Christmas Card Outtakes

I took photos of Bella today for Christmas Cards. My original idea was to stuff her in a stocking, but I couldn't find one big enough for chunky monkey. So, I just tossed some tinsel around her and gave her a bow hehe. These are some of the pictures we didn't use.

Growing Girl

It is crazy how big our Bella is getting. Tonight we picked her up from her great grandma's and we were talking about how crazy it is that babies learn to do things so quickly. Such as when Bella rubs her eyes when she is tired and when she smacks your hand when she wants you to let go of her toy hehe. She is getting so big.

I snapped this when she was standing by herself watching elmo!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Thanksgiving was a blast! I am so thankful for the opportunity to be with family. The food was amazing and the company was even better. Miss Bella tried mashed potatoes and seemed to really enjoy them. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. HERE COMES CHRISTMAS TIME..YAYY!

This is Bella chowing down on some taters.

She was pretty in poka-dots. Her dress was super cute. And nothing beats those beautiful (now turning brown) eyes.

Our Big Brave Bella

Today was a VERY eventful day for Bella Mae. First was her 4 month check up. The doc gave Bella a clean bill of health and tells us we get an A+ for raising her well thus far. She got 4 shots and she did her usual scream for a minute then be totally fine. She weighs 14 lbs 11.5 ozs and she is 25.5 in long. She is ranging in the 95th percentile for length and 75th for weight. The nurse even ok'd us for a few bites of mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. The doc says nothing other than formula and rice cereal for another 2 months. I also got the ok from the doc to pierce miss monkey's ears. I was going to wait until a different day to pierce her ears, one when she didn't have shots as well, but I decided I didn't want two rough days of pain for her. That's right, we did it! Bella is now a proud owner of her first 14 kt gold earrings from dad. She was such a trooper. I was so scared through the entire process. I had to hold her head still while they cleaned it, marked it, and pierced it. If you have ever tried to hold a baby still, you know how hard that can be. Even worse was the fact that they had to do one at a time. She was so brave! She screamed for a few minutes and then was totally ok. She passed out in the car on the way home. We gave her tylenol and hope that the rest of the night goes well. Here are the battle scars...

Our Growing Girl Needs More Room to Splash

Baby Bella has outgrown her baby bathtub and these days she neeeeeeds her room to splash. You would be surprised at just how big of a splash such a little person can make. If you are standing at the opposite end of the bathroom you will get hit by this little water monster. So, to accommodate Bella's splashing needs, we put her baby sling in the big girl bathtub and let her splash to her hearts content. She is getting so big!

Even Better

Pink converse in just a diaper. What a fashion statement.

Pink Converse

She finally fits into her pink Converse shoes that my mom got her. She looks absolutely adorable in them!

Crazy Bella

I tried to get a picture of Bella today in her monkey onesie that my aunt Laura got her. The funny thing about that is...these days...Bella is NEVER on her back any more. She loves rolling over. She rolls over while we try and dress her, change her diaper, and dry her off after her bath. The simple tasks have become very difficult with little monkey always trying to get away. She has been so mobile lately. She came SO close to crawling today. She is constantly on the move. She will definitely start crawling before we know it. Even more suprising is the fact that I am sure she will be walking by 10 months! I told CJ today, while Bella was taking her nightly bath, that my heart just skipped a beat looking at how big she has gotten. I swear on days like this, when she is being such a big girl, I see her life just flash before my eyes. Her next check up is Monday. I am so excited to see how much she has grown!

Bella Wins

The cutest dimple award!

Hopefully She Grows Out of This...

Nothing makes Bella happier than her birthday suit. I have a feeling she will be one of those kids that gets nakey when nobody notices and goes running through a public place screaming and laughing. Oh gosh...I sure hope not. Haha.

Roll Over Bella

Bella has been rolling over for a few weeks now, but she will never do it when the camera is watching. She is always way more interested in the camera than any toy. Finally this morning we got it on video. It was funny because she has been rolling over all morning but when we recorded her, it took a little effort haha. Here is our big girl.

Winter Wonderland

Every where we go Christmas is starting to show. There are wreaths and lights all over our neighborhood. Christmas is my favorite time of year and I cannot wait to celebrate for the first time with my daughter. However, with Christmas comes the cold!!! It has been very chilly the past couple of days so Bella has to where her monkey hat and mittens wherever we go!

This is Bella and one of our favorite little girls, Aniya. They had fun playing together last night. Bella just loves watching kids play. She smiles and talks more to little kids than to adults. Aniya was so good to her. She shared with her and showed her toys. When it was time to leave Aniya put Bella's hat, gloves, and shoes on for her. It was a lot of fun!

Strike a Pose

Bella is very used to having a camera following her every move. But it seems like whenever she does something new or cute the camera is nowhere to be found. Since we have yet to catch her rolling over (which she does all the time now) or doing any of her new crazy tricks on camera haha, I just decided to take a couple of cute pictures.

These are cute and all mom, but how do they come off?

Her smiley pictures are always blurry because she gets so excited and jumps around when she smiles hehe

Just looking cute

I Want That

Bella has developed quite the interest in whatever we eat. Whether it be dinner or a snack, she is always grabbing at the food we are munching on. If we are at the table we have to be careful because she will grab for whatever is on our plates and shove it in her mouth haha. Tonight daddy was munching on some popcorn and she was very jealous. I can't wait for the day when we can just let her grab at whatever her little tummy wants.

Big Girl Bella

Since today is Jadyn's last day with us, we decided to head back to the park. Daddy thought it would be funny to dress Bella in a bathrobe. Silly daddy. Bella tried the swing for the first time by herself and she also went down two slides. She went on the big slide with daddy and the little slide by herself. I have no documentation of the little slide because I had to catch her at the end =]. She really seemed to enjoy everything. She even smiled the whole way down the slide. Uncle Jadyn did a great job pushing her on the swing. We look forward to many, many more trips to the park with miss monkey.

Fun With Uncle Jadyn

Jadyn is over this weekend and we are having so much fun. We spent all day at the park jumping in leaves and playing at the playground. I now realize I am getting old because after an afternoon in the park with 2 kids... I feel exhausted!!! We are thinking about taking Jadyn to Gameworks for the first time ever tonight. I just love spending time with him, he is an awesome kid.

I Just Love

Bella's big beautiful eyes!

YES WE CAN!

Change couldn't come at a better time. '08 welcomes the birth of our first born and the birth of a new hope. We need faith in our country now more than ever since our daughter's future depends on it. Now we have it. We are so happy he won!

Big Girl Chair

GO OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We tried out Bella's big girl chair today. I gave her a couple bites of cereal after her lunch time bottle and I thought we would get used to the idea of the highchair. She LOVES the high chair.

A Little Experiment

Bella is coming up on her big 4 month birthday and Gerber suggests that you can introduce rice cereal to a supported sitter. So tonight we thought we would give it a try. Since she isn't quite 4 months yet, and we haven't been to her 4 month check up, we made the cereal very watery just to make sure she could digest it easily. Here are some pictures.

What is THIS?

That's kinda good...

Ok mom...I got this...I can feed myself

Silly Girl

Baby Bella has developed a new fascination for trying to grab daddy's tattoo on his arm. It is so funny! She is such a cutie. Spending my days with her is so much fun.

An Afternoon in the Park

The park by our apartment has turned into a fall wonderland. It is so relaxing to just enjoy all the beauty nature has to offer.