A day in the life of...

My sister Rachael so kindly pointed out that a good majority of my blog posts are updates on the patio. Well that is because people keep asking me to post pictures AND it's super easy to blog about that since there is very little typing involved.

Anyway, here is another blog post that isn't about the patio, but about Bella.

Bella is 5 months old now and growing cuter and a little bit chubbier everyday, she is such an easy baby. I'm so glad she wasn't my first child cause I would have been spoiled for sure.
Here is what her days are like: (so I can look back and remember)

8 am wake up. This is my favorite part of the day, getting her out of bed in the morning, she is always so happy. She is still swaddled up at night (except her arms) and she is just smiling and wiggling when I go in to get her up. It really makes getting out of bed, no matter how tired I am, totally worth it.
Then she eats - still just breastmilk for now, but we plan to start cereal in a couple weeks. I remember with Tony I couldn't wait to start feeding him food, but now that I know how much work it is and how messy it is, I am in no hurry to start. I have given her a taste or two of cereal, and she really seems to like it. I'm hoping for a better eater with Bella than I got with Tony. I also plan to make all her baby food. I always thought that the reason Tony is such a picky eater is because after eating all that bland tasteless food his taste buds were ruined, so when I tried to feed him anything with texture or flavor he rejected it. I call that the Gerber curse.

Then after breakfast we play and hang out with Tony.
10 am is nap time, and I can usually get her to sleep for 2-3 hours.
1pm up and eating again. Then she gets a bath and dressed for the day.
1-4 we hang out, and play some more.
4-6 nap time again.
6 -8 eat, play and hang out some more.
8:30 she is down for the night.

See what I mean by easy? Although add an almost 2 year old into the mix and things aren't quite so easy anymore, but we manage. Most days are good, but I wont lie, going to work every now and again is a nice little break. Although, I only feel that way for about an hour or two, and then I am ready to go back home and be with my babies.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of her from the summer.
Look at these legs, are they not the fatest little legs you've ever seen? I love them though, they are so cute.

This was taken the week of the fair that was soo cold in August. One of the few times she has worn shoes.
All dressed up for Sabbath School in the dress that her Auntie Nay Nay made for her.
Tony never really liked this toy, but Bella sure seems to.

Bella in her crib in the morning.




Two weekends ago Todd and I had Bella dedicated to Jesus and Rachael and Derrick's daughter Kristen was baptized. We decided to to a little program together since our parents live in NY. Rachael was on the ball and blogged all about it quite a while ago, but most of the pictures are on my camera. So I will just post the slide show and then refer you to her blog to read about it: Thoroughly Exhausting but Exciting Weekend.

Potluck

Okay, here is my potluck post, which means I tell you about a little of everything going on, and to start it off, I'm supposed to say what I'm eating. Well I'm not eating now, dinner is over, the kitchen is clean, and the baby is asleep on the kitchen counter right in front of me. Tony is outside with Todd doing who knows what. What we did have for dinner was BBQ ribs, (real for the boys, fake for the girls), summer squash, and rice. Really quite delicious and super easy, which is why I am in love with my crock pot lately. I don't know why I never used it much before. I guess because cooking a meal in a crock pot for one seems kind of silly, but since my dad is here staying with us I have 2 people who eat meat to cook for. I cooked dinner in it yesterday too. It's so awesome because I can get it going mid day while the kids are napping, and then by dinner time it's done and all I have to do is make a salad or vegetable. So if you have any good and easy crock pot dinner recipe's send them my way.

The patio is coming along nicely, but still a long way to go. We have a finish date in mind, the last weekend in August. My mom and step dad are coming up and we are hoping to have Bella's baby dedication that weekend, I'm hoping the patio will be done by then so we can use it to have everyone over. My dad says "it'll get done", and then adds "or it wont". So I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Bella had her 4 month doctor appointment the other day. She weighs 15 pounds, which isn't surprising at all. What is surprising, is that Anthony weighed 15lb 2oz on his 4 month check up, and he was so skinny and she is so NOT skinny, I guess being an inch and a half longer makes a big difference. She is such a good baby, for me anyway, everyone else thinks she's difficult, but when it's just her and I, there is hardly any fussing. Most of the fussing during the day comes from Anthony, he is very jealous of his little sister, and has no problem letting me know that. I try to give him as much attention as I can when she is napping, but sometimes that just isn't enough for him. Bella is still sleeping through the night thankfully. She usually wakes up around 8 every morning, and by 10 she is ready for a nap again, which sometimes is as long as 4 hours, but usually more like 3. She takes a couple more short 1 hour naps later during the day, and goes to bed around 10pm. She hasn't rolled over or done anything worthy of baby book documentation other than smiling, which I guess is a good thing, cause I still haven't gotten her one.

Anthony is so cute and fun these days.
His favorite thing is to be outside. He has about 5 different transportation type toys he can ride on in the driveway (car, scooter, truck, tractor, and wagon. He likes his car the best, whenever I get the kids out of the real car I always get him out first, and before I can even get Bella out, he is in his car ready to go. He also really likes to play in his sandbox, which is great for him, but I don't like the fact that there is sand all over my house, he is always tracking it inside with him. His toys in the house are collecting dust, cause we hardly ever play inside anymore. Oh well, I guess they will be like new again this winter.

If your wondering how the NO SWEETS thing is working out... it's not.
But he loves pizza.And he really loves cucumbers. You have to listen closely, but at the very end of the first video he says cucumber. On the second video he says it right away, and then again at the end.


Today we went to the beach which was quite challenging I must say. I had way too much to carry. Thankfully my sister Rachael decided to join us and she helped me carry all our stuff. Anthony didn't want to go in the water at all, he only wanted to play in the sand, so I guess we can just stay home and play in the sandbox, it's a whole lot easier that's for sure.
I packed Tony's lunch and brought it to the beach so we wouldn't have to waste time eating at home. That turned out to be a bad idea. Poor kid had sand on all his food, and a sea gull stole his cheese stick. I also discovered it's best to put the sunscreen on at home so it can dry before he gets sand stuck to him.

I know there is more to say, but I'm getting tired, so that's gonna have to be it for now.