The Birds

It's definitely Springtime in Missouri because the bird have arrived. We've been watching American Goldfinch's flicker around. Grandpa puts out half an orange for the orioles.

My mom and I saw a hummingbird fly right into the screen and get it's nose stuck! It was just momentarily and it was hilarious! The little guy put it in reverse and backed straight out of the screen and went on his way, embarrassed, but unscathed.

Lucky Lady?

Last night was the second night that Bella has slept through the night! Is it the luck of Lady? She has (uncharacteristically) slept upstairs in our room. Two nights ago, Bella went to bed at 9 and woke up at 6:15! Last night, she went to bed at 9 and I woke her up at 5:30 (because I needed her to nurse). To make up for it she was extra fussy during the day, but that's okay because you can handle crying when you've had 8-9 hours of continuous sleep. We'll see how this goes... I'd like this to momentarily stop so she'll sleep well in the car during the day for our trip back to Houston, then quickly resume once we're back at home. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Moo!

Here's our cute cowgirl! Moo! Yep - she's the spitting image of Matt, but you wouldn't catch him dead in a cow costume. Her hair is starting to grow on top (while Matt's isn't). She makes good eye contact (but not always on command) and smiles (almost always). She likes to stand vs. sit. She almost never takes a pacifier but is learning to suck on her knuckles. Bathtime is a favorite...and so is riding in the car. She leaks with Huggies or Costco diapers, but so far, not with Pampers. She's a size 2! It was a bit sad to put on (and 10 minutes later) take off her size 1 diapers knowing that she'll never be that size again. It's the same feeling about all the newborn clothes that would have to stretch way too much to get them snapped.

I'm starting to pack up to return to Houston. We leave on Saturday and arrive on Monday. I've had a great, relaxing time in Missouri! I've read lots of books! (Thank you Kelly & Melanie) I've eaten really well, in fact, yesterday Grandpa found wild asparagus and I ate those 3 stalks as an after dinner snack.

Splish-Splash

All those times when Grandma said "Look at me!" paid off because now Bella will look at you! She loves bath time! First video she smiles and the second she kicks so much that she splashes herself!
So, here's how bath time goes: Get towel, chair for mom, soap & lotion, diaper and pj's ready. Get water in tub at right temperature. Get Bella undressed and in tub. Get Bella suds up and rinsed, then watch and wait. First there's usually a few little bubbles...a foreshadowing... Yep, you guessed it, when the cute, little bubbles are filled with something more, you yank Bella out of the tub in warp speed! Dry her off and put that diaper back on!

And...speaking of diapers. They burn just fine in the furnace. It's fortunate out on the farm to burn trash (you don't have to smell it for a week!). At first we discovered that diapers don't burn very well in the trash barrel so now they get disintegrated in the furnace.

a sign of love

Last night at 2:30 am, Bella whimpered in hunger. Her whimper can quickly turn into a loud cry if you don't get to her fast enough, so I tried to move quickly, but I ended up trudging out of bed. I hate waking up between midnight and 3 am! I ignored my own need to go to the bathroom, picked her up, returned to bed with the boppy and got settled. She started nursing. I sat with my eyes closed, wished the urge to pee would just go away. I also wished she could wait until 3:30 or 4 am because I don't mind being awake then. Nighttime nursing is incredibly boring. Bella doesn't even open her eyes for it.

Before long, she tooted and grunted indicating that her diaper was full. "Damn!" I thought. Now I'm going to have to change her diaper and probably change her pajamas because of a leak or blow-out. Then she's going to really wake up and I'm going to have to walk around to make her fall asleep again. Ahhh! I'm going to be up to 4 am and then I'll have a hard time falling back to sleep. As I was thinking all these things, I looked down to see her hand in front of her chest. Her index, pinky and thumb were up, middle and ring finger down. It was in the shape of the sign I LOVE YOU! It was the sweetest thing she could have done. It's like she was saying, "Sorry mom, I don't mean to wake you up. I love you for caring for me." It made it all okay and fortunately, she didn't have a blow-out so no need to change pajamas. She burped easily and fell asleep quickly so all was good. I fell asleep quickly too.

I'm sure that there's some explanation for her fingers bending into that shape; some reflex or something. Whatever it was I was thankful. She's beginning to respond and give back. She calms when I hold her (mostly), she looks at me and she smiles at me. I love when she does this! She belongs to me!

Happy Easter

We woke up very early (actually, who I am kidding, we were already awake) to get all dressed up and ready for church.
Bella's giving us popeye-eye. Aye-ha, ha, ha - just like Popeye the sailor man!
Bella with Great-Grandma & Grandpa.
Bella with Grandpa. See how she's holding on to his tie?!

at 2 months...

Bella can sit (with assistance) with her head up.



Bella can stand (with assistance), but doesn't know her name yet.


Bella can smile and grunt. She slobbers a lot too.


Bella can kick a lot too! It's almost a minute! Oh, she does have cute, matching bloomers with the outfit, but she had a little accident earlier so they're in the wash.

hangin' out

Everyone's hanging out. Sam is asleep on the floor with Lady (on her dog bed). Bella is sound asleep (UPSIDE DOWN!) on my mom's lab and Grandpa is reading the paper. It was a cold, dreary day - 40 degrees, misty & foggy.

Maundy Thursday

Here's Bella with my grandparents. Usually Grandma has the magic touch and can calm Bella down...we just caught her during a fussy moment.
Here's my mom holding Bella before going to church for Maundy Thursday.

Bella likes to stand a lot! She's 2 months old and is doing a really great job of holding up her head...that's good because we're tired of holding her head for her since she likes to be held upright. Bella was good in church! She fussed a bit but with a little walking and the pacifier she fell asleep.

We've been eating lots of good, homemade food here on the farm. Homemade pickles, corn, green beans, applesauce and salsa. Grandma made chicken noodle soup a couple of days ago too.

The interesting news of the day was that a cow died because it had metal poisoning because it likely ate a nail or staple from the fence. It's sorta sad to me because she was still nursing (although I'm sure it's not called nursing if you're a cow) a calf. The calf is actually a steer and old enough to be on its own. I guess since I'm constantly nursing (or what feels like constant) then I'm sensitive to these kinds of stories.

So, I've figured out how to set up pillows so I can read while nursing. So far I've read 2 Oprah magazines, one InStyle magazine, 2 Parents magazines and I'm about to start a book! The Bright Side of Disaster.

Missouri

It snowed in Missouri...well, a "light dusting" as Matt says. Here's our car... it made it and so did we! It took 11 hours from Dallas (google maps says it should have taken 8 hours). Bella did very well until the last hour. We fed her in these parking lots: McDonald's, Wendy's, Quizno's and a gas station. She loves music and the rocking of the car so we're lucky!

bats

We were in Austin about to watch the bats emerge from the Congress Street bridge. Very thrilling for a baby who can't see 3 feet in front of her, huh? We had fun and that's all that matters at this point.

It took us 5 hours to drive from Houston to Austin, but it was a beautiful drive with the sunny weather and wild flowers along the road.