and it invariably happens when the food is a bright color that is sure to make its mark on both her clothes as well as whoever is feeding her. Like today, did she sneeze while eating the light-colored pears? Oh, no, she waited for the green beans course and this is what happened as a result. But how can you get mad at a face like this?!

Hi, Mom! Does looking cute make it all better?! (Yes!)

6 Months

Sophie had her 6 month well baby check-up today and the pediatrician said she seems as perfect and healthy as a baby could and should be! (We already knew that of course. :D) She measured 27.5 in. long and is still in the 95th percentile for height! She's 16 lbs. 9 oz. now which drops her to the 58th percentile for weight (she used to be 75th), so she's still very tall and skinny and growing like a weed. She shows more personality every day, and the newest trick she started to do while we were in Texas was to cough, and then keep doing a fake cough even after the real ones stopped. And now she doesn't even do any real ones first, just does these funny little fake ones that make us all giggle. So much fun! We love her!!

Happy Easter!

Grampa Easter Bunny laying eggs

Look, Mom, I found one!

That sneaky bunny tried to camouflage a green egg in a tree, but he wasn't smart enough for Austin! How did he lay one up there anyway?

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday with Becky's family in Texas. Grampa Lamb even put on his bunny ears and hopped around Peter and Abby's yard "laying" eggs all over the grass. We ran around with the grandbabies (and adults) picking up the bunny droppings everywhere and had a great time.

Dad, Mom, Abby, and Julie worked hard for 2 days to clean and stain Peter and Abby's fence before Geoff, Sophie and I showed up and while Peter was at work. (I promise we weren't just slave drivers sipping lemonades on the porch while we worked them with whips.) It looked amazing compared to the way it was before!

Remembering the Alamo

We took a quick morning trip to San Antonio before we left Texas so that we could see the Alamo. It was a cool day and we had a wonderful time walking around the city and enjoying the sites. We loved the River Walk and felt like we had suddenly been transported to a tropical island somewhere while we were down there. What a neat city!
Here is Sophie touching the building so that she'll be sure to "Remember the Alamo", or so that we can at least show her in a few years that she has in fact been there.

Cousin Love

Sophie had so much fun meeting her new cousin Austin and when they were close, she loved to touch his head and put her arm around him (or let us put her arm around him.) They were sweet together and allowed us to get many great shots of the two of them.

Trip To Austin

Sophie and Becky went to Austin, TX for Easter weekend to meet Austin (Tex), Sophie's only cousin on the Lamb side. We had a great time seeing the sites of downtown Austin and spending time with Becky's family. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Overlooking the city on a cold, rainy day

At the Capitol Building in downtwon Austin

Peter blessed baby Austin on Sunday

March Madness

Sophie loves to reach for everything and put it in her mouth. And how cute is her bunny bum?!

For our FHE activity one night we made a poster of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and hung it on our wall. This is honestly Joseph's favorite time of year, and I really got into March Madness this time as well. We both made 3 separate brackets, and 2 of mine did really well. Joseph's were even better, and he even won my family's challenge. We were sad BYU didn't go farther, but I was proud of us for both picking Florida and Ohio State to go to the finals. We had a lot of fun with this.

Basketball

I know this isn't a picture of Sophie, but she wanted to show off her daddy for a minute. Last night was Joseph's last intramural game and we snapped a couple pictures of his team. Two of these guys (the two nearest Joseph, Dan and Terrance) are former roommates of Joseph's from BYU, and they used to play ball together all the time, so that was fun for them to play together again. They did so well in all their games and barely lost last night in overtime, but I think they had a lot of fun. Sophie and I had fun watching him play because he's sooooo good!

High Chair Fun

In addition to rice cereal, Sophie has now tried pears, applesauce, peaches, bananas (I think that's her favorite), carrots, peas, green beans, and sweet potatoes. Fruits are definitely favored over vegetables (go figure!) She enjoyed her peas more this time than the first try. She mostly just likes to be in control of the spoon, however, and grabs my hands as I try to put it in her mouth to "help" me. Usually that just results in getting food all over the place, but it's a nice gesture. This morning I was eating my cereal as I fed Sophie in her high chair, and a couple of times I almost ate her food by accident! I'm sure she wouldn't have minded trading, though. :)