Love Letter to My Mommy

Since my daddy let's me bang on the keyboard and he has started this blog for me I wanted to write a letter to my Mommy: (You will be amazed that a 10 mo. old can type, write, and express her feelings so well. Just Roll with me)

Dear Mommy:

I want to thank you for being my Mommy. I know at times it seems all I do is take from you and I don't thank you for all that you do for me. No one makes me laugh like you do, no one feeds me carrots as you, no one makes me laugh and jump when you yell, BOO!, I just want to thank you for all that you do.

I was born into this world to be chosen but it is you who I would of voted, to be my Mommy. You hold me tight when I'm trying to fight the sand man's arrival each night. You wipe my tears when I get scared, you put pretty bows in my hair, and you dress me like Bell Aire. You do all these things because you love me.

You are my best friend, you love to hold my hand, and it's because of these few things that you mean the world to me.

I can't thank you enough, for making my life the Best the World brings!

I LOVE YOU MAAA-MAAAA,

Isabella

CINDERELLA

This post is extremely difficult. I've been debating which of my blogs I should even discuss this because of the heart wrenching matter. I've always aimed to keep Bella's blog as lighthearted and happy as possible. However, since the topic is about a Daddy's little girl I will make this post on Bella's Blog. I know Lesley http://lesleyworld.blogspot.com/ (sorry, I can never figure out out to insert links correctly) posted about this on her blog a few weeks ago. The topic is Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, losing their little girl,Maria Sue, in a freak accident at their home. Their Son Will Franklin ran her over in the family's driveway with their SUV. When Karen and I heard this our hearts just sunk. Whenever his song, Cinderella, came on the radio we would immediately change the station. It's just human of all of us to want to ask, WHY? Why would God allow a man on fire for Christ to be burden like this? HOW? How can the Chapman family even move on from this? I would ask myself these questions during their mourning period. When Lesley talked about the family being on Larry King, Karen and I were bummed that we missed it. One, I was so amazed that the family had the courage, strength, and heart to open themselves up to questioning that they knew was not going to be easy. I'm sure some of the questions had to smart to a still healing heart.

Well, yesterday and today, Steven Curtis was on Focus on the Family, with Dr. James Dobson. I was so impressed and strengthen by him. Like the verse goes, Iron sharpens Iron. What I appreciated about Steven going on the air with Dr. Dobson was he kept it real. He just didn't sit there and go, "Well, God turns all things for good", "God has a plan and a purpose". No, while he knows those statements are true and are biblical, he opened his heart to what he was really feeling. He shared a statement that his wife, Mary Beth, made after the Good Morning America interview. She said, "I know our story will strengthen other people. I know God will turn this for good. But, I don't care. I want my baby back. I miss her everyday". Here is a woman who stands on God's word but is still human. Still hurts. Steven commented on himself. He told Mary Beth after this tragedy that he knows one song he won't ever be able to sing. That being Cinderella. He wrote this song a couple months before Maria Sue was taken from them. There is a line in the song that says, "and the clock struck 12 and she was gone". He said, one, it's just too painful for him to sing that song, two, he knows how hard it will be for people to listen to that song and to that verse. However, he was performing again in July and was singing the song before Cinderella in his "normal" set. The song was, I will be here. On stage he was thinking, you know if I truly believe God's promises then Cinderella is not a sad song. I know one day I will get to dance with her again. He's right. All the why, what, how will all be answered one day in heaven. I thought I would post the lyrics to Cinderella if you don't know them:

CINDERELLA LYRICS

She spins and she sways to whatever song plays,
Without a care in the world.
And I'm sittin' here wearin' the weight of the world on my shoulders.
It's been a long day and there's still work to do,
She's pulling at me saying "Dad I need you!
There's a ball at the castle and I've been invited and I need to practice my dancin'"
"Oh please, daddy, please!"

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I will dance with Cinderella
I don't wanna miss even one song,
Cuz all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone

She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed
She wants to know if I approve of the dress
She says "Dad, the prom is just one week away,
And I need to practice my dancin'"
"Oh please, daddy, please!"

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Ohh-oh ohh-oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't wanna miss even one song,
Cuz all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone
She will be gone.

Well, she came home today
With a ring on her hand
Just glowin' and tellin' us all they had planned
She says "Dad, the wedding's still six months away
but I need to practice my dancin'"
"Oh please, daddy please!"

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Ohh-oh ohh-oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't wanna miss even one song,
(even one song)
Cuz all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone

I write this post because I can't even allow myself to think about this happening to us. One hand, I'm just in awe of the Chapman's for having the strength they have and on the other the realness of their lives, emotions, and know they battle each day with the heartache of losing Maria Sue. He sung Cinderella on the air today. What I found to be awesome is he changed the last verse of the song to, "and the Dance will go on!" Totally Beautiful.



Karen and I had a chance to be volunteers at a Winter Jam Concert here in St Louis. Steven and his two sons, Will and Caleb, performed with him. Their band, The Following, performed as backup to Steven. We were right by the stage and this man and his family are the same inside and out. Maria Sue was there and he brought her out on stage. These are the people you should ask yourself, "How can I walk this walk for God like them" You see, they don't proclaim perfection, just an honest, walking this out, the best they can, with a heart of Christ to what God has called us all to be- Messengers of the Message.

Steven said today, "Don't hold on to what was or what might be". Cherish these true gifts from God. Because none of us including our children know when God will call us home. So I encourage each of you to cherish your children and the children in your lives. Hold them, talk to them, spend time with them because the laundry and work will always be there. Our Angels have no guarantees!

So in closing, I just ask that each of you keep the Chapmans in prayer and hug those babies big and small!

Have a great day!

Home Run Girl.....

Here is an outfit Karen has been waiting anxiously for Bella to fit in. Thanks to Uncle Kevin, a friend of Karen's from New York, who sent this to her.

Several people have commented on Bella's first baseball game pic. Boogie enjoyed the first couple innings of the game but since the game fell within her bedtime she quickly turned into Take Me Home Bella. She is anxiously waiting for her next game which I feel will go a lot better.

Karen and I love baseball so we hope Bella develops the same love for the game.





I hope you enjoy the cracker jack girl and her Yankee's debut. Have a great day!

Bella's Summer 2008...

Well, miracles do happen. The reason for not a lot of action on Boogie's blog is our camera has not been uploading pics to our computer. I feel her life can be expressed better with a picture than words. Well, over the weekend Karen tried again to connect the camera and WA LAAAA! we were able to upload the pics. It's been a great summer for Bella. I thought I would take this post and just do a photo journal of what's been happening with her this summer:

Days at the Pool:





Bella Tasting some of Daddy's Garden:





Bella Eating a Teething Cracker:


Bella loving her chair and sitting up like a big girl:






Bella up close and personal:





Bella this summer at a Christian Fair at Shenadoah Ranch, West Monroe, MO:This was a very interesting day. What I thought was a 30 minute trip turned into an hour and a half adventure out to the middle of no where. We entered the gates of the ranch via a dusty gravel road only to find out we had to drive our car through a creek to get to where the fair was being held. Thinking about all the flooding we had this past spring and summer I was a bit nervous getting to the other side and the creek rising and not getting back. It turned out to be a nice day. HOT! but nice. Here are a couple pics of Bella enjoying the petting zoo.






Take Bella out to the Ballgame.
Here is boogie at her first Cardinals game. Her car ride to the game and a pic with Mommy, Daddy,Grandma Dee, and Paw Paw Fred:






When Paw Paw Fred and Grandma came over to BBQ with Bella:




Bella so tired she had to go nite nite:





That was a quick overview of Bella and her summer fun! Everyone have a great day.

Outside Boogies World

Ok, quick update on Bella. She's great. Now, on to why I'm posting. Joking, sort of. Bella truly is doing wonderful. Everyday I think how can this cutie pie bring more joy to our lives and everyday she surprises me and does. Truly amazing. Anyway, some may think I'm loony since I can't keep up with one blog but I just wanted to make a quick note, to let you all know that I've created a separate blog for my random thoughts and life. Nothing has changed on this blog. I will still blog here. I wanted to keep this strictly about Bella and it will stay that way. However, there are times where I want to discuss or post about other things on my mind. So anyway, if you so choose the link to my other blog can be found under my profile or by going to http://blessedmorethanideserve.blogspot.com/ . Have a great day!

Bella's Beau

Words can not explain the cuteness of what I am about to tell you. (The above pic is the best representation of Bella and her new boyfriend). You see, it all started a few weeks ago. Karen had told me this one day and my reaction was, "yuck!". However, when I went home that night and witnessed this for myself I darn near wet myself. You see, my male pug, Bailey, and Bella have a love affair. Bailey is an overly affectionate dog who loves to give kisses. He's my buddy and he was our first Baby before we got our zoo of animals and Bella. We were fearful that our two dogs would be jealous of the baby. It is the complete opposite. They Love her, especially Bailey, which leads me into my story. Bailey loves to sit by, lay by, and if we let him lay on top of Bella. So a few weeks back Bella started grabbing Bailey by his saggy, loose lips and licking his face which Bailey graciously returned back to Bella. So these two sit there and lick each other's face. It might sound gross but it is so adorable.



We also affectionately refer to Bailey as Donkey. You see, we have a female pug named Mina or Minnie as we like to call her. Her and Bailey are inseparable. She is definitely the dominate one in the relationship so sometimes she tries to hug Bailey if you know what I mean. Bailey got tired of this and one day I witnessed him Donkey kick her. So Donkey has stuck ever since. I never thought I would be attached to a dog but Pugs are a breed like no other.

So it's been fun watching Bella have so much fun with Bailey. If she ever gets upset it's the animals that can calm her down. They are very therapeutic for her. Bella loves her some Bailey!

Have a great day!

Life of a Teething Queen...

I know I keep posting this but this is our life right now. We got a real taste of the teething terrors yesterday. I have to say, up to this point we've done pretty well with teething or I should say Bella has. Well, yesterday we went to church. Karen had met this girl whose husband is an associate pastor at a Baptist Church by our house. Since it was storming really bad yesterday we opted to visit them since it was so close to home. Our church is about 40 minutes away from our house. The church was nice and the people were incredibly friendly. A small Baptist Church with your traditional Southern Baptist Preacher. It was a good word. Timely too! Anyway, since it was such a small church and you'd be noticed if you coughed Karen decided to try the Nursery. I think we both got the hint when everyone who greeted us before the service said, "If you need to the nursery is down that hall". The average age at this church was 70 so it wasn't a very tolerant church for babies making noise. I found it interesting that Karen's friend Amber and her husband would be pastors at this church since they are so young and the congreation like I said was older. I guess God has called them to this church for a reason. Man, I must have ADD today because I can't stay on point about Bella. Anyway, we were both nervous to put her in a strange church's nursery since we had really bad results at our church. Well, Boogie did great! She played, she let the lady feed her a bottle, and she even fell asleep on the the nursery lady's lap. That was a milestone. So we came home and I decided to tackle the yard. You see, while we were gone last week and storm came through and broke a huge branch way up in our Sweet Gum tree. I had stripped the branches down to the 6 inch in diameter branch and my one neighbor let me borrow his chain saw. So I was cleaning that up and mowing too. After I'm about done I see Karen coming out to the front porch with Boogie. I could tell neither one was too happy. Boogie woke up screaming and Karen could not get her to calm down. So I finished up and I went inside to help Karen out. Nothing we did helped. It breaks your heart because Bella has this heart breaking little wimper when she's upset. So Karen told me to take a shower because we hadn't had dinner and she wanted me to cook. So I came out of the shower expecting a scream fest. To my surprise all was quiet. Well, I knew it was too good to be true. Shortly after I hear her screaming again. Finally, I had the brainy idea to put on Veggie Tales. This kid goes nuts for Veggie Tales. She has this one particular one that is her favorite. Waaa La! it worked. She sat on my lap and was fixated on Veggie Tales. So I went and cooked dinner and she was doing well on Momma's lap. Well, it was 7pm and Bella still hadn't had dinner. Karen tried previously to this to give her a bottle and food but she refused. Since we were approaching her bed time we pulled her from the TV and brought her in the kitchen. She wasn't happy! but she was hungry so she was willing to compromise. She ate a little but not her normal meal. She stayed cranky for a little while longer and then Karen fed her a bottle while they watched Veggie Tales. She was good and she finally allowed Karen to put her in her crib to fall asleep. Took a while but she finally fell asleep. Then I found myself out at the BBQ singing in my head, "If you like to talk to Tomatoes, if Cauliflower makes you smile, have we got a show for you... VEEEEEGIE TALESSSS, VEGGGIIIEEETALES.." It's darn near impossible to get that song out of your head. It's as bad as the one Veggie Tales, "God is Bigger than the Boogie Man". That song will go on for days in my head. Anyway, Boogie had a wellness check up this morning and the doctor said she is doing great, Mommy is doing everything great so we are pleased.

Have a great day!