Visit from Nana and Granddad

My sister, Allison, recently moved to Temple (woohoo!!) to work at Scott and White. This week our parents have been down to see her new house and visit us (well, maybe they just came for Bella...but, that's ok). Mike finished up two of his classes (yay!) and now we are all officially on thanksgiving break. Little Bella is still doing great and growing! She's so strong too and likes to push off of our tummies when we're holding her in our laps. She has started this semi-laughter. (To me, it's a laugh...but maybe it's really gas...well, whatever it is cute!) She's still a coo-er and poo-er and as sweet as ever. And, she has a LOUD cry with snorting (lovely) in between cries! Girl has got some pipes on her. Here are some fun pics from the week with the fam! And, it's great to have my mom here for the photo shoots! Miss B is going to be documented!!

4 weeks old!!

Oh my, it's been a month. Time truly does fly! I look at her recent pictures and at her and fall in love again. But, I do have to say that when I go back and look at her pictures the day she arrived, I get choked up. (So, I decided not to look at them because I get teary thinking about it.) That moment is like the moment the doors opened to walk down the aisle with my dad to Mike...the two moments in my life I would redo in a heartbeat and I wish I could have made life stand still for a while to take everything in. It certainly is fun watching Bella respond and smile more lately. It's been beautiful here in Texas! A cold front is coming in tonight so i've been outside relishing in the fall air. Have I mentioned I love fall! And, I finally busted out the jogging stroller. yippee! She's too little to jog so we walked (well, she slept the whole time). Fresh air and changing leaves and the quietness that comes with nature does a wonder to a homebound mommy! I love the winter and cooler weather too (I think I enjoy all seasons) but I enjoyed my first walk with my passed out Miss B.

Here is her 4 week picture. Enjoy! Happy one month sweet pea!

Time with Grammy...and bath time once again!

Little Miss B had a great time with Grammy while she was visiting. Grammy got to experience the coos and oohs of Bella along with the poots and poops of Bella! And, if I had a quarter for every time Grammy said "You are so cute"! Or, for every time we said it! Mommy is feeling much better these days thanks to the modern medication of antibiotics...and TLC from Grammy. This week has been uneventful other than the normal eating, sleeping, changing, loving, laughing...But, here are some fun pictures from the past few days. And, of course some more bath pictures since that is one of our favorite times! Enjoy!

3 weeks old!

This past week has been eventful. I have had mastitis (yucky!!) so after calling Grammy crying and not feeling good at all she came down to take care of us. She was going to come on Friday (today) but came down yesterday after my phone call for help. She's been a huge help while getting over the yuck. Thanks Grammy!
Bella's been great, again! This little girl is smiling more and more these days with her eyes open, instead of smiling in her sleep (Don't you wonder what babies dream about and smile?) Precious! Here's her updated 3 week picture....and, as you can tell she's a little bigger every time.
Also, bath time is turning into one of my favorite times. (Hence, more pictures of bath time taken by her daddy.) She did so great through it, until she got cold at the end. But, she's so cute and checkin' herself out in the mirror and just playing and looking around. You can't beat the clean baby smell too with the baby lotion and her sweet, soft skin with those huge eyes. (Granddad (my dad), this portion of the post was for you since I know you love that smell too.) The end result was her cute "Things I love...daddy, hugs, and kisses" onesie. That's one of the outfits I wrapped up as Mike's valentine's day presents to tell him we were expecting Bella.







I can't really hold her that well because of the mastitis but I can feed her in my lap and Mike can burp her. We're a pair! And, a cute picture moment caught be Grammy.

Days, nights, and everything in between

Update #1: Well, after last night I think Miss B sometimes gets her nights and days mixed up. Some nights she sleeps like a champ and others (like last night) she is up WIDE awake with those HUGE eyes every two hours. We get up, get her back down (finally), go back to bed, and we hear her on the monitor about an hour later. You've got to be kidding! Fortunately, there aren't many nights like this and hopefully we'll get her melatonin sensations switched quickly. For those nights when she's up, she sleeps so good during the day. And, when it's on mommy like in the picture it's hard to complain!

Update #2: We were having a sweet morning together a couple days ago. She was all snuggly and nearly asleep and Mike and I love those snuggle-on-your-chest-like-a-little-bug times. So, I kissed her and told her I loved her. At that moment, she let out a huge poop! And because I laughed so hard it woke her up and we started the whole go-to-sleep process again, of course after a diaper change. Hysterical! Perfectly lovable moments mixed with baby-reality-poop moments!

Update #3: Little B is holding her head up for longer periods of time lately. And, when she looks up at you with the huge eyes it's so sweet. Here's a picture of her staring at her daddy. She stayed like that for a while!

I missed you....

This blog is devoted to...my shoes! I know, I know...kindof odd for a blog. I was able to run my usual distance up until the day she was born so it's been a little over 2 weeks since i've been able to use these shoes. And, that's been the longest stretch i've gone in about 9 years. To say the least, I was ready to go! So, this morning after feeding Bella at 5:30, getting bottles ready, kissing my husband who was still sleeping, I changed into my running clothes and headed out the door! woohoo!! (And, yay for being able to get into those running tights again!) I felt like I was floating without those extra 25 pounds of baby. But, it was weird to get my equilibrium again since I was so used to running with a belly in front of me for 9 months! It was fantastic to run outside in the cool, crisp air again with the leaves changing. I love fall so I was thankful to be able to experience the fresh air and nature again! So, this is ode to my shoes...I've missed you these past two weeks and am glad we are becoming friends again! And, because I know that most of you are more interested in Bella than my shoes here are some recent pics of her. Aunt Gayla and Uncle Mark from South Carolina gave Bella the super cool blanket with her name on it. Her onesie says "I love Aunt Gayla and Uncle Mark" and it's what they received in the mail to let them know we were pregnant. Gayla knew what it was before she even opened the box...I guess that's what best friends do. As I write this Bella and her daddy are snoozing together on the couch! Studying much? Talk about the two loves of my life passed out...Precious!! We had her two week checkup and she has gained her birthweight back and more. She is now 7lbs, 14 oz and 19 3/4 inches long (her birthweight was 7lbs 3 oz and length was 18 1/2). Her jaundice is finally gone and everything else looked great. We can definitely tell she's gotten longer when she's stretching lately. Our little girl is growing!

Bath time with Grammy and 2 weeks old continued...

Happy 2 weeks Sweet Pea! Grammy and I had a great time this morning giving Bella a bath. She did so great and was so happy through it! Until the end, when she fussed and peed on Mommy. Poor little girl was cold! But, she was still adorable. Both of the grandmothers have left and now it is reality. Oh my goodness. It was so nice to have both sets of parents here to help out...and they were both a tremendous help! Susy even slept in Bella's room two nights in a row and let Mike and I get two full nights sleep! woohoo! I woke up at the same times throughout the night though and kept looking at her Pack-N-Play in our room, but then remembered she was nice and cozy with Grammy. Thanks for those nights of sleep! Today was spent with lots of rocking with Grammy, bathtime, eating, sleeping, changing diapers, eating, sleeping...she has started this funny little coo when she's first going to sleep. It sounds a little like a soft to LOUD snore and it can go on for 30 minutes at a time. Funny at 2:00 in the afternoon, and not as funny at 2:00 in the morning! Little gal's already snoring, lovely! She's smiling more and makes the funniest faces in her awake "I'm content" state. And, she's really observant of what's going on around her nowadays. Plus, she's bringing that little head up on her own already. We may have a walker early on. Oh my...hold on to your hats! She was busy busy in the womb so here we go! So much fun though. If there are any moms out there reading that want to give this momma some advice, bring it on! The more wisdom the merrier

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2 weeks old!!!

After my parents left, this past week we had Mike's parents come and stay with us. It's been nice to have both sets of parents here helping with food and cleaning and shopping. Once they leave, reality will surely set in. But, it sure has been nice while they all have been here. Here are some fun pictures of rocking with the grandparents, studying with daddy (although she is a little distracting because of her cuteness), and playing with Grammy. I'll post her 2 week pictures later today! For now, happy reading!