Dancing Queen

Too cute!

And who is the better dancer now.... Daddy or Bella?

Merry Christmas.... Part 2

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.... definitely not a song we were singing this Christmas. Instead, we headed south to Houston to spend Christmas with Bryan's Mom's parents. They make the best Mexican food, so Bryan loved eating tamales for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Too bad Mommy doesn't know how to make them. Bella loved spending time with Great Grandma and Grandpa and especially their dog, Canela. She watched them cooking, helped with the dishes, and played constantly with Canela. She also liked seeing all her Great Aunts and Uncles too. Christmas there was a blast - wrapping paper everywhere and the presents for Bella didnt seem to end. Furthermore, we went over to Aunt Kristin and Uncle Andy's house, which was just down the street. Playing with their dogs Albert and Treva, dancing to the Xbox Kinect game, and threatening to paint Uncle Andy's nails were just a few of Bella's favorite things to do at their house. It was a great time all around and we were glad to have had the opportunity to spend Christmas in Houston.

Merry Christmas.... Part 1

Boy oh boy did we all have a good Christmas this year! To begin, Nana and Papa came down at the beginning of December for Christmas. We couldnt make it to Ohio, so instead they came to us. It was wonderful! We went to Northpark Mall to see the train display - although Bella's favorite part was seeing the swimming turtles. We enjoyed delicious turkey courtesy of Daddy, made Christmas cookies for Santa, and played A LOT! Both Bella and Hunter savored all the attention they were getting, and we were blessed with Nana and Papa staying an extra day thanks to all the snow in the midwest. Bella absolutely loved her new Tinkerbell blanket from Aunt E, her dress up clothes from Aunt E, her "Jakie" from Aunt E, and her art easel from Nana and Papa. It was hard to say goodbye when they had to go... but thank goodness for webcam so we can continue to "see" them all the time.

Thanksgiving Weekend

What a great Thanksgiving it was! We were invited over to Uncle Jon's parents house, and it was a wonderful family gathering. The food was endless and Bella really enjoyed playing with all the kids there, especially her Jassy. After all the good food it was definitely time for a nap! Later that night Jas, Uncle Jon, and Aunt Iris came over for a sleepover. The boys enjoyed a night of drinking and video games, the little youngins enjoyed playing with all Bella's toys, and the ladies enjoyed a morning of good quality Black Friday shopping. It was a good time for all!

After all that fun, it was definitely time to get down to business.... putting up the Christmas tree. This year it was extra special because Bella took an active part in decorating the tree and really seemed to understand more of the decorations and presents that this season brings. She loves riding in the car now and pointing out all the pretty Christmas lights. I hear her giggling about it driving down the road, it's so cute! Bella especially loved adding her silver bells to the Christmas tree that Pop gives her every year. And we couldn't forget to torment Hunter with all the Christmas decorations either, so he was given the Santa hat to wear that night. Good times all around!

Congrats to Jas!

Bella got to spend a wonderful weekend with her Nana Bev and Pop, who came to Texas for Jas' dedication. It was great spending time with them, and Bella loved all the attention she got. Here she's bowling with Nana and eating yummy Italian with Pop.

On Sunday, we got to celebrate in Jas' dedication. It was quite a site to see.... both the large church and the adorable monkey loving the spotlight. Bella patiently sat through the entire service, but it wasn't too hard when there was so much to see and she loved watching all the singers. After the dedication we had a slurp-tastic spaghetti lunch! Jas loved her new bell from Pop, as you can see.

Finally, last weekend we rang in the new holiday season at the Rowlett Holiday Parade. Armed with donuts and warm drinks, we were ready to brave the chill in the air. This was really the first parade Bella recalls, so it was interesting to see how she'd respond. She loved it! The policecar and fire truck sounding their horns and sirens made her giggle with delight. The candy all the kids threw out happily kept her attention, and she eagerly scooped it all up! I guess we'll definitely be seeing more parades in our future!

Happy Halloween

Halloween this year was a blast for Bella. Last Sunday we carved pumpkins and Bella loved that her Daddy made her a cat on her pumpkin. Then on Friday there was a Halloween Festival at Bella's daycare. Bella dressed up as a princess. She was fascinated with her wand. Her good friend Jericho, who Bella plays with all the time, dressed up as a dinosaur and was going around saying "Roar!" Bella spent the night dancing with Jericho and her other classmates, eating cupcakes, and by the time it was ready to go home, she didnt want to leave. It was a fun-filled night and a great Halloween. Although trick-or-treating will be waiting for us in the future, I dont think Bella is ready for that experience. She is still quite shy and most likely wont walk up to strangers to get candy. For now, we'll just enjoy watching everyone else trick-or-treating and spending family time watching movies together.

Fall into Fun

Have you heard the news? This month we found out that Bella will be a big sister to a lucky little one. She is praying for a sister, and her daddy is hoping for a son, so at least mommy will make someone happy. Aside from the wonderful news (and feeling under the weather with a bit of sleepiness), we have been encountering technical difficulties. We had computer issues which is why this post is SO late arriving.

Now on to the good stuff. Bella has been enjoying this fall. She loves driving home looking at all the Halloween decorations in people's yards. We spent one afternoon going pumpkin picking. She really enjoyed it. We're about to carve pumpkins this weekend so new pictures will follow. Aside from the wonderful fall times, Bella loves watching Beauty and the Beast (thanks Aunt E!). We have to watch it a little each day, and just yesterday she started singing along. She is a big helper to mommy already although she loves to be in control. As independent as always, she lately has started sleeping in bed with mom. This doesnt always work out so well because she loves to twist and turn in her sleep. I've awoken to find her at the foot of the bed, and one time when Bryan came home he found her head facing toward me and her feet dangling off the side of the bed. She's so fun, it's wonderful being a mom!

Summer Joys

It's been a long fun-filled summer with Bella Jo! She and Mommy flew up to Ohio to visit family and friends for a week in June. She loved playing with everyone, especially Jake, and learning to skip down the street. We were able to visit the zoo, go shopping, swim at Nana Jo's, attend cousin Annie's wedding, tour the fire station with Papa (thank goodness there was a nice firefighter on hand to tackle Bella's boo-boo), have her first ever bonfire, and see a winery complete with goats. It was a priceless week! After returning to Texas, Bella came to see the Alice in Wonderland theme at the Gaylord Texan Resort while Mom and Dad celebrated their 5 year anniversary. Bella loved spending the weekend with Aunt Iris, Uncle Jon, and Jas! As soon as the fun ended with the fourth of July, we really got down to "business". Bella started potty training! She more-often-than-not would run around the house naked, trying to get adjusted to using the new potty. It's safe to say that now she's started to get a grip on things and can pull down her new panties in enough time. No more naked baby running around! After nearly a month of training, things are starting to improve and we're looking forward to having her potty trained. She's developed Mommy and Aunt E's picky eater syndrome lately, so we're having to get very creative with her food. Bella's favorite things to do are watch Cinderella (at least once a day), swing outside, play with her puzzles, and listen to music. She's taken an interest in helping Mommy with whatever she is doing - cooking, cleaning, doing laundry - and Mommy is not complaining! It's wonderful to see her advancing and learning each and every day. We're so lucky to have been blessed with a wonderful daughter.

Play Days

Now that Mom is done teaching for summer vacation, Bella has been getting lots of quality time with her. We have really started to enjoy all the fun toys around the house that we have otherwise ignored. Not really sure why they've been ignored, but just lately Bella has been getting interested in everything. Making her interest in exploring the world has started to light up - and I couldn't be more thrilled! Bella recently got a new pool - just a simple small pool for the backyard. She has been less than pleased about taking baths and seems scared of bigger pools of water beyond the sink water for dishes, so I was a little apprehensive about how she'd respond to the pool. Although it took a couple of tries for her to get inside, today we put on her suit and actually sat down. She also was given a bubble machine from her Aunt Iris yesterday, which of course she loves! Bubbles are the best! Of course, I'm not too sure that the bubble machine needs to be dunked in the water. Bella also used her Daddy as a climbing object yesterday and I couldn't resist displaying that picture. So as the summer continues, we look forward to many more days of play!

Uncle Overload

Bella finally got to meet some of her Uncles. OK not her biological uncles but definitely her daddy's true brothers. They came to town over Memorial Day weekend for a long-awaited get-together. It was great to see Uncle Jason and Uncle Barry! Bella had to warm up to them but she had no trouble warming up to Jason's girlfriend, Rhinelle, and Aunt Natalie.

In addition to spending good ol' quality time with them, we were able to take Bella on her first jet ski ride. Although she screamed the whole time she was on, as soon as we got off, she said "Fun." Needless to say we didn't take her back out there. But we had fun while she spent time with everyone else. Too bad that Uncle Jason got pulled over on the jet ski and Uncle Barry and Aunt Natalie fell off the jet skis. Good times, good times, as her daddy would say. We only wish her Uncle Chris and Uncle Gary could have been with us too. We miss you guys!