Happy Halloween

I wasn't feeling the Halloween spirit this year. I think it's because I'm working a lot and have NO energy left over at the end of the day. We just got down the Halloween decorations yesterday (the day before). We went to the church Trunk or Treat on Saturday night. I dressed up as Cruella, Frank was a rodeo clown and Bella was a devil. It was a lot of fun they had a bouncy house and a "fishing" pond for the kids. Bella was great at the trick or treating and made sure to say it the loudest at every car and said Thank you as well.

Tonight when we got ready to go T or T she said, "I wanna go fishing" so funny!
This was the only picture we got of her and she was mad that I made her put the hat on because she was hot.

We went to three houses before she was tired we hit our next door neighbors and then came home and she answered the door - she loved it!

20 years ago

20 years ago today this world lost one of the best men ever to grace it. My dad fought a 9 month battle with cancer and finally succumbed on Sept 26, 1990. He was just 42 years old. It is a day I will never forget. I was just 9 years old, but I remember every moment of that day. I went to the hospital with my mom in the morning to tell my dad good-bye, he had died by time we got there. It was the most crushing moment I've ever experienced. Dad was the most caring, patient, loving man I've ever known. He treated my mom the way a husband should treat a woman, with love and respect. He was always firm but loving with us kids. I'm so proud to call Lynn Meikle my dad.

long weekend

This picture makes me laugh, I look like I'm 10 feet taller than Frankie!



Whew! I'm tired! It's been a long weekend. We started the weekend with a breakfast with some friends from church on Saturday. Hurried home to take naps (Bella and I both need an afternoon nap) and then went to a friend's birthday party. There were about 8 kids there from 1 - 9 years old. Bella was in heaven playing with them all. They did fireworks that night.
Sunday we spent the morning at church. I thought it was fitting that Independence Day was spent worshiping. It's what this country was made for. We came home took naps again and went to another BBQ. Bella was the only kid at this one, but they were very gracious hosts and had coloring books, bubbles, snappers, stuffed animals for her to play with. She had a GREAT time with all the attention of the adults. Needless to say by Monday we were all exhausted!

Monday we just had a relaxing morning, I made a real breakfast (something I never do) and we just hung out. Frankie and I decided to clean up the garage (a never ending project for us). I was rearranging a cupboard and had a glass vase in each hand and dropped one and hit the other and they both came crashing down and broke. Somehow one of them sliced right through two of my fingers on my left hand. When I got the cut cleaned enough I could see the inside of my finger, it was pretty nasty. I decided that I better go to Urgent Care to make sure I hadn't done any damage and it didn't need stitches. I was hoping a nurse could just look at it and see if they could stitch it. An hour and a half later I was finally seen by the doctor. He wanted to put stitches in it, but I didn't want him to have to put a shot inside the wound, been there done that, worst pain ever. I talked him into just putting steri strips on it so he did and put a splint on it so I can't move it. The cut is on the inside of the knuckle on my middle finger if I stretch my finger out it will pull it open again. It makes for a difficult shower and getting ready.

Needless to say it was a busy, exciting weekend. I was ready to get back to "normal" life.

Potty training take 2

I decided to take advantage of the long weekend and give potty training a shot. Bella is finally ready. She asks to change her diaper first thing every morning and has been telling us when she needs to poop. We've been doing it since 8:00 this morning. She had an accident at 9 and so far that's all she's had for the day! We are up to 40 mins between potty trips. She's doing great! I set a special alarm on my phone and every time it goes off she screams, "TIME TO GO TO THE POTTY." She just went down for a nap - I put a pull-up on over her panties so that she could still feel the wet but not make a mess of her bed. Let's hope it works.

WISH US LUCK!

Bella's Birthday Party

Bella is obsessed with Blue's Clues. When she's tired she wants to sit and relax to Blue's Clues - no other show, just Blue. When I asked her what kind of birthday she wanted she said Blue's Clues. You can't find any Blue's Clues in stores so I made a cake from a template we found online and the rest of the decorations were just blue. We tried to keep it small with just a few friends that had kids and that are Bella's favorite people. It's so nice that we have good friends around here, especially since we have no family. Stefanie and her cute family were sweet enough to drive down for the party. Bella was SO excited to see Mallory. She ran right up to her and gave her a big hug.





I love Bella's face. She was SO happy when we were singing to her!

Happy Birthday Bella

Happy Birthday, Isabella! It's a cliche that every parent says and some day you will understand, I can't believe you have been with us for 2 years already. You are such a happy little girl. You talk SO well in complete sentences. Every day you make Daddy and I laugh at the things that you come up with. You love to chase Smokey dog around the house (much to his chagrin). You chase after him yelling, "Smokey I'm coming, I'm coming."

You are understanding relationships and ask any two people how they are related. On the phone with Gramma you ask me, "Is that your Mommy? Is that my Gramma?" You ask if Daddy is my husband. Recently you are started calling me Momma instead of Mommy. I love it!

You love all animals and babies and want to hug them and love them, almost too much. You love to help me in the garden and always want to dig - sometimes digging up plants that shouldn't be dug up. You know every day that it's your job to feed the fish. You remind me and clap your hands so they will come to the surface.

You love to read and find anything that has "abc's" on it to have someone read to you. You LOVE to talk on the phone and will dial the phone any time you can get your hands on the phone. You also love to sing. "Pockorn" (Popcorn Popping) is your favorite song but you will sing anything. When I put you down at night you always want me to sing "Hush Little Baby." The other day you told me, "Mommy you have such a pretty voice." I think you need to get your ears checked!

You are definitely exerting your independence. We love having you in our family. You are such a blessing in our lives. Happy Birthday Baby!

Frog Catchin'

We have had tree frogs move into our pond. I wasn't sure what kind of frogs they were - based on their ribbits I thought that they were great big bull frogs. They start at 7:30 every night and it's so loud you can't sit next to the pond without yelling to each other. They are at least three of them, which ironically is more annoying than if there were a whole bunch of them!

I have been raising baby fish (that I got as eggs) in a separate stock tank. They are little tiny fish - less than 1/2" long - so we've had screens over the tank to keep the critters out. Well, the frogs would push their way past the screens and make a house in there. I'm sure he thought it was a free buffet. Every night we'd hear him in there, so we'd go out with a flash light - Bella tagging right along and we'd see him sitting there with his big throat all puffed out. We'd catch him and put him back in the big pond.

One night we actually got to hold him for a while. Bella thought it was the best thing ever. She kept saying, "I wanna hold the fwog." She'd hold it and then he'd jump and she'd squeal with delight! He jumped onto the glass on the french door and she thought that was the funniest thing - she laughed hysterically.

I love this picture - you can see how amazed she is by it all. Her eyes were SO big in wonderment!

cow or pig?

Tonight Bella and I were snuggling and watching Olivia (it's a cartoon about a pig family) and she said, "Momma is she a pig?"
"Yes, she's a pig."
"Oink, oink! You're a pig."
"What?! A pig!!??"
"NOOOOO, a cow."
"A cow??!!"
"Yep, MOOO you're a cow."

I think I will be at the gym first thing in the morning.

Easter

I've finally been able to get my camera to connect to the computer to download the pictures so I'm going to play catch up.
We had a quiet Easter morning. The Easter Bunny bought Bella a basket with lots of goodies. We don't think that Easter should be a holiday where you get a ton of presents so she just got whatever could fit in a basket. She was more than excited with her basket!
After she ate all the candy we colored Easter eggs. She had so much fun and created quite the mess.

In the afternoon we went to our friend Reinita's family party. It was a great time and Bella had quite the time having all the attention, she was the only baby there. They LOVED her!

didn't realize how much it'd hurt

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Run Holly Run (oh and bike and swim too)

I started training for triathlons in February. The training has been slow going. Stephanie has decided to do 10 5ks in 2010. I decided it sounded like a good idea so I will be joining my sisters. I will be doing some triathlons instead of the 5ks. My first one is going to be June 6th and then on the 19th. I think I will do Bay to Breakers on May 19th first though.

Wish me luck! I have to find the other 7 now.

Fish babies

I've been working on the pond and had ordered some floating plants for the pond as filters. The person that sent them to me said when she pulled them out of her ponds they are covered in Watonai eggs. I was so excited - I've never had baby fish before! The day they came I had Frank stop by the fish store to rent a tub for them. Poor Frank, he always gets dragged into my hair brained ideas!

They've been sitting in there for two weeks and I wasn't sure if anything happened. I looked in today and there are TONS of babies!! I'm SO excited! I can't get a picture of them yet because they are so tiny - I bet only about 1/8". I can't wait! They are beautiful fish when they are big and it will be so fun to raise them.

I'll post pictures soon!

Visit to Stef's

Stefanie moved up to Rocklin 2 months ago and we were just able to go up and visit last Friday. It was our field trip for the week.

I was REALLY dreading the drive because Bella doesn't usually do well in the car for more than an hour. She did GREAT! We took her baby and she sat and talked to it and sang and play peek-a-boo with it for most of the trip. At one point I heard her say, "It's ok baby, don't cry. You want me to tickle your back?" Then a few minutes later she said, "Baby you are in time out! That is bad behavior!!" It was all I could do to not bust up laughing. We got to Stef's just as Bella was starting to lose it - it was perfect!
We had a great time! It's so fun to see good friends that your kids are friends too! We hung out and talked, and talked and went to Costa Vida - yummy. Is that "SSB" of me??? It was a beautiful day up there - the kids played on the trampoline. Bella LOVED "to bounce" and even managed to learn to climb off the tramp all by herself. I swear she is WAY too brave for her own good! I could get used to the warm sunshine! After lunch we made strawberry jam - strawberries were REALLY cheap so we bought 8 lbs. of strawberries. We ended up with 14 bottles of jam. It's SUPER yummy too. By 3:00 the girls were BEYOND tired and both ready for naps. As you can see by Bella's hair she played hard! Please excuse the horrible picture of me. It was a long day and we tried to convince Mallory to take a picture of us but she wouldn't do it so Stef had to hold her arm out and take it. This was the best we could get. It's been a great month - I have my birthday, and my family's visit for Spring Break to catch up on - I'll do that shortly.

Field Trip Friday

I have been trying to take off Fridays so I can spend the day with Bella and play with her. It's been a lot of fun. It's nice to have at least part of a day when I'm not trying to work or clean or get other stuf done and just play with her.

Last Friday we went to the Jelly Belly Factory. We met Stefanie and her two kids up there and Kristie drove up with us. Bella didn't stop talking about Mallory for two days after seeing her. All day at church on Sunday she kept asking where "Nawy" was. Poor kid - she needs some new friends! All the kids before the tour - I love the excited Maya has! Bella insisted in either holding Mallory's hand while she rode in the stroller or pushing Mallory in the stroller. It made for an interesting tour!

Potty Training

We started potty training today. I dont know who's getting trained- me or Bella. She had a bad morning but has done pretty well the rest of the day. I'm not exactly sure what we are going to do at church tomorrow. I guess I should have started on Friday so I had 2 days before we had to go anywhere. Oh well! I guess I will spend most of church in the bathroom. It is family day tomorrow and we were supposed to go to the museum in San Francisco - I guess that won't be happening either. :( I think diapers are easier!

Valentine's Day

I usually hate Valentine's Day. It's always a day of disappointment. This year I decided to take it into my own hands, so I left Frank off the hooked and booked our Valentine's plans. We had received a gift certificate for our engagement from a friend, to The Purple Orchid Inn and we hadn't used it yet. So I decided we needed to use it. We went up on Saturday I had a couple's massage booked for us, they had a appetizers in the evening and our room was as big as our house and overlooked the Olive Orchard. It was absolutely breath taking! We had a great time just relaxing and having a conversation that didn't involve baby talk. It came complete with breakfast in bed and lunch the next day. It was the first time that we've been able to leave Bella over night since we've been married - I have to admit - I enjoyed it! We were both anxious to get back the next day to see her, but it was nice to be able to have some of our couple time.

Why I hate change

These are the reasons I hate change. In the last 4 months all these people have either moved or are moving.

These women are women that have all been my rock and my strength while trying to adjust to motherhood. I met Stefanie and Alyson two years ago when I was 8 months pregnant. I didn't know anyone that had children and was kinda worried about what I was going to do when I had a baby. Stefanie emailed me in April and wanted to come visiting teaching. I won't get into the long sordid history but let's say I wasn't real excited about the visit. I decided I would be nice let her come once so she could feel good about doing her job and then she wouldn't come ever again. Funny how things work out . . . Long story short over the past two years we have become very close and because of her I met a great group of women and moms. They have helped and supported me in more ways than I'm sure they don't even know.

Suzanne and Heather moved last fall, Alyson put her house on the market in January, but the breaking point came 3 weeks ago when Stefanie called me and told me that Wesley had been offered a job in the Sacramento area and they were moving in 2 weeks. My heart sank. Not only was one of my best friends moving, but Isabella's best friend was moving. Stefanie's daughter, Mallory is 18 months older than Bella and she's the only friend Bella's known. Stefanie watched Bella from the time she was 4 months old and is MUCH preferred to Mom. She constantly asks to go see "Nawy" and at church she is always wanting to sit on "Wessy" lap. It's only 2 hours away, but it means no more week night family dinners and no stopping by on my way home from running errands. I admit, I was being very selfish about them moving. Yeah, yeah, it's great for their family, they can buy a house, blah, blah, freaking blah. WHAT ABOUT ME?!?!!?

I cried for four days after she told me. I'm crying again. Time to quit thinking about it. Stef when you read this don't be too happy with yourself and I'm coming to visit!

life

I'm alive. It's been really busy - I have been working nights a lot and so I'm not in the mood to blog when I am done.

Let's see - what's been going on? I have no pictures of anything so it's just a long post! Sorry!

I have joined a mastermind group for business. It's a group of 25 business owners that get together 4 times a year to collaborate on our businesses. Our first meeting was in Palm Springs in January. It had been pouring rain here for the 2 weeks prior so it was nice to get a break from the rain to have some sunshine. It was cool there but at least it wasn't wet. We got a LOT done in a very short 3 days.

I got home from that on Friday and on Saturday morning Stephanie (my sister) came to visit. She came to do her foot zonology for all the people I know. There is only person that does it anywhere near here so she came to share her gift with us. We got to actually play on Saturday. We went to San Francisco to see a musical review called Shopping! It was really good. My friend Josephine had mentioned it and we found the tickets for $6 so we decided to just check it out. It's been running for 4 years if you have a chance to see it check it out. It was right off Union Square so it was entertaining to walk around there.

Of course we had to stop at Cheesecake Factory to bring home a cake. YUMMY! Funny story about that: We were leaving the building with our cake and some strange man said something to Stephanie (we don't know what) so she snuggled closer to me and kind grabbed on. I said, "what do you think I'm going to do? Hit him with my cake?" I wasn't losing my cake to some crazy man!

We also ate sushi twice while Stephanie was here - she loves sushi (as do I) and can't get as good sushi in Utah as she can here.

Stephanie left on Wednesday morning and then on Friday morning my friend Dominee came in to do hair. I can't get as good of services that I like in Utah so I just convince all my people to fly out here! :) Although the funny thing is, Dominee doesn't do my hair here - I have to fly back to Utah to have it done. Dominee has been coming out here every 6 weeks for the last year doing hair. She's getting quite the clientele.

This weekend Frank and I are going to go have a weekend getaway. I'm SO excited! My friend Jane is watching Bella for us and we are spending the night somewhere. I can't tell where cause Frank doesn't know. I'll fill you in when we get back.

change

I hate change - that is all.

19 months

I took Bella in for her 18 month check up - 6 weeks late. She didn't want to get on the scale - can't say I blame her - so I had to stand on it with her. AUGH!

She was such a good girl for the shots she only whined didn't even cry and a sticker with "Beaws" on it made it all better.

She's 34" and 24 lbs. 95th percentile for height and 50th for weight. She's built like her momma. Isn't it at 18 months they say you can double the baby's height and that's how tall they will be? If so, she will be a perfect 5'8" :) JUST LIKE ME!

Children's Museum

In November Frank and I took Bella to the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose. It's a GREAT place for kids under 10! They can run around and play with all sorts of stuff. Bella's too little for most of it, but she still loves it.



She LOVES the water tables and doesn't mind getting wet - at all!


You have to take a change of clothes because she gets SOAKED! I love her face in this picture.

the last 4 months

I finally got around to taking the pictures from the last 4 months off of my camera so I picked a few pictures to show you.



Bella was a princess for Halloween. I love this picture - she's so happy despite standing next to that big skeleton. That was on our porch all of October. Every time she saw it she would growl at it.


One day she was being much too quiet. I should have known she was into something. I went into her room and she had found a tube of my lipstick and had it ALL over her hands and face!

Bella is getting very good at feeding herself and always insists on having a "poon" She can't pick up much food with it, but she will put the food on the spoon and then pick it up with her fingers and eat it.

Bella loves to lick the beaters after I make cookies. This was probably post nap - hence the hair.


This picture makes me laugh - Bandit is so good with her and lets her crawl all over him, but the fact that she is lounging out with her pacifier is funny. She never has used a pacifier and I'm not sure where she found this one!
She loves to sit on or in anything she can find. This basket usually holds her toys, she found a better purpose for it.
Frank was asked to be the cub scout assistant while he was laid off. He was quite cute in his uniform.
Random picture of Bella and I from August