A shout out to Uncle Grant!

My little (okay he's not little, he's just younger than me) brother, Grant (Bella's Uncle Grant) was transferred from the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in the Dominican Republic out into the mission field last week. We haven't heard from him since he got out there, so we can only assume that he's busy spreading the gospel. We are so proud of him and the work that he's doing. Hopefully we'll get an e-mail from him (if they have Internet access or electricity for that matter) soon so we can find out what it's like out there. Here are some pictures from his time at the MTC down there.
Here's Bella telling her Uncle how much she loves him! Of course her sign is in Spanish... he's serving in a Spanish speaking mission.

This is one the way to the MTC from the airport when Grant first got to the DR. Too bad Grant won't ever get to get into the ocean, it looks so beautiful.

Here's the DR Temple (with the palm trees, of course).

Here's Grant enjoying the sunshine in the DR.

This is one of the essentials that Grant could not leave behind. Even though he had to ditch some of the things that he could have probably used a little more because of the weight restrictions, he had to keep this one item. As you can see it's coming in handy as a name tag holder.

67 days down, 663 days to go!

Some old pictures...

We had Brindy's baby shower at our apartment and as I was cleaning up, Bella was getting into trouble. I turned around and saw her eating on something. What was it?...

A whole baby carrot. She thought it was awesome. She had reached around and picked it up off the plate behind her. She thought she was very clever.These are the kids that I used to always babysit. Now I only see them every once in a while. They all came over because they wanted to see Bella. It was fun to see her interact with them. On the left is the infamous Cole, then Sofia (Cole's friend), Rema (Cole's Mom), Bella and Sage (another friend and Sofia's sister). They are all so fun and I miss hanging out with them.

Here are the kids again. Sofia was very excited to get to hold Bella.

Funny Faces

My sister, Kellie, and Bella and I went down to Redding this weekend to surprise our parents. My sister, Jennifer, got a cheap flight up from L.A. and came up to surprise my Dad (my Mom knew she was coming). So we decided that it would be fun to surprise everyone. We told everyone that this weekend just wasn't good for us to come down because Dusty had three big tests this week. What we didn't tell them is that we were planning on coming without him. So we left him home and showed up at my parents house unexpected. It was pretty funny. Everyone was taking pictures all weekend, but I guess none of them were using my camera because I only ended up with three pictures and this is one of them (the other two look very similar). I'll post more pictures when I get them from everyone else. That's Bella on the floor reading the New Era and that's Lily standing up trying to get her mommy's laptop.

I couldn't resist, I had to post this picture and the next one. I didn't even notice the funny things she was doing with her face when I took them. But they are so hilarious. That and I love her hair. She really likes to "eat" her comb whenever I do her hair. It's kind of gross, but also kind of funny.
Her favorite toy right now is this bucket.

She loves to play basketball, I'm sure her daddy is very excited about this fact. Although I'm not really sure she understands the rules. She travels like crazy and if she's not winning she just chews on the ball. This is either cheating or a brilliant tactic.

This is one of her many new talents. She used to not be able to pick up things and eat them (she could pick them up but they would get stuck in her palm and she couldn't eat them). Last Monday she was sitting in her chair and she just started eating her snacks. She didn't even need any help. What can I say, she's gifted.

Naked baby and new talents

Bella loves tubby time. She was cracking me up yesterday, so I had to take this. I love her little bum.

Her new favorite game is ripping up Kleenex. I don't know where she picked up this habit, but it's very messy. It doesn't matter where the Kleenex box is, she can find it and make a mess. If she has her pacifier in her mouth it's not too bad because she doesn't eat it. If not, it's just gross. Sometimes if she's being a bug, I sit her on the couch and give her a Kleenex and she's good for like 20 minutes. I've decided Kleenex are my saving grace. ;)

Here she is showing off her new talent. Some times I think she just wants to get up and walk, that's why she gets up on her hands and toes instead of knees. It's always funny when she thinks she has gone far enough to reach whatever she's after, but when she lays down it's just out of reach and she has to get back up and go a little farther.

8 months!

I figured since it took me a month to post a blog about Bella being 7 months old, I should probably get this one in on time. ;) So, today Bella is 8 months old. It seems like time keeps flying by. She makes progress by leaps and bounds these days. And of course I am fulfilling my duties as a mother by doting on her 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and telling her (and everyone that will listen) that everything she does is brilliant. Last week she was officially crawling on her hands and knees (barely going a foot before giving up) and tonight she charged across the living room to get to my cell phone (hey, she has her priorities...). She was even trying to stand up using the couch as leverage. She is still amazed at her new talents. She is always looking at her feet and you can tell by the look on her face that she's thinking, Wow! I did it! It's pretty cool. She's talking up a storm these days and is becoming even more opinionated. Her favorite thing to say is dadadadada, which comes in very handy when Dusty comes home from school and she has a poopy diaper. I just tell him that she's been asking for him and he has no choice but to obey her command ;). It's very cute. Despite this she is definitely a momma's girl. There are a couple people out there that she just loves, but when in doubt she always wants her mommy. Most of the time I really love it, but there are those few moments when someone she doesn't know wants to hold her and I just know she's going to freak out. I know all too soon she'll be trying to get away from me as fast as she can, I just have to keep reminding myself of this and enjoy the mommy time while it lasts. It also seems like she's getting bigger and bigger everyday. I feel like she's going through growth spurt after growth spurt. That could be because she eats non-stop. And because of this, I'm glad that she's not a picky eater. She'll eat anything that I put in front of her (this can be bad too because she tries to eat things that aren't food, but I guess all babies do that). We make sure she has a veggie or a protein followed by a fruit everyday. She also loves to feed herself. She loves any little snack that she can pick up by herself and often times tries to take the spoon out of our hand when we're feeding her. I'm also very proud that she is sleeping through the night. It was a long time coming, but now that she does it, I love it! We tried to help her learn to sleep through the night when she was 5 months old, but she didn't take to it. I thought I'd try again when we got back from Christmas, but she started sleeping through the night on her own before then. I'm glad she decided she was ready and went ahead and did it. Every once in a while she'll fuss a little, but more often than not, she goes right back to sleep. Two or three times she's woken up and not gone back to sleep. Having to wake up in the middle of the night on those occasions nearly kills me. I don't know how I did it for 6 or so months. I guess that's why babies are so cute, they make it all worth it. Other than that, she's doing great and we loving watching her grow up. We'll have some official stats (weight, height, etc.) for you next month when we see her doctor for her 9 month well baby appointment (since we don't have a digital scale).

7 months

Isabella turned 7 months old on Christmas day. It was fun to have a milestone day fall on a holiday, but that also means that I didn't get to take a picture of her with her with her Horton doll since we were on vacation and I forgot to pack it (that and we didn't have the room anyway). As a 7 month old, Bella was still working on crawling, though she did master the art of deciding where she wanted to go and some how getting there. She loves playing games and giggling up a storm. She loves other kids. Even if she's mad or tired, if there are other kids in the room, she's happy. She's still wearing 6 months clothes and size 2 diapers. She loves to move whether it's jumping, rolling, dancing, you name it. She loves to talk and she's very opinionated. If you do something she doesn't like, she'll let you. It's fun to see her personality show.

It's about time... (and it's long)

So I finally decided that now is the time to update our blog. I'm always looking at everyone else's blogs checking for updates and I'm always disappointed when there's nothing new. So I figured that it was Karma; if I update my blog - others will too. So I'm doing it. Now you have to as well. ;)

This last month has been a little crazy. And to make matters worse our laptop has been freaking out and only connecting to the Internet when it feels like it. Even spending almost two hours on the phone with the HP tech guy didn't make a difference. I guess we'll just have to deal with it for now. I might just be having bad luck with technology lately because my cell was going crazy and when I was talking to the tech lady she totally fried my phone. I lost everything I had on it. All my contacts, all my pictures, all my videos of Bella, everything! I was so mad. I got a new phone and within two days, the new phone started doing the same thing the old one did. Nuts! So I went and got a new one (and had them back-up my contacts while I was at it, I'm not losing those again). So if you've been expecting a call from me and haven't gotten it, it's probably because I don't have your number. So you better call me. ;)

So finally, what we did this month: We finally finished with the school term the second week of December. We got to spend out last few days (before leaving for Redding) in a couple of inches of snow! It was so much fun playing in and looking at all the pretty snow (hey, our apartments don't look like such a dump when they're covered up!). It was fun until we had to leave the house. Driving in this town is a little crazy anyway, but with a bunch of people that can't drive when the pavement is dry it was even more scary. We had to put on chains just to get anywhere. I'm pretty sure the City of Corvallis has never heard of a snow plow.

We finally got to leave town and head for Redding. The drive was a little slow at first, but about half way to the border the roads cleared up and we actually got to go 75mph. One of our first visits, once we got to Redding, was to my Great-Grandma. It's so funny to see Bella watch her.

We didn't get to play in the snow before we left home, but luckily there was snow for us to play in at Grandma and Grandpa Rogerson's house. Bella thought it was quite interesting.

Tubby time with Grandma Sue and Grandpa Jerry. The sink was the perfect size. Bella had fun just sitting there looking at everyone.

This is Christmas Eve at my parents house. I don't know what we're doing or why this picture was taken, but the look on Bella's face cracks me up. I couldn't stop laughing when I saw it.

Christmas morning opening presents with Grandpa Jerry. He helped Bella open almost all her gifts. She certainly had fun eating the wrapping paper.

Cousin Lily opening her presents with her Daddy. She's really excited. Can you tell? I love the look on her face. Notice Bella and Lily's matching Christmas PJ's. Thanks Grandma Sue!

Bella and Lily playing with all their new Christmas toys. They kept stealing them from each other. It was pretty funny. I'm pretty sure Bella smacked Lily once or twice too. She may be little, but she's a bully. Hopefully that improves before kindergarten.

Lounging on the giant teddy bear that Grandma Sue and Grandpa Jerry got her. It was funny until she started eating fur. Yuck!

We went out to Grandma and Grandpa Rogerson's for the rest of Christmas day. We went up to the top of the hill that they live on and took this picture. It was very pretty. I love Bella's little outfit.

We had the whole crowd of Grandkids out at Grandma and Grandpa Rogerson's house. It was a little nuts. Look how brave Aunt Kate is sitting there with all those kids. The kids were actually captivated until I took out the camera.

Bella riding the Buckin' Bronco at G & G Rogerson's. It was a wild ride.

We finally headed home after the new year. Unfortunately we had to get back for school. By the time we got home all the snow had melted and Corvallis just didn't look as mystical as when we left. Getting back in the swing of things has been hard. I only have one class for an hour and a half on campus this term, but my two on-line classes require quite a bit of time. So far it's going pretty well. Dusty has been managing his time pretty well, but every once in a while he's a little reluctant to study and I find him doing anything he can to avoid studying. However, he still uses studying as an excuse to get out of things he doesn't want to do. "Dusty can you change her diaper?" - "I can't I have a test next week." Some times I let him get away with it, but not every time. ;)

Bella's hair is finally long enough to put a clip in. It's so funny. She always gets mad when I try to do something with it, but if I let her hold the comb all is forgiven.

Bella playing in the tub with her giant duck. Why was everything Grandma Sue got her this year for Christmas jumbo sized? A giant teddy bear? A huge rubber duckie? Huh.

We went to Portland because Daddy had a job interview for his summer internship. We waited in the car because it only took him a half an hour. Where were we going to go for 30 minutes? I did her hair while we were in the car and it was too cute not to document. Keep your fingers crossed that Dusty get that job we really want to move to Portland.

I was trying to keep Bella entertained while I was putting away laundry so I gave her her tutu. She was having fun eating it, but this is so much more funny. I love her little tongue sticking out.

I was jumping on the bed and bouncing her. She thought it was the best thing.

Bella loves to fly. And she always keeps her elbows tucked in.

She was cracking us up attacking this monkey. Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Scott got her this outfit in Hawaii this summer and it finally fits her.

What can I say, she's a future track and field star.

We went to Salem last Monday to see an exhibit that I helped put together in one of my classes. Another class and one of the Grad Students finished it and it was put up in the State Capitol. It was fun to go up there and see it in real life (when we were working on it it was just concept posters). It was also fun to see my name in print. If any of you are in Salem Oregon in the next two years, you should check it out. Here's the website for those of you not in the area. http://ohs.org/exhibits/traveling-exhibits/oregon-150-years-of-statehood-150-million-years-in-the-making.cfm

While we were in Salem we stopped to see our friends Shiara and Jenn. It was funny to see Shiara's son, Owen, and Isabella interact. He's only 5 days older than Bella and already so much bigger.

I guess Bella was motivated by Owen since he can really book it around the living room. She finally got up on her hands and knees and moved forward! She's still a little wobbly and she still prefers to scoot on her tummy, but she can crawl if she wants to.