Random pics to satisfy the family cravings!

Well, to keep my family from writing me off as their child/sibling due to my LACK to post pictures of "their little baby" :0) here are some random pics from the last week!

Bella's new thing this week is to be standing up in her crib after her naps and every time in the morning. I was a little surprised to see her on Tuesday like this when I went it! Normally she had been sitting up, but now she's all about the standing. Already lowered the crib once. Looks like we'll have to go do the bottom rung now! :0) Such a big girl! I can't believe it!

Chris dressed her in this little dress from Aunt Traci on Tuesday, so I had to throw on the matching hat for a few pics outside! Um...can we say...FREAKIN' ADORABLE! :0)

Bella loves watermelon. Our friends gave us this little contraption so you can stick the fruit inside and she can suck all the juice and all out of it. Keeps them from choking...which I will say is NOT fun to see your baby do! Tried it as finger foods yesterday as I thought she might be ready..um, yeah...good thing mommy knows the way to force food back out of a baby who is completely red in the face due to a closed off throat. NOT FUN! Was quite scary, but Bella didn't seem phased after the water melon was removed...and they were TINY pieces. Guess 10 tiny pieces without swallowing builds up. I'll stick with the cool sucker netting thing here for a while!

These were her 9 month progress photos. She still loves to smile, but she liked to THROW the doggie instead of letting it sit besider her on the blanket.

Saying her night time prayers!

Bella's first pool experience! Thanks, Mammaw and Pawpaw for the Christmas present! I'm sure cousins, Hailey and Travis, will be joining me in it soon in June!

My first D-backs game! I even slept an hour+ in mommy's sling throughout all the noise! So glad to wake and realize we pulled off a GREAT win! Oh, and a side note...even in all of this pink...I was still called a boy! DON'T GET IT!!

This is me and my friend, Cole. We were playing in the play pen while our mommies and daddies chatted!

The video was of us singing to a song presented on Idol. She LOVES when mommy dances and makes a fool of herself! Not hard to do, we know! :0) ENJOY!

Happy 5 year Anniversary, Christopher!

To the most incredible, gifted, talented, smart, witty, humorous, courageous, strong, Godly, supportive, loving husband in the WORLD! I love you so very much! Thank you for 5 wonderful years of marriage to date and, Lord willing, many, many more to come!

May 22, 2004

Almost 9 Months and Seminary Graduation

Man, o Man! Has it really been almost 4 weeks since we last posted! GOSH! Where does the time go?!?!

This past month has been fairly busy, but there have been many times of relaxation as well! A normal day in the Shondelmyer home consists of Chris and Kelly working all day, coming home in the evenings, feeding Bella, cleaning up the house, playing with Bella, doing some kind of random house project, having dinner with friends, or whatever else comes our way! Bella has adjusted to our often inconsistent lifestyle very well! She goes with the flow and seems to enjoy the social events and outings that we often go on! She is one social baby, that's for sure! She LOVES being around people!

So, speaking of our favorite subject, what has Bella been up to lately? Well, she has her two (lower) front teeth, so she doesn't need to pray for that for Christmas now! This week, she has been a tad bit irritable, so we know more are about to break through! She doesn't really crawl on all fours persay, but that child can get to what she wants to without one bit of a problem! She does more of a rock on all fours and throw herself forward type of crawl/lunge! It's pretty funny to watch! Overall, she seems to really be enjoying the new skill she's developing and likes to explore all parts of the floor, carpet, lights, cords, fuzz balls, etc.

She will be 9 months old on Sunday! HOLY COW!!! Although we will still have to admit she is the easiest baby ever...she has been going through a bit of a challenging phase this past month....SEPARATION ANXIETY from MOMMY! She used to be fine with anyone at any time, and for the most part, she is...UNLESS....mommy enters the room and then...OH MY! Look out! (Mommy loves that Bella loves her to death and wants her all the time...but even mommy needs a break once in a while!) We are hoping that the separation anxiety doesn't result into her crying when dropped off at the nursery and all, and so far we have been lucky on that end!

Aside from that, Bella just brings us so much joy and laughter! Her faces, her expressions, her sounds...oh...and those IRRESTIBLE BIG OLE BRIGHT eyes, just melt our hearts!

Here is what she have been up to in the last few weeks! Mommy has been taking lots of pictures of her,just alittle slow on posting them! So, enjoy them until the next batch comes!

(There are some videos embedded in the slideshow, so go to our picasa site and check them out!)



We are official Seminary Grads! Here is a look at some of our grad photos from this past weekend. Just one more thing we've been up to this past month!



Oh, and for those that wondered about our last quiz...the answer was "Mommy, have you SEEN her gag reflux!" Let us know how you did!! New quiz to come up soon!

Easter 2009

Here are some pictures of Isabella on Easter Sunday morning! Chris captured some great smiles of her in the inpromptu photo shoot!

Marvel at the Gift

Children really are a treasure from the Lord! We are reminded each morning when we wake our little Bella Boo!

Just 7 1/2 months ago, Bella was not yet known to us whether she would be a little baby boy or a little baby girl whether she would look like Daddy or look like Mommy, if her eyes would be blue or green, lots of hair, no hair and so on. Now, looking back over the last almost 8 months, we are just amazed at the precious, sweet baby God had decided to entrust to us here on earth!

As we do our best to capture each moment, each new milestone, we marvel at the precious gift of life...our Isabella Rose.

Click here to play 7 Month Slideshow album:

(if you want to watch the videos embedded into the slideshow, click on the picture and it will take you to our picasa site)

Bella trying to eat some finger foods. She is getting better and better. Again, she is quite the loud little eater...or muncher should I say! She doesn't even need to have something actually MAKE her mouth to show her delight!


Click here to play Slideshow on my Toys, Bathes, and Flowers!

(if you want to watch the videos embedded into the slideshow, click on the picture and it will take you to our picasa site)

Lovin' our Little Bella

Okay, so DESPITE the fact that Isabella has decided for no apparent reason the past two nights to start waking us up several times throughout the night when she has been sleeping through the night since 7 weeks of age, we are still just LOVIN' our little Bella Boo!

Seriously, I am just CRAZY about this child! I am not going to make any disclaimers about me being her mom and having to say this or being bias or anything like that, but DANG....this little one is the happiest, sweetest, most lovable little GEM ever! I am so in love with her! There are so many things that just light up my face when I think about her. She has her Daddy's looks through and through, lots of Mommy's personality (the good qualities only I hope!), and a bit of determination and a slight stubbornness that make Chris and I just roll over laughing! We can sit and watch her jump in her jumpster, eat her carrots, sit upright in the middle of the floor playing, sleeping, it doesn't matter....all day long! She entertains us to no end and I KNOW lots of you mommies out there can say the same when you think of your own little kiddos! What fun!
My favorite thing probably is seeing her face when I go and pick her up from the sitter's after work, see her first thing in the morning, get her up from her nap, or watch her interact with her Daddy. All these things just MELT my heart!

I couldn't help but post a few new photos of our little darling for ya! This will make family happy too since I don't post as often as I used to! Enjoy for now!

I'm heading to bed....just in case Bella decides to make it THREE nights in a row...

Bella with her buddy, Lincoln. They had fun playing on the blanket together.

Bella hasn't really had to have a bottle too often expect once during the day when I am at work, but she is really trying to learn to hold it on her own. She usually does really well too! Perhaps if Mommy bought slightly smaller, thinner bottles, this chore wouldn't be so hard! Guess we're just trying to build up those muscles early to ward off the little men!

Mommy likes to put random hats on me while going through the store! Don't worry people...I don't have hair yet to pass on lice!

This is Bella with her Buddy, Kyndal. Bella had her first overnighter, slumber party with Kyndal at the end of February/beginning of March while Chris and I were at a resort here in Arizona. Our dear friend, Nicole, volunteered to give us the night free and take Bella for the night. As luck would have it, Chris and I ended up both getting sick that night and sounded oh so stuffy and congested, so even though we could have had a long nice evening out...we wound up in bed, falling asleep to a movie before 10!

Bonjour my fellow bloggers! J'mappelle Isabella! Cousin Hailey gave me this hand me down outfit and I just love it! Everyone at church thought I was so darn cute! The hat made the outfit for sure and every one called me Frenchie! No, Daddy, it wasn't for any other reason but that I had this hat on! Don't worry...although I do like to give open mouth kisses...its just that I don't know any better yet!

Bella LOVES to sing in the car when I have the radio on! I turned it off for a moment and she didn't say a word, but then I turned it on, reached back (while driving, so bear with the horrible shot), and captured her jabbery little self singing along!

And we'll leave you with this video of our VERY ENTHUSIASTIC EATER! Someone asked if she ate this enthusiastically all the time..and the answer to that is YES! She opens her mouth super wide and dive bombs to the spoon on every bite! ENJOY!

Suprising Hailey and Tasting Carrots

Been a bit since I've posted here...could be cause my sister coherced me into signing up for face book and its been too crazy to think about the blog! However, after being once again reprimended from a certain someone (you know how you are!) Here is an update from the past few weeks!

Bella and I flew out to Ohio for a quick weekend on some saved up miles I had that were going to expire and surprised my family for my little neice, Hailey's, first birthday! Traci and I did this for Travis' 1st birthday, but we weren't sure if we were going ot be able to pull it off for Hailey's, however, expiring airline miles came to the rescue! David (my brother) and sister-in-law Steph came and picked us up at the airport about 12:30am! Traci flew into Cleveland and Bella and I flew into Canton/Akron, so we had to wait a bit till our rides made it back from Cleveland to get us. We stayed at David and Steph's house that night (well, really morning since we didn't go to bed till almost 2!), had breakfast with them and then decided to go surprise Lori first!

When we got to her house, David and Steph took Bella to the front door in the box you see below with tissue paper surrounding her. They rang the door bell and then moved out of the way, so only Bella was there waiting. My brother-in-law, Andrew, peeked out the door and yelled for Lori to come get the door as he saw it was Bella. Lori peeked first and saw the box and thought the delivery guy had opened her package, as I told her to expect a present from Bella to Hailey to arrive Saturday morning. She didn't even realize it was a live baby inside until she opened the door and saw Bella smiling up at her (we are guessing that she was smiling cause that's what she does best, but with as cold as it was, she might have been just been in a frozen shock!). Traci and I then came around the corner driving the car. Having bought mom and dad a web cam for Christmas and then buying all the kids one so they can all see us in AZ and TN, we had Lori go up, call my folks by webcam, and have Bella sitting on her lap! Dad was the closest to the camera, so he saw Lori first. In classic Dad fashion, he goes, "Um, so what are you guys up to? (Lori inserted a comment here about her arms being full and dad continued) "Hum, well that looks like Bella on your lap." Mom came flying up to the camera of course to say hi and within just a short time later they were over at Lori's..go figure!

Aside from Hailey being sick on her first Tinkerbell Birthday party, the weekend was wonderful! Bella saw her first snow (although it was only a light flurry for the most part and nothing really stuck) and she got ample time once again with Mammaw, Pawpaw, Aunts and Uncles, and of course her favorite two cousins!

Click on picture to view web album

Hailey's Party

Last week, we decided to start Bella on some veggies. Having a plethora of carrots in the frig, we decided this would be the first one. I need not say another word about the first experience...the video tells all!

I do enjoy my carrots now...just took me a bit to get use to them!