Looking back on 2015

Wow what a year! :) Time keeps going faster and faster and sometimes I feel like I cannot keep up! We've had quite a roller coaster of a year! Joys, tears, laughter, frustrations, learnings, experiences, and so many moments we will treasure forever! I can't believe this year is already over! 

Here are some of our favorite moments from 2015:

Went on our first cruise!

Experienced our first {my very first ever} snow day[s] in Dallas

Pulled off a surprise visit for my mom to help her move!

I stopped working to prep for our baby!

 Tyler was picked to get some special training for work! 

Tyler {finally} got to ride his absolutely favorite airplane :) 

Sophie was born!

We celebrated two amazing years of marriage!

Tyler turned 25!

We surprised my brother at the airport with his new niece 

Soph was blessed in Utah

Our first holiday season as a family of three!

Lots of traveling

Lots of visits from loved ones

Relaxing fun filled Thanksgiving!

Drove to Utah for Christmas (Tyler got to fly)

Sophie's first white Christmas!

Lots of airplane rides!

Lots of miles in the car!

Lots of laughter, hugs, kisses, and tears!

Lots of amazing experiences!

A lot more growing in love! 

Bring on 2016!! :) 

Looking at the Lights :)

So last night we went to the Dallas Arboretum 12 Days of Christmas at night! haha It was so fun! Soph stayed up way past her bed time, but loved the lights, and loved her daddy, and loved the fun displays! :) Christmas is so fun with a little one! 

She was so enthralled with the "5 Golden Rings" hehe 

Sophie LOVES her daddy!! 

6 months...Wait What??

I know people say it all the time, but good grief, time seems to speed waaaaaaaaaaay up when you have a baby. Where on earth did the last 6 months go?? My momma heart is begging time to slow down, and yet I seriously am loving every minute of this sweet girl's development and seeing her learn something new every moment!! I love being Sophie's momma!! :)

Sophie Loves: 

Daddy

Fingers (watch out, cause it hurts if she gets 'em in her mouth)

Blankets 

Books 

Lights 

Her soft bear book/carseat friend

Bananas

Sleeping

Eating (anything [except raspberries] and everything)

Staring

Making {all sorts of} noise

Graham Crackers

Traveling

Squealing (as loud and high as possible)

Sitting

Trying new things

Momma

Screeching all through Sacrament Meeting [we 

are working on reverence;)]

Rolling

Smiling

Her hands

Bath time

Sophie Doesn't Love: 

Getting dressed/undressed

When food is gone

Being too tired 

Being smothered

Big Moments: 

TWO teeth! -They both popped out within a day of each other. She is a champ!

Sits by herself for a minute or two without any support!
She started giggling, but has only done it like 3 times and it is HARD to get her going! 

Figured out how to alternate rolling from back to belly to get something she wants (basically only the presents that were under our tree...silly girl)

First solid foods and she loves EVERYTHING we give her (except raspberries and that was pretty funny!! hehe) 

First Thanksgiving, she was spoiled with yummy foods, poor girl doesn't know what to do now that we are home. ;) 

Facts about Sophie: 

She will NOT sleep if someone is holding her, and usually she has to be alone, in her crib, with her blanket to fall asleep!

Still a HUGE spitter... we go through a LOT of laundry around here.

Amazingly alert and observant... She stares and takes things in, in a way that make me appreciate the beautiful simplicity all around us! 

Tyler and I often race to get Soph out of her crib after she wakes up, because thats when she gives the biggest and best smiles!

She chatters and squeals all day long... 
She does this thing where she puts her right hand in a fist and then wiggles it (almost like she is revving a motorcycle). She's started to do it while drinking her bottle, so she twists her bottle back and forth! its pretty funny!

When she gets excited, she kicks her legs and flaps her arms really hard and fast, all while making these cute little grunting sounds!

Disneyworld!!

So this one time my momma's family decided to go to Disneyworld for their family reunion. We've known for a while this was going to happen, but then Sophie joined our family so we kind of decided not to go. Welllllllll I found a round trip flight for $90 and my sweet husband agreed that Soph and I could go so we did!!! and it was so much fun! I didn't take a ton of pictures, but it was so fun to live in the moment, laugh with my family, and introduce my little girl to the wonderful world of Disney! haha 
Now I know it's crazy to take a four month old to Disney, but they have these things called baby care centers and let me tell you, it makes Disney with a young child completely doable!!! I could go there and pump, they had changing tables, small kitchens, high chairs, a little store that had anything you may have forgotten (diapers, food, wipes, medicine, etc), and best of all cold water and air conditioning!!! haha So nice!!! 
Also my other note, Hollywood Studios and The Animal Kingdom were so much fun! The shows were fun and the rides were a blast! The Magic Kingdom itself is pretty much just Disneyland but way more crowded. Also they packed you into lines like sardines...it was actually kind of sad :( I would take Disneyland over the Magic Kingdom any day!! The End. 

Soph was pretty excited! 

Riding the tram to the park!

Peter Pan was Sophie's first ride! She LOVED the lights! 

Holy ice cream sandwhich! 

So day 1 Sophie refused to sleep! She was so
enthralled with all the lights, plus she wont fall
asleep if someone is holding her :( Poor thing was exhausted! 

Day 2 I put her in this wrap and she slept so good!!
Yay for wraps, and yay for aunt Kaylee!!! :) 

We saw John Wayne! :) (this ones for you love!!)

After Sophie went down for a nap my parents were
teasing Kaylee like they had teased Sophie :) hehe

She loves books... well at least eating them! 

Loves her toes! and she loved the "lukewarm" tub! 

This is after we got back, waiting for daddy!
isn't she cute??

My big reader! :) 

3 Months :)

Holy time is flying! Sophie is such a light in our lives, always teaching us! 

Sophie is the best at simply letting us know when she is ready for something. When she was 3 weeks old she let us know she was done being swaddled, when she was 5.5 weeks old she let us know she was ready to be swaddled again, when she was 6 weeks old she let us know she was done sleeping in our room, about a month after that she let us know she was done being nursed to sleep, and this last weekend she firmly let us know she was done with me and would rather eat from a bottle. Yay for pumping! Oh we love this sweet, stubborn girl! 

Sophie loves:

Fans

Daddy

Squealing
Snuggling

Sitting up

Seeing what's going on

Singing with mom

Blanket games with daddy

Being outside

Milk

Blankets

Blowing bubbles

Her hands 

Sucking on her fingers

Traveling

Staring

Telling stories

Showers

Sophie dislikes: 

Getting undressed

Getting dressed

Feeling like she is falling

When her bottle is gone

Being tired

Baths 

Too much tummy time

Pacifiers (we have tried and tried and she simply won't take one!)

Milestones:

Smiling

Puts herself to sleep (for naps)

Holds her head up (always has!)

Flying (she has actually flown 5 times now! quite a little pro!)

Camping

Sleeps through the night

Facts about Sophie:

Stubborn and determined

Plays this game with daddy called "daddy-swaddles-me-up-real-tight-and-I-try-to-break-out-by-morning" (Sophie usually wins... hehe) 

Soph is the biggest spitter... oh man so much spit all the time!! 

She loves chilling with her hands behind her head
Anytime Sophie sees a phone or camera she stops smiling/talking and just stares

She is so alert... has been since the moment she was born...but she is observant and aware and you can see it in her big big eyes! 

getting Soph to smile for a camera is pretty much impossible

This thing called time....

Sooooo do you remember being little? The concept of time was almost nonexistent. Then you got to elementary school, time started to make a little more sense... and it moved soooo slowly. As soon as you got to the point you were changing classes time seemed to speed up a little bit. Freshmen year comes along and once again time seems to crawl by sooooo slowly. Senior year hits and before you know it you are walking onto that stage, shaking a hand and accepting a diploma. College comes, life moves on, and before you know it you are standing (kneeling) at the alters of the temple, dressed in white, saying yes. 
I thought I understood time, it moves at the same pace, never changing, always moving forward, and yet the older I get the faster it seems to go.
 I thought high school was going to go on forever, and yet senior year passed like the blink of an eye. I dreamed of the days I would have a husband, someone to confide everything with, and before I knew it, Tyler walked into my life. 
The simple desire to be a mom always seemed so far away, and yet here I am. A baby, my baby, squealing, smiling, and melting my heart. She is here, we are here, as a family, and I can't seem to get time to slow down again. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's going faster than it ever has before. 

Tyler and I were talking the other night, about the distractions of today. The phones, tv shows, activities, social media, the need to go go go, and yet we find ourselves remembering and cherishing the simple moments, the moments without phones, without tv, the moments when we are sitting on the floor, giggling at our daughter, the moments that don't always get captured on camera. The laughter, the squeals, the snuggles, the smiles, and even the tears. 
If there is anything being a mom, no, if there is anything Sophie has taught me, it is to stop, to fully focus, to be aware, observant, alert, and to cherish. 

I don't want my daughter to look back and only remember a mom always on her phone, a mom not "present". I want to know my daughter, and I want her to know me. It's hard, it takes practice, dedication, and constant reminders, but I know that it is worth it! 

Time is precious, time moves so fast, and as hard as we try we can't get time back.

So enjoy, be aware, laugh, and put your whole heart into it, for we never do know when it will all change, and we don't know which moments will become our favorites! 

Sophie got blessed! :)

Our sweet girl was blessed by her daddy on August 23, 2015. We made a trip up to Utah and she was blessed there! She did so great, stared at her daddy the whole time he was blessing her (seriously daddy's girl to the extreme!). She ended up getting pretty hot, so her dress came off about 20 mins after her blessing :) hehe My goal this week is to put her back in it and take some really good pictures.... hopefully that actually happens! haha! Thank you to everyone who participated and supported!! Sophie has some amazing people in her life and I am so grateful for each of them! :) 

Soph is a BIG spitter so we tried to save the dress! :) 

Sophie Birth Story

Disclaimer: this is going to be long and as detailed as I can remember, so please don't feel obligated to read the whole thing! 
Before I get started, I just need to note that the last few weeks of pregnancy are hard! and the waiting game is excruciatingly frustrating!! I was absolutely convinced this little one was going to come in May, so when May came and went, to say I was anxious and frustrated is an understatement! However I have the best husband, and my momma came out to help move things along, and then my daddy came which made things even more interesting! :)

My due date was June 6, so as it got closer with absolutely no signs of labor we enlisted some help! Some midwives my dad works with offered a "cocktail"-of ice cream, castor oil, milk, and a raw egg-so Friday night (June 5) we tried said cocktail (minus the egg). Not so much as a contraction. It did clean out my bowels, but this baby was determined to stay put. Stubborn thing :). 
Fast forward to Monday night, my daddy arrived in town with a few tricks up his sleeve, hehe (by this point I was overdue). I got my membranes swept (which didn't really do much either) and quietly prepared to go to my doctors appointment on Tuesday. Tyler went to work early on Tuesday so he could come to the doctor without taking time off work (our appointment was at 3:15) and as we were getting ready to go to the doctor my water broke. I was positive for Group B Strep so we needed to get two rounds of antibiotics before our little one came, we called the doctor and were told to go straight to the hospital. I jumped in the shower (waters breaking makes a mess!), while my parents and Tyler collected our stuff. My dad and Tyler gave me a blessing and we calmly headed to the hospital. On our drive I started feeling contractions, and they were all in my back! Not exactly what I was hoping for! As we pulled into the parking garage at the hospital it started pouring rain! so we stood around, hoping for it to pass, as contractions started getting a little worse and a lot closer together. (we finally just decided to brave the rain and run across the street to the hospital!). The nurses put us in a room to monitor our labor, and check for amniotic fluid. We had no doubts it was amniotic fluid (hehe), and the test quickly confirmed it! We were admitted by 4:15, I was dialated to a 3 and contractions were already right on top of each other. I tried bouncing on a ball...hated it...Tyler and I tried walking around for a little bit...terrible...I ended up laying in bed with someone rubbing my back (Tyler, my mom, or my dad), and a cold towel on my head. By 6:30ish I was only dialated to a 4, and contractions were in my back and lower belly, I couldn't get relaxed and I could sense the anxiety in my sweet husband. So at 7:00 I got an epidural. (Brief rant... How on earth are you suppose to sit, hunched over, and perfectly still while you are having contractions, and with a big belly in the way???? We need to rethink that!) When they checked me around 8:00 I was dialated to a 6! The epidural really helped me relax! When my doctor came to check at 9:00 I was at a 9.5. At this point my brain started taking over. I had prepared myself, as a first time mom, to be in labor for a long time. My body had never done that before and I was ready for hours of sitting around, laboring, and waiting. So when 9:30 rolled around and the nurse started prepping me to begin pushing I was not prepared! Luckily I had the BEST support team in the world!! :) My dad, My mom, and Tyler all did wonderfully at motivating me, supporting me, and encouraging me. I needed each of them, for different reasons, and because they each had a special way of helping me! I pushed for about 2 hours when the Doctor and resident came in. At this point contractions were so close together I barely had time to catch my breath before it was time to push again. I'm pretty sure the only thing I said during the pushing was, "I can't breathe" over and over again. My mom held one of my legs, Tyler held the other and was amazing at fanning me (I don't know what he used, but it really helped, that room was HOT.) and my daddy took pictures as well as quietly encouraged and helped me focus on the prize at the end. In fact at one point my mom and Tyler told me to reach down and touch baby's head, I refused, and my dad grabbed my hand and said, "touch the head, it will help". (can we talk about the fact my baby has hair?? haha was not expecting that one!!)  It helped and kind of grossed me out! But it was motivating to reach down and feel a head! There was so much pressure, I couldn't catch my breathe, and honestly there was a point that I seriously doubted I would be able to get our baby out. I could hear my mom and Tyler saying, "come on, you've got this, you are so close". At this point Tyler moved up by my head, and I think a nurse took over my leg, however it might have been my dad (I'm not quite sure). I was so exhausted that Tyler started to support my head/neck every time I pushed (I had strained so hard during each push that my voice was like a whisper for a whole week afterward). Finally I felt the pressure start to ease up and my sweet baby was flipped up onto my belly. My mom was standing by me saying, "you did it, you did it", Tyler was saying, "It's a girl, Shelb!" and I was listening for that first cry. (I later learned the cord was wrapped around her neck twice) Tyler cut the cord and she was immediately taken to the baby warmer thing, Tyler and my dad followed her, my mom stayed with me, and our little girl finally started crying! Those first few moments with no noise are pretty intense. As the doctor and resident started delivering the placenta, my mom went over by the baby, and my dad came by my side. He kept telling me I had done so good, and she was beautiful! We heard someone call out she was 8lbs and 8oz and we were all shocked! She was big! (everyone had been guessing she would be in the low 7lb range). 21 inches! I started feeling pokes and I remember looking at my dad and asking how bad I had tore. (It ended up being a 2nd degree tear). Tyler was able to diaper and swaddle our little one and he brought her over to me! She was so alert and remained so for almost 2 hours after birth. She just stared around the room, Tyler did some skin to skin, I was able to do skin to skin, she latched on to nurse like a pro, my parents were each able to hold her, and we were able to have almost 2 hours in recovery before they moved us up to the postpartum unit. 
A lot of people have asked how my dad did in the delivery room and he was great. We didn't tell anyone about my dad's job, our doctor never knew I was raised by an OB... hehe. and no one in the delivery room knew either. As the resident was stitching me up I knew my dad was preparing to take over should something go wrong, but he was great. 
My momma was the best and I definitely needed her encouragement! She had all c-sections, so I am so glad she got to be apart of this delivery! :) 
Tyler also did amazingly! I was so impressed with his quiet strength and encouragement! :) He had to sit down a couple times, but I'm pretty sure that was more out of sheer exhaustion than the need to pass out. He did so good, and I could feel my love for him growing as I saw him snuggle our little girl with tears in his eyes! :) 
All in all I labored for about 9 hours! (water broke at 2:30pm, baby was born at 11:48pm) Super short for a first time mom, we are all still amazed at how fast it went! 
We are so absolutely smitten and in love with our little girl! 
Welcome to the world!! 

My mom was the best!!! (especially at massaging my back and
arranging my pillows!!) 

That squat bar thing didn't do much, but it was fun to try!  

Seriously!! So in love!! :) 

After we moved to postpartum and got all situated (It was
like 3 or 4 in the morning, so totally dark), I was trying to
nurse this sweet girl, I started to feel wet, and just kind of assumed
it was milk. She started getting antsy so I went to reposition her
and noticed a little puddle of blood all over me, and on the back
of her head, the little stinker had ripped my IV out! :) hehe
Needless to say, it was a little less work for the nurse ;)

She was literally awake like this for almost 2 hours after delivery! 

I'm pretty sure they slept like this the whole
time we were in the hospital! :) 

He looks good with a baby! 

She loves her daddy! 

Funny story: Tyler started getting her dressed and put her onesie
on from her feet up to her head. We didn't get a picture but it
was seriously the cutest thing! It just seemed so logical to him!
I love my engineer!!! 

She did not like getting dressed! :0

I love my support system!! I don't think I could have done it
without anyone of these 3!!! Thank you all soooo much!!!!

Sophie Leah Wigren

June 9, 2015

11:48 pm 

8lbs 8oz

21in 

We love you Sophie girl!!!

This is how my sweet girl nurses when she isn't swaddled... hehe
she likes to keep her mommy covered ;)