How is it November already?!?!

It was spring last time I wrote, summer just got skipped over, and here we are in the middle of fall. Wow. It was an interesting Spring/Summer. I spent way too much time off of work on disability April-June for a weird disorder called BPPV Benign Positional Paroxsymal Vertigo. I was so dizzy after a bad episode that I wasn't able to look at the computer for very long, couldn't drive, could barely be a passenger without being sick, and spent most of my time on the couch because of some crystals in my ear being out of whack. Much better than the alternatives they were checking for on my fun tests I had to do, but I am just thankful that it was benign. It was not a fun time in my life. Things eventually got better and I had other things with allergies and other stuff and I have better days and not as great days, but I am thankful I am working and can function like a normal human being. Well, mostly. :) Working part time (by choice) has helped too (though I may face a potential layoff for next year- we'll cross that bridge as the time comes). So anyhow, back to Bella. She is doing great. She started a new preschool that opened up late September and she really likes it. I like it because there are less kids in her class and I like her teachers more- they seem to be there because they enjoy the career- it's not just a job. On our days off together, we go to the park or the clubhouse for craft days or just lounge in our pjs. She has started to love the computer, from click and color online to character games, she has become a whiz with the mouse. Crazy! She still enjoys going to "My Gym" and, of course, playing outside. We're still working on the backyard, the contractor has been flaky (but has at least done a nice job on the retaining wall) so it is taking MUCH longer than expected. Our hopes of a Labor Day BBQ are long gone and we are hopeful for a Christmas BBQ (at least we can do that here!) Our next adventure is taking us to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving weekend where Bella will get to spend time with both sets of grandparents... there is going to be some major spoiling going on, you can bet! Steve and I are looking forward to dinner and a show- some much needed couple time together. Hope all is well with everyone. :) Enjoy the Halloween pics!

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The last few months- March thru May 2009

Hi Everyone,

Here are some recent pics and a video at the end from this morning which inspired me to post some more pics.

Bella is just talking up a storm and speaks in full sentences. Like she just told me. "No, Mommy. That's not yours. That's the kitty's toy." She also has full-on explosive tantrums when she doesn't get her way, or sometimes, for no particular reason at all. Someone once told me that when kids are young, it mirrors the age they will be in 10 years as a teen/preteen. She will be a handful then at 12! But she is also so sweet and and a little angel too. Like when she tells me at least daily "Happy Mother's Day" or when she tells her Daddy "I love you" or when I tell her goodnight she tells me "Mommy, you have good dreams." It just melts my heart.

As for Steve and I, Steve is working on our entertainment center and other home improvement projects. I've been dealing with allergies/ear troubles and other general yuckiness that has kept me home from work for a while, so I am hoping to get some answers and start feeling like myself again. I need to get rested up for summer so I can keep up with Bella! I joined a mom's group and will probably do some actvities with them this summer.

Hope you are all enjoying a long, relaxing weekend!

Tammy

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Bella's 2nd Birthday

Here are some pics from Bella's birthday. About a month or so before her birthday, I asked Bella what she wanted for her birthday, and she said, "A birthday cake." I asked, "What kind of birthday cake do you want?" And she said, "An Ariel birthday cake!" She's ever even seen an Ariel birthday cake! But I think the Disney princesses are just a part of every little girl's brain, despite me trying to limit princess exposure. :) So I decided to make her an Ariel birthday cake, and it took four hours to frost the cake, but I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.

She had a great time at her party, though on her birthday itself, she had her 2 year molars really bugging her. She had another night where she slept a total of 3 nonconsecutive hours before her normal time getting up. She screamed and cried and wriggled in our arms because she was in so much pain from her teeth. She has such a hard time with them- as you may remember, she ended up with a 105 degree fever in urgent care for her first tooth, and in the ER for not keeping any food or drink down with her one year molars. Thank goodness none of us remember how traumatic teething can be. Hopefully this is about the last of her hurtful teething she'll have to endure.

Bella started a new two year old classroom- with some days with 12 2 year olds! She has a lot of fun with them since she is doing new things and they are all talking more and playing together. She comes home and tells me the names of her new friends. For the last 2 months, her best buddies moved up to the 2 year old class and she had to stay with the infants until she was 2, so she was a year older than the next oldest kids, so she has been really good with the transition to the older room.

We have recently had a very sad loss in our family this week. Our nephew who suffered with Cystic Fibrosis passed away. His health was declining from complications related to the disease, and he was hospitalized in the ICU for the past 13 months. He would have been 5 in June. It has been really hard, because even though we don't get to visit Steve's family much and we made plans to visit Finn (and Steve's other family) for Christmas, we weren't able to see him then since he was transferred to a hospital in DC after we bought the plane tickets. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.

As for the rest of us, we are still trying to get settled. We are trying to work on our backyard since it is a bunch of dirt and slope right now, and we'd like some nice grass for Bella to run around and play in. I'm trying to keep my spirits up despite receiving a potential layoff notice. Steve's coming up on the busy season at his job, so it's been a little crazy at work for him. But we have jobs and a house, so we are in a lot better shape than a lot of people.

Hope you are all doing well. :)

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January Happenings and etc.

So it appears as if my monthly postings have turned quarterly. It has been a busy 3 months. We are in a new house and totally moved out of our rental, but there are still boxes everywhere and a full garage, and I am not sure we will ever get unpacked. But I am so glad to be in our own place. We have been really enjoying the "winter" here. I thank my lucky stars that I am back and do not miss cold yucky winter at all. I haven't worn a jacket in ages. I don't have to leave an hour earlier for fear of bad weather. I can visit an outdoor farmer's market every weekend. I am wearing open toed sandals. I so missed these simple little things in the last few years. I could never go back to living anywhere that has a real winter. No thanks.

We haven't done much more besides move lately. Steve moved everything himself- I help with unpacking, but it's so hard to move with a little one. I don't want to spend my precious weekends ignoring her and setting up the house, so she is getting love and the house is topsy turvy, but it'll have to do for now. Someday it will get done.

We haven't gotten to see many friends since being back, but hopefully that will change shortly. We're not ignoring you, we promise. :) I hope everyone has had a nice new year so far, and that 2009 will be a good one for all of us. Keep me posted on how things are going with you all!

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Christmas 2008

We had a nice visit to Rhode Island for Christmas- despite being in the airports longer than we wanted to. Bella got to see her Memere and Pepere, meet her great grandma Vivian for the first time, and hang out with Uncle Dennis, Aunt Ilana and cousin Sophia and a whole lot of extended family. She had a blast hanging out with all her second cousins and just playing with Steve's old Little People airport, parking garage and Weeble Island (I know many of you are now reminiscing over these cool toys you once had too. Toys were so much cooler in the 70s...) She talks about her Memere and Pepere and now knows that they live in Rhode Island, and when we see airplanes in the sky, she sometimes says they are flying there. :)

While we did enjoy our trip, it would have been a lot better and felt more like Christmas if our whole family was there. Most of you know my nephew Finnegan has Cystic Fibrosis. He has been hospitalized for complications relating to his CF since February of last year and has been at a hospital in Georgetown for he last few months. My brother-in-law Patrick and sister-in-law Kerry are staying at the Ronald McDonald House there in DC. We hope and pray that he will soon be able to have a transplant so he can get healthy and get out of the hospital and enjoy life like a four year old should. Please keep the little guy in your thoughts and prayers.

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Fall Family Fun

Yes... it has been a while. Hope you enjoy the pics and videos!

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Another post

Hi All,

Another posting so soon? I know...amazing! With the wireless internet connection and so many people in close range, during the afternoons/evenings there are so many people on I can't upload. So I was up bright and early this morning and decided to add on. Here are some more pics and if I can get my video editing program to work, some more videos.

Bella did not want to look at the camera as a ladybug. She just wanted to pull the hat part off. When Steve put on his costume, Bella said "Itsy Bitsy" and then got really upset, more like she was mad, and Steve picked her up and she only wanted to go to me. Then when I put on my butterfly wings, she does "Butterfly" and has another meltdown. So I guess she wasn't sure what to think about her family turning into bugs. :)

We practiced saying "Trick or Treat" after knocking on doors, but of course Bella went mute for the real deal. But she did say "Candy!" after getting the goodies. And a couple thank yous. She got tons of candy (we're renting in a small gated community, not an upper-end community, there is just a gate to give the illusion I guess) because there are a limited number of trick-or-treaters. At one point, she couldn't carry her pumpkin anymore and was trying with all her might, but she almost had to drag it. Then she got frustrated and with her warm costume and a fairly warm evening, she was ready to call it quits. But overall, I think she had fun, especially looking at decorations. I think next Halloween will be even more fun for her.

All is well here. Please think happy thoughts that we will get our dream house. :)

Tammy, Steve and Bella