Christmas Season 2008

I had EVERY intention to get Bella's Christmas photos up BEFORE Christmas, but alas....the blog slipped my mind! However, since its still during the Christmas Season and BEFORE New Year's Day, figured late was better than never!

Merry Christmas! Love Bella

The Shondelmyer Family wishes you a VERY MERRY Christmas and a Wonderful start to your New Year!

4 Months Old!

Beleive it or not, Isabella turned 4 months old today! We celebrated by going to the doctor's office to her second round of shots! After a brief moment of crying, she got over the shock of the needle and is recovering very well! :0) Needless to say, her two afternoon naps have been over 2 hours each! (Hints why I have so much time to post today!!) Lucky you!

Now, for her measurements.....

Weight: 13 lbs 7 oz (50th%)

Height: 24 Inches (50th%)
Head Circum: 16 Inches (50th%)

Doc says she is one heathly, strong little kiddo! Yea!

This is Bella's new found trick. In the past 3 days, she has obviously realized she has a tongue. She doesn't know its rude yet to stick her tongue out at people, so for those offended, we are so very sorry! :0)

Just hanging out watching mommy work!

I helped mommy and daddy this past weekend at an event for under privileged families within four school districts in downtown Phoenix. I was dressed up in my Christmas garb and helped mommy pass out presents to all the families! I sure looked cute and I was so good the entire time! Mommy wore me in a sling and I just hung out, fell asleep and smiled at everyone!

Time Flies when you are having fun!

This is Bella all dressed up in her "Turkey Brown" for her very first Thanksgiving! She was having a ball!

Bella loves to pose for the camera and has the cutest little reactions to things!

Thanks to a friend that volunteered to babysit for Bella while Chris and I took a date night out, here is Bella in her "little black dress" thanks to Aunt Stephie!

Having a hay day on her playmate after her very first roll!

What?!!? You think I'm going to do it for you again now that you are watching daddy?!? I think not!

Still love to sleep and still love my thumb! Mommy couldn't help but sneek in and take a few photos!

I fall asleep on the mat behind mommy while she works in all sorts of positions!

Who's that cutie in the mirror? Also, notice the bald spot on the back of my head! I wore away my hair!

I may live in a big city, but I'm a country girl at heart in my little overalls!

My cries often look like laughs, but don't let me kid ya! I was downright fussin'!

Just lounging in the Phoenix sun on my safari blanket

Pretending to watch TV after I got done eating! Mommy thought I was way too cute just sitting there!

My first wedding! Congrats, Michael and Anneliese! I had a good time celebrating with mommy, daddy, and you guys on such a special day! Thanks, Cousin Hailey for the loan on my wedding outfit!

Again, mommy just thought I looked cute or something!

Rolling Over

Three Month Photo:

Last evening, I was chatting with my sister on the phone and watching Bella play on the floor. I've noticed in the past 2 weeks that she has been getting stronger and stronger and really holds up her head very, very well, so I figured it wouldn't be long before she decided to topple over on her own. Finally, she positioned herself just right, leaned to the right and toppled on over to her back from her stomach for the very first time! She seemed to like it because she then went right in to sucking on her thumb!

I quickly grabbed the camera while still chatting on the phone and waited for her to once again make her move! It only took 24 seconds for her to do it again! Daddy came running out of the computer room and watched the third time! He tried to get a few pics, but she all of a sudden became very selective as to when she was going to show off!

I'm sure back to stomach will be much harder for her, but we'll praise and rejoice at the little accomplishments each day until that time comes! Afterall, we like this stage...we don't want her to grow up on us TOO fast!

So, for now, humor us and enjoy our "first child" memories that we make such big deals about!

Back to Work and Missing Bella!

Today marks the end of my first week back to work. It was bittersweet. While I enjoyed getting out of the house a bit more than most days and I enjoyed getting back into the swing of things at the office, I also miss my morning naps with Bella and the slower pace I once enjoyed after her morning feeds.

Her mornings now consist of me or daddy waking her up (or getting her up if already crying!), me feeding her, Daddy changing and dressing her with the outfit mommy picked out the night before, and daddy taking her to the sitter's home while mommy then has time to get ready and get out the door for work too. It's amazing how fast these mornings go now! I'm happy to report, though, that we did survive the first week! Bella made the transition well to the sitter's and Chris and I are learning how to manage everything at home with me back to work full time.

Although I am home in the afternoons with Bella, I am still on the clock, so Bella gets lots of lap time, tummy time, swing time, nap time, and papasan chair time while I put in my 4 hours each afternoon. Aside from getting up for an occasional diaper change, Bella and I have already found our routine and she seems to not mind sitting on my lap at times with my arms and fingers rapidly typing away at the e-mails! I also received several slings as gifts, so this makes holding Bella hands free much easier! Aside from when mommy tries to "eject" her from the sling, Bella appears to enjoy being snuggled up and carried around while she snoozes and I certainly don't mind looking down from the computer screen every now and again to see her content little sleeping glow!

One of her many slings!

Another favorite sling that she enjoyed at the AZ State Fair!

What's new with Bella: Well, she is almost 13 weeks old! Time has FLOWN by! She is smiling up a storm (started around 9 weeks, but does it all the time now!). For the past 2 weeks she has really been trying to laugh, but it ends up sounding more like a cough and then it scares her when the robust little noise comes out. I have no doubt she'll be letting the little giggles out on a more regular basis soon! It's so fun to actually get something besides a dead stare back from her when we talk to her! She has started to make coos and various noises at herself...not a ton, but some! She LOVES to blow bubbles, though. Let the drowling begin!

Bella still has yet to roll over on her own, but she does like to do it now with a little assistance! We give her plenty of tummy time and mat time, but we'll let her roll on her own when she is ready! For now we'll enjoy the little bobble head she has become at times! She does have a great little grip with her hands! She doesn't really grab at the dangling toys yet, but when we put them in her grip, she hangs on tight for quite awhile!

Bella is still sleeping through the night, minus a few nights of transition when we got back from Ohio. She still takes several naps, but is very alert for longer periods of time and enjoys sucking her thumb often. This is a little video of her starting to fall asleep. She was dreaming of something funny!

In the past few weeks, Bella has gotten to meet her Grandma and Grandpa Shondelmyer, her cousin Travis, Uncle Dave and Andrew, Aunt Steph, and Pawpaw Warner for the first times. She has also been introduced to some of mom and dad's friends and others that love her dearly! I took her to Ohio for a week and she really enjoyed being with her new cousins! They enjoyed her too! Travis loved kissing her head all the time and Hailey liked dressing up in the same attire! So they aren't twins, but 6 months apart is still pretty fun to dress alike when close cousins!

Slumber party with Aunt Steph while Mommy went to Football game.

Dressed in our Sunday Best!

Nice, Cool Autumn Picture with Mam'ma and Cousins

While in Ohio, it was Cousin Travis' 4th Birthday. Hailey and I dressed in Brown and pink to celebrate the occassion!

Nap time with Pawpaw. This quickly became a evening ritual.

Bella did awesome on the flights to Ohio. She barely made a peep. She didn't like her ears popping on the landings, but only gave a muttled fuss from behind her pacifer just briefly. Changing her on the flight was quite interesting on the plane that had no pull out changing table, but other than that...she received raving reviews from nearby passengers and flight attendents!

Bella did not have a 3 month doctors appointment, so we are not sure what she is up to as far as weight, but many people comment on her length. At the 2 month visit she was in the 50% percentile, but apparently most think she is very long and tall for a baby. I have noticed her growing out of some of her clothes faster these days! Chris and I still think its quite a mystery as to where her height is coming from, though! As you know, both of us are vertically challenged!

Daddy is still loving his time with his little princess and mommy goes crazy with the video camera and photos! Here are a few of her favorites that didn't fall into a category above! ENJOY!

Catching a quick nap with Daddy

Posing with pretty fall leaves in Ohio with Mommy

All decked out in my finest garb! Go Bucks!

Three months pictures coming soon!

2 Months Old

("I can sleep anywhere and in any position, just like mommy!")

I can't believe that in just 2 hours I will be taking the little one to the doctor's office for her 2 month check up! Time has FLOWN by and Isabella is getting bigger and bigger by the day! She is eating well, gaining weight well, feeling well...now (even though we are now taking some meds due to some reflux issues she was having), and sleeping like a champ! The night she turned 7 weeks old, she gave mommy quite the present when she slept through the entire night giving mommy almost 7 hours of sleep after her last feeding! For probably 2 weeks prior to that, she has been going for about 5-6 hours and then waking, but this day was something extra special! She followed it up with several nights back to 4-6 hours at a time, but then last Friday after we returned from the football game, she slept in the next morning for 8 hours and there has been no turning back....well, maybe a little!

Chris and I decided to start letting her go a bit longer even if she wakes up crying. She quickly cries her self back to sleep and has managed to go an entire week now by sleeping through the night! There were two nights in there that I had to get up at 4 and 4:45am to pat her tummy and reswaddle her, but it took just a mere minute and she was out again! Unfortunately, our week long run will probably take a back seat for the next two weeks since Chris' parents are in town and we don't let her cry as much in the middle of the night if she does wake, and then her and I change timezones and head to Ohio for a week with my family! At least we'll have 2 more weeks to get back into the swing of things before I head back to work.

Yep, that's right. On November 3rd, I will be heading back to work full time. Part time will be in the office (Mon-Thursday 8 to noon) and part time will be from home (all afternoons and all day on Friday). Chris and I are just thrilled for the arrangements that have been made for us to allow me to be with Bella, but to also help bring in "the bacon" with keeping my full-time job. Many have asked if I am ready to go back to work and the answer is "Yes and No!" I love my job so I am excited to head back, but I also love being with Bella all day too! Guess I'm getting the best of both worlds since I only have to leave her 4 hours for 4 days a week! :0) Praise God for that!

(Visitng Daddy at work)

I feel much more at ease now about going back since I have Bella's day care situation worked out! We found an incredible lady that lives not to far from us to watch Bella. She has an 11 month old little guy and is around my age. She actually works part time at the church in our Children's Ministry (which I didn't know since she has been hired since I've been on leave). She will watch Bella 2 days a week from home and then one day at the church during Women's Bible Study hours. This is again another huge blessing since it is normally not allowed, but since she is our normal sitter and helps out watching kiddos that day, Bella gets to "go to work" with her which allows me to be on hand to feed her and take her home with me at noon! WAHOO! I'll be savoring these last 3 weeks of no work for sure, though! What ever will I do with out seeing the "Price is Right" every day and 4 rounds of Family Feud that happen to be on every time I feed?!?!? (Speaking of which, PiR starts now, so I gotta wrap this up!)

Currently Bella is enjoying time with Grandma and Grandpa Shondelmyer whom she met for the first time on Wednesday. After she gets her vaccinations at her check up today, we are heading up North to the Beasleys' cabin for the weekend. Daddy thinks that it will be a great idea to give Bella her first quad (like a four-wheeler, but larger) ride, so we'll see how that goes! Daddy wants to get her acclimated to our type of lifestyle early on!

Check back for photos of her enjoying the Northern Arizona outdoors when we return!

("I don't like it when Daddy has to leave me in the morning for work!")

("This is my "Praising Jesus" pose. Mommy will have to tell you more about that later!")

First Smiles

We have been waiting for Bella to make her first smiles for a few weeks. We love the little involuntary ones she gives when she drifts off to sleep, but we both have been eager to see the little princess crack a real smile on her face based off of our playful interactions. Here are two little clips that mommy caught of her very first smiles!

Bella has found her thumb (and whole hand at times) and loves to suck on it while waiting for food, after eating, or just anytime really! We couldn't help but record a few clips of her making the little sucking noises!

One of the hardest things for Chris right now in this stage of Bella's life is trying to manage play time with the little one, yet also get in his studying and reading for his two seminary classes. Bella is all about supporting Daddy in his education, so she likes to join him in his nightly snooz...I mean read!

6 Week Photos

Daddy took some photos of me this week when I turned 6 weeks old! Look how big I am getting!

Here is a comparison picture they took of me when I was just a day old and now that I am over a month old. It will be fun to see how big I get compared to my little doggie.