Alligators Scare Me!

Happy Sunday to everyone! How has your weekend been? Ours has been good...lazy, but good. We didn't do much of anything yesterday which really drove me crazy! It was rainy and cloudy so we didn't get much yard work done. Today was better. We went to early mass this morning and then we came home. When we got home Leo saw an animal....turns out to be a floppy eared bunny. More than likely it used to be someone's pet and we haven't seen it the rest of today.

After lunch we headed to the National Park. Guess what we saw?! Two alligators, a lizard, a turtle and some birds. But let me go back to that TWO ALLIGATORS part. I am terrified of 'gators and to see two was a little nerve racking for me :) I got some pics, I have one posted above. The other one we saw was in the water w/his eyes and snout resting on the water. I was joking when I told Leo, "Look! It's a gator!" Um...yes, it really was! We stood and took a pic (which I'll post tomorrow, it wouldn't let me post anymore pics w/this post). When we were driving off it was already gone. Creepy, huh? But neat at the same time.

Tomorrow I'll be posting our menu for the week. It's payday this week and I can't wait to go and stock up the house w/groceries! I love grocery shopping :)

Have a very blessed Sunday and I'll talk w/you more tomorrow.

F-R-I-D-A-Y!!!

What is it about Friday that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside? I am not sure why I still get that feeling. I don't go to a job outside of home anymore and haven't for 8 months now. Hmmm...maybe it's just remembering when I was younger and going to school patiently waiting for Friday to get here. Why? Well, slumber parties, games of red tick (you'll never understand...I may make that a post for a later date!), pizza, mom and dad being home for the weekend and Saturday morning cartoons. I love Fridays and I am sure I always will :)

My best friend, Julie, called me today and it was so nice catching up with her. We shared some laughs and talked about our children. She has the cutest little boys, they are sooo adorable! Anyhow, her husband is also in the Air Force (she and I used to work together when we were in the AF and stationed in San Antonio) and they are due for some orders soon. I am praying and hoping they come to Mississippi with us!!! That would be amazing, great and just fun to have my best friend here--who also is a stay at home mommy like me!! I can't wait until they find out where they're going next :)

I hope you like the pictures of Isabella. It is really warm here and she "picked out" her own outfit for the day. She reached into her closet and pulled that outfit out and it looked adorable on her! Her Mema gave her that outfit, it was one of the MANY outfits that Mema gave us from when Ashlie, Allie and Annie were little babies. Thank you, Mema and Papa!

May you have a blessed Friday and a blessed weekend.

Mmmm...Splinters...

Leo asked me to bake some cookies tonight and even though I was very tired, I agreed that they did sound pretty good. So I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies. I was mixing in the flour and had the above spatula in my hand when somehow I let go and well, it got destroyed...I was again talking to Kristi who begged me to post a pic....so here ya go, sis! :)

PS-Have I mentioned how tired I am today?! Lol!!

Momma Loves You, Bella Mella

Isabella is one of the silliest little girls that I know. Besides constantly making me smile and laugh, she is so silly! Maybe that is why she always makes me smile and laugh? Hehe :) Lately anytime she eats her baby food-doesn't matter what kind it is-she makes this sound, "Mmmmm. Mmmmm..." and it is every time she takes a bite! It is very comical!! My sister, Kristi, had valid point. When I was telling her of this latest trick, she asked if I say the same thing to her as I feed her. Why, yes, I do. And you know the sad thing? I never would have put 2 and 2 together....sheesh, I need more sleep!!

As you remember, Isabella got her shots yesterday. Last night she was all rosy cheeked and pink nosed with her little mouth chattering. We gave her Tylenol and then went to bed. This morning when she and I woke up I noticed her face was still pink and her little nose pink. I thought, hmmm, we were outside for a little while yesterday, but it was when the sun was going down...but is she sunburnt?! I then reached out to hold her and she was burning up. She felt like a warm little roll from the oven and I immediately knew she had a temperature. Sure enough, 101.7. My poor little girl. She has taken a lot of naps today (mommy even snuck in a long one w/her) and has been fussier than normal. The good thing is the Tylenol has kept it down and she is still eating normally. Maybe spare a prayer for my little one tonight? Thank you :)

Speaking of prayers, please say one for the son of one of my mom's friends. He is only 16 and was in a horrible, horrible car accident. He can use all the prayers that we send. When things like that happen, you often "wake up" a little. Life is so fragile, it can be taken from any one of us at any time. Sometimes we all get so caught up in so many things that aren't important. Take time every single day to thank God for blessing you with another day in the miracle of life. If you have children, tell them you love them every single day! I can't imagine what that poor family is going through. My heart aches for them. I wish there was something that I could do, but the one thing that I can do is pray. And pray hard.

So on that note, I am thanking God for giving me this day to live and see my family. May you all do the same and thank you for the prayers.

The Dreaded Shots....

I have been dreading today for quite awhile now. Today was Isabella's well-baby appointment. Not too bad, but then she had to get her shots today. Since they were out of one last time, it meant she had to get 5, yes 5, shots. Poor baby girl. The techs at the Immunizations Clinic must have felt bad for her, too, because they somehow combined them so she had 2 shots and 1 oral. Yay!! We went from 5 to 3! She did wonderfully with all of them, she drank the entire vaccine without spitting any out and she cried just a little when she got her shots. It went a lot better than the last time and I am sooo grateful for that.

Isabella's stats are: weight-16.6 lbs and length-25.5 inches. She has grown so much and we are very happy.

I am going to post my week's cleaning list. I ALWAYS clean at the end of the week so my weekend will be free to spend with Leo. Since Leo is off work every other Friday (they work extended hours during the week to enable this) my cleaning schedule is different each week. He works this Friday, so my list looks like this:

Monday-Wednesday: daily pick up, laundry, dishwasher, etc

Thursday: clean both bathrooms, dust and windex

Friday: vacuum and mop

Not too bad, eh? That way I am not stuck doing everything on one single day. It takes maybe an hour each day and I can easily get it done when Isabella is playing. I usually can't do it all at once, so I break it up into segments.

The pics above are of Bella today. I love her outfit she has on, I picked it up at Target, cute right? The last one is of her yanking poor Boo by the tail...that poor cat! At least Boo is nice to her, though :)

I hope everyone is having a great week this week. We can't complain, I know that's for sure. We got our Netflix movie in today, "Gone Baby Gone". I'll let you know how we liked it. I am hoping to watch it tonight, here's hoping! Take care and have a wonderful night!

Good Morning!

Good morning to you! How was your Easter weekend? We had a very nice weekend and an even nicer Easter. We woke up and I made homemade french toast and bacon. We got to drink coffee again, so I brewed us a nice pot of coffee and boy was it good!! After that we all got ready for church. We didn't dress Bella until last minute and what do you know, the most massive amount of spit up got on her dress a mere seconds after she was dressed. Good thing we had a backup! After church we came home and she got her basket and we did an egg hunt. It was so much fun! After that we had our lunch which was ham, cheesy hashbrowns, deviled eggs, rolls and fruit pizza...yum! It all turned out wonderful and we felt so blessed to enjoy our day so much with Isabella on her first Easter.

This morning I came up w/our menu for the week. Here it is:

Monday-Easter leftovers

Tuesday-Enchilada Casserole...(yum!), corn and tortilla chips

Wed-Spag w/meat sauce and green beans

Thursday-leftovers

Friday-Fish w/homemade mashed potatoes and green beans

We don't have a whole lot going on here this week. We DO have Isabella's well baby checkup which I am dreading a little since she has to get shots this week :( She had a low grade temp last nite, so she may not be feeling all that well anyway. We'll see....it could be teething or something totally different. Either way I'm glad she'll be seeing the ped, but not glad she will be miserable w/getting her shots, poor baby girl!

And as promised here is the yummy fruit pizza recipe:

Crust:

1 roll of sugar cookie dough

Spread on greased cooking sheet and cook for 10 minutes or until light brown.

Topping:

8 oz of cream cheesed, softened

12 oz pkg of whipped topping

(optional) powdered sugar to taste (I added some just to sweeten up the topping a little)

Mix all together and set aside.

Allow the cookie crust to cool. Once cool, spread the topping over entire crust. You can now chill in the fridge or add the fruit topping. (We added the fruit right away).

Here is the fruit that I used: strawberries (cut in half), blackberries (fresh...yum!), kiwi (cut in slices), and bananas (dip in lemon juice before hand to prevent browning)

And there you have it. It is so delicious, I lost count on how many servings Leo had! There is also an orange glaze (we didn't use it, though) so if you want that recipe, just send me a message. I hope you all have a blessed Monday. I do want to mention my Grandpa has been sick, so please keep him in your prayers for a speedy recovery. We love you, Grandpa!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood....

I LOVE spring! Right now it is 76* outside, sunny skies, cool breeze....perfect in my opinion. Bella is napping right now, but you know I'll be taking her outside to lay down on a blanket and just absorb nature all around us. It really does feel like Easter!



Leo and I are making a delicious Easter dinner. We're having ham, yummy hashbrown cheesey potatoes (let me know if you want me to post the recipe), green beans, rolls, and a fruit pizza! I love fruit pizza and hadn't had it in years. I ran across a recipe online and am going to try it out. If it tastes good, I'll post the recipe on Monday! We will be going to church in the morning and when we get back we will hunt for eggs w/Bella and let her open her Easter basket. I can't wait to see what the Easter Bunny brings her!



So you know Leo and I have really been buckling down to cut down on spending. We recently cut down our phone plan bc we had thousands of roll over minutes, which seriously, when are we going to use them?! Today we went to the base commissary and did our grocery shopping. The building is pretty small since Katrina hit and destroyed the previous one, but they are rebuilding with the hopes of opening in a year. Anyhow, the prices there are unbelievable! Why haven't we been grocery shopping there before?? We saved sooo much money it was ridiculous. We even got name brand stuff and the ingredients for our Easter dinner. Wow! It feels good to save money, doesn't it?



I hope you all will have a blessed Saturday and even more of a blessed Sunday. Happy Easter and I'll be posting our weekly menu later this weekend.

I've Been Tagged!

Ok, so I have now been tagged by my Mom :)

HERE'S HOW YOU PLAY. ONCE YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED YOU HAVE TO WRITE A BLOG OF TEN WEIRD, RANDOM THINGS, FACTS OR HABITS ABOUT YOURSELF. AT THE END, YOU CHOOSE FIVE PEOPLE TO BE TAGGED, LISTING THEIR NAMES AND WHY YOU CHOSE THEM TO BE TAGGED. DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE THEM A COMMENT "YOU'RE IT" AND TO READ YOUR BLOG. YOU CAN'T TAG THE PERSON WHO TAGGED YOU. SINCE YOU CAN'T TAG THAT PERSON BACK, LET HIM OR HER KNOW WHEN YOU'VE POSTED YOUR BLOG SO HE OR SHE CAN READ YOUR ANSWERS

1. I grind my teeth in my sleep....and have for as long as I can remember :) I am glad Leo and Bella can tolerate it and haven't kicked me out of our bedroom!

2. I obsessively straighten my hair. It can be perfectly straight and I just keep straightening...and straightening....and straightening!

3. I ( just like my mom!) LOVE Diet Coke. I have one first thing in the morning and continue to have an open one by my side all day long. If I don't have one open I go and get one, so it's rare if you see me without one :) I love coffee, too, but gave it up for Lent...I can't wait to have a hot cup of coffee again!!

4. I was in the Air Force for 7 years. I served 5 months in Iraq and then lived in Turkey for 2 years. I am proud to have served my country but am happy that I am now a stay at home mom. I wouldn't change it for the world!

5. I love crafty projects (ie stamping, scrapbooking). It is such a stress reliever for me and I love seeing my creative side come out. I also love decorating my home. Leo has agreed in a couple of years I can begin redecorating our home. I have been feeling the shabby chic style lately and am slowly working on him to agree :)

6. I have a touch of OCD...only when it is certain things. I don't like it if Bella's schedule isn't followed, I like things cleaned a certain way, my towels folded a certain way...you get the picture :)

7. I LOVE reading! I could read all day every day if time allowed and if I wasn't raising my daughter. I have read 100's of books and especially love chick lit, mysteries, and all around good novels. Reading allows me to escape to another place sometimes and somedays that is exactly what is needed :)

8. I LOVE Bravo's reality tv shows. Project Runway, Make Me a Supermodel, Top Chef....etc. In fact, I love reality tv in general! I rarely watch something that isn't reality (except for Grey's, Desp Housewives and Medium). If you see my DVR and my recording history, you wouldn't believe how many shows I have taped to watch when Bella falls asleep on my lap :)

9. I have a countless amount of flip flops. I love flip flops, esp from Target and Old Navy. They are cheap and last forever! Plus living on the coast I can practically wear them all year round.

10. I love makeup, bubble bath, body spray....really anything to help me feel pretty. If you saw my bathroom you would laugh, but I can't help it! I am better now that we are a one income family, but still like to get something every now and then.

Okay, so that is all there is to know about me ;) Pretty random, but it's hard to think of stuff when you're put on the spot ;) I know after I post this the list will keep going and going....in my head! Enjoy and have a blessed day!

TGIF!

Well, it's finally Friday! Good Friday to be exact. We didn't make it to church last night since Leo got off work a little late, but we do plan on going tonight at 7. The church is having a fish fry between 5-7 so'll be going to that first. Yum! I love fried catfish!

As promised, I am posting some pics of Isabella w/her gifts she received yesterday. She got a Texans outfit in pink (and to clarify, Mommy is NOT a Texans fan! That would be Daddy's favorite team...lol!), a pink bunny and some Easter candy-which she givingly gave to Mommy and Daddy :) Thank you, Tio Pio and Tia Cristina!

Isabella also got some MORE mail today. Her Mema, Papa, Aunts Ashlie, Allie, and Annie, and Uncle Adam got her the cutest Easter card. She lunged for it and we had to pry it out of her little fingers before it got destroyed. Thank you, Mema and Papa!

We went to Mobile this afternoon to go to Target...you know, my favorite store of all time :) We stocked up on formula and diapers for the next couple of weeks. I also got Bella some new sippy cups and a really cute blue and white striped tank top for summer. I love Target's baby clothes, they have the cutest summer clothes at such a WONDERFUL price. You can't beat that! I got some bubble bath so I can take a nice, relaxing bubble bath tonight. It's been too long since I've had one and think that I may deserve one ;)

Enjoy the pics that I posted. The last one is of our cat, Boo, on our warm clothes straight from the dryer. I went in our room to fold them and she was all curled up asleep on them. It must be nice being a cat ;)

May you all have a blessed Friday and a wonderful Easter weekend!

Mashed Bananas.....Yum!

Today I decided to make Isabella her own homemade mashed bananas. As you can see from the pictures above, she loved them! She could not eat enough. After her first bowl, I mashed some up and just gave her the bowl and she had a blast. Yes, bananas were everywhere, but just seeing her have fun w/it made me smile. It's amazing how the simple things get children excited, isn't it?

Isabella just got a package from her Tia Cristina and Tio Pio (Amparo) in the mail! I'll have to write tomorrow what she got, we're gonna wait until her Daddy gets home to open it.

I just finished all of my ironing and made our bed with our clean sheets. I love the smell and feel of freshly cleaned bedding! I still have to vacuum, so I'll be doing that after the little one is up from her nap. Then I'll be making our dinner which we're having Rotel dip....yum! If Leo gets off on time we are planning on going to church at 6. So, hopefully he'll get out on time!

May you have a blessed day and a great evening. Leo is watching his Netflix movie tonight, so I'll probably read some of my new magazines--Parents and Better Homes and Gardens. Then maybe I can read some more of the book I'm reading-P.S I Love You. Wish me luck!

Mail Call....

I don't know what it is about receiving mail (well, not bills of course :) ), but it can turn my day around sometimes. Yesterday I got a beautiful postcard from my cousin, Meg, who lives in NYC. I have never been to NYC and it is on my list to do in my lifetime. So, for her to live there of course makes me green w/envy ;) J/k, Meg, but I do get a little jealous now and then! Anyhow, she sent me a black and white very vintagey type postcard of the city. It is gorgeous...so gorgeous in fact that I think I am going to frame it. So, again, thank you, Meg!!

Today I received 3 magazines (yay! now if I can only find time to read my stack of mags that I have goin on....), an Easter package from Bella's Momo and Popo, and my free Oust spray (because I am a Bzz Agent! Love it!!). I am going to attach a couple of pics of Isabella with her new puppy dog and I am going to attempt to have a new video of her on here....Her Easter package had a lot of goodies besides the very cute and soft little doggie--she got a little bunny in an egg, an outfit, a couple of bunny figurines and Hershey's Kisses....for mommy and daddy :)

The rest of today was pretty good, it was rainy this a.m but that cleared up by mail time. I cleaned most of the house today and now tomorrow (which is Leo's Friday-yay!) I only have to vacuum and wash our bedding. We had a wonderful day and thank God for blessing us. Have a great Wednesday evening!

Lizards, Lizards and More Lizards!

I have no clue where Boo finds all of these lizards, but she keeps on finding them!! Yesterday (remember what a "fun" day I was having *smirks*?) Boo caught another one. I believe this was number 4--which by the way I have saved every single one of them. I was holding my tired, cranky little girl, aka Isabella, and I look out the window. What do I see? My furball of a cat trotting around the backyard with another lizard "friend". I jumped up and opened the door expecting for her to drop it like she always does.....but she does the exact opposite....and brings her new friend INSIDE OF OUR HOUSE!! At this point I put Isabella in her playyard away from all of this nonsense and turn around to face the new couple. Boo drops the lizard and gives it a nudge with her paw. This is great, I think to myself, there are sooo many places where this little guy can run and hide to. I take a step forward and Boo, who thinks I am about to steal her new friend, picks him up and takes him to another room. This whole saga continues with the little guy charging at me, me screaming and in turn Isabella starts screaming, too, because if mommy is screaming then something bad must be happening! I frantically call Leo at work and of course he doesn't answer and he's not even in the office!! I have no idea what to do at this point and the 2 trouble makers are now underneath my bed. I decide to stop freaking out and use my head. I find a container, capture the little guy and release him outside. Somehow Boo does not see this happen and she is looking everywhere for him...ah, poor Boo. She has been really lonely since our other cat, Sasha, passed away in December.

Real quick, Bella is now crawling backwards....wow, she has grown sooo quick! Where is the time going?

Have a fabulous night!

What a Great Weekend!

Good morning, everyone! Are you rested and ready to tackle the week ahead? No?! Well, don't worry, I'm right there with ya ;) Isabella woke up at 6 something this morning....not exactly how I intended to start my week. She did nap for awhile....in my arms....and has been extremely tired and wanting me to hold her all day. If she wakes up too early we usually have a "fun" day ahead of us :) She is now in her swing babbling and talking. Her mommy is hoping she falls asleep for a little nap!

So, how was your weekend? Ours was great, wonderful and productive. The kind of weekend I yearn for weekly. Saturday Leo had to work for awhile, so that wasn't fun, but after he got home we tackled a little bit of our landscaping project. I am afraid it is going to be a lot harder than either one of us anticipated! We have a lot to do and we hope to get a lot accomplished before the weather turns too hot for comfort.

Sunday we went to mass for Palm Sunday and it felt good to be back in our church again. Then late yesterday we went to the Gulf Islands National Park. And wouldn't you know our camera was out of batteries and needed to be charged!! Go figure :) We were able to be within a few feet of a beautiful crane who just watched us as curiously as we watched him/her. After deciding that all 3 of us could be trusted he/she took a nice nap. I continued to just watch the crane while Leo was watching a duck diving for food and Isabella was just mesmerized by all of the trees, water and animals around. It was very quiet and peaceful and extremely good for the soul. Sometimes I feel like I am too dependent on technology and forget to take in the beautiful earth surrounding me. Leo and I would like to start doing nature activities weekly. This coming up weekend we are going to try and have a picnic at the shore. It may be difficult as we have a lot of church activities, but maybe on Easter Sunday we can take time later on to go and have a nice family day. After we went to the park we went to our favorite pizza place here in Mississippi--Mellow Mushroom! It was sooo delicious! If you ever have a chance to eat there, go for it! You won't be disappointed! While we were on that side of town eating we also decided to take a little tour of downtown. I love our downtown, it's such a small little town and the stores down there are fantastic boutiques that I adore.

I have attached a couple of pictures of Isabella in her new highchair. Please enjoy them. May you have a blessed day and I hope your week is a good one!

My, Daddy, What Hairy Legs You Have!

I bet you're wondering where I am going with this post, aren't you *hehehe* Have I mentioned how much Isabella loves animals? She ADORES all animals...cats, dogs....if it has fur it's a friend of hers. Anytime Boo crosses her path she lunges out to pet her. The same thing with her tia and tio's dog, Chewy (I posted a pic on an earlier post below....). Anyway, tonight Leo was holding her and I looked over....know what I saw? Bella "petting" her daddy! It was the cutest thing ever and I have it captured on camera.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

I Saved His Little Life....

Isabella, Boo (my cat) and I decided to spend some time outside today. The sun is shining, the weather is warm and flowers are in bloom. After spending quite a bit of time enjoying the fresh air, Isabella and I decided we would go out front to see the tree and the plants out front. We walked around and I explained to her what everthing was. Once we came inside I realized that Boo was still outside. I looked outside and saw that she had something on our back porch. I just thought it was a leaf so I went outside to scoop her up. As I was getting her in, I looked closer to what she had brought up....it was a poor little lizard! The little guy was on his back and I thought he was dead. I turned him over and after just staring at him I realized he was breathing! I put Boo inside so she couldn't do anymore damage and I tended to the poor little guy. I could see his back 2 legs were pretty beat up....Boo probably was playing with him. I thought for sure he was a goner. He wouldn't lift his head and he just sat there. It's been over an hour and he is still outside, but he is venturing into the grass. I keep looking at him and he'll be on the edge of the porch, but then comes back onto it. I just looked out and he is gone! He went back to the wild :) I went out and snapped his picture, too...I just feel good that I saved his little life.

I also have a couple of pics of Isabella in her swing. She was supposed to be napping, but as you can see above she wasn't quite ready yet...silly girl! She now is fast asleep in her favorite swing. What a sweetheart! She is already wearing 6-9 and 6-12 month clothes...can you believe it?! It feels like yesterday that she just napped all day and didn't smile or laugh....now look at her, all "grown" up. I thank God daily for bringing my little miracle and blessing into my life. She truly is a good little girl and she loves making mommy and daddy laugh!

I hope you all have a blessed day and if you are having some sunny, warm weather....what are you doing inside reading this?? Get out there and enjoy that spring air!

Raindrops Keep Fallin....

We woke up this morning to a light rainfall which was probably the reason we woke up at 9! I'm glad my mom called me this morning (thank you, Mom!) and we woke up. I think the time change still has Bella and I confused on our schedules. We stayed up pretty late last nite and now we slept late, which it felt nice to do--I was so tired yesterday!

We watched our Netflix movie last nite, The Brave One, and we liked it! Finally we both liked a new release!! It seems like forever ago that Leo and I both enjoyed the same movie and lately so many new releases just aren't that good. This movie was pretty good, although I started losing interest partway through....it just wasn't too believable, but how many movies actually are? I would recommend renting it or getting it through Netflix sincce it wasn't a major disappointment.

I hope everyone has a nice relaxing day today. I hope we will! So far we have had a nice day inside, right now Bella is playing with her little gym and I am doing a load of laundry. Stay warm and if you are lucky enough to have some warm sunshine, go outside and get some of that fresh air! You would be amazed on what some fresh air and sunshine can do for the soul. I hope you enjoy the pictures above and until next time, bye!

Spring is Here!!

I LOVE springtime....the birds chirping, the flowers blooming, the beautiful fresh air....aahhh....what could be more perfect, right? I peeked out the window today to see if the "mystery" flowers had bloomed, and they had!!! They are daffodils, one of my favorite spring flower. Aren't they gorgeous?

In case you wondering, we are back in Mississippi as of yesterday. The drive wasn't too bad and it felt good coming home. We had a wonderful time in Texas with everyone and it was quiet and lonely today. We'll be happy to see everyone again, too!

Leo and I are going to watch "The Brave One" tonight (we HOPE to watch it tonite!). I'll let you know tomorrow what we thought about it. It looked good on the previews and we got it this weekend from Netflix.

I hope you enjoy the pictures! They are some that I have taken over the days. Enjoy and have a wonderful Monday evening! UPDATE: for some reason the server won't let me post any pics! I'll post 'em tomorrow :)

Hair, God and Blessings

Isabella's hair is finally growing! Yay!! I bought her some ribbons a week ago and ever since then her hair keeps growing and growing...I should have bought these bows a long ago *hehehehe* Her hair is looking to be a light brown so far and she still has her mommy's green eyes which her daddy is very excited for :)

Speaking of her daddy, he is leaving today and we can't wait to see him! Our bed has been very lonely without him, although Isabella hasn't seemed to mind taking over his half of the bed :) She is a little bed hog just like her mommy!

We went to 12:15 mass this afternoon and Isabella was very good....until right before communion. That is precisely when she decided she would give God her all mightiest yelling and shrieking (her new "talent" which she recently discovered). Mommy quickly took her outside of the chapel and she was a little quieter....until she wanted to shriek...again...which this time echoed so loudly it made her jump! I tried so hard not to laugh, but just seeing her expression cracked me up! After mass was over, Father came up to us and said, "We sure have our hands full, don't we?" He was smiling of course and I definitely agreed with him. She is getting more and more curious about our world and loving every minute of it. I sometimes sit back and try to imagine how she sees the world. It must be fascinating and at the same time I get a little sad because so often we take everything for granted. This little girl of mine is going to teach her mommy a lot of things, that is for sure, and I thank our God all the time with the blessings he has given me.

I hope you enjoy the pics above...she loves bath time!! You can also see her hair and how it and she are both growing so fast. You have to love the expression in that second pic :)

Time to Save Some $$$

I love saving money! I used to love spending money, but now I am older, wiser *snicker* and I have a little girl to take care of. After talking to Leo we decided to cut back on some things that will save us approx $2,000 per year--give or take! Step one: I have heard nothing but raves over Target diapers and Target formula, so I compared their formula to my current one and after discovering *gasp* that they were nearly identical I took the plunge. The Target brand is $15 cheaper than my current brand!! For those of you who don't have children, that is a significant amount because you can go through over 1 can per week. I also decided to try out their diapers to see if they would work for our little girl. Guess what?! They both work wonders!! No leaky diapers and she drinks the formula fine! I have decided to give myself a nice pat on the back for this one ;) Step two: cancel our movie channel subscriptions. Why would we want to do that? Let me tell it as it is...we don't have much time to watch movies anymore. We are pretty lucky to sit down to watch a show together, let alone a movie. On top of this, we have a Netflix subscription, which we LOVE! So again, I suggested to Leo, why don't we cancel our movie channel subscriptions and for the series we like on a certain channel we can just rent on Netflix. And any movies? Same thing! We save $45 dollars a month with that cancellation! Awesome, purely awesome :)

Those are our latest money saving techniques. I just feel good with having that little extra money each month to use for other necessities.

With that, I hope everyone has a fantastic Wednesday--oh, and I get to see my honey tomorrow nite! Yay!

It's Been Too Long!

Hello from Texas! I have felt strange not posting and decided that today was going to be THE day :) We are having a wonderful time, but we do miss Leo! He will be here on Thursday and I know Bella is ready to see her daddy! The weather had been nice, but now there is a "cold" front moving in and it is cold! I know we aren't as cold as those who have a foot of snow, though ;)

I did chop off my hair and it's a bit darker now! I love it!! I do want it shorter than what he cut it...he didn't want to traumatize me by chopping off so much, but I don't think he listened to me when I told him that I have had short hair almost all of my life...so maybe when I go to Missouri I can get the rest of it cut off to how I want!

Bella can roll from her back to her tummy now (which, by the way, she does constantly now!) and she is creeping!! I can't believe how big she is getting! She also said "mama" the other nite when she was crying because she saw me come into the room. I can't believe that she is 5 months already--where has the time gone??

We sure miss everyone and I will be sure to post more pics as I get them. I have to go for now, but just wanted to do a quick update to everyone! Have a great Tuesday! Oh--and enjoy those pics I posted ;)