Happy 6 months, Sweet Pea!

And, we are at the sixth month mark. (What!?!) What a joy and ride it has been! I thought about trying to think of my top memories with her...but, that would be way too long! So, i'll try a top ten - although sixth months in no way can be summarized in this way!
1. Labor day - I know, I know, it's weird but I absolutely loved that moment with the sunshine and laughter and anticipation.
2. Those 3am nursing times when the world is quiet and it's just you and a sweet, sleepy baby.
3. That first laugh and ALL subsequent laughs!
4. Feeling the pride and joy of walking into a room with Mike and Bella. I think it's ok to be proud of my family at this time. This was especially true on dedication Sunday.
5. Seeing her find her feet and thumb and hands and anything else...seeing her explore her world.
6. Finding her looking at you when you don't expect it...like when she is with Mike in the living room and I look at them from the kitchen and she's looking at me and smiles...precious!
7. Listening through the monitor to Mike sing to her when she is fussy in her crib and hear her quiet down to his voice.
8. The feeling of her asleep on you and both of us cuddled up with Mike.
9. Seeing the grandparents face when they first saw Bella in the hospital. Still makes me choked up to think about hearing the laughs and gasps of all of them and seeing my dad's face.
10. And, those moments when Mike and I say "we have a baby girl?!?"

Sweet Pea, we sure do love you and are so thankful for you in our life. You are a precious addition to the Smith household. Love you, mommy and daddy.

Enjoy some giraffe pictures with her daddy!
I like the giraffes!
Uhm, i'm not sure about hugging the giraffe daddy!
Weeee!
Laughing with daddy...and still trying to figure out the giraffes!
Rubbing daddy's hands...and holding them!
Hello Mr. Giraffe...i'm Bella.
Trying on daddy's hat!
Look at how much i've grown!

Earth Day!

I love Earth Day! I grew up with an eco-lovin', tree-plantin', "green-before-it-was-the-cool-thing-to-do", daddeo...so, I guess it's in the genes. If you've seen my dad's backyard you know what i'm talking about. It's an oasis in the desert of New Mexico! Beautiful, calming, memories...my "tree" is back there too. I used to climb it and I had my certain spot, complete with pencil holder, book holder, journal holder, backpack hanger, and footrest...all made out of the tree! I would spend hours reading and writing up in that tree. When we would go camping with my grandparents, I would usually venture off to some creek or meadow and i'd rather be outside then inside. So, I love Earth Day. And, yes I hug trees! I thought i'd start this earth-lovin'-thang to Bella early. What did we do today? We went to Lowes and planted!! Enjoy some pictures from the day! From the looks of it, Bella liked Earth Day too!

And, a fun one of us hanging out at lunch!

Bella Laughing

This is a video of Bella laughing while playing with Daddy.

Typical work day

I thought i'd let you know what a typical work day looks like for me. Ok, so it's my work day at home on Wednesdays and Fridays. But, it's still work. It's just done with an adorable baby beside me. And, yes we spread out on the blanket together and work. She works on her rolling while I work on grants!

This week of "firsts":
1. She is rolling and rolling. She'll roll from one end of the blanket to the other! It's weird to put her on her back, turn around to get something and come back to find her on her tummy looking up at you.
2. She's laughing for no reason. Usually it takes us making funny faces or doing something to make her laugh. Now, she'll play on her own and start laughing. So fun!
3. She's putting her feet in her mouth. Her favorite place to do that is on the changing table.
4. She's getting better at sitting up on her own and staying there!
5. She's started screaming. Not the "i'm-mad" scream. It's the "i'm-excited" scream. Then, she'll blow bubbles and repeat the screaming. Hysterical!
6. We're preparing to go to South Carolina for a visit!! It's still 21 days away (not that i'm counting) but this week is her "first" week of preparing for her "first" visit to South Carolina!
7. We finally feeling those little "bumps"...otherwise known as teeth! All that slobber and sucking on EVERYTHING is paying off.

Bluebonnets: Take 1

Last year when I was pregnant, I remember looking at the bluebonnets and thinking how fun it will be to take pictures with our baby in a year. Well, that year is now! And, we tried the pictures. It was not as magical as I had envisioned but it was fun! (And, enjoyable even if the end result involved tears.) Unfortunately, Miss B was a little sleepy so she wasn't her happiest. But, we thought these pictures were too cute not to post. Look st that personality! We'll try again this weekend! Here's my play-be-play recap of the event lovingly entitled: Bluebonnets-Take 1!

Starting point=precious pics!
Still serene and docile...
Got a little fussy so Mommy rushed in to try to get a smile!
Instead, this is what I got!
"Daddy, i'm not sure about this!"
"Mommy, what's going on?"

We tried a new dress and when mommy put sweet B down....here's what happened. (I apologize for laughing in the picture but it was WAY too cute at the time to not...poor kiddo in her pretty dress and bright bow with mommy not holding her)
Daddy tried this time...and same result. (Look at him trying to pat her stomach..."it's ok, it's ok")

Happy Easter!

This Easter was one of the best! It started with a sunrise service at our church in Milano. We left the house in the POURING rain at 5:45am. We had our service at the outdoor pavilion in the picture below. Once we started singing, the rain started again! And, it was so loud on the tin roof we had a hard time hearing Mike and the other pastor speaking. But, what a fantastic sound to hear and see and smell and sing to! The raining stopped as soon as the service was over - just in time to walk over for brunch. God certainly was good to all of us! One of the songs we sang was "Because He Lives". That song has special meaning to us. I woke up at 2am during the "morning sickness" phase and went walking to try to ward off the nausea. I sang that song and walked to the rhythm. Mike told me the next morning about the verse "How sweet to hold a newborn baby. And feel the pride and joy (s)he brings". So, this morning when Mike was leading the music and looked over to smile at me at that verse, we both thinking how true that verse truly is now.
Here are some of our friends from Liberty. From left to right, AD Lagrone, Bella and I, Ruth Lagrone, and Francis Gilliland. Yes, they are as precious as they look! Ruth came over and got Bella while I was getting my food. I went to go check on her and AD said, "You let that grandmother hold her". We have precious new "family" additions here!
This is Tom Tom. Last week, Bella was really tired at the end of the service. Tom Tom came to get her (his exact words "let me have her"), went and sat back down, and she fell fast asleep on him the rest of the lunch. Here she is again playing with Tom Tom...and talking away at him! She's trying to figure out those overalls since she fell asleep on them last week.

The rest of the pictures are ones we took outside the church. Most of them are of Bella and her daddy. Being a daddy's girl myself, these pictures are precious!!





Walking with daddy!



And, at the end of a long morning here she is with her daddy!

Happy birthday daddy!

It was Mike's birthday week! The big 2-8!! Wooo! Our church surprised him with a cake on Sunday and the festivities began. We went out to eat last night (while super Aunt Alli babysat) and tonight we went to Ninfa's for mexican food followed by cheesecake at Barnes and Nobles (since they had Cheesecake Factory cheesecake) with some great friends. yummy! And, of course Miss B got in the celebrations too...notice the shirt!
Updates from this week:
1. She officially is grabbing both her feet and trying to stick them in her mouth...sometimes, she gets one in.
2. She is LAUGHING LAUGHING LAUGHING! Mike will give her "zerberts" on her tummy and she'll laugh and laugh and laugh.
3. She's talking a lot now. When we put her in her swing and then walk out of the room she seems to talk the most...hmm, maybe we are boring when we're with her.
4. Her hair is getting longer and looks so cute when there's shampoo in it and will stick straight up!
5. We can finally feel those little teeth coming in. Poor thing! She hasn't been too fussy, thankfully, but it's still not fun when you're little one is hurting. So, we'll rub her gums (thanks for the tip Grammy) and she'll talk away while chomping down on our fingers. Hysterical!
6. And of course, we just love what watching her interact more and grow and change!

Sleeping baby

You can't beat looking at a sleeping baby!!! I had to dedicate a post just with these sweet pictures. Precious! Thanks mom! Just in case Bella woke up and to not let her see my mom standing there (because then Bella would think it's play time with Nana), mom just lifted her camera over the crib and starting taking pictures. ha! Good aim Nana! Check out the post below for more pictures!