A Breakthrough Day

I haven't done an update on the potty-training going on in our household lately, but there has been progress. Today was a breakthrough day with Bella going not only onesies on the potty, but twosies as well. . . . 2 times!! Go Bella!! She really wants a princess castle to play with with her little princess figurines so I've been telling her that when she doesn't wear diapers anymore, she'll get the Special Princess Castle. I've really been playing that up and that has given her the incentive she needed! I also found the castle for only $15 today, so it's in the closet ready for her!

Here's Bella on her potty with her books, of course! Notice how she neatly lines up the books against the wall after she finishes each book.

Some more pics, just because she's so cute:

Reading a library book. I love how she uses her outstretched leg to hold the big book up to read!

Reading and sportin' her new flannel Big Girl pj's:)

More reading. . . She's my little Belle, just like Belle from "Beauty and The Beast", she ALWAYS has her nose in a book:)

Puzzle Master Pup!

**Side note: Bella got the nickname, Lil' Pup, when she started crawling as a baby. She'd crawl around the house and we could hear her panting like a little puppy:)

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Michelle to list 7 random things about myself:

1.) I am the youngest of 6 girls in my family, my oldest sister is 18 years older than me.

2.) I applied to medical school after graduating from college with a biology degree and I didn't get in, but God had a better plan for me. After my grieving was over, I got a science-related sales job and met my wonderful husband, David.

3.) When I drive on the longer stretches of highway here in Colorado I listen to country music. It just seems so fitting when I'm driving by the farms, horses, and cows, and every other radio station here is a country station, but that's the only time I listen to it. This is the first time I've admitted this:)

4.) I love coffee, anything coffee flavored, but I really really DISLIKE chocolate.

5.) My best friend, Lisa, and I have been best friends since we were 5 years old, that's now 26 years of solid friendship.

6.) My first job in high school when I was 16 years old was selling fish tacos at the first Rubio's in Orange County. I worked with my friend, Shelly, and we had a lot of fun and crazy times there!

7.) I got a tattoo of a sun on my shoulder when I was young and naive and went through the painful (and expensive) process to have it removed before our wedding so it wouldn't show when I wore my strapless wedding gown.

Now I am tagging Stefany, Heather, Anna, Vanessa, and Cindy.

Big Girl Bella

That's right, she is really becoming a big girl more and more everyday! It's seems like just yesterday that I was holding my tiny little 6 lb. newborn daughter, even though that was 2.5 years ago. She now weighs in at 24.5 lbs. Go Bella! You read right, 24.5lbs! That Carnation Instant Breakfast we've been adding to her whole milk per doctor's instructions must be working. I'm not sure if that will bring her above the 2-percentile that's she's been stuck in for weight, but we're happy to see her growing big and strong:) Also, she recently discovered that she does like to eat her vegetables including peas, broccoli, and cauliflower, all with real butter on them of course.


Isabella 2.5 years ago:



Isabella 2 days ago:

Fall Leaves

Experiencing fall in Colorado is much different from the many falls we've had in California. We've already had our first snow, some 30 degree days, and lots and lots of leaves.

My little sweetie!

Helping daddy rake the leaves in the front yard.

Taking a break to catch some rays.
Leaves, leaves, and more leaves.

Raining leaves.

Bella and Daddy all tuckered out from raking all of the leaves!

Bella on her castle slide with her Strawberry Shortcake doll, of course.

Flu Shot

One week ago today we went for our flu shots. David and I got the shot. Bella got the nasal mist, that's what they recommended for her age. She was such a trooper! I didn't know the nasal mist was an option, so I had her pumped up for a shot with the idea that she'd get an ice cream from Chick-Fil-A afterwards. Of course I had to follow through with my promise, even though she got the flu vaccination in a different form. I, on the other hand, still have the mark on my arm to show my shot from last week:


I don't think this is normal, do you? And no, I didn't fall down the stairs again!

How did you wake up this morning?

I've mentioned before that Bella has really began to express her feelings to us. Well this morning Bella woke me up with a kiss on my forehead at 7am (she came into bed with us around 5am, she's teething). Then as we were headed towards the stairs to go make pancakes she said, "I feel bumpy". Translation: "I feel grumpy". I know I don't always wake up in a cheerful mood and Bella doesn't always either, especially today with cutting 2 molers and a runny nose:( At least she was able to warn me!

Ari, Uzi, and Bella

As I've mentioned before, Isabella is pretty much obsessed with Strawberry Shortcake. She is already planning and talking about her next birthday party and how it will be a Strawberry Shortcake themed party. She got that idea from a little booklet that came with a Strawberry Shortcake DVD. I think she likes the booklet more than the movie itself! She treats this little brochure like a book and studies it very carefully. I've even thought about laminating it so it will last. Anyway, there's a page in the booklet that shows the various party supplies to outfit a Strawberry Shortcake party and Isabella has that page memorized. Isabella has a couple of Shortcake dolls of her own, but she also plays with some dolls that were mine when I was just a little girl, crazy huh:) Yes, I saved some of my more sentimental dolls/toys and I'm so glad I had these still.

I've never been a big fan of character clothing for babies and kids. You know what I'm talking about, the shirts with a big Elmo or Dora on the front. I also never thought I'd ever purchase any character clothing for Isabella, until I found this:




When I showed this outfit to Isabella this morning, it was like Christmas morning! She was so excited to wear a Strawberry Shortcake outfit. Of course, being the little shopper that she is, she asked me where I bought it. I couldn't pass this jogging outfit up, it looks so cute on her. If you don't know who Ari and Uzi are, you need to watch The Royal Tenebaums sometime.

This past week. . .

has been fun-filled.

We visited a nearby "pumpkin patch", it was really a little farmstand, but it was a good spot for pics and for Bella to have some fun of course.









Yesterday was a free day at the Denver Natural Science and History Museum, so we decided to check it out with our friends, Stefany and Luke. Isabella kept asking to see more animals, I think she thought they were living (she's a bit young to understand taxidermy). Today she asked if we can go back to the museum next week, then when she was playing with her doll she told me she was going to a pretend museum.








Isabella loves to bake with me. We made banana bread and blueberry muffins together. If you ask her how to make one of these things, she'll tell you, "wear an apron, put in eggs and flour, you stir it, and put it in the oven".

It's beginning to look a lot like. . .

Fall in Colorado! And it's cooling down here too:)

Chameleon

There's nothing comparable to a fresh, clean, baby lotion scented, pj wearing, Isabella!! She blends right into her bedroom with her new pajamas. I told her she's like a chameleon. She liked that:)





Her favorite thumb and blankie!

Puzzle Master Pup

Isabella has has enjoyed puzzles for a long time now, but the last few weeks, she's gained the nickname, Puzzle Master Pup (she's been Little Pup for a while). She can do 25 piece jigsaw puzzles in just minutes. She has some great spatial arrangement, maybe she'll be a dentist:) I have yet to get it on video, but here are a couple pics:

More of the Things She Says II

Isabella is saying more and more things everyday. Sometimes I feel like she’s a teenager and not a toddler with some of the things she says and how she expresses her feelings so clearly.

Here are a few things she's said recently:

** The other night at a birthday party while the birthday boy was opening his gifts, Bella asked me (with tears in her eyes) where her gift was. I had seen the party favor bags on the table so I told her that she’d be getting a gift too. When she got her party bag and before she even opened it up she said, “This is the best birthday party present ever!” She's so appreciative!

**Isabella always plays with a cup and spoon in the bathtub. Usually she feeds her bath doll and pretends to make tea or coffee. The other night while I was rinsing her hair and she was stirring her cup of water she said, “Mommy, be careful not to spill my glass of wine.” I’ll admit to my nightly glass of wine with dinner:)

**Yesterday morning she noticed that I had painted my nails the night before and said, “Oh my goodness. It’s amazing Mommy! Your fingernails are black.” I had painted them a deep, dark red color.

**Lately when I call her away from playing to eat or take a bath or something she’ll often respond, “I’m busy reading right now” or “In a minute”. She is usually reading since that’s her favorite pastime, but I know she got the “in a minute” part from me.

**When she’s having a tough time with a puzzle piece fitting in correctly or dressing a doll, she’ll say, “I’m frust-er-ated”. I’m happy when I hear her say this because it’s something we’ve been working on expressing.

** This morning while I was in the kitchen and Bella was in the living room I heard a light tapping sound and I asked her, “Bella, are you touching mommy’s vase on the coffee table?” She answered back, “No mommy, Sleeping Beauty is touching it.” I went in there to see her holding her doll’s hand to the vase. Pretty smooth move Bella! We had a little talk after that, she knows not to touch my vase.

Pikes Peak

For our weekend adventure a couple weeks ago, we drove up to Pikes Peak, one of Colorado's many peaks over 14,000ft. We had debated on taking the train they have that goes up the side of the mountain or driving up ourselves. We decided to drive so we would have more flexibility with timing, eating lunch, Bella's nap in the car, stopping for photos, etc. It was a great drive, we were able to enjoy the beautiful colors of the fall leaves and see the changes in the mountainside as we got higher in elevation from the foothills to the sub alpine to the alpine (above 11,100ft), where the oxygen is too thin for plants and trees to grow. Our house stands at 6202ft., so we were definitely feeling the effects of that high altitude when we got to the top and it was VERY cold. There were lots of brave hikers and mountain bikers up there. Every year they have an annual car race, motorcycle race, and marathon to the top of the peak, which I cannot believe after driving it with switchback after switchback! It was at the top of Pikes Peak where Katharine Lee Bates got her inspiration for the song, "America the Beautiful". It was a beautiful view from the top!

Bella loves our Saturday family adventures!


At the Summit House at the top of the peak.
It was windy and snowing! We didn't stay outside for long!


Views from the top.

A lone tree.

Bella panning for gold.

I love my girl!

I love this pic!

View on the way down. Pikes Peak is in the background with the snow.

Today at Ballet Class

Bella was in the class on her own while I was outside the room watching through a window. She did great! I am so proud of her. She was the best student in the class today, following all of the instructions from her teacher, doing every move as best she could, and only glanced over to see if I was still there twice. Bella Ballerina is loving ballet!

Another Project Complete

I was very happy to cross off another project on my list. I bought this kid's size solid wood bench at a neighborhood garage sale for $5 with the vision of painting it to coordinate with our house decor.


Well, 3 months and 2 cans of spray paint later:


This bench is great for Bella. We keep her shoes under the lid that opens and the bench is just across from the coat closet and next to the garage door. She likes to get her own shoes out and sit on the bench to put her shoes on or take them off and put them away. I have to admit that I was planning on being the one to paint it, but after the medicine cabinet, I decided it would be much better if David did it and I'm so glad he did! It turned out great, thanks honey!