A weekend of firsts

Well this weekend Isabella went to her friend Madison's first birthday party. Her mom and my friend Jennifer had it at Gymboree in Plano. We had never been to Gymboree so I wasn't too sure what to expect, but the lady running it made sure that she gave Isabella activities to do since all the other kids were much older.

Here is Bella in a little rocking chair of sorts...


And here she is getting some tummy time on a ball...


Here we were supposed to hold on to a big round parachute thing, but Bella decided she would rather eat it...


Here Bella was having fun with Dad bouncing her around...


And here is Jen and the birthday girl...



The rest of the weekend I spent cleaning. I had actually bought all these flowers to plant and had grand ideas of doing some major gardening this weekend. However if you live around Dallas you know that it has been acting like a minor hurricane around here the last few days. I can hear someone mowing their yard right now and I am imagining them ankle deep in mud! So no gardening got done, but I did get the house nice and clean.

I am sort of a nerd and make lists for EVERYTHING. So I have a clean the house list on my fridge on a dry erase board. I basically try to clean a little every day and once I have finished a room on my list I check it off and move to the next room. That way I make sure I know every room has been cleaned in at least the recent past. Also, every iteration of this list I have one room that gets a 'deep clean', meaning I do fan blades, baseboards, move everything out of the way instead of vacuuming around it, etc. This weekend I did the kitchen and talk about gross! I got Jason to move the refrigerator this time. I literally have not moved it since we moved in to this house. I am guessing (hoping?) this is normal, but I am going to start cleaning back there more often. There was so much dust it was just disgusting. Anyway, my kitchen is spotless now and I am pretty sure you could eat off the floor, but I will just leave that up to the dogs. =)

Today we are starting to try to get Bella on more of a schedule. I have been obsessed with reading about how her sleep habits should be forming and the book I am reading now says at this age (she is 5 months today!!) she should be able to be on more of a schedule and probably start taking only two naps a day. So this morning we started the day a little after 7 and then I put her down for a nap at 9. She was really tired and went to sleep pretty quick. She only slept for about 50 minutes though, so we will see if she can make it to her next nap time, which is supposed to be around 1. She usually gets tired within a couple of hours of her last nap, so should be interesting!

Little Monkey

Here are a couple of pics I snapped of Bella while I was making my breakfast this morning. She is so darn cute I can't help myself!

How am I ever going to say no to this sweet little smile?


Her Nonna got her this little monkey (a little monkey for my little monkey!). I am not sure if she is giving him a kiss or trying to eat him. My money is on the latter.


Here is another picture from Destin, but I just uploaded it today. She was just too cool for riding in her car seat this day...

Crisis of Faith

I don't usually write about this kind of stuff, but I really liked this blog that my preacher from my church in Tyler wrote. I have a feeling that every single Christian in the world has had doubts about God and wondering if everything that we believe is real. I mean you can't see any of it and the bible was written a very long time ago. So as much as I really do believe it, I definitely have times when I wish there was more actual PROOF. So I subscribe to my preacher's blog and he wrote one yesterday sort of on this topic and I just thought I would share the link for anyone who is interested.

http://fromthepasture.blogspot.com/2009/09/is-faith-blind-or-is-it-unbelief-that.html

Sleepy Little Princess

So Bella has started sleeping a LOT more lately. We always put her to bed around 7pm and since last Thursday she has slept until 7am - and sometimes 7:15! - every night but one. Sunday we had her out all day at the mall after church and so she missed some nap time and then ended up going to bed late so she woke up at around 2:30 am and was up forever and then got up for good around 6:30. And yesterday, now this is definitely not the norm, but she slept for 6 hours during the day and still slept until 7:15 this morning. She never takes that long of naps during the day, but I guess yesterday she was just tired!

It is so true what I have been reading about the more they sleep, the more they will sleep. When we put her to bed late she almost always wakes up early or in the middle of the night, compared to when we put her down early.

Anyway, as you can imagine, I am ecstatic! I still have a lot of sleep to catch up on from the last 4 and 1/2 months, but we are getting closer.

Here are a few more pictures that Jason took in Destin. I am so happy he has developed this hobby of his. He has such a talent for it I think!

Out on the patio...



I love this picture. She looks so mischievous!

Destin

My parents recently bought a house, along with three other couples, in Destin, FL. We have been going to Destin almost every year for vacation since I was little. I think it is probably one of the most popular beach destinations in the US because I feel like everyone I know has been a million times too. And why not? The sand is white (usually), the water is blue (usually), the weather is good (you got it, usually), and the seafood is delicious (always!). So anyway, we had planned to go last week and take Bella on her first beach vacation. She was only 4 months and so she wasn't allowed to wear sunscreen, which meant she would basically have to stay in this little UV protective tent we bought her. We also bought a portable fan to try to keep her cool. Well, if you can tell from this pic, she wasn't very happy in the heat...


So I think she was on the beach a total of 30 minutes and we decided maybe next year would be better to try her first beach time. So Jason and I took turns going to the beach and one day my mom was nice enough to let us have a whole day to ourselves on the beach while she babysat. I got nice and sunburned, since my skin barely sees the light of day every anymore, but it was a great time.

It was definitely a different trip than I am used to. We usually rent a condo on the beach where you can walk out on your balcony and see the water. So I kind of missed that, but it was still fun. Their house is in the Sandestin community for those who know it, and it is right by all these restaurants and shops and stuff. We ate breakfast at Another Broken Egg which was amazing. Try the blueberry jumbo pancake. YUM. It rivals Kerbey Lane, and if you know my love for KL, you know that statement is not made lightly. We also went to this place called the Beach Walk Cafe one night on a double date with Amanda and Jared. If you are a foodie and you go to Destin, you must go here. It. Was. Delectable. It was one of those places where the service was impeccable and the waiter really knew everything about the food, wine, you name it. Everything is bought fresh daily and made fresh daily and is just so good. We had fried oysters to begin with. Then Jason had a steak that he said might be the best steak he has ever had. And for dessert. Hold on I need a minute to reflect upon it. Mmmmmm. We had a banana creme pie that can only be described as a revelation. Every bite made my mouth so happy. =) Anyway, all I can say is eat there. You will see.

So we have been back about a week now and Bella went to get her shots this morning. She was so upset and I hate to hear her cry like that. But the doc said she is doing great. She weighs 14 lb 9 oz now and is in the 90% in height. So she is definitely on her way to that ballet scholarship at Juliard! =) (Bella when you read this in 20 years, I am just kidding. A basketball scholarship is also perfectly acceptable. ;) )

Here is another pic of Bella at the beach in her cute hat...

New Bella Pics

Bella is getting so big and cuter every day. I may be a little biased but I think she is the cutest baby I have ever seen. I just want to eat her up all the time! Haha, do I sound like a mom or what?

So Bella has been standing up in her jumper thingy. She has to kind of lean against the front of it, but she seems to enjoy it!




She has also found her feet. Today she was trying very hard to get her left foot in her mouth, but did not quite accomplish it.


I don't have a pic or video or anything, but on Monday Bella did a very exciting thing! She rolled from her stomach to her back. She has been rolling side to side for a while now when on her back so I thought she would roll back to front first, but she has surprised us! I know those without kids are thinking 'big deal', which is what I used to think when people told me these mundane things, but now I know how exciting it is! I freaked out when she did it and she just gave me a big ol' toothless grin.

Last thing I would just like to request some prayers for our trip to Destin in a couple of days. It will be a definite experiment to have her in the car for that long and I worry how she will do. I am going to try to bring some toys and we will also be taking frequent breaks and getting her out of the car seat, but I know how nerve wracking it is when she starts crying while you are going down the road, and there is nothing you can do about it. So wish us luck!!

Goodnight Elisabeth and a Good Night for all!

I recently went to see Counting Crows and Augustana play here in Dallas, and while I will get to the talking about the show I just want to go ahead and apologize if this post seems somewhat nostalgic or whimsical or whatever you want to call it. In the four short months since having Isabella I have experienced a myriad of emotions, mostly good, although I have had my days where I just want to crawl in bed for a year. I am sure all you moms out there know what I am talking about. But one theme keeps repeating itself over and over and that is just to try my very best to enjoy every second of being a mom because I know how fast she will grow up. So even when she is up at 4 am eating or crying because she doesn't want to do anything but be held while I need to be doing laundry or cooking or whatever, I try to tell myself to cherish these moments. I don't always succeed, but I do my best.

Continuing with this theme, we recently read a book for the book club my friends and I are in called 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'. This is apparently a very famous book, though I had never heard of it. I checked it out of the library so I don't have it now or else I would print a passage from the book. I promise one day I will find that passage and type it out for you all to read. =) Toward the end of the book there is a paragraph that puts a cliche we have all heard in to words that make it hit home a little better I guess. Or at least put it in to words that pull at your heartstrings. But the cliche I am talking about is you never know what you have until it is gone. Something we have all heard a thousand times but it just got to me and I have thought about it a lot since then and I guess I sort of have this goal to really just live life to the fullest and try to enjoy every single second, even when things aren't going the way I want them to. I know that before I can believe it, Jason and I will be old and gray and Bella will be in college and I will wonder where the time went. And I don't want to get there and have a bunch of regrets or feel like I didn't take advantage of everything I have.

Ok, sorry if you are reading this going 'woah this is a bit much for a Tuesday morning!'. =) Just something I have been thinking a lot about lately. You are also probably wondering what in the world this has to do with going to see this concert. Well basically in a nutshell, I love Counting Crows. They are by far my favorite band ever. If you don't know their music you are probably sitting there thinking 'oh my gosh, they sing that Mr. Jones song and if they play that song on the radio one more time I will lose it'. If that is you, please go buy their albums and give them a listen. I actually like Mr. Jones after all this time and after hearing it one million and one times on the radio, but they are SO much more than that. I could listen to their albums over and over and never get tired of them. And I have. And they are even better live. They are the kind of band that doesn't just get up there and sing their songs just like you have heard them a million times. Now I know some people hate it when bands don't sing their songs just like they are on the radio, and I get that, but Adam (the lead singer) will literally like make up new verses on the fly and he is just so in to what he is singing that you can't help but be in to it too.

The show was at Nokia in Grand Prarie and they played with Augustana, who is another band I have grown very fond of, especially their last album. I started listening to their last album about a month before Bella was born and I listened to it a lot right when she was born and it did a lot for my soul in those wee hours of morning when I was up every two hours feeding her. There are a few songs on there that I know I will listen to years from now and it will remind me of those dark, quiet hours just me and her, when at the time I probably would rather have been sleeping. But hopefully I can think back and remember them fondly. Anyway, to make a long story short (too late) the concert was great. I was there with good friends and we were all having a great time. Counting Crows sang some songs I have never heard them sing, namely Goodnight Elisabeth which is one of my all time faves. Augustana sang Hey Now which I was SO hoping they would and in the encore they all sang Simon and Garfunkel's Cecilia together, which is one of my all time favorite songs! At the end of CC concerts Adam almost always comes out and talks about their foundation Greybird. It is a foundation that helps people find ways to volunteer in their local community. Adam is really big on everyone being a part of something and pitching in and especially voting. He always gives his schpiel about how everyone can make a difference and he doesn't care who you vote for as long as you exercise your rights and it is just always really uplifting and ends the show on a very positive note. They then ended the show by singing This Land is Your Land. I mean when is the last time you heard this song? Maybe 3rd grade? It has been a long time for me and it just made me smile.

Alright, I know this post is running way long, but the whole point of it is that I had such a good time at the concert. My heart was just full listening to my favorite songs with my friends and husband and I was just happy that I got to spend those hours that way. There is a line in A Long December that sort of sums up the theme of this post that says 'I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass'. If you haven't heard that song (and if you haven't I would be wondering what rock you were under in about 1997), then go listen to it. I wouldn't say it is even one of my favorite CC songs, but it is worth it to just hear that line sung. Seeing it typed doesn't quite do it for me.

I hope everyone is having a great day and I hope this post finds everyone happy.