Family Photos!

We decided to have some family photos done this month since our time as a three-some is coming to an end.  We used a local photographer Sarina Beyer of Lovelight Photography.  I was afraid of how Soph would do because she's pretty much the most difficult person to photograph ever.  But Sarina was able to capture a lot of great shots!  Thank you Sarina!

Oh Baby!

We're having a baby! Yippee!

 As of now we are a little over 16 weeks into our latest adventure.  After losing a baby in January, we weren't too anxious to try again.  That experience took a lot out of us.  From trying to conceive to finding out we were pregnant to having to spread the word that we lost the baby was a little too much for us to handle.  This time there was absolutely no pressure on the situation.  We always thought it would be cool to have a baby in April or May so that I would have to miss a minimal amount of work and still have a lot of time off with the little one.  The week before we found out, I was CERTAIN I wasn't pregnant.  I felt terrible and knew it was around the corner.  But it never did.  All day that day I kept thinking to myself "Hmmm...interesting."  When I was driving home from work, I called Ken to let him know I hadn't started.  His response was "Hmmm...that's interesting."  Funny coincidence.  So we took a test and low and behold...we were pregnant!  We knew right away that this time we would not be sharing our news with anyone for a while.  At least until we knew everything was good to go.  It was very hard keeping our little secret for so long, but it was kind of neat too!  Especially that night when we went to dinner with Tom.  We didn't say anything, but we were definitely more chipper than normal.

We scheduled an appointment as quickly as we could and luckily we were able to get in for an ultrasound right around 6 weeks.

Here is our little nugget:

 We held out and didn't tell anyone until around 10 weeks.  At that time we told our parents and closest friends but still didn't make it public.  We had another appointment and ultrasound at about 13 weeks.

Hey Baby!

After that, we felt confident enough to share with the world.

We posted this picture on Facebook:

Then Sophia wore this shirt to school the next day:

She obviously doesn't entirely know what's going on, but she does say there is a baby in Mommy's tummy.  Also, if you ask her if she wants a Baby Sister or Baby Brother, she says "Baby Sister!" every time.  We really don't have a preference for the gender.  Last time I REALLY wanted a girl, but this time I just feel blessed that God gave us another opportunity to be parents.

BUMP-DATE!  16 weeks!
Symptoms:  Weeks 4-13 were EXHAUSTING!  I have never been so tired in my life.  There were days I didn't know if I would make it without a nap.  I was also very queazy during that time.  Never actually getting sick, just nauseous all day.  I could pretty much control it with crackers and water though.
Cravings/Aversions:  Pickles and Ice Cream please!  Not at the same time, but independently I want them all day.  Pickles on everything and ice cream every day.  Specifically Blue Bell Amaretto Cherry and Dutch Chocolate...at the same time.  And please keep any and all WRAPS away from me.  Something about the texture of the wrap and the coldness of the lettuce. Blagh!  Also, I'm not keen on stuffed/breaded seafood.  We're seafood-aholics so this is tricky for me.
Sleep:  Still sleeping well.  The crazy dreams have begun.
Movement:  I think I have felt little kicks from time to time but nothing regular just yet.
Gender:  Not sure yet, another month maybe?
Maternity Clothes:  I had to switch to maternity pants within the last couple of weeks.  Before getting pregnant I had lost about 30 pounds exercising and watching my diet.  My goal is to not lose any more weight, but not gain any until later in my pregnancy either.  So far so good.  My tummy is definitely growing but the scale hasn't moved.
Best moment this week:  Well, this wasn't really this week but the best moment of the pregnancy so far was seeing proof of life.  Nothing better than seeing that tiny flicker of a beating heart on an ultrasound.

Fall fall fall!

 I've said it before and I'll say it again...I LOVE FALL!  While technically Autumn doesn't start until late September, in the Elflein House there are a few indicators that fall is on the way and therefore we consider it FALL.

The first thing is GREEN FREAKIN CHILE!  Working in Hatch, Chile is at the forefront of conversations most of the year but it's not until you smell that one-of-a-kind smell of chile roasting that you know it's time. We like to get our chile at Hatch Chile Express every year.  We stick to the medium Big Jim chiles, as we find that they heat up more and more the longer they are frozen.  They offer to blanch the chiles in an ice bath after they are roasted which serves two purposes.  First, it preserves the green color and plump flesh of the chile (if you're a chile lover, you know what I mean here).  Second, it pretty much peels the charred skin off of each chile.  That way when you get home all you have to do is bag 'em up.  So yummy!

And of course, we saved a bunch of chiles from the freezer and treated ourselves to Chile Rellenos that night.  

The next sign of FALL around our house is football.  Football of all shapes and sizes!  The first Thursday of the college season we went to an Aggie home game.  It was the first game we had taken Sophia to and she did AWESOME!  She was cheering and cheering "Goooooo AGGIES!!"  She's quite a sports nut so she loved it.  As it turned out, that was the only game they actually won so we were very glad to see it.  Poor Aggies :(

Next on the list of Fall to-dos is our ANNIVERSARY!  We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary and 13th anniversary of "us-ness" over Labor Day weekend.  As usual, we went to Albuquerque to spend the evening in Old Town at the hotel where we got married.  There was a Lobo game that weekend as well and that's where the celebration began.

Saturday, September 1, 2012 - Tailgating with Greg and Shauna

  

The next day was our official anniversary.  We wanted to spend some time with Soph before dropping her off with my Mom so we could go be romantic :)

We started the morning at Flying Star.  Our favorite ABQ breakfast destination.  

Next, we went to the UNM campus to walk around.  (We love to walk around university campuses)  We went to the Duck Pond where Ken gave me his fraternity lavalier over 12 years ago.  Basically the fraternity equivalent to a promise ring.  Sophia fed the ducks and mommy nearly had a heart attack because the ledge of the duck pond was clearly unsafe :)

Then we took her to Explora!  So fun!  Even at her age she had a great time working with all of the different experiments.  Wonderful sensory activities for all ages.

And finally, we dropped her off with my mom and got started with our celebration.  We got dressed and went to Hotel Albuquerque for some pictures.  Then we went to dinner at Desert Fish.  It was a truly awesome weekend.

The following weekend was not so awesome.  I got a call that my dad was back in the hospital and wasn't doing very well.  I flew back to NC to be with him.  This time, by myself.  It was the first time I had ever been away from Sophia for more than 18 hours or so.  

This was the first weekend of the NFL season so my dad and I decided to have a football party in his room.  We certainly made the best of a bad situation and in the end, he pulled through the weekend.

He wanted to order a $50 dollar pizza, just to say that he did it.  It was quite yummy!  I recommend Mellow Mushroom Pizza to all!

Meanwhile back home, daddy was playing Mr. Mom.  He did a great job with her...except for one thing.  My beautiful little girl's hair!!

A couple of weeks later, Sophia and I were off to NC once again.  This time, the trip was planned.  She did so totally awesome on the plane!  She's quite the frequent flyer!

When we landed, I put Sophia in the stroller but didn't strap her in.  She second she saw "Papa" she jumped out of the stroller and took off running for him.  Seriously, Skype is AMAZING!!  It's like she talks to and sees him everyday!  She picked up with him like it was nothing new.  Totally awesome.  He's such a kid himself, they had an awesome time together.  

 Before we got there, my dad had a list of things he wanted to do with her, including go to the pumpkin patch, make cookies, drink hot chocolate, and make caramel apples.  We did it all and had a great time.

My Uncle Doug, aka Boy, is a master wood carver so he carved Sophia's pumpkin for her.  Just a little better than our typical triangle-eyed jack-o-lanterns lol

And our October adventures didn't stop there.  The next weekend we were back in Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta!

Next up - Las Cruces Pumpkin Patch!

That same weekend we did some other fall-ish activities at home.
We made pumpkin pancakes...

... and we made a fall tree.

Next up was a mini - Mommy and Daddy- cation.  Ken and I took off to San Antonio for the weekend to attend the wedding of our friends and neighbors Mike and Stephanie.   It was a great trip.  San Antonio (specifically the Riverwalk) was so romantic.  This was the first time we had been away together since having Sophia.

 Once we returned, it was time to wrap up October...Halloween!  Sophia loves Halloween!  Loves pumpkins and witches and ghosts and bats and and and...

She really loves things that are SPOOKY!

 On the 30th, she received a package from Grandpa with lots of treats and goodies.  She opened it with him on Skype.

 And then we carved our pumpkins.  As Sophia said, "We have one happy, one ghost, and one spooky pumpkin."

At school, they had a Halloween parade.  Mine is the pirate in the front.

And at night, we went trick-or-treating for the first time. She LOVED it! Wanted to keep going and going!

Overall, this was a super fun and BUSY fall!  

Sophia was so excited every step of the way and we really can't wait for Christmas now!

"Look!  I a PUNKIN!"