New Hair Cut

Once I found out that I was going to have a girl, I thought, "Man, I really hope she has hair". It didn't have to be a lot of hair. I just didn't want to have a bald baby and have to tell strangers the sex of my baby. So when Bella was born with so much hair it seemed like a blessing. What I didn't realize was how difficult it would be to take care of baby fine hair that keeps growing while more baby fine hair keeps growing in. So, I started putting Bella's hair in barrettes, and oh didn't she look cute, and then when her hair got longer, I put it in ponytails, and that was really cute. And then Bella decided to have an opinion about what was put in her hair, and she started pulling everything I'd put in her hair out. Barrettes would come out of her hair and into her mouth. She was left looking wild and free (see above). Cute, yes. Conducive to seeing - no. And after all, she has so many new things to see. So, then I began agonizing about whether to cut her hair, and if I cut her hair do I cut bangs. Yesterday, I finally threw in the proverbial towel, and got her hair cut. Below is an after shot.

Oh, yea and did I mention, she has started walking, climbing up and down the stairs, and climbing into laundry baskets. I'll post about that once we get the video downloaded.

Home alone

Todd and I reached a historic and important first last night - we left Bella at home with a babysitter. Not a relative, but a babysitter. But not just any babysitter. We've known Lee and his family for several years and know Lee to be a responsible and caring young man. What we didn't know was how Bella would behave. Apparently, she behaved beautifully. She played well all night. Had her diaper changed with minumal fuss, and went to bed without saying a peep.

I've heard people say that their favorite stage is between 9 and 18 mos. I don't know what the future holds, but we are having a blast with Bella right now. She just smiles at everyone, and it really makes their day. Store cashiers, strangers at restaurants, fellow shoppers - it doesn't matter; she smiles at them all. My mom says several woman have stopped her while they were shopping at said they thought Bella was a little doll. Literally a doll because she was so quite and cute. Bella is a great shopper so long as there is a shopping cart - there is plenty for her to see and it gives her an opportunity to make eye contact with people. And she loves seeing other children. She is fascinated by older children and wants to talk and touch babies her own age and younger. When I was working in the church nursery last week, Bella wanted to kiss one of the babies in there. Although, the word on the street today was she nearly clawed a little boy to death for trying to kiss her. Hum. I guess she prefers to be the aggressor. Bella enjoys kissing her stuffed animals, her "little people", and of course mommy and daddy (she kisses mommy the most). But she can still be very unsteady in landing those kissing, so in the evenings when she is tired and acting silly those kisses can be dangerous. You can see her trying to give George a kiss.

Giving Thanks

We started this year off receiving the biggest and best gift we'd ever received - a baby, and for every day she has been here, she has been a blessing. So this year we give thanks for Bella. She brings joy to everyone - whether it is to her family or grumpy old men at restaurants - everyone enjoys her smile.

She didn't wind up eating much turkey or much of anything for that matter, but she did love the crescent rolls, and well, who doesn't? We had a fun time watching her try the different foods. And then on Black Friday, her father took her out in the cold at 7:00 a.m. without a hat, jacket or shoes. Her hair wasn't combed, her clothes didn't match and her socks didn't fit. The nightmare! Anyway, that was our Thanksgiving weekend - hope yours was great, too.

Happy Thanksgiving

This picture was taken at the Dallas Arboredum a few weeks ago. Bella was still afraid of pumpkins, so we had to improvise. Bella would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving. She is looking forward to mashed pototoes, pumpkin pie and fruit salad. OH, and GO COWBOYS!

When Sugar Plums turn into lady bugs

Bella was a lady bug for her first halloween. She participated in the Pumpkin Parade at Penney, and then later that night she went tricker treating with her daddy. I think she had fun, and she really didn't mind the costume. But of course she was not able to partake of any of the candy she collected.

Fly me to the MI

Despite being persona non grata on the UofM campus, Bella was allowed in to the sacred “Big House”. She enjoyed her time in Michigan, although pumpkins are apparently an intimidating sight to this nine month old (good thing no one told her there was a pumpkin on her shirt or socks). She did much better on the plane than I expected, but of course she did have her own seat, courtesy of all those air travelers that aren’t flying to Detroit anymore. We got to visit Oak – who truly is just an acorn at this time, but a cute little acorn. It was great to finally meet Oak and to visit with the Carters. Nothing seemed to have changed, well, except we both have babies now and carry around diaper bags and have to worry about nap time.

Apples & Ham

Catherine has been away on business for the past 2 days, and Bella and Daddy are having a great time! Tonight's menu: Apples & Ham; Bella's new favorite meal. She downed the jar in a matter of minutes. She liked it so much, she was trying to suck on her lower lip to make sure she didn't leave any. She still has some work left to perfect that one as you can tell. She would even hold on to the spoon and bite it to keep the spoon in her mouth. The last picture was taken yesterday. Mommy requested I take a picture of her each day and post it. I was able to party comply with that request :)

Bella Adventures

We just got back from the Texas State Fair. We like to go on the first day, and this year it worked out that both Todd and I could take off work a few hours early and get there before the masses arrived. Bella had a much better time once it cooled off, and we rescued her from the stroller. She does not like to be out in 90+ heat. I mean who does - no really this girl really doesn't like it. Ok, so maybe it didn't help that someone got sunscreen in her eyes before we even got out of the parking lot. Who could that have been?

p.s. note from dad: it wasn't him...

Last weekend we put Bella in the car immediately after he first bottle and took off towards the balloon festival. We didn't stay long, but we did get there in time to see the balloons take off. Bella really wasn't too impressed with the balloons, but she did like to watch all the people walk around. And of course everyone thinks she's cute. Is it that or do they think DANG that's a big baby to be carrying in that harness thing.

Shiners Happen - Bath time with mom. 'Nuf said.

Mouth-watering GOOD

All seems to be right in the world. Bella is back to eating, even if what she's eating is Lovie. No, seriously she had a bad bacteria that attacked her colon and turned everything she ate into diarrhea. I know more than you wanted to know. Needless to say, she dropped some lbs. Ok, she dropped one. But on that small a frame, it's NOTICEABLE! She almost lost her thunder thighs completely. It's so sad to see them disappear like that. I might sound a little dramatic, but truly it did make me sad. Oh, and on top of all that she also had an entero virus (hand-foot-mouth disease), which causes sores in the mouth and throat, so for a while we didn't even know she had this bad bacteria because she wasn't even eating enough to have diarrhea. But through it all, Bella has been a real trooper. When she's sick, she's not even all that fussy. In fact when we first saw the doctor (not her normal doctor because it was a Sat.), she said there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with her. If she had "c diff" (the bad bacteria), she wouldn't be such a good mood, but go ahead and collect the poop samples if you think it necessary. Just to be sure, I went ahead and collected them, and what do you know, she had the nasty bacteria.

OH no they didn't

Late last night we had a U of M school official knock on our door - they want their outfit back. Flags were immediately raised when Bella (being a Texas native) was seen in the blue and maize. She was put on a watch list, and when Michigan lost its second game of the season, the authorities assumed that Bella had put some kinda Longhorn curse on them. So, they confiscated their memorabilia. Bella was a little bit upset over the whole incident, but fear not Michigan fans. The curse has been lifted.

Biggest Upset in History of Football

Bella, hiding after she receives the embarassing and shocking news that Michigan lost to Appalachian State. Later, she could be heard mumbling in her sleep, "hook'em horns".

Just kidding. But she did go over to cousin George's house today to try and cheer him up. He broke his arm yesterday monkeying around on the monkey bars. STUPID monkey bars - the biggest nuisance on the playground. Seriously how many limbs has that apparatus been responsible for breaking. I'm not sure she cheered him up much, but look, you can really see her teeth now. (also note the ever changing position of the ponytails)

Too cool for school

I ran across this picture while I was cleaning off the memory stick today, and I had to post it. This was taken a few weeks ago. Bella normally doesn't like for things to be on her face, but she was in a rare mood on this day and didn't mind the shades.

This picture was taken this morning. She reminded us of Sherk in this picture, but a much cuter version.

This past weekend has been the most fun I've had with Bella so far. We played hide and seek upstairs and crawled around chasing each other. She still squeals when she sees me, like after I get home from work. That will never get old.

The dog days of summer...

have brought about lots of changes for Bella. This month she has started crawling, pulling up, and now her teeth have come in. The bottom two teeth poked through this week. If you look closely, you can see where the two teeth are struggling to break free. Good-bye gummy smiles, hello smiles with teeth!

Yeah, look at me!

Tada! Bella is crawling, and I have finally posted a picture of it. She started crawling just before she turned 7 mos. on August 7th, and ever since then she has been getting faster and faster. She'll try to crawl after us as we leave a room, but she is still not fast enough and will sit down and cry if you walk beyond her line of sight. She has also successfully pulled herself up while in her crib and play pen, so we have had to lower them so she doesn't tumble out. In fact yesterday when we tried to put her down for her afternoon nap, she did NOT want to go to sleep, so when we finally went in her room to get her, she was kneeling in her bed and peering over the railing starring at the door waiting for us to rescue her.

To "da" or not to "da"

OK, as we already established, Bella has had "ba ba ba" down. Well, she has also mastered other consonant/vowel combinations since that entry and has most recently added "da da da" to her repertoire. Now, would somebody please tell Bella's daddy that when Bella says "da da da", she is not referring to him, and that no, we cannot put "da da da" in her baby book as her first word. He says I'm just jealous. Yes, you're right. I am jealous that she doesn't address her shoe, toy frog or granny as "ma ma ma". Because guess what, she's called all of those things "da da da". I've tried to tell him that around 1 year she'll say it and mean it. She'll cry out "da da da", and that will mean, "Daddy come get me. I'm lonely." or it will mean "Hi daddy! I'm so glad you're home." Of course she already lights up when she does see him, and they've had fun on their walks together (see above), although it has gotten too hot recently and the walks have been temporarily suspended.

Ba ba ba

Last week Todd was reading some developmental chart out loud and it said that 6 month old babies should be making consonant sounds. So I thought for a moment, and I said, Bella's not making consonant sounds. And then I got to thinking about what her pediatrian said about all the fluid that seems to remain in Bella's ears and howif it continues to be a problem by the time she is nine months we'll need to think about tubes because the fluid can affect her hearing. And I thought, OH NO she's already not hearing very well - the very next day, I kid you not, Bella began, "baba ba ba" and we haven't heard the end of it since. I think her hearing is fine. Stupid developmental charts.

Hello, Is it Me You're Looking For?

We have been negligent in posting new pictures as we have been busy with the move (June 30th was moving day), trying to get the old house in selling condition (We close on July 26th), and our final excuse is the condition of the trusty old camera. Todd took the camera with him to children's camp, and when he came home, we noticed the picture button was missing. So now when I want to take a picture I have to use a pen that has a long tip to depress the button. My camera now comes with a fancy new stylus. Believe me this is on our long list of things to get. Right now, our baby is busier than ever. She sits up by herself; she eats baby food; she rolls all over the floor; she gets up on all fours and rocks and then plops back down and decides she's good with just scooting backwards. In short - she is a typical six month old.

Daddy & Bella

Here they are, healthy again. And don't they look so much alike? Lots of people say this, but I don't really see it. To me she looks like Bella, neither mommy nor daddy but both...maybe. She has "stormy" blue eyes (I think eventually they will be green, but right now they are a bluish-green), copper colored hair, rosey skin, a pointy little chin, and a big gummy smile. Ok, now I understand the resemblance. But I still contend she has my eye shape. Really, I have to hold on to something people. Her gums have REALLY started to bother her this week, so I think that gummy smile's days are numbered. She's been drooling all over everything, putting anything into her mouth, waking up during the night, and today she ran a fever. I can hear the refrain, "Ouch Bella, don't bite mommy" in the near future.

Crazy Curls

I just snapped this a few minutes ago of Bella playing in her Jumperoo. She has been a happy baby the last couple of days despite trying to kick a viral respitory infection that she also happened to pass on to daddy. Todd didn't finish his entry, but I thought I'd post the picture anyway.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

EASTER 2007


MOTHER'S DAY 2007

Sunday mornings are nice because we're always able to spend some individual, quality time with our Bella until it is time for church. And of course it is always fun trying to decide what dress to put her in and what barrette matches best. As you can see from the Mother's Day picture that particular morning we were trying to decide between pink, crochet, sandals and pink, trimmed socks. We went with the socks. I mean come on, sometimes even I have a hard time keeping sandals on my feet. Forget about keeping them on a four month old. There was no footwear crisis on Easter. She had on white shoes and white tights - a perfect footwear duo for any baby girl. But sadly, Easter Sunday was the last time we saw those cute, little, white, patent, leather shoes.

Sundays are also a special time for us to remember just how good God has been to us by giving us the privilege to be this little girl's parents. I know nothing I've done as a daughter, wife, mother or Christian has been good enough to deserve such a wonderful gift. Becoming a parent has certainly given me some perspective on God's Greatest Gift.

When I think about it, I have all this love and adoration for her, and I've yet to receive a hug or kiss from her or hear her call me mommy or say I love you. I can't wait! Does that sound selfish? I think I've discovered a little thing called unconditional love.

carpe diem

Call me crazy, but I think Bella looks different every day. She seems to be growing up so fast, and she is still less than 4 months old! I sit at work, and it drives me crazy when I compare her 2 week old pictures with her 2 month old pictures to her current pictures. Pretty soon, we will be chasing her around the house. It makes me stop and think about how much I cherish every little noise she makes and every facial expression she shows. Tomorrow it may be something different as she changes and grows. The days of the full body smile and the baby squeal are numbered, but I know they will be replaced with new things to cherish as she continues to grow. I thank God for her every day.

Here are some recent pictures.

She has been off her pacifier for about 3 weeks now. Our friend Carolyn gave her this little bunny, (that we call her lovey) and she loves it. When she gets tired or cranky, she just rubs her face in the bunny, and all is well in the baby world. It goes everywhere with us.

Here she is kicking it with daddy. She is always this happy when she is with daddy :)

Mommy snapped this picture of us after we had a long day.

Aunt Launa came to visit this past weekend, and we taught Bella how to play cards. She got the hang of it pretty quickly. Or so we thought. In the end, we found out that she only wanted to eat the cards.

Liberace look out!

Shiny, Happy, Baby

This is what used to greet me in the morning. A bright, shinny, happy baby. She'd usually be swaddled in her SwaddleMe blanket so only her head, and sometimes arm(s), was sticking out. And once she saw me, she'd get all excited and start kicking her legs. Then once I broke her free from the blanket, and it was clear that she was getting out of baby jail, she'd go wild, giving me a "full body" smile with arms and legs flailing and a big, open, gummy smile. She sometimes even would lift her arms up as if to say, "Pick me up. I'm ready to ride the baby train." But now, I go to work before she wakes up, so I'm only able to get a report of how her morning went. Was she happy? Did she try to laugh? Were her arms unswaddled. Patiently, her father answers all my questions. Who knew mornings could be so sweet.

Go Blue?

I went to work one day, and I came back home, and BOOM, this is what I found. Bella had on this little outfit and was looking down right cocky. I tried to tell Bella, look honey, all the major college sports are over and that her victory dance was in vain. She didn't care. She was desperate to show off her maze and blue and state so proudly that she is a Michigan fan. Clearly someone got to my baby before I had a chance to teach her the Yellow Rose of Texas or show her the longhorn sign. I suspect it was someone from Michigan that turned her blue...quite possibly her grandmother. When I questioned Bella for more information, she met my every question with silence. But I'll get to the bottom of this mystery.

Couch Tater

Someone already likes to watch tv. When she is on her activity mat, we noticed that she wasn't really looking at her animals. We noticed that she was watching the tv instead, so we moved the mat farther away from the tv. But rather than turning her attention to her animals, she turned her head so that she could continue to see the tv. So now we try not to keep the tv on while she is playing. But this morning we woke up and caught her enjoying tv in her new little chair. We bought the chair so that we can put her in it in the morning when we are trying to get ready and she still has to be upright after eating. Little did we know that our little one would be enjoying Sat. morning cartoons in her new chair.

What's so funny

I don't know, but Bella sure can laugh with the best of them, except of course when we went today to get professional family portraits at JCPenney. When I was little and I would do something cute or funny, my dad would try to get me to perform the act in front of others. As I got older I decided I didn't like "performing" in front of others, so I told him that I wasn't a show pony and wouldn't oblige him. Well, today I thought, if Bella could talk, she would be saying I'm not a show pony, so quit trying to make me smile. What is it they say about pay backs?