Baby Food!

So since 2009 Erik and I have been pretty committed to organic foods and products. ABout 85% of our food and household goods are organic. So when we had Sofia we decided we would do the same for her. It all sounds great except that her stuff is super expensive, and now that she's really eating three meals a day it's super costly. Which means less shopping for clothes :(
We asked for a food procesor for Christmas and we got one! But it has literally been in the back burner of the kitchen stove all this time.
Now that we are in a house and my kitchen has room I decided to try out our food processor. What a success! One sweet potatoe which cost 40 cents made baby food equivalent to $3.48. I am so excited. Sofia and I will be shopping the sales in no time with all the money we are saving!LOL
But I really recommend anyone who has someone eating baby food. It was really simple, fairly quick, and you know exactly what your baby is eating (no added susbstances). The whole process took me an hour,including cooking the veggies, processing them, and the clean up. I made green beans and sweet potatoes to last one week. Any who, just food for thought! ;)

cake?

heres my latest cake...im super proud of this one cause i made it all from scratch.starting with the cake, the buttercream icing, the marshmellow fondant, then i dyed the fondant, the made into flowers and leaves and placed on cake. im hoping to perfect my skills within the next 6 months and maybe start taking orders from sofias friends and other little events. excuse the typos my little partner sofia is trying to share her experience as well.

Big Sister

I have given Sofia a baby to play with, to introduce the idea of "baby". I can't believe how much she likes this baby.She gets excited when she sees it. She is so sweet! Its amazing to me how she already (at 10 months) has maternal instincts. She rocks the baby, hugs it, squeezes it against her face, she is so good with the doll. Let's hope she's the same way with baby brother!

Week 26 doctor visit!

Hektor is 26 weeks old, and measures 13.5 inches and weighs a little more than one pound. This pregnancy is going by really fast. It helps that Sofia keeps me busy all day (and night). He is growing rapidly. Though the doctor says he measures pretty small. But Sofia wasn't even 7 pounds and she was 41 weeks and 5 days! So I am not worried.My doctor is taking extra precautions again and wants to monitor his growth. But I am positive all is fine, he's just a wittle peanut like his sister:) I know Erik is hoping for a monster child, but I am just fine with a 7 pounder!
So far we have gained a total of 12 lbs.
Sofia also had a doctor visit today. Her ears are still bothering her. We were afraid that the ear infection spread to the other ear, thank goodness it did not! But she did have some major wax build up that the doctor took out. He said that she should begin feeling some relief. She did have a fever, and runny nose, but he said it was due to the teething. She's getting a new tooth! Tooth # 2 is coming in! So hopefully she gets some good rest tonite and starts feeling better. I hate to see her suffer. But I know that this is all part of her "growing pains". I like to think it's worse for me than her.

Huntwick Lane!

Erik and I are closing on our first home together tomorrow at 10 am.This has been a long process but we are ready! The previous owners leased us the house (at no cost) so we could start moving. My parents came up a couple weekends ago to help with Sofia because Erik was out of town for work, and while they were here we cleaned out the house! Thanks mom, dad, and Claudia!
They came again for half of spring break to help me paint. The downstairs is complete!!!! I think I have decided on colors for the upstairs guest room and restroom, the nursery and play room so I think I can get that going soon. Erik will get to decorate his office, so thats one room I don't have to worry about.

We have plenty of room for company! However, be advised that after July 4th there will be two babies under two in our home :)
So who will be our first visitors!?
I will post pictures as soon as I find/unpack the cord for my camera.



Sofia helped by packing up her books!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I found candy Mom!



Turns out she was unsure about the candy.






Aunt Claudia and Sofia sporting green!



breakfast with Momo and Popo :)




Sofia had her first St. Patty's Day!Of course Cha Cha(my mom) made sure she wore green so no one would pinch her chubby thighs :) It was a great, beautiful day!

Sofia 10 months, Hektor 6!

this outfit is always a huge hit! she wears her hat so proudly :)

playing with her baby!....getting used to the idea of another baby, i hope!

heading to a bday party!

so much for sitting in her bumbo!

trying to feed herself...pinky up!

she loves to go bye bye!

silly girl! always in a bow :)

daddy's grin!

yes she is standing up in the back of the cart. her latest thing when we go shopping.

lunch date at jasons deli...she is so cool with one leg up!

nap time with baby!

i still can't believe how light her hair is turning out...i have naturally black hair how did this happen???LOL

Well, Miss Sofia is 10 months today! She had a doctor's appointment this morning and weighed in at 18 lbs and 27 inches.She is still in the 25th percentile. She has her first ear infection. My poor angel, she recovers fast, so hopefully the meds will kick in and she will be good as new ASAP. She has been congested since Saturday and I didn't want to go another weekend of hearing that awful cough and not consulting the doctor. So I made an appointment and I am so glad I did. Her poor little ears. Ear infections are soooo painful. Last night was a bad night and I knew something was wrong. But today shes back to being her happy self. So I am hopeful that the meds work and we get some sleep tonite.
I did get scolded for not having her off the bottle, not forcing her to eat more baby food (things like rice, mashed potatoes, cheerios. etc), not giving her juice , and not vaccinating her.The way I see it shes pretty healthy so I think we are ok.
Doctors today... If she asked me why I have made the decisions I have I could explain it to her, but of course doctor knows best!
Sofia's growing and changing so fast. I can not believe her first birthday is soooo soon, bittersweet moment :/

Sofia at 10 months:
* very curious
* very cautious
* very determined ( she is trying to type on my computer right now, and getting frustrated that I won't let her :) )
*gets into everything! the kitchen cabinets, my closet, bathtub, etc.
* eating 3 meals a day, bottles in between for napping and going to bed at night.
* crawling, and fast! Be careful what you wish for, right? I remember thinking "oh I can't wait for her to crawl". Now I'm wishing she would just sit still long enough for me to do a load of clothes or wash dishes. I'm happy she's so strong and active though.
* She knows "clap your hands" and "give me your hands"
* She looses her appetite when she's really bothered by her teeth.
* She has 1.5 teeth.lol. Her bottom right is there and bottom left is coming through.
* She sleeps somewhat through the night, her teeth bother her from time to time, and she does wake up for a bottle.Some nights are better than others.
* she has learned to pull her self up, she is getting so strong. She's fast at this too! She prefers to be standing most of the time, even when she is tired. Silly girl!
* Still wearing size 4 diapers.
* Still in some 9 month clothing and some 12 month. Both sizes fit her around the waist, but the arms and legs of 9 and 12 months are too long.
* She still hates shoes :( And actually socks now too. She takes both off. I really dislike going to church with a baby in her sunday best and barefoot. But what can I do?
* However, she loves to wear hats, bows, headbands. This kinda makes up for her no shoes. I think its so cute that she doesn't mind having things in her hair.
* She loves to have her hair brushed. SHe watches in the mirror. I think she likes feeling pretty! WHat a little lady :)
* She is constantly babbling when we are home. It's cute to hear her little pitter patter from crawling mixed with her baby talk.
* She's pretty much over her bouncer. She would rather be off exploring.
* She really fights her sleep, both naps and bed time.
* She has been playing with a doll. I tell her "baby" and "be gentle", "kiss the baby" , she has really taken to the idea. I am hoping this helps her once the actual baby is here. But I don't know if she is too young to relate these ideas.
* She is still eating her green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, prunes,pears, apples, etc. We took her off bananas, because it wasn't agreeing with her stomach. I am trying new combinations of foods, but when all else fails she loves green beans and sweet potatoes. TOday she tried chicken and sweet potatoes and was ok with it! I CAN NOT wait to start using the food processor in the new house. I think I will save so much money. The plan is to steam the vegetables, then throw in the food processor.
* She loves to be read to.
* It seems shes not as friendly with strangers. She used to be, but now I feel like shes always afraid I am going to leave her. Which is funny cause I never leave her (except for class, she stays with Erik)we are together 24/7.... AND minus the 2 hours she goes to baby gym while I work out, shower, get dressed for the day. She is not too happy about that time apart either, but Mommy needs a break... and a shower! lol
* She still hates sippy cups, and is picky about what bottle I use. Erik thinks it's silly to cater to her bottle preference, but when I'm tired and have a lot to do, I don't feel like fighting her to use a certain bottle and I just give in to the bottle she wants, less work for me and we are both happy. Actually its not a certain bottle, its a certain nipple. So I also wonder if the others bother her gums and teeth.
* Right now she is pretty much a mommy's girl. We spend so much time together how could she not be? There have been a couple instances where she doesn't want me next to Erik. She has gone out of her way to sit between us,when she couldn't get between us she got really frustrated, finally she got between us two.LOL... and a couple times she moved my hand because she didn't want me to touch Erik. It's kinda funny, but makes me a little nervous how she will be with the baby. I'm hoping she will transition to "daddy's girl" to give me and Hektor time to bond some.

I can't wait for summer. I'm putting her in swim lessons. She loves to bathe so I think she will like the water. I can't wait to get her a new swim suit for this summer!We are searching for the perfect pink polka dot bikini! No luck yet!I am wondering what her hair color will do with all our time in the sun! I know she will need a sun hat too, her scalp is super sensitive!

Hektor, on the other hand, is chugging right along. I have an appointment the 16th to make sure we are on track. I've gained a total of 11 pounds so far, I try to avoid the scale but it tempts me at the gym...lol.So far he's opposite of Sofia in his activity.Sofia was awake during the day and at night she was still. Hektor is still all day, then at night he really starts to move. I am hoping this is not a pattern that continues once he is born. I need some sleep! He measured right on track at our last visit. He is now 6 months, womb time anyways. My doctor is assuming he will come late June, but there is really no telling as we learned with Sofia. The last two times we had sonograms from two different nurses and they both said the same thing " I can't believe how active he is already". So I assume that he will be an active child, which could be fun but also a headache.I feel like some people look at me like they feel sorry for me, since I have Sofia and I am expecting so soon. If they only knew how much fun we are going to have! More often than I would have thought I do get encouraging words from parents that have kids close in age. And they all say the same thing, its going to fun, they will be best buds, stuff like that. This lady was just telling me this morning that her two were 13 months apart and she started them in school at the same time. They were friends, shared the same group of friends, graduated together, almost had the relationship that twins share. I am going to see what Erik thinks of this, but I love it! I want to dress them in matching outfits for the first day of school!!!! LOL
I REALLY want to put them in ballroom dance lessons together, how cute will that be??!??!




I feel like I am actually a lot bigger in person, maybe I'm just too self concious. I don't know. Then some lady asked me " oh are you due this month?". HA! Staying healthy is whats important.I've become friends with this personal trainer at the gym that specializes in maternity work outs. She teaches an ab class two days a week. She modifies the routines for me and another girl who are both pregos. She says that most pregnant women stop exercising the abdominal region when pregnant, but its actually very beneficial DURING labor to keep your abs strong during pregnancy. So we will see how this turns out, or if I notice a difference. But either way I'm sure it will be beneficial for the post baby belly...hopefully!
Any who, prayers and well wishes that Sofia and Hektor continue to be strong healthy babies!
HUgs and Kisses!
XOXOXO! The Texas Hansons!