Friday, December 31, 2010

Teething...and Bella update.

Oh.my.goodness. I never thought teething would be so hard on a baby..I knew it could not be "fun" but Bella is having the hardest time with it. Poor thing had/has a runny nose and diarrhea. Plus all the other symptoms/signs of teething.

She has started waking up at night like a newborn. She was sleeping completely through the night before this. I can see two pearly whites on top that have not broken through and I can feel two on bottom that have not broken through.

I had a bunch of friends on Facebook tell me their best teething advice..but if you have any..PLEASE feel FREE to leave it for me here :)

She has so much slobber but I think that is kind of cute! ha. Other than that, Bella is growing and doing wonderfully. I am going to have to baby proof the house this weekend. She has started to roll everywhere..she no longer wants to stay put and play with her toys on her quilt. That is so old fashioned apparently. She wants to be where the action is! ha! The girl cracks me up.

Yesterday (on her 5 month birthday) she started to get up on her knees a bit. I have a feeling she will be crawling in no time. I have noticed it more and more in the last 2 days. I try to help her but she gets mad at me..ha! She is so independant and strong-willed (like her daddy!).

I hope you all have a very Happy New Year (and safe!) We will be kicking it at home with the kiddos..exactly where I want to be :)

P.S. I will post some Christmas pictures soon!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Bella's 5 months old!

Bella,

You are 5 months old! I can not believe how much you are growing. Your daddy and I love you so much!

You weigh about 17 lbs now. I am not sure how long you are..we will get that at your 6 month checkup. You are such a joy to be around.

-Just moved up to a size 3 diaper
-Mostly wearing 3-6 and 6-9 month clothes

You are a great eater. You have started eating solids much better. Peas and Green beans are not your favs but you will eat them mixed with cereal. Your favorite is apples...you act like you can not get enough of them! It is so cute the way you open your mouth like a little baby bird...I could just eat you up.

You have mastered rolling. You will roll all over the room to where you want to go. It is absolutely insanely cute! I think you will be crawling soon but I am not rushing it because we have not "baby proofed" the house yet. ha.

You still sleep all night, except for the past couple nights because you are teething. I can see one coming in on bottom. I hate that you are hurting but I know it will pass too.

You just had your first Christmas..it wasn't anything special to you because you didnt know what was going on. ha. But I cherished seeing you amazed at your new toys. I love watching you grow and develop.

We moved you out of your infant carrier into a rear facing sit up seat. You seem to like it very well. I love it because you do not fight me when I have to put you in it :)

You love your daddy so much but still tend to be a mommy's girl. I think you look a lot like me and your daddy.

Bella, you are so loved by everyone and I am loving every second being your mommy and watching you grow into your own little personality!

Love you forever and always,

Mommy and Daddy

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Christmas Pictures

Yes, I am still alive. I know my blogging has really fell by the wayside since Bella was born..but I just have sooo much more to do these days :) ha! On Thanksgiving weekend, my sister in law took some family Christmas pictures of us. Here are a few of my favorites:









I have several others I really like but I cant find them on my computer for some reason. I will try and post them later this week :)

I am pretty sure I won't blog until after Christmas. So I wish you and your family a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Bella's 4 Months

Darling Bella,

You are 4 months old! Wow how time flies when you are having the time of your life raising the most precious daughter! You are such a great baby!

At your 4 month appointment Dr. M said that you were PERFECT..which we already knew.

-15 lbs (75th percentile)
-24 1/2 inches long (60th percentile)

You got 3 more shots plus an oral vaccine. Needless to say you did not like the shots. But honestly by the time we checked out and were in the car, you were just fine and back to "talking" to me again. But you crashed shortly after that :)

You wear size 2 diapers.
You wear 3-6 months clothes and some 6-12 months clothes.
You can roll from front to back and back to front now.
You sleep on your belly.
You sleep all night without wanting a bottle. However, you do lose your paci at night (usually 2-3 times) and I have to come give it back to you. Also, at "nap" time during the day you LOVE to fight your sleep.
You are eating some "solids". Here are what you have tried and the verdict on each:
-Peas....Spit them back in my face (that was nice)
-Sweet potatoes...didn't like them the first time but the second time you started liking them.
-Bananas...your FAVORITE
-Rice cereal...you like it mixed with a fruit or veggie but dont really care for it by itself.

Those are the only food you have tried so far. Except for the occasional dip into whatever mommy and daddy are eating. Papaw Dennis (my daddy) let you eat some cinnamon roll icing off his finger and needless to say you loved that too :) ha!

You eat 8 ounce bottles now about 5 times a day.

You just had your first Thanksgiving! Everyone loved holding and passing you around. You were the center of attention for most people there.

Bella, you are looking so much like me, your mommy, these days.

As I type, I am watching you play with your toys at 6 in the morning on a Sunday. You like to wake mommy up early...I think you think it is funny. ha! You are also battling a cold right now..as is the rest of our house. NO FUN!

You are so much fun and so full of energy. I love being your mommy and could not ask for a better daughter! You are definitely starting to show signs of being a daddy's girl though...and that is ok as long as you give your momma some lovins too! :)

We love Isabella Grace! We can't wait to see the little girl you become!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

“Not Meeting Standards”

I am absolutely sick over this. This new policy that our local school district has implemented does not make sense to me. If you don’t want to read the article…here is the rundown. Memphis City Schools have implemented a new policy called “Not Meeting Standards” or NMS. What it essentially does is it allows students who make an F in any class (grades 7-12) in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd quarters to be able to make up all their work in the 4th quarter in order to be able to pass that grade/class. I am all for giving second chances. Maybe say, a student made an F on an assignment that they actually tried to do, not one they just didn’t do, give them a little better understanding and have them try again. I had a teacher that did this for us. If we failed a test/homework/project, she would let us redo it for a better grade but the highest we could get on it was an 80% which is still a B, much better than an F.

I do not however, believe in allowing students to slack all year long and then think they can make it up at the end of the year. I think work should be made up as it goes. I believe that this policy is doing nothing but instilling in our children that it is ok to “play now and work later”.

Also, I think it is unfair to students who work hard to get good grades the first time around and they see all the other students not working, then those other students get to “make up” all the work they failed in the first 3 quarters.

As a student in school to be a teacher, I do not believe in this policy whatsoever. I have read comments from other teachers that do not agree either. Most of the teachers are saying that these students have already been given chance after chance after chance and they still do NOT do the work. I do not believe this is an understanding the work problem, I believe this is a laziness, don’t want to do the work problem. And I believe this problem starts at home…not at school.

Parents need to be more involved in their children’s lives. Especially when it comes to education. A lot of these students need to know Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, there are very few that actually attend church regularly, that saddens me.

I really truly believe that the NMS policy is doing more harm than good. Do you have an opinion?

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Halloween 2010

Ok yes, I know I am over a week behind in posting this but better late than never, right? :)

We didn't have the big kiddos for Halloween this year but their mom brought them by so we could see them in their costumes.


Kirsten, the princess.



Elijah, the ninja.


Girls Halloween night, Bella was already dressed for bed.

I didn't buy a costume for Bella this year since she was so small. But I did buy her a cute Halloween outfit.


















We really didn't do anything for Halloween. Our neighborhood doesn't get trick or treaters because the houses are spaced so far apart. I still dressed Bella up in her outfit and took her to Target though :) ha!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Bella's 3 Months!

Dearest darling Bella,

You are 3 months old today! I just can't believe how time flies. You are such a little spark plug of energy and I am enjoying every moment with you.

You weigh 12.5 lbs now.

You wear size 1 diapers.

You wear mostly size 3-6 months but some of your 3 month clothes still fit.

You eat at least 6 ounces of formula every 4 hours or so.

You sleep about 6 hours at a time during the night..only waking up when you can't find your paci. You usually don't eat in the middle of the night much anymore, only on occasion will you actually be hungry.

You can roll over from your belly to your back and you are working daily to get from back to belly! You love to smile and kick your legs constantly!

Daddy is still keeping you during the day while Mommy works but you have spent a couple of days at a baby sitter and you always do really well. You have been to the church nursery 3 times now and Mommy always has to come in and check on you.

You are still a mommy's girl but you will follow your daddy around the room with your eyes hard core! You love him so much too!

Thank you for being such a sweet precious baby girl! I could not have asked for a better baby than you!

Your mommy and daddy love you so very much!

Love always and forever,

Daddy and Mommy

Friday, October 22, 2010

Bella Rolls :)

Bella has started to roll from her belly to her back now...She is so stinkin cute I can't stand it!



She does it all the time now..so "tummy time" is basically spent rolling her back on to her belly after she rolls over. ha!

Love this girl with all my heart!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

My new endeavor

I started a new blog just for my daily therapy really. It is about my life as a working mom and just some funny stories I get to hear about daily.

Just click here to check it out!

Tell me what think :)

Sunday, October 17, 2010

It’s that time of year again

Yes, it is that time of year again. When the leaves change and the wind gets cooler. When we wear boots and stockings.

and when we go to the pumpkin patch and farms.

057

(it has been unseasonably hot here so while she started off in leggings and socks they were eventually removed)

Yesterday, we went to Cedar Hill Farms about an hour from our house.  It was tons of fun! Here is our fun packed day:

001 011 014

 022 026 033 043 046 049 051 053 054 055 061 062

A fun time was had by all :)

Happy Fall Y’all!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

I got a…

New do:

haircut

I cut off 5 inches!!! I love it though :)

Monday, October 4, 2010

Singin’ the Blues

                                                      Bella likes to

bella guitar 3

                                                       Play her guitar

 

bella guitar

                                                        and sing the blues

bella guitar 2

                                                        But then she….

bella sleeping bumbo

                                                Falls asleep :)

Thursday, September 30, 2010

2 Months Old :)

Bella,

You are 2 months old now! Mommy and Daddy just can't believe how much you are growing. You are so precious and have such the sweetest personality.

At your 2 month checkup, here were your stats:

10 lbs even (25th percentile)
22 inches long (25th percentile)

Your overall growth is in the 25th percentile of everything. Doctor said you are perfect just little :) We would not change you for the world!

You got your first round of vaccine shots at your appointment and needless to say...you did NOT like that! ha. But all in all you did really well at your appointment.

Your shots did not make you run fever at all but you did get pretty fussy and sleep most of the night after getting them.

You are starting to coo and goo at us all the time now.

You wear size 0-3 month clothes,you have officially outgrown your newborn clothes.

You are eating all soy formula now because my milk dried up. You are doing great on the formula. Eating between 3-8 ounces per feeding.

You still wake up about 2 times a night but we are working on getting you down to only once.

You look so much like your daddy these days.

Bella, Mommy and Daddy love you more than anything in the world! You are so loved by so many, including your older brother and sister. They truly adore you too!

Keep growing strong and being as sweet as you are now!

With Great Love In Our Hearts,

Mommy & Daddy

Monday, September 27, 2010

Videos and Cuties

I have just recently discovered I can make videos on my phone and upload them to here :) So here are two videos of the big kids being themselves! ha.

Presenting...Elijah as Batman and Kirsten as a Princess :)



Also..here are a few pictures I took recently of our little cuties.

Bella watching TV with her big brother.


Sweet girl!


Bella in Kirsten's doll cradle! ha.ha.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Bella Smiling

I finally caught my sweet baby girl smiling on video :)

*Sorry it is a little blurry..it was taken with my cell phone.


Tuesday, September 21, 2010

A little bit of everything

Yes...I am still alive! ha! Life is just crazy these days with an infant, a preschooler and a first grader! Plus add in that I am back at work and school has started back up for me :) But I am not complaining...I am loving every minute of being a mommy! Isabella is all that had hoped for and she is intertwined in our lives so very far. Bella has her 2 month checkup next Friday (Oct.1) so I will update you with her stats then. But for now...



Bella Smiling.



Sweet girl.



Kirsten and my niece, Jayci



Our beautiful 4 year old!



Sound asleep.



Bright eyed and Bushy Tailed :)