6 Months Old!!! (+ a couple weeks)

Make a Smilebox picture slideshow

I know I'm a little behind with the whole six month mark, but I'm sorry, my life is busy. Who knew life would be so crazy as a working mom? Life is crazy enough with just one child, I don't know how all those moms of multiple kids do it.

Anyway, so our precious little Belle is now over 6 months old! I cannot believe how big she is! And I can't believe I had her that long ago. It is such a bitter-sweet thing to watch her grow. It's sad that I don't have my tiny baby anymore, but it is so fun to watch her little personality grow and develop. Although she can be a lot to handle at times, she is truly a bundle of joy. Besides her increasing desire to be held all the time, she is generally a pretty easy baby. She is definitely a happy baby who loves to laugh and smile. Unfortunately, I'm just not that good at catching those smiles and giggles on camera. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch a few so we can remember her sweetness as a baby.

She's not crawling yet, but tries to be on the move as much as possible. She is definitely a busy body. She rolls around on the floor to try and get from place to place, and gets frustrated at times that she can't quite move as much as she'd like to. I know I may regret my words, but sometimes I just can't wait for her to start crawling to help ease her frustrations.

She's a good little eater (as she always has been - as is apparent by her cute chubs). She has loved every bit of food we've given her thus far.

As far as talking, sometimes she's a little chatter box, and it is sooo cute. She loves to say "da,da,da,da" and "ma,ma,ma,ma,ma." And when she's fussy, she says, "na,na,na,na,na."

Since I cannot afford to get professional pictures done, I just decided to take a few of my own. And because I could not decide on a cute outfit for her to wear, I decided that nothing could be better than seeing her cute, chubby rolls. I hear they will go away soon, so I figured I could at least capture those on camera. :) Hope you enjoy!

I've joined the ranks

So I think I am ready to officially admit that I have left the days of having any sense of "coolness" (although I didn't really have much to begin with) or even sanity, and I have entered the days of being a crazy, flaky, forgetful, clumsy mom. I am definitely not one of those cute, have-it-all-together types of moms.

Just one of many stories to illustrate this sad realization:

After a long day at work, I stopped by the grocery store to get a few items for dinner. I started my trek from the car to the store by tiptoeing across the parking lot in my fashionable boots with heels (of course I have to try and look good for work at least). As I tiptoed along praying that I wouldn't slip and fall in the slushy snow, I knew that everyone was just looking at me like I'm a complete moron. I managed to get through the store okay and pick up the few things I needed and headed to the checkout lines.

Right as I got to the register and put my food on the little conveyor belt, I realized that I forgot to get a head of lettuce. I begged the guy at the register to let me just run and grab it really quickly as he looked and kind of rolled his eyes at me. I started running before he could even answer me, and here again, I'm sure I looked extremely graceful trying to run down the aisle in my heels. I grabbed the lettuce and ran back to find the guy behind me in line a bit irritated that he had to wait the extra 60 seconds. I paid for the groceries and headed out of the store to trek again on my toes through the snowy parking lot.

As I made my way to the car, I had a moment of panic thinking that I left my prescription in the store, so I tried to hurry and get to the car to put the 2 bags and 2 gallons of milk in my hand down before running back into the store to search for my prescription. I got to the car and as I tried to hurry and put my bags in the car, I dropped the bag that contained a glass bottle of salsa. And of course with my luck, the salsa jar broke spilling salsa all over the other contents in the bag and all over the pavement beneath me. As I reached into the car to try and grab some napkins to clean up the salsa covered food, I then stepped in the salsa just to cover my fashionable boot with the sloppy mess. After cleaning my boot off and the food to take home, I gathered the broken glass and the salsa-covered bag and started yet another trek across the parking lot to discard the mess.

As I returned to the car and finally got in to head home, all I could do was laugh at myself and the sad truth that I am my mother's daughter.

The Reason

Every year when Christmas time comes around and all are busy with the hustle and bustle of fighting crowds while Christmas shopping, fighting traffic while trying to get the shopping done, attending Christmas parties, cooking for the parties, and just trying to live amongst it all, we are all often reminded to keep in our minds the Reason for the Season. Although we hear the phrase and many times we are the ones saying it, sometimes that's all it is -- just a phrase, and we don't take the time out of our busy lives to truly contemplate the miracle that took place over 2000 years ago for which we celebrate at this time of year. I, for one, know that I too often treat the season a little too lightly.

Tonight as I rocked Isabelle to sleep, I sang her some Christmas songs (as I have grown ever tired of singing the same primary songs over and over again). As I held my precious baby in my arms and sang the words to "Silent Night" and "O Holy Night," I was overcome with a feeling of awe and amazement at the miracle of our Savior's birth. After having experienced childbirth now and bringing such a sweet spirit into this world, I now have a deeper appreciation for the miracle of birth in and of itself, and now as Christmas is approaching, I have a new appreciation for our Savior's birth.

Oh, how I am grateful for that sweet Mary who brought Christ into this world and for my Savior who was willing to enter this world in such humble circumstances and live to one day take upon himself my sins that I might be able to return to my Heavenly Father.

This truly is such a wonderful time of the year. I hope that amongst the craziness of this month, I will be able to remember The Reason for the Season.

'Tis the Season

I wish I had the time and the energy to do separate blogs for Thanksgiving and the Christmas Season, but I don't, so you're just gonna get one short post and a few pics.
For Thanksgiving, we went to my parents house for a deliciously yummy meal. We all went to see Disney's A Christmas Carol and then went home for our good Thanksgiving dinner and some fun games afterward. The house was crazy as usual with people everywhere and kids running around like crazy, but it was fun to be with the family.


On Friday, the family went to the Festival of Trees which was long, fun, and exhausting. The traffic getting there was probably the most exhausting part. I vote next year, we don't choose a Friday night to go. We watched a little Sunshine Generation performance which brought back some good ol' memories of our Colorado Christmases with many Sunshine shows. Although, I have to say, I think ours were much better than the one we saw. What can I say? My mom was a dang good director. :)
For the first time in a long time, I stood in a long line to see Santa Claus. How could I not stand in line for little Belle's first Christmas. It was just a shame that we were there so late, cuz it was past her bedtime, and she was not quite as happy as she could have been. But she wasn't screaming or sleeping, so I guess I can't really complain too much.
Now that we went to the Festival of Trees and officially began our Christmas season, I guess I better get shopping and decorating. I'm just a bit behind this year. Is it bad if we just don't decorate for Christmas?

Pumpkin Patch

My family took a little trip to a pumpkin patch yesterday that is owned by my mission president - The Red Barn in Santaquin. It was lots of fun to go with the nieces and nephews and to take our own little pumpkin.

I know I look incredibly fat in this pic, but this is us on the hayride.

Kathryn, Britt, and Dean on the hayride

Dad (Grandpa), Mom (Grandma), Courtney, Kathryn, and Britt

The Cook Fam (minus Courtney who was on Grandma's lap)
Camille, Mark, Jason, Spencer, and Morgan

Our cute pumpkin all snuggled up

Dad, Belle, and Mom

Britt, Dean, and the third wheel .... uh, I mean Kathryn

Us with the pumpkins we picked. Isn't Belle's little pumpkin so cute?!

Kathryn and Belle in her cute pumpkin outfit the aunts bought her

Grandpa and the Cook kids. They were so excited to see him.

3 Months Old!!!

I truly cannot believe it. As of yesterday, our little Isabelle is now three months old. She is growing so fast. It is a bittersweet thing to watch her grow. It is so fun to watch her personality develop and watch her learn new things, but it's sad as she passes through each stage of life and to know that she will never be at that stage again. I guess I will have to get used to the bittersweet, as I'm sure it won't change for me throughout the rest of her life.
At three months old, our little Belle is smiling and cooing more than ever. She'll laugh occasionally and of course it's cuter than ever when she does. Although she doesn't sleep much, she is generally a very happy baby.
She has already learned to roll over on her own, as she has done it twice now! It's so exciting to see her do new things. Each new development just makes me excited for the next.
We truly love our little Isabelle Jane and are so grateful to have her sweet spirit in our lives.

My Little Oasis

In the past, I have, on occasion, heard mothers talk about their only alone time being in the shower. And I always thought to myself that it was a bit of an exaggeration. I would think that there are times they can pass the kids on to the dad or babysitter. Or there are even times they could sit the kids in front of the TV while they sit and read a book or something. I just did not ever believe that their ONLY alone time could possibly be the few minutes they spend in the shower.
Well ladies and gentleman, I now understand. (I feel like I've been saying that a lot the last few months.)
When I step into the shower and close that shower curtain, it's as if I'm stepping into a little oasis away from my daily responsibilities - the baby, work, the house, etc.
Oh how I relish those few minutes each day.