Oh how cute she is!

Here are a couple of new pictures of Bel, hope you enjoy!

Sleep... Whats that?

Many people have said that you are lucky if you have a big baby, there are so many benefits. So yes we were blessed with a "big" girl, if you consider a 5 inch scar across your abdomen lucky, lucky if you see the arm strength we have gained. But why is it that people you talk to and books you read say that my big baby should have been sleeping through the night already. Well in our visit with the good Dr. last week I was told that Bel should not be eating in the middle of the night any more, not only that but she should be sleeping soundly all night.

Well we are on our way! I am no longer holding my princess until she falls asleep, we are putting her to bed and letting her fall asleep on her own. I am no longer getting up with my baby in the middle of the night, DM has taken on that task. First night was horrible! That is the most polite way to put it as DM ended up sleeping on her bedroom floor because she was waking up every hour. Last night was 1 million times better as she only woke up twice. It is hard to give up one of my most treasured parts about my relationship with my daughter. Those middle of the night meetings were just for us and now they are gone. I know that it is just part of her growing and becoming her own little person just like so many other things she has learned recently but it doesn't make it any easier.

On the bright side staying in bed for an entire night seems so new to me. I do not think I have stayed in bed all night since January of '07. What a difference it is to have a full nights rest! DM is helping her settle back in when she wakes so he now is learning why I love the snooze!

She is her daddy's daughter

After a long day following Lauren's baptism we came home and snuggled in for Big Brother. Our LO snuggled in with me as we waited for the show to start when she woke up and startled herself with a unhealthy sounding cough. The cough scared her so much that the tears immediately followed and caused the cough to get worse. I decided we needed to go out to the gym so she could see her daddy and calm down. This worked briefly but as we soon would discover it was going to be a long night. The sound was very similar to the night back in early December when she was diagnosed with Croup so we tried all the "tricks" the dr.'s had taught us to help her air ways return to normal.... unfortunately it didn't work as well this time. Bel came to bed with us and I held her upright most of the night which seemed to allow a bit of relief for her but we still had some attacks that caused some panic for her and us.

I had already made an appt. for after school for her but at about 3:00am enough was enough. I went on got a sub, wrote up lesson plans and called the 24 hour appt. line and asked for an early appointment. Thankfully there was a 10am with Dr. Mark! Well the good dr. saw us and has decided that our princess is in fact her daddy's daughter... asthma it is!

On top of that you may notice in the 2nd picture she has an orange band aid on her finger.. a little finger prick for the road. She thinks having a band aid is kind of neat which I guess helps out the situation.

Grandma's Girls!

The girls and their grandma after Lauren's baptism. Everyone had a wonderful day sharing the celebration of Lauren's entrance into the church. We ate, opened gifts, ate some more and everyone was ready for a nap... Maybe not the Pooky, but the little girls were all tuckered out!

Baptism Sunday

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

-Matthew 28:19,20

Best Friends and Good Times!

“The best way to keep your friends is not to give them away.” -Wilson Mizner

Sunday Fun!

A nice visit from Auntie Stacey and Uncle Doug (sharing a favorite auntie & uncle beverage) No the Dew is not open!


And her first trip to play at the park.

"Big" cousin weekend

This past weekend we were able to scoop up Ella for a little QT with us. We picked Ella up from Grandma & Grandpa's on Friday night after our follow up visit to the Vet with Karamia. We had dinner and back to our house for a sleep over. When we got home it was Bel's bed time but she had no desire to miss out on anything Ella was doing. So DM brought LO back downstairs to join in the late night cookie baking with myself and Ella. We mixed and ate some dough and put them in the oven...With very little time from taking them off the baking sheet pooky was ready to dive in to her cookie creations. Bel was in absolute awe of her "big" cousin and watched everything she did very carefully. Eventually it was off to bed for both girls and we followed shortly after.

"Is it good morning time yet?" asked our little blue eyed niece. With a groggy reply at 5:10 I had to tell her "no, not yet." About 40 minutes later it was me, Bel and Ella in bed and DM on the couch. Ella didn't last long in there either especially knowing uncle was out on the couch in the room with the toys and TV so off she went. An hour later the Bel and I joined them for pancakes, eggs, hash browns and juice. More importantly a reintroduction to Saturday morning cartoons. Ella was so excited to eat, watch cartoons and play that we stayed in our jammies until 10!

The next adventure was painting her Disney princess picture frame that she and DM had mixed the plaster for the night before. She painted it using all kinds of colors and sparkles! Jen & Nate picked Ella up and off to the water park they headed with baby Lauren.

Like Mother Like Daughter

DM thought it was cute to show LO's interest in my favorite thing!