Apr 14 2011

Mickey Mouse has a lot of power.

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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

Mar 22 2011

1st Annual Family Vacation

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Today is my dad’s birthday. I’ve spent a few moments today reading over his obituary and reflecting on his life and our relationship (and mourning my loss again), and so I thought I would spend some time writing about the past 10 days, since he has been in my thoughts a lot during them.

We started our vacation by heading to Houston to visit Jeremy’s family. Jeremy suggested that we take Bella to the Houston Livestock Show for the first time. This idea actually brought tears to my eyes because I have so many wonderful memories going to the Rodeo with my dad – I loved the idea of sharing that part of my childhood with Bella, but was sorrowful that my dad would not be a part of the experience.

Bella,

Your PaPa was a Lifetime Director of the Rodeo – which is a very special Honor. He was very involved in the many different committees, but I most remember him as the Swine Auction Chairman because he was involved in that area of the Rodeo for a long time. As children, he and DeeDee would take me, Chrissie & Kevin to all types of Rodeo events during the months of February and May. We would all get dressed up in cowboy boots and hats and western garb. (You will probably crack up when you see photos of our fashions when you are older.) We always felt like we had extra special privileges, because he would arrange for us to sit in special sections, take us to see private areas other people couldn’t see, get us access to take pictures with the musicians (I even have a picture with Billy Rae Cyrus – you won’t know who he is…but you will probably know his daughter Miley when you get older…) – we even got to ride in the Grand Entry Parade a few times! Everyone knew who he was. His work at the Rodeo was important, because the money he helped raise would provide scholarships to children who couldn’t afford to go to college so that they could get an education. Coming from modest Luling, Texas, and being a self-made successful business person – he really believed in helping people become the best that they could be…You really enjoyed seeing the animals at the Livestock Show – especially taking the pony rides. All of those animals have a purpose (not just as food and pets) – they help raise funds for children to go to college. (As an aside – Your “aunt” Lizzie even raised a pig named Squeeky when we were in High School. She wouldn’t eat pepperoni for a few months after the auction as she grew pretty attached…ask her about it sometime.) We had a wonderful day with Grandpa George and MiMi taking you to see the Livestock Show even though we probably only saw 3% of it as it has really grown even bigger over the last 10 years. When you are older, I would love to take you to see the Rodeo – it is quite an experience. My favorites growing up were the Bull Riding and the Calf Scramble – I know you will love them too.

You had a really nice visit with Grandpa George and MiMi, and then MiMi took us down to Galveston (another place I have alot of childhood memories) for some fresh gulf seafood at a restaurant your Daddy went to ALL the time growing up, “Shrimp & Stuff”. We ate TONS of delicious gulf seafood. While your daddy, MiMi and I opted for the delicious fried gulf shrimp, you were content with Catfish. (You still haven’t taken a liking to our favorites shrimp and crab…more for me :)…

Then MiMi dropped us off at the BIG cruise ship to meet up with 4 generations of our family. My MeMe, Big Don, DeeDee, Aunt Sissy, Silly Uncle Charlton, your cousins – Chandler, Caden & Conor, Uncle Kevvy and your 2nd Cousins Chantelle, Brian & Brody, and your Great Aunt Pam were all already on the ship. I wish that PaPa could have come – he had talked about us all going on vacation together after he got out of the hospital. This was Daddy’s (and your) first real “cruise” experience. We all had a really nice trip. You really enjoyed the pools and the fact that you got dessert after almost every meal. Each night, the entire family would sit at one big table in the dining room – that was one of the biggest highlights for me during the trip. It is such a rare thing to get to share meals with so many people that I love. Since they were two hour meals – we would let you watch a movie on the DVD player – which was just fine by you. Bernadette, our waitress, made sure that you were stocked with your favorite foods and we let you finish off every meal with cookies or ice cream. I’m actually kind of surprised you haven’t asked for it even once since we got back.  The excursions off of the boat were some of our favorite experiences. In Cozumel, you 2nd cousin Chantelle suggested we all visit Chakanaab National Park – there is a great beach there, and they do Dolphin Experiences (you were too young for that – but someday, I’d like to do that with you). I took you for your first snorkel (you couldn’t quite master your goggles, but you looked down though my snorkel mask). You loved the fish – and really wanted to touch them (my little dare-devil!). There was a great pool there where daddy took you swimming – and he really got you going with kicking and pulling with your arms so you could “swim” around in your life jacket. We even saw a sea lion show. I think it was my favorite day of the vacation. We also visited Grand Cayman, and we went on a boat with a recessed glass bottom so that all of the kids could get an even better idea of the beauty within the reefs and number of fish out there. We saw a shipwreck and cheeseburger reef. It was pretty amazing. I think you will love snorkeling when you get a little older. The other “off the boat” day was spent in Jamaica. We went to a little beach near Montego Bay. It had crystal clear water and a great swim area – and it was a beautiful, hot sunny day. You spent most of the time in the water collecting seaweed in a bucket and doggy paddling around with Chandler – and Daddy and I enjoyed a beachside massage and the delicious local beer – red stripe. You really had a great time playing with your cousins and snuggling with Dee Dee. You light up when you see them, and have been asking already when we get to go back to Texas to see Dee Dee & Mi Mi. I love that even though we live far away, you feel a strong connection to your family.

Mi Mi and Go Go picked us up at the end of our trip – and we got to spend the day eating more of that delicious gulf seafood and reminiscing about Galveston and driving and seeing the changes since the big Hurricane Ike that passed through a few years ago. It was a perfect ending end to a wonderful week off.

I really look forward to our next family trip – and know this will become something that you look forward to as well each year.

Feb 25 2011

First Trip To The Dentist

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Today I took Bella to the Dentist for the very first time – and she was SUCH a champ, I am sooooooo proud of her. Thought I’d jot down some notes about her growth, so I can remember in a few months…

Bella is really growing up fast. She loves music, and loves to sing and dance and bounce on her horsie while singing as well. Lately, it seems I have a children’s music CD going full blast in the house at all times. She really prefers the fast songs (so she can bounce faster or march with drums/shakers) more than the slow at the moment. (Ants go marching, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes…) She knows the words to way more songs than I do!  We go to a kindermusic class and she LOVES it. She dances and sings and plays with all of the instruments – it is the highlight of her week. She also goes to gymnastic class once a week now – and I really feel like it is helping her to become stronger and a bit more balanced (although I am afraid she did inherit the clumsy genes from me :)…She loves it, and it was a big step for her, since the mommies don’t participate at all in the class. Today we went, and she really followed directions (I was so proud watching her!). I know it is hard for her little toddler mind to do that without finding distraction!!

Speaking of toddlerdom…we are really working hard on getting her to follow directions at the moment. It is a challenge for me especially (being the control freak that I am), as my emotional side of my brain says, “JUST DO IT”, while my logical side says I need to find a way to make her ‘want’ to do it. She is starting to do silly things, like take her socks off, and then proceeding to say how cold her feet are (“mommy, put them back on!”) over and over…or taking off her jammies at night to try get us to come into her room and put them back on because she is cold. She is pretty headstrong about her wants at the moment as well. She knows what the potty is, how to use it, but she DOES NOT want to use it. She goes at night and after nap, but beyond that she says she prefers her diaper. Hmmmm….still need to come up with a good tactic for that one…She is also more opinionated lately about what food she wants to eat, which animals she wants in her crib and whether she wants a bath or a shower, what she wants to do at the playground, pretty much everything. While, I don’t want to let her walk all over me with her choices, I’ve noticed if she can have more control over her choices (where I say yes more than no), she and I just get along better and she is more compliant when it really matters, so I am really trying really hard to be patient while she “grows” and learns about the ability to have choices.

She is also gaining more control over her body, and trying to challenge herself at the playground – climbing new jungle gym parts and jumping off of high points. She is gaining some courage in those areas where she had previously been a bit timid. She is also becoming a little more independent. (She still likes to keep me in sight, but she is happy bouncing on the see-saw on her own…)

That brings us to today. I’ve been telling her about the dentist and that we would go and meet one and she would count her teeth. We went in, they did the full cleaning with LOTS of scraping and Bella was such a champ. I sat by her and held her hand, but she was very brave and opened her mouth and kept it open the entire time the hygeinist was cleaning.  I could see from the look in her eyes that it was frightening her a bit – but she let the lady do her job, and then let the dentist come in and check her teeth as well. She had no cavities – and they said that her teeth look great! The dentist said that she would give her a special surprise if she gave up her passy (she still sleeps with it, good luck!) so maybe we’ll give that a go in April…

We are gearing up for the big cruise right now, and I’m hoping we can all stay well so that we can enjoy it. I swear everytime we go to the park it feels more like a hospital cause everyone is hacking and walking around with green slimy noses…

TGIF!

Feb 16 2011

MiMi Visits

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This week, MiMi visited us and took care of Bella while Mommy and Daddy took a break with the Turners over the weekend to hit the mountain (which was absolutely glorious!). As usual, Bella had a fantastic time going to the park, the beach (feeding the seagulls, which she has no fear of…), the bakery (cupcakes!), listening to MiMi’s music and showing MiMi her music and gymnastic classes. Here are a couple of photos from the week…

Feb 8 2011

Photos…finally photos

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I’ve been meaning to upload photos, so here goes. The first one is from a family photo session we did with our friend Renee at the botanical gardens. We all got haircuts (it was Bella’s first, and she was a champ!), new outfits and coordinated the schedule…brought balloons, music, flowers…but Bella was not into smiling for the camera 🙁 – go figure, toddlers just have minds of their own. I haven’t seen all the shots yet, but I’ll post some more when I get them. The rest of these are from Christmas.

Jan 22 2011

Dear Bella

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My sweet little Bella,

Tonight I’m having trouble sleeping. A friend of ours just lost his mom to cancer, and when I close my eyes it is all I can think about. So I thought I’d take a little break from laying in bed and checking the clock. I was surfing the net, and then I decided to peek in on you just because I felt like it.

Did you know that you are so beautiful when you are sleeping? You look so peaceful curled up in the blankets hugging one of your “friends” (tonight it is the lamb). Just looking at you comforts me. I am so so so lucky to have you in my life, and I just wanted to jot down this little note to tell you that I love you.

Last week, when my mom was leaving for the airport, I told you I was sad. When we got home, you said, “Mommy, are you still sad Dee Dee is going back to Texas?” I said yes, but I’d be ok, and not to worry about it.  You grabbed around my neck and gave me a huge snuggle (full with an uuuuummph). Then you looked at me straight in the eyes and said, “Does that make you feel any better?”. It does. I love your sweet snuggles – they melt my heart. Daddy does, too – we had fun having a family snuggle tonight before bed. You are such a loving addition to our family – I can’t imagine life without you 🙂

I think I found a preschool I like for you today. I’m excited about that – but sad at the same time, because it will mean less time that we get to spend having mommy/Bella days. I guess I have to let you grow up sometime, right?

Well, I’m getting drowsy now, and I think I can finally get some sleep. Looking forward to my big snuggle in the morning.

Love you,

Mommy

Jan 20 2011

Is it already 2011?

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I swear the time goes by way too fast. People always say that about kids growing up too fast – but I think it is just life in general in some ways.

I meant to post about Christmas – but didn’t think to do so when I got back, and now the memories are already jumbled, so I’ll just skip over it a bit and say we did have a great time visiting with both clans, minus a little croup towards the end of the trip. Bella, as usual, was spoiled rotten in both venues, and loved playing with all of her relatives. She and Chandler in particular had a great time together – it is fun for me to see, and reminds me of what Chrissie and I must have been somewhat like as kids. Her favorite Christmas presents so far are a Dora guitar, her kitchen and Violet the dog. She now bounces UP and DOWN on her horsie to the music of Dora the Explorer. I need to get it on video. She is still singing Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman and Away in the Manger daily – so it seems Christmas is not quite over in the Neill house.

Poor little Bella has just been sick most of the new year. Sometimes it seems her germs are never-ending. She had croup in Texas, then was well for like two days before she came down with a little cold, which (I think) led to a really bad ear infection (Did you know kids can vomit due to an ear infection?! Apparently the pain was very bad, but she didn’t mention her ears even once…) She is currently on antibiotics – but I have to say, I don’t think they are working (as this afternoon she was very cranky and pulling on her ear), so I am going to take her back to the doctor tomorrow. Bella is normally a very happy child, but when she is not feeling well you can just tell because she is crankier about everything, and makes a big deal of objecting to directions that she normally would follow without skipping a beat, and she stops talking and telling us what she wants opting to throw tantrums instead. I’m hoping that we can get this figured out real soon, as it just makes me sad that she seems unhappy when I’m so used to her cheerful disposition.

Beyond the negative of sickness that we’ve seen so far in 2011, we have started some really fun things too. That one week she felt great – we started gymnastics class – which she LOVES. The teachers are so energetic and enthusiastic – it is the perfect setting for her. We also started back at music class – which is always a hit with her. I swear, that class could have been made specifically with my child in mind the way she takes to it. She also got a visit from Dee Dee; we went to the beach, the farmers market and we had a real nice time redecorating the living room (which I LOVE!).

I’m currently touring all the preschools in the area. Wow. It is going to be really hard to make a decision. We are lucky that we have so many great options in the area – but they are all so different, and I am, of course, obsessing about which program will be just right for her.

Anyhow – just wanted to write down a few thoughts tonight since it had been a while. Hopefully I will get more motivated and get some of those good pictures we got (from my NEW camera) over Christmas on the blog one of these days.

Dec 17 2010

Merry Christmas!

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Tonight was the Neill Family traditional visit to the Garden of Lights to see Santa Claus. As usual, it was a great time – there was a children’s choir onstage caroling, we roasted marshmellows, drank some mulled wine (at least the adults did), went on our horse drawn carriage ride through the children’s garden…but the highlight was Santa.

Last year, Bella didn’t like Santa very much…and wouldn’t even go near him without both Jeremy and I there, and one of us even had to hold her. This year, I’ve really been trying to convince her he’s a good guy. The day before Thanksgiving, we were running an errand at the outlets, and they opened up the Santa house there early. Since there was no one out shopping, and the place was empty, I suggested we stop by and just say hi to Santa. She walked into the house, and she immediately started backing into me, and wouldn’t even take the candy cane that he was trying to bribe her with…I told her it was ok, just to give him a quick wave and we left. When we were walking out to the car, she said, “Mommy, I don’t like that house, I don’t want to go there anymore.” I said, “No problem, we don’t have to see him again today – don’t worry about it.” She said, “Mommy, I really just don’t like Santa Claus.”  “Really?” I said. “But if you don’t like Santa Claus, he may not bring you any presents…” She said, “That’s OK, Mommy…I don’t really need presents.”  Hmmmm….After Thanksgiving, we started reading the Elf On A Shelf Book. (She named our Quoca.) She loves the book, and looks for him first thing every morning…and I was hoping that the book was convincing her that since he was Santa’s helper – Santa was a good guy. Santa even sent her a message through the computer (WHICH SHE LOVED!) Click Here to see it. And, tonight was the big night for our visit and photo op…The photo posted above was our second visit to Santa. The first visit went something like this. “Bella, want to go see Santa?” “Ok”…Standing at an arms length distance so he couldn’t touch her with mommy trying to push her forward, “Hi, Santa, thank you for my computer message.” “Ho, Ho, Ho – what would you like for Christmas sweetheart?” Bella backing up, “I’d like some furniture for my Doll House…” Mommy and Daddy, “Bella, want to sit on Santa’s lap for a picture.” “No.” “Ok – how about you just go stand by Santa…” “mmm, I think I’ll go stand by the Christmas tree.” – Photo was snapped – smile was nowhere near happening. Then Santa said, “Let me give you your first Christmas present from Santa this year…and handed her a candy cane.”  She reluctantly took it. Little did we know, this would be Santa’s turning point.

After leaving the little gazebo with Santa, I unwrapped the candy cane and gave it to her. She loved it – it was her first candy cane ever. After all the fun of the evening, we were getting ready to head home and Bella asked if she could have another candy cane. We said we didn’t have any…but Santa probably had more, she could go ask for one if she wanted, but Santa probably would only give her a second candy cane if she took a picture with him. It still took a little convincing once she was “on the stage”, but once her little hot hand was on that candy and Santa wasn’t letting go, she was willing to give us a quick – somewhat clench toothed  smile. The second that photo was over she was bolting down to us to open it up. What an evening!

Well, as usual, I don’t have my act together anywhere near enough to actually get Christmas Cards out – so here’s my computer version.

The Neill Family wishes you a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!