The Prettiest Ladybug on the Block

She's so cute!

Being silly as always!

Munching on some Goldfish that she got next door

Her gorgeous costume--thank you, Mema and Papa!

Dear Isabella,

All in all the nite went well.

Really, really, well!

You were just a little grouchy before we started, but once we hung out at the neighbors and went to a couple more houses, you were a happy little girl.

You made friends with everyone, tried to go in some homes (remember, honey: "Stranger Danger!" I see we need some more practice with this one....).

You even met some pretty cool doggies.

One doggie, Chico, was so excited to see you that he toppled you over in all of his excitement!

After all, the prettiest ladybug on his block was at his front door!

You were okay and really happy once Chico brought over a toy for you to play with him.

We went to five houses and that was perfect.

When we came home you got to munch on some Goldfish and play outside with us.

It was a perfect Halloween and we are so happy you had such a fun day.

Happy Halloween, honey!

We love you!

Total Sucker.

Hello.

I'm Chelle.

Which is aka "total sucker".

Oh, you didn't know that?

Well, Isabella did.

And she still does.

Leo knows this, too.

As he is the one who came up with this new name for me.

You may be thinking why.

This is why:

The time: Every nite, 7:30-8'ish.

The location: Isabella's crib

What's thrown down: Momma and Daddy lay Miss Bella down. No biggie. Give her kisses. She's happy. May play the wave game (which, by the way, is so.much.fun! I love my little girl. And I LOVE her sense of humor). It's all good.

Next scene: 20 minutes have passed. Isabella is up talking, giggling, playing in her crib. Total sucker (me) goes in. Bella gets excited. Gives momma a few claps and happy hollers. Momma is so struck by the lack of exhaustion that she decides that Miss Bella gets to come out and play.

This continues until Bella starts getting grouchy.

And fussy.

And mean.

Then total sucker (me) realizes I should have just let her stay where she was happy. And more quiet.

I am now trying to break this "game".

Beginning tomorrow....

Gonna Spread Some Love....

Patrice from Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman recently gave me an award.

Thank you, sweet Patrice! Do you have any idea how you just made my week?

I know I have a few readers out there. I know I have a few commenters out there.

And I love you guys for it! So much so I am going to pass this award on to some of you. I wish I could give ALL of my faithful readers an award. Maybe I could create an award to give to everyone? Hm. Now that's a thought...

Anyway (why is it I always get so sidetracked when writing? Maybe just to show that my brain is always going in a million different directions....?), as with any other award there are some rules. Here are the rules for the Smile Award:

Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude. Check! I almost always am cheerful.
2. Must love one another. I adore my readers!
3. Must make mistakes. Are you kidding me?! Mistake is my middle name....
4. Must learn from others. I have learned sooo much from my blog friends.
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world. I try to be positive!
6. Must love life. I LOVE my life...wouldn't have it any other way
7. Must love kids. Check! I love love LOVE kids!

These are the rules for The Smile Award:
1. The recipient must link back the the award’s creator
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

So here is the hard part. I can only pick 5. (But like I said, if anyone wants to help create an award I will give it to each and every one of you. Cross my heart!). Here are the peeps that I have chosen:

1) Amanda from Lifelong Playdate

2) Laural from Mamasphere
3) Leslie from Got Kids, Need Valium

4) Beth from A Real Anti-Supermom

5) Shannon from A Crafty Mom's Blog



My second award is from Laural over at Mamasphere. Thank you, Laural! She is hilarious! She ALWAYS makes me laugh and not in the quiet way...but the laughing so loud and hard my husband looks at me like I may be losing it or so hard tears coming streaming from my eyes...good times, good times!....Anways, her blog is one of my faves. Promise me you'll go over and give her blog a good reading through.

This is the Proximade Award. To translate from Portuguese to English, it means:"This blog invests and believes, the proximity." Meaning, that blogging makes us 'close'- being close through proxy. How awesome is that??

"They all are charmed with the blogs, where in the majority of its aims are to show the marvels and to do friendship; there are persons who are not interested when we give them a prize, and then they help to cut these bows; do we want that they are cut, or that they propagate?"

Then let's try to give more attention to them! So with this prize we must deliver it to 8 bloggers that in turn must make the same thing and put this text.

Here are my 8:

1. Krystyn from Really, Are You Serious?.
2. Susan from Fordy Days and Nights.
3. Heather from A Boy, A Girl, and A Pug.

4. Elaine from The Miss Elaine-ous Life.

5. McMommy from The McMommy Chronicles.

6. Amanda from Not So Extraordinary, But Always Exciting Life.

7. Becks from Little Miss Pearsonality.

8. Jennifer from Life with the Burk Family.

Growling, Dipping and Tay-Tu

Isabella really knows how to make me laugh.

Not just a giggle, but she honestly cracks me up!

Here are just a few of the cute things she is up to now....

**She growls.

If you try to give her a bite (rather than let her feed herself)? She growls.

If Daddy tries to pick her up out of Momma's arms? She growls.

If you don't give her a sip out of whatever you're drinking? You guessed it--she growls.

**We always tease Daddy and say, "No-no, Daddy!".

Now anytime I say "No-no!" to her or the cat, she answers with this:

"Daddy!"

Good job, Bella!

**I forgot to mention this.

At her birthday party she would say "Tutu/Tay-tu" as she opened each gift.

Translation: thank you.

She is such a sweetheart.

**She loves to dip her fingers in my coffee mug every single morning.

She will not drink out of the mug, just dips her fingers in, tastes the coffee and repeats.

We only let her repeat it once. Then we cut her off.

Fall is Here! And More Ramblings....

* Yes, you read the title right....fall has arrived! In full, blustery force (whenever I say blustery I think of Winnie the Pooh.....). It's wonderful. I am baking pumpkin bread (one loaf for us and the other for my brother at college), pumpkin pie candle is lit, long sleeves on, jackets on when we are outside. I. Love. This.

* We watched The Strangers last nite. We were scared. Very scared. I am still spooked. Anytime a car drives by I peek out the window. The wind has been blowing so hard it blew off my fall sign hanging up. Lets just say that freaked me out. If you are in the mood for a scary movie this Halloween week--watch it! And then let me know how scared you are....

* I went to the doctor on Friday. I have a sinus infection. Which explains the fever for 2 weeks. And the horrible headaches. Hopefully my meds will clear this up fast! Thank you ALL for the well wishes--you touched my heart.

* Isabella is all better. I think she may have had a cold or something. Either way she is fever free now which makes me feel even better that she feels back to her old self.

* Have you tried the new Puffs with the Vicks in them? Ohmygoodness. I love Vicks. And these are my new favorite--- just in time for sick season. Thank you, Puffs!

Timing

Timing is everything.

I have always believed this.

We were supposed to go and see my Grandpa this weekend.

My Grandpa who is doing his best in fighting lung cancer.

Of all the weeks to be sick, Isabella has a fever. I have a fever. Again.

We were planning on seeing my Mom, Dad and little sisters as they were going to go there, too.

Now we don't get to see anyone.

My Grandpa's health is so much more important to me than my selfishness in wanting to see everyone.

I don't think I could live with myself knowing that I intentionally set out to Indiana to see him while knowing we weren't healthy....which would compromise his health. I just. can't. do it.

Our next chance to see him will be Thanksgiving weekend.

Here's hoping that timing will be on our side in November....

Controversy....

I usually steer clear of anything that could be of controversy. However, I just had to see others' opinion on what I watched today. Maybe I jumped the gun too quick in my own opinion or what you think may have me open my eyes and see his side...

I'm watching Dr. Phil as I type this post....and I am disgusted beyond belief.

A young man from Michigan had a girlfriend. She told him she couldn't get pregnant and was on birth control. (has he never heard that the only 100% effective birth control is abstinence?!)

Guess what happened.

She got pregnant.

He has tried to go to court twice to not have to pay child support and get the child out of his life forever (the court threw it out each time). Why? Because he feels it's in his "best interest" at this moment in his life to not be a dad; that he was tricked into being a dad, that it's not fair that he has to pay child support, that she should have placed the child under adoption.

He has never met his child.

He has never held his child.

He has no intention to be a father to her. Ever.

In my opinion?

He should have refrained from having sex if he wasn't willing to be a father/pay child support.

Maybe he should have also worn a condom. Why is it always up to the woman to be on birth control??

When will people start accepting responsibility for their actions?

I feel bad for this child.

Really bad.

What do you all think?

Do you agree with him that he isn't being treated fairly by the legal system and that because he feels at this time he doesn't want to be a dad that he shouldn't have to pay child support?

Or do you agree that if he didn't want to become a dad then he shouldn't have had sex in the first place?

I am so annoyed by this guy. Seriously.

Leo pays child support monthly. So I understand the whole child support side....

I don't mean to sound harsh....but just how this guy presented himself really got under my skin. Basically that it was this woman's own fault that she got pregnant. Ridiculous. I better turn off the show before I get too worked up!

The Watch

I had an entire post written out about my day.

It was a hard day.

A tiring day.

A day where I just want a glass of wine, a warm blanket, and peace. Even for only 10 minutes and I would be happy.

However, while writing that post, I started writing a sentence and it hit me.

Write about that, is what my heart told me to do.....

Today Isabella had to get a flu shot, bloodwork drawn, and her one year checkup.

As we were waiting for her flu shot and she was all sticky, slobbery from the sucker they gave her at the Lab, she fell.

And hard.

She was sobbing uncontrollably.

She was crying so hard it hurt me to hear.

I held her and rocked her until she calmed down.

She was looking around and peeking at all of the elderly people around us.

They would talk to her, she would give a shy smile and turn around to act like she wasn't actually peeking at them.

It was around this time that she noticed him.

An older man.

Right next to us.

He had a beautiful watch on--that's what caught her eye to him (I think).

She reached out with one little finger to touch the metal.

I apologized to him and moved her hand away.

We were sitting for awhile longer and I would look down to her.

She was peeking at him every few moments. I turned my eyes casually to see if he noticed.

He did.

I caught him giving her a grandfatherly wink.

She grinned up at him with her toothy smile, dried tears on her cheeks.

He gave her a smile back.

He then reached out his arm with the watch her way.

She touched it sweetly, grinned at him and he grinned back.

It was there at that moment that I felt compassion for this man.

He was a veteran, retired from the US military and had a kinder heart than most people that I have encountered whom I did not know on some sort of personal level.

He made her day by reaching out to her.

And in a way he reached out to me, too.

I don't think I will ever forget his face, his wink, that watch.

And I want to thank him.

Thank you for serving our country.

Thank you for having a kind heart.

And thank you for reaching out to us.

You have truly touched me.

A Fun (Sorta Kinda) Day at the Park

Today I decided to take Isabella to the park.

It's gorgeous out. No clouds, light breeze, didn't get above 75 degrees.

In other words, the weather. was. perfect.

"Perfect Park Day" was declared.

Shoes on. Sippy cup full of ice water. Camera in my hand.

I just knew fun would be taken to a whole 'nother level.

But Isabella did not.

She pouted.

She screamed.

She tried to even force out tears. But due to the real lack of any problem all that came out was a "cowardly lion" type of voice...very strange, very funny.

Threw a few tantrums.

And by few I mean at least three. Three is where I draw the line. I start to lose count and before you know it we are packed up in the car on the way home.

I thought she would have fun. She had a temperature yesterday and took a three hour nap this morning.

Maybe the three hour nap should have been my clue that the park was just not going to be a fun time...

I did, however, manage to get a few pictures.

The good and the bad.

PS--please don't tell her I posted the tantrum ones. She wants everyone to think of her as a darling, sweet, non-fit-throwing one year old. Ahem. I think we all know by now that she has her, um, moments....although she is one of the cutest tantrum throwers. Ever.

From the Top of My Head

* Woke up this morning, made Bella breakfast. It was BEAUTIFUL outside so I opened all of the windows. Wiping up breakfast when I hear the LOUDEST barking of my life. Went to the front window where our cat looks like she had a mini stroke....she was frozen in shear terror....and saw it. A bassett hound. I called my sister (I was so stoked by the way--I love bassett hounds) and she told me that I must take a picture of him. Except then she told me not to--we figured that if his owners came looking for him and we were all outside taking family pictures with their dog....well....that would be a little awkward....(he has left our house, by the way. After a few naps on our front porch furniture....it looks like he got some energy to find his way home....)

* I bought some mums yesterday. So excited! They are gorgeous and it feels even fall-ier around here.

* Speaking of fall, it is now only in the high 70's. Gorgeous weather....finally! I made a pot of homemade chili last nite. Bella loved it and said, "Mmmmmm....mmmmm....mom-mom". She was a little um, gassy, last nite in her sleep though. Is it bad that I was giggling each time she did it?

* Isabella now calls her dada "daddy". So sweet.

* She still calls me mom. Or mom-mom.

* Short story time: we have a satellite provider. We live somewhat in the country. When we moved here a year ago no cable networks would come out this far--that is why we have crappy satellite. Anyhow, due to our location we couldn't receive any local channels. We rigged some oh-so-fabulous 1980's rabbit ears in order to get ABC and FOX. We applied for a waiver last year for CBS and NBC. The networks denied them. We reapplied this past week. We now have East Coast CBS--however we have to pay a monthly fee to have it. NBC's is still pending. How ridiculous is it that in the year 2008 this type of crap is still going on?! We have one more year until our contract is up. Then we will be getting rid of our satellite for tv and our satellite for the internet (which is so. freaking. slow. I hate it!!). Just wanted to gripe a little bit about that....

* We are driving up to Indiana to see my Grandpa in a few days. So glad we can go and see him--plus (bonus time) my Mom, Dad and my little sisters will be there as well. Be on the lookout for some majorly cute pictures of Isabella with her fun aunts!

*Once again I am behind on my blog reading and commenting. I promise I will be all caught up. Again. I was just in a funk last week....I was sick for a few days and the weather was rainy. Yuck.

* Due to my bumminess, Leo surprised me with a trip to Barnes and Noble last Friday. It was exactly what the doctor ordered, let me tell ya. I bought Nicholas Sparks' new book, The Lucky One, and then finished out my trip with a pumpkin spice latte. Pure bliss.

The Regifter

Isabella has always been wonderful at sharing.

She loves to share the following: combs, anything worth chewing on, the remote (thanks, honey!), my cell phone, her toys, her slide with her friends.

As you can see she is a sweetheart who will share any and everything.

Including her food.

Her latest venture into sharing is to chew up her food and then put it on her tray.

She then will pick it up and try to give it to me. Or to Leo.

Almost like we didn't just see it chewed and spit out.

It's like regifting--sounds good at the time, but then it just doesn't work.

I'm hoping this doesn't scare off any potential friends....and hopefully this stage will be outgrown before having to make friends....

Bella's Birthday Bash (Wordless Wednesday)

Found!

I could have written the following:

WANTED: Great pair of jeans. Must not be too tight. Must not be too baggy. Must not expose a plumber's crack. Not too expensive. Not too cheap. Must. Be. Perfect.

After searching high and low, I have shut down this want ad.

Why?

Because I found the pair.

The exact pair that I knew in my head always existed, but I just hadn't met them yet.

We met on Sunday at The Gap.

Essential fit.

Not too high of a price tag.

Made me feel fabulous.

I must now thank the designers from The Gap that created the perfect pair of jeans for me.

Because with these jeans? I feel like one hot momma! (Well, sort of....don't know if I would ever call myself that....lets just say that they make me feel good....really good....)

Dear Fall...

Dear Fall,

Where are you?

Have you forgotten about me? Down here in Mississippi?

I have read about people turning on their heat.

I have seen people bundled up in their warm, comfy fall clothes.

What about us?

I am still cranking down my air conditioning like it's summertime.

I sweat (only sometimes) when I drink my fave Starbucks drink....a nice, hot pumpkin spice latte. Topped with a mountain of whipped cream. Yum.

I put on jeans yearning for a cold--or even a cool--front to come blowing in. Instead I am greeted with sweaty legs stuck to my jeans. Classy, no?

You are my favorite season. Ever.

Not too warm....not too cold.....just right.

So, Fall, if you are reading this?

Please come my way. I will not complain about cool, crisp mornings. I will not complain when I have to turn on my heat.

Instead I will embrace you with a warm cup of homemade hot chocolate, a warm pot of chilli, and if you're extra nice and come earlier?

I may treat myself to that warm, fuzzy pair of slippers.

All my love and dedication to you,
Chelle
Your #1 Fan

Can't Skip a Day Without Eating Something Weird Around Here....

She did it again, friends....

No, she didn't eat dog poop.

No, she didn't eat an acorn.

No, she didn't eat toilet paper (although she tries to all.the.time).

This had, lets say, much more value to it.

A lot more.

For Isabella's birthday she received a birthday check from her Great Grandpa.

My Grandpa who is fighting lung cancer.

My Grandpa that remembered her birthday amidst all he is battling right now.

I cried when I saw he sent her a card.

I cried more when I saw that he had sent her a check.

I called him to thank him.

Isabella told him "tutu" which is her way of saying thank you.

Fast forward to Wednesday morning.

I saw the check on the table. Leo was supposed to take it to base to deposit in our savings account that we have there.

I rolled my eyes at his forgetfulness (I swear the man forgets something almost every single day. Today? He forgot his phone....'nuff said).

I was sitting at the kitchen table on the laptop. I was getting annoyed with our internet provider....I could barely get on the internet yesterday.

Isabella was playing with some books by me. No biggie.

After I was done even trying to connect to the internet I went and got her clothes. I was singing to the music on the radio. The sun was filtering into our kitchen.

I got a wave of "todayisgoingtobeagreatdayicanjustfeelit" over me.

Then I saw something on the floor.

The birthday check. My old wave disappeared and got replaced with "holy$&!&shejustatepartofherbirthdaycheck!!!"

I called my mom in somewhat of a panic. She-in between cracking up-told me to just call Grandpa--he'll get a kick out of it.

I called him. He did get a kick from it. He laughed reminding me we were just talking about how now that she is a walker she'll eat more and more things.

Which is oh so true.....

On the plus side?

She is getting a new check. In tact. With no teethmarks and no missing pieces.

The other thing?

At least I didn't have to call poison control this time....

WW...Done in Bella Fashion

A Little Bit of This....and a Little Bit of That....

* I had to call Poison Control on Monday. Now, before you panic, it wasn't anything extremely horrible, but after consulting my BFF Doctor Google, I decided to call. Why? Because Isabella ate part of an acorn (go ahead and say it....that girl eats anything!).... To be fair it wasn't even half of a half of a half. But when I saw they could be poisonous...well, I freaked! The woman was very kind and told me that unless she ate A LOT of acorns more than likely my little one would be okay. She called us back in a few hours to make sure she was okay. Which she was. Shew!

* This past weekend was amazing. After doing Isabella's pictures we went to....wait for it....Target! I found the cutest kelly green and pink striped cardigan. I fell in love with it. It was also on clearance which was awesome. Isabella got a book and then we got some food items. After Target we ate dinner at Panera Bread. Ohhh...I love Panera. We have some Panera's where I grew up and I love it! It was a special day and a simple day. Life is good.

* We watched Lars and the Real Girl. I loved the movie. It was a sweet story line and I love movies that aren't so mainstream. It was simple and made me happy. If you haven't seen it, I say watch it. And I hope you love it as much as I did.

* Leo and I bought Skip-Bo last week. We now have nightly card games. Usually we do our own thing, but lately I've missed doing things with him. A lot. So we now try to play a game, watch a movie, work outside together. As a family. Again, life is good.

* Our cell phone bill this month is ridiculous. It's over $300!! Turns out awhile back we lowered our plan b/c we had SO many rollover minutes it was funny. Yeah, we weren't laughing last nite when we got that slap in the face. Looks like we will be upping our plan once again. Grrrr....

* The outfit Bella is wearing in her pics is from Target. Have I mentioned how much I puffy heart Target?

* The bow Bella is wearing is something that I made her. I love making her bows! It's a lot harder than I thought it would be, but at the same time it relaxes me. Plus I save a ton of money from making them myself rather than buying in a boutique somewhere.

* Isabella's birthday bash is this upcoming Saturday. A lot of Leo's family will be coming in town starting on Friday. We can't wait to see them! It will be nice to have a fun, relaxing day filled with more yummy cake and ice cream.

* Leo bought me the new charge adapter for our laptop. Our previous one was destroyed by an unnamed little girl....it was my fault that she got ahold of it, but I have been really shook up by NOT having my laptop. Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but once you have a laptop...well, going back to your desktop is not the same. Trust me on this one.

More One Year Pics....

Isabella's One Year Pics

I did it....

I took all of Isabella's one year pictures by myself.

I really like a lot of them--although it was a lot harder doing it on my own....especially since she can walk everywhere.

We went to a botanical garden in Mobile which was so relaxing and beautiful. She did such a great job!

If you enlarge the pics you can see an owie on her nose...she managed to do that as we were backing out of the driveway!

Hope you like them and I didn't rearrange any so that (mom) you can click and enlarge.

Enjoy!

The Big O-N-E

Dear Isabella (aka Bella Mella, Bella, Izzy, Bell Mell),

Happy one year birthday, sweetheart! I cannot believe one year has arrived already.

You know how Momma always tells you that time flies when you're having fun?

I can say from this past year that it has, it truly has!

I knew you were going to be a girl. I knew it! Momma had what I like to call, 'Momma instinct' (so remember that one in the future...I'll always know what you're up to....).

I loved everything about your first year. Breastfeeding, bottle feeding, seeing your first smile, hearing that first hearty laugh that I know all too well (hey, Papa, remember how you made her laugh and laugh? That was funny!), seeing you hold your head and neck up, sitting up alone, cruising, dancing, teething, eating baby cereal at Mema and Papa's, eating baby food, eating grown up food, hearing your first words and walking.

I loved it all, honey.

Because of you I wake up every morning happy to have you here in this world. Happy that I somehow got the best.baby.girl.ever! (Wait, are you still a baby?! Or a toddler?! Well, in my eyes you are still my baby, m'kay?)

Because of you I try to be the best person that I can be. The best Momma that I can be. The best role model that I can be.

I have also learned some valuable lessons from your first year that I want to pass on to you for when you are a Momma:

1) Never turn your back--even for a second--on a baby on a bed. Never.

2) Never put a dog in their crate after pooping on the living room floor BEFORE cleaning said poop up. You will be in for a horrible surprise.

3) Never let a baby think that the remote control, cell phone, keys, calculator are toys. Because they are not. And then when you try to tell a certain little one no....well, lets just say things will get ugly. Real ugly.

4) Never let others tell you how to raise your child. This is your time to live and learn--others have done it and now you can do it. Example: you would only take naps being held. You would also only sleep at nite if you felt someone next to you. Everyone would tell me how bad that was. I let it roll off my back because in my heart I knew someday you would be ready. And you are now. You are a great sleeper and no longer need me (did anyone see my eyes fill up with tears? Because they did....).

5) Always dance with your little one. You and I love to dance. In fact, when you hear certain songs on Noggin you come up to me with your arms open and ready. I drop everything to dance with you, my sweet girl, everything.

6) When you prepare for your baby's arrival you will say such non-sense as: 'When MY baby is here I will NEVER go a day without showering. I will NEVER have my baby cry in public. I will NEVER allow myself to go out in public without makeup.' Because guess what...you will most likely do a majority of those things that you said you would never do....and you won't even care.

7) Always keep reading and read to your little one(s). Knowledge is power my dear and reading is a great way to gain knowledge. You are a bookworm now (just like me) and I am hoping you will keep that fantastic trait and pass it on.

So, my sweet little Bella Mella, on this first birthday I want you to know that I love you. I care for you. And I will always be here for you. To laugh with you, to dry your tears, to mend that broken heart, to hold you when you need a hug.

We have so much to look forward to in our journey called life and I am looking forward to every single second of it.

Love always and forever,

Momma (or as you love to call me, 'mom')

A trip down memory lane....