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!

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

Recent (& Not so Recent) Pictures

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!!

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

“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?

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!