Fun Thursday Night!

What a fun Thursday evening! We had a visit from Maw & Thor, Manda, Sam, Jack and Anna! They all stopped over for a visit and pizza! We love having everyone over! The boys can't wait to play K'nex and Anna likes to sneak snacks with Uncle Pack. I needed pictures of Sophia with her cousins for her baby book and wanted to share the pictures with everyone because they are adorable.

What a smile! Anna was so excited to get to have Sophia on her lap after trying to play with her while she sat in her bouncy chair. Annie is so pretty and it's hard to believe she was this little not so long ago!

Much different than the first time Jack was asked to hold Sophia - this time he jumped up and down and ran to the chair when I asked him to hold her so I could take this picture!
Sam is an old pro! I love the questions he asks me about Sophia. Today he wanted to know when she would be able to laugh and really wanted to see her smile.

I forgot one!

I realized I had forgotten to include this picture after I had done all of the typing and posted the previous blog! (Now I better get to bed since I know a little girl who will be up in about 2 hours (or less!).)

Just so little and cute all curled up asleep against her mama!

I can't resist!

Well, it has been far too long since I last posted pictures! I know I post them frequently, but the end of my maternity leave is approaching and I know I won't be able to post as often. The other bonus to posting right now is I am alone (kind of)! Sophia and Patrick are sound asleep and I'm sitting in bed - ahhhhhh.....quiet :)

Sophia's little head and neck get stronger everyday. I was able to click several pictures while she had some Tummy Time :)

"Oh WOW! I can't believe how cool these animals are!" said Sophia one August afternoon!

"Oh, I suppose I should look at mom since she did go grab that silly camera again."
"What's that over there?"
Ok! Be prepared for heart melting moments up ahead! Sophia started smiling on her 4 week birthday and gets better and better at it every day. The next two pictures are shots of her during a round of smiles - too bad I didn't get good shots of her adorable dimples....next time.

Just hanging out in the bouncy seat.
Patrick decided we needed to try out the Bumbo seat. I told him she's too young, but much to my surprise, she held herself up quite well and enjoyed being able to look around. It does look strange to see her sitting up, and alone!
I just think this one is cute! I know she's supposed to go "back to sleep", but it was a nap and she much prefers to sleep on her belly - so I indulge her occasionally.

Chelsea's Bridal Shower

What a weekend! Not only did we have a wedding this weekend but my future sister-in-law's bridal shower was this weekend as well. Sophia and I made the trip to celebrate Chelsea and Stuart's upcoming nuptuals.

Ok, so this wasn't at Chelsea's shower.

This is a picture of Sophia on her 1 month birthday! The soon to be Chelsea Zainea!
My Great Aunt Georgia
Perry's mom Janet meeting Sophia for the first time

Chelsea and a cookbook made out of recipe cards from each shower guest.

Look closely at what it says on the front!

Nikki with Sophia

A visit with Granny

On Saturday we went to a wedding for a friend of mine from college. Cheri looked beautiful and the wedding was nice. Patrick and I had every intention of attending the reception, but Sophia had other plans! On our way home we decided to take a short detour to introduce Sophia to her Great Granny!

Great Granny with Sophia

"Hmmmm".....says Sophia

A close up shot - she looks so pretty :)

A variety of pictures

This post is an assortment of pictures!

Erica came today with her fiance, Brent, and future step-daughter, Brooke, to visit and meet Sophia. It was good to see them as they prepare for their big day - 10-4-08!

It is amazing to watch Sophia change literally from day to day. She recently started smiling, and though there have only been a handful of them, they are absolutely beautiful!!! She is also "talking" occassionally and making efforts to hit things that are near her. I took these pictures today of her playing in her crib while I was putting her clothes away. She kept swinging her arms towards the blue horse and made contact with his legs. She also talked to him :) She had a well baby check up this afternoon and my little baby girl is 21.5 inches long and weighs

9lbs. 11oz.

I had my post-partum check up yesterday. I am recovering well and feel great. Being a mom is even better than I thought it would be and I absolutely love being with my baby girl. We forgot to snap a picture with Dr. Stockwell after the delivery so I took my camera with me. Patrick and I definitely appreciated all Dr. Stockwell did for us throughout my pregnancy. He made us feel comfortable throughout the entire experience and during the labor and delivery process. Next we need to track down my nurse and snag a picture with her!

My birthday!

I recently turned 27 (Oh my goodness!) and celebrated with Patrick, Sophia, Mom, Perry, Ian, Stuart and Chelsea. Mom and Perry came up on Saturday to visit Sophia and to celebrate my b-day and then came up on Wednesday for a suprise b-day visit! It was good to see everyone :)

Being held by Grandma Kelly

Sitting pretty :)

A visit with Uncle Stuart and Aunt Chelsea

My brother, Stuart, and his fiance, Chelsea, drove up from Texas to meet Sophia They also needed to finalize some wedding plans for the big day that is fast approaching (9-27-08)! Chelsea's Bridal shower is also this weekend!

Uncle Stuart holding Sophia for the first time!

Aunt Chelsea taking a turn
How does the hat look?

Stuart is introducing her to Cubs baseball early. He brought her 2 Cubs onesies to wear for games.
Asleep with his little neice after a long drive from Texas.
Sitting with daddy. She is so strong!

Baby Oliver!

As many of you already know, Ryan and Natalie welcomed a beautiful new baby boy into their family on Friday! I was so excited to get to go and visit and meet Mr. Oliver on Sunday! Congrats to Ryan, Natalie and Claire! Claire was so sweet - Ryan and Claire came with me to the car and Claire made sure to give Oliver a kiss :)

Introducing Oliver!

Mommy and baby!

What a beautiful little boy!

Fair Party

Our good friends Miranda and Justin recently had a "fair party" to celebrate the absolutely amazing Champaign County fair. The fair is literally in their backyard and we all had a good time visiting. Patrick and I took Sophia and this was her first official "big people party" and she did great!

A future Theta in the making?

Nicki (Due in October!), Me & Snick, Miranda and Jeanette

Bath Time

Well I didn't get a picture of her first official tub/sink bath, but this was the 2nd or 3rd one. No more screaming at bath time! She loves the time with Patrick and being in the water!

"Check me out! This is pretty cool!"

Time to get dried off with her cute hooded princess towel and finish getting ready for bed!

A visit with some of the family

On Sunday my Uncle Gary, cousins (Wes and Conor) and Grandma (Monga or Bagee) stopped in for a visit as part of the trip to take Bagee to the airport. She was on her way to Missouri to help my Uncle Joey and Aunt Bridget with the anticipated arrival of their new little one (who arrived Aug. 6 - Emily Nicole is my newest cousin)! Patrick, Conor and Wes played a heated game of Sorry! that they were unable to finish due to my discovery of a mouse in the garage! YUCK!!! We all ate lunch together and played "pass the baby." It was a nice visit.

Wes holding Sophia

Check him out with his cool new haircut and contacts!!

Sophia with her Great Uncle Gary

Conor holding the baby

My Grandma, myself and Sophia

3 Generations

Sophia with her Great Grandma

Bright eyes

Since this blog is new and I have a lot of pictures, I'm just going to start adding pics until we get "caught up!"

This is Sophia attempting tummy time. She likes to hold her head up and look around. Of course the best picture would have been just before I grabbed the camera :)

Sophia with Daddy. We finally got a good picture of her with her eyes open nice and wide!

And so it starts....

Welcome to our Blog! Since we enjoy keeping up with our friends in this way, we decided it would be a good way to share our various activities with everyone in this way as well (Ok, we know you are just logging in to see Sophia - but we are OK with that ;) ). Bear with us as we figure out how to post pictures and navigate this new toy!

Let's start with.......

Sophia Lenane Shepherd

July 8, 2008

6:04pm

7lbs. 4 oz.

19 3/4 inches

Our dream come true! After 2 and half years, our long wait was over - I was pregnant! And as you can see, with a little baby GIRL!!!!!

Our family of THREE!

Baby Sophia in the hospital

Time to go home! YIKES - Can you believe they let us take this tiny little baby home?!??!! She liked her car ride - afterall she spent most of her growing days in the car nd listening to mommy on the phone!

This is her first bath at home. Recognize the towel Aunt Becca?

These next pictures are just of her sleeping - but doesn't she look cute?!?!?!