Potty Update

I haven't mentioned much about potty-training lately because we haven't really been "training". We've just been getting Bella excited about actually sitting on the potty. A while back, when she was around 19 months old, she actually did onesies and twosies on the potty, but I thought she was a little young to push the training. Then she wasn't too keen on the idea of actually sitting on the potty for more than 2 seconds. Now that I've put a basket of books next to her potty, she's happy to sit on it before her bath, when she wakes up in the morning and after naps. This last week was a 5 Star week for Isabella! She peed on the potty almost every time she sat on it. After one of her baths last weekend she even announced her need to go pee and we ran from one bathroom to the other with the potty in it and she went!! It's been an M&M filled week! Tonight takes the cake. It was bathtime, so I undressed her downstairs and told her to go up and sit on her potty and that I would be right there. Well, in the midst of gathering up laundry, toys, sippy cups, etc. I took a couple minutes longer. Then I heard her calling for me and as I went up the stairs she was standing just outside of the bathroom holding the bowl from her potty, which had A Lot of pee in it. She told me "I dump it, mommy." She was trying to dump it into the big potty, but the lid was down. That's my independent girl! Go Bella! Good thing we didn't end up with pee on the carpet and Bella got one more M&M for the night!

A Couple Things You Don't Hear From a 2 Year Old All That Often:

" Let's clean up now" - Isabella said this to David when they were having a tea party in her room.

"More chicken please" - It's been a struggle getting Bella to eat various kinds of meat, but last night the baked chicken tenders I made were a hit!

"Oh, thank you mommy for making me breakfast. Yummy, yummy." - Said just this morning when I called her to the kitchen for breakfast.

"You're the best helping mommy!" - Bella told me this when we were making a birthday cake for Strawberry Shortcake in her play kitchen yesterday afternoon. Yes, I had tears in my eyes. Of course I strive to be the best mommy, but I definitely fall short of that in my eyes.

"You're the best daddy!" - She has told David this a few times now, usually when he's helping her do her 50-piece puzzle or just cuddling her.

"You're the best daddy and you're the best mommy!" - Last night she told us this when the 3 of us were sitting around her little table eating yogurt parfaits. She's the sweetest!

"I'm embarrassed" or "I'm really sad" or "I'm happy" or "I'm really excited" - She says these things all the time, I love how she expresses her feelings. We're working on saying, "I'm frustrated" when she gets frustrated (there was a little biting incident earlier this week, but we'll save that story for another post).

Just a little bit more about our sweet girl, Bella. . . She is such a compassionate, understanding, forgiving, lovable, eager to learn, adventurous, fun-loving, smart, kind, graceful, and beautiful little girl! We're so thankful that the Lord entrusted us with her.

Sinus Troubles

So, I've had a very bad sinus cold/infection this week and let me tell you, it's been a rough week. It's hard to get out of bed when I feel this bad, let alone care for my 2 year old, our home, etc. Isabella has been wonderful, though, and even went on an outing to the library with our neighbor friends while I stayed home in bed. I haven't gone to the doctor because I know they probably won't give me an antibiotic (our doctors are pretty apprehensive about handing out antibiotics for every illness and justly so). I've resorted to some other at-home remedies like my facial steamer, drinking lots of fluids, decongestant, antihistamine, ibuprofen, and my new favorite Sinus Rinse. I have to admit I was a little scared to use this thing, the thought of it grossed me out a bit. I even had David stand next to me in the bathroom and read the instructions step-by-step out loud while I did the first rinse. Then to my amazement, it worked! I felt so much better after the rinse. Ok, I'm starting to sound like an infomercial, but really it's great. I've used it 2-3 times a day since we got it 3 days ago. It says it's great for allergies, sinus trouble, etc. Check it out here: Sinus Rinse. We got it at Costco, it comes 2 for the price of 1 there. This is one of those things that I never knew what I was missing until I tried it!

What's Been Going On:

Bella loves to dress up like a princess and especially loves it when David acts out Cinderella with her and puts on her "glass slippers" for her:
Our Little Princess:

Bella is our Little Ballerina! She LOVES ballet class or ballerina class as she calls it. She does great at following her teacher's instructions:



Bella loves to help us with our household chores, including the gardening:

CA Trip

We just got back from an impromtu trip to CA. David had some work out there, and he's been traveling a lot lately so Bella and I tagged along so we wouldn't be lonely here without him. We got to visit my parents and spend time with friends, but it's good to be back in CO, the air is so much better here and I love sleeping in my own bed.


The highlight of the trip, Bella met her favorite princess, Cinderella!
She also met Sleeping Beauty and Pocohantas. Grandma and Aunt Cherie also went to Disneyland with us.Bella was excited to go through Sleeping Beauty's Castle.
It was a gloomy day at the beach, but that didn't stop Bella from going in the water!Bella and her friend, Madeline, at Centennial Farm.
Bella and her cousin, Maddie, at the fountain.
Bella and Makena in front of one of the awesome playhouses that are up for a charity auction.Bella inside one of the cutest playhouses. Thanks to Lisa and her family connections, we were one of a few people who actually got to go inside these playhouses. They were incredible! Thanks Lis!

Who made you?

We've been telling Isabella more about God now that she understands and talks so much. We're beginning to teach Bella some questions and answers about Christianity from a children's catechism. One of the first questions that we've gone over with her is "Who made you? and the answer is "God made me". So, the other day she was upset about something and told me, "mommy, I am really sad". I asked her, "what made you sad?" She said, "God made me sad". At that moment as I was trying not to laugh, I was so proud to hear my sweet little 2 year old daughter is learning the catechism. I said, "Yes, God did make you, but he doesn't want you to be sad". She then said, "God made me happy." So when you ask her a question that begins that way she only think s of one answer, "God made me". "

Rock Garden Visit

This past weekend's family outing was to the Garden Of The Gods. We had heard that it is one of the must-see places in Colorado and now that the weather is starting to cool down we thought we'd better go now. When Bella asked her new favorite question, "Where are we?", we told her we were at the "Rock Garden". We didn't want to confuse her with the real name since we have been teaching her about God. She is still talking about the rock garden.

So, Garden Of The Gods is a beautiful scenic place full of amazing natural red rock formations. Some of the rock formations looked like different animals. Supposedly, it got it's name because if there was a garden in greek mythology that's what it would have looked like. It was beautiful to see and Isabella loves nature, especially rocks, so she had a blast. There were several rock climbers climbing the rocks (you have to have a special permit to do that) so that was fun to watch too.
















Hmm, now what Colorado attraction should we visit this weekend??

Tiny Dancer

Isabella had her first ever ballet class today and I think she's a natural! Of course I'm her mom, but she really did great at following the instructions from her teacher! The minute we went into the studio Bella starting walking around on her "ballerina toes". She loved it! It was "Mom & Tot" dance class so I was right there with her to guide her when she needed it, but I mostly sat back, took pictures, watched these adorable little girls and cracked up laughing with the other moms. Bella already showed daddy some of her new moves and is already looking forward to going back next week. Here are some of the pics (Bella's in the black leotard):



















P.S. I also had a class today! It was a one on one sewing class here at home while Bella napped. A gift from David after I had a curtain sewing catastrophe last week that ended in a few words I don't normally say and some tears:( I learned a lot and am looking forward to next week's lesson. It's worth every penny to have someone come here into the comfort of my own home in my own sewing room while Bella is napping and have that time for myself. I've made several things by hand in the past, like all of Bella's crib bedding, a quilt, some curtains that weren't crooked, some that were, but I've just kind of taught myself, so it's great to finally learn more about what I can do right on my sewing machine. Next big project: Bella's twin bed quilt!

A Princess, the Pool and a Puppy Balloon.

Here's what's been going on the past few days:

Bella has really started to LOVE dressing up as "Cinderbella". When she plays dress-up she has to have the whole ensemble, from head to toe. She'll dance around the room singing and do twirls. She's so adorable.
Here she is surfing on her kick board in her dress up clothes.
A princess on her lookout tower.
Our princess mows the lawn.
I just love her smile!
Our little beauty!

We've enjoyed going to our friend's community pool. Isabella loves to wear her life jacket and float around the pool. Usually, I meet our friends during the week, but we all got to go as a family this past Sunday.
Isabella was so excited to swim with daddy!
Isabella pretty much smiles the whole time we are in the pool! Warming up in her towel after a swim.Isabella has been practicing floating on her back in the bathtub. She was so proud of herself when she was floating in the pool. Mommy and daddy are proud too!
Love that smile and her thumbsucking teeth:)
Me and my girl enjoying some fun in the sun and water!

We've been trying to explore more of Colorado on the weekends when David is home. This past weekend we planned on going to a hot air balloon festival, but when we got there, there wasn't a balloon in site. I guess they had all taken off already and since Bella was asleep, we kept driving and ended up in the very liberal town of Boulder at the base of the Rockies. When Bella woke up she immediately said, "Yeah, we're at the balloon place!" Oops! David explained the situation to her and we think she kind of understood, especially since we told her we'd find a balloon where we were. You don't know how happy and relieved we were to find this balloon man so we could follow through for Bella!
She waited so patiently for her turn to get her balloon. Finally, Bella and her pink and purple puppy balloon!
Daddy, Bella and the puppy (Bella actually named it, but I can't remember the name). Bella was so funny with this bear statue that was on a street corner. She was hugging the bears and telling them, "I love you bears". She's so sweet! And yes, I purelled her little hands right after:)