6 months, plus funny stories

So Gabby was a whopping 18 lbs & 2 oz at her appointment on Friday. She was also 26 inches so she's still in the same percentiles. The doctor notice her wheezing...from all her colds she keeps catching from Bella, so she had a ventilator delivered to the house so we could do breathing treatments at night. Gabby doesn't seem to care about them except she keeps trying to eat the part where the mist comes out. The doctor loves our girls and she is amused by Bella every time we are in the office. Luckily Joel went with me to carry the girls. That night the health care supply company stopped by while we were decorating the tree and asked if it was Bella that was sick. We told him no it was the little one, so he looked at Joel holding Gabby and said poor little linebacker! We shut the door and cracked up. Poor Gabby...everyone thinks she's a boy unless she's in pink or purple...so I guess this means a trip to get her ears pierced.




So Bella was all about helping put the tree up. She kept saying "I do it" and "I help you". We opened our three tubs and Bella said "WOW". She was excited to see what was in all of them. We put her little people Nativity up with her help. We put the tree up and she said "Oooo Pretty Tree". Once we got the ornaments up we tried to remind her not to touch them anymore, since we didn't want them to fall off. So yesterday when Gabby was touching one of them, she quickly told Gabby "No Touch Gabby".



We have some large silver balls for the tree and Bella notice she could see herself in them, so she proceeded to have a 15 minute conversation with herself in the ball. It was so funny. It took me awhile to figure out who she was talking to but then of course I grabbed the camera for a few seconds of it.



Gabby loves all the lights and shinny things on the tree. She kept looking up at it today. Of course I had to deck her out in all her gear...Santa hat and reindeer booties. Bella was upset she didn't have a Santa hat so I guess I have to go get her one too. She had one last year that was adorable...so we'll see.



Other funny stories - at Thanksgiving Bella didn't want to eat turkey; however she loved the "chicken" instead. I was feeding Gabby and kept wondering why Joel kept asking Bella if she liked her chicken. Apparently they had told her the turkey was chicken once they realized she wasn't going to touch turkey. Oddly enough yesterday when having leftovers, Joel asked her if she wanted turkey or chicken and she said turkey and then ate Joel plate of food.

Bella is being the typical 2-year old with lots of tantrums lately. She's probably been in time out more the past few days then she's been playing. She wants to do everything herself and then she gets upset when she can't figure it out. She's back to her "no" phase and even in her time out chair tries to push the limits. She stretches trying to reach the door to close it or plays with her light. I caught her out of the corner of my eye running to grab a book and running back to her chair. Sometimes it's really hard not to laugh when she's laying upside down in her chair. I guess it's all about testing the limits. I'm hoping that getting back into a routine this week will help.


There were a few more funny things Bella has said recently but I can't think of them right now. She copies everything we say so she's trying so hard to say everything. Today I asked her if she wanted chicken noodle soup and she said "Yes please mama, noodle poop". Uncle Ryan was over and he about fell to the floor laughing. We're still working on Merry Christmas...what she said doesn't sound like it at all, but Joel was practicing with her and then said Happy Quanza and she said that perfectly...too funny.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. I am especially grateful for my family this year. Without everyone's help I don't know how I would survive having two little ones...especially since I had surgery a few days ago. I got home on Tuesday and the girls stayed at Papa and Nana's a few extra days. They came home last night and by the time they were in bed I was exhausted and could hardly move. This morning I woke up feeling great and after a long day I still feel pretty good...although I am going to bed once I'm done with this. Sorry this is short, but I'm tired.

Here is the family at Thanksgiving.
Bella helped make the stuffing.

Gabby enjoyed her squash and applesauce while everyone ate. I even enjoyed a little turkey and a couple bites of green beans and potatoes. If you look close you can see her bottom two teeth.

This picture pretty much sums up what Bella did after her nap and before dinner - ran around non-stop.

I'm not sure where this started...but she has become obsessed with putting her socks on her hands...and making sock puppets.

Last week Grammy Nita and Grandpa Logan were in town and we got to spend the night having enchiladas...It was the first time they had met either of the girls. It was also the night of the first sign that I may have Gall Stones...I had a little episode and dad thought that might be the case.

Bella LOVES art and coloring.

Gabby in all her giggling and smiling glory.

Bella sharing the cell phone with Gabby so she could "talk" to daddy.

Gabby likes to play in the blanket. She kept lifting up her hands so of course I asked her "how much did she love mommy?"

Gabby LOVES techno music. So Uncle Ryan had put on music when she was in Nana's bouncer and she went bouncing crazy.


Here's her giggle video

And last but not least - the way she eats cracks me up. I can't shovel it in fast enough.

Hope everyone has a great time over the long weekend. I can't wait to get the tree up. We go for Gabby's 6 month appointment tomorrow...so we'll see how big she is. I'm guessing over 17 lbs. I'm only supposed to carry 10 lbs for the next 4 weeks...I told the doctor I would try and limit it but it was near impossible for me to not pick her up for a month.

Unexpected Surgery

Well I am sitting here in the hospital bored and starving. I had been having painful episodes in the middle of the night, so yesterday when one hit me at 4 am and last 2 1/2 hours I headed to the E.R. They sent me home thinking it was gastritis; however they had done an ultrasound and found gall stones. The said they were not inflamed so he didn't think that was it. I went home and had another episode, so I called dad who then called his good friend who is a general surgeon. Dr. Hernandez admitted me and I'll have my gall bladder removed tomorrow morning at 6:30.

I guess you never know God's timing. The girls are with Uncle Ry-rie, Nana and Papa. Joel is here with me. Luckily he is off Thursday and Friday....but Thanksgiving dinner will not be nearly as indulging for me! It is strange to not have the girls near, but Joel is going to go pick them up for me so we can hang out a little bit. I should be home tomorrow night or Tuesday morning depending how I am moving after surgery. Thanks for all the prayers.

By the way...Gabby has two teeth coming in. We discovered them Friday night. She had been a little fussy Friday and then I found out why. She is such a good baby.

If I could bottle something up forever...

it would be the girls laughing and their hugs (minus the hair pulling from Gabby). Tonight we headed into the shower for a little steam session to help everyone's congestion. I don't know what it was, but Gabby started laughing hysterically at Bella...and Bella was just sitting there...I have no idea what was so funny to her. I had never heard her laugh so loud and hard. Her belly was shaking and she was doing these high pitched squeals and giggles. Bella was confused to as why Gabby was laughing so hard, so of course Bella and I started laughing at Gabby which then made Gabby laugh even harder. I wish Joel had been home so we could have recorded it. I did get a video from last night...once again she found something comical that Bella was doing and started her giggles...it was just about half of what tonight's were. I'll try and post it this weekend.

It was exhausting getting both girls in bed, but the little moments made it so worth it. I timed it pretty good and after the shower Gabby ate and fell asleep halfway through her bottle. Then I was able to read to Bella, which turned into a snuggle sing-a-long session. I LOVE Bella's hugs and when she snuggles up. I can't wait until Gabby does it too. I guess I got spoiled with Joel's help the past few weeks with him coming home to help, but then I start working and he's been going back to work until 12 or 1...last night it was about 1:30 when he got home. I'm glad the girls get a little time with him at night even though we have both been running on empty and barely see each other...he is a wonderful daddy and we all love him to pieces. I am looking forward to next week when we both have a few days off. I'm sure we'll both do some work, but at least it won't be the entire day!

Sorry no pictures...still in the camera. I am going into the office tomorrow and Thursday so I don't have work tonight....headed to take a nice quiet bath and get into bed...hoping the girls stay in bed.

Pinchable Cheeks.

So I was looking to see what Bella was wearing when she was almost 6 months...to see if I needed to go get a few 12 month winter things for Gabby (which I think is a yes since I don't think she'll be in 9 month clothes much longer and we still have a couple months of long-sleeves to go). Anyway...I couldn't resist posting this one of Bella...it still amazes me how much they look alike. There are slight differences, but I think everyone will always know they're sisters.

Playing with a new perspective

Yes I know it's been a few weeks...so I have a lot of pictures and videos so everyone can get a good Bella & Gabby fix...it goes without saying this will be a long one. Where to start?

Gabby could be the happiest baby ever. She loves sitting, holding things, singing and chewing on everything. She loves all the new (Bella's old ones) toys she can play with now. Favorites are the music table and anything she can pick up and put in her mouth. She loves to sing to the radio in the car...and giggles at just about anything (especially Bella being silly). She's had a cough the past 2 months but still is so happy even though you can tell she doesn't feel good. She has been wearing 9 months but even some of those are snug. She's up to size 3 diapers...in which we found that she is allergic to the Pampers that Bella had. It's the same brand but different kind, so we switched to Huggies, not a big fan but it saves her from getting a rash everywhere.

Bella is working on sharing. Books may be the one thing Bella doesn't mind sharing with Gabby. The other morning Bella gave her this book while I was trying to get dressed. Gabby was just looking for the best corner to get her mouth. Although she LOVES the touchy-feely books.

Like Daddy and Bella, Gabby loves eating. We are onto fruits and she just devours the entire container. The only thing she hasn't been a fan of is carrots...but she still ate all of them...just with extra faces.

I couldn't resist. Christmas is everywhere and Joel and I actually got all the girls stuff yesterday, so being in the spirit...Gabby got her santa helper hat on! I can't wait until we get the tree up and can decorate cookies with Bella and sing carols. It will be so much fun now that she is starting to understand it. She keeps taking Gabby's Santa and dancing around with it.

Onto Bella. I can officially say Bella is potty trained. She actually has had only one accident in the past few weeks (and that was only because she didn't sit far back enough on the potty). It still amazes me how fast she picked it up...her teachers are thrilled she actually tells them when she has to go. We are still in pull-ups at night but she keeps them dry so we may just go to all panties soon.

Bella is obsessed with coloring. She gets very focused on her picture...it's a little intense.

She is such a ham. She is talking non-stop. It was amazing that one day she woke up and knew all these words. I told Joel that I was so thankful I could understand her, but the child just doesn't stop talking. My favorite phrases are "I hold you" (when she wants us to hold her), "thank you mommy/daddy" and her newest is "I got it". She also went through an ewwww phase when she said it to everything that she thought was dirty. Including spices on her food or if she dropped food in her lap. She hasn't done it that much this week, but I was starting to think we were getting a girly girl on our hands.

She also has been putting on Joel's shorts instead of her pjs when she gets out of her bath. the other night she had on his hat and shoes too.

She found her hat for Ohio/Indiana...and thankfully she loves it. She wears it all the time. Now we just have to not lose it before our trip.

A few more...

I love how Gabby has her hand on Bella's arm...while Bella is reading to her. And onto videos. Bella doing her O-H-I-O letters.

Gabby had the giggles the other day. Sorry for the shaking...I was making faces to get her to laugh.

Gabby had on a monkey shirt the other day and I called her a monkey too. Bella promptly corrected me that she was the monkey and Gabby was the giraffe. Here she is explaining that to me.

Gabby absolutely LOVES bath time. Now that she's sitting up, she splashes and wiggles around.

The other night we went to dinner...and Bella loved the music she was dancing all around in her chair.

Well I hope everyone has gotten their little princesses fix. I'll try to be better but the next few weeks are pretty packed. Not that I still don't find time to take pictures or videos...it just takes awhile to get them from the camera to the computer. Love to all.

PS - As long as it took me to get this one up...it doesn't look like I'll be getting Bella's (or my)thank you notes out for all our birthday presents we got, since it was over a month ago. So THANK YOU everyone!!!

Happy Halloween

We had so much fun dressing the girls up last night. Bella was a monkey and Gabby was a giraffe. It didn't take long for Bella to figure out trick-or-treating. We started about 6 and just went up and down Nana and Papa's street. She made monkey noises for all the neighbors and said trick-or-treat and thank you. She was quite the entertainer. No other kids were out until later and then Bella wanted to go out again. She walked in the house and said "My bucket please daddy"...so nana and I took her down the next street by half through her "oo-oo-ah-ah" monkey noises turned into "oo" and her "trick-or-treat" turned into treat. She was so tired.

Wednesday the girls and I carved a pumpkin.

I have more pictures and videos from the past few weeks and I'll try to get them up soon. I can't believe it's November.