Little clips of Bella

I thought I would post some cute little clips we have of Bella.

Hi everyone!

I know it has been forever since I updated our blog. It's been a little busy around here. Most of my spare time is going to little Miss Bella right now, although she isn't so "little" anymore. You will see! We have had so much going on. I started back to school (main reason for not updating our blog lately), we have had lots of family and friends in town to visit and we have been going on lot's of outings.

While I am at work, Bella is making some new buddies. She goes with Mama Bev on Monday, Thursday and Friday. Her cousin Olivia is with her a lot of those days. One Tuesday and Wednesday she goes to Ryan's cousin, Julie's house. She has three little girls Lea (5), Kyla (4) and Clare (about 15 months). Bella loves being around all of these girls. She get's bored with Mommy and Daddy now. The funniest part is how exhausted she is by Wednesday night. Between Olivia on Monday and Lea, Kyla and Clare (aka Big Momma because she likes to play Mommy to Bella :) she comes home and passes out. Even though I would love to be home with Bella, I am glad that she gets some time with other kiddo's. Since she is the oldest, she isn't going to have her own older siblings to push her around a little bit so she can take a little bossing from cousins! She loves it right now though! Let's see how she feels when she is 2!

We have had some family and friends in town to visit. It has been awhile since our last post :) so I am not going to go through all of our visitors but I will put it this way. I love having people come to see us for many reasons. I love seeing everyone! Bella gets to spend more time with my family! Dad always sneaks off to get doughnuts (that's why I quit "trying" to make muffins)! I love having a house full of kiddo's and we always have fun!

Bella is getting so big! If you remember when she was born, her weight was a little bit of a concern. She was having trouble gaining weight. That is not a problem anymore. She was in the 16% for her weight and now she is in the 60%. She also went from the 70% for her height to the 52% so to put it shortly she got a lot wider and not so much longer! She loves her food and is a good eater. I don't know who she got that from?

She is now rolling both ways and scooting on her belly. You can't leave her on the floor by herself for too long because she ends up under the loveseat or the coffee table. We are working on sitting and she likes it so far because she folds in half and can eat her toes (one her most intriguing toys!) She loves the exersaucers at Mama and Papa's house and at Julie's so we are going to get her one this weekend. If you have been to our house lately, you might wonder where we are going to put this. I'm thinking we might just have to put on an addition.

One of her favorite things to do right now is "chit-chat"! She loves the sound of her voice and she likes to change it up. Sometimes she sings with soft little coos. Sometimes she vents by grumbling and throwing her fists. She also likes to squeal and see how loud she can be. Her smiles are contagious and she is such a happy baby. When she gets her toes in her mouth, she is an ecstatic baby!

If you are a fan of chubby squishy baby thighs, Bella is your girl. Sometimes when you try to change her diaper, she likes to squeeze her thighs together and tease you so you can't get her diaper off. She gets this big cheesy grin and her thighs look so chubby - I love it! She also gets a kick when Ryan sets her up on his knees and says "Who is the biggest baby in the room?" If you have seen Lissy's pictures, there is one where she is doing that. Her chin's are in full effect and she is looking down towards him. I told Ryan that he will have to change "biggest" to "tallest" because being the "biggest" isn't really something that girls like!

Another funny Bella bit is her bath time fun! When Bella was first born, she looked like she might float right off the sling in her little baby tub. She has always been a fan of bath time and unlike most babies, it is a time for her to relax and talk, not splash and play. She loves relaxing in her little "hammock" as warm water trickles over her toes. The problem is that she outgrew her little "hammock" about a month ago but she will not sit in her tub the right way. You have to have a hand on her the whole time because she wants to lay down. We discovered this when she pooped in the tub and we had to take her out of the sling. She looks like a toddler in a baby doll tub right now. Since Ryan is handy we are thinking he will have to rig a larger hammock that fits across the whole tub.

I will try to be more on time with my updates but enjoy the pictures from the last 2 months. You can actually watch her grow in the slideshow!

August has been quite a month. We went to a BBQ at Tim and Kelly's, I had my wisdom teeth pulled, Bella was baptized, Ryan went to Table Rock Lake for a weekend and Bella and I went back to Kirksville for a few days. A hectic month but a fun one. Now I am trying to get the most out of my last couple of days at home with Bella. I'm not crazy about going back to work but I am pretty lucky. I had extra time off because they are doing construction on my school, Bella is going to be with her Mama Bev and Ryan's cousin Julie and her 3 little girls, and I am off fairly early, I enjoy my job and I work with a great group of teachers.

We started the month off by going over the Tim and Kelly's for a BBQ. It was a nice day and the food was great. Bella got to play with Olivia (which means she watches Olivia play!) and we got to hang out with the Sedlak family. To top it off, Tim and Kelly got to use all of their new serving dishes they got from the wedding. It is always fun to get to use them for the first time.

Ryan had his hands full when I got my teeth pulled but he was wonderful. He took care of Bella and I and kept up on all of the household chores for the week. I think I finally got caught up on rest which I had been missing out on since Bella was born! He also juggeled both of us during the procedure. It seemed like 5 minutes to me but I'm sure it was a little longer for him. She decided to make a present for Daddy and he always enjoys those types of presents. My parents were in town for a game so that was also helpful. I think Bella really enjoyed the extra time with her Daddy. I know he enjoyed the extra time with her. He missed her more than usual when he had to go back to work on Monday.

The next week Bella had her Baptism. It was a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day... perfect for our beautiful Bella's baptism. Ryan and I had fun getting everything ready for her big day. Grandma Sedlak told us that she has always heard babies are better after they are baptized but she was already a pretty good baby. We are lucky! We decorated the house in lots of pink and green (I already have a lot of it) and besides the bugs, it was a great day to be outside.

The baptism was really sweet. She was baptized at St. Michaels the Archangel and they do them as part of the mass which is what I am used to. Bella loves her baths but this water was a little chilly. She stirred a little bit but she was pretty good. She is extra holy too because she was doused in the oil! She still smells like it everyday because it got on the head rest in her carseat so everytime she goes for a ride she smells like a "church pew" as Grandma Early puts it. She looked so precious in her christening gown. It was beautiful. Thank you Grandma and Papa. After the dress was ordered, Ryan said that he wasn't crazy about the long dresses but I think he might have changed his mind after he saw Bella in her gown. She looked like a victorian babydoll.

It was nice to get our families together and we appreciate everyone making the trek to St. Louis yet again. We really are blessed to have such wonderful families.

Last Wednesday Bella and I went back to Kirksville to see everyone and hang out with my family. It worked out well because it gave Ryan a good excuse to go to Table Rock Lake with the boys. He had a good time but I don't think his stories are blog appropriate. Bella and I, on the other hand, had a very nice and relaxing rest of the week. We hung out on the patio, went swimming, got some sun (Bella didn't do this), went to Ali and Andrews for dinner and sat on their new (and beautiful) patio, I got to see Momma Mia and we all went to see Papa dance in the local "Dancing with the Stars". He was great and although he got eliminated, he ended up winning the People's Choice Award! Some of his daughters really thought he deserved it! It was pretty funny because Jackson truly thought HE won the trophy and kept saying "Look! We won!" We also got to go out on the dance floor and dance with Papa, the family and the Powells while they were figuring the scores.

It was fun seeing Bella play with Jackson and Ellie. I think those two are ready for a little one whenever their Mommy is ready. They are so good with Bella and she loves watching them. They both got lots of smiles out of Bella and Myself. They don't realize how funny they are. Ellie is like an adorable walking cartoon character and Jackson says some of the funniest stuff. At the "Dancing with the Stars" event he told Grandma "I hear there is going to be a slideshow. Do you think they will let me slide on that wood floor?" Don't you love 4 year olds!

The cutest part happened when we got home. Bella's face lit up when she saw Ryan and he was pretty happy to see her also. Five days may be a little too long for those two to be apart. I guess that is a good thing!

A Playdate!

Bella and I had our first playdate! Really it was a playdate for Mom and Niki but Bella and Chase got to spend some quality time with one another. Niki and Chase came over around noon. It was so nice to get to sit and chat. Chase is getting so big and it is fun to see their little personalities start coming through. We ventured out and grabbed some lunch at Bread Co. and the little ones did great! Next time I think we will try a walk! Time flew but it was great getting to talk and we have some cute pictures of the two of them!

Surprise!!!

We have had a busy but fun couple of weeks. A few weekends ago Andy, Autumn and Briley were in town for a wedding. We got to spend Friday night relaxing on the deck eatting Mexican, sipping margaritas, chatting and of course, playing with the babies. It was nice because they come to town often but typically it is for Card's games and we are rushed or it is with the rest of the family and it is a full house.

The next weekend was the 4th and we celebrated by going to the Cards-Cubs game with most of the family. Everyone was in town except Amanda, Todd and Carson. The most fun part was taking Bella to her first Cardinals game. She did so well and loved looking around. I carried her in the Baby Bjorn part of the time and she did very well. Ryan thinks I look rediculous using it but she loved looking out and I loved having two hands! The game was a great time. My parents tickets are in the Casino Queen Party porch which worked out perfect. They have a great covered area with lots of space to sit and tables, a bar, food and best of all, clean and unoccupied restrooms. Since some of us had standing room only tickets, we just hung out back there and took turns going up to my parents seats. Mark and Cheryl were also there and that was great! Jackson is quickly becoming a baseball fan (which we all know makes Papa very happy) and he really seems to enjoy the games and going to the stadium. Ellie, Briley and Bella all looked sooooo cute in their red, white and blue attire. Briley had the sweetest dress and Ellie and Bella matched (sort of). Ellie also had firecracker piggy tails. You'll have to check them out.

That Saturday my family all took off in their black suv's for Florida. They really looked like the presidents motorcade. Well a motorcade with a hitchhauls full of beach bikes, luggage carriers and a kayak strapped to the top. I was sad to see them go but Ryan, Bella and I weren't able to go this year. Since Bella was born on a Sunday, Ryan used a lot of his vacation time to stay home her first week which was wonderful. Florida is great but Bella is just a little bit better!:) When Ryan found out that he might have a few vacation days to use, we tried to come up with a plan to go but he had a pretty important meeting which fell on Thursday, right in the middle of the trip. So after all of that we decided to wait till next year.

Since we were going to be in town Ryan and I had some friends over for a BBQ on Saturday. It was great having people over instead of having to meet everyone out. I feel like you can relax and actually hear one another at home. Ryan did a great job with his chicken kabobs, party potatoes and buffalo chicken dip. I made some pasta salad and margaritas. The only alcohol I really missed when I was pregnant was margaritas. Priyal, Bhavik, Justin, Shanika, Ryan, Megan, Brett, Scott, Emily, Tim, Kelly and Olivia all came over. It was pretty fun and I even got a little sun. I was the palest I have ever been during the summer this year. Bella and I don't get to lay out much! That Monday as I was folding laundry Bella decided to put a show on for me. Check out her silly faces and precious smiles!

On Monday I was feeling a little lazy but I got myself going and in between feeding, playing and putting Bella to sleep, I cleaned the house, did dishes and did all of our laundry. When Ryan came home at 5pm he said "You're not going to believe this but, my Thursday meeting got cancelled." I was thinking are you kidding me. We dropped a vacation with my whole family (we hardly ever get the whole family together at once) because of that meeting. Just as I was starting to get upset, Ryan said "so, I looked into flying and we could leave tomorrow and it will be quite a bit or we can wait till she wakes up to eat in the middle of the night and head out." I think I started packing immediately. Bella started fussing a little so I threw her in the Baby Bjorn and we went on packing. We told Ryan's family we were going and they were great enough to get our mail and even water my flowers. (THANK YOU!) I cancelled all of my plans for the next week and by 2:30am, we were on the road. Ryan was a champ and drove the whole way there and back. Bella was such a good little traveler. We got a little confused on our directions as we got there but we found the house pretty quickly.

It was so much fun getting to surprise everyone. We really threw Todd off when we walked through the door. We walked right past Molly and Kaitlin before they noticed. Next we found Mom upstairs. She was getting ready to go down to the beach. My Dad heard my voice and came out of the bedroom. My Mom and Dad were so excited. After we surprised them, we headed down to the beach to see everyone else. Most everyone ran and gave Bella smooches and then they told us hi! We all know who is the most important between the three of us! Just as we thought we were done surprising people, Andrew came out of the bedroom after taking a nap and was a little confused. It was pretty funny.

The rest of the trip was wonderful. How could it not be. My whole family was together and we were at the beach. Bella instantly relaxed with the breeze and the sound of the waves. She got to dip her toes in the ocean for the first time ever. She also had a bottle in the pool. It was the baby version of the "swim-up bar". She was on vacation too! The rest of the grandkids were so much fun to watch. They really know how to enjoy the beach. We also learned that not all jellyfish are poisonous. Caroline found one that was though. Ouch! There were too many things to write about but you can see some of the events in the pictures!

Fighting for our deck!

When Ryan and I bought this house, we were so excited about the back deck. It was so large and had a beautiful tree coming up through it providing lots of cooling shade. We pictured many warm summer evenings out on our deck and lots of BBQ's with friends and family. Well - The tree died and had to be taken down and we have some friendly carpenter bees who really enjoy hanging out on our deck while people are out there. My parents suprised us with a large umbrella for Christmas and that helped to take the place of the tree. As for our bees - they are very social. If you are out there they have to be out there. Also - there is no way to get rid of them besides putting steel wool in the hole where their nest is found (which is under the deck with about 6 inches clearance due to the tree roots). So - we have this great deck which we can't sit or entertain on because these giant bees like to buzz by. Well - we have had enough and Ryan went to war last night. He finally found that he can knock them down with a pillow, stomp on them then spray them with the wasp foam my Dad got. Last night was the first time in a long time we were able to sit and enjoy a nice relaxing meal on our own deck with out being buzzed by the bees. It was so nice and Bella even got to enjoy it. We brought out her pack-n-play and she was so relaxed. If they tried to buzz us - Ryan killed them. I think word is spreading around the bee community to not mess with the man who has the big deck. He is a killing machine!

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Tim and Kelly Sedlak!

I have tried to fix this about 10 different ways but for some reason, you can't view the slideshow for this post. If you want to see the pictures, click on view all images and it should let you see them. I attached a few pictures.

What a fun and exciting weekend! Tim and Kelly's wedding was finally here after almost a year and a half of planning. After hearing about the rehearsal, you are probably curious about how the wedding went - and I am so happy to say that it went off without a hitch! Everything about the wedding was gorgeous including the church, the bride, the wedding party (especially groomsman #2), the flower girl, the flowers, etc. The service was very sweet and it was a full mass so as a guilty Catholic, it is always nice to not feel too bad about sleeping in on Sunday! It was so neat how they involved Olivia in the whole event because she kept saying how "our wedding is coming up!" Tim walked her down the aisle at the beginning of the service which was adorable and then Fr. Wilke had Olivia come up for the nuptial blessing over their family at the end of the service.

After the wedding, Mark, Kelly's Dad, surprised them with a carriage outside of the church. They ran out of the church with everyone blowing bubbles and hopped into the carriage for a romantic ride. It did start to rain a little on them but you couldn't even tell when they got back into the church and I always hear that rain on your wedding day is good luck! They are going to be "very lucky!" On a side note, Emily and I were the greeters and handed out programs before the ceremony. At the end we were supposed to pass out bubbles to everyone as they left the church. We could not get back there in time. As we got back there we saw the ushers in their manly tuxes holding little baskets with bows on them going "you want some bubbles?" to all of the guests as they left. It was pretty entertaining.

I also want to throw in a HUGE THANK YOU to my Mom and Dad! Since they are always so helpful - they typically get voluntereed for lot's of side jobs. Thank you Dad for hauling down the coolers full of beverages and food for the bus afterwards. It is always tricky trying to figure out how to get those things to the church. Thank you also for video taping the ceremony. It is always fun for the bride and groom to look back at those tapes a few months and years down the road. So many things happen that you don't realize or you forget about and it is hard to catch all of the details in your memory. I know Kelly and Tim appreciate it. Thank you Mom for being on Bella detail for the ceremony and to both of you for taking such good care of her all day (and night!) Even to the point of washing her pretty dress so she didn't smell like spit up at the reception. You two are the best and I really appreciate it. It was nice to get to ride the bus and relax a little bit but I did miss my Bella Lou! Also - I felt better knowing to she could go home from the reception a little early and get all cozy in her sleeper and eat and relax at home. It was so comforting to know that she was in better hands than mine! Also - I heard she had so much fun at Christa's graduation party and got lots of snuggling from Tike! Congratulations Christa on a job well done! We hear that Truman grads are pretty smart.

God must have been watching over Tim and Kelly because apparently a few more days of rain and the route to their reception site would have been flooded. The reception was so pretty and the photo both was a hit. By the way Lissy - they did not steal you idea :) they saw it at a wedding show and it did go over very well! The lady said that on average they typically take between 100-150 photos at an event and at this event they took almost 250. The photos were hilarious and the little cousins really enjoyed it. The first dance was "Me and You" by Kenny Chesney which I remember another couple dancing too (Andy and Autumn) and it was a perfect fit for them as well. Since there was a balcony they were able to get a picture of all of the people at the reception on the dance floor. Dad went up to video tape it (of course) and he said it was really cool! The band was a ton of fun and the dancing was great as was the food! At the end of the night - they sent everyone out the door with Gus's Pretzels. What a perfect way to end the night.

There must be something about the location because I have been to two weddings there (Colleen and Kevin) and both times the bride and groom have had to find a ride home. I got to drive the newlyweds home and I think I provided a very romantic ride. Ryan was in a not so cheerful mood and pretty well passed out in the front as Scott, Emily, Kelly and Tim had to squeeze into the back. They did get to sit on laps which is sort of romantic except Tim really had to pee. I did get some funny pictures of them squeezed into the back of the car and Tim carrying Kelly over the threshhold. The whole time, Tim had on a white undershirt, huge khaki shorts which kept slipping down and high black dress socks with no shoes. The guys had to leave their tuxes at Andre's and after Tim spent days reminding everyone else, he forgot his own clothes.

Overall, it was a very sweet wedding and a blast of a reception. I think a fun time was had by all. Especially Tim and Kelly. We hope they have as much fun in Riviera Maya on their honeymoon!