Sophia Lee at 7 months old

Sophia Lee is now 7 months old!

I'm more than a couple weeks late in posting (OOPS!), but better late than never, right?! Sophia Lee turned 7 months on June 12th.  It is crazy how fast she is growing each day...SO fast that it's hard for this mama to write about it and keep up with her. It is amazing to see how she masters old concepts and how fast she learns new ones and it truly is a blessing that both Caleb and I are here to see it. Here's our sweetheart's mini shoot with mama (it is getting much harder to take photos of her as she is a fast and wiggly baby, always on the move) :

She continues to amaze us at how fast she progresses. 

Before we left San Diego, she was still a little wobbly when sitting, 

couldn't quite crawl properly...but was scootin' her little tush forward. 

Now, she sits up perfectly without our help, 

and crawls like it's her profession. 

She is even able to get into standing position 

and we know it won't be long til she starts walking! 

She is extremely observant of everything around her.

She loves looking at people, especially when we're in the elevator at the hotel. 

She holds her gaze as she stares at a new person,  

furrows her eyebrows and remains pensive. 

She's quite the thinker and so serious! 

She loves little details like shoelaces, strings, and zippers,

and when she's on the floor, she looks around until she spots what she wants and then goes for it! 

She enjoys listening to me talk while I work,

explaining what I'm doing and showing her how I'm doing it,

especially when I'm making my coffee in the morning! 

She enjoys walks along the boardwalk in her stroller  

and lasts about a mile before she wants to be carried by daddy or be on his shoulders, 

as she looks up at the birds in the sky and all the interesting people that walk by. 

She has many facial expressions that make us laugh...

one being when she puckers up her lips, scrunches her nose, and closes her eyes!   

She transfers objects easily from one hand to the other,

She enjoys listening to us read to her and her new favorite book is Animal Farm. 

She loves the water, especially at bath time 

and we're very happy that we have enrolled her in swim class this summer! 

She's an overachiever, she's a bit mischievous, sweet as honey, laughs at peek-a-boo, 

she's our sweet Sophia Lee! 

7 months old and we couldn't be prouder parents of this sweet angel of ours. We can't wait to see how God will use her for His kingdom and pray that we will always lead her towards Him. 

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 

XOXO

Great week!

Caleb and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary this past week!  I'm very happy that we got the chance to be together this year. God found favor in me to bless me with a husband who forgives so quickly, always strives to understand me (even when I'm being difficult), loves me unconditionally and shows it through his actions, and challenges me to be a better person daily.  I love him and am so thankful for his love for me. Another year down, many more to go!

Beautiful flowers he surprised me with after his class. He carpooled with his friend, then after class they went to the store (he had to change out of his uniform in the car), to buy me flowers, and then he changed back into his uniform so that I wouldn't suspect anything when I saw him. What a little sneaky tricky man! =)

 We decided to splurge a little and celebrate at one of our favorite restaurants, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (YUM!). We actually ate at that exact same place 4 years ago after he proposed to me...and we even sat in the same area. Talk about Deja Vu!

When we arrived at the restaurant, our little one was still sound asleep in her car seat. She had skipped a nap that day, so we decided that we would just sit in the car for another 30 minutes until she woke up...oh, the sacrifices we make for her! We will do anything to make sure she has all her naps...the wrath of a missed nap is not a pretty sight to behold!  

Our little sleeping beauty who has mommy and daddy wrapped around her little finger

Celebrating 3 years of marital bliss ;) The restaurant is in Downtown Virginia Beach, which is pretty small, but quaint and very nice. There's a bunch of other great restaurants and shops nearby, so it's a nice place to walk around in the evening.

We are teaching Sophie to appreciate and love fine dining like her parents! A picture with dad in front of the restaurant 

They sprinkled our table with this...so nice of them! I think this restaurant has the best customer service out of all the restaurants we've ever eaten at. They really make you feel like royalty and make sure everything is top notch while you are there.

Sophie did great throughout dinner. She really enjoys eating when we are eating, so we always give her something to chew on...that night, she enjoyed fresh baked bread, cheerios, and rice cakes. 

A picture with mommy! She looks like a big girl in this picture...AH!

The next day, we headed down to North Carolina to visit our old church and some friends. It was really great being back, seeing all our friends, and having Sophie meet some really important and special people in our lives. It was a short weekend trip, but it was definitely worth it. We are planning on going back down again before we head back to CA to spend MORE time with everyone! 

Taking a walk around the block with our old neighbors, Megan & Quinn and their dog, Cali. Their dog and Angel used to be best friends and we would always take them to the dog park together. (I love how Sophie and Cali are looking at each other!)

Cali was very intrigued by the Pack n' play and Sophie loved looking at Cali the entire time we were there. 

The men enjoying a fancy shmancy drink with some fancy shmancy ice cubes =) 

The delicious breakfast they made for us the next day...Nutella french toast with powdered sugar. YUM! 

Quinn reading Sophie's favorite book to her, The Noisy Farm. She loves the flaps and the bright colors, but I think she loves hearing us make the animal noises the most. Quinn did a great job making the animal noises!

We went to our old church, Brice's Creek Bible Church, and it was SO great being back there and seeing everyone again. They make us feel like family, welcoming us with tons of hugs and making us feel special. It was awesome having everyone meet Sophie and we will definitely try to come back down again before we leave. 

After church, we spent some time with the Eyres, a family who makes us feel like a part of their family.  So great being reunited and spending a whole afternoon with them. 

Sophie with Miss Nicole... she loved playing with her! 

I used to be one of  Nicole's Trek leaders at church when she was in middle school, and now she's a Junior in High School! 

Sophie got to play and meet with Vicki! She's such an encouraging and compassionate woman who I look up to and I am so lucky to have her in my life! 

Last night, Caleb had duty...Sophie and I sure did miss him, but happy he's coming home today after class! 

We walked along the boardwalk and stopped at a restaurant for dinner, enjoying the summer night together. 

Our view from the restaurant...it wasn't too humid yesterday so we decided to sit outside during dinner.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. I was a little anxious coming out to Virginia Beach, even though I knew that it was the best for our family. I knew that we needed more time together, but was nervous about the smaller living space, how Sophie would adapt, weather changes, and scared that it might cause more stress on our relationship, but God has really blessed our time here. Caleb and I are loving all the quality time we get to spend together and it has been great for our relationship. Praising God for his goodness and countless blessings today and everyday. 

XOXO

Just keep swimming...

One of the things I really wanted to do this summer was to sign Sophie up for swimming lessons. Luckily, they have classes here at the YMCA for infants and toddlers and Sophie has really been enjoying it. There's 6 kids total, and Sophia is the youngest one, but one of the chunkiest ones! Haha! We basically just introduce them to basic water safety techniques and get them comfortable with the water in different positions while singing songs and doing fun body movements. 

Here we are, getting ready to go to our first class last week. 

She loves being in the water. She splashes her hands and feet all the time and in today's class, she even put her entire face in the water by herself. Last weekend, we wanted to show off her skills to dad at the pool in our hotel. I was able to record her kicking and "swimming" to her toy. She's a natural ;) 

Click here to see video: Sophie showing Dad her swimming skills

We are so blessed to have her in our lives. We keep on telling each other how much we are so in love with her and how precious she is to us. We thank God for the little blessing she is to us and for the family we are together. 

This weekend, we are planning on going to North Carolina to visit our old church and our friends! We can't be more excited to see everyone again. Hope everyone is having a wonderful and blessed week. 

XOXO

Beach bums

It's so nice being close to the beach. We actually moved hotels this past week from the hotel on base to one out in town. We were supposed to stay until the 20th of June, but we were able to move out sooner due to some complications (sewer smells coming from the shower, AC unit not working, construction being done right below our unit...yeah, not fun!). We are staying at this timeshare/hotel for the rest of our duration here in Virginia Beach and it's working out quite well as we get a full kitchen to use and cook, instead of just a mini fridge and microwave. Although our current place isn't beachfront property, we are only a block away from the ocean and that's not bad at all! Even though Caleb is here for school, we have decided that on the weekends, we will treat our time here as a vacation to fully explore and enjoy all the things Virginia Beach has to offer.

Sophie leading the way to the beach... She's excited!

The beach has a huge boardwalk with bike lanes and walking lanes. We stopped to watch a beach soccer tournament. 

Take a picture with mommy...!!!

Doesn't seem too happy about it! haha! 

We had to go back to the hotel so that Sophie could nap...oh the joys of parenthood.  As she napped, we watched two free movies on HBO...SCORE! 

After her nap, we went down to the beach again to meet up with some of Caleb's classmates. We watched them play a game of Ultimate Frisbee. 

Our bundle of joy...

Loves riding on daddy's shoulders 

And loves pulling on his hair...

It's been a great time out here so far. Really trying to take in all the moments as a family while we can. 

Love you all.