This month has been BUSY! We have had a few big issues like our water heater leaking on the two units below us and my hard drive crashing on top of the already busy holiday season which have basically thrown all schedules and productivity out the window, but life is good and things are going to be a little less crazy starting next week so that is really nice. Anyways, here are some of the highlights from Bella’s fourth month…
1 – What has been the best part?
Bella has learned a lot this month! But the best part has to be when she laughed! And lucky for us we caught it on tape. What was she laughing about you ask? Poop! Haha
2 – What has been the hardest part?
Teething. No teeth yet, but her gums really hurt her and every few days it makes her really unhappy.
3 – What has been the most surprising part?
How much she has grown! Everyone keeps telling me how big she has gotten and I can really tell that she has gone from being a newborn to full-fledged infant. It is amazing how quickly and drastically a baby can change!
4 – Do you have memorable story from the second month?
I went out of my way to get Bella’s holiday outfit which I was SO excited for her to wear. I got her all dressed and ready for the holiday show that we saw with all the Beams in PA. When we stopped for lunch I fed Bella and handed her off to Keith to change. When Keith picked her up he noticed that she had exploded out of her diaper. I was heart broken because she hadn’t even gotten to the event before she messed up the outfit. But when we changed her we realized that she had poop up to her shoulders and I had poop all over my shirt and pants. We ended up having to go get a new outfit for me and Bella at Target on our way to the show. And once we got to the show, Nancy, Autumn and I went to the bathroom where we all wash poop from mine and Bella’s clothing which was a funny bonding experience. That is a memory I won’t soon forget!
5 – What has Bella learned in the fourth month?
- She now makes all kinda of noises. She loves making motorboat sounds and talking to us. She is gonna be a chatty child!! Haha
- Bella has decided that she no longer wants to have anything to do with the pacifier. So after just three months of use we almost never use it.
- Bella has started sleeping 6 – 8 hours at night! PTL!!
- Bella HATES the carseat and being in the car. She doesn’t cry very often, but you put her in the car and off she goes. It’s crazy! However we have figured out that if we put her in the stroller without the carseat part she is MUCH happier so that’s nice since we’re out all the time.
- We turned Bella around in the baby bjorn and she loves looking out at everything.
- She started rolling from her back to front. She hasn’t put too many together to get very far, but she loves turning herself in a circle.
- Bella started laughing this month and we got it on video!
- We had our first snow storm in December. We took Bella out and Keith built her a little snowman. She was not a fan of the snow…I think it was too cold for her and that she didn’t like it on her face. Maybe next time.
Bella’s Fourth Month December 9, 2009
Bella’s First Laugh November 27, 2009
It’s official, Bella is laughing! And wow is it cute! Wondering what she was laughing about? She had a blowout that went everywhere. Just to give you a sample of her cute laugh here is a video we took.
Please excuse the awful video quality. We had a technical issue and had to make a video of a video and I was trying to hide so she wouldn’t see me and stop laughing. So all in all the video quality stinks, but Bella is still adorable so that’s really all the matters. Enjoy!
Bella’s Third Month November 7, 2009
Bella turns three months this coming Wednesday (side note Happy Veterans Day and thanks to all those who serve(d) our country). I can’t believe it’s been three months! Bella is growing like crazy and learning so much every day. Here is some of what happened this month…
1 – What has been the best part?
Bella has become so much more interactive this month. She is smiling allll the time which I just love. She is also going to sleep much easier and sleeping for 5 hours consistently every night which is a huge blessing!
2 – What has been the hardest part?
Bella has become much more of a mommy’s girl this month. She often cries when anyone else (other than Keith) holds her, so I find myself holding her a lot which can get tiring and hard for me when I’m trying to get things accomplished. She also has decided that she has an opinion and isn’t afraid to express it. For example, she has decided she hates her car seat and will cry/scream until she falls asleep whenever we put her in it.
3 – What has been the most surprising part?
That she has already started the everything goes in her mouth phase. Also surprising is that she wiggles herself all over the place. She wiggles herself all over the couch and if she is on the floor on her changing mat she likes to spin herself in a circle. This girl is one strong baby!
4 – Do you have memorable story from the second month?
I was playing with Bella and she was smiling up a storm. I said to her, “how is it possible for me to love you so much!” at which time she lets out the biggest burp then looks at me with the biggest smile on her face. I laughed out loud because she seemed so proud of herself! Yes Bella that is why I love you so much lol.
5 – What has Bella learned in the second month?
- Bella becoming much more alert, really fascinated by the fan and lights, and has started to recognize her toys although she has yet to figure out how to play with anything yet.
- Bella is becoming more tactile as she tries to figure out how to use her hands. She likes to touch everything from my shirt when I’m holding or feeding her to her blankets.
Bella is a drool machine! She makes bubbles all the time and we’re soon going to need to put bibs on her all the time to catch the drool.
- Bella especially hates it when we’re in traffic or stopped at a light. She cries everytime the car stops, she will even wake up from sleep to cry about it.
- Bella is cooing more and trying to hold a conversation with me all the time. She is gonna be more talkative then her mom I think (if that’s possible lol).
- Bella definitely knows my voice and wants to be with mommy all the time. She can even track where I am when she hears my voice. When I go to pick her up in the morning just hearing my voice she’ll start smiling which melts my heart.
- Bella has discovered her hands and wants them in her mouth allllll the time.
- Bella is still sleeping a lot during the day, but her naps are getting slightly shorter and she wants to be awake and looking at things more.
- Bella’s favorite thing to do other than eat and sleep is to stand…often times shell cry if we’re not helping her stand.
- We have put Bella’s pack-n-play in the hallway so she sleeps there instead of in her crib (which is in our room) at night. Now she can talk herself to sleep all she wants and Keith and I are sleeping SO much better.
- For Halloween Bella was a ladybug and a Pea in a Pod. She managed to stay awake for about half of the Halloween party at Keith’s school, but only lasted 3 houses on Halloween night before she feel asleep. Oh well maybe next year lol.
Bella’s Second Month October 18, 2009
Time is FLYING by!! And I am loving being a mom more and more every day. Here are some updates from this month:
1 – What has been the best part?
Spending all day with her and watching her learn and grow. I also love that she still sleeps a lot…I think it’s helping me transition into this mommy role more easily. And at about 7 weeks Bella started to smile. Let me tell you, it is one of the best things in the world to get a smile from her!! 
2 – What has been the hardest part?
School started again for Keith. We’re back in the swing of things which means that Keith is working really hard and not getting to spend every moment with us which is sad. We also have been trying to get her on a schedule so she sleeps more at night. This has led to some nights when Bella sleeps great and others that she doesn’t so I think that actually makes it harder because I never know what to expect, but I always really want more sleep. The other hard thing is to watch Bella express sadness and pain. She got her two month shots and it just about broke my heart and I wasn’t even in the room with her (Keith went), but I could hear her at the other end of the clinic which was bad enough. She also went through about a two week period where she pulled her hair then screamed out of pain, then pulled harder because she was upset. It was an awful cycle and just broke my heart to see her sad and hurting.
3 – What has been the most surprising part?
Bella rolled over first the first time the day before she hit 6 weeks. Every time she rolled over from her tummy to her back she would look up at me with a look that said, “what just happened?!” which was really cute.
4 – Do you have memorable story from the second month?
This month we really got out of the house a lot. I’m feeling much more comfortable with it now so we do something almost every day. This month we went apple picking, to a harvest festival, took family photos (pictures coming on that in the future), and we cheered Keith on at the Army Ten Miler along with at least 30,000. We also got out for typical outings like church, small group, grocery shopping, etc. But I think the most memorable thing was that we went camping in the middle of September when Bella was 6 weeks old. Autumn and Justin stayed in a tent and we stayed in the motor home with Tom and Nancy. It was pretty fun and Bella did much better than we expected.
5 – What has Bella learned in the second month?
- She no longer screams for all of her diaper changes (although she does still scream for some), baths or hiccups.
- She now screams every time we stop at a red light or are stuck in traffic. Even if she is sleeping she will wake up to cry. It is kind of amusing.
-She typically goes to bed without any assistance from people (unless she loses her pacifier) which is REALLY nice!
- She rolled over at 5 weeks old, but now every time she does tummy time she gets mad when she can’t roll over.
- She smiled for the first time at 7 weeks.
- She is learning to focus on things more.
- She is learning that she has an opinion and can express it. And boy does she lol.
- Her cries changed from newborn cries to infant cries. My favorite is the one where she says, “i, i, iiiii”. It’s really very amusing and we frequently find ourselves laughing at her while we try to get her to fall asleep (that’s her tired cry btw).
B trying to roll over October 17, 2009
We’ve uploaded a video of B trying to roll over on youtube. She has done it a few times and now just gets frustrated when she can’t make it all the way over. Here is one of her attempts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxqdY_Oo_Qk.
Post Pregnancy Tests October 17, 2009
So great news! I went in on Wednesday for my post pregnancy blood tests and diabetes test and all numbers are normal and the diabetes is gone! PTL! It is so nice to be feeling back to normal and healthy again! 
Scrapbooking Pages September 28, 2009
I had a few hours this weekend to work on the scrapbook so here are some pages. Hopefully I’ll get caught up in the next few weeks
One Month September 21, 2009
Sorry this is delayed…I wrote it a while ago but never got to post it so here it goes…
Wow has it really been a month already?! It’s hard to believe!! There are moments that felt like they were dragging on, but most of the time it has been amazing and I can’t believe how time has flown by! We are loving being parents and experiencing life through Bella’s eyes. It’s been an exciting journey so far; here are some updates from Dana…
1 – What has been the best part?
I love holding Bella after she has eaten and is totally content. I also love when she sleeps on me and watching her wake up with all her little stretches and funny facial expressions. She is adorable! I could watch her all day. I love being a mom!
2 – What has been the hardest part?
Night time feedings which are inconsistent. Sometimes she sleeps for 4 or 5 hours between feedings and other times she won’t sleep at all and she’ll scream instead. It’s especially hard since she shares a room with us and if she cries I get really worried that she is going to wake Keith up, then he’ll be tired and won’t be able to focus on school so much so that makes me stressed out. I also realized in week 2 or 3 that Bella was getting over stimulated with all her outings and visitors and therefore not sleeping at all so I started working really hard to get her to take naps in quiet, dark places after every feeding and now she is sleeping like a champ and normally doesn’t scream any more when we try to put her down to sleep.
3 – What has been the most surprising part?
I can’t believe how much I love her…I mean I expected to love her, but the love I feel for her is so much more than I ever expected which is really awesome. I also was very surprised at how much I wanted to breastfeed her, which I was pretty much totally against before she was born. Now I get to spend time with her, admiring her every few hours which is so special. I also find it surprising how much I worry about everything. I honestly thought I’d be pretty laid back about things, and on many things I think I am, but on many things I really worry about her and just want to do everything right (though logically I realize that is not possible) and be the best mom that I can be.
4 – Do you have memorable story from the first month?
We were told that we were going to have a fire alarm test in our condo building at a certain time. Well the fire department set the alarm off over an hour early. Now I had planned to leave 30 minutes before the start and be out of the house for the duration of the testing. But I was NOT prepared to leave an hour early. So I tried to gather Bella’s things and get out of the house quickly, but I was so worried about her little ears and that horribly loud alarm that I completely forgot several critical things which just stressed me out even more. Eventually I just dropped everything back in the house, marched down to the management office and proceeded to lecture the building manager and the fire marshal! I didn’t even think about it I just went off on them about being early and how the loud alarm is not okay for little babies (I had Bella in my arms which I think must have added dramatic effect to my venting haha). It kind of surprised me that I didn’t even think about what I was doing I was just so mad and so worried about Bella that I just spoke my mind. It was at that moment that I really felt like a momma bear protecting my little girl. Anyways, it amused me looking back on it
5 – What you’ve learned about Bella or being a parent in the first month?
Oh boy…probably more than I will ever remember to write down, but here are a few things that come to mind…
- Bella is sooo curious and won’t go to sleep if she can see anything. So I have become VERY thankful for the cover on her carseat and stroller. I have also learned the cry that means she is tired but stimulated and therefore won’t go to sleep which helps a lot in avoiding over stimulation now although sometimes I can’t avoid it. Yesterday she cried so much about being tired that she actually made tears for the first time which totally broke my heart.
- Bella has a temper! If we are not doing what she wants, she will let us know. I’m thinking that her hair is going to lighten up and be more red to fit the personality haha.
- There is no such thing as “I’ll just run in real quick” to a store any more. What a production it is to get all of Bella’s stuff together and in and out of the car. How can something so small need so much stuff?! Haha
- It has taken 4 weeks, but I can now get out of the house with Bella, by myself in about 90 minutes (including feeding). I think this is pretty good. Even better…I have been able to plan well enough that I am almost always on time for things…yippie!
- It is truly amazing how baby stuff can fill your house…I have nearly given up on having a “clean house” because when you have a one bedroom and all sorts of baby stuff it’s just impossible to make it look clean. Oh well…
- I have never been so happy about getting 3 hours of straight sleep in my entire life haha.
- I have really enjoyed seeing all of our family with Bella. She is one loved little girl. We are very blessed!
- I’ve discovered that tasks like “clean the kitchen” are just way too overwhelming. So now I have a list that is considerably longer, but so much more possible for me to accomplish since I’ve changed it to things like “clean the counter” and “sweep the floor”. I have also realized that I do a LOT of laundry because Miss Bella manages to spit up or poop on at least one outfit a day…neat! Haha.
