Catch Up...

A lot has happened over the last month and a half since my last post. Where to begin? We lost Grandpa at the end of June after a battle with cancer. It was tough to see him go but he is in a better place and that's what we have to remember. He was Bella's buddy and I only regret that she didn't really get the chance to remember all the fun she had with him. Grandpa always wore flannel shirts, so I took some of them and I'm going to make a blanket for Bella to cherish! I'll post pics when I get it done.

Bella sharing a cookie with Grandpa

We recently took a family trip to Hilton Head Island, SC. Jason, Bella, and I went along with my parents, my sister and her family, my oldest brother and his family, and my aunt and uncle and their family. We stayed at an awesome house in Palmetto Dunes right on the beach. The weather was perfect!! We stayed for a whole week and enjoyed some wonderful beach time, pool time, bike rides, and gorgeous scenery.

Mom, Dad, Jason, Belle and I in front of the house

There will be many more pictures to come. I have videos of Bella to post too. She wasn't sure about the water the first couple of days but by the end of the week she was a beach bum!!

Bella update: Since my last post Bella has gotten in her two bottom teeth. She had another bad ear infection that lasted over a month and took 5 antibiotics to get rid of. This led us to go to an ear specialist. She will be getting tubes put in her ears on August 6. She also is now doing breathing treatments and taking Claritin for asthma and allergies. A couple weeks ago she started standing on her own. I'm sure she will be walking soon! Not looking forward to that since she is already into EVERYTHING!!

That's about all right now on what is going on in the Standeford household. We are busy planning Bella's first birthday party. Can't believe it is already almost here. Time sure flies! Until next time...

How can Bella already be 10 months old?

Man does time fly!! It's hard to believe our little princess is 10 months old today! She is growing and changing so much every day. Right now she is weighing in at 23 lbs and is around 31-32 inches long. It has been a wonderful experience being home with her more. She definately keeps me on the go!! She is climbing up the stairs and just figured out how to go down them within the last week. Bella is constantly waving at everything now, accompanied by "hi" or "bye." She is defiantely a little show off!!

She loves to be outside!! She is unsure about the feel of grass and usually bear crawls around the yard because she doesn't like to get down on her knees. It is hysterical!! One of our favorite past times is to go for walks in the stroller. Luckily we live in a nice subdivision so we can enjoy our daily walks in our neighborhood! We have about 4 birdfeeders in our yard so Belle can enjoy watching the birds, something she picked up from her Grandpa Haines!! Also, a couple weeks ago we planted a wildflower garden for her. It's exciting because some of the flowers are starting to pop up. It will be fun this summer to watch them grow. Once we get some good blooms I will post some pictures.

Bella has become a very observant girl! We like to call her Nosey Nancy. She is constantly pointing at everything and she loves when you tell her what it is! A couple weeks ago, we went to Monrovia for the Triplets' graduation. I can't believe they are going to be college freshman! Isabella was so well behaved durning commencement. I was quite relieved, especially since it was so hot in the gym!!

So as you can see, things at the Standeford household have been quite busy! I'm hoping now to stay up on my post (for about a week we didn't have a computer because our PC crashed). I have taken several pictures over the last month so I will get some posted soon. I'm including Belle's 10 month picture I took today at the park! Until next time...

Happy Mother's Day and all that Jazz!!

So, I've really been slacking on getting post put up on our blog. I'm going to do a little catch up in this one. As of this week, I am only working part time. It was a choice we made because I wanted to be able to have more time to spend with Bella while she is still young. So far, it has been great and I think it was a very good decision.

I celebrated my first "official" Mother's Day on Sunday. We didn't do anything too special. Got up and went to church (I was given a flower for being the youngest mother there) and then we spent the afternoon at my parents house. Below is a couple pics of Bella on Mother's day.

On Tuesday, Isabella turned 9 months old! Where has the time gone? She went for her well visit on Wednesday. She weighs 22 lbs 2 oz and is 30 1/2 inches long. She is in the 95 percentile in weight and is off the charts on height. The doctor said she is a very healthy baby!! Bella has become quite the character. She says mama and dada all the time. She also learned a new word the other day, uh oh!! It's so cute when she says it. She is an avid crawler now! She also loves to pull herself up onto anything. A favorite game is to walk back and forth from one end of the couch to the other! Just in the past couple weeks she has learned how to get herself back down too. Very impressive!! Bella still doesn't have any teeth yet, but we can feel one really trying to come in on the bottom. I am definately over this whole teething business. I think that is it for now! Just been busy keeping up with Bella. Here are a few more recent pics to enjoy. Until next time...

Just a Swingin!!

Over the weekend, we were able to get Bella swing up that she got from the Easter Bunny. Luckily it was nice so we were able to enjoy a little time swinging! She loved it as you can see!

We also had fun walking barefoot in the grass with Daddy!

I'll will be posting a video of her soon, walking with Daddy, once I can get it edited so you don't have to turn your head to watch it! Check back soon! Until next time...

Happy Easter and 8 month Birthday Bella!!

So, I know I'm a couple days behind (surprised, I know). Better late than never though. We celebrated Isabella's first Easter, plus she happened to turn 8 months old the same day!! I can't believe how fast my baby is growing.

We didn't really do anything too exciting Easter Sunday. We attended church, popped in for a quick visit at Nanny and Pappy's, and then headed home to do laundry and all that fun Sunday afternoon stuff. (See pics below of Isabella in her cute new dress) We opted not to get Belle a basket this year since she can't have candy yet and there wasn't really anything she needed. We did however get her a swing for outside that we are going to hang on the deck. Since we have such beautiful weather here in Indiana, we haven't had a chance to hang it yet. Once we get it up and she has a chance to try it out I will post some pictures.

Isabella is growing like a weed and constantly on the go. I would say she is probably weighing in at about 22lbs now and is around 30 inches long. Boy that girl can move too!! I'm not sure I like this whole crawling thing. She definately wears me out!!

Nothing else new in the Standeford house! Just spending our time trying to keep up with everything. I'm getting ready to send out some teaching applications within the next week or two, so everyone keep there fingers crossed and say a little prayer that I might get something for the fall. Until next time...

Bella's not slowing down!!

So I just wanted to give a quick update on how our Bella girl is doing. I swear that girl never stops growing. Nanny weighed her last week and she is weighing in at 21.4 lbs. I decided to measure her a couple days ago and she is 29 1/4 inches long. She is going to be tall just like her Aunt Jessica!! It makes it very difficult for mommy to buy her clothes. The sizes she should be fitting into are too short so she outgrows them quickly. I'm currently buying her 12-18 month stuff!

We have currently been dealing with the whole teething issue. Still no teeth yet!! Bella has been one crabby baby though! I just wish one of those little suckers would pop through already!! I feel so bad for her. There is only so much tylenol, oragel, and a frozen teething ring can do!

On to other news...Bella is starting to "army" crawl. It's so cute to watch her go around in circles. She gets up on her knees every so often but hasn't figured out how to move that way yet! She is also walking now when we hold her hands and trying to pull herself up on everything! She has become quite the show-off!!

Sorry Aunt Donna, still no clicking noise yet! We are working on it though. She does it from time to time but I don't think she is really aware of what she is doing. Her thing now is to growl! I don't know where she got this from (Aunt Jenny) but it is very humorous! I think that is all the new things that have been going on in the Standeford house right now. Until next time....

Vacation Destination: Arizona

So I'm finally getting to our vacation update. On Friday the 13th we set off for Amarillo, Tx. It was an 18 hour trip to get there. Bella did wonderful in the car. We traveled overnight, so she slept a good chunk of the time. Throughout the ride on Saturday she played, napped, and watched a couple movies. It was nice to get to our hotel and stretch. We went to had an awesome dinner at Chilli's and then had to make a stop at WalMart. The next morning we set off for Flagstaff, AZ. We had some issues in New Mexico with the elevation change. It didn't really agree with Bella's ear infection. I had never been so excited to get out of the car before. It was around another 10 hours from Amarillo to Flagstaff!!

Monday morning we headed to the Grand Canyon. It is such an amazing site!! I think everyone needs to visit at least once in their lifetime. You cannot put into words how beautiful it is!! We spent 3 1/2 hours stopping at 4 different viewpoints. Our first stop was Desert View where the watchtower is. Jason and I started to treck to the top. I got about 2/3 of the way up and had to turn around, my knees were getting shakey!! While we were there, Isabella adopted a mountain lion. She got a stuffed one to keep, plus she'll receive a certificate for her contribution. After our day at the Canyon, we headed back to Flagstaff, passing the SanFransisco Peaks along the way. We walked around downtown Flagstaff for a bit before getting a bite to eat and hitting the sack.

Tuesday was time to head to Sedona to meet Aunt Donna and Uncle Jim. They took us up to airport road where you are able to view the entire city. AMAZING!! This is where Isabella got her picture taken by some little old Asian women who were on a tour. It was so adorable. She had on a cute white hat and sunglasses, looking like a movie star!! On our way to Phoenix, we went through Jerome. For those of you who don't know, Jerome is on the side of the mountain!! We drove on miles and miles of winding rodes up and down the side of the mountain! It was cool to see but a little scarey too! I thought mom was going to have a heart attack but she survived!

The rest of the week was spent in Phoenix. We went to see the Cardinals stadium, went to the zoo and aquarium, went to the swapmart, and spent time just hanging out at Uncle Jim and Aunt Donna's. Isabella was starting to love her nightly walks with Uncle Jim. It was so nice to have sunshine and blue skies all week. I definately wasn't ready to come home.

The trip back seemed like it took FOREVER! It's always exciting to go somewhere but coming home is tough! We are hoping to plan a return trip next year!

Below you will find a montage of pictures from our vacation...Hope you enjoy! Until next time...