Back to the real world...Sort of!

Bella, Olivia and Colin. Olivia did a great job getting a 20 month old and a 6 month old to stay for a picture.

Bella had to hop back into her Cozy Coupe at 10:30pm after a Christmas party. She is addicted.

Bella and Ellie in their fancy New Year's Party dresses!

Jackson and his main man... his Dad!

Ellie is very proud of her creation! They kept getting their cups confused so I drew their names on them. Apparently this was a GREAT idea because Ellie and Jackson spent the rest of the evening decorating their styrofoam cups. We should have thought of this sooner.

Perfect spot to snuggle...with Papa!

Our family ringing in the New Year our way!

pettiskirts and highchairs don't pair well.

Bella's new love... her alphabet puzzle mat.

People think this is fun? You have got to be kidding me.

Snow day #1. PJ's, chocolate milk and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse at 8:30am. Perfect!

Bella always chooses safe and clean places to play.

Ryan's handy work. Now time for mud, sanding and paint. Who wants to help???

SNOW DAY!!!

We followed Christmas up with a wonderful week. I don't have many pictures because I am missing the charger to my camera battery. I need it to take and download pictures. Ryan and I were both off all week and Bella loved it (although we both enjoyed it even more I think!) We took advantage of our week off and did some relaxing, a little housework and a lot of playing. Bella grew accustomed to sleeping in, turning the lights on on the Christmas tree (via remote, don't worry - she is not playing with plugs and outlets), hanging out in her pajamas, eating lots of snacks, pulling all of her new toys out repeatedly, and playing with Mama and Daddy!

Christmas was followed up with a few more Christmases and each one brought us a new baby. Could anything be more appropriate when you are celebrating the birth of Baby Jesus. Christmas night we went to Ryan's Aunt Therese and Uncle Dennis' house. We had a great dinner and lots of fun playing games and hanging out. We also got to meet Julia for the first time. Julia is Ryan's cousins Mike and Allyson's baby girl and she is a doll! They live in Iowa so we don't get to see them very often.

The next evening we went to Ryan's parents house for Christmas with Aunt Mary and Uncle Ed's families. It was a great time and we got to meet little Oliver for the first time. Oliver is Ryan's cousin Jenny's baby boy and he was so petit and precious! Bella had a blast running all over the house with Olivia, Henry and Louie! The kiddos got spoiled again with gifts and all of the adults played a fun but confusing game of "Rob your Neighbor". We decided next year we will just google the rules because everyone had different ideas. Either way, it was fun and I got an adorable necklace and earing set and Ryan got a Walgreens gift card which is always handy. I think he used it last night to buy our sloppy joe mix (one of my secret favorite foods.)

We wrapped up the weekend by heading to the nursing home to see Grandma Sedlak and celebrate with lots of Sedlaks! Here is where we got to meet little Isaac! What a sweetie! I never heard him fuss once and everyone wanted to hold him. Isaac is Ryan's cousins Colleen and Kevin's baby boy. Isaac is adopted but right now, Kevin and Colleen are fighting very hard for Isaac because the birth father is arguing the adoption. Isaac even looks like Kevin and Colleen and they are a perfect threesome. Please say many prayers for them because they are greatly in need.

After all of our celebrating we were all exhausted. Monday was a day of rest and laundry. Bella and I were in our PJ's till the afternoon as we did odd jobs around the house and cleaned up the messes Bella made as we did odd jobs around the house. Gotta love having a little helper following you around. Ryan spent the morning in the basement. He was scraping the walls of the stairwell to the basement so he can try and match them up better with the new walls he put in. He is such a hard worker. I love having a handy husband. Monday night was our date night and the funny part was, we were back home by 8:00! Kristian and Kaitlin came over to babysit and I think Bella had a good time with her aunts. They had some pizza (one of Bella's favorites) and played tea party with her kitchen and table. Thanks so much Kristian and Kaitlin! Ryan and I went to the movies for the first time in about 2 years to see The Blind Side (awesome movie by the way) and then out to dinner at an Italian restaurant off of Grand. It was really good and we finally used a gift certificate program that Lissy gave me last year for Christmas. We got to end our date by playing with Bella and then having some couch time after she went to bed. What a great date!

On Wednesday, we headed to Kirksville to see my family! It was great to be back and see some family. We got to see Papa, Grandma, Allison, Andrew, Jackson, Ellie, Lincoln, Lissy, Caroline, Jared, Molly and we even got to meet Molly's new boyfriend Nathan. He was very friendly and kind. To top it off, we didn't scare him away. I love my parents house at Christmas and so did Bella. She had lots of Christmas lights to turn on in the morning since she was normally one of the first ones up. Wednesday we did some gift exchanging. We gave my parents their gifts and they gave us some more gifts. As if Disney isn't enough. Bella got lots of adorable stuff such as a blue-green pettiskirt and shirt and a little riding toy called a fropper which is just the right size and it folds up. Perfect for our little house. She also got a book set called "The Tickle Monster" and it comes with blue fuzzy mitts that we can use to tickle her as we read. Allison got her the cutest little tea set with the Fancy Nancy Tea Party book. She also had more but lets just say she was spoiled!

Thursday we stayed inside because it was freezing and we wanted to save our energy for the night. That evening we braved the cold and went to Pear Tree (my favorite restaurant)! YUMMY!!!! It was wonderful and Bella is now a fan of onion ring batter and ketchup, croutons and hen rice which she ate with her fingers! She really enjoyed her food and kept shoving her onion ring plate and the ketchup bottle towards me saying "more, more!" with a very convincing expression and nod. It was pretty cute. I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. The key to Pear Tree dining is to pound the appetizers (their onion rings and crab rangoon are the best), chow down on salad (not a healthy salad with homemade croutons soaked in garlic butter and the most awesome dressing), and time for the entree. I always get the filet mignon and chicken picatta but many people also love the batter-dipped lobster. What ever you get, you only eat about 1/2 and take the rest home for lunch the next day. Don't stop before dessert though. They have awesome homemade ice cream and use it in most of their desserts. I normally get the Raspberry Royale but I over did it on the appetizers this time. Oh darn. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH MOM AND DAD!!!! You always know how to make a pregnant gal happy! Once your belly is fat and happy now it is time to drive the 45 minutes home and try to not fall asleep. Once we got home, we slipped into our pjs and tried to hang out till midnight. Ryan and Bella rang in New Years with New York (on hour early our time) and headed off to bed. It was impressive work but I made it up to midnight. Ali, Andrew and the kids came in a little before midnight for their slumber party and kicked some life back into our pajama party we were all having. Jackson brought Twister and fo course Papa did a large firework at midnight. It was a little close to the house due to the snow covered yard and provided more entertainment than beauty. It was funny watching people run for cover. I even played a game of Twister (granted it only lasted about 2 minutes). After that, I headed off to bed to give my family Happy New Years kisses.

The next day everyone slept in and we woke to breakfast casserole (another favorite) and hot chocolate. Ellie and Bella wore their pettiskirts for the first day of 2010 (might as well start the year off on a fancy note) and they were pretty precious! The boys (adults included) spent the day playing Wii. The kids had a blast playing around all day and we enjoyed doing nothing productive! Mom made some really good BBQ chicken sandwiches so I didn't even eat my Pear Tree leftovers. Maybe later. Ryan and I did have some minor cosmetic surgery done that afternoon. We went to Dad's office and had some moles and skin tags removed. I went first and that was probably a mistake. Ryan was a little disgusted by the process but all I can say is I am thrilled to be rid of all of it! He left his moles and just went for the skin tags. THANK YOU DAD!!!! I know we were babies about it. That night we headed to Ali and Andrews for dinner. They made some delicious pork sandwiches (yes I know- ha ha ha, listen to the pregnant girl go on and on about food but seriously, this is what our trips consist of!) and I lounged around on the floor with Ali's pregnancy pillows. I think the food expanded my belly too quick and I pulled some muscles or something but I was rediculiously sore. Don't worry - I still ate and left room for brownies. Ryan went downstairs to take a video of Bella and Ellie playing and apparently Bella loves to say "NO" and Ellie thinks she said it enough. I will post the video as soon as I learn how to do that!

The next day we headed home so we would have a day to adjust ourselves to going back to work and get the house back in order. The house did not get put back together and the decorations all stayed up. I finally took most of the decorations down on Tuesday night and Wednesday night I switched my Christmas china out for my regular china. We are doing a little rearranging due to the increase in Bella's toys so it took a little longer than usual. We are now trying to fit a play kitchen, table and chairs, two riding toys (one being a cozy coupe). a new letter mat and two strollers into our family room! Time for some of the old toys to retire to the basement but you have to do it while she is not around because she has a hard time with seperatation. She is LOVING all of the new toys though. Her Mommy Skills are improving as she plays with the babydoll from Priyal and Bhavik. She cares for her, walks her, feeds her, changes her clothes and changes her diapers. She even has to use diaper cream and wipes. She is very thurough as she wipes the entire baby off. She is even learning her ABC's with the Leapfrog ABC toy she got from Tim, Kelly and Liv. It is supposed to stick the fridge but she prefers the side of the oven. I know, were so concerned about safety. She also likes to pull out her huge letter mat puzzel but we hide it from her. A lot of time is spent hopping between her cozy coupe and fropper!

Bella did very well our first day back to work. She got to stay and play with Lissy but she didn't want us to leave without having something to remember her by so she woke up early with a blowout. Ryan was sweet to hang around and clean up the mess as I changed her. Lissy arrived right as we got everything cleaned up. I guess she didn't want us to sneak out like we normally do on Mondays. Lissy and Bella had a fun day except for one slight trip down the steps. You will have to read Lissy's blog to get the whole picture but I know Lissy has some severe bruising and soreness. Bella is resillent and fine! Tuesday and Wednesday she got to go hang with the girls again. She was excited to see Lea, Kyla, Claire and of course Mama (Julie - we are all Mama.) I think it was a nice change of pace and they do have the best toys! Today she should be with Mama and Papa but mom got her first SNOW DAY!!!! So we are still in our PJ's and playing the clean up/destroy game that Bella loves to play! I clean up and she destroys! I know Mama and Papa were probably a little sad so they will be excited to see her tomorrow. I am hoping to get Bella out to play but we will probably wait till after nap so that I can find her something to wear outside and maybe Dad can join in the fun depending on when he gets home! It is still very cold so this probably won't last very long but you have to try right. We also have a smore kit and of course some hot cocoa to drink when we come back in. I also am on a mission to find some missing items. I am always missing items and now it is the camera battery charger and the remote for our bedroom tv. Wish me luck! By the way, if you are missing Christmas, our tree will be up till this weekend. I don't know how people end Christmas with kids. Bella loves turning on the tree lights and gets sad that the outside lights don't come on anymore (maybe tonight for a picture with the snow) and all of the other decorations are gone. It was just too cold to take it to the curb last night so we will shoot for this weekend.

PS. It has been almost a week since I typed this post but I didn't want to put it up with out pictures. I took Bella out to the snow on Friday (my second snowday) and she is not a big fan yet. Also, I wanted to say that we finally did take our tree down and our spot behind the couch is now Bella's play area.

A White Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!! Hope everyone is having as merry a Christmas as we are. We have been taking advantage of this time to relax and enjoy the season. Bella has gotten into it a little more this year. She knows who "Santa" or should I say "HoHo" is and gets very excited when she sees him. She even recognized him on her Santa paper this year which is what he wraps her gifts in. We spent Christmas Eve doing some things around the house and a little bit of baking. Bella had a blast opening some early presents which were Christmas PJ's for the family and in true girly-girl fashion, had to try hers on right away. Bella got to wear her Christmas PJ's two days! She also got a baby doll that takes a bottle from Priyal and Bhavik which she took care of all day.

Last night we went to Mama and Papa's for Christmas Eve. We had an amazing dinner with loads of treats and then we opened some presents. Olivia, Bella and Colin got some presents (lots of presents) and then we did the adult gift exchange. I got a mani and pedi and Ryan got a drill so we were both pleased as punch. Thanks a bundle Kaitlin and Scott. Tim has been doing a new diet/workout regiment and Danielle gave him this life-size cover for Muscle and Fitness magazine with some huge guy on the front and a hole for his face. Many people tried it on and it was pretty entertaining. Bella got her one true love from Mama and Papa. A cozy coupe. She has been infatuated with this little car forever and now she has one of her very own. Actually she was hilarious during the gifts. She got one of those foam alphabet puzzle mats from Scott, Emily and Colin. She had to set it up right away in the kitchen and once that was done, she would come into the family room and steal every ones gifts and stash them on her mat. She reminded me of a little animal storing up for winter. Papa didn't even get his Cardinal pull-over out of the box before she snuck off with it.

We headed home around 10:45 to get ready for Midnight Mass. We got ready in record time, Ryan and Bella put together the cozy coupe and we even squeezed in a very quick timer picture in front of our tree. It was pretty good considering we did this in one take before we ran out the door. Mass was very nice and Bella decided she would stay up the entire time. She finally fell asleep for the first time on the way home from mass. She missed Santa dropping off her gifts but he worked pretty fast.

Christmas has been pretty perfect so far. I got the first thing on my list... SNOW!!!! What a wonderful thing to wake up to on Christmas morning. And it keeps getting prettier through the day. Bella finally woke up officially around 9:00. Ryan already had coffee made and all of the Christmas lights on. Once we headed downstairs she was only interested in her old toys but then she found her table set and then the kitchen. She also got a stroller which is a pretty hot item. She was a little confused later in the day because she got into her stroller and then there wasn't Carson or Ellie to push her around the house. That is how it normally works. Oh well... back to the kitchen. Ryan and I got some fun gifts also. I was a little more spoiled (which is normally the case) as I got a purse, a book, some tennis shoes and a new flip video camera! He even went and had our family portrait printed the way I wanted and it looks amazing on our wall! Ryan got a lot of clothes from J.C. Pennies. I even have him on video saying "St. John's Bay...really!" Yep, he is a dad now and these are stain-resistant and wrinkle free. Dockers next year. The only thing that wasn't clothes was a picture collage I put together for the basement.

Ryan cooked a yummy breakfast which we both enjoyed and Bella begged to get down and play. Our last presents were actually from my parents and we received it in the mail with instructions that said do not open until Christmas morning. What a present it was too. The first one was a big box which weighed like nothing and the other one was a small box which was pretty heavy. When we opened the big one, a mickey mouse balloon popped out and there was confetti in the bottom. Below it was a card. The second one Ryan unwrapped shortly after and in it was "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World". As we started to put the pieces together I pulled out the card and started to read it and right about then, my Dad called to say Merry Christmas. Everyone else had just opened theirs. Lissy has the cutest picture on her blog of these Mickey Mouse balloons in the mist of the Christmas Mess! Anyways, the real gift was a gift card to Walt Disney World and the plan is that we will start planning a trip with the whole family sometime in the next two years. YEA!!!!! I'm so excited and I have even started reading my book! THANK YOU GRANDMA AND PAPA!!!! Merry Christmas. I'm just sad I missed the looks on you two's faces when everyone opened their balloons!

Tonight we are headed over to Ryan's Aunt Therese and Uncle Dennis' for Christmas night and tomorrow we are doing Christmas with Aunt Mary and Uncle Ed at Ryan's parents house. I'm so excited to meet all of the new babies! Ryan and I are both off all week so we are going to try and do some fun things, get some work done around the house, hang with Bells and then we are heading back to Kirksville for some Early Christmas time! Enjoy your Christmas and your family!

New Additions!!!!

Hey there long lost friends! As many of you probably already know we have some wonderful news! We are having another baby!!!! I am about 10 weeks along and we are due on May 19th. The craziest part of all of this is that we are just one of three growing families on the Early side! Andy and Autumn are expecting #2 on March 23rd (My b-day, lucky day!) We are expecting our #2 on May 19th and now for the kicker. Amanda and Todd are expecting their #2 and #3 and their original due date was May 19th. Since they are expecting twins the due date of course was bumped up about 3 weeks but I also went 3 weeks early with Bella so the race is on! My poor parents! Very lucky grandparents but let's be honest - it is going to be a three-ring circus! God willing our family will extend from 5 grandkids during summer vacation last July to 10 grandkids (don't forget precious Lincoln) plus the 4 new ones by next July.

I remember the day after Kaitlin and Zane's wedding. We were all sitting around and talking about how beautiful it was and wanting to look at each other's pictures of it. There was only one problem. Unlike Ryan and I's wedding (the last one) no one got any pictures of their own because we were all running around like mad people chasing our kiddo's and trying to be at the right spot at the right time. I can't even imagine what the next wedding will be like! I don't think Grandma and Papa will be able to carry all of the grandkids back to the reception hall so that we can do group photos!

Anyways - We are thrilled and although Bella doesn't have a clue that her world is going to be turned upside down, she is starting to really like babies. When we were home (telling my family the good news) she liked giving Lincoln kisses. Sorry Ali - It pretty much means that she licks his head but Lincoln took it well. He is such a good little sport. She also likes to wave hi and she does get a little frustrated that they don't wave back. We are hoping that we get to celebrate her 2nd birthday before the baby arrives but if it is as persistent as Bella, maybe not! I guess it would probably work out better for Grandma and Papa if they could kill two birds with one stone and hit a birth and second birthday in one trip. We will see what we can do for them.

Other exciting news is that we are the proud owners of a new computer. Hopefully I have better luck with this one. So far, I love it!

Time flies when you are having fun!

Time flies when you are having fun! I know it has been forever since my last post but I do have some excuses – believe it or not. First off, I blame me! I am the world’s greatest procrastinator and for months I have repeated the phrase “I’ll do it next week.” Just ask my husband! Secondly I have one of the slowest and laziest computers ever. To do a post you have to jump sites and my computer doesn’t handle it very well. Normally it stalls for hours then it just quits. Lastly, between teaching, Bella time and rubbing Ryan’s feet in the evenings (it is my little way of saying “I love you” without talking J) I don’t like wasting my time on the computer! Like I said – I’m great at excuses but now I am off for the summer, Bella had a wonderful first birthday, Kaitlin and Zane’s wedding has come and gone and was beautiful, Bella has one new cousin (Welcome precious Colin) and one more on the way soon (we can’t wait to meet you Lincoln) and our family vacation to the beach is over but was amazing. I know I will miss a ton of events but I figured this would be a good time to post some pictures of our life these past months and share some special memories.

We had so much fun celebrating Bella’s first birthday! A ton of family made it to town and we had so many friends (and Bella’s future playmates) show up. Our theme (us Early’s always have a theme) was “Time flies when your having fun. Our little cupcake is turning one!” Bella had a giant cupcake as her cake (which she didn’t really get in to) and we had lots of little cupcakes. Aunt Ali made her famous sugar cookies and the cutest little “cupcake pops” which were her red velvet cupcake balls on a stick decorated like little cupcakes. They were too cute to eat but everyone did anyway because they were also very delicious! Aunt Lissy went all out and even made her a little onsie with the cutest cupcake on the front. We decorated in every bright color you could imagine and lots of photos of Bella through her first year of life. It was wonderful getting to see everyone. Bella had a blast (after a little cat nap on Grandma Bev) playing with all of the kiddos and even Mom and Dad enjoyed themselves!

Bella is now 14 months and counting and makes our house glow with excitement. Her little walk is pretty entertaining (she leads with her belly) and every other day she picks up a new silly trick. She waves hi and bye about 5 minutes late and it looks like she is turning a doorknob or giving the hang 10 sign. She loves to dance to “Poker Face” by Lady GaGa and she thinks it is hilarious when you tell her how much her sweaty feet stink! Bella knows how to make her Daddy’s heart melt by giving him the sweetest bedtime kisses but if she isn’t in the kissing mood she will tell you so as she shakes her head back and forth and say’s “no, no, no, no, no, no!” I have never seen anything cuter in a set of pigtails and her baby chub has left little tan lines on her suntan ankles. Bella loves to wave and talk to animals, especially birdies and puppy dogs and is a compulsive organizer when it comes to her books, blocks and just about everything you can think off. Lately she has been clapping for herself when she does something really cool like eating off of a fork or unrolling the toilet paper before Mom catches her. She is currently obsessed with shoes, purses (especially my Coach purse which I even get nervous using) and shopping bags. She enjoys walking around our house totting her purse while sporting her diaper and sandals as she shops for household items in her shopping bag. She is also starting to expand her language of grunts and giggles to different sounds. We think she says Dada and pup-pup but she also mimics a great deal. I have noticed that she now says “shzz” which I am assuming is shoes because she always brings you a pair to put on when she says it. When we got home from vacation she started throwing her blocks over her shoulders and yelling “Whoaaaa!” I wonder what trick she will pick up today.

Our family has had so many fun things going on. We have a new brother-in-law and one new Baby boy cousin as well as another baby boy cousin on the way. Oh yes – I can’t forget to mention Bella’s other new cousin, Charlotte aka Charlie! Olivia got a new puppy who is pretty adorable. She is a sandy colored pommo-poo? I know I didn’t spell it right but oh well.

My sister Kaitlin is now Kaitlin Taylor since her and Zane got married on June 20th. It was a beautiful wedding with so many neat little details and special touches. Kaitlin looked gorgeous ( I know… that is really not a surprise) and Zane looked handsome also. I don’t have any pictures of my own from the wedding because my camera bag was MIA for the week. I was relieved when it showed up but I still am upset I missed all of the neat pictures. The wedding was in the backyard and it was amazing. I can’t think of a prettier place for such a special celebration. Bella had her debut as a flower girl and she did pretty well after Todd guided her down the aisle! The ceremony was very sweet and it brought Kaitlin and Zane lots of luck as it wrapped up just in time for the rain to fall. I think God was trying to coordinate with their beautiful shades of pale blue and green! The reception also looked amazing and everyone had a blast! My parents worked so hard on all of the decorations and it paid off. I really think my Mom could be an awesome professional wedding planner but her weekends are devoted to her kids and grandkids! The food was also very yummy! I did miss out on the cake as well as the cookies and the milk though and I am still a little sad about that. Kaitlin and Zane were so sweet and I think they are very happy newlyweds even though they are currently residing in a hotel until their house is done. Zane said one of the sweetest (gross but sweet) things I think I’ve ever heard a groom say about his bride when he said “I felt like throwing up each time I looked at the weather and the rain got closer because I knew how sad Kaitlin would be.” I know he will take such good care of Kaitlin!!!! Congratulations MR. and MRS. TAYLOR!!!!

After the wedding we prepared for vacation! Bella was such a trooper all the way down and back. She slept a lot, watched some movies and talked but not a lot of crying. Thank you Aunt Lissy for being her playmate and keeping her entertained. We got to Florida on the fourth of July. The beach was absolutely perfect with very few waves, crystal clear water and a huge sandbar for the kiddos to play on. We barbequed some hotdogs and enjoyed fireworks on the beach that evening. It was perfect. The rest of the days were just as wonderful and relaxing. Lissy did some great posts on her blog so check them out. Her link is in the sidebar. Bella loved every aspect. She played in the sand, jumped the waves, played a ton with her big cousins, rocked out at the dance party, colored (on herself) with sidewalk chalk, swam at the pool, took walks around Seaside, explored the house and all of its contents and slept when she got tired. She proved to her parents that she is a good vacationer and would love to go on more!!!! Thanks to my folks for planning such a memorable trip.

While we were gone the whole Early family got daily updates on Emily’s condition. Scott, Ryan’s brother, and his wife Emily were having their first child and were waiting to find out what it was. She was due on the 4th of July but the little firecracker wasn’t quite ready to join the world yet. Finally, in the evening on July 8th, Emily was induced and after a long and strenuous day with very little progress, they decided to do a C-section. A little before 6:00pm on July 9th, precious little 8 lb. 4 oz. Colin Michael Sedlak got to meet his Mommy and Daddy face-to-face. He is absolutely adorable and Bella had to pick him up his own snuggle (like her skippit) while we were at the beach. He got a puppy dog which looks like Lucy with his name on it so he won’t lose it! We finally got to go see him (and hold him!) on Sunday! Scott and Emily were so happy and relaxed. They are going to be great parents! Welcome to the family Baby Colin!

Now we are just waiting on Baby Lincoln to show up! I am sure the Farwell’s are anxiously awaiting their newest family member and personally, I can’t wait to squish those cheeks!!!! Go out walking Ali so we can meet him soon!