The Beach

Our week with the family was filled with day trips and hanging out. One of the day trips was out to the coast to the beach at Hug Point. It was a perfectly beautiful day and the tide was low. 

Sofia in her sun protection! She ended up with little boy gear since the little girl gear doesn't really cover much. (Which makes NOOOO sense... boys can be protected from the sun but girls will just look cute and burnt???)

Sofia LOOOOVES the sand. She didn't put TOO much in her mouth. Mostly it was after we picked her up that she started putting her hands in her mouth and licking the sand off of them (a few photos down you can see me trying to hold her hand out of her mouth in our little family photo).

This sequence of photos is cute. She's trying to get that hat off.

Sand in mouth... Yum!

Playing with Aunt Kendra and Uncle Ian

This past week has been packed with family! (Almost) the whole Schultz family joined us in Portland for the family vacation. Sofia was so happy to have Uncle Ian and Aunt Kendra staying with us!! She can't wait until they move here (she's super hopeful that we sold Portland to them... we are too, but we haven't confirmed that they are moving here. We'll give them time to miss Portland and crave more before we demand an official decision ;)

Panda!!!

It's not completely clear, but if you look close enough you can see Sofia's top two teeth in this photo!

Seth enjoyed having Ian and his cousin, Sean around for some hacky sack. It's also pretty much required that the hacky sack comes out on family vacations!

Hair Baby

I wanted to capture Sofia's hair do. She was born with lots of hair. Somehow she lost all of it but this little tuft on top (it happened between 2-4 months). She's grown most of it back in a much lighter color... Depending on the light it ranges from a blonde to a reddish blonde. 

The top tuft makes Sofia quite a special baby. People are constantly commenting about how trendy her style is and about how people are actually cutting their hair that way. I have even been asked if I cut her hair that way (probably not in a serious way... but just because it is so unique). There are a couple people at the grocery stores we shop at that comment on how they remember her each time she comes in because of her crazy hair. 

From day to day, that top tuft changes how it lays. Lately I think it's getting long enough that it's tending to just lay down most of the time. In the past though, it has stood up, gone this way, gone that, twisted around, and all on its own. 

I am curious to see what ends up happening with her hair as she grows!

Playing, Climbing, Wanting Mama's Camera

Our little girl has turned into quite a little explorer and player, and as you can probably imagine, not everything she plays with has to be a toy. (Actually if it isn't a toy that is even better!)

Seth face!

Eyebrows!

Beautiful Blue Eyed Baby

Sofia BryAnn you are so delicious we could seriously just eat you. You are lucky we haven't yet! 

Sofia is pulling up on EVERYTHING, and she's getting pretty good at it. The falls are less frequent and are causing tears less frequently. She's also learning how to sit or kneel down from where she's standing. 

(And she's 8 months today!! I'll post the 8 month collage soon!)

Books Books Books

Sofia LOOOVES books. I've mentioned this many times before (sorry for the repeat... I think maybe I love that she loves books!! She's just like her cousin Tristan!) We found this book shelf outside a store for free the other morning. Sofia's sweet Daddy carried it home in the heat (yes, I said morning and heat in the same sentence about Portland... we are currently in an early summer heat wave - that we are none too happy about!!!)

Her current faves: She continues to love Sondra Boynton's Are You a Cow (and I continue to recheck it out from the library!) She has also taken to loving the classic: Goodnight Moon. We weren't as big of a fan of its companion book though. And she's always a fan of her book of faces that includes pictures of her and all her family members! (If only I'd let her have those pages... but I don't want her ripping up that book!)

Family

Morning Music

Seth check this photo!

Seth is this photo pixelly on the computer? 

Sorry for the crappy quality of photos lately. I have been editing them on my phone and they look great. But I guess I applied too many edits because turns out they don't look so good on a bigger screen! And since I never get on my computer to blog anymore I had NO idea (let me know next time faithful blog followers!! ;)

Working out the kinks of crappy photo quality and will hopefully be back to providing decent photos soon!

To Seth

Baby Naptime

There are a ton of things I should be doing right this moment. But I am not. Instead, I am going to lay here with my babe as she ends her nap. (Seth I did get the shower curtain "fixed" and the bathroom sink cleaned and the recycling to New Seasons... I am not completely useless today! ;) 

The temperature is high today (glad I live in a place where 80s are HOT!) I am loving these summer days where I don't have to keep Sofia dressed. I don't have to put socks on her sweet feet 20 times a day. I don't have to put pants back on her chubby baby legs every time I potty her or change her diaper. And she can be in tank tops so we can all see those squeezable arm rolls. Oh yummy summer baby!

(P.S. we are trying wheat one more time... She had a reaction after the first day of wheat but it cleared up quicker than seemed normal. I had had a few other things that aren't completely cleared and tested so we are hoping that it was a fluke reaction to something else. And if not, I get one more day of enjoying wheat before I move onto testing something else - maybe strawberries... They were taunting me at the market this morning!)

Our Eating Status

Onward we trudge through this elimination diet... Some days I feel soooo bummed to not be able to just eat out. I truly miss the dining out experience, especially brunch. I had hoped to eat out often enough that Sofia would be a pro at it, but alas it won't be. (Maybe she will still rock at it when we finally get to eat out again...) I have to remind myself of two things: 1) my time nursing her will not last forever and it will definitely be missed once it is gone. The sacrifice of not eating out is well worth it. And 2) even after I am done nursing we'll have to most likely be super careful about eating out with Sofia because I assume some of her food intolerances are likely to be allergies that stick around. Oh and let me just add in the fact that not eating out means I have complete control and knowledge of what I am eating... Which is huge when you have been where I have with this diet and realized the amount of bad food that is so readily available and easy to consume. 

So we've had some successes and some failures. Honestly some of this may be repeat from previous posts - just blame my mama brain. I can't remember a thing ;) 

We've added: broccoli, arugula, sweet potatoes, avocados, apples, garbanzo beans, lettuce. 

We've tested and failed: blueberries, oats, almonds. 

Right now I am testing wheat. I get super sensitive and watchful of everything after I start a test. I am not sure, but she may be having a reaction?? It's been about 24 hours since I added it in. I hope she doesn't react (don't I always...) but I look at it this way anymore: if she reacts, I just have to drop it and look towards the next thing to test... It's depressing to be at that point because it's not a step forward like you'd hoped, but it is only 2-4 days away from the next food to test. 

Pancakes for the first time in months...

1 cup flour

1 T coconut sugar

1 tsp baking soda/arrowroot powder combo

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup homemade coconut milk

1 mushed banana

Mix dry. Mix wet. Add wet to dry. Skillet with melted coconut oil. Cook until pancake bubbles. Flip. Enjoy. 

I didn't even add anything to them. Just ate them plain right off the skillet. Maybe tomorrow I'll make up a syrup (if wheat is still in my diet...)

What does the future hold?? Eggs, grapes (wine?), prenatal vitamins (soooo not exciting), peaches, chocolate, garlic, onions, mushrooms, more beans, tomatoes, bell peppers, pork, some herbs and spices. I need to try chicken again. Eventually. I also want to try dairy again. Eventually. 

Sofia's Weekend

The weather is beautiful in Portland again. Sunny and 70s this last weekend. Both days we found something to do as a family outside. 

Saturday afternoon we headed to Sellwood Park. I anticipated a crowded park. The soft grass, tall trees towering over, and sunshine seemed like a perfect place for the neighborhood families to hang out. We were surprised how wrong we were. Even the playground wasn't that full! 

Sunday morning was spent upstairs having breakfast with the family. We haven't had a meal together in months! Our complicated diets are most likely to blame. But despite that, Jac made a delicious treat for me and what looked like very delicious blueberry pancakes for the rest of the crew! Then, after Sofia's short nap, we headed to Pier Park to meet Alan and Autumn for a game of disc golf. 

The last few evenings have been spent in the backyard with Jac and P too. So much fun! Our backyard is looking better and better everyday because our gardener (haha AKA Jac!!!) has been busily making new areas for relaxing, playing, and food growing. We are loving it!! 

The only thing that sucks about the weekend is the end. Now we have to wait until next weekend for more... (Which may include our first camping trip... Or I just saw that our college baseball team is playing in a town two hours away. We might have to put on our purple and head to Corvallis??)

Hey Beautiful!

You turned 7 months old today. 7 months of sweetness!!!