Day 29

Snow Day! Today we had another snow day so I was able to take Bella's Valentine's Day/ 18 month pictures. I am really happy with how they turned out. This one was my favorite!

Day 28

I actually got little bitty pigtails in Bella's hair today. They didn't even last the car ride over to the babysitter though. They were too tiny and fell out when she moved her head in the car seat. At least I snapped a few shots before we left. Gives me hope that some day I will be able to play with Bella's hair!

Day 27

Princess Bella- Bella got this tiara from Eli for her birthday back in August. She just recently started wearing it but she has to sit very still. She doesn't have any hair to hold it on her head with.

Day 26

Just a quick snapshot today.

Day 25

Bella is trying to conquer the fork. It is funny to watch her concentrate so hard on using it and then just use her fingers in the end.

Day 24

This is the sight I see everyday when I drive home. We live right by downtown Memphis and we have a wonderful view of the city!

Day 23

It was windy here tonight! And that means that Rocco has some serious anxiety issues. He isn't scared of storms but the wind is another story. He will not leave your side and is awake and panting the whole time. He weighs almost 125 pounds and tries to sit on top of you. We finally had to run the dishwasher to create some white noise so he would relax and sleep. What a dog!

Day 22

Tonight we went to a Memphis Grizzlies basketball game at the Fedex Forum. This was Bella's first NBA game and she had a lot of fun. We had awesome seats. They were in the eight row right behind the Grizzlies' bench. This is our former neighbor, (okay he lived like two blocks from us but still I like to claim him as our neighbor) Rudy Gay, making one of the many shots of the night. He hit a shot with one second left in the game to put the Grizzlies up by two...and they won! Great game, great seats, and a great time!

Day 21

Remember all those books organized so beautifully on Bella's new book holder? Well.... this is what I found when I went to check on Bella tonight. About 3/4 of her library was laying all over the floor. I knew she was being too quiet for a reason!

Day 20

I didn't want to post another bath picture but I thought this one was pretty cute. The bruise on her cheek has turned every color that you would think a bruise would turn and then some. It is now taking on a horrible yellow tone. But it is going away quicker than I would have thought. I still think she is adorable, bruise and all!

Day 19

Today was a busy day. Back to work after a long weekend and supper tonight to say good-bye to a great co-worker and friend. We ate a Bahama Breeze and had a wonderful time. Love the food there and even had left-overs. Good luck Martha with your new journey!

Day 18

Give you one guess who Bella looks like....her daddy. I think the only thing she got from me was the blonde hair. We went to the zoo today. I'm loving this warm weather. It is great to actually get outside and play with my camera.

Day 17

It was finally nice enough to play outside today. Well, our playing outside turned into an event when Rocco and Bella collided on the cement. Bella got a pretty good bruise on her face but she still loves him. This is the two of them an hour later. She loves to rip things out of magazines and look at. Here she is telling Rocco all about Disney World (upside down of course!).

Day 16

Today John and I got to go on a day date. My friend Amy volunteered to watch Bella for the day while we went out on our own. This rarely happens because all of our family is up in Iowa. We are in Memphis while John goes to optometry school. So we don't have grandparents just down the street to watch Bella whenever we want to go out. I can't wait until we move back closer to our family! This is just one of the many things I'm looking forward to.

This is Bella's friend, Eli. Bella says his name, "E.I." I hear about Eli all the time because he also goes to daycare with Bella. I snapped a quick picture when we went to pick Bella up from Amy's house. Thanks Amy for watching Bella! It was great to get out for some adult conversation and fun with John!

Day 15

Who needs toys when you have boxes to climb on? I swear Bella would rather play with something like this then all the toys in her room. She loves to sit on things. She will try to sit on a little stacking cup. She also loves to get into baskets and boxes. For Christmas she got a plastic box full of MegaBlocks. Instead of playing with the blocks she would rather sit on the box or try and get inside of it. I love that girl!

Day 14

Bella and Rocco wait for John to get home every day. If I know he is getting close I will tell them to go look for Daddy and I get to see this cute sight everyday. I have yet to get the perfect shot of this but I will before this year is up!

Day 13

So today's shot isn't the best, but when you get home and the sun is already down you start to run out of things to shoot. I'm waiting patiently for the days to get longer and the temperatures to rise. This is a typical sight during supper time. Rocco waiting for Bella to finish her meal or when Bella doesn't want to eat something, she will drop some food down to him. What a pair!

Day 12

I finally got some great bath shots with my new camera. This camera is so much better in low light situations! This is just one of the many great shots I got tonight. I love my new camera!

Day 11

Today my husband assisted in the picture taking. This is Bella and I doing our nightly routine. Every night Bella picks out one book to read and then we have two books that remain the same every night. We have been doing this routine since she was 5 months old (she didn't get to pick the book then). I am so glad we started the routine when she was young because now bedtime is easy for us. She knows that it is time to go to sleep. She even walks to her crib now after giving Daddy and Rocco a kiss. I also love getting to hold her and read to her. I hope she never gets too old to sit on my lap and read with me!

Day 10

On the weekends we love to make a yummy breakfast. Sometimes we make cinnamon rolls, sometimes it's french toast, or other times it is pancakes. This Sunday morning we made pancakes. Bella loves pancakes with butter and powdered sugar on them. My husband is a fan of peanut butter and syrup. I love the good old fashioned butter and syrup. It's great to have breakfast together on the weekends because during the week our mornings are so rushed that we don't have the time to sit down and eat together. So on the weekends I enjoy this family time together.

A little side note...this week I wanted to figure out how to use textures in Photoshop. This isn't the greatest but it is a start and I am pretty proud of myself for figuring it out.

Day 9

This is Bella's touchdown dance. My husband is a big Philadelphia Eagles' fan. I've allowed Bella to be a fan but only support the players I like. Here she is in her David Akers' shirt. Sadly, the Eagles lost but hopefully next year will be better.

Day 8

This is the what I get the pleasure of seeing every day in my rear view mirror. She is such a blessing!

Day 7

SNOW DAY!!! I love snow days in Memphis. They make me laugh. I come from northwest Iowa and to cancel school for not even an inch of snow just puts a smile on my face. Over Christmas break when we were back home it snowed for two days straight with an accumulation of almost 20 inches. This little "dusting" of snow was nothing compared to that. But thanks to the snow day I finally got my Christmas tree down, house cleaned, and spent some time with Bella!

Day 6

Here is my squeaky clean baby! And my first post of a picture with my new camera! My lens arrived in the mail today (Canon 50mm 1.8). This picture was taken with a flash which I'm not crazy about but I still thought it was super cute. Hope to start learning more about my camera and all the great things it can do!

Day 5

Today was a beautiful sunset. I drive almost an hour each way to work and back. Although I have a hard time finding anything positive in this besides a great job and wonderful daycare provider, I do see the most gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. This is just one of the many that I've seen.

Side Note: I got my first DSLR in the mail today! Now just waiting on the lens to arrive!!!!

Day 4

Here is Bella after a day back at day care. I felt the same way after a day back to school. I love that I get long breaks. Next holiday...Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Day 3

I must admit, I almost forgot to take a picture for today. But luckily I remembered, although the picture isn't the most creative or artistic. This is a picture of one of the great gifts Bella got for Christmas. A book organizer (from Target) from Grandma Julie! I love organization! So this gift was perfect because it put all of Bella's books in one spot (or I'm hoping it does!). I must also confess that I have a little bit of an issue with buying books for her. I'm a teacher so I just can't pass up a good book or a book order. Bella may soon be starting her own library. This picture shows a little over half of her books. I hope that I am passing on the gift of reading to her and that she will remember being read to as a child.

Day 2

The journey continued today. We finished our long drive and made it home to Memphis. This is my little girl entertaining herself in the car. She loves to travel with her shoes and socks off despite the fact that the warmest we saw all day was 30 degrees. (Don't worry! We made her put them on when we went outside) It felt great to get home after two days of traveling and being gone from our house for almost two weeks.

Day 1

We spent most of our day in the car. We traveled from Iowa to Columbia, Missouri. I was able to capture this sun dog near Council Bluffs, Iowa. This was just one of many that we saw on this freezing, cold day. This picture was taken from the comfort of our warm vehicle.