Busy Season

Happy Christmas Eve! It's been a while since I posted, but I've been busy keeping up with Miss Bella. Here's a small glimpse into her holiday season:

Crafts to make (with mom's help)...

New Christmas clothes to wear...

New friends to make....

Let It Snow!

Something unusual happened in Louisiana yesterday....it snowed!!! It didn't stick, but we had large flakes. Since this does not happen often, we ran outside with the camera.

After our brief snow adventure, Bella and I made us all hot chocolates. Except for Bella...she enjoyed a cup of cold milk.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This was my first Thanksgiving with my mommy and daddy and there's so many things I'm thankful for.

Toys my mommy and daddy let me mess up the living room with...

Walking...

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. (Yes, my mommy tried to get me to eat a real Thanksgiving meal, but I wasn't interested.)

Cuddling under a quilt and watching Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving....

Patty cake after bathtime with mommy....

Good books and new jammies.....

Here's something I'm not so thankful for....

Here's what mommy and daddy are thankful for this year....

Hope you all had a great day!

Look Who's Walking......

It's now become a whole new ballgame around here. She's not walking by herself 1o0% of the time, but she's close. Notice her hands? She always has to have something in her hands. She can now bend down by herself and pick it up. Looks like Mommy will be trailing close behind....forever.

Like Mommy, Like Daughter

I love to read and am a self-proclaimed bookworm. To prove my point, I don't know how I survived before my Kindle. I've been doing all I can to make Bella a bookworm too and it seems to be working. Here's Bella enjoying her books this morning:

I love the look on her face in the second picture. It seems to be saying, "What Ma? I'm busy reading."

Here's something else I've taught Bella to love:

Grilled cheese and soup. It's one of my favorite meals and it's becoming one of hers too. Bella has become picky when it comes to vegetables, so a bowl of soup is an easy way for me to get some veggies in her. This was our lunch yesterday. I hope you can tell whose was whose. :)

Halloween Fun

Brian and I got to celebrate our best Halloween yet. Our "little pumpkin" (as she was described during the referral phone call) was a Honey Bee for Halloween and melted our hearts. "Honey Bee" is Brian's nickname for Bella, so when we saw this costume we knew it was perfect. I had to be careful not to call her "bumblebee" since Brian kept pointing out she is a Honey Bee. :) Here's our girl all dressed up for the Halloween Carnival:

Playing "End of the Rainbow" with her friend, Katie:
(Around 15 years ago, Katie's mom and I would have laughed if you said we would have been having a good time at a Church Carnival on a Saturday night. That's a story for another time and not for Bella or Katie's ears.)

Pretty Bee and Pretty Minnie:

Cake Walkin':

Playing Sucker Pull and Pick Up Ducks:

Working the crowd:

And the Party Girls are ready to call it a night:

Halloween jammies and sweet dreams:

Thank you Katherine, Brian, Henry and Katie for the fun night!

Pumpkin Patch

Our Bella visited the Pumpkin Patch this morning. Even though Bella had a good time being outside and walking around, I think we had a better time than she did. We've been waiting a long time to take this "little pumpkin" to the Pumpkin Patch! Enjoy the pics. :)

Good Luck Charm

What pro team is 6-0??? The Broncos! Looks like our little Bella coming home brought the team some good luck! Here's the newest Broncos fan dressed out for Monday Night Football.
(For the record, I'm aware the Saints are undefeated this season too. However, Bella can't take credit for them. That credit belongs to Merrin.)

Fashion Show

Rockin' her first pair of blue jeans.....Fall finally hit Louisiana, so it's time to be comfy, warm and cute while sleeping...
And here's one just because she's too cute...

Dad and Daughter...

How sweet is this???

Ready or not...

here she comes.....

Back to Work

Monday was a big day in our house...I went back to work. I'm very, very fortunate. I work part-time and Bella will be with her dad for the next couple of weeks, but it was still hard. I can't believe my twelve week maternity leave is up. It feels like July 14th (my last day at work pre-China) just happened. It's also strange to think the adoption journey has officially closed. For so long we talked about going to China and me taking off work....and it's over...in the blink of an eye. We're now your average American family. Brian and I are just two people raising a very spicy little Hunan girl. :)

In other Bella news, poor baby has an ear infection and RSV. :( We're now masters of breathing treatments and are on house arrest until this passes. For all of our travel mates, can you imagine your little Chenzhou girl on steroids?!?! We can.

Pre-house arrest, Bella had a busy weekend playing with friends. Here's Bella and another Chenzhou girl, Ashton:

Ashton and her family have visited Chenzhou lately and have been a wealth of information for us.

Here's Bella having a good time with Marissa and Madison:

It doesn't bother Bella that they're older; she fits right in!