FAQs and Updates

FAQs in the Months of August and September: 1. Is Bella walking? NOPE! She is close, but not quite ready to go! She has taking a very tiny step forward here or there, but not quite ready to take off on her own just yet. All in her own timing! She'll be walking the rest of her life, so we'll let her decide when she wants to move to that new milestone! She does love to stand in the middle of the room without assistance all the time, so its just a matter of time really! 2. What does Bella like to get into these days? EVERYTHING! She has found new drawers to open (which we are a bit behind on the baby-proofing!), new things to push (TV buttons), has climbed up on the dining room chairs to get something down off the table, loves to get in the pantry where Daddy had to save her from eating the thousands of sprinkles she managed to get in to and open, loves the dishwasher, recycle bin, toilet, trash can, book shelves...you name it, she has probably discovered it. She also LOVES to talk and jabber. Will be interesting how many words a day this child gets in when we can verbally understand what she is staying! 3. What is Bella's normal schedule like? Well for the most part, she wakes around 7:00am and has some milk in her sippy cup (she is completely off bottles as our Peditrician recommended due to research on tooth decay, etc). She then goes to the sitters Monday, Tuesday, THursday, and Friday, has breakfast around 8-8:30, plays, gets tired around 9:15-9:30, sleeps or blabs to self in crib for 1-1 1/2 hours, wakes and plays some more till lunch at 11:30-noon, plays, sleeps 1-4 (with some crib play time there too if she goes down late or wakes early), milk at 4, plays, dinner at 6, plays, milk and bed at 8pm. 4. Is Bella still a good sleeper and eater? For the most part, YES! She is definitely a good eater all the time although she does let us know if she doesn't like a texture of some foods (picky like her Daddy on that!). Her sleeping has gone through a bit of a change as her morning nap is shortening, but for the most part, she is still pretty good about staying and playing in the crib and then falling asleep when she's ready. 5. What are Bella's favorite things? Well, depends on what time of the day. When Mommy is around, its her, but as soon as Daddy comes in the door from work...its him up till bedtime. However, if we are both around...whoever has food or is doing something that she could potentially destroy...they become her new favorite! 6. Where is Baby #2 going to sleep? Well, for the first part of his/her life, he/she will be in our room while I nurse and wait for the night time hours to stretch a bit. Then, we plan to put up a crib that has GRACIOUSLY been given to us in the guest room with a corner of the room designated for the new baby. THat way, we can keep our extra guest bed for visiting family, etc, and just move baby into our room when people come to stay. 7. Are you finding out the sex of Baby #2? To the disappointment of a few "key" friends, NOPE!!! Sorry! Will have to wait till February! 8. Do you have names picked up? Sortof! Will use the same boy name we had for #1 and are still trying to decide on a girls. New names have come into the mix, so still determining! 9. How are you feeling with the pregnancy? Just dandy! Tired, and this summer a bit hot due to hormonal changes and the AZ heat, but overall, as long as I have a bottle of water on hand, I can manage just about anything! 10. Are you excited to have them so close in age? ABSOLUTELY! I know it won't come without its challenges here and there, but that's the way I grew up (4 kids in 4 years on 3 birthdays with oldest and third having same b-day). Wouldn't have traded it for anything!! Always said I'd love to have them close if the Lord allowed! 11. Most annoying pregnancy comments you get? The worst one I get this time around so far is "good luck on #2 being as good as Bella" or "Get ready, next one is going to be horrible" or "HA, HA, if your first was good, your next is going to be a nightmare." THANK YOU, People, but I'd rather you keep your comments to yourself if you have nothing better to say then discourage an expecting mom! I'm fully aware that #2 will be different than Bella and for that, we welcome the individuality and the spunk and the new adventures that lie ahead. We would never want to compare our kiddos to each other as all are uniquely gifted and made by God. If the next one is a handful as so many people almost "wish" upon us, then FINE. We'll take him/her just the way they are. Well, that's about it for the FAQ for now. Hope these videos and photos satisfy a "certain someone" that keeps asking for updates!

From Miscellaneous Bella Photos

Bella's One Year Photos

Here are some photos we just took of Bella as an official One year old!

Bella's First Birthday Party

No time to post today, but enjoy the photos!

What have the Shondelmyers been up to anyway?

Hello Folks!

Well, I don't feel THAT bad about the lack of posting seeing how this will be my second one in the month of July! Might be a new record as of late! But thought I'd update ya all on our lives and the fun things Bella Boo has been up to.

Chris and I have been doing well. Chris finished all of his course work for his summer seminary class, so now he is OFFICIALLLY graduated and can now receive his diploma! It has been a huge sigh of relief for him to finish up! Future education to some degree may be in the future, but for now, he will definitely take a year or two off! He continues to work at Family Matters and has a few new things on the horizon that he's trying to pursue, but more about those in months to come as they develop! For now, he is just enjoying being a dad to Isabella! She is certainly the one that pulls at his heart strings! Something about a Daddy and his little girl...ah, its beautiful to see and Chris is one awesome Dad!

I have been busy with work mostly and taking care of Bella...which is my FAVORITE THING each day! I LOVE being a Mommy! I also tend to be the one that plans and schedules all social events and interactions we have, so Yes, I have been keeping our schedule very full (thanks to an incredibly flexible baby and an equally flexible hubby!) Last week we had something every night I think! I try not to overbook my "introverted" husband too often, but sometimes this girl just needs to get out and have people over...okay, the word "sometimes" is probably not accurate...OFTEN might be more appropriate! Regardless, Chris has been a trooper through it all and has really enjoyed catching up with some of our friends we haven't seen in a while. We still have a few more to catch in the next month before school starts up for kiddos and our opportunity slips away! Aside from that, Work has been very busy for me. I have been planning all aspects for our International Missions Festival at work where over 90+ missionary families and individauls will come home for a week in November. All details and planning for travel, logistics, events, and outreach opportunites fall under my direction. I LOVE getting to do this for a job each day! Truly is my passion and the next best thing to traveling and being in each country individually! Oh, and its cheaper too!

Bella, well, she is quite the personality! She has been teething this month and has her top four teeth peering through. She has been a real trooper through most of it, but with four at one time, even this little child has had her tantrum challenges of pain! Bella jabbers constantly! What a chatter box! She must get that from her Daddy, I would say! :0) Bella is still on a pretty consistent routine for the most part, but is very adaptable when I throw a late night at her or change up the plan! Her personality has really been one to just go with the flow, which has been nice for this "on the go" couple! Her normal routine is wake at 6:45am-7:00am (depending on if we sleep in and forget to go get her up!), nurses, has breakfast around 8:00am, goes down around 9:00 or 9:30 and sleeps for 1 1/2-2 hours, wakes at 11:30 for bottle and lunch at noon, then sleeps from 1-4 usually with an occassional 4 hour nap till 5, dinner at 6:30pm, and nurse and bed at 8:00pm. She continues to be an AMAZING EATER! No seriously....I don't think we've been with a set of friends since this child started eating that hasn't made SOME TYPE of comment about her eating ability! I'll have to post a video sometime of our little human vaccuum! It really is a sight to see!

She loves to move around and try and climb all over and up on everything. She has almost gone head first into the tub trying to get up, but thankfully to quick cat like reflexes...we managed to save her! :0) She is a Class A Speed crawler, and THANKFULLY has not decided to start walking yet! She wants to, you can tell as she cruises from furniture to furniture and all around the coffee table on her two little legs, but thankfully she is giving us a break for a little bit longer...which we appreciate because once she starts...um...yeah...enough said!

In just 14 days our little munckin will be 1 year old! Time has FLOWN by and we can't believe it! We are having a little Princess Party for her on the 8th of August to celebrate the miracle of life that God has entrusted to us! If in town, let us know! Would love to have you around to celebrate her life with us!

Here are some pictures of her I took for her 11 month progress photos (more like 11 1/2 months!) and also a short little video Bella wanted me to share. In a few days, I'll try and post photos of our trip to San Diego and you can see how much Bella LOVED the sand! ENJOY!

Bella Lately

We are inching closer to the 1 year mark and it blows me away at how much this little one is growing, developing, and becoming more and more a joy to Mommy and Daddy daily. She continues to light up our lives with her smile, her laughter, her little antics, and her blossoming personality.

What's new with Bella today? Well, Bella now has 4 teeth, crawls faster than we can keep up, pulls herself up on EVERYTHING, eats EVERYTHING, sleeps incredibly, smiles often, and yes, its true...has learned to be mischevious! That child KNOWS when she is not supposed to touch something, but proceeds to anyway. She'll glance back at ya like, "I know you are going to try and stop me, but let's just see how far I can get!" type of look! I knew the hardest thing for me as a parent would be this discipline part. I can't help but CRACK UP when she gives me those little faces and smirks at me when I tell her no! I have always had a hard time keeping in my laughter when friends would discipline their little ones and they'd make cute faces, or funny remarks, so I KNEW I'd be in for a heap of trouble! No doubt it will get easier as the antics keep up, but for now, I find myself turning my head ALOT to cover up! Chris and I have little comments we make that don't help either! I often say, "Bella, make wise choices!" when she is going towards something she knows she should not be touching and Chris opts for "you little sinner" remark! All in good fun of course!

Bella got to see her cousins this month as well as her Pawpaw and Mammaw Warner and Aunt Lori over July 4th weekend. She had a ball with them. Pictures to come soon, but for now....

Here are some 10 Month Photos of our little Bella Rose!

Stairs and Binky

Thanks to Aunt Traci who taught me over Memorial Day while in Colorado for Mommy and Daddy's 5th anniversary, I now know how to climb stairs! Here are a few of my friends (my own personal fan club, really) to cheer me on!!! I was a bit startled by their excitment for me, but loved it anyway!

Here are a few pics from this last week. Mommy just can't keep the camera off of me! She thinks I am growing so fast and obviously doesn't want to miss a moment! Here I am being a bit mischevious! I crawled back to my room while mommy was folding laundry in her room and this is where and how she found me. I actually JUST crawled out from under neath the lamp shelf behind me! Yep, I was all the way underneath it! Mommy thought it was so funny seeing me sit there, but I had already crawled out by the time she came back with the camera!

My church buddies (Sonni and Ricki Larson and Ada, Nica, and Evelyn Johnson)

This is me in a big person pool for the very first time. I LOVED it! It was late in the evening, but I didn't seem to mind the cooler temp nor the dark sky! Daddy got a kick out of me acting like a dolphin in the water!

Drying off with Mommy!

And last, but not least...here is a video hot off the press as of a few hours ago! I love my binky so much that I'll retrieve it no matter WHERE it is found! :0)

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!