We have had an amazingly busy October!!! It has been absolutely wonderful – we had Grandpa George in town again, got to visit the farm in Athens, meet our new cousin, Caitlin, and visit with family in Dallas, head to the TX vs. OU game and play at the TX State Fair, start at a new preschool (going great now!), have our Annual Pumpkin Carving Party, visit the pumpkin patch multiple times and, of course, Halloween! This means I have about a gazillion photos to go through!!! So…I’m very behind on that. I needed to start small – so I started with Halloween – and I’ll go through the rest and post them later…

Earlier this month I took Bella to a costume store, and she was not into any of the costumes…when we got home, I said, “Well, what do you want to be? Maybe I could order it on the computer? She said, “I want to be an Ant.” Hmmmm….I looked…turns out there are not alot of Ant costumes out for toddlers…I said, Anything else you would want to be? She said, “A spider or a crocodile would be good – I want to be something scary mommy…” Ok…I found those!! I let her pick it from the screen…She chose the Itsy Bitsy Spider. She was pretty excited about it – and I have to say I loved the costume as well!! I think it turned out pretty cute. We trick or treated with the neighbors and our play buddy Megan – and she absolutely LOVED trick or treating this year. She kept saying, “Let’s go to the next house!! This is FUN!!”

Hope you had a happy halloween too!! Click on any thumbnail below to see a big image.

So so so much has happened since my last post, I don’t even know where to start…

Let’s see..

First, Bella’s big girl room and my new office are all done – phew, one check on my list done…now I just need to organize baby no. 2 (no – we still don’t have a name – yikes!) room. They scheduled my C-Sec yesterday for Dec. 14, so the pressure is on.

Second, after a month of preschool (and many, many hard days), we’ve actually decided the school we chose was just not a good fit for her personality (just as she was getting adjusted to it – I know…we are awesome parents, huh…), SO we will be exploring new opportunities in that area and yesterday was her last day – I’ll keep you posted on her new adventures as soon as I figure them out myself…awesome.

Third, we had an exciting visit this month from Grandpa George. Bella and George had a blast playing together – and she just couldn’t be more excited to go and visit him soon as well! We played around the house, went to the farmers market and visited the local park. Mommy, Daddy and George got to go to the UCLA v. TX game – and that was a special treat for the adults as well.

Fourth, Bella is LOVING her new ballet/tap class! And I was lucky enough to get to go by and visit this week and get a few photos. She is also still LOVING swim lessons. She is doing great – can swim the length of the pool by herself – and they are starting to work on backstroke! That place is amazing!

Fifth, well – where does the time go? We are already talking about Halloween?!?! Tomorrow is the first day of October…This baby will be here before we know it…YIKES – I’m not really ready yet, I have way too much on my plate to do before that happens!! But…I’m sure it will all work out. It has to, right?!

Enjoy the photos! (If you click on them, you will see the full image…)

The last few weeks have been really fun for Bella. First, Mi Mi came for a visit. We had a wonderful visit with great beach weather, and of course, they stopped by Bella & Mi Mi’s favorite bakery. (I took her there this week, and they knew Bella by name!) Jeremy got some of the cutest photos of the two of them – they are posted in the gallery.

Then, we had a nice Labor Day weekend. We pretty much just hung around the house / park / farmers market – but on Monday, Bella went to her very first Padres Baseball game. We sat in the park seats that have a sand play area in front. She had a great time!

And then…the biggest news of all…she started PRESCHOOL!  The night before she helped me pack her lunch, and picked out stuff to put in her new bunny backpack (which she picked out a few weeks ago…) She did great on her first day of school. Jeremy and I took her and hung out for about an hour since it was the first day. She showed Jeremy the “pirate ship” and all the playground area. She was really excited about all the different activities that they had set up – especially painting and clay. But, her very favorite thing was the school’s pet duck, “Quackers”. As she discovered him, she told me, “I like this duck! Mommy, I may just stay by this duck all day!!!” After she was accustomed to the place and introduced around, I left her for the remainder of the day. She did GREAT! (I think when I got home, I was probably more apprehensive than she was! HA!) No tears, and when I came back to pick her up, she told me, “Mommy, I’m having so much fun here!!” I’m absolutely thrilled (and relieved), and so excited for her to get used to it, and make some new friends. My sweet little baby is really just growing up…before I know it, she’ll be heading off to kindergarten. She is getting to be such a big girl!!

Today we really didn’t do anything all that *special*…but it was just a really nice day. I am so amazed right now how much Bella has grown over just the past month. It seems she is changing and growing so much right now – it makes for some pretty darn wonderful days.

We had some termite treatments done at the house this morning, so I had to be out of the house for the entire morning. I took Bella over to our neighbors house to play with Erin. She and Erin are SO CUTE when they play right now. They are great little buds and find each other so entertaining. Today, they made princess crowns, then had a tea party. Bella is also fascinated with Ethan, Erin’s little brother, and that is fun to watch as well.  After the playdate, we went to swim class. Bella is doing SO GREAT at swim class. I am absolutely amazed at her interest level and at how good the teachers are. She is learning to pull her arms out of the water when she swims right now, and she can swim all the way across the short length of the pool (with the teacher right by her for confidence). The method that they use is a normal freestyle, but then a turn to float on their back to take a breath, and then turn again and move forward. This activity is definitely the first thing she has ever shown this much interest in. She absolutely GLOWS with happiness in the water. In fact, my only problem is the struggle we seem to have at the end of our time at the pool getting her out of the water…I really think she would stay in there all day if she could. Speaking of activities, she said she doesn’t want to do her music class anymore, so I asked her if she would like to try Ballet. She was very enthusiastic about that idea – so we tried a Ballet/Tap class out last week. She LOVED it! So we are going to give it a go for the fall. I only had my cell phone camera on me – but this class is absolutely adorable. They have to wear the whole “ballet” garb for class. Since I didn’t have any yet, I just improvised a bit, but I promise to get some good photos when she starts the real class and has the whole setup! She is really excited about tapping around in those taps shoes, too – and I actually bought a pair from another lady in the class – so she has already started grabbing them to “tap” around in the house. I think she is going to have a lot of fun with it.

Anyhow, back to our day…we went shopping and got a backpack for when she starts preschool. (Which she is actually excited about!!!) She picked out a cute little pink and purple bunny one at Old Navy – and then proceeded to pick out a TON of clothes she wanted. (I actually had to do some editing at the checkout counter…) This was pretty hilarious, as she has never really shown an interest in “shopping” for her clothes before, but she definitely had some today! Then, this evening, we went to the concert in the park with the Byrne’s family. Was such a fun day, she was so cooperative and easy going through all of it. And now…I’m exhausted and off to bed. Enjoy the photos!

My sweet Baby Girl turned 3 last week. Three years has gone by so fast. This week, I have been working on her 3 year scrapbook, and reviewing all of our memories from the past year and I am just amazed by how much she has grown over this year. She truly is becoming a BIG GIRL and I couldn’t be more proud of her.

She had a nice Birthday despite a few hiccups in the day. Poor Daddy got food poisoning the night before, so unfortunately, the day wasn’t very nice for him. Bella and I met up with Cash/Sheri and Megan/Joann at LegoLand waterpark. Bella always has fun when we go there. The smile she gets on her face while splashing around in that pool is contagious – I get so much joy watching her. She likes two of the slides, but mostly right now, she is excited about putting her face under the water and holding her breath. She can make it about 5 seconds. She bounces out from under the water and says, “Did you see? I’m gonna do it again…watch me!” I’ve decided it is officially time for real swim lessons, and have found a class I want her to start next month. Then we came home, napped (sort of) and had the neighbors over for some hot dogs & cake. Bella had lots of fun playing with all of the other children – and loved that she got presents, too! Our house is filled with all sorts of new playthings for her to enjoy.

We started potty training the week before her birthday – and she is doing SO good! I decided to try M&M’s as motivation – and what do you know…they seem to work. This week, I’ve been taking her everywhere with Big Girl underwear on, and no accidents in public so far. I think we’ll wait quite a while for naps and night-time, but I am just so proud of how far she has come the past couple of weeks. Now…if I could only get her to wipe. HA!

I’m in the process of building a shed/office in the back and so we’ve had lots of workers coming by to give me quotes on the various projects I need done to accomplish the move from upstairs to the back. Unfortunately, they sometimes show up announced or with bad timing. Today, one contractor showed unannounced during the start to Bella’s naptime. Well, she was having none of it… After I put her down, she climbed out of her crib (this is the first time she had EVER done that!), and walked down the stairs. After excusing myself, I carried her back up, put her in the crib and walked back down to finish my conversation. This repeated 10 times before I just gave up. So today, I installed the daybed conversion on her crib so that she can climb out on her own without breaking her neck. (She was thrilled with this change…) Miraculously, she went to bed with very little fuss. I’m curious to see if she creeps into my bedroom this evening. I’m crossing my fingers that I won’t have a night-time visitor. Taking down the “crib” is so BIG GIRL – I am not even ready for it!!

I wish I had the photos ready to post from her Birthday – but unfortunately, they are on Jeremy’s camera…but I do have a couple more photos from the Laird visit. These are when we went to Mission Bay for Cash’s Birthday Party, and also when I carted the adults around to the Temecula wineries (yes, I was the nice pregnant designated driver…) Enjoy…

Summer is here – and we’re having a LOT of fun. We’ve been to Ruidoso to visit Dee Dee, had Mi Mi for a visit, and currently have the Laird family visiting. We’ve done lots of trips to Legoland and just got back from Disneyland today. I thought I’d post some pics…If you want to see the full photo, you can click on the small thumbnail.

Me: Bella, Mommy goes Pee Pee in the potty because I don’t like the way that it feels in my pants.

Bella: Why mommy? It is nice and warm…

I think I have my work cut out for me.

And there’s been alot going on. So much, that I don’t think I could write it all, so I’ll just post photos. To sum it up, we went to Disneyland for the first time, Easter (and our glorious neighborhood Easter potluck) came and went, Mi Mi visited, Bella & I took a trip out to visit Dee Dee, and Daddy and Bella had a Daddy/Bella Weekend while I went away to Texas…Through it all I have had crazy morning (more like all day) sickness – as I am pregnant again and due on Christmas.

Bella is over the passy’s and finally sleeping normally again (this was a two month ordeal…). She is growing so big and getting more opinionated and silly as ever. The next three weeks, we have visitors in town (MiMi for a week, and then The Laird Fam for two!) – so it will be a very busy start to our summer and I will try to post photos as soon as I can. After that, I plan to tackle potty training and moving to a big girl bed…then she’ll start preschool….my little girl is just growing so fast! Last week, Aunt Christi and Uncle Jason brought home a new cousin – Caitlin Elise – we are soooo excited to meet her – and hope to go visit this fall before I am too big to travel via air.

Enjoy the photos! If you click on the small photo, it will bring up a big one. (Then you’ll have to hit your back button…)

Bella –

I am so proud of you. These past few days have been hard for you – but I can see you are really trying. When Daddy got home on Friday, you proudly announced that you no longer use a passy. You even found an extra one last week in your backpack and brought it to me to give to Mickey.  Night times were a fairly easy transition…the naps have been a different story. That is why I had to write you this little note…today, for the first time since you gave up your passy, you willingly went down for your nap. Congratulations Bella…Disneyland, here we come.

Love you,

Mommy

Dear sweet little Bella-

Yesterday, we spoke alot about Mickey Mouse and Disneyland. You really want to go. Today, Mickey sent you a box for all of your pacifiers that are payment to get into Disneyland. You decided that you were ready to give them to Mickey so that he could give them to the new babies that are being born. Tonight, that magic box disappeared into thin air, taking your beloved passys with them. Bella – you are so brave. I am so proud of you. I know this was very difficult for you to do.  Tonight, we talked about how it was ok to be sad that you didn’t have a passy, but that you were going to get to go to Disneyland and meet Mickey the Mouse after 7 nights sleeping without it. You had me tell you the story of my trip to Disneyland as a child 4 times before you finally settled into your crib ready to try to go to sleep. You tossed and turned for about an hour, but you did finally descend into dreamland. My heart has been breaking all evening as I listen to you toss and turn, knowing that you are missing something you love so dearly – but I am SO PROUD of you. I guess this is the first step towards becoming a big girl, and you are handling it so far with so much grace. Seven Days…I hope they go by quickly…and I’m excited to take you to meet Mickey Mouse and get your well-deserved hug from Mickey. I hope the most magical place on earth lives up to your expectations.

I love you dearly,

Mom