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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Happy Birthday Precious Baby Girl!!

Then. . .

And now. . .



Peyton will be ONE tomorrow (August 11th). I specifically remember how I felt this same night one year ago, knowing that the next morning we would be heading to hospital for the scheduled c-section. I let Parker sleep in our bed and remember wondering how I would love another child as much as I loved him. . .

I had so badly wanted to have a more natural delivery, but Peyton was past my due date and much like she is now, proved to be very stubborn and to do things on her terms!! We ended up scheduling the c-section at my 40 week check-up on the last possible day that my doctor could do the surgery before goingon vacation. I vividly remember talking to my doctor about how active Peyton was while she was in my womb, and and Nate and I predicted that this little girl would be the same outside of the womb-something that has been proven over the past 12 months!

Peyton has been an active baby-she is generally not content doing one thing for long unless she is entertained by others or with food, always anxious to do everything herself, extremely busy. . . . We spent her first 4 months literally bouncing her on the exercise ball for hours a day to get her to sleep as she never wanted to miss out on anything and refused to sleep on her own. I've been told that she was like me as a baby-so very different and unique from Parker who is much more like Nate. Needless to say, Peyton is one determined and ambitious little girl - traits that will bode well later life!!

It has been so sweet to see how the kids adore each other. I hope their relationship is always like this-where Parker looks after her and she looks up to him (minus the Parker being over-zealous in his affection towards her).

It truly has been amazing to learn and understand how it IS possible to love more than one child at the same time. While our children are so different, this is exactly why we appreciate and value them both so much for their own unique offerings. . .

Happy 1st Birthday, baby girl!!





Wednesday, May 26, 2010

"Thank You" Photos

Family,

As you're all painfully aware, I'm terrible at writing "thank you" notes. That being said, I'm so appreciative of the thoughtful cards and birthday money received for my 30th in March. Whether or not you knew it at the time, your generosity was funding the purchase of a camera lens yet to be determined. Well, I'm finally happy to report that after much deliberation and research, the stars aligned and allowed for the purchase of a great lens during my visit to Denver last week. I haven't had the opportunity to get out with it much because of the inclement weather here in Oregon, but I'd like to thank you all with some photos from my limited time with this fine piece of glass. Can't wait to see you all soon in MT!


Thank you!






























Saturday, May 15, 2010

Spring Updates









We have obviously not been the best bloggers lately. I tend to post our photos and updates on Facebook more regularly.

Here are a few updates on our Spring!

Peyton:
-9 months old as a May 11th-how is my baby almost 1?!
-Finally cut her first tooth a few weeks ago
-Crawling since just before she turned 8 months
-She is the most agile, fastest crawler I have ever seen! She will be somewhere, you turn around and then she is across the room! She likes to get into our ottoman toy box and I have seen her try to get on top of chests/coffee tables. She scales furniture like its nobody's business and even lets go and tries to stand already.
-This girl takes after her mama and LOVES to eat. We have yet to find a food she won't eat or a time when she is not hungry.
-Still breastfeeding and doesn't take the bottle or cup very well.
-Sleeps 12-13 hours at night without waking up! Makes me one happy mama!
-She is signing! This started mostly as a means to get more food by doing the sign for "more". Recently she says "more" as she signs. She also has a sign for "all done", waves and says, "hi", and imitates animal noises (lion and elephant). Her first word was "mama" but she also says, "dada" ;)
-Has a knack for sounds like her daddy. She can not only roll her r's, but she also does this trilling thing (not to mention imitating other sounds). No one can make her laugh like daddy.

Parker:

-Officially 3 1/2. It make a bit more sense that he is actually closer to 4 than 3 now as everyone thinks that he is 5! He is wearing size 5 and 6 clothes and can no longer where toddler 5s. His favorite foods include cereal (like his daddy) and burgers (like his mommy)
-Taking swim lessons where he is in the pool by himself/without a parent. He is a natural in the water!
-Loves playing baseball with daddy and can repeatedly hit balls that are pitched to him with a normal sized bat (not a wide bat). He knows the difference between a pop fly, a grounder, a home run etc.
-Reading is still one of Parker's favorite things to do. He has many of his favorites memorized which is adorable to hear! He also has a great imagination and loves to make up stories and hear others tell him stories-both true and make-believe.
-One of the things that has impressed us the most over the last 9 months is Parker's ability to create things with legos. I'm not talking about the lego duplos, but rather the real legos that are geared for ages 6 and up. He creates some very intricate and imaginative things that could easily compete with the things bigger kids make.
-After being a wait list for the past month, we found out the other week that Parker got into a cooperative preschool in our neighborhood. Both he and us are very excited about seeing him in preschool and being able to take such an active role in his preschool experience.
-Still a mama's boy, but loves roughhousing and being silly with daddy.
-Best friend is still his cousin Betsy. There is nothing like the loyalty and love those two have for each other.

Jess:
-Busy taking care of the kids and working 4 days a week (not sure I could do it without the help of my mom who not only watches the kids while I work, but does our laundry and prepares dinner for us!!)
-Wish I had time for a hobby-I guess that would involve figuring out what that might be!
-Enjoyed Mother's Day which included a pedicure, peonies, my favorite latte and pastry and time with my family!

Nate:
-Turned 30 in March
-Still loving photography and spends most of his free time taking and editing his photos. He needs to do it as a side-job. . .seriously.
-Got to go to Malibu for cousin Tanner's graduation with the rest of the family two weekends ago and is enjoying another weekend with the guys in Denver this weekend (mommy can't wait for her chance to do somewhere without kids!)
-Busy managing the State Farm office we both work at, but in need of a major change!

All:
-Enjoying the sun-finally!!
-Enjoyed a fun trip to Denver in April.
-Seriously considering and praying about making some major life changes including a potential move. More to come on that!


Sunday, March 28, 2010

Bell Family "Stay-cation"


We took the week off of work to spend some family time together as well as to get some projects done around the house. It was so nice to sleep past 7:00 every day, to cook/eat great food, and for the siblings and cousins to have bonding time.

We started last weekend off by having a picnic in the park in the 70 degree weather as well as buying a new "big-boy" scooter for Parker. The Bains came up on Tuesday so Nate and Denny could patch some drywall in our basement from the burst pipe in the winter, so Abs and I took the kids to OMSI followed by an afternoon in the park. More fun on Wed included all of us heading to our favorite Portland park-Tanner Springs-in the Pearl where the cousins had a great time playing and where Parker fell into the fish pond. On Friday, Parker had a date night with mommy and daddy going to see "How to Train your Dragon" (it was really good, by the way!) This weekend we had community group on Saturday morning, followed by exploring Laurelhurst Park and having dinner and Cold Stone on Hawthorne. Today after church we went to Barnes and Noble and to our favorite carousel-Parker Carousel, where Parker talked us into two rides so he could be a knight on his stallion and a cowboy on his bronco:)

First sibling bath-so much fun! Start from the bottom up to see the progression of pure awe in Peyton's expression to pure chaos as witnessed by Parker's increasing boldness of positions/comfort in man-handling his sister. Of course she loved it! Parker went from refusing to take a bath with Peyton over a week ago to wanting to take one with her every night now! He strips down so fast when he knows I am getting Peyton ready for her bath each night.









Enjoying brownies-maybe a little too much;)

Cousins playing Chutes and Ladders
Bella and Peyton took a bath together

After the Bains left on Wednesday, Parker suddenly appeared outside naked when he saw me with the sprinkler. I was hosing off toys, and I asked him what he was doing, and he said he wanted to run in the sprinkler naked! Oh boy!
The cousins eating dinner after a fun day








The girls. . .Mike and Rae-when are you going to have a little boy so Parker isn't the only one?!
Laurelhurst Park

Cake Batter ice cream with oreos at Cold Stone


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