Hat Obsession

The last few nights that Stacy has come home from work Bella has been wearing one of her hats! We are in a slight hat obsession phase.... She sees a hat, and she wants it on her head. If you take it off her head she cries and points to the hat and then her head...until you put it back on her. Then she is happy...she wants the hat on her head!. It's so funny! We are not sure why it started, but we think it's pretty cute. :)

Playing with her toys...wearing a hat

Eating her breakfast...still wearing a hat

Saying.."Hi mama..." Still wearing her hat!

Awww.....my little bug sure loves her hat right now!

Curtains DOWN and some DIY failure

One of the first things I did over Mid Winter Break was take down those horrible curtains that were in the house. It felt great! It must have motivated me to take on some DIY projects. Well...I am pretty much a DIY failure for my first project! I have to laugh at myself. I think I have a great idea and then it pretty much fails...but at least I tried right???

Here is a set of table and chairs from when Maddie was little. I wanted to revamp it for the playroom. I had a grand idea of using cute scrapbooking paper and Modge Podge...not the smartest idea I've ever had....

It started out ok...but then when it dried I noticed the BUBBLES and LUMPS all over! Oh no!

We spray painted the chairs and that looks a bit better. If you don't look close.. it doesn't look too bad. Just don't look close...at least it's just for arts and crafts for the kids right?

Second Project is to recover the chairs to the antique table and chairs my mom gave us for our dining room. I am so thrilled to have a large dining set because I love having people over for dinner parties! This was my parent's formal dining set and I love it. It needs some TLC, which we intend on giving it for sure!

This is the orginal tapestry that was on the seats underneath two other layers we pulled off.

This is the new material we are covering the chairs with. I LOVE IT! My good friend Kadee found it for me and it is perfect!

Here is a shot of the table, the new centerpiece and the chair covers just waiting to be finished. This weeked they will be stapled on and put on the chairs! A dinner party is soon to be had here!

Mid Winter Snowy Break

Mid Winter Break was about un-packing, getting chores done, some DIY projects (post later on these), and some unexpected snow play! Maddie enjoyed taking Bella out in the snow...too bad Bella wasn't crazy about the snow at all!

When the snow first started to fall Maddie and Bella went outside to catch snowflakes on their tongues. Well really it was Maddie doing it and Bella laughing hysterically at her!

After the snow fell we bundled up and out we went! Bella HATED the snow... too cold! I don't blame her. She wanted to be picked up right away.

Maddie showing Bella how to make a snow angel

What is going on here? Maddie had put my jeans on (without asking) over her jeans so she could have two pairs of pants on....and ooppsss they started to fall off, so of course I had to snap a picture of the moment! She is laughing here saying, "Mom, don't take a picture of this!"
Do you think I should tell her I put it on our family blog???

Playdate...the First of Many

My good friend and teaching partner brought her baby over to "play" with Bella. We know this will be the first of many playdates for these two girls. I am sure someday when they are in high school we will be chuckling over these pictures of when they were once so tiny! What a fun time they had together...

Bella greeted Leah in her carseat with squeals of "Baby, Baby!!" She was so excited and started trying to rock the baby in her carseat and saying "Whee Wheee...." My girl likes to move things fast so we had to keep an eye that poor sweet Leah stayed put in that seat!

Here they are laying down on the floor together. Bella is trying to kiss and touch all over the "baby!"

Maddie was waiting to hold the sweet little Leah. She kept saying she forgot that Bella was once this little...sigh...it goes so fast!!!

First Molars

The past four days Bella has been teething and getting her first molars. It has been painful...for her and the rest of us too! I don't remember Maddie have such trouble teething....but then again that was many moons ago so maybe I have blocked it out. Having a baby 10 years later is sometimes like starting over again.
Anyway, Miss Bella has been fussy, whiny, clingy, barely eating, not sleeping, and not easy to make happy at all. She had a slight fever the first two days, but luckily that went away. She was even clingy and fussy at her Little Gym class. I already thought we had a hard time sleeping, but the past few days have been like waking up with a newborn...every couple hours. Oh dear.... this is exhausting!
A few things I have learned over the last few days:
1. Motrin is our friend...even though I hate giving medicine unless needed...but it was very very needed. No need to suffer
2. Putting Motrin is juice and oatmilk does not go over well at our house, but a great idea I got from some ladies was to put it in applesauce. Why didn't I already think of that? Great idea! Maybe sleep deprivation makes it harder to come up with creative ideas when problem solving? Freezing the applesauce is even better. It makes her teeth feel better.
3. Bella is sure that no one makes her feel better but mommy...she ONLY wants to be held by me. This is ok but sometimes trying ....so as much as I love holding my little boo, a mama needs a break. A hot bath, a good book, and a glass of wine does wonders for rejuvinating my patience.
4. Reading books, balls, and toys are a distraction from the pain...but only briefly! :)
5. Singing songs, nursing, and rocking in the rocking chair seem to be the best remedy so far.

Playing with her barn animals in the playroom

Reading books is a favorite

"Mama...let's roll the ball back and forth..."

Here's to hoping the next few days are easier on Bella's teeth and that we all get some more sleep! :)

Happy Valentines to my Loves...and Happy 14 Months to our Bella Boo

I love any excuse to dress my kids up and celebrate any sort of holiday! So we started today off with some love notes from mom and pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Of course I have to snap some photos of my three favorite Valentine Loves!

It is hard to believe our sweet Bella Boo is 14 months old today! She is getting so big and talking up a storm! We hear new words everyday...Today she said "care-kin" for Caryn one of her daycare ladies!

Eating muffins with dad! Maddie was most excited for her love mug from Starbucks! Check out the hideous curtains we still have to take down....YIKES!

Trying to get snapshots of your girls together with a wiggling 14 month old is tough!!



Oh boy! "Mom, are you done taking my picture yet?"

Happy Valentines Day to the loves of my life! I truly pray to God everyday and thank him for how wonderful you are. I have never been happier and feel like the luckiest lady on earth to be wife to Stacy, and mom to my magnificent Maddie and beautiful Bella!

Our Valentine Pizza Making Party

This weekend we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day by making our own pizza...with love! Sooo...we chopped up a bunch of our favorite toppings, rolled out the dough, and cooked them up. What a fun way to spend our Saturday night, family style.

I am so annoyed that these pictures are out of order...I still cannot figure out how to load them so they show up in the right order...oh wel! You get the picture

Here is Maddie's pizza...all finished. She made a heart out of her pepperoni

Chopping up her pepperoni into little hearts (oh and my pantry in the background...should have cropped, I know)


Hanging with mom

Saucing it up

Bella watching all the festivities

Dad and Maddie getting the dough and sauce ready
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The pizza was delicious...even if I couldn't have any cheese on mine. Someday soon...cheese is in my future.

sleep...I need more of it

It has been in the last few months that I realized how terribly sleep deprived I really am. There came a day when I thought...hmmm...I haven't slept through the night since I was 6 months pregnant (that's when I started going to the bathroom multiple times a night).... Since Bella is almost 14 months old that is a LONG TIME!

I admit we may have a lot to do with her bad sleeping habits....but in my defense she cried so much in the beginning because of her stomach problems...we would do anything to get sleep: so we did, and she slept with us and STILL does.

I am hoping and wondering when we will ever sleep through the night again! Once we get her a new crib...then I am seriously going to do the sleep training thing again. She did pretty good for a while...but then she got sick and we seemed to fall right back into the bad habits.....

Now that she finally has her own room, we can start doing this the right way!

Little Gym....HUGE Success!!!

Today was Bella's first Little Gym class in Federal Way. You would have thought it was the best day of her life! She was thrilled with everything! She was so excited to see the other babies..and she kept pointing and yelling "Baby! Baby!" to everyone. It was darling. Her teachers were super sweet and she like them too. We captured a few moments of her first day today. She thought the music, clapping, and shaking the shakers were the best! Although she was the only baby that wasn't walking yet...she crawled all around and walked with mama or sissy. What a fun day! We can't wait to go back next Saturday!

"Sissy, I want to hold the rings by myself!"

"Mama mama...I am so excited! Look at all the babas (bubbles)!"

"Balls balls! One of my favorite things ever! There are so many I don't know which one to pick!"

"The teacher picked me to do an example of jumping in front of the whole class!"

"Hi there, my name is Isabella too." (She loved meeting some other kids her own size!)

"That was a lot of work mama....I feel so tired, is it naptime yet?"

Moved in...finally. No pics yet...

Finally we are moved into our new digs! We love it and we are starting to settle in really well.... I will post pictures soon. I promise.

What we are loving so much is all the space. We have been so squished and bursting at the seams in our old place....this feels amazing. Stacy and I can even put our clothes in the same closet! :) Everything has a place...because there is space to put everything. My favorite room is the kitchen (of course) which opens up into the family room...with the added playroom attached. I love this space because we can all be here together...happily! The playroom (which doesn't have one lick of furniture in it yet) is awesome because there are two doors you can close the toys in...when not in use. As I already mentioned, I have big plans for this playroom.

Maddie loves her new room...which we are redoing in pink and orange (in honor of my wedding). :) We found a fabulous quilt at TJ Maxx to build her room around and it is starting to come together. Of course she still needs several things...such as a headboard and dresser.

So much to do...and I can't wait to do it....slowly. IT will be a work in progress of decorating.

A few of our favorite things in the new house so far:

1. The family of squirrels that live in our backyard and run all around...between these guys and the flying birds, Bella is fully entertained outside.

2. Neighborhood is great...the first night we were here our neighbors brought cookies over and another neighbor stopped by...very friendly.

3. Jumping on the new King Sized Mattress: Oh Bella and Maddie have had so much fun jumping on the new big mattress...without the sheets.

4. The fact that we can shower without worrying about the noise from the water waking a sleeping baby up!



That just sums up a few things. We are so excited to be here and couldn't feel more lucky!