The Nutcracker

One of the big events planned for the holiday season was a girls trip to see the Nutcracker ballet with my mom, sisters and two women that I've considered second moms since I was in fifth grade. These ladies and their families have had a hand in help shaping me into the woman I've become and it's such a blessing to have the opportunity to pull qualities and characteristics from them that I hope to emulate as a mom. The fact that they were able to join us made the day that much better.

At three and a half I wanted to make sure that Bella had the best chance possible of making it through the ballet without any meltdowns so about a week before Thanksgiving we started reading the book every couple nights and I borrowed Barbie and the Nutcracker from the library (the Barbie movie, while keeping true to the Nutcracker story, was brutal). Prior to the ballet she was able to recite the parts of the story she was looking forward to seeing so I was confident we'd make it through.

While the whole ballet was amazing, nothing was better than Bella's awe watching it. When the curtains raised and the orchestra was loudly playing, her head looked like a typewriter scanning left to right and back again trying to soak it all in. Not to say she wasn't a little confused though - about twenty minutes into the performance she asked me when the ballerinas were coming out. Apparently if you're not wearing a tutu, you're just not that serious. She also lost interest pretty quickly into the second act when al the different dancers in the Land of Sweets were performing. She wanted to dance in front of her seat, and as long as she was quiet I didn't have a problem with it. -until I turned to get her some fruit snacks to buy time and by the time I turned back around she was standing on her tiptoes hands raised above her head dancing her own ballet down the aisle... fortunately when the Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince (?) came out for their performance Bean was completely captivated once again.

When the final curtain fell and we were herded out of the auditorium the dancers were in the lobby to greet everyone for pictures, which was a really nice surprise because Bella was stoicly excited to see them up close and immediately followed her cousin Lili's lead to ask for autographs and pose pretty for a picture. I'm pretty sure we either got a picture or an autograph from 90% of the performers and were definitely among the last ones to leave. If she chooses to be a ballet roadie I suppose I should count my blessings...

a holiday girls night to the Nutcracker - makes my heart happy

for every cute picture there were about five goofy ones... come on, just. say. cheese.

Once Upon a Time

The benefit of making babies with a rocket scientist is my children will stand a chance of being smart like daddy. They can thank me later. I read this book to Bella only a few times weeks ago and she found it in the van and told the story - albeit it altered - practically perfect to what was happening on each page. Aside from being ridiculously cute (true story) she's one smart cookie with an impressive memory!

live, laugh, dance.

We had just finished Mulan for our weekly movie night and she was loving the song that played during credits so, not entirely uncommon for Bella and I, we stopped everything for a quick dance party! She is such a nut, I love this girl!

for your viewing pleasure, there's this one showing off her 1/8 Puerto Rican passion!

Happy Birthday Baby Jesus, Timeout!

Bella loves singing happy birthday to Baby Jesus before we had my family's tradition of coffee cake breakfast. It's all super sweet and melts your heart, but my favorite part is when she goes to hit the high notes, it's so cute!

Then we had a talk about where Baby Jesus from the nativity set was, because he spent a lot of the Christmas season missing. Turns out he was currently in timeout, again. He was missing for over a week at the beginning on the month for touching the Christmas tree, and apparently on Christmas Day he had done it again. tsk tsk.

here, Joseph and the three wisemen had to have been up to something because after Bella went to bed we found them all in trouble. Timeout!

Moving Pictures

This post, like many to follow, is long overdue. in the late summer I saw previews for "Tangled" and was so excited knowing immediately that this would be the first movie I took Bella to. Our first mommy/daughter date night! The movie was scheduled to be released in the middle of November so I bought a couple of the Rapunzel books and the doll thinking that if she was at least familiar with the characters and the story, she'd stand a chance to actually sit through the movie. I waited until the day before to bribe her for good behavior with promises of the "Punzel mobie". She was simply angelic those next 24 hours. So the day it was released we bought tickets for the regular screening (I knew it'd be expecting way too much for her to keep the 3D glasses on) bundled up and headed out for our big afternoon complete with a lunch and the movie.

She. did. amazing. She was giddy the entire lunch but settled pretty quickly and quietly into her seat once we got to the theater. (note to self for the future: toddler's aren't heavy enough to keep the fold-down seats down, it literally swallowed her up - much to her laughter - every time I took my foot or hand off her chair, so I need to bring a booster seat next time.) Bell was completely enamored the entire time, not so much as cracking a smile at the funny parts because she was watching too intently. In fact, each time the three teenagers next to us would laugh she would turn her body but not her eyes and "shhhh" them, it was hilarious! It wasn't until the very end of the movie when the hero is riding through the castle to save the princess that Bella started crying... so I just walked her to the aisle and we watched the rest of the movie spinning in circles so she wouldn't see the brief moments I thought may scare her. I have to say, Disney didn't disappoint at all, it was a fantastic movie! Even without the excitement of watching it with Bella, I really enjoyed the entire thing and can't wait to buy it when it's released on DVD.

When the movie ended she was in such a good mood jibbering on and on to whoever we passed on the way back to the car showing them her Rapunzel doll she brought with her from home and telling them as much about the movie as they'd patiently wait and listen to. AND as the bragging mom I couldn't help my chest from swelling a little with pride each time we were stopped and received comments about how cute she was with her curly hair and doll in hand. It was easily one of my favorite moments with her and I look forward to more special moments and memories as she's getting older. That girl, she lights up my life, quite literally.

getting ready to go...

enjoying a quick bite before the movie...

Bella's first movie? check.

not a care in the world

Wordless Wednesday
just a tease from our family photo shoot last week!

In Jesus Name, amen.

Bella's bedtime routine consists of a few books, a couple songs, a rhyme to turn the lights out and usually ends with a prayer... we just recently started praying out loud with her, but I figure it's a good habit for her to start and I have hopes that she'll be better at it and more diligent than I.

I'm not sure she really understands at this point, but it still made my eyes tear up when she didn't wait for me to say something for her to recite and she started on her own with "thank you for Daddy, thank you for Mommy, thank you for Baby Austin". Especially the way she sings when she speaks quietly, it completely melted my heart.

ready or not...

This is how I found Bella this morning during hide-and-seek...

she really committed to her hiding place!

Seriously, I love this girl so much. She's hilarious and a little bit crazy!

Singing Bee

I know I need a post that consists of more than a picture or video - but for now I leave you with Bella singing "bringing home a baby bumblebee". she's obsessed with this song, she sings it over and over and over again! Justin and I aren't even almost sick of hearing it either, she's just so cute and precious and reminds us how blessed we are to get to spend every day with her!


we took this on my phone so unfortunately the quality isn't great.

Morning Sunshine!

a picture from our trip to Loveland - she cracks me up!

Don't Blink.

Star Light, Star Bright
First Star I See Tonight

I Wish I May

I Wish I Might

Have This Wish I Wish Tonight...

I miss my baby girl... what happened?!
They say they grow so quickly, but this is just absurd.

We made the move for Bell into a big girl bed and I have to say the girl was flawless! We are so ridiculously lucky how well she adapts to change, here's hoping that carries over when her little brother joins the family in a few short weeks...

Totally Tubular

Bella had outpatient surgery to have tubes put in her ears this morning... the poor girl has had constant ear infections since she was around six months old. Basically we've sent our pediatrician's child to college in copays for follow-up appointments. Bell is a champ and half the time we swore she was over the ear infection and it'd still be there, persistent and worse than before. I was insanely nervous for the surgery - we did all the research, we talked to people who have been there and we took plenty of deep breaths prior to pre-op. Nothing could get me ready for my baby girl in an operation gown fearful for what's next because you really can't explain it to her. ugh.

Without question the most difficult thing I've done in this new role as mom was helping the nurses hold her down and still while the anesthesiologist put the mask over her face. Hands down, that was awful. I'm sure Justin thought I was quite a sight when I walked back into the waiting room (I wasn't back there for the actual surgery, that'd be horrible) and my eyes were red and puffy and ridiculous. The surgery went really well, she was out of it for awhile but by the time breakfast rolled around (did I mention before we had to get to the surgery center by 6:30?!) she was back to herself! We survived!

catching some Mickey Mouse before going back.
she looks so stinkin' cute in her little surgery gown!

I simply had to share this one, what with looking so radiant...
she was more interested in the mouse than the mommy. I blame my hospital gear.

keepin' it cool hanging out with Daddy...
no, he wasn't under any anesthetic, he was just tired!

enjoying breakfast her in clubhouse - feeling much better!