Let the Christmas Photo Madness...BEGIN!

...xoxo...

S'more Catching Up

You were the BEE GIRL for Halloween...

That is...the absolute cutest, sweetest, most wonderful little BEE GIRL, ever:~)

We visited Linvilla Orchards twice this year. Your buddy, Luke met us there the 2nd time!

You looooooove pumpkins.
You enjoyed sitting amongst them SO MUCH & didn't want to leave them behind!

You got to meet your Auntie Urs for the 1st time!
...not including the time when you were in my belly...

You love to look out our front door.

On this day, you squealed & pointed out to me that there was a squirrel on our porch, eating away at our pumpkin! By the time I grabbed my camera, he had inched away onto the lawn.

My favorite part of this photo is your tippy-toed feet:)

14-months/Catching up

My Dear Bean,

It sure has been awhile since I last wrote to you. Life has just been so busy! Your Mom-Mom had a big operation & I was spending a whole lot of time with her, trying to help her to get better as quickly as she could. Thank Goodness she did...and now she's home again, asking me every day when the next time she will get to see her Little Stella will be! ;-)

As for you? You are just the coolest...and you seem to get more wonderful by the day!! Your personality is still very much like its been since you were an infant: Just very easy-going & care-free...and HAPPY:) Everyone notices that about you. You love to smile at people & I guess they can't help but to notice when that sweet little grin is pointed their way;-)

It's so fun that you are communicating with us so much now. Your list of words grows bigger by the day...and its almost overwhelming to think about how much you know already!

For example, you say...

"Mama"..."Dada"..."Cheese"..."Shoes"..."Ball"..."Gi-Gi" (the giraffe that you sleep with every night, who you simply ADORE)..."What's That?"..."Thank You"..."Night Night" ..."Bee" and "Baby"

And the gestures?! The pointing & the head shaking & the endless smiles?!?? They are too sweet & almost too much for me to take sometimes:)

You love to open & close Mom-Mom's kitchen cupboards & turn her light switches on & off...and you'll point & point until we let you try your hand at these tasks whenever we're over there.

You understand when you are starting to head in a direction that's unsafe & I ask you to please turn around & go back to your toys. Sometimes you don't want to...but I love to know that you understand:)

You LOVE to climb stairs...which is fantastic & scary all at the same time.

You LOVE to swing on the swings at the park & laugh every time I push you higher!

You make the CUTEST kitty & doggie noises when we ask you to...and lately, every 4-legged creature that you see either says "Meow" or "Ruff Ruff Ruff" to you! For example: Baby Tobey's zebra toy provoked a "Ruff Ruff Ruff" out of you yesterday...while the goat at Linvilla Orchards made you smile, look at me & say "Meowwww!"

You love to ride in the shopping cart at Target...where we venture at least twice a week, on average...and you enjoy pointing things out to me in all of the different aisles. Lately, you love pointing at the oversized Christmas ornaments & calling out "BALL!"

At home, you love to play with your toys & be read to! "Tumble Bumble", "Mr. Brown Can Moo" & "Hand Hand Fingers Thumb" are your top 3 storytime choices. It depends on your mood whether or not you will listen to a different story. Lots of times you will...as long as you know that one of these 3 are coming. But occassionally, you will toss whatever "imposter" book happens to be in my lap (or Daddy's lap) by about page 3 & plop TUMBLE BUMBLE in it's place instead:)

You're just such a character...so full of love & just SO animated! I hope that you always stay this way...because you're such a charmer & so much fun to be around. I am so proud to be your Mom & so excited to see what lies ahead for us!

Thanks for being great.

Love you to the moon & back.

*Your Mom*

*HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY*

*September*

Dear Bean,

Last year at this time, your Daddy & I were wondering when you would make your Grand Arrival. We were only 7 days away from your "due date"...and sOoOoOoOo excited to meet you!

Now you're here...and not only are you HERE...but you're this wonderful, charming little girl......so full of personality that I practically burst with love every time you smile at me:)

You have been learning things faster than I can keep up with these days...and its so overwhelming & amazing & exciting...all at the same time!

Your Mom-Mom taught you to play Patty Cakes & now you clap and giggle about it ALL the time!

You love to put the colored balls & shapes into their proper spots in your Chicco walker/push toy. Sometimes one of the balls will roll away from you & you will crawl after it & actually carry it back with you as you make your way back to the toy. What a big girl you are!!

You love Daddy & I to read to you and I notice you sometimes playing with your books on your own & pointing at the pictures the way we do when we're reading. Its so amazing the way you love to imitate us & play "pretend" already!

You're pulling up on everything you can these days...including me! You love to hold on to the side of the coffee table & kind of *cruise* along the side of it. You aren't walking yet but I don't imagine it will be long before you are! I will admit that this both excites & worries me...very much;-)

Its just been SUCH an honor watching you grow into the bubbling little happy person you are:) I am so proud of what a smiley, easy-going kid you are & feel so lucky to be your Mommy!

In less than 2 weeks, you will be turning ONE & 2 days after that, we will have a big party at our house to celebrate! I know that you won't remember it...but I hope that you have a wonderful time eating cake for the first time & being lavished with love & balloons & presents.

I just wanted to do something to celebrate your 1st year of life...because its been a great one & you deserve it. You are truly the coolest kid in the universe & your Daddy and I love you more than any words could ever describe.

xoxo
Your Mama

*Eleven*

My little star,

Daddy & I can't believe how big you're getting...and how quickly the days are flying past us! In less than a month, you'll be 1 year old. How did this happen?! Our little baby.......is not so much a BABY anymore!!!

You're our little parrot these days, happily trying to mimic just about everything we do or say. You love to listen to Daddy make silly noises & then repeat them back to him! And today you said THANK YOU about 20 times!!! Your Mom-Mom, Pop-Pop & Nonna were beside themselves with laughter over that one;-)

You are a master crawler & love to pull up to a stand whenever you get the chance. Your musical orange guitar is your favorite toy...along with just about any PHONE you can manage to get your hands on;-) You still L-O-V-E cheese, along with Cheerios & watermelon & grapes. You smile and giggle endlessly & melt our hearts to putty every time.

Watching you grow has been nothing short of an honor. I can barely contain my excitement when I think of what the months to come will bring!

Thank you so much for being YOU:~)

Love you to the moon & back again.

*Your MaMa*

*Our Big Girl*

...xoxo...

*Birthday Wishes*

Stella had lots of loved ones to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to this month:~) Meanwhile...we are in the midst of planning a big party for her...coming up in just about a month & a half!!!

*10 months*

I'm a few days late in posting this time around...but our little peanut is now TEN MONTHS OLD:) I can't BELIEVE that we'll be celebrating her BIRTHDAY in less than 2 months!!

Oh & one other thing...

I love the shore!

Tooth #1

No. Absolutely not. I refuse to show you my tooth.

Oh, all right. You got me.

Here it is!

Break out the Oral-B

Well, maybe we're not quite ready for an Oral-B yet...but Stella does have her 1st tooth coming in!

Finally:)

It was June 25th that we first noticed it barely poking through her gums...and now its ever-so-slowly coming more & more in!

Photos will be forthcoming......once I can get her to stay still with her mouth open for long enough, that is!

She is truly Little Miss Mobile these days;-)

Mama & Stella (@ 9 months)

...xoxo...

*Stella's Room*

My friend Angie has been asking me to post pictures of Stella's nursery FOREVER (as in, since before Stella was born) & I haven't gotten around to it until now.

Oddly enough...but like most things in my life...it's still not technically done.

I still have to decide what to do with the big wall behind her crib...(vinyl letters? photo collage?)...figure out where to hang the framed Picasso print that's been leaning against her dresser for the past month...and possibly buy an area rug of some sort.

But for now...

For you, Angie...and anyone else who happens to care...here are a few glimpses into Stella's room at this particular moment in time.

My mom gave me this silver ABC/123 plate. I love it. It was mine when I was a baby:)

I know that you are supposed to take their mobile down at something like 6-months but I love her stars & don't see myself parting with them anytime soon.

This was the very first thing we hung in her room.

Baby's 1st Pearl Jam poster:)

I bought it years ago. Well, traded someone 3 other PJ posters for it, actually.

I just loved it because I always dreamed of having a little girl of my own...and it was TOO perfect that its color scheme ended up matching Stella's room so well:~)


It was Rob's idea to put her Sweet Dreams plaque above the door.

I was iffy about it at first but now I like that its there every night as I shut the door after putting her to bed:)

The way that this mirror complements the design of her bedding makes me happy.

Her crib is really beautiful but we had to buy extra fabric & rig the crib bumpers so that we could use them on it because the wood is so thick that the tie-things wouldn't reach around it to be tied!

I thought I'd treat Stella to her first rocking horse ride & snap a quick photo to go along with the rest of the photos of her room...

She wasn't really too sure about it yet though;-)

We'll have to re-visit him another day!

Daddy's 1st Father's Day

Sunday was Daddy's 1st Father's Day & I was so excited to give him his presents!

I didn't even want to wait to change out of my pajamas...

THAT'S how excited I was!!

Mommy & I got him an HD radio/ipod dock & I also drew him a cool picture! He ended up taking both of them into work to display on his desk:)

I think Daddy really enjoyed his 1st Father's Day:)

*Big Girl*

We took Stella to see Dr. Trotsky for her 9 month well-visit yesterday & our lil' chunky monk weighed in at 16 pounds, 12 ounces & measured 28 inches long!

Doctor gave us the go-ahead to start her on new & exciting table foods like baby yogurt & small bits of cheese. We gave her a few shreds of cheddar to sample with her dinner tonight and she *loved* it! Looks like she's a cheese fan just like her ma & pa;-)

Going Mobile/9 Months

I remember a point in time where 9 months took forever to go by. When you're a kid itchin' for the summertime, the school year seems to never end. But now...somehow...9 months has come & gone and what was *just yesterday* my tiny little squirming baby is now my creepin'/crawlin'...very mobile...little girl:)

She is 9 months old today. I can hardly stand to say it out loud......it hardly seems possible!

She waves hello now...and feeds herself Cheerios. She is also getting (dangerously) close to actually crawling! She moves both forward and backwards now...but mostly by creeping on her belly. And these monthly "photo shoots"...are becoming more & more of a challenge because staying still (or even just SEATED) is not so much an option anymore;-)

(Baby's 1st) Memorial Day

We had a BBQ in our backyard to celebrate your 1st Memorial Day:)

Daddy blew bubbles for you for the 1st time.

You really liked watching them float all around!

And then, after everybody went home, you gnawed on a frozen bagel for awhile & got crumbs all over the couch;-)