I absolutely love those moments

I absolutely love certain "those" moments of being a mom. This week in particular I LOVE the nighttime routine. I am loving the smell of her bath, putting lotion on her (ok, trying to since she flips over and wiggles in all her naked cuteness like a fish so I usually get ALOT on her little bottom as she's trying to scurry away), and rocking her. awwww! Talk about good endorphin stimulation! Indulge me as I talk about that! I want to make sure and not forget any of these moments. We'll rock in her room while she eats and sometimes she goes right to sleep. At other times she doesn't - and those times are so sweet. She'll lay there and look around and glance up at me every once in a while. Then she'll flash a small smile and look around again. She won't move though - just look! After a while she'll just close her eyes and go to sleep. A couple of nights ago I went to sleep too and woke up an hour later with a still sleeping baby on me. I was very tempted to bring her bed with me or stay there all night. But I put sleeping cutie in her bed and myself in my bed with a heart full of love and a mind full of peace and gratefulness.

I absolutely love those moments.

I also enjoy Sonic! Those first few weeks of being home by myself Bella and I took our fair share of sonic runs - happy hour lemon-berry slushes were made for first-time mommys who need an "I-can-do-this" break. I still love Sonic. Last Wednesday while I was home working we went for our Sonic-break. I finished ordering my $0.79 lemon-berry slush and turned around to check on my little sweetness - here's what I saw.

I absolutely love those moments.

Miss Happy is so full of joy! I'm thankful for that because I forget about the small joys in life amongst dinner preparation, work, ins-and-outs of life. I love when I catch her looking at me and see faces like these.

I absolutely love those moments.

And, because I adore these two...

I absolutely love those moments.

9 months old!!

Our "little" one is 9 months old! (We missed the 8 monthiversary since we were on vacation...I know, I know, sorry about that.) As you can tell Miss B is on the move. It was much harder getting a "sitting-down-and-posing" picture at this stage. So, this is as good as it gets!

Picture try #1: So far, so good..."Smile Bella" (her interpretation of that request? DROOL and be absolutely adorable!)
Picture try #2: "Hey Mom. Whatcha doin over there?"
Picture try #3: "You want me to stay near the giraffes? I see the elephant and llama!"
Picture try #4: "Ok, i'll go back to the giraffes." (Shortly after this picture she tried to pull up on the ottoman to the glider - no giraffes)

Picture try #5: I tried a different angle to try to "sneak" up on her. You think it worked?

Picture try #6: Alas, another angle - and alas again - it didn't work. Don't you love that face though!
Picture try #7: "Mom, why are you on the floor laughing?"

Picture try #8: And, i'm still laughing on the floor!! I had just sat her down by the giraffes about 4 separate times and tried to jump back as quick as I could to get a shot. Here's as close as I could get. Note her face. Wouldn't you just love to know what she's thinking! She thinks i'm either really cool or crazy! I'll take both!
Picture try #9: We were officially done when she wanted to play with the blinds and her carseat.
Here are recent "firsts":
1. She now has 5 teeth - 3 on top and 2 on bottom
2. She weighs 17 pounds and 15 ounces.
3. She is going from crawling to sitting up.
4. She will pull up and sit on her feet and try to pull up on curtains, couches, us!
5. She is Miss VOCAL and loves to jabber jabber jabber.
6. She is saying her "m", "d" and "b" syllables - and in jumbles and LOTS of jabbering!

I did it!!!

What you may ask? Let me take you back a couple of years before I tell you...

I love the Today Show! I enjoy stretching after my morning runs either watering the backyard (which is funny and a little challenging stretching while i'm holding a water hose) or watching Meredith, Matt, and Al. A perfect morning involves a good, long run and eating breakfast with the Today team. A couple of years ago I saw the mother of sextuplets talking about her 1 year old babies. She was telling Meredith about running a marathon to celebrate her kiddos first birthday. So, what did I do? I said in my head that one day I would do that when I have a child....when I had a child is the key word...when will that day be?

Fast forward a couple of years....
The setting is the morning of October 23rd, 2008 in my house. This blonde gal is 10 months PLUS 5 days pregnant and about to jump out of my skin in anticipation, excitement, nervousness and joy over the thought of seeing my firstborn within the next 24 hours. (Bella made her grand entrance 24 hours and 15 minutes later.) Where was I? Naturally, on a treadmill running 4.5 miles...yes, I know - crazy! But, y'all I was excited! What was I thinking as I remembered the Today Show super-mom? "Surely I can do a marathon post-25-extra-pounds-baby-body if I can do 4.5 miles at 10 months + 5 days pregnant".

Fast forward to now...
Well, that day is approaching of my child's first birthday and since i'm a goal-oriented-I-think-I-can kind-what-am-I-thinking kind of gal I signed up! I signed up for the Houston Marathon! Yes 26.2 blissful miles of running in downtown Houston through the fun music venues, screaming fans (ok, maybe not - I think i've watched Paula Radcliffe race too many times), "leisure" conversation with my sister, thinking of when I made this goal in my head many years ago, how I now have a precious child and...achy feet, possible Houston humidity, yucky carb-loaded GU, "what-was-I-thinking" and...wait, 26.2 miles???? Training 101 here we go! No, I won't be pushing Bella. (Although when I ran the half-marathon in South Carolina I was PASSED by a lady pushing a stroller - that's ok, no ego-hurt here).

What have we been doing? Bella and I have been practicing in HOT Central Texas.

Can you tell she's excited! On our long Wednesday morning run she cooed, screamed (in the good way), squealed, and blew bubbles the ENTIRE first 3 miles. Those sweet sounds made it difficult to run at a steady pace since I would laugh every time she would do her coo-scream-coo-laugh thing. I'm sure the other runners/walkers/bikers thought I had a really happy baby or were judging my mothering-skills thinking I was letting that sweet baby cry. It's not a cry. Just a loud "I'm-happy" scream. By the end of the trip we were BOTH tired! Wish me luck on the upcoming 26.2 miles! I'm sure the blog-world will more of my journey through the next few months of whey protein, soy milk, LOTS of stretching, long Saturday runs with Allison and the stroller-babe, and GU.

Family Pictures - Bella's 6ishmonthiversary

I briefly mentioned in a previous post we had fantastic family pictures done by a fellow Truett Seminary student, Tim Ivey. And, it was HOOOTTTT that day. But you know you have a great photographer when you can't even tell we were sweating in the pics. You can go to http://photos.imagopix.com/Imago%20Families and see them all. Because these are so good this post does not need any commentary. Let me know which ones you like the best. I'm having a hard time deciding which ones to order. So....what's your fav? Also, if you want to order a flower clip like Bella is wearing let me know and i'll send out the link where I bought it. You can get free or $2 shipping if you order this week!a>

Look who is....

clapping!!! I've been working on Miss Sweet Thang's clapping skills for a while. Usually she looks at me when i'm clapping and singing thinking who knows what. But, this past Thursday while we were hanging out with Waco friends she started clapping to Suzanne while Sarah was holding her! Way to go Suz! And, yes...we captured this on camera as we all clamored for our phones/cameras/anything we had that would act as a camera. This is a developmental milestone though, right?! I keep trying to capture her clapping on video. But she usually stops clapping or laughing when she sees the camera. I think she is trying to figure out in her 8.5 month old mind how she could grab what mommy has in her hand and chew on it! One day, one day I will surprise her and let you see the sweetness of our little gal in action.

Family Pictures

We recently had family pictures done in honor of Bella's 6ish monthiversary by the AWESOME Tim Ivey. It was SOOOO hot that day but you can't even tell we were all sweating. Check them out at http://photos.imagopix.com and scroll down to click on "Families". I'll post some on the blog later.

A week of firsts - Boat ride, 4th of July, and STANDING UP!

As you can tell by the title, this has been a fun and busy week. We started the weekend with a visit from Mike's parents. They came down for the day to see Bella...uh hum and maybe us. But, that's ok. We think she's adorable too. While Bella was taking her afternoon nap they made homemade cookies-n-cream ice cream. Yummo - And, the vacation (also known as "eat-ice-cream-at-every-meal-happy-4th-of-July") officially began!
Look at that expression - she's looking at her daddy.


"Do you expect me to wear this? I think not!"

Later that day, we went on the boat with Brad. Introducing Brad to the blog: Brad, meet the blog; Blogfriends meet Brad- I lovingly call him the Bradman, the Bradmeister, the Bradley, the Braddude...uh, yes we're friends. He's Allison's boyfriend and we sure do enjoy hanging out with him. Thanks for taking us on Lake Belton, Brad, and giving Bella her first boat ride and "swim" in the lake. Poor little Miss did not know what to think about the huge pink life jacket. She couldn't move much at all so she just sat there. Has anyone seen the Christmas Story when the little kid is all wrapped up and can barely run? Yes, imagine that - just with an 8 month old and the brightest pink lifejacket in Texas! It was hysterical. Here's what she thought of the pink monster (aka. life jacket). Can we say A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E!!She smiled a little bit but I don't even think she could smile in that thing. And, she wasn't quite sure what to think about the wind flowing through her little hairs when we would go "fast" in the boat. She swam a little bit but then it was time to get back in the boat and eat. A little food makes everyone happier.Lovin' this sista time!
And a cute family photo...with the Bradman giving Bella some bunny ears. Notice Bella's expression...that's what we saw the majority of the boat ride. She would look up at me every once in a while (ok, maybe twice) and give a little smile. But, she could only smile so big with the double-chin that turned into a quadruple-chin with the pink monster lifejacket. We then went to Brad's house for sandwiches and ice cream, again!

The next day (the official 4th of July) we had a partay at our house with friends from Waco. The first picture is a little dark but I thought it was too sweet not to post.
It was HOOTTT! The grill guru, otherwise known as Mike Toczyski, made some awesome hamburgers and chicken! And, of course we had ice cream - again. We waited until the evening got a little cooler before going back outside to wait for the fireworks and watch Bella "swim" in her new pool. Mike went outside to set up the kiddie pool and after a little while of wondering where he was we went to find him and came across this scenario that should receive the awesome-daddy award!
After Mr. Awesome-Daddy had her kiddie pool ready Bella went for a "swim" while splashing all around and trying to grab the turtle or chew on the turtle. After a little while she started pulling at one of the legs....Then she scooted up a little closer and did that cute "baby-bounce-rocking" thing...And then stood up!!
Can I get a what-what! Yes, our little lady stood up. It was fun that Mike and I were both there to see it. She has been doing the same thing when we're all sitting on the couch. She hasn't done the official "stand-up-from-the-floor" yet but she will soon enough. And, because she is changing so much right now I'm not in any hurry for that to happen. The night ended with the Waco clan watching fireworks outside while I was inside with Bella. She fell asleep after eating so I rocked and rocked and rocked her sweet sleeping self. Yes, perfect end to a great vacation.

Vacation week: Post 4 - The final smattering of vacation pictures

And, to the final posting for our vacation. We started the last day with Bella crawling around in all her cuteness! She's getting quick and wants to go lick the furniture. Why? I'm not sure... Don't you just love this one!Uh, oh! Look at me trying to take a step!
Showing off my crawling skills!

When she gives this face, are we suppost to give her what she wants? Uhm, too stinkin' cute to say no to anything! We're in trouble.
I love the pictures of Bella playing piano with her Granddad. I grew up taking lessons from my dad who is an incredible piano player. I wish I was half as good as he is. One of the neatest moments of my wedding is when he arranged and played "Great is thy Faithfulness". I still can't hear the song without getting teared up. Some very special moments in my childhood and at Wayland were listening to my dad play the piano and playing songs myself. My parents babysat while Mike, Allison and I went to the 10 year class reunion. Here's a little of what they did that night. Yes, I think they had fun!
We went swimming one afternoon to let our "little fish" experience the water again.

Yes, mom is cheesin'...but so is Bella...and i'm sure daddy is too if you could see his face!

All wrapped up and warm with Nana!Can we say Cutie Pie!!!
Playing with Aunt Alli.
Look at those lips! Cantaloupe must have been tasty or a little sour or both.


Look at this little diva. These pictures are from the morning we went to my grandparents house. While we were in Lubbock we went to visit a college friend and fellow blogger - Ashley Sinclair. Her precious little one is close to Bella's age so we've had fun blogging about our new mommy adventures. She has a great store in Lubbock for you New Mexico/West Texas readers. It's Ribbons and Bows on 82nd and I would be in trouble if we lived in Lubbock since I would shop there all the time. Ya'll check it out! Ashley is such a neat friend and beautiful girl (she is a former Miss Wayland - she won because she's a sickeningly talented singer/guitar player, super nice, and HOTT!). Ashley, i'm glad we've gotten to reconnect through the maze we lovingly call blog-world.