J Squared: April 2012

4.29.2012

Tummy time on Pigsley

Sophia really has taken to Pigsley rather nicely. Yesterday we decided a piggy back would strengthen their friendship even more. Hence, tummy time on Pigsley! Sophia loved it! Pigsley just sat there.

When my parents were in town for Sophia's blessing, we headed over to Bainbridge Island for lunch. We ate at a cute little shop called Fork & Spoon. I had the BEST salad ever. It was quinoa with roasted root vegetables and with a balsamic reduction for a dressing. So good! Anyway, I replicated it one night for dinner and I must say it turned out delicious. But even more than it being delicious and making me happy, the food itself was happy. In fact, it even smiled at me as I ate it!

It's the little things in life that make us happy! In this case, little sweet potatoes!

Sophia meets Pigsley

The other day Sophia matched the rug in her room. I decided to take a picture of it in memory of Archana. Whenever two people wore the same color shirt at work, Archana would take a picture of them...very funny and slightly weird.

When I put Sophia on the rug, I noticed Pigsley sitting in the corner alone. He's been there ever since Sophia was born. It was definitely time for them to meet! Here's a photographic documentary of their first encounter.

Pigsley approaches. Sophia ignores him entirely favoring the ceiling fan over the soft, fluffy pink guy sitting right next to her. She loves that ceiling fan!

When she does finally turn and notice him, she is slightly confused and maybe even a little frightened. She stares at those beady black eyes wondering if her new companion will harm her.

Unable to make up her mind, she decides to harm him first...just in case. She gives him a hard whack on the nose!

No response! She throws another punch.

And one final blow...just for good measure.

"Hmmm," she thinks, "this guy's still smiling even after I hit him 3 times! I could use a friend like that!"

And so they played on the rug in brown and pink bliss for several minutes, starting what's sure to be a long friendship.

And Sophia was happy. And so was Pigsley (not pictured).

4.16.2012

Happy Easter!

This was a very fun Easter for us this year because we were able to bless Sophia! We were especially grateful to have such beautiful spring weather that day as well. Baby Sophia looked radiant in her blessing dress (which I ordered from NancyAugust.com and can't say enough good things about their baby dress selection). Unfortunately the matching shoes were too big, but I'm sure no one noticed her feet anyway. In the blessing circle were Sophia's two grandpas, her Uncle Allen, and of course, her dad. Jeff was able to spend some quality alone time with her before the blessing which I think was really nice for both of them and made the blessing more special.

Luckily for us, Jeff's sister-in-law, Sarah, is AMAZING at transcribing blessings and we have a record of the blessing almost word for word! Thanks again Sarah! After Jeff gave the blessing he leaned over to me and asked if I thought the bishop would request that I share my testimony. I wasn't sure whether he would or not since it was Easter Sunday and the program was pretty packed. He didn't...but I did ponder what I might say just in case.

It was really nice to sit peacefully and contemplate the last 2 months and what was said in Sophia's blessing. I think one of the most surprising results of becoming a mother is the increase in love for my parents. I already love my parents so much...I didn't know my love for them could increase, but taking care of Sophia, being so tired, changing so many diapers, etc. has made me realize just how much my parents sacrificed and how hard they worked to raise our family. I am so grateful to have such wonderful, loving, righteous parents.

The other main realization I had was how much the Lord has led my life over the past 2 years. The past 2 years have definitely been the hardest years of my not-so-long-or-difficult life. To me, the last 2 years have drained me of life, energy and many times happiness. If you're surprised by this statement, I'm a pretty good actress. I have felt for a long time that the Lord had abandoned me and just didn't care that much about my life. As I looked back at the events that led me to Sophia's baby blessing I realized that all of the things I wanted so badly would have either prevented me from having Sophia, delayed her birth, or reduced my maternity leave substantially such that I would hardly have any time with her at all. I was really grateful to be able to see how the path I've taken has brought me to a state of such happiness; all the other paths I had been praying for never could have led me to this point. I guess I don't always know what's best for myself!

I swear she stops crying and falls asleep whenever my mom touches her!

My wonderful parents

My wonderful family

The menfolk

Me and my baby - wish we'd closed the closet door behind us!

4.14.2012

Late Night with Jeffrey Simpson: Episode 6

Just when I thought Jeff had gotten used to waking up at night and thus wouldn't be talking in his sleep anymore...this one's not as funny, but still worth documenting.

Scene
Sophia: Sleeping soundly in her room
Jeff: Sleeping soundly in his bed whilst making really obnoxious noises through his nose as usual
Jan: Not sleeping at all due to Jeff's giant nose noises

Jan: Slightly elbows Jeff in the ribs

Jeff: Still snoring loudly

Jan: Really elbows Jeff in the ribs

Jeff: Stops snoring for about 5 seconds then continues on as usual

Jan: Elbows Jeff in the ribs real hard, "Would you stop snoring?!"

Jeff: Sounding as awake as ever, "I'm not snoring! I'm talking in my sleep. If you listen closely you'll hear complete sentences!"

Jan: Not sure whether he really is awake and just making a joke, "You're talking through your nose?"

Jeff: "I'm awake!", then rolls over and goes back to sleep instantly (still making small wheezing noises through his talking nose).

I told Jeff about this the next morning and he had absolutely no recollection of the event. Apparently he wasn't awake after all!

4.13.2012

Where has the time gone!

A dear friend just reminded me that I haven't posted any pictures of Sophia lately. I looked at my blog and sure enough it's been several weeks! Lately we've been struggling with severe feeding issues, then as soon as we got those fixed we had company in town for the baby blessing which totally threw our schedule off enough that we are having feeding issues again! Yikes, will life ever be normal? Despite the craziness that I feel like we've experienced lately, Sophia continues to be just as happy and pleasant as ever. She's just learning to coo this week but today is the first day where it really feels like she's talking to us. So fun!