Busy Busy Busy

Good morning! Wow, have we been busy or what?! Here is what we've been up to...

This past weekend we were in Alabama to visit some friends. We had a blast! We hung out, talked, laughed, told funny stories and I even went to Target! My favorite store ever!! (We don't have one really close to us--it's about an hour away). We got home early Sunday evening and found out we need to replace our Jeep's battery. So Leo ran to Sears before they closed and bought a new one.

Yesterday we had Bella's well-baby appointment which went great! She's 17 lbs 8 oz and 27" long. She sure is my growing little girl! The doctor said she is right on target for where she should be and very healthy. Isabella was a little grumpy due to her appointment being during her morning cereal time and naptime. We also had to wait quite awhile which also drove her to not be very happy :) But she slept so peacefully last night....it was wonderful! She didn't wake up once for her paci or for any reason. Leo and I both woke up well rested! Yay for Bella!!

I am busy ironing and getting ready for our long trip coming up. We are going to Houston Thursday/Friday (haven't decided which day yet). On Sunday Bella and I fly to Missouri to see my family!! I can't wait to see everyone and I know how excited they are to see our crawling little girl. We will also be going up to Illinois and Indiana to celebrate my Grandpa's 70th birthday. I am so excited they will all get to meet our little Bella!!

I hope you are having a wonderful week. I will try to take some pics soon and post them for all of you haivng Bella withdrawals :)

Time For a Post!

I am so sorry we haven't updated for awhile! It has been one crazy, hectic week around here, that's for sure. Did I tell you earlier in the week Isabella wasn't sleeping well? Basically screaming all night long? Well, she was. On Wednesday she was barely eating a thing--which is very very unlike my little girl, and she had a little temperature. So off to the doctor we go. The doctor said it was either a virus or teething. ~Sigh~ I am voting towards virus bc her temp got higher that night and she wasn't showing a lot of teething signs. Yesterday she was back to her old self, eating, playing, shrieking, laughing....yay!! My little girl is feeling better! Thanks to all of you who said a quick prayer for my little girl. I always get worried when she isn't feeling good. It's amazing how worried I get now that I am a mommy! It doesn't help I am a natural "worryer" either :)

This weekend we are going to Alabama to stay with our friends that stayed with us last weekend. We are so excited to go and see them! I still have a mountain of laundry to iron, wash and dry the white load, my and Bella's baths, wash and dry my hair, run to Wal-Mart and pack....all before we are set to leave around 5'ish. Wish me some luck! I'll be sure to post some pics on Sunday/Monday. Next week will be just as busy bc we leave for Houston later in the week and then Miss Bella and mommy will be flying to Missouri to see my family. I can't wait to see you all!

Have a wonderful weekend and be safe!

Are You Green?

All we hear now on the news is green green green. With gas prices soaring, food prices going higher and higher, a lot more of us are being conservative. For me it's a number of reasons why I am doing things to be "green". The most imortant reason? My daughter. I want her to have a wonderful future on our beautiful earth. I want her to not have to worry about things and most of all, I want her to grow up and learn how to conserve so she can continue helping our earth.

How are we green? We are doing lots of little things (although I know we can do more, but we are doing more and more a little at a time). We are replacing all of our old fashioned lightbulbs with the new energy smart ones. We'll save lots of money, conserve energy and they last a long time! When I run our dishwasher I make sure to use the short cycle and I turned off the heated drying. I dry off anything that needs to be dried myself. I take a bath/shower during daytime so I don't need to turn on any lights when bathing. I unplug the coffee pot everytime I am finished with it. We have our temperature set at 78* at all times during the summer months. If my laptop is charged, I unplug it and don't plug it back in until the battery is at 5%. We are going to be putting in a clothesline so I can hang up all the laundry to dry. I wash my hair every other day. I rarely blow dry my hair, if I need it dried I will wash it the night before and straighten it in the morning. I turn off the water to brush my teeth. I never leave lights on if I'm not in the room. We use natural light during the day so no lights are on. If I am on the computer I turn the television off.

I think if we all make one small change, it will lead into a big difference. Especially with prices soaring on so many things, anything we can do to save money and our planet means a lot to me and my family.

Happy Earth day and if you are doing anything to be green, let me know--I would love to hear what others are doing.

The Good Life

This weekend was awesome. We had such a blast. First off, it was my honey Leo's birthday--the big 31! I made him a carrot cake with a homemade cream cheese frosting. Want the recipe? Here it is:

For cake I used Duncan Hines carrot cake from a box (sooo moist and yummy!)

Frosting:

1 pack cream cheese, softened

1 stick of butter, softened

1 lb of powdered sugar

1 tsp (give or take) of vanilla

Combine cream cheese and butter with mixer. When smooth add powdered sugar and finally the vanilla. If you are like me and LOVE cream cheese frosting, simply double the recipe--you'll have plenty for leftover munching throughout the day ;)

We also had some really good friends come down from Alabama. They spent Saturday and Sunday here and let me tell ya, we had a blast! We did some shopping, ate some delicious ice cream at Marble Slab (the best ice cream!!) and also went to the National Park. We saw the alligators again which their 5 year old boy was ecstatic about! He was sooo excited and we were happy he had a nice time. I also did some shopping for some new clothes for myself. I am finally beginning to get my wardrobe up a little since having Bella. I have been losing weight so I am very excited about this! I have lost over 35 lbs since having her 6 months ago. Just a few more pounds to go ;)

I hope your week is fun and exciting! We are going to go to the park this week, it's in the 80's here. Have a blessed evening and enjoy the pics above. Isabella was in a new shorts outfit--a size 12 month, can you believe it?! She is growing up way too quick *tear*.

Isabella is a M.I.T. (Model in Training)

We had a wonderful time today getting her pictures taken. She was a natural (could it be from all the pictures mommy takes of her?) and it really seemed like she was enjoying herself. We bought probably way too many pictures, but you can never have too many pictures, right? I am posting a few of my favorites on here. I hope you enjoy them!

Have a blessed weekend!

Say Cheese!

Oh my goodness. I am sooo excited right now! Why do you ask? Because Isabella is FINALLY getting PROFESSIONAL pictures taken! Tomorrow!!! Her appointment is at 10:30 and I couldn't be happier. Can you tell :) I have a couple of dresses in mind. I am going to try one on her tonight. It is a bright green and white gingham dress with matching bloomers. On the bottom of the dress are some embroidered lady bugs in bright colors...too cute! It is summery and her flower hair bow matches perfectly. Cross your fingers that it fits her!

What's on your schedule today? We are going to the park, then shopping downtown and then maybe out to lunch. Isabella has a playdate today, so that will be nice for us to go and do something. The weather is beautiful today and we love being outside. I'll be bringing my camera to get a lot of pictures because we all know how camera happy I get.

Tomorrow is another busy busy day. We'll be getting Isabella's pictures taken and then doing some shopping for baby gifts and I want to get some cute cargo capri pants.

I'll be on later to post the pictures from our outting today. Have a blessed day!

She Sure Makes Momma Proud

Life to me isn't the big moments, but the little moments leading up to those big moments. There are many "big" events that take place in our lives, but really, it takes many many "small" moments to make these possible. Some examples: weddings-you have to meet that person, date that person, meet their family, talk about your dreams, hopes, desires. Then you get the wedding. Having a child-all of the things I just mentioned, and if you're like us, heartache. We suffered through one miscarriage and then it took nearly 2 years to conceive our miracle baby, Isabella. It took a lot of prayers, patience, tears and heartache to get where we are today. See how many small steps it took us just to be where we are today?

Isabella always makes me smile, laugh and soak in everything around me. She is just as happy playing with one of mommy's magazines or my phone as she would be with the newest toy. She loves me for who I am and what I believe in. So far I can do no wrong in her eyes. And you know what? I love her! I love her when she is happy, sad, mad, grouchy or laughing. I love seeing her smile light up her little face. I love wiping her tears away and telling her how much I love her. I love feeding her new foods for the first time and watching her little mind work and wonder what it is that mommy just gave her. I love teaching her new things. I love pushing her on the swings and listen to her shreik with happiness.

I'm not sure why I am feeling like I need to share all of this today. Anyone who knows us knows this already. I think one reason is it has really struck me that she is growing. And fast. The pictures above are of her pulling herself up and standing. Yes, she did that with no help! I can't believe how fast time is going. It seems like yesterday that I was in labor and then we were home and exhausted, tired and clueless. I *almost* feel like a pro at this ;) Leo used to tell me, "Hon, it'll come naturally, I promise. You will be a GREAT mommy".

And you know what? He was right.

Monday Already?!

Happy Monday to everyone! How was your weekend? Ours was pretty good. We got some more landscaping done and got the Jeep washed. We all enjoyed the spring weather, although it was cooler than it has been (which is good!).

Isabella pulled herself up to stand yesterday, I couldn't believe it! She is so strong and such a quick learner! I think we may get her ears pierced this weekend and also get her pictures taken. Hopefully we accomplish both! Some friends from Alabama are coming down on Saturday, so we'll need to get everything accomplished on Friday. Wish us luck!

Not much else is going on here this week. Pretty quiet and hopefully relaxing :) Our menu for the week is:

Monday-beef enchiladas, pinto beans

Tuesday-chicken lickin casserole, green beans

Wednesday-leftovers

Thursday-grilled chicken, potatoes and veggie

Friday-probably will make pizza...or have spaghetti (still undecided!)

Well, I need to get going, I have some things I want to get done. Enjoy the pictures of our silly little girl. Isn't she adorable?! She never ceases to make us smile and laugh, that's for sure! She is very spunky and outspoken :) The card is the card I made for Bella's aunt and my sister, Allie. She turns 4 in one week! I hope she loves the card :) Bye to you all and have a blessed week!

who never

It's Saturday...Yay!

Happy Saturday to you all! I hope everyone is doing well. Here is a quick update of the past couple of days since I have not written any posts in that long. Yikes! Where does all of my time go? If anyone has an answer for me, please, tell me!

Isabella is crawling more and more. She has a few different crawls. One is what I like to call, "the worm" (remember the dance?), another is the inchworm, which she doesn't do very much anymore (we all know how an inchworm moves, lol!) and the last is your typical baby crawl. She is adorable and such a fast learner. She is now loving getting into mommy's magazines, loves playing/terrorizing our cat (not sure which since Boo is the one that typically goes up to her and brings her play squirrel for Isabella to play with her....), she loves helping mommy do ANYTHING--taking out trash, carrying the mail, fold laundry...I must say she is QUITE the little helper. She is still shrieking very very loudly, but doesn't do it quite as often (yay!). She can also feed herself with her spoon which is a very cute thing to watch...although we don't let her do it that often yet :) She has become VERY attached to me, and doesn't care for being alone. She likes to get into everything, especially mommy's magazines! We are continuously baby proofing and picking things up that we think she may enjoy.

I hope everyone is doing well and have a great weekend!

Cloudy, Cloudy Days

I miss the sun. No really, I do. It has been pretty cloudy all week with a few light showers. Now we are supposed to get those horrible storms and I am a little nervous. Clouds make me just kinda *blah*, you know? I get a lot done, but no satisfaction from it. For example, today was my cleaning day. Usually I get pumped up and stuff, but no so much today. *Sigh* When will my sun come back?

I just had a whole paragraph written and it got deleted. I will take that as a sign to end here. *Laughing* Enjoy the pics above. Of course one of our beautiful daughter, the other is a picture of some flowers that are growing up front. I'm not sure what kind they are, but if you know leave me a comment, I would love to find out! And the last picture is a birthday card that I made. I hope you enjoy the pictures and have a good night.

My Daughter...The Faker

I "Crawl" the Line...

Singing some Johnny Cash songs...

Still singing :).....

What a cutie!

Isabella is one smart cookie. And one big faker! She does the funniest thing...especially for only being 6 months old. Her newest trick up her sleeve? Why, that would be coughing...but not a real cough, the fakest cough I have ever heard. And believe me, I know all about "fake" coughs ;)


This started some time ago, actually. She coughed a little and me being the over-protective mommy that I am, went running up to her and asked her very concerned, "Honey, you okay?" She, at that precise moment (and I stand by this), developed a glint in her eye and tucked that reaction from mommy somewhere in that active brain of hers. She coughed again. Again I asked her if she was okay....and this continued for a few more episodes.


She hadn't done this for quite some time....until today. Now, I will give her some credit. My allergies and sinuses are, well, making me miserable. If you remember from yesterday's post she and I went to the park. The wind was blowing and you could see different things (allergens perhaps?) flying through the air. Last night I began sneezing with a very runny nose. This morning when I woke up, I was miserable with a bad sinus headache and a runny nose...ugh! Anyhow, all day today, Bella will do this "cough" continuously and not as soon as she's done, she immediately looks at me, where I ask her if she's okay...and this just continues on and on...

And that, my friends, is why Isabella is now known as the "faker".

Beautiful Park Day

Isabella holding on and a little scared....

Shrieking and having fun being pushed...

Having a fun time swinging on the swings....

Today was such a beautiful day that Isabella and I decided we would venture to our new favorite park. We got there around 10:45 and it was already a warm, spring day. There were a few kids there when we got there, but we were lucky enough to get a baby swing for Isabella. She loved mommy pushing her and smiling and tickling her as she swung closer to me. After the swings we parked ourselves on a bench where we shared a snack of Cheerios (Bella's new favorite snack) and she drank some nice ice water from her sippy cup. Isabella kept trying to talk to the older kids, but they all ignored her :( Poor thing! She was getting so excited and patting mommy's legs and "talking" away to them, but they didn't do anything but give her a quick glance. I could tell she was a little confused why they weren't giving her a second thought, so mommy quickly started talking to her and tell her in a few weeks her fun aunts would play and talk and listen to her. :) After that we went back to the swings where some little girls were asking all sorts of questions about Isabella and talking to her. She was smiling at all of them and that made mommy happy.

Here is our menu for the week. Some of it may look similar to last week's but some things happened and we didn't follow the menu due to those circumstances...enjoy!

Monday; chili w/sour cream and cheddar cheese; strawberry shortcake

Tuesday: lasagna and green beans

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: fish fillet, mac and cheese and salad

Friday: grill out steaks and potatoes, corn

My Little Girl...

Isabella is such a sweet girl. I'm sure I've said it over and over again, but it's true! To prove this point, let me tell you a quick little story. Last night Bella and mommy were watching a Lifetime Movie Network show. It was about a woman who lost her baby and then proceded to kidnap another woman's child. At one point in the movie the baby was crying and crying. Bella heard this and sat up to watch the tv. She immediately started hitting my legs with her hands in excitement and cooing/talking to the baby! I called Leo into the room and rewound the part. Again, she got so excited and was talking to the baby! She did this each time we would rewind the part. How cute is that?! I just had to share that quick story of our sweetheart.

This weekend has been fairly quiet around here. Yesterday I made homemade toffee and made myself sick eating it! It was just sooo good I couldn't stop eating (and managed to make myself feel sooo guilty in the meantime!). We went to church early this morning and came home and have been relaxing.

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday and even a better week ahead. Enjoy the pictures above--they are of Bella this morning after church "chasing" and hollering at our cat :)

I Love Days Like This...

Have you ever had a day where you wish there were just more like it? I'm not saying I want everyday to be like today because then these days wouldn't be special. I just wish we had more days like this. What did we do for today to be so great? It started with us visiting our realtor (who is an amazing woman--she is the best!) to bring Isabella by for a visit. She hadn't seen Isabella in person yet, so we thought today would be a perfect day to bring her in for a short visit. We had a fantastic time and she told us where a beautiful park was downtown to take Isabella.

After we left her office we went to the Commissary on base to buy some diapers, fruits and veggies. Just some stuff that we wanted in the house and to snack on. The diapers, well, were for Isabella :) After our quick stop Leo took me to a fantastic little Mexican restaurant. It was sooo good! They brought our drinks in what I call "mini-pitchers" and our big-little (does that even make sense?!) sat in a highchair. She also ate some of mommy's bean and rice, which she loves!

We then drove back towards home since we were in another city and took Miss Bella Mella to the park. She had fallen asleep on the way towards the park and didn't even wake up when we got her out of the car. She was, at this point, exhausted. Leo and I walked around the park while I was carrying our sleepy head. The park was gorgeous! Flowers blooming everywhere, azaleas in full bloom (which I am determined to get some for our backyard--simply gorgeous), a wooden bridge with a stream running underneath and tropical type flowers, and the trees were gorgeous....tall, towering trees that you know have been there for a very very long time. Our sleeping beauty woke up and we took her to the little swings. Let me say, this was also her first trip to a park. Once in the swing, she was a little nervous w/her little arms shaking, but once she was in it for a little while she was squeeling (is that how it's spelled?! it looks totally wrong lol!!) and laughing. She LOVED it!

After we were done at the park we went to the beach which was right down the street. This, too, was a brand new adventure for our little girl. Once there she was captivated by the waves washing up to the shore. She would turn her head to watch the wave come up and quickly turn her head to watch it retract back into the Gulf. It was simply adorable and I am so mad that we didn't have our camera! I tried to have her stand up on the wet sand and let the wave wash up on her feet, but she immediately dismissed that idea. We did have a lovely time and I picked up a seashell that I want to paint on there today's date as a little token.

I hope you enjoy the pictures above. She's wearing the new headband I bought for her...adorable! I really want to start making her hair accessories and hope to make it to Hobby Lobby one of these days.

Have a wonderful, lazy weekend....we are supposed to have bad storms all weekend long, so we'll probably just cozy up at home. May you have a blessed night and I'll talk to ya'll tomorrow.

6 Months Old!

Wow, Isabella is 6 months old today and time has absolutely flown by! I cannot believe 6 months ago today I had almost given birth to the most amazing little girl! Isabella was born at 2:05 pm and was 20 1/2" long/7 lbs 3 oz. She is now 25 1/2" long and weighs 16.6 lbs....Wow!! Right now she is sitting up dumping shape blocks out of her toy and chewing on random toys of hers. She is such a big girl! I mean, really, sitting up and playing on her own?! Sigh...I have a feeling time will fly by as she grows up.

Sorry I haven't been on here the last couple of days. Because we have a satellite for internet service and it had been raining the last few evenings our internet was out! It drove me crazy because I couldn't post my menu or any new pics. That's why I am posting so early today just in case we get rainy weather tonight.

Before I forget, here is our menu for the remainder of the week:

Wednesday: homemade tacos w/lettuce, tomato, cheese and taco sauce; refried beans

Thursday: yummy pot roast with carrots and potatoes; green beans

Friday: homemade chili w/sour cream and cheddar cheese

And here is my cleaning list:

Wednesday: bedding washed, bathroom rugs washed, dust/windex entire house, litter box, laundry and clean both bathrooms

Thursday: iron, vacuum and anything else that looks like it needs to be cleaned :)

Leo and I have decided to join the neighborhood garage sale in May. I will be gone, but I hope to have everything sorted and priced before I leave for Missouri in May. Leo will be here to do it on his own, but I think he can handle it *laughing* We have a lot of things to sell and we could always use some extra money--who couldn't right?

And for all of you who love homemade items, whether they are hairbows, candles, art, cards, etc...there is a FANTASTIC website, "Etsy". I will be adding the link to my favorite sites on the righthand side of my blog. You MUST go and check this site out! I am even wanting to start doing some homemade things and sell them on the site. If I do decide to do that, I'll let you know, k?

Well, I need to go and move the laundry along. Enjoy the pictures above...for some reason she felt the need to have her tongue out for the pictures? Lol! She is my silly little girl. Have a wonderful, happy Wednesday! Oh-and Ashlie, I hope your ear infection gets better soon, sweetie!