2 Babies!

I'm smiling because one of them goes home with someone else!!!

Babies are amazing. They are so unique, even at this age. I know, every mother knows how different her children are from any others. Let's face it, they're just perfect, aren't they?

Today Isabella has played in Rachael's crib, slept in her own crib, laughed out loud!, tolerated Sara's affection, chewed on everything, wiggled on her tummy, kicked and blew raspberries, been held snuggled and carried. Today I brushed my teeth and drank coffee with Angela. How come the busier Bella is the less I get done??? lol. I love motherhood. I love my husband for keeping his expectations low :)

No Surprise

Your Inner European is Italian!

Passionate and colorful.You show the world what culture really is.

Who's" Your Inner European?

Can't say I was surprised...

What do you do all day?

This question was posed to me this evening, and made me stop and think once again about my *new* state of life as a stay-at-home mom. After reflecting upon this question caused me to both smile and cringe, I decided to share. Of course no 2 days are completely alike...

0715, roll over to the sweet sounds of coos and raspberries. God truly blessed me in having a daughter who is such a morning person. Otherwise I may never get out of bed! We get up, change and feed the baby. pppprrrbbbbbb. Change the baby again. Shower for Mama while Bella plays in the fish seat. Peek around the shower curtain multiple times, talking my way through the shower in a silly voice to keep her happy. Hurry off to Mass, in a tiny little country chapel where I bounce Bella and listen to the lady behind me whisper to her way too often, and then get up and stand in the back when she starts to scream - usually right in the middle of the Consecration. At the kiss of peace, I notice the aroma of my latest perfume, Eau du Baby Vomit. Isabella falls alseep on the way home, and sneaking a peek in the mirror gives me an opportunity to say a prayer of thanksgiving for her life. Make mental note to change vomit-washed shirt.
Manage to get baby inside fast asleep, feeling proud of my mad skills. Trip over baby toy on the floor, Bella wakes up. Shocker. ppprrrbbbbbb...wwwaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!! Scoop up Baby, change, snuggle, time to eat again. Gaze lovingly at my peaceful angel OUCH! she's experimenting with her jaw. Toss Bella on the floor to play, who is happy and smiling! So of course I lay right next to her, watching her stretch those muscles and make fun baby noises. Life is good. After a while I think this would be a good time to be productive, so off to the kitchen. One dish later - ggggrrrrraaahhhhhhh! A mad girl has turned herself away from the toy and is very very angry with the world. We walk up and down the steps until she is calm. Swaddle and nap. I get to check my email! A cup of hot tea, boot up the laptop, and notice that I still smell like baby vomit. Up and change the shirt. I get to laughing at my favorite blogs, of course!
When Bella wakes up we change and play and talk and of course nurse again. We bounce and laugh and bblllleeehhh... change both of our outfits again! More floor time, more smiles! Phone ringing coincides with Bella's temper tantrum, easily solved with a new toy, What have I eaten today?
Wow! It's only NOON!!!

4 month time warp

Where did they go? What happened? I turned around this morning and I had a 4 month old! Everyone talks about how "time flies when you're having fun", and how fast kids grow, and all that good stuff. Truly, though, that concept never really meant much until I had a baby of my own. Now I find myself thinking "Damn, time really does fly!, and yes, they grow so fast!" There is no way to describe it until you are living it.

Her 4 month appointment isn't until later this month, so I don't have stats yet. I can, however, fill in the exciting little things she's been doing. Besides, that's more entertaining than just how much my big-cheeked-baby weighs.

Laughing! She LOVES to smile, and coo, and when something catches her just right she laughs! I think she'll have a deep belly laugh, from the way it sounds now. Her Daddy is the best at making her laugh. Of course, I can understand that - we all laugh at him, too :)

COOing! Oh Lord, if her vocal tendencies are a foreshadowing of what is to come... Pat will have 20,000 more words a day to deal with! lol. She makes all kinds of sounds and squeals.

The Wiggles! No, not a weird TV show, here! The past week or so I've seen a huge difference in her tummy movement. Yikes! She pushes herself WAY up to look around, and just a few nights ago started moving herself around 90degrees circular. When she starts to get antsy her legs come up underneath her, although they don't do her any good yet. Thank God! I keep telling her "none of that nonsense for a LONG time!"

Play Time! She loves interaction, whether with toys or people. Darn those hands that keep pushing the toy away from her mouth, her ultimate goal in life at the moment. We play "Sit Up, Lay Back" with a pillow, which she gets a kick out of since she loves to "sit" up. Cousin Sara also likes Bella to play this game, and we caught her the other day helping Baby play. Uh-Oh! She pulled on her saying "up" and then when I had averted that crisis by helping, Sara pushes on Bella's head saying "lay back!" But Bella is very relaxed with Sara around, and enjoys whatever Sara wants to show her.

Sleeping! Any parent knows that this is the single most important part of infancy - how they are sleeping! She does pretty well at night, getting slowly better at nap time. The landmark this week is that she has moved out of the swing! The swing has worked really really well; however, seeing as though they don't make papasan swings for 1st graders, we knew we would have to transfer her out of it. My little "mover-shaker" is doing great.

Yes, the balloon is stuck to her head with static. Ah, the things we subject our children to... like 6th grade girls. And I have no idea why this picture uploaded so much bigger than the others.

She loves her Daddy time, loud crowds, people, music, dancing, the outdoors (is this my daughter or what?!). She has quite a temper, but cries less and less, with more and more smiles. There are no words that can describe the kind of joy that one experiences watching their baby.

It's been an amazing and blessed 4 months!

Trick-or-Treat

I really enjoy Halloween; I get the biggest kick out of seeing the kiddies all dressed up as a parade of superheroes, animals, characters, bugs, and objects. Extra points for homemade creativity! Our neighborhood gets a lot of kid-traffic, and we spend a lot of time just sitting outside enjoying the show and contributing to the year's biggest sugar-high. This year, having a daughter, made me think of which costumes get extra points and which ones Isabella will never wear. Ever. If it's not a baby mermaid then no middrift should be showing. Period.

I did not actually bring Isabella around for candy, but I did dress her up in a costume like a little doll and carry her around for people to admire with Sara and Rachael. The plus was that it was a cool evening, which means she did not end up a *hot* chili pepper... although she is never a *mild* one, either!! The costume did not last very long - better luck next year!

The costume came from cousin Drew (I wish I had a pic to post, that would be cute!), and Gram thought it would be perfect for the child of the Mama who made it through the first trimester on hot peppers. lol.

Later in the evening, after an unsucessful attempt at a nap (for Bella!) while trick-or-treaters were coming around, Pat and Connie made cream puffs. mmmm.... the good news is that the bowl of candy held no appeal to me. The bad news is that cream puffs are not on any weight loss program. "Eat, drink, and be merry, and tomorrow I will still be on a diet." But that night (and breakfast the next morning) there were yummy creams puffs to be had! Yum! As Pat was making his mom do all the actual work while he just dictated, his hands were free to scoop Bella up onto his shoulders for her first shoulder ride! She was pretty content up there, espcially once she discovered just how close Daddy's fingers were to chomp on! It was pretty silly to see such a small girl so high up there!

On November 1st we went to Mass at my nieces and nephews' school. A different show of costumes, as the 4th grade class were all dressed as saints and processed in to the sung litany of the saints. It was so precious :) My nephew Danny was St. Peter, with the largest key (made by his daddy) I've ever seen. So that morning he was the first pope, a martyr, the night before he was a Star Wars fighter. I love boys.