So many changes in a year..

Countless nights of interrupted sleep. Watching Ellen at 3 am. Calling mom with questions. Trips to the doctor. Tiny socks and little blankets. Sticky fingers. Spongebob Squarepants. The Alphabet song and Little Bunny Foo Foo. Dr. Suess. Peek-a-boo. Winnie the Pooh stories. Outlet covers. The bottom half of the fridge being covered with alphabet magnets. Packing a diaper bag. Washing tiny plates and tiny spoons. Toys scattered across the floor. Seeing everything through the eyes of a child; the zoo, Christmas, different foods, snow, windshield wipers, the stars.

This has been the most amazing year of my life. I can't even describe how much I love this little girl. I'm overwhelmed today with how grateful I am for the gift we were given one year ago.

Happy Birthday Isabella!

Busy Bees

We've been busy busy busy! I've been busy working, working, cleaning, working.. oh yeah and planning for Isabella's birthday party! Bella turns 1 this Friday. I seriously can't wait!

And Bella has been busy getting into everything. She is walking and she is definitely my tiny lil' explorer. I like looking at this milestone chart and seeing what she should be doing. Most of the time she has hit the advanced skills before the end of the month. Such a little smarty pants!
Be prepared for lots of pictures in the next couple of weeks!

Zumba!

My sister and I started doing a fitness routine called Zumba at Studio 48. The first class was yesterday and it is such a blast! I've been wanting a good workout lately but I'm not really into running or weight training. The hour flew by even though we had no idea what we are doing. Zumba is a Latin rhythms dance class and apparently it's the new hottest thing. I hadn't even heard about it until my sister asked me if I wanted to start going to this class with her.

I have a funny story about this.. my 8 year old niece is in the competition dance classes at Studio 48. When she heard that me and Skye were going to start doing the Zumba class at her dance studio she asked if we were going to be in the recital. Ha ha I can't even imagine having to dance in the recital at this age!

{grateful}

I've been kind of down lately and I'm not really sure why. Stress most likely.. trying to keep up with working full time, vinyl orders, keeping the house together and wanting to spend every second with my little cupcake. I guess it's not hard to figure out why I'm overwhelmed.

But today has just been one of those when I realize how lucky I am. And I am SO thankful. I can't imagine my life any different (besides the working so much part ;). I have a wonderful husband who works his tail off to take care of us. And I have the most beautiful, loving, sweet little girl. So today I just wanted to say, be thankful of every second and every bit of you life. No matter where it takes you, because it is yours and only yours.

"Promise me you'll always remember:
You're braver than you believe,
and stronger than you seem,
and smarter than you think."
-Christopher Robin

The tiny monster & a tiny tantrum..

But isn't she adorable?

The big countdown!

I need cute ideas for Bella's birthday party! I can't believe she is almost 1! I'm thinking a cupcake theme or princess theme! I'm really leaning toward the cupcake theme. It would be so fun. Here are some things I really love on Etsy..

I have no idea what this has to do with birthdays..or cupcakes.. but I love it! I've bought from this seller before and I really love her stuff!



Love it. Bought it. I had it personalized with a '1' on the back and her name above it!



I've also bought from this seller.. (I think I have an addiction).. I can't decide if I want another tutu but wouldn't it be cute for pictures?! I can't decide between this one or about 10 others. She has the best tutus ever!



Love these and decently priced. I'm sure I could figure out how to make these but I love the fabrics and colors already on this one!

11 months!

I can't belive she is almost 1 year old! 31 more days!! This last month has gone by so fast. Bella learns something new everyday. She is starting to learn new words and she understands simple sentences. She loves new cloths lately and likes to help pick out her outfit. She gets so excited going through her clothes or looking at new ones at the store. She's getting some more teeth and she is a little monster lately. I guess I can't complain since she did so well with the first 8 teeth.


11 month milestones:
Took 1st steps. 7 steps is her record!
Says mama, dada, hi Ty, uh oh, oh wow, look, puppy (kinda), yum yum, hello, hiya.
She is really good at throwing tantrums lately. She's really got the screaming thing down. My mom got a little video of it the other day when she was trying to steal the video camera away. I'll have to see if I can figure out how to add it.
She likes to tear things up. Magazines, catalogs, books..
She is really good at climbing. If she can climb it, she will.
She likes to snuggle but only when she wants to.
She likes pretending to talk on the phone.

I can't wait until her birthday party! I've already picked some things on Etsy for the party!

Living Planet Aquarium

Yesterday Bella and I talked her daddy into spending the day with us. We all went to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy and then out to eat at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. The aquarium was a lot of fun! I thought that the octopus and jelly fish were the best. Bella really liked watching the stingrays. I ended up carrying her most of the time so that she could see better. In March they are getting penguins so we ended up buying the year membership since we are planning on going back (it's $18 per person and children under 2 are free).

On a side note, Bella took her first steps a few weeks ago. Her record is 5 steps! She does it a few times a day now. Her birthday is about a month away.

10 Months Old!

Yep, it's already been a month and Bella has hit the 10 month mark. She actually turned 10 months old on the 26th but we haven't had time to post yet! Here are her 10 month milestones..

• She can shake her head yes and no.
  
• She can say "oh wow, "nom nom" (yum yum), da da, & ma ma.
• She waves to everyone and everything.
• She LOVES dancing. She can dance standing up without holding onto anything.
  
• She can stand up really well.
  
• She is learning to play peekaboo.
• She learned how to feed the dogs. She isn't too sure about sharing :)
• She will hand something she is holding to you when asked.
• Her favorite songs are Cowboy Casanova (still), Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus (I even caught Justin playing it for her the other day), the Spongebob Theme song, and the Ellen Show Theme song.
  

I'm sure there are more things but this is all I can think of right now. She is learning new things everyday! She is so much fun and I can't believe how fast her first birthday is approaching.

Christmas 2009

This Christmas was seriously the best EVER! On Christmas Eve we went to my Aunt Carlene's for dinner. The picture above is Bella with her great great grandparents. How special is that? We cherish every moment that we have both of them here with us.

Christmas day was so much fun. Bella helped open all of her presents and played for about a hour before she ate breakfast. As we were opening presents, she said "oh wow!". I was saying it as I helped her unwrap her presents and I couldn't believe it when she copied me. We are definitely to the point where we have to watch what we say :)

Later we went to my mom's to exchange presents and to eat dinner. By then Bella was too excited and there was too much going on for her to be interested in opening gifts. She had lots of fun trying to keep up with her cousins and Uncle Ty.

This Christmas was simply amazing. It wasn't about the gifts or the food, it was about seeing Christmas through a child's eyes. It's about cherishing the special bond between family and friends. It's about the gift Heavenly Father sent to the world so long ago.. and so much more. And I am more and more grateful each day that I have Justin and Bella in my life. They are the only gift I needed (although I'm not about to give up the remote start I got for my car, getting Justin to install it will be next year's Christmas gift..ha ha ha).