Christmas 2010

Things are finally settling down a little bit since returning from Christmas in Wisconsin. The long drive up and back were a little crazier with Sofia being older. She naps less and is not pleased sitting in the car for the 11 hour drive one way. We returned last Sunday just in time for the Packer game and barely unpacked and it's been a crazy work week for Tim and I until today. Tim and I were fortunate enough to both have two weeks off for Christmas and since we haven't been in Wisconsin since April we decided to spend a week with each of our families. We started out the trip in Waukesha to see my family. We had a nice time catching up with my parents and sisters. My Uncle Kevin was also in town for a day to visit my Grandma so it was nice to see him as well. Tim and I also met my sister's boyfriend Carlos. He was not only a great guy but Sofia adores him. Christmas Eve we attended my cousin Bobbi's church. She just had a beautiful baby girl who was baby Jesus in her church service so we just had to see that. We spent Christmas Eve doing our traditional "fondue" dinner and teaching everyone a new game.

Here are some highlights from our week in Waukesha.

Here is Sofia hanging out with Sean & Ian, the children of our friends, Charles & Kelly.

When Tim and I lived in Milwaukee one of our favorite things to do was hang out on the lake shore and explore the art museum. Here is Sofia visiting the museum for her first time.

This is all of my family at the Christmas Eve church service.

Sofia hanging out with Tim & Carlos, waiting for our fondue adventure to begin!

Christmas Day we left for Baraboo to spend some time with Tim's family. We timed the trip pretty well so Sofia was able to sleep in the car most of the way. Shortly after we arrived the Sullivan side of Tim's family arrived and we all opened presents together. Some presents were more interesting than others as you will notice in the pictures below. The next day many of the Ruders came to visit and watch the Packer game. We were sad that we didn't get to meet Tim's cousin's new baby, Nimueh, but hopefully we will meet her in the near future. The rest of the week was pretty relaxing. We spent some time cross country skiing, sledding, building a snow man, ice skating, ice hockey, lots of games of ping pong, and of course, a few nights of Settlers of Cataan. Settlers is a board game that we learned about four years ago that Tim's family is OBSESSED with. To be honest, Tim and I like the game a lot too. Before everyone moved from Memphis for externs we got together with some friends of ours to play almost weekly. Go ahead, call us nerds! We also spent a day meeting with some different optometrists in Wisconsin exploring different opportunities for Tim. It will be very interesting to see how things work out in the next 6 or 7 months. Tim and I love Wisconsin, but we also love the mountains and the ocean and Wisconsin is close to neither. So although we are definitely looking in Wisconsin, we are keeping our options open for different locations as well.


Here are the highlights from our week in Baraboo.

Sonya, Liam, and Sofia checking out Uncle Christopher in his "morph suit' Christmas present.

She wasn't sure what to think at first, but Sofia quickly warmed up to Uncle Chris in his suit.

Jon, Chris and I cross country skiing at Mirror Lake State Park

Sofia's first ice skating experience at Bob & Bobbi's cabin in Pardeeville. She didn't exactly skate but she definitely enjoyed being pulled around the lake.

Sofia seems pretty comfortable hanging out in her chariot.

Family picture in front of Sofia's first snow man.

Sofia's first time sledding

Sofia hanging out in Tim's rocking chair he had when he was her age.

St. Nick's & Hannukah

This was a very busy week at work but we started it out in a fun way by celebrating Sofia's first St. Nick's. She enjoyed checking out her stocking but really loved ripping paper off of her present. St. Nicholas brought her a xylophone. I was a little surprised at how quickly she figured out how to play the instrument.

Later in the week we celebrated Hannukah with some friends of ours. Tim and I found it very interesting to learn more about the history and traditions of this holiday. 

I'll end with the highlight of my night. Tonight Sofia didn't go to bed as easily as she normally does. I just held her and she sat on my lap facing me. She just kept looking into my eyes and smiling and cooing/babbling to me. Eventually she started smiling and then laying her head on my chest. She did this a few times until she just fell asleep. It was such an amazing feeling to have her fall asleep on my chest, just like when she was a tiny newborn. I truly treasure every little moment with my sweet baby girl. Here is a picture that Tim was able to take even though it was dark in her room.

St. Jude half marathon weekend

This weekend I participated in the St. Jude half marathon. This is an incredible fund raising event for St. Jude Hospital. 16,000 runners participate in the 5k, family race, half marathon, and full marathon. The race is usually sold out by September every year. I was feeling excited and a little nervous all week. All of my training runs with Sofia paid off because the race went extremely well. I finished in just over 2 hours. I was a little disappointed I didn't make it under 2 hours especially because I took the time to go to the bathroom during the middle of the race. What can I say, I guess I was a little too well hydrated. I really wasn't sure what kind of time I would have since I'm not quite the runner I was in high school and college but I was pleased with the time. Now I feel very motivated to do another race and lower my time.

The race itself was great. The weather was between 55 and 60 degrees and the spectators cheering the runners on were amazing. It was quite sobering to run by the families holding photos of their children being treated at St. Jude and thanking us for running for their children. I felt great throughout the entire race and never walked. It was an amazingly flat course that went by several of my favorite places and landmarks in Memphis. Tim and Sofia made signs the night before and cheered me on at a few different points throughout the race. Tim said Sofia was quite the trooper, he was so busy moving around to get to different areas of the course and taking pictures he never had a chance to change her diaper or feed her. When I finally found them after the finish you would've never known Sofia missed a meal, she was happy as can be. She really loves being out and about and observing people. After the race I relaxed and enjoyed the day with Tim and Sofia. I can't wait for my next race!

Sofia and I before Tim dropped me off at the race start.

Running between miles 7 and 8 which go right by our old neighborhood, Vollintine-Evergreen

Our little family after the race.

Feeling happy and a little sore after the race.

Thanksgiving Week

We decided not to make the 12 hour drive up to Wisconsin this year for a variety of reasons. First of all, Tim had round two of National Boards today so he really needed some study time. We have also discovered that long trips are getting tougher to do the older Sofia gets. She can handle about 6-7 hours in the car but beyond that she really gets sick of it, and I don't blame her one bit. What we've done in the past is try to drive through the night so she can sleep but last time we did that Tim and I were both so sleepy with over two hours left in the drive we didn't think it was safe. Anyways, we decided to stay in Memphis. Tim's parents came to visit the weekend before because they couldn't handle waiting until Christmas to see their sweet granddaughter. The timing worked out perfectly because they were able to stay home with Sofia the day after her surgery while Tim and I had to work. We had a great time visiting with Tim's family and we look forward to spending more time together at Christmas.

For Thanksgiving day we joined our friends Rachael and Hayden and their family in Arkansas. We had a delicious meal, Sofia even tried some mashed potatoes, turkey, and cranberries. She wasn't a big fan of the turkey but she tolerated the potatoes and cranberries. After our meal we played a few games of Settlers of Cataan (one of our favorite games to play with the Sowers) and shot skeet (clay discs) outside. I haven't shot a gun in a long time and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed myself. Unfortunately, I left our camera in the car and only took a few pictures with my iPhone.

 Sofia hanging out with Rachael's mom

 Taking a little nap after her first Thanksgiving meal :)

Best for last! Hayden (who never holds babies) snuggling with Sofia

After Thanksgiving we drove home so Tim could wake up early and study the next day. I have to be honest and say that it was really nice not spending two days in the car and driving between families and feeling the stress of trying to make everyone happy. I love our families dearly but it was great to spend some quality time with just Tim and Sofia. Thinking back to last year, it's amazing to actually have Sofia with us. Last year we were just dreaming about meeting our baby and wondering what she would be like. She has changed my life in ways I couldn't imagine. I feel so thankful to God for putting her in my life and family.  I'm also thankful for how God has really protected my family and I over the last year. It's been a very busy year full of some very major life events and God has provided and taken care of us.

Sofia's Surgery

This morning Sofia had surgery to get tubes in her ears. We were a little worried about whether or not the surgery would even take place because she was a bit under the weather yesterday. Fortunately, her fever dropped off around midnight so we were safe to go. We had to leave the house at 5:45 to get to the surgery center on time. Poor Sofia couldn't eat or drink anything past midnight but she actually did really well. She kept everyone in the waiting room entertained while we waited for her turn. The surgery took all of about 20 minutes. The worst part was being all by myself, it was so hard to fill out forms and carry Sofia and everything around the various parts of the surgery center. Tim really wanted to come but I told him to go to work. Any time he misses has to be made up over Christmas break. I told myself I could not cry and I had to be strong and I did well. When they carried Sofia away I was a little nervous but by the time I sat down and had time to think about everything I was already being paged to the conference room to discuss the surgery with Sofia's doctor. Everything went really well and they cleared all of the fluid out of her ears, I am so excited for her to be able to hear at full volume. Her doctor said what she could hear before the surgery could be compared to swimming underwater and listening to other people talk outside the pool. Tim actually decided he couldn't take it and wanted to be there when Sofia woke up from her surgery and he got there just in time. We went back to the recovery room together and could hear our sweet girl whimpering and crying. We hugged her and kissed her and fed her. It was the most pitiful thing I have ever seen, she was just so confused and not sure what to think of everything. We had to stay for another half hour so they could monitor her recovery from the anesthesia. I was so happy to have Tim there. Sofia was recovering very well so they let us go home. She fell asleep in the car within 10 minutes of driving. Tim went and filled the prescription for her ear drops and met us at home. The doctor told me Sofia would probably sleep one to four hours at home. I had to laugh because Sofia is not a big napper, she sleeps very well at night but rarely takes naps longer than an hour. She woke up when I carried her in the house and was back to her old self. We spent the day reading books, playing, and snuggling. She actually did take one hour long nap but definitely just wanted to play and spend time together the rest of the day. She will have a follow up hearing test in a few weeks, I'm anxious to see how much her hearing improves. The tubes should definitely help with her ear infections as well.

My Running Buddy

This morning Sofia and I ran in the Southern College of Optometry Eye 5k race. The race is to raise money for SVOSH, a group Tim has been involved with for the past 3 years. The entire week the temperature has been in the mid to high 70's and sunny. Unfortunately this morning it was rainy and about 65 degrees. Tim had to work at the VA Hospital today so Sofia and I were on our own for this race. I was a little worried about her getting wet but our awesome BOB jogging stroller kept her warm and dry. She slept during the entire race. We had a great time! Tim actually finished work early and was able to cheer us on at the finish line.

Sofia is a great little running buddy. She has been with me for quite a few miles as I train for the St. Jude half marathon. She usually just takes a nap while I run but sometimes she'll sing to me or laugh when we pass different runners. It's hard to believe there are only a few weeks left until the big race. I have wanted to run the St. Jude half marathon ever since we moved to Memphis, I've heard it's a great race and it's definitely an amazing cause. St. Jude works with the school I teach at quite a bit so I've had a chance to spend a few days at the hospital. One of the things I like best about St. Jude is that no child is ever turned away for financial reasons. If you are ever in Memphis I definitely recommend taking a tour or at least making a small donation.

Thankful.

I am thankful for my family, especially my husband and daughter. I'm thankful for the time we were able to spend enjoying one another this weekend. Last week was a bit of a tough week. Sofia battled a fever throughout Tuesday night so I stayed home with her Wednesday and took her in to the doctor. Her left ear was blistered, pussy, and infected. Her left ear has actually been infected since August, a week after she started daycare. Her daycare is wonderful, she attends FLICC (The Foreign Language Immersion Childcare Center). We were on a waiting list for almost a year and it definitely isn't cheap but if I have to work, I want Sofia in the best possible place and Spanish immersion is a plus. It's amazing to see three and four year old kids running around speaking Spanish with beautiful accents. Anyways, Sofia has been on every antibiotic you can think of since August but they only seem to help her out temporarily, the ear infection has never completely healed and always come back stronger. It's odd too, because her right ear always looks perfect. Last week I brought her in to the doctor Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The doctors gave her a shot of Rocephin (equivalent to 30 doses of amoxicillan) each day. It was awful, Sofia is actually pretty tough when it comes to shots but her pediatrician warned me that these shots are especially painful. And you have to stay in the office for ten minutes after the shot to watch for any adverse reaction. Watching my poor baby suffer was awful. After three shots, the doctor told me her ear looked almost the same as it did Wednesday. We've been dragging our feet on ear tubes but the doctor told me we have no other option at this point. Two of the pediatricians in the practice came to the conclusion that the problem is likely something in her Eustachian tube that she was born with, especially since her right ear has never had any problems. I will take Sofia for a consultation with an ENT doctor this week, please keep her in your prayers.

I've been feeling very guilty about the entire situation. I find myself thinking maybe if I stayed home with Sofia she never would've gotten an ear infection to begin with. I would love to stay home but with Tim in his final year of optometry school it just isn't feasible. Even though we have the childcare expense, we still are able to pay some living expenses and have health insurance with my salary. I also felt committed to my school and the group of students I have this year, the only problem is I'd rather focus on teaching just one student, my daughter. Maybe someday this will be an option for me. This morning at church I took a lot of time reflecting and praying about the whole situation and I realized I really need to trust God and trust that things will work out.

The last two weekends we have had family in town, Tim's brother and his girlfriend and then my parents. We LOVE visitors but it definitely wears you out. This weekend Tim worked at the VA Hospital on Saturday and then we rushed off to Overton Park for a SVOSH fundraiser where we had our picture taken. We're hoping we might be able to use one of the pictures for a Christmas card or something. Sofia did not get the memo about Daylight Savings time and woke up nice and early Sunday morning so we took the opportunity to go out for breakfast at our favorite Memphis breakfast place, Brother Juniper's! It was amazing, as always. Then we enjoyed a great church service, some time at home, and a beautiful hike out in Shelby Forest.