i LOVE this girl

Lemonade

I think we all know the old saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Well, I think I have officially tasted some lemonade today.

It's not that life has been full of trials and tribulations lately; we have definitely experienced harder times during our married life. However, it also has not been the ideal situation for us, and of course there has been a lot of wanting and wishing for more or different. It is not always easy to have me working full time and Dave going to school. There are many days (and sometimes multiple times a day) that I wish I could be at home with my cute Belle, and Dave wishes he could be out working bringing in the big bucks (or really any bucks). Of course, that's just not the way life is right now, and we know we are where we need to be for the moment even if it is hard at times.

Along with the difficulties of our situation, we have also seen huge blessings. One of the biggest blessings that I feel we have received and of which I have tasted today, is the growing bond between Dave and his baby Belle. Dave has had the privilege of staying at home with our cute girl while he is attending school full time. It has been incredible for me to watch his love for her grow and the connection that has developed between them. Not all dads are lucky enough to have an opportunity to spend so much time with their children. So we consider ourselves truly lucky that he is getting this time with her and creating a special bond that will hopefully carry on throughout our lives.

It is a blessing for them, but also a blessing for me to watch their bond and to see Dave's love for Belle grow every day. I feel truly lucky to have such an incredible husband and lovable daughter. I could not ask for more.

Within a week

Copays for Doctor's visits:
$75.00
Prescriptions for everything:
$200.00
Gas to and from Doctor's offices and pharmacy:
$10.00
Bills to come to go toward deductible:
$$$ Who knows? I don't want to...
Having a healthy, happy family:
Priceless (I think???) :)



We might be poor, but by golly, we are on our way to being healthy.
Who knew so many problems could be had by 3 mostly healthy people?

Some Videos

I finally downloaded (or uploaded - I'm not sure what the difference is) all my pictures and videos from my cell phone. I had lots of fun looking through these and was amazed at how much Belle has changed and grown (sigh). I thought I'd just share some of these with you.




And she grows .....




... and she continues to break my heart as she gets bigger....




She's now almost 7 months old! Guess I better start recording some more videos.

Is she not the cutest baby you have ever seen?!!!

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.