Little Lovie

Leave it to our wonderful cousin Mandi Gubler to not only give birth to her second child, a beautiful sweet girl, but also to give birth to the cutest new baby business. Mandi has created Little Lovie Baby Boutique and really I am obsessed with her stuff. Mandi makes everything from car seat covers, sleepers, and blankies, to the cute little "lovie bum" you see Halle in above. It is the cutest thing to see Halle waddling around and it is so perfect for the summer when babies need to stay cool (especially at Wymount where there is no air conditioning!). Mandi works with all kinds of fabric and themes and is amazing. Definitely taking baby fashion to new stylish level. Check out her boutique blog for all the styles, products, and info http://www.littleloviebabyboutique.blogspot.com/!

Easters

This Easter was my first experience as the Easter Bunny. I loved it! Even though Halle had no idea what was going on she loved digging into her Easter basket...until she found the Easter grass at the bottom. She won't go near it and makes a disgusted face every time her hand brushes it. We were thinking of using it as barriers in the front room for a makeshift playpen. She will not go past it.

We celebrated the day by giving Easter baskets, attending church, watching the movie The Testaments, and then dying Easter eggs. It was such a fun Sunday even though Halle was still getting over a cold. We hope your family had a Happy Easter! "He is not here, but is risen." Luke 24:6

Dear Walt...

Dear Walt Disney,
Just wanted to drop you a line and tell you what an amazing time our family had at Disney World. We were able to spend a week there and I really do have to praise you on your location choice. The weather was amazing! The only problem was keeping Halle's sun hat on her head. We loved seeing our little girl have so much fun outside and on the rides that she was able to go on. She especially loved Pirates, and It's a Small World. It was the best trip mostly because it was so fun to have her there. And mom and dad made it nice by watching her and letting Wes and I hit a few of the big rides. The improvements you made to the Tower of Terror caught me off guard...love it! We really had such an amazing trip. Halle was an angel on the flight and even all day at the parks. She is such a good traveler. However, I do have a few bones to pick with you Mr. Disney:

1. Where is Mickey Mouse? Halle loves Mickey Mouse and I was pretty excited to see how she would react to seeing a huge Mickey right in front of her face. But, in the week that we were there I did not see him once! And on top of not seeing Mickey you had to wait in a huge line if you wanted to see any of the other characters. What happened to just walking up to the characters like you could in the old days. Autograph books have taken over the park! Oh well I am sure when Halle gets old enough we will be standing in many lines to get the Princess signatures. In the end the only characters we got close to were Belle and the Beast. This pictures shows you what Halle thought of the Beast.

2. Why are your rides so small? This is not a problem for me. I fit into the all of the rides just fine. Wes, however, rarely fits comfortably in any of the rides. His knees are always up to his chest scrunched real close to his body. You know it is a problem when one of the employees tries to tell him to put his feet flat on the floor and then realizes he is and it just looks like he isn't because his knees are up so high. I was thinking they could have a special car on each ride for extra tall people and their families. There would also be a special line for these people, so that would probably cut down on line time for us as well.

3. What is the deal with your strollers? They look like huge plastic boxes on wheels. I will admit they turn and maneuver nicely, but there is no way a child could fall asleep in one of those things. They are so hard and there is nowhere to recline. I understand that it is all about efficiency and you need them to be hard so you can just spray them off, but we had to end up buying an umbrella stroller we could tilt back and let Halle sleep in. Just a minor issue that's all.

4. Finally, What is going on in the Disney World kitchen? Let's face it, your food is not that good. It is an age old question really...How do you produce food for the masses (and really there were a lot of masses at your park) that tastes good. I don't know if it is possible, but really the prices you chose for the food you serve are ridiculous. Mediocre food deserves mediocre prices.

Those are just a few things I thought I would share with you to help you improve your park. My family and I had an amazing time and I think every day since we have been home one of us says we miss Florida or that we wish we were still in Disney World. Love the park, love the location, love Mickey, and love you. Thank you for creating the happiest place on earth!

Love, The Bells

1927 Was a Good Year...

Although apparently the exact date is not known because so many people contributed to this wonderful invention...in 1927 the first signal was transmitted from one room to another. The image that showed up was a dollar sign and so I say then and there that t.v. was created. I can't believe what a blessing television is in my life and I never thought I would say that until I had Halle. I probably love t.v. too much. I am so content to watch my fave shows with my family every night American Idol, SYTYCD, Gilmore Girls (R.I.P.) and Biggest Loser, but t.v. has taken on a whole new meaning in my life. Basically, Halle loves it. She always has. Even as a new born we would catch her looking at the flashing lights coming out of the screen. But just recently I have seen t.v. in a whole new light. I am sure there are some mothers out there who are cringing at the thought of a nine month old watching t.v. but I don't think they see what it does for my child. Our aunt Erika has lovingly called their television "The Learning Box" and I have even heard Barney (the big purple dinosaur) call it "The Adventure Screen." Whatever your thoughts are about children watching t.v. are you should know this: there are days when Halle is so wired she is climbing all over me and every thing else (if you have ever held her or even seen her you know that she is often out of control and it is not like we can just take her outside and let her play because Provo is still freezing!) Sometimes she is so out of breath she sounds like she just ran a marathon, but when I turn on Barney she still continues to play, but she starts to calm down. She watches a little and plays a little and her breathing slows down. Please note that Halle does not cry when the t.v. is turned off and she loves loves loves to read books. In my unbiased opinion (hehe) she is one heck of a smart girl. She is not an addict, but somehow the learning box has a calming power over her. She loves the music and the silly sound effects. I find nothing wrong with that. So thank you Philo T. Farnsworth and the many others who have provided a positive outlet for my little girls energy. I'm serious, when she is older we are going to have to get this girl into sports or something because she is nuts!

AWOL

Yes I'm back. We have been MIA. Kendyl inspired me with her comeback post. I figure if a busy working girl like her can take a few minutes and update the fam via the internet, then a stay at home mom can too. So here goes the Bell family highlight reel:

1. We had a great Christmas in St. George (Wes got me an amazing camera which I will use to post super high quality pictures)
2. Wes started and finished his internship with Ernst and Young
3. We lived with both sets of parents for a little bit during the internship (sorry for all the messes, clutter, noise, etc.) We are so grateful you all let us crash for awhile! It made our lives so much easier!
4. Wes was offered a full time job at Ernst and Young after he graduates.
5. Halle has learned to sit up, crawl, pull herself up on furniture, she has even said mama a couple of times, but still no teeth. She growls all the time so we have now named her our monster princess. Her new favorite flavor is artificial cheese (found on cheetos and doritos) definitely takes after her mama on that one.
6. I turned 23 and have almost lost all the baby weight. Those last few stubborn pounds are holding on for dear life.
7. We are now an aunt and uncle (and Halle has her first cousin)! Jake Bodine was born Feb. 28 and he is absolutely adorable. Parents and baby are doing well.
8. We are back in Provo while Wes has a month off before he starts school again in the spring. I am loving spending time with him and all the help I get with our busy body daughter.

Well that's all for now. I will be much better at this once I get Halle's jumper back in my life so I can plop her in there and let her get her wiggles out while keeping my hands free to type. (They're usually busy pulling Halle off furniture befire she falls backwards)

Ninja Domo Infiltrated Weston's Fortress

He opened the envelope and the card read "Ninja Domo infiltrates your fortress with a birthday wish!" (Open Card) "Try as you might you cannot escape." This is just one of the sweet highlights from Wes's birthday bash. I knew I married into one heck of an amazing family. And the fact that they found that birthday card, purchased it, and gave it to a young man turning the ripe old age of 25 makes me sure that eternity is going to be sa-weet!

On the 23rd Weston turned 25. My goal every holiday/celebration is to surprise him. However, every time he foils my plots. Either he is really good or I stink at stealth. (Ex. For Valentines day I found some amazing tickets online to a Mika concert in Salt Lake. I ordered them and have them sent to our house thinking this would be fine. Please note that Wes NEVER gets the mail, so I thought I was safe. Turns out that the one day he thinks "Hey, I'll go get the mail today" the tickets come and he thinks the envelope looks interesting and sees the tickets. Surprise terminated.) This year I got him some key pieces from IKEA that he has been coveting (also please note I married the perfect man because he happens to love interior decorating and all things IKEA). One of them was quite large so I was pretty proud of myself for going all the way up to Draper and bringing it back and into the house without him seeing. I put it under the couch because that was really and truly the only place that it would fit. And honestly, why would he look under the couch within the next week? Turns out, Halle loves to spit out her binky and turns out it just happened to roll under the couch and turns out he saw his stinking present and turns out once again I fail at life and all things birthday.

Despite being foiled again I think he had a great birthday. He had already received his trip to Seattle in August so presents were minimal. I made him breakfast. The eggs were nasty (never could master the art of scrambling). We went to church. I made him his faves: roast, mashed potatoes, parker house rolls, and to top it all off a strawberry cheesecake. He took his IKEA treasures and put them up in our apartment. We played with Halle and relaxed. I don't know how he felt about it, but I sure had fun. Happy Birthday my love! So happy we get to be together for many eternal moons!
Also, my little Halle girl reached a glorious milestone in her young life. At 4 months she ROLLED over on the day before her daddy's birthday!! We weren't able to catch the first roll with our video camera because we went to Sandy to celebrate the birthday with the fam and we left it. However, I did catch several key photographs of the little squirt in motion. Her new skill now requires me to have eagle eyes on her at all times, but I was so stinkin' proud!

The Daily Grind

At the end of the day when I am holding Halle and rocking her to sleep I often wonder what exactly I did all day. Where did the day go? Did I even do anything? Some days it doesn't feel like and some days looking around my house it looks like I definitely didn't do anything.

7:00 a.m.-My day usually begins when I am woken up by the sound of Halle moving around and grunting in her crib letting me know it is time to get up. (She never cries to get out just grunts till I come get her and than she is all smiles! Definitely one of the best part of the day if I'm not feeling too tired) She wants to eat right away of course. I nurse her and than get myself some breakfast. We play for about half an hour and than she starts to get tired again.

8:30 a.m.-Halle goes down for a nap and yes I take one too. This is one of the most precious times during the day for me because she sleeps so well and I get a little bit caught up on the sleep I missed the night before.

10:30 a.m.-Halle is up again and ready for more food. After her feeding she usually gets a bath every other day. Than it is my turn to get ready. For some reason Halle is so content to sit in her bouncer and watch me get ready for the day. She especially loves my straightener. She just bounces herself and watches mom. It is pretty sweet.

12:00 p.m.-I usually grab a quick lunch and than Halle and I run out and do any errands I need to do. Mostly this consists of going to the grocery store. Somewhere along the way she will usually fall asleep in her car seat for about 40 minutes (She takes about three of these little cat naps a day).

2:00 p.m.-Halle is ready to eat again and since she passed the four month mark the doc said I can add rice cereal to her diet. I usually feed her the cereal in the afternoon. She loves it and will start to fuss if I can't shovel it into her mouth as fast as the wants. Surprisingly she will still do a full nursing session even after she has had her cereal. She is a bottomless pit! We usually play with some toys and read books after she eats.

3:30 p.m.-Halle starts to get a little antsy in the afternoons so if I don't have more errands to run I usually take her for a walk in the stroller up around the Provo temple grounds. Halle loves to be outside and won't even listen to me calling her name when we are out there. She is in her own world looking at everything going on around her. Usually she will fall asleep before we get home. Once we do get home I try to do a little cleaning or relax with a book until she finishes her nap.

5:15 p.m.- Halle is up and eating again. I usually put her in her bouncer afterwards and let her sit close by while I get dinner ready unless Wes has come home and than he will usually play with her. She watches Wes and I eat most days. However, oftentimes she seems to know when it is time for us to eat and wants to be held up at the table. All glasses and plates must be pushed far back from her because she is very grabby!

7:00 p.m.-At night Halle and I just get to play unless I have started a load of laundry and than it is much harder to do that. Sometimes she will take a nap and sometimes she will stay up until her next feeding. She is unpredictable at night. Sometimes she is fussy and sometimes she is the happiest she has been all day.

8:30 p.m.-Halle has her last feeding of the day. I change her bum and than put her pajamas on and start the long process of putting her to sleep. She fights sleep so much! She is so tired her eyes are drooping shut, but she will keep kicking and punching the air trying to keep herself awake. I have had to get creative coming up with new ways to put her to sleep because she figures out my tricks after I've used them only a few times.

10:00-10:30 p.m.-Halle is finally asleep enough that I can put her down for the night in her crib. As much as she fights it, she really is an amazing sleeper. Most nights she will stay asleep until 7. Some nights she still wakes up just because she wants her binky. After I put her down I finally have some time to do whatever I want which mostly is sleep. So I read, get ready for bed, have a short conversation with Wes (which is sometimes the only conversation we have had all day) and pray.

11:30 p.m.- Mommy goes to bed!

I guess I don't really do much, but keep my little Halle alive and keep our house running (and I do a pretty poor job of that...just look at the mess!) That is a typical day for me. Some are more productive and some days I don't even have time to get out of my pajamas and shower until I have put her down for the night while the dishes keep piling up. But when that little girl smiles it just melts my heart and I don't care about what I should have or should be doing. I love being a mom!