Rub a dub dub

When you get this messy eating oatmeal, you definitely need a bath! It's a good thing Bella just got a brand new rubber ducky tub!

I like this tub! I can't wait to try it out for real!

Oh yeah...even better! I can eat my toes in this thing!

Oatmeal

We decided to give Bella her first bowl of oatmeal tonight.
She LOVED it!

For those of you who can't get videos at home, here are two "consolation" pictures of Bella eating her straps and attempting to eat her toes. Since I didn't get any still shots of her eating her oatmeal, these will have to do.What? Haven't you ever heard of eating high chair straps as an appetizer?
Stroller straps are pretty tasty, too!

Ok, I got them in my hand...now, I just have to get them up to my mouth!

Introducing...Roller Girl!

Roller Girl...that is what John has been calling Bella all day. Why, you ask? Our girl finally decided to roll over all by herself. It took me all day to catch it on video, so this is actually her 5th roll. At least it is still the first day of rolling! As I have mentioned before, I apologize for my annoying "baby voice." I am working on it. I was just too excited today to care about what my voice sounded like!

Happy Birthday Great Gigi!

Today is my grandmother's 85th birthday, so I wanted to post a few pictures in celebration of one of the greatest women I know! We love you so much Gigi and hope you have a great day!

Gigi and her sister, Aunt Lee, at our wedding in 2004.

Gigi and her daughter, my aunt, on Thanksgiving in 2005.

Gigi and her other daughter, my mom, at my house in 2006. It was the day my mom got her bachelor's degree (in case the cap and gown didn't give it away!)

Gigi, my mom, me, and Bella on Thanksgiving in 2008 - 4 generations!

This one speaks for itself!

"I love this doll you made for me, Great Gigi! I wish I knew how to make something to give you for your birthday. How about a cute smile?"

Bella's 1st Easter

We celebrated our first Easter as a family of 3 this weekend! It was a busy weekend, so there were a lot of pictures to choose from...enjoy!Bella in her "Baby's First Easter" outfit
If you think she is a little shiny, it's because I had just put Aquaphor on her cheeks.

Bella approves of my new hair cut!

Dying Easter Eggs with John, my mom, Ish, and Christian after Bella went to sleep. We had a LOT of fun!

The result of our hard work...a beautiful bowl of Easter Eggs

All three Easter Baskets...Mommy's, Bella's, and Daddy's!

Bella in her pretty Easter dress with her Easter basket and books!

Aunt and Bella were playing with her new stuffed animal from Great Gigi for a long time. We could not decide exactly what kind of animal it is though. We think it is a ram. Whatever it is, Bella loves it! If you listen closely, you can hear Bella "talking" to the mystery animal. It was a very long video, so I edited down to a little over a minute. Try to catch the funny face at the beginning of the video...cracks me up every time!

Grandpa and Bella on Easter Sunday

Bella loves playing with her Great Gigi!

Bella smiling with Uncle Gene

Some Easter love from Auntie Ish

I think Bella likes Christian!

Easter Family Picture

Napping in her Pack and Play after all of the Easter excitement...woo hoo!

Playing with her new teething ring from the Easter Bunny!

"Haha...look at all of my Easter loot!"
Bella is very spoiled by Nena, Grandpa, Great Gigi, Aunt, and Uncle Gene!

Bella loves to play with her Easter Bunny Pooh
(and by "play with," I mean EAT it!)

Locks of Love!

I have been thinking about getting my haircut for a long time now and then my sister told me I HAD to get it cut! Since she is a stylist, I decided to do it. Then the question was how short I should get it. At first I was thinking just 3 or 4 inches, but then I got a call from a friend of mine who had gone through chemo and lost her hair a while back. It made me start thinking about the time I did Locks of Love (www.locksoflove.org for more info) back in college. So I asked my sister if I had enough hair to donate and she confirmed that I had plenty...so we did it! My sister, Ashley, works at Ulta Salon in Rockville, MD if you are looking for a wonderful stylist. She is the best and I am not just saying that because she is my sister! :)

Before pic from the front...you can see why my sister insisted on cutting it!

Before pic from the side...ugh!

Before pic from the back...the longest I've ever had my hair.

My 3 Locks of Love ponytails!

The happy after shot!

After shot with the Locks of Love ponytails!

After profile pic

After shot of the back

5 months old! (plus The Little Gym and rice cereal)

Bella turned 5 months old yesterday and we had a great day! She experienced two firsts...The Little Gym with her friend, Cate, and rice cereal! Our 5 month girl weighs a little over 17 pounds and is nearly 27 inches long. She is also wearing 9 month clothes...wasn't ready for that! So even though it was pretty cold out yesterday, you will notice that she is wearing a short sleeved shirt. All of Bella's 9 month clothes are summer clothes because I didn't think she would be wearing 9 months just yet!

First thing in the morning as a 5 month old girl!

Sitting up on her changing table...don't be fooled though. She can only sit up by herself for 15 seconds or so before leaning to one side or the other. We are working on it!"Can I help you, Mommy? Can't you see I am busy trying to play with these bells?"Having fun in the tunnel at The Little Gym

Bella loved doing tummy time in the tunnel and watching all of the
'big kids" play. She tries so hard to scoot around!
Hey Cate, thanks for inviting me to The Little Gym! I love it here!Cate was singing the bell song to Bella...too cute!This place is great!A little R and R after an exciting adventure to The Little Gym. Bella had her first spoonfuls of rice cereal last night. As Daddy mentions in the video, the jury is still out on whether or not she likes it. She certainly doesn't hate it because she ate several spoonfuls and didn't spit any of it up.

This is the video of her first time eating rice cereal. It is a little long, but I didn't really want to cut it short. Excuse my baby voice, I always forget to "tone it down" when we are taking video. I guess I have to work on that! :)Getting ready for bed...we had a great day celebrating her 5 month milestone!

Easter Dresses (Yes, that is plural!)

Yes, I am aware that Easter is only one day, but my mom and I just couldn't decide on ONE Easter dress. So, we ended up with three. She wore one to see the Easter Bunny, one to church on Palm Sunday, and she will wear the yellow one next week for Easter. My mom got her the teal dress and the green and purple dress. I broke down and bought the yellow one myself! I blame it on the people who make all of these adorable baby girl clothes!

Thinking she can stand in her teal Easter Bunny dress!Mommy and Bella getting ready to go to church on Palm Sunday.Sitting up like a big girl in her dress...
her new favorite thing to do after getting her diaper changed!Bella is sitting pretty in her Palm Sunday dress.Of course we had to try her actual Easter day dress on to make sure it looked cute!
Am I cute, Mommy?