The Beauty of Childhood

Wouldn't you know it, this little lady has a personality all her own! It is a wonder to see Bella as she changes and becomes so animated. She dances when her music plays from the fridge boombox, she giggles ever so sweetly and it makes my heart flutter, and she has started to say the word "NO" every minute. To top it off, she's trying to imitate hitting things when she doesn't get her way. What a stinker she can be! But she has her loveable moments too, like when you ask for kisses and she will give you a mwah, or when you're holding her and she clings to you a little tighter to hug you back, or when she wants you to come with her somewhere so she grabs your finger and tugs you along. Every moment is truly a blessing to spend with her and all her cute ways. She just discovered the world of Jell-o this weekend and is having fun watching her food shake. Ahh, the joys of being a kid. It's great too because it makes me feel like a kid at heart, and who doesn't need that?

Summer Fun

Well it's officially summer in Texas and man does it feel like we're sitting on the equator! It is hot, hot, HOT down here but thank goodness it's without 100% humidity! Bella and mommy have been taking dips in the community pool. Actually, Bella has been splashing around and jumping in the water while mommy has been worried every second with her thrashing around so much, running on the concrete floor, and possibly slipping in the puddles around the pool. The scratch on her head is actually not from the pool but one of her big puzzles that flipped over and hit her smack on her head. It wont be long until she has all her toys back once we get into the house, which is expected at the beginning of August. Yeah! More fun upacking times to come!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy holiday America! We sure have been busy moving to Texas, settling in, and house hunting. Now that we are here, we did get an offer accepted on a foreclosed house and hope to be moving in around mid August. Bryan is working a lot of hours but is enjoying his job while Jena is still tring to find that teaching / library job waiting for her. Bella is enjoying her time with her mommy for now, although she really has taken an interest in the walks around the apartment building with puppy. All is well and her last checkup showed she is a whoppy 28 lbs already! Pretty soon mom wont be able to lift this chunky monkey! She gets into everything, and we're not talking about her toys. Her favorite things to play with lately are cotton balls, empty packs of gum, and of course electronics, namely the computer and cell phones.

Happy Birthday to me!

My oh my is our little one getting so big! Now that Bella is one year old, we realize time does fly. Each day when I hold her in my arms I realize just how different she looks to me. It's fascinating seeing her interests, watching her explore the world, and loving every minute of it. Lately she has a fascination with her mom that cannot be explained. Every minute that I'm home has to be spent in my arms. At daycare, Bella has moved into the "big girl" classroom. She babbles all the time and look forward to the day she'll be talking to us. We're in the process of starting her on one nap a day but that's going to take some getting used to. She still loves to eat, especially meat and pasta. And no, she did not dive into her birthday cake. She picked the frosting off as any little lady would do!

Happy Spring!

Poor Bella.... has to deal with all this cute and adorable torture from her parents! We just love putting "ears" on her. Bella's ears have been giving her a lot of problems, so she recently had tubes put in them. She is doing much better now. She is also eating lots more "people" food, but we're finding she's quite a picky eater. Boy does she love her cheese and pasta though - a true Baraona!

World, here I come!

Bella Jo is now exploring the world in her walking shoes. She has been using a walker to run around the house, but within the past week, she has foregone that crutch. Now, she's taking small cautious steps around the house to grab her toys, scurry after Hunter, or see who's at the door. It's very exciting watching her change and learn about the world. Although that's a positive, Bella has been quite sick lately. She continues to get ear infections and will ultimately need tubes in her ears. Last week she had pink eye, first in one then both eyes. Bryan and I were sick with a sore throat deal and we think she picked that up as well. She has been in the urgi-care so much the doctors there know her name. We hope this goes away so we can have our upbeat little girl back. Sorry no picture this time, our computer is packed away since our house is up for sale.

Walking on sunshine

It seems unreal that Bella is turning almost 10 months old. She just this week started balancing on her own - thus, we know walking is right around the corner. Using whatever means possible, such as her toy bin, she'll push herself and her walking container around the house. Her food explorations have been both fun and a mess - she loves yogurt and spaghetti, and she dislikes peas and turkey. Nilla wafers were interesting too, rather than just putting some of the cookie in her mouth, she shoves the whole thing in. We learned our lesson with that one. It's wonderful to see her progress. She waves bye and once in a while even tries to say "bye-bye." We're still working with her on "da-da" which also appears once in a while, but "ma-ma" (sigh) doesn't seem to be on her mind lately. Talking up a storm is a habit now and we can't wait to see what's in store for us in the coming months.