Seeing the GREAT grandparents!

After Lovington, we headed to Lubbock to introduce my grandparents to their first great grandbaby. Mom and I had fun dressing Bella in a dress and coat that my Grandmother made. When I took her out of the carseat and handed her to Grandmother she got teary eyed and said "Look Granddaddy". Of course, after that I think we all cried. And, Granddaddy held her with his big, strong hands. Allison and I used to (and still do) put our hands in his and watch them disappear! It was a precious moment and i'm glad my mom captured it even through her own tears. I love this picture!!!

The hat Grandmother's mother made...so, my Great Grandmother and Bella's Great Great Grandmother.
Grandmother then fed Bella and while we were talking Granddaddy very nonchalantly said "It's coming out the side". (It was funny how calm he was about lots of yellow poo oozing out). Well, the sweet little great grandbaby had a major poo-poo and it was seeping out of her diaper onto Grandmother's nice sweater. We jumped up and tried to clean it up through laughter without making a bigger mess. Bella never seemed to know what happened...she was quite content rocking with Grandmother! And Grandmother kept feeding Bella. I think she's done this before...she's the veteran mother and truly is a GREAT GRAND mother. Allison and I will still sit in Grandmother's lap while she sings "Hush little baby". Every visit i've had to their house, i've had these special times before I go to bed. During this trip, I saw Grandmother holding Bella and singing to her while Bella just stared up contently at her Great Grandmother. Sweet, sweet times! The rest of the herd came over and we enjoyed Grandmother's turkey and dressing, watched hilarious home videos, and had a great time just hanging out. Here are some more fun pics. The fam playing Joker...complete with hats! Mike, Seymour, and I living it up on the farm! yeehaw for flannel! Good times with the girlie cousins doing what we do best!Cute picture of dad and Seymour with a fussy baby! 4 generations!
Sweet Wanda
Playing with Seymour
As you can tell Christmas was filled with very special memories! Thank you Lord for our families!

Houston and Lovington Christmas 2008

We had an extra special Christmas this year with little Bella here! Last Christmas we were dreaming and praying about a baby...what a difference a year makes! We first went to Houston to spend time with Mike's family. Nanny (Mike's grandmother) made his stocking when he was a little boy from things off of Susy's and her sisters stocking. This year, Susy made Bella her stocking with Mike's stocking and spelled her name with the "E", "L", and "A" from "Michael" on his stocking. That will be a neat tradition. Grammy also got some good rocking time and play time in with Bella. Thanks Grammy!!


PawPaw (Mike's dad) gave Bella a workout every day and taught her how to jump and stand and bounce. I think she got stronger during those times! PawPaw also showed Bella the trees and flowers and birds outside.
We also enjoyed seeing the rest of the family. Bella loves her Great PawPaw and so do we!
And, Meemaw had a way of putting Bella to sleep rocking!

After Houston we picked up Allison in Temple and headed to the Land of Enchantment (aka. New Mexico). Nana made the traditional breakfast casserole. yay!! We grew up having that and opening our stockings in the morning and then opening up the big presents that night after christmas dinner. And, it was goooddd! Nana had some special times with Bella and the first feedings of the day. Thanks Nana for letting Mike sleep in and me go running with Allison.Nana and Granddad bought Bella a CUTE jungle playmat that she loved! She was reaching up to touch the butterflies and learned how to turn the music on. Yes, we are proud and think she's brilliant. She would smile and coo while she was playing on that too. Here's a cute picture of dad and two of his girls. I couldn't resist sleeping on my dad while Bella was sleeping on me. Thanks mom and Mike for capturing the moment. Granddad seems to get lots and lots of smiles from Bella. She must love him as much as I do! Mom and dad gave me some of my baby toys, books, and clothes for Christmas. I still remember reading some of those books and had fun listening to mom tell stories of the other outfits and stuffed animals. And, of course my sista and I had tons of fun running around Lovington in the mornings and playing around with Christmas hats. It was a great Christmas with lots of remembering and new memory-making!

2 months....surprise date-getaway....Christmas in Houston!

Lots has gone on the past couple of days. Our little one turned 8 weeks on Thursday!! Happy 2 months Bella! Saturday we left for Houston to see Mike's family. He surprised me with a getaway date time too! We went and stayed at a fantastic hotel in downtown Houston and went to see the Houston Symphony and Chorus present Handel's Messiah. woohoo!! I grew up listening to the Messiah at every christmas so it was special for Mike to surprise me with that. We got all dressed up (suit and my black dress) and went to a fancy restaurant. After I had the waitress take a picture of us I was looking through the camera and started missing Bella. But, leaving her with the parentals made it much easier to enjoy the evening. The Messiah was great but the combination of slow music, dim lights, and a new baby made it hard to stay awake through some of the parts. ha! All in all, the evening was wonderful. Yes, I do have a great husband that is more than I could have asked for. I truly am thankful for him. Thanks love for a wonderful time away!

We are enjoying Houston with Mike's family at the moment. I'll post more pictures of Bella with everyone at a later post. I thought i'd devote the rest of this one to the 'Many Faces of Miss B'. She has started blowing lots and lots of bubbles and making more cooing and laughing sounds. She's also finding her hand and not hitting herself in the head when she tries to suck on it. PawPaw (Mike's dad) has Bella standing up already! She is sooo strong and will be crawling in no time, i'm sure. We'll keep you posted. She is holding her head up like a champ for long periods of time too! Here's a fun picture of tummy time!
And, she's been sleeping through the night for two weeks now. When we first go get her out of her crib in the morning, she is waiting there with smiles! Truly a great way to start the day. She is a happy baby! (most of the time...) Mike is becoming a great photographer and I hope you enjoy these pictures he took as much as I have. And, yes, we are taking a picture every second!