Til We Meet Again - The Ensley Ward

Today was our last day in the Ensley ward. Simon and I have been on assignment for the stake to help this ward for the last two years. Everyone has become like family to us and we love them sooo much! We were specifically assigned to work with the youth, Simon as the YM Pres. and me as the YW Pres. It is very sad to leave the young men and young women that we have worked with. They are the most courageous, valiant, sweet, hard-working youth that we have come across! How grateful we are that had the chance to work with them! Here are a few pics from today at church:

Sofi looked especially cute today (thank you Jennifer Schober for the dress)!

On the Move - 3 Months Old (13 1/2 weeks)

We've had such a fun couple of weeks with Sofi. She is developing into such a wondeful little girl with a great personality! She is no longer our little baby... Where has the time gone! She weighs about 12 pounds now and is growing SO fast. Too fast for me! This week, I went in to check on Sofi around 5:30 a.m. and found her at the top end of the crib. I didn't think much of it. I just thought that she scooted her way to the top. (Of course she can't crawl yet, but we have lots of tummy time and she tries SO hard to move. It's pretty funny to see). Well, on Friday, I put her down on her mat for "tummy time" and before I could blink, she ROLLED OVER! I was soooo excited and proud of her...She kept doing it over and over. I caught it on video. Take a look:

We love this time with Sofi! She is at the stage now, where she communicates with us and smiles all the time.What a sociable little girl we have! Here are a few of the things we LOVE about her:

• She coos ALL the time. It's so cute...She wants to talk all the time and will coo for hours. It's so precious. She loves to be facing us and concentrates hard on talking. We imitate what she is trying to say back and she loves it...


• She loves Simon and has the biggest smile when he comes home. She also looks for him to rescue her when I am doing something she doesn't like (like cleaning her nose, cutting her nails, etc.)


• She loves her exercise mat and mobile (looking up at the animals)


• She can now reach for things with her hands and loves touching any and everything


• She smiles at us all the time and loves playing. Most of all, she is the MOST content baby and we love her!

I love being a mother and watching Sofi develop everyday. It's amazing to see her grow and intellectually develop. I am so proud of her! I am also grateful for the wonderful nurturer that Simon is. What a wonderful daddy and partner he is! He loves Sofi...I remember when we found out that were going to have a girl. When the ultrasound tech told us, Simon cried. Well, we both cried! Simon wanted a little girl and had prayed for her to come to us. How wonderful it is that Heavenly Father granted his petition! Here are some recent pics of Sofi. We went for Sushi last night and the others are just randon ones:

(My two favorite people)

Family Time

This has been a fun week! Sofi and I went to Atlanta to see family and friends while Simon was away on business. We got to see our good friend Lisa Pulsipher and her precious new baby Ashby, which was a real treat! Lisa is soo beautiful and motherhood suits her perfectly.

Simon and I have had some great family time with Sofi this weekend. The weather was perfect on Saturday, so we headed to Aldridge Gardens. We took our books and spread out amongst the beautiful gardens with a small picnic. It was perfect! While there, we ran into Simon's new assistant and her beautiful daughters. Here are some pictures:

To Stop Time!

Where has the time gone? If only we could stop time...We looked at Sofia today and realized that our little girl is no longer so little! It seems as though she has grown and filled out tremendously overnight...We found a picture of her at birth and it reminded us of how frail she was in the beginning stages, as all babies are. We miss this stage, but are grateful that: we can hug and squeeze her without being afraid of hurting her; that she talks back to us (coos) all the time; that she laughs and smiles all the time, especailly when you sing to her; that she knows how to use her hands to grab any and everything; most of all, that she knows who Simon and I are and wants to only be in our arms. Here is a picture of Sofi at birth (look how tiny she is, weighing 6 lbs. 3.3 oz.):And now, to look at her today at 11 weeks is amazing: