Christmas 2007

Bella and her zebra from Santa this video is a little out of order, but didn't want you to miss it.


We hope everyone had a great Christmas! It was wonderful having Bella's 2nd Christmas, she still wasn't sure what was going on most of the time, but she loved the tissue paper and we can't wait for next year when there will be 4 of us and Bella will understand a little more. A lot happened since the last post, so I'll start from the beginning. We started our week off learning how to open the doors, yes Bella is tall enough to reach the knobs hard to believe she's grown that much in 14 months. We also learned how to unscrew caps off of lotion, which was really exciting for mommy considering there was lotion, then sunscreen and then liquid conditioner everywhere.
She had her holiday party at school and came home with her first art project...her hand print in plaster...plus frosting from the cookies they made! She also went down the big slide by herself at school. She is too funny...she now knows the sign for "milk" and "more" so it has helped knowing what she wants. We are so glad she has great teachers. Next was onto Nana's house after the party so I could pick up some pictures for the scrapbook I made my grandparents. She got so excited with the tree and then decided it was time to play the piano...she looks so grown up sitting there.
On Sunday we went to my aunt's house for all of us to eat homemade Mexican food (our long lasting tradition)....yummy! While I was finishing up the scrapbook...daddy thought Bella should wear her Santa hat.
She wasn't sure about the presents, but loved taking the tissue paper out of the bags, so we just kept filling an empty bag with more paper and it kept her busy for awhile.
She LOVED Abby, my aunt's lab...I'm not sure Abby felt the same way since Bella wouldn't leave her alone and kept snuggling and laying all over her.
Christmas Eve we went to church and Bella went to the nursery
Christmas Day, Bella woke up and was so excited to see her zebra, so she hopped on and played for awhile. Then we had breakfast and opened the rest of her presents...her pooh bear car and her shapes cookie jar
She also helped dad empty his stocking and then she stole his york candies.
Later we went to my parent's house and had Tur-Duck-in (Yes that would be a chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey). Bella got a giant monkey chair, although she wasn't very interested in opening presents by that point she did have fun with her dishes. Hope everyone had a great holiday and a safe new year.

crazy week

What a week...I got the camera out and of course had a great week of pictures. Since I took off Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to study (and relax), I had a great time with Bella before and after school. Here are pictures to document our week...

On Wednesday, she insisted on wearing her bear backpack all morning, while playing peek-a-boo behind her door. Closing and opening her door is a big thing right now.Friday night, we figured it was a great time for christmas pjs and hat! Okay, she wasn't too thrilled with the hat, but I thought it was too cute, so I distracted her and let her play with the tree and ornaments.

Today the three of us headed to the mall...best time to christmas shop - 9 am on a Sunday morning - it was completely empty. We saw Santa...no smiles in the picture, but no screaming either! I thought this was adorable, Joel and Bella holding hands going into the mall...so of course I had to take a picture.

Tonight we finally got to hang out with the Oestreichs! Bella hadn't seen Logan since his birthday in September, so it was so much fun watching them play together. Here is Logan and Bella this year in their pjs...

...and this was Bella and Logan last year in their pjs. How much they've grown in a year.
Sharing toys and holding hands...ahhh...well it was a lucky shot because most of the time they didn't want to share.

It's so hard to believe how much they've grown and aren't babies anymore :( This is playtime before they got into pjs.

PJs & Great-grandparents 68th Anniversary

Well I started the week playing in a suitcase with mom's shoes. This replaced the entertainment of going through mom and dad's bathroom drawers while mom got ready for work. It was followed up by eating my first Christmas cookie in my "I Love Santa" PJs. Then last night after I took a second nap and woke up at 5 (I'm usually in bed by 5:30 or 6) I was ready to run around and watch the Polar Express (well about 15 minutes of it) then I ran around some more.

I love mommy's shoes...and sitting in the suitcase.

Eating my Christmas cookie

Watching the Polar Express Today was exciting because we celebrate my great-grandpa and great-grandma Shotton's 68th wedding anniversary. I got to wear my pretty red Christmas dress and walked around meeting a lot of people...I was of course the hit of the party :). Here are a few pictures of the event...

My party dressMaking faces with Uncle Ryan
Hanging out with Steph, while Uncle Chad made me laugh

Great-grandpa & Great-grandma Shotton...smooching after all these years!

3 months and counting

As time is flying by so is my pregnancy. I had my 12 week check up today (I know I'm a week off and will be 13 weeks tomorrow), but everything went well and the baby had a strong heart beat.

13 weeks - Fingerprints have formed on the baby's fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. The baby is almost 3 inches long and weighs nearly an ounce.

Getting in the holiday spirit

It's hard to believe it's december and christmas is around the corner. Joel got the tree up and was too cute trying to decorate it with Bella. I was studying and they knocked to see if I wanted to help decorate. Joel and the holiday station on and decorations everywhere. Bella of course helped empty the boxes and found some beads which were the most fun...the actually entertained her for almost an hour. She wasn't too excited that the tree was in the "kennel" and she couldn't take the ornament off, but we figured it was safer for everyone in the house. Papa and Nana stopped by before heading to the office christmas party to bring Bella presents from New York. Bella loved the paper in the bag and her new snowman slippers, but the fur on the dress and the hat she didn't know to fight with it or eat it.

Since we didn't know what blogging was until earlier this year, I though I would put up pictures from last year. Bella is so tiny.

Why is the tree inside the kennel?

Beads are lots of fun!!!
"helping" decorate the tree
Oh my pretty dress and slippers (no they were not bought to go together)

Thanksgiving

Home Sweet Home. We are back from our trip to Indiana and Ohio for Thanksgiving/Early Christmas. What a fast trip. Flying with a mobile toddler ended up being extremely challenging. We thought we'd fly through the night and Bella would sleep on the way...WRONG! Bella was awake the entire time until we started to descend, but then she woke up and fell back asleep around 2:30 am when we had just reached the outskirts of Indy on the way to Ohio. Needless to say...mama jen was exhausted. The trip back was a lot better, but I still don't plan to be on a plane for a long time. Bella had fun seeing all the family even though it was a quick trip. Here are some pictures from our weekend.

We had to go outside in the freezing weather for a few minutes, so Bella could wear her fuzzy jacket (even though she couldn't really see out of it)

Sitting on Great-grandpa's lap...while Dean tried to hug Bella
Bella got a bear backpack from Auntie Miriam and Uncle Shawn. It has a strap so she can't wonder too far without one of us
She looked so cute in her vest that Nana and Papa T got her, even though she didn't like it at first and tried to eat the fur...the keys ended up being a distraction so I could get a picture.
Snuggling up with Auntie.
Cousins Christin, Tony and Dean gave Bella cars that she loved to play with great-grandpa.

The big game of the season

As Joel would say..."of course THE Ohio State University beat Michigan". The family was all decked out in our Buckeye gear (although Bella napped with Nana through 3/4 of the game and I was at the office working until the 4th quarter). We're not sure what we'll do if ASU wins their next two games which will mean OSU vs ASU in the Rose Bowl....Bella may have to wear ASU pants with her OSU jersey (although I don't think dad is going to let that happen).

Needed Prayer for Monday

After a month of an ear infection that won't seem to go away, Bella is having tubes put in on Monday. We met with the specialist today and she is scheduled early Monday morning. She will be under for about 10 minutes and then home to take a nap for the day. That's all the recovery the doctor says she'll need. He also said that she will be fine to fly to see the family and that her ears will feel less pressure than Joel and mine. Please keep us in your prayers as I am already anxious for the surgery.

Boots and Swings

I know two posts in the same weekend....crazy!

Anyway, the thing I love about Bella still being so young, is that I can dress her up in crazy things and she doesn't care. This morning we were sitting around the house and Bella loves to play in her shoes, so I decided it would be a good time to see if the riding boots Papa T and Nana bought fit....and they did, sort of. I couldn't get them zipped to the top due to Bella being a little bigger than most babies her age, but she loved walking around in them all morning. Here are some pictures and a video of her.

The second thing we did today was go to the park by Nana and Papa's house. Joel was visiting with a friend from law school who was in town, so Bella and I loaded up the car after her nap and went in search of swings. We found them and she loved them. We also found a crocodile to ride and wood chips to play in. Here are a few pictures and a video of her on her first swings.

She loved the swings.

We stopped by Nana and Papa's house and played in the grass barefoot. She was too adorable running around chasing Nico in the grass.

Busy Weeks

I just have to start by saying how immensely busy these past two weeks have been. Joel started work and is gone most of the week, and Bella absolutely loves "school". I am so blessed that she has such a great teacher ("miss hazel") and the transition was more than easy. However, I was reminded of how exhausting it is to be with a toddler all day long earlier this week. It had been awhile since it was just Bella and I and so her ear infection and getting 4 back teeth earlier in the week kept her home...and wore me out. I could blame the pregnancy, but honestly that kid doesn't stop, so after all of my hesitation about putting Bella in daycare I learned that it is a great place for her to run around and have someone else chase her and for mom to have a break (even if it is at the office). She has also grown being there. She talks/rambles on and on when she gets in the car, she eats her lunch and snacks at school which has helped her eat adult table food at home, they also teach sign language which has helped communicate with her, she also loves to clap and dance since they sing a lot at school, so now she moves up and down to music at home, but the best is the fact that she has started to mimic what we say. Today she said "please" (peas) and "thank you" as demonstrated in the video below (well we got the thank you on camera). I also got diaper and juice out of her today.



Here are some pictures from the past two weeks. I'll do anything to keep her entertained, so she helped daddy with the laundry last weekend by hanging out in the hamper.
I went shopping for pants for her and got her a hat for Thanksgiving; however, I believe she is going through a growth spurt this week. She gained 1/2 pound since her check up a few weeks ago and has been eating nonstop all week (which is strange for her) and then she fell asleep on the way home yesterday from daycare (about 4:45) and didn't wake up until 7:30 this morning and then took two 2 hour naps and was in bed again at 6...so my point is that all the pants I just bought her probably won't fit next week. Hope this next baby is a girl because I have a lot of clothes that Bella never or hardly wore. Anyway we're ready for Ohio at Thanksgiving.
Bella also enjoys emptying out my purse and her diaper bags. Joel can't figure out why I let her do it, but she's entertained for a 30 minutes doing it.

Finding a Hershey kiss in my purse.
She has to be like daddy...and wear a matching head band. This was today as they were getting ready for the big game, which turned into the big disappointment....hey maybe OSU will play ASU at the Rose Bowl...that would be an interesting family dynamic.
Well I couldn't leave out the news for the baby in the belly. Right now it's all about Bella but soon it will be about her and her sibling...good thing she plays well with her friends at school. Anyway, I had my first doctor's appointment Friday and everything looks good. I go back in 4 weeks and it's hard to believe that my 1st trimester will be over at that point. Things are so busy that I forget I'm pregnant sometimes...except when I can hardly keep my eyes open in the afternoon or look down at my belly that is starting to show (here's hoping to not as big of a baby as Bella was). Well, sorry this one was so long...just a lot to catch up on. Hope everyone is doing great. Lots of Love.

Happy Halloween and Bella's First Day at "School"

Happy Halloween from our Bella BEE. I just had to post these tonight because she was the most adorable little BEE for Halloween. We (I) carved her little pumpkin...she could have cared less but she loved playing/eating the top/stem. She didn't last long after day care so we got home at 6 saw daddy and went to bed. We did have one trick or treater (our only tricker or treater) who was also a bee (however bella was cuter) maybe next year we'll have two...crazy we have a lot of kids in our neighborhood but they must go somewhere else...more candy for Joel.

Playing with her pumpkin
Carving the pumpkin with Papa

First day of school went well for Mommy and Bella. She actually did wonderful. She played with the other kids, ate all her lunch, played outside. We just need to work on her nap schedule. She didn't sleep during nap time and crashed when they were outside. She usually takes one in the morning so switching to 11:30 will be a challenge, but I'm sure she'll get used to it. She only cried once, since another little boy kept crying. They were all crying when I dropped her off and she just looked at them like look at all these toys. I think if she would have cried I would have lost it. I guess we'll see how tomorrow goes. Here she is for her first day...