No Camera, Some Lights, and a Bunch of Action!

Well, I do apologize for not blogging regularly. I think it's been almost two weeks. I think my one devoted fan has all but given up on me. I know this is a lame excuse but we are having problems with uploading pics from our camera. Bella's life is way more interesting in pictures than my silly attempt at trying to explain it. However, due to some subtle and some not so subtle hints for me to blog I will do my best at updating you, painting the details of my boogies doings as best as I know how. So here goes!

Teething- This is one of those things you start to wonder God's plan for allowing a baby's teeth to come in one at a time. In my opinion, for everyone's sanity it would be great if one day your baby was toothless as a Des Allemands Prom Queen and the next have a full set of chompers. I mean really, why drag it out? I guess I know why. It's the Cuteness factor. Boogie has these two little teeth on her bottom gum. When she smiles or laughs it is the cutest thing. I guess it sort of makes all the drooling and baby orajel worth it.

Bonding - We took a trip this past weekend to Indianapolis, IN. Just a few days away! It was about a four and half hour road trip. I really don't like driving anymore but I have to say Bella was great. It was a time to take Bella away from her daily routine and let her enjoy Mommy and Daddy. She really acted like she was on vacation. More importantly, something that was not planned but an observation that I made was a stronger bond between Karen and Bella. What I mean is, Bella is with Karen 24/7. So Bella and K like most babies and their mommies get into a daily habit of child/parent roles. This weekend, while driving, Bella and K spent a lot of time together in the backseat. They played, laughed, and K talked to her instead of having to tell her to eat her cereal, don't touch that, or worrying if Bella was on schedule to eat or take naps. I really noticed the effect of this when we got home last night. She kept calling for Momma. There was just a subtle change in their relationship and it was awesome to see.

Swimming - Karen had taken Bella to the pool about a month ago. From what K told me is you would of thought she was going to dunk Bella in a vat of hot oil. She wanted nothing to do with the water. Well, since then we have set up a baby pool in our backyard. Karen was taking her out there everyday to allow her to splash and play. So this weekend while we were at the hotel I decided to take her to the pool. I figured we wouldn't be out there long. At first, she acted like she wasn't all that thrilled of the pool. I slowly let her feet touch the water and then we sat on the steps going into the pool. Before long she was splashing and squeeling. She had so much fun playing. Then I held her in the water and she started kicking. The kid has some major leg strength. She really is going to be a swimmer!

Tender Heart- One thing that I am starting to notice in Bella is a genuine sense of concern for people. What I mean is I've noticed when she sees people crying whether in real life or on TV she shows this sense of concern. When she sees it she'll turn to me or Karen with this worried look on her face. It's also very touching to see her take Karen's face in both of her hands and kiss her. It's very endearing. Karen and I have caught a couple episodes of this show called, Take Home Nanny. My stomach turns at these people with out of control children. What I like about this show is her technique and solid principles of child behavior. Bella is a sweet, gentle, funny, baby but one thing she has is a very strong will. When she sets her mind on something she sticks with it until she achieves it. That's good but also can be bad too. That show pointed out a few behaviors that we have witnessed in Bella. Not to say we are wanting to change her but it brings to light things to pay close attention to that if not kept in check can develop into problems down the road. We both learned from this show. I normally don't put much stock into shows like Super Nanny or anything you get from TV. However, this show really impressed me.

So Bella turned nine months on Monday. It's so hard to believe our pinkie pie is knocking on the Big 0-1. We make it a point to cherish everyday with her. If we allow ourselves to get caught up in the diaper changes, messy faces, then we would miss a lot of the little things this Angel from Heaven has brought to our lives.

Happy Wednesday!!!!

Splish Splash.....

Well, I know it's been about a week since I posted and I've been getting the stink eye from my 1 devoted reader. Well, actually, I got 2 now and he thought there was something wrong with his computer since it kept showing the same information. I got the hint. That would be my dad. Bella loves her Paw Paw Fred!

Not much to report except Malibu Bella has been having a really fun summer playing in her pool. Once I figure out why our computer isn't uploading pics from our camera I will post some action shots of Boogie.

I can't wait till this weekend so I can see my Olympic hopeful in action. This girl has some strong legs that I know she'll be a great swimmer.

She looks like such a babe in her Baby Bikini. I will definitely get pics up once they are available.

and in the words of my nutty neighbor, Jerry, You have a good day or good night, which ever pertains to you!

Peace!

July 4th Weekend

July 4th is one of my favorite holidays. It's that weekend where here in St. Louis it's usually HOT to where it really makes you think, ahhhhhh, summer is here. It's also a cool holiday for us guys because it's a time when we get to blow things up using things that teeter on illegal. It just makes you feel like summer.

Friday, Karen and I got up with the mission of going downtown to our Farmer's Market, Soulard Market, to get vegetables and fruits. It's a place where local farmers bring their goods to sell. I love open markets and with the cost of groceries it's also a great place to get good deals. Well, not thinking that it would be closed because of the holiday we got down there to find that most of the market was closed. However, all was not lost. St. Louis every year has a big fair called "The Fair of St. Louis" where they have performers, food, and fireworks. Well, if you haven't read the Mississippi is over it's banks in most of the Midwest and St. Louis being a river town has flooding along the river road, Wharf Street. This is the main road for food vendors and activities for the fair. So, Karen, Bella, and I parked and walked to Lacledes Landing. It's an area up from the river where they have restaurants and bars. Usually in St. Louis during July it is extremely hot and humid. Surprisingly enough there was little humidity and the temperature Friday was around 75 degrees. It was awesome. So we found a table outside Hennegans Bar and Restaurant and sat there and had a drink. A lot of people walking up and down the street, music, and food from all the restaurants made for an entertaining time. We sat and struck up a conversation with a couple that live in the city. I honestly thought they were going to be snobbish because they both had matching designer glasses and their conversations amongst themselves was about vacations in exotic locations. I'm really working hard on not prejudging people or judging them at all. However, when you have a baby it's hard for anyone not to be friendly to you. When this couple saw Bella they just lit up and kept commenting what a beautiful baby. They were in with me. Love my baby and your my friend for life! So we chatted with them. He was an investment banker in downtown and she worked for Sacs Fifth Ave. I just cracked up because they were so down to earth even though they had matching designer glasses. Ok, I'll try to get over it. It just was a good lesson for me not to judge a book by it's cover. Even if that book has Armani, Guchi, Big Bad Bling, type glasses on it.. ok, I'm stopping, I'm stopping.


So Karen and I wanted to walk around to see if anything was happening up by the Arch. Not a thing. This truly was the least amount of people I've ever seen downtown for the fair. The flooding really made an impact. So we walked back down by Lacledes Landing to check out some of the other side streets. By this time princess boogie was exhausted and fell asleep. My wife spotted people with Big Beers and we were on a mission to find them. So we walked down another street and when we turned the corner it looked like Cub Nation. You see the Cardinals are playing a three game series with the Chicago Cubs here in St. Louis. If you don't know that is one of the biggest rivalries for the Cards. It's a lot of fun because Chicago and St. Louis fans aren't jerky about the rivalry. So it was down this street that my wife spotted a booth with 32 oz. Beers. So we got a couple and sat against one of the buildings to listen to some music and enjoy the crowds walking up and down the street. Well, eventually Bella woke up and Karen picked her up out of her stroller. She looked around like, "Where are we?" I think she looked at me, looked at mommy, saw that we were sitting up against a building and went, "Oh crap, we're homeless!". I have to say with her being sick all week Friday was a joy. Bella was in such a great mood. She was a trooper the whole day we were gone. she really enjoyed herself and for it being an unplanned, spontaneous day, it turned out to be some of the most fun we all had in a long time.

Yesterday, we went to my sister Jane's house. They just built a new home and finally moved in a week ago. I loved their other house they built but this one is absolutely gorgeous. We had a great time and spent it with my brother-in-law Jimmy's family. I'm really close to my brother-in-law and his brothers so I always look forward to getting together with them. That is usually during the 4th of July. The 4th is a bigger holiday than any other for my brother-in-law's family. We couldn't stay because of the baby but they went out and bought enough fireworks to light up St. Louis. K and I both were bummed that we couldn't stay because Jane and Jim really put on a great spread and make you feel so comfortable and relaxed at their home. Karen and I love them and Jim's family as much as our own families.

Today, Sunday, we are planning to go to the Christian Freedom Fair. I've never heard of it until Friday when I was looking online for things to do this weekend and came across it. www.stlfreedomfair.org . It's being held at a Missions Camp outside of town. There will be food, rides, petting zoo, and a lot more. We're excited to check it out.

I hope everyone had a safe Holiday and each give thanks for the freedoms we have because of Men hundreds of years ago decide to fight for religious freedoms, for independence from tyranny, and put their lives and fortunes on the line so we could be FREE! In God We Trust that we will not take this for granted and continue to fight for the greatest country on earth.

Have a great day!

Boogie Nights

It's amazing when you're new parents how aware you are of your baby's habits. Sunday morning we got up and Bella was her usual happy self. Karen put her down for a nap before we went to church. She normally will sleep for an hour on a good day. Well, one hour turned into an hour and half, almost two hours. We've learned the old saying, "Don't wake a sleep baby!" We tried to let her sleep as much as she could and we just figured we'd be late for church. Well, we eventually had to wake her up. Karen and I both commented how unusual it was for her sleep that long. We should listen to ourselves. Well, we head off to church and boogie is just very mellow. We are also trying to acclimate her into the nursery at church. Our two times doing this haven't been all that successful. This past Sunday was our second attempt and about 15 minutes into worship Bella's number flashes up on the board. So Karen goes over and she had gotten so upset she threw up. Karen came back with Bella and they sat behind us so not to disturb our row. Next thing I know Karen is gone. I figured Bella needed a bottle or a change. Well, Karen came back and motioned for me to come with her outside in the lobby. She said, "I think Bella is sick!". She was right. I took one look at her eyes and you could tell Pinky Pie was not feeling good. So we got in the car and headed home. From that point on Karen and I did the Boogie Shuffle, the Boogie Bounce, the Boogie hop on one foot, and a bag full of other tricks trying to comfort and rock her to sleep. The girl was just plain miserable. She was obviously exhausted but yet we couldn't lay her in her crib or she would hysterically start crying. Finally we got her to fall asleep after giving her Tylenol and a shot of Maker's Mark. Joking, just wanted to make sure my 1 devoted reader was paying attention. We did give her Tylenol and she fell asleep. Next day, was round 2. Karen called me upset because she couldn't calm her down and she had to take boogie to the doctor. Well, turns out Bella had an ear infection. Good news is we figured out why she was screaming. Her poor little ears hurt and also our local grocery store gives away free antibiotics. So we didn't have to pay for her medication. So we were hopeful that she'd be feeling better in a day. Well, last night I had a meeting and Karen calls me right when it was over. She was frazzled because Bella had not stopped screaming for almost an hour. Nothing she did would sooth her. I could tell we had our work cut out for us when I got home. Sure enough I walk in the door and I encountered a miserable feeling little girl and a wife who was trying to figure out how to hook up an IV of budlight. So I took Bella from her and nothing I was doing was working either. As a parent your stomach churns thinking something worse than an earache is wrong. Finally, I believe out of pure exhaustion she started to calm down and I held her until she fell asleep. I put her in her crib and slowly snuck out of her room praying the entire way she wouldn't start screaming again. My prayers were answered and she stayed sleeping. I found Karen in the living room debating whether to take Valium or use the turkey injector to deliver 500 cc of budlight to her system. The girl was frazzled and I could understand why. Bella doesn't cry like a normal baby. She cries angry. She gets herself so worked up she chokes and gags. It's scary and breaks your heart at the same time.

Good news is she woke this morning in a much better mood. Please pray for us that God answers our prayers and heals her quickly and completely.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!