Just some general cuteness

Bella is officially rolling from back to belly. She has been doing it for about a week or so now and she has become quite the expert! When she decides she wants to roll she is going to roll and it doesn't matter who or what is in the way, she's rolling! This has brought in a whole new interesting chapter in sleep for her. She will roll to her belly in her sleep (which still freaks me out!) and she will sleep in some very odd positions but sometimes in the middle of the night she is too tired and easily frustrated to try to roll back over so she wakes up and waits for us to come in and roll her back to her side (her favorite sleep position, she pretty much never sleeps on her back anymore). She goes immediately back to sleep when we do this but hopefully she will start figuring it out for herself soon also! I am sure I will say this many, many times but I just love this phase she is in. It is by far my favorite up to now. Each phase is so special but right now she is so fun, she does things intentionally to entertain us and make us laugh, she is discovering so many things right now and is just the sweetest little thing on the planet!

She just rolled onto her belly to play with Dad

Daddy kisses!

Love them!

This is how she was sleeping, arm pinned under her and face planted into the mattress, yikes! I started taking pictures while she was still waking up for the morning.....picture her turning her head to the side after this and giving me a big grin with sleep lines still on her face, adorable!

Another funny sleep position, this was after a nap, she is laying the "short way" in the crib, the next picture will clarify a little more....

What a little goofball!

When did my baby get so big?!? She loves sitting in the grown up chair with pillows and blankets around her, so cozy!

She, of course, had to bring her froggy blanket with her, love that smile!

Acrobatic Sleeping

Lately we have been finding Bella in some hilarious positions when we go to get her in the morning. Her favorite position to sleep in right now is laying on her right side. When you put her down in her crib she rolls immediately to her right side. It is so adorable. Below is an example of some acrobatic sleep (if only the video monitor recorded her and we could see how she manages to do these things...)

The picture above is how we put her down in her crib. When you are facing the crib her head is on the right side and her feet on the left. Below is how we have found her a few times now....

Totally turned around! How did you get there Bella??!? Head on the left and feet on the right. Crazy lady! This is also how adorable she looks when she is waking up. Biiiiiigggg stretch!

So cute, trying to open her eyes!

And there is that big smile! Love her and all her cuteness!

She makes me laugh

I just can't help but giggle at the things Bella does sometimes. Here are some things she has been up to and some hilarious faces she has made.

She is just so sassy. I love her little personality that is coming out, she is adorable!

So cute!

And this begins a series of photos of a new thing Bella is into. She sees something she wants, she MUST have it! She throws her body at things trying to grab them. On this occassion Bella decided she wanted the Ipod docking station. She went for it....

"Uh oh, I think I have beens spotted"

Hey mom, this thing is pretty cool!

"It's mine!"

So snuggly

Here is Bella and her daddy watching Backyardigans. She is definitely into it, and I think it's so cute! I put her in her Boppy and she cuddled with her blankie and was mesmerized by the show!

Oh yeah, and I think she is teething....

Best Friends

Sometimes friends are just meant to be. My sweet friend Jenny had found out she was pregnant and we were so thrilled for them. We were also trying to get pregnant at the time. When I took a pregnancy test and it was negative I was sad. My friends knew I was trying, I told them and they were supportive and offered their support. A few days later, the doctor's office encouraged me to take another pregnancy test and I found out I was indeed pregnant! I couldn't wait to tell Jenny that both of our dreams were coming true, we were both pregnant! When I saw Jenny and told her she was only a few weeks pregnant and still in the morning sickness phase. I told her and she almost threw up on me. It was hilarious and perfect. God knew what he was doing when he gave us both everything we could have ever dreamed of, we have loved experiencing these moments together and the girls get to play together frequently because I watch Maya a few days a week. They are finally starting to notice each other and the other day I put them next to each other and they just started holding hands. No prompting, no pushing them together, just holding hands. And they didn't stop....for 3 or 4 minutes (which in baby land is a LONG time!). It was so adorable. Here are just a few of the many pictures I took of this adorable occassion!

Besties

Love

Maya checking out her friend

Bella offering a comforting hand

Bella wiping Maya's chin.....such loving care :-)

Bella's "Skills"

This entry is primarily about Bella's feet :-) If Rowdy has his way Bella will be in basketball shoes as soon as possible. And, of course, she has to represent the Suns! We were over at Grandma and Grandpa Julia's and going through the closet full of my old things and Uncle Matt's old things and we found some pretty sweet Suns slippers that were Matt's. Rowdy proceded to immediately make Bella wear them. And, like the magic slipper in Cinderella, her basketball skills started taking over as soon as she had them on! Recently Bella found her feet also. It is hilarious to me how she can go one day not really being aware of them to the next day where her obsession is trying to get them in her mouth!

Ummmmm Dad....these might be a little too big for me!

Holding the basketball

Dunking! (She immediately pulled herself to the rim and proceded to start chewing on it!

My little girl eating sweet potatoes! SO BIG! (She loved them on her first taste!)

Yum!

And what you couldn't see in the last photo was that Bella was obsessed with holding her foot thru the entire feeding

"Yummy, this foot tastes so good, like oatmeal and sweet poatoes!"

Hey Mom! Look What I Can Do!

Lately Bella has just felt like showing off :-) She is just so much fun right now and loves trying new things. She is getting so much stronger too! The way she looks at me when she does things, I swear I hear her saying "Mom, look at what I am doing!" I just love watching her try/learn new things!

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I can ride on Dad's shoulders!!

And of course try to eat his hair!

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I can drink out of a water bottle!

Well, she is working on it! She LOVES water bottles! She gets so excited when she sees one. I think she thinks it is mom's "bottle." (She also may be trying to just eat it but that's ok!)

Determination!

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I can sleep without being swaddled and without my sleep positioner!

Here is Bella's last night in the swaddle and sleep positioner. She really didn't need the swaddle at all anymore and she is liking sleeping on her side now so we moved the sleep positioner out too. (How cute is she with her teddy bear from Grandpa Julia! She loves it!!)

Big girl in her sleep sack with her arms free! Holding her pacifier. Her new favorite thing is to take the pacifier out of her mouth look at it, look at me, and put it back in her mouth.

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I can ~almost~ sit up!

She loves sitting in the boppy and playing with toys. I can't believe how big she is getting!

Could there be a sweeter face?!

And of course, trying to eat her toys!

She loves her little steering wheel from Great Grandma and Grandpa Julia

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I can play with the dog!

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I can just look plain old adorable!

So pretty in pink!

I seriously can't get enough of those eyelashes! I am biased but I am convinced she is the most beautiful baby that ever existed!

Best 5 Months Ever!

Isabella Grace: 5 Months Old

Isabella is now 5 months old and we love her more than we ever thought could be possible! She is such a sweet happy baby with such an adorable little personality that is emerging. She has the BEST smile in the world and the cutest little giggle. Here are some things about Bella at 5 months:

• She likes to change up her schedule frequently. Her daytime routine basically stays the same but her nighttimes are anyone's guess. We usually get at least one 7 hr stretch and sometimes longer but it may not always be her first stretch of sleep, she likes to call the shots!
• She is filling out a lot and has cute little chunky thighs and a little double chin, so adorable!
• She occassionally rolls but doesn't seem very interested right now.
• She does seem to be very interested in moving though. I put her on her belly and she will play for a short time and then you can just tell she is frustrated by her inability to crawl. She is determined, I think she will be moving soon if she can figure it out.
• She is working on sitting up. She can do it for short stints of time and then it looks like she is moving into a crawl but she just ends up on her belly, so funny.
• She LOVES to sit up like a big girl on someone's lap. If she can be at a table, even better, she will hold onto the table and sit all by herself, and grab at things at the table (note to self: move the knife away from the baby!).
• She also loves the water. She loves going swimming in my parents pool and squeals and talks the whole time while we help her "swim" in the pool.
• Speaking of loving the water, she still loves her bath's and loves to play and splash. We may have to move her tub to the bathroom instead of the kitchen because our kitchen is always flooded after bathtime now!
  

And in "my baby is getting so big news".....I think Bella might be done with being swaddled. She is a total houdini and basically manages to get all her limbs out by morning! (And as you can see, is VERY proud of it!)


Silly girl!