Summer Days with Bella

Well life has gone back to normal now that Rick has gone back to school. I have been trying to find creative things for Bella and I to do while it is hot outside and I really have been coming up short! I have tried finger painting, dress up, and beauty parlor with her and for the most part the activities last, at most, about 10 minutes. It is amazing how long a day can be when naps are short and a whiny child sets in. She sure is cute though and is growing up so fast. Her vocabulary never ceases to amaze me. She is our little parrot now and we are really having to watch what we say. She just cracks me up with her smart Alec attitude and her independent spirit! We sure do love Bella!!!

I have received a new calling that I have been extremely nervous about with my lack of creative talent. I have been called as the Enrichment Leader and it has been so far a really fun experience. Last night we had to get our invitations ready for the upcoming activity and I think we spent about 1/2 hour on finishing the invitations and another 4 hours of talking. It was great. It is so nice to have adult conversations with my new calling instead of the last 3 years of talking to children (primary teacher).

I also have a confession to make! I apologize to all of you who I thought were dorks for reading "The Book". Yes I have fallen into the dorkiness of the Twilight Series and I must say I love it! I asked my sister if this would be a good thing considering that Rick does not have a romantic bone in his body, you know wondering if I would be mad at him for not doing the things that Edward does... But so far not bad and it is nice to finally have a book I truly enjoy. So my book choices of this summer would be these two:

I know that I am bias because one of the books is my dad's, but honestly I have really loved his books and they are really well written. He also has a medical mystery book that is really hard to put down. Take a look at his website at http://www.warrenstucki.com/ to see all of his books. The Twilight series are such girl books and that is why I have really enjoyed reading them. I was, however, extremely disappointed looking at the movie trailer. Could they have not found a cuter Edward??!!

Hope you all are doing great!

All Quiet on the Texas Front

Yep, nothing much is happening out here in Texas other than the heat and more heat! Rick has been home with us for the last few weeks while he is on summer break. We have done a lot of cleaning, a lot of errands, and a lot of tag teaming Bella. There is not much to do out here when it is BlAzInG hOt!!! Today we did attempt the zoo. Bella really loves to be around animals and we thought that if we went early in the morning that we could miss the heat and crowds. We were wrong. It was half price Wednesday and school is still out for all of the kids. Not to mention that the heat was beating down on us and the animals were seeking shelter and we could not see them. Luckily, the white tiger did come out and play with Bella and she laughed every time it went by (see attached video). She also really enjoyed the bird area where she got to hold out a seed stick for the birds to come and eat off of it. Good Times!

Bella also had her 15 month check even though she is 16 months tomorrow. The pediatrician put it so politely when he said that "Bella is spirited and her spirit can't be harnessed". Isn't that the truth??!! He did give us some helpful pointers on how to try to get her tantrums under control, which was great. She also is sporting the 90th percentile for height and head! She definitely has her dad's height and for sure her mother's big head!

Nothing much is happening here other than Rick is now in heaven because he found a soccer league that doesn't play on Sunday's and I am still getting up at the crack of dawn to go running. The 1/2 marathon is now 6 weeks away! That should be comical and a good day for the Dallas EMT's :)!

Hope you all are well!

Two Weeks Vacation

What a great vacation we had!!! We flew into Salt Lake on July 13th where we had so much fun visiting with family and friends. Bella got a kick out of going to the Gateway and playing in the synchronized water fountain. She loves the water and takes advantage by jumping in any chance she gets. Rick got to go on his yearly waterski trip with his grandparents and was dead for days later. I was glad to see some of my friends, unfortunately we missed some of our friends because of the short time we were there. Bella was excited to see her grandparents and also had a fun time at the Old Spaghetti Factory. She likes spaghetti a lot.

We then journeyed down to St. George to spend a few days with my family. Bella was a little shy around her cousins at first, but it didn't take long before she started going crazy with them. She absorbed all of the attention and it seemed as though she had a crush on Cole :)! Her older cousins took such good care of her and she loved every minute of it. We also went up to my dads house and got to swim in their fun pool. Bella loves to swim and also to be dunked. This is very weird considering that I hate being dunked and I don't really love swimming under water. She definitely gets that from her dad. She loved going down my dads slide and I have attached a video of her going down it.

Next, we took off to Disneyland. To be honest I was a little concerned about taking Bella to Disneyland, but to our surprise she really enjoyed it!!! She had such a great time and was not fussy at all. There was so much to do and honestly I could have stayed another day there. Rick was in heaven at the Princess Luncheon that we went to. Mostly because the princesses were all really pretty and they just loved the loving dad image Rick was putting off :). Belle even called Rick her Beast. Isn't that the truth??!!

Bella loved the beach and playing in the sand. It was such a relaxing day. What more could you ask for on your birthday Disneyland and the beach. Great day!! The day before we left we went to Legoland. Not such an enjoyable experience. Bella was tired and had gotten sick with a cough and a runny nose. She pretty much whined and cried the whole time there. We took off early from that park and to be honest I would have rather done one more day at Disneyland. Sunday we headed home and Bella surprised us by sleeping 2 1/2 hours of the 3 hour flight. Are we lucky or what??!! The transitioning back to normalcy has gone a lot better then expected. Bella does miss her cousins and the fun that they had, but the sleep has been much better!

Thanks to our families for such a wonderful trip and Mom thank you so much for the great time in California. You made the trip so much fun and what a great time we had spending it with our family! Thanks for the memories. We love you all and miss you all!!

Summer Days

Last week was a really fun week. Since it has been so hot out here we try to find ways to have fun while still beating the heat. It's been 100+ several times. On Monday a group of us decided to go to the mall and let the kids go wild at the play area. What I love about Texas is that it is very family oriented, there are lots of kid friendly things to do such as play areas, great parks, and fun kid places to go. The malls out here have a play gym area that has slides, cars, trucks and all kinds of other contraptions. This makes a great indoor and air conditioned escape. Great idea right?! On Tuesday we went to the Lewisville community pool that has fun little kid areas that are made for toddlers and babies. Bella had such a blast and loved going down the water slide with me (even though I got injured on the toddler slide :)). Wednesday we went to a free petting farm down in Irving and it was perfect for Bella! She loves animals and was excited to be able to pet the goats, rabbits, cows, and deer! On Thursday, Rick and I took Bella down to the aquarium again, but it was very short lived because Bella had missed a nap and was not a happy camper. Friday was Independence Day and we headed on over to our friend's house for a bbq and some swimming. It was very fun as Bella has really taken a liking to the water. She loves to go underwater and jump from the side of the pool to me. She is definitely a water baby! Saturday we got to go to a 1st birthday party for Bella's friend Lilly! Lilly was so cute in her b-day outfit and Bella just loved to play with all the Balloon's. It was such a fun week and now we have less than a week before we head off to Utah and California! How quickly this summer is flying by!

Rick is staying really busy with school and he is really excited to be a fourth year! In less than one year he will be an actual dentist! I won't know what to think after we have been professional students for so long!

I am still waking up at 5:40 am to go running with a group of friends. We are training for a 10k in September and then possibly a half marathon in October! I have never been a fan of running, but it is growing on me!

Hope you all are having a great summer!

Dallas World Aquarium

So we just love the annual pass that we got to the Dallas World Aquarium! Bella and I took an adventure down there and Rick met us there during his 1 hour lunch break (his dental school is super close to the aquarium so that is so nice). Bella loves it there and especially loves the floor to ceiling aquarium that holds the manatees, catfishes, and huge sea turtles. She just chases them around and it is so fun to watch her point at them and laugh when they get close to her. As you can tell there are hardly any pictures of her actually looking at me, because she is just too busy checking out the animals. It is so fun, I am so glad that we got this pass (thanks for your contribution Sean and Cari :)). These pictures are from the two times that we have been down there with our pass. As you can tell in the pics, those striped pink shorts on Bella are super tight. Yes our 14 month old is in 2T's and right now she is growing so fast that I am not sure if I want to spend too much money on getting her a lot of new clothes :)! I know...I am mean.

We are so excited for our trip to Utah and California in a couple of weeks! I must say I am a little nervous about Disneyland, but as much as I hate to admit this and be THAT parent, I did get Bella a backpack leash. I just know how much she loves to run and break free of her parents so I decided that was the best bet to let her have some freedom, but also be attached to us. Anyways, I am sure that I will have pictures of Bella on a leash so I am sure you all will be looking forward to that. Let me know, all of you that have been there, what rides I can take a 15 month old on. Any suggestions would be great. Talk to you all soon!

Happy Birthday/Father's Day Ricky Lee!

So we had a very eventful weekend. First we celebrated Ricky's 31st birthday yesterday and today is Father's Day! Bella and I had so much fun preparing for this fun occasion. I thought I would take on the task of baking Rick a birthday cake and it turned out great except for the fact that the serving size was for 16 to 18 people. Yep, there is only three of us in our little family. I got a little carried away.

Rick also was surprised with the xbox 360, which all of the family members chipped in for and also, Rick and I were spoiled with a combined gift of Wii Fit! It is such a blast and if you have the Wii I would totally recommend it! Thanks to all of our family for taking such good care of us. We love you!

I also just wanted to say a quick appreciation to my dad, Rock, Don, and Rick on this Father's day! To my dad, I thank you so much for your willingness to help us out and to completely understand the financial hardship that occurs while putting yourself through school and raising a family while doing it! You have saved us so many times with Bella and her costly habits and we thank you so much! I love your sense of humor and you always know how to make me laugh! Thanks for being such a great dad! Rock, your wit and sarcastic sense of humor is so fun and I just love playing Hearts with you and beating you :)! Thanks for raising such a great grandson and for the support you give our family. Don, you are such a warm and thoughtful person! I still remember from my surgery you telling me how you felt like you needed to say a prayer for me while you were driving and so you pulled off the side of the road to do it. You are so kind and I appreciate all that you have done for Rick and I as well. And finally Rick, what a great husband and father you are! Bella just loves you so much and everyday cannot wait to have you walk through the door. She definitely is a "Daddy's Girl"! We love you and appreciate all the hard work that you put into our little family!

Happy Father's Day to Sean and Jeremy. What great examples you are to our family.

Happy Father's Day to all!

Some Fun Pics

I thought I would post some pics of Bella from her birthday shoot! I just love these pics and my friend Whitni does such a great job. You can take a look at her work at http://whitniparkerphotography.com/ . Bella's personality really came out in this shoot and I think the pictures captured her personality completely.

Things are going great these days. Bella is still climbing, bouncing, and running! She is not one to stay still. Rick has now started his fourth year and is just waiting for some more root canals...any takers :)??!!

I just finished the first batch of tennis lessons and am starting up again this week! I love it and am so glad that I have gotten back into to playing. Megan, you and CJ better start practicing up :)!

Bella is now saying "two, Momma, Dadda, kitty cat, shoes, oh no, and oh shoot". Sometimes the "oh shoot" sounds like a bad word, but luckily she is a baby so she can get away with it. We are so excited to go home to Utah in a month to see our family and friends. It seems like it has been forever since we have been home! We also get to go to Disneyland and we can't wait for Bella to go to the park. It should be interesting, fun, and also crazy!

Hope you all are having a great summer break!