Only in Colorado

Last week while I was walking in the parking lot of WalMart towards the store a truck drove past me and I jumped about 2 feet away and my heart was pounding because this is what I saw in the back of the truck:It looked alive, the taxidermist did such a good job. The mountain lion was amidst some other random items including a couple of chairs, a t.v. stand, and a plant all part of a move across town, I assume. At first glance, I seriously thought that thing was alive!! Only in Colorado!

Dinosaur Poop and More Fun Things

Isbella has blossomed, right before our very eyes, into a little girl. She is not a toddler anymore, she's a sweet little girl, but she really prefers to be called a big girl. She continues to amaze us everyday with the things she says, the stories she can tell, her love of reading, her creativity, her compassion and understanding, her love of a "bright, sunny morning" and her overall joyful love and exuberance for life. She's been teaching us how to live life!

Today, we had planned on going to the zoo since it was a free admission day, the weather forecast said 60 Degrees and sunny, and because I wanted to do something special with Bella since the last few weeks I've been a bit of a downer. That plan got vetoed after driving around looking for a parking spot for 20 minutes that was not a mile away from the zoo. I was trying to come up with an alternative plan to offer to Bella (she was so excited about seeing the animals at the zoo), then I found a parking spot right in the front row of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. When Bella saw the sign (without me even saying one word) she said excitedly, "Yeah, the museum. Please may I see the dinosaurs?" Problem solved. Although it wasn't a free day at the museum, it was so worth the $11 to avoid the over-crowded zoo. We had a great time and Isabella was very appreciative for our special outing and time together. It lifted my spirit today too, especially when Bella asked one of the museum volunteers, "Please may I touch the dinosaur poop?" That's my girl! I appreciate how well-rounded she is!

Isabella, my sweet little lady, cautiously holding the dinosaur poop. I was surprised how small it was considering that it came from a ginormous dinosaur, but then the museum guy explained about their low-fiber diet.

That is not the dinosaur that the poop came from, he was much bigger and suspended from the ceiling.

Bella loves the "Discovery Area" in the museum which is all hands-on stuff.

So much fun!!

Why I haven't blogged lately. . .

My dad had a bad fall down the stairs just before Thanksgiving. He then went through two surgeries, totaling almost 20 hours, to try to repair the broken vertebrae(s) in his neck. He was in the ICU for a several weeks. We went out to CA to see him a week before Christmas and although it was very difficult seeing him like that, I am very thankful that we had that time with him. He began to gain more alertness each day we went to see him, he even smiled when I showed him Bella's picture and laughed at one of David's jokes, which gave us hope for his recovery. On Christmas eve, his blood pressure was very low. He developed an infection in his blood and went to be with the Lord on Saturday, Dec. 27th.

David and Bella stayed home while I went to CA for my dad's funeral. It was a good decision, for it gave me time to grieve without worrying and also allowed me to be with my mom and sisters. While it was a very difficult thing to go through, it was also a time of grieving and healing. My first night there in CA when I was in my parents' bathroom brushing my teeth, I opened one of my dad's drawers to see his black comb with his gray hairs still in it, then everywhere I looked around the house there were big and little things that were his, from his issues of Popular Mechanics magazine to his "Pick Sticks", his bird feeders in the yard, his #1 Dad mug on the water cooler in the garage...I cried, then laughed about his makeshift paintbrush attached to a broomstick for hard to reach paint jobs, then cried some more. I'm glad I had the last few years to really experience a good father-daughter relationship with him and I will forever cherish my memories of him walking me down the aisle on our wedding day, him going with us to one of my ultrasounds while I was still pregnant, him holding Isabella and seeing his tears just after she was born, our hour long phone conversations about the birds in his yard, the weather, and his health, him waving goodbye and smiling to David, Bella and I from the driveway the last time we saw him before he fell down...

It was a beautiful funeral service. My nieces and nephews did a great job with the readings, carrying up various mementos of Dad, and sharing stories of him. He was a volunteer firefighter for 20 years, so there was a small fire truck outside the church during the whole service, which then followed behind the hearse with it's lights on all the way to the cemetery. As we drove behind the firetruck I told my mom and sister that my dad had driven firetrucks many times before up and down Redhill Avenue, the street we were on. He also used to tell us stories of when he drove a tractor up that street when it was all still farmland. After the burial service at the cemetery, the firetruck turned on it's sirens as it drove past my dad's grave site. We all said that my dad is up in Heaven smiling down saying, "Well Done!" All of the grandchildren and daughters also got to hold white doves and release them at the grave, as a symbol of my dad's love of birds and a way of "letting go". It was so amazing to see how many people were there for us that day, my dad would have been so happy. The police had to call an extra motorcycle cop for the escort, there were over 60 cars for the procession. My dad was well-loved and he would have done anything for anyone.

This has been a very difficult time in my life, something I hoped I wouldn't have to face for many more years. I am so blessed to have a wonderful, God-loving, supportive husband to help carry me through this. Even though it's been a few weeks now, I am still feeling emotionally drained and exhausted at the end of each day and fulfilling all of my household tasks has been much harder since my mind is in a million places at once. David has been so wonderful in helping me with Bella and being happy to eat fast food for dinner more often than normally. I guess that's why they call it a grieving process, it doesn't just happen one day and you're better the next. It's something you really go through and process, with the grace of God.

Thank you everyone, for your thoughts, prayers, cards, for coming to support us all at the funeral, and for everything else you've done for us during this time. Right now, we are comforted knowing that my dad is free of pain and dancing around in heaven.

Have a Very Merry Christmas!!!!

A Few of My Favorite Things About Christmas/Winter

in random order:
* Flannel sheets
*Flannel pajamas
*Hot water that stays hot in my insulated carafe all day long
*Hot tea any time of the day
*Hot coffee in the morning
* Hot chocolate (with just a tiny dash of chocolate for me since I don't like chocolate) after playing outside in the snow
*Playing in the snow with Bella and David
*Pulling Bella on her sled in the snow
*Christmas decor and lights
*Christmas music
*Christmas movies
*Homemade soup, any kind
*Bella in her fleece footed sleeper, Sooo snugly
*Cuddling up with my honey on the couch under a blanket and watching t.v.
*Bella in her long underwear that she wears under her snowsuit (we called them Long Johns and Bella asked who John was and if he was coming to our house:)
*Watching the snow fall
*Crisp fresh snow all across our yard with nothing but a few rabbit footprints scattered across it
*Wrapping presents
*Looking forward to Bella's reaction when she gets the one gift she's been asking for for a long time
*Baking cookies and sweet breads
*Feeling the warmth of our cozy home when it's in the single digits outside
*Warm, sheepskin boots
*My new scarf
*Layers of clothes
*Hearing Bella recite the names of Santa's reindeer
*Listening to Bella when she tells us she does not want Santa to come to our house when we started singing, "Santa Claus is Coming To Town"
*Telling Bella that Santa is just a character like Frosty the Snowman and that he will not come to our house, but you will get presents
*The fact that Bella loves to read books about Santa, sing songs, but does not want anything to do with him
*Seeing Bella with her reindeer antler headband on
*Making Christmas crafts with Bella (although I'm running out of craft ideas)
*Waking up in the morning to 8 inches of snow
*Not having to drive in the snow/icy roads
*Teaching Bella how to make and throw snowballs
*Building snowmen with Bella
*Going Christmas shopping with Bella to get Daddy something, then when we get home she tells him what we got him
* Pot Roast cooking in the crockpot all day
* Hearing Bella tell people, "Merry Christmas"
* Bella seeing something she wants at Target or WalMart and saying, "Let's put it on my Christmas list"
* Our Christmas Tree scented candle (we have an artificial tree)
* Being with our little family
*Getting this beautiful shot of Bella during our 5-minute photo shoot in the snow:


Hope you're all enjoying this Christmas Season!

Absent

I'm sorry I have been absent from my Blog for a couple weeks now, I have lots to blame it on, but I mainly blame it on Facebook, my new addiction. Really, A LOT has been going on in our lives and I have a back log of Blog posts brewing in my head right now. I promise to get a post up soon, but for now I'll leave you with this one adorable pic of our sweet angel, Isabella.

Good Cheer!

This is how I was awoken just the other morning:

Heard over the baby monitor: "Mommy!" "Good Morning Mommy!" "It's a bright, sunny day!"

I woke up with a smile on my face and went to hug my bundle of joy!

Crackin' Me Up!

Tonight while Bella and I were dining on Del Taco's finest chicken tacos, in walked a group of some rather clean-cut punk rock type teenagers. Bella, being the observer she always is, checks them out, watches their every move while sipping on her milk. Then she leans over to me and in a hushed voice says, "Mommy, those boys look like Doodlebops." If I hadn't have put my napkin up to my mouth, my bite of taco would have flown out onto the tabletop. I was also trying not to choke as I laughed. Bella was so serious about her observation, yet she knew she was making me laugh, so then she says, "Mommy, I'm cracking you up". Then the boys made eye contact with Bella and she waved her parade wave, said "Hello", and they waved back and smiled, seemingly impressed with Bella's outgoing personality and overall cuteness. Yes, Bella, you crack me up!

Here's a picture of the Doodlebops: I think Bella was referring to the different fashion of dress (funky hat, hair-dos, piercings, etc.) that these boys were styling in because none of them had blue or purple hair, they just looked silly:)

The Things We Do

There are soooo many things that I would do for Isabella, including dressing up for a tea party!

I couldn't pass up this Cinderella costume on the clearance rack. It will be
put to use for several tea parties and perhaps a birthday party or two!

Little Princess Mommy.

More tea please.

And I'm not the only one who plays princess with Bella . . .

David makes a great prince in his red cape (really, it's a blanket) putting pretend nail polish on Bella's nails! It is very true when Bella tells people, "My mommy and daddy love me sooooo much!"

Scrub A Dub Dub

My camera happened to be nearby upstairs when Bella was taking a bath tonight, so I got a couple of cute shots. Isabella loves bath time and would stay in there all night if I let her:)

One happy bathing beauty.

Bella washing her bath baby doll.

Cleaning bath baby's face.

Bella feeding "Bath Baby" some bubbles.

My little fish.

Halloween

Bella had a lot of fun on halloween. I am not into the scary, demonic aspect of halloween, but I am all for the fun part of dressing up and going trick-or-treating. Isabella really enjoyed dressing up as a kangaroo and saying, "trick-or-treat". We started off in the late afternoon at Trick-or-Treat Street downtown where each store handed out treats to the kiddos. Bella really got into and even hopped up to the people giving out the candy, it was hilarious. So many people commented on how adorable she was in her costume. Isabella also loved seeing the other kids in costume out on the street. After a quick dinner, I took her around our neighborhood. I had originally planned to just go to a couple houses, but after every house Bella asked in her polite, sweet voice, "One more house, please mommy". So we stayed out a little longer, there were so many kids out in our neighborhood. When we got home, Bella loved running to answer the door and seeing the other kids' costumes and even gave her own commentary that went something like this: "She's cute" or "He's scary looking" or "That's a funny costume" or "I'm a princess too" (she had put on her princess dress at this point). It was a fun night! And without further ado, here's The Cutest Kangaroo Ever!!

Bella and her own little pumpkin.

I love this side view so you can see her tail!

OK, so I had to wear my kitty ears and put wiskers on to convince Bella to
let me put make-up on her. It was fun, though:)

Me and my girl!

Our little Roo!

Notice her little joey in her pouch!

Luke and Bella!

Bella and her close friend, Sara.

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.