Sophia's 10-Month Photos

Hello, Friends and Fam!

We thought that, since Sophia is now getting on toward 11 months (a week from today!!) we should put up some 10-month pics for you all to coo over. Notice, if you will, her gummy and totally toothless smile. We've got a late teether! Or, we will whenever she actually cuts those chompers. Of course, on the achievement side of things, you will also notice her standing up (with a little balancing support) in several pictures.

California Dreamin' With the Hudsons

Lunch at El Cholo with some 'SC friends:

Having fun in Irvine:

With Family in Santa Barbara:

The Hudsons invade Solvang:

Visitting the Santa Barbara Zoo!
(Thanks, Terrie!)

Hope you enjoyed checking out this visual guide of our trip! It was such a blast, but very tiring. Of course, the best part was being able to see so many friends and family and introducing them all to our Sophia. Our first day, we were also able to witness my cousin Aaron's wedding. Naturally, we took a ton of photos of that event, but I'll post those another day.

Sophia's First Easter

Yesterday, we got up early and hunted for Easter eggs. Sophia actually crawled around the floor of her nursery and found them herself! We were so proud. Of course, the candy inside was for Mama and Daddy, but Sophia still loved shaking them to hear the jelly beans rattle around and, of course, gumming the papier mache eggs in her mouth.

After that, we went to church, where everyone commented on how pretty Sophia looked for Easter. The dress she's wearing was actually my dress as a little girl, which my mother saved for when I had my own children. It's in pretty good shape for being 23 years old and having survived no less than a dozen moves!

Church was lovely. Our worship pastor, Mark, put together a beautiful program of traditional hymns, and one of our teenage congregants, a very talented musician, played his electric fiddle, which is just so evocative. Our pastor gave a decidedly "unoriginal" Easter sermon--his joke about how you simply can't improve on the message of Easter: "He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered, died and was buried. He descended into Hell. On the third day, He rose again from the dead. He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead." Amen, indeed!

After church, we went home, and Sophia took a brief nap. Then, we spent some time dying Easter eggs together, which was a lot of fun. Brian had never done it without an "egg dying kit," and he got such a kick out of the fact that we could dye the eggs with just a few things that were already in our pantry. If you've never dyed eggs "from scratch" before, you just put 20 drops of food coloring into 1/2 c. boiling water with 1 t. vinegar.

In the afternoon, we headed down to Federal Way to have Easter dinner with some dear friends. It was such a wonderful time, and Sophia was even pretty cheerful for the most, though her lack of sleep did catch up with her by the end of the visit, and she was pretty cranky.

Just before we headed home, the sun came out; all morning it had been gray and pouring rain. Seeing the beautiful gray sky and the brilliant sunshine after such dreary weather was an awesome reminder of the message of Easter. I hope you all had as memorable and blessed a holiday as we did.

Oh, and last but not least: Sophia pulled herself up to standing on the couch yesterday! It didn't last long, but it seems that she's quickly progressing toward walking. We can hardly believe it, but we're so excited.