All About Isabella...

Bella is a petite little thing. She has always only been at the 20% for her age group. But don't let that fool you. Since discovering that there is other things to eat other than breast milk and baby foods, she has been eating like a pig! She is a lot like her mommy in the fact that she would prefer anything sweet over real food any day of the week. Alyssa is like that too. I guess it was all the chocolate and icecream I ate while I was pregnant with them? OOPS!

Bella has such a calm and sweet temperment. She has really made a peaceful impact in our home. It is really amazing. She just loves to give hugs and kisses. Although, watch out for those open mouth kisses- she tends to drool all over you!

Isabella is 15 months old and that means one thing- SHE IS INTO EVERYTHING! She started walking a month ago and is doing really well with it, but this stage is so hard because she falls and hits her head on something almost daily. She is still working on the balance thing.
The above picture is pretty much what Bella is up to these days. Crawling and climbing up on anything and everything she can get to. This is the little seat in front of our fireplace that she likes to climb up on and she will just sit on it with a big proud smile on her face.

Bella is learning so much right now. It is so fun to watch her figure new things out. Like this little shape sorter toy she has in the picture. This is her new favorite thing to do. She will sit there for quite a long time and work on it. She is a lot more patient than I am.

While in Wyoming for Christmas, Bella mastered the stairs. We don't have any stairs in our house, so she was pretty macinated with the whole thing. As you can tell in her face in the picture- she is quite pleased with her new skill.

My sweet little Bella,

I've had only a handful of times in my life, when I've had very distinct answers to my prayers. One of them being when I received an overwhelming feeling that it was time for us to have you. You have been in my our lives for such a short amount of time so far, yet I can not imagine our family being complete without you here with us. I have so much to learn about you still and I'm so excited to watch you grow.

I think being a little older when I had you and having a little more experience at being a mother, I was able to really take in the moments a lot better. The day of your ultrasound and I heard them say the words little girl, I knew exactly what your name would be. I looked at your face on the screen and saw your little heart beating. I was in complete love with you from that day on, and will love you forever.

All About Alyssa...

I have been thinking a lot lately about what a blessing it is to be a mother and to experience pregnancy and delivering your child. I know a lot of women who struggle to have children of their own, who have suffered miscarriages, and some who have been uniquely blessed with special needs children. After all that, I can't help but look at my two healthy and beautiful little girls with such gratitude and humility. I am so blessed! I am embarrassed to say that I have to stop and remind myself that once in awhile. Because motherhood is such a stressful and trying job a lot of times, I tend to take how blessed I am forgranted.
I have decided to highlight each of my children in their own blog entry. In hopes that one day in the future I can look back on this and remember the little things that made me just smile and love them so much at this stage in their life.



My Alyssa just LOVES ponies! She has only road a real life pony once so far, but she is just a cowgirl in her heart. She rides her stick ponies all around the house everyday and she treats them like they were her real animals. It is just so sweet. One of these days when she is older, I would love to have a real pony for her.



I love this picture because it pretty much just screams ALYSSA! Not just because of her name on the wall in back of her either. Alyssa has been jumping and climbing around since the day she left my belly. Some times I just don't know what to do with all of her energy, so she will just run it off or jump on her bed to get her wiggles out!

This is Valentine's day breakfast that Rob made for his girls this year. She was given the "You are so Special" charger with her plate full of chocolate chip pancakes made special from her daddy. She was just so dang excited about it all. You would have thought she won a million dollars! It is so fun to watch her reactions to things like that. It brings me such joy to my heart and I want to remember her that way forever. She is so easily pleased and excited and just loves life so much. One of my favorite reactions is when she says, "OH MY GOSH...THIS IS AMAZING!!"

Alyssa is the dress up queen! She just loves to dress up in just about anything. One day I came into my bedroom to find my daughter dressing up in...you got it...lingerie! As much as I don't want her growing up to be a lingerie model, I have to admit, she was pretty cute!

Alyssa is SO creative! Her mind is always moving a mile a minute. (just like her daddy) So, I wasn't surprised the other day when I was working from my office and she called me into her room and I found her in this outfit practicing her swim techniques on the carpet floor. I will remind you that this was taken in the middle of winter and I guess she was feeling in the mood for swimming. Hey, I don't blame her- a nice swim on a warm summer day sounded pretty good to me too. But her mind doesn't just stop there. It goes on, and on, and on, and on. She will do great things with that mind of hers one day.

My funny little Alyssa, how much I love you. Since the day I knew you, I have loved you more than words can describe. You amaze me, test me, and bring such fun and joy to my life everyday. I have learned SO much in just 4 short years with you and I can not imagine my life with out you in it. If you read this when you are older and you think your old mommy is uncool and doesn't know anything-that is okay, I think that is pretty normal. Just always know this-no matter what- I love you and I am here for you always.

To be continued...