Olympian in Training

Bella just loves her gymnastics class on Saturday and she really loves Coach Kelly. Her favorite event is the bar and she is really good at it. She has been spotlighted for her ability to do "skin the cat" on the bar at such a young age. Of course I had to post a video of her doing it, because we are so amazed by her strength.

These family picture below are the pictures that my friend Whitni Parker took. These first two pictures really captured Bella's personality of being super high maintenance. I don't know if we really got her to smile in more then two pictures. On the picture that we are walking across the bridge Bella was freaking out and turning completely red with how angry she was. If we could have got a picture from the front it would have been priceless. The pictures did turn out great even with Bella being completely dramatic throughout the whole process.

Do not disturb!!

The pediatrician has told us several times, "You just have to realize that you have a VERY spirited child", which in laymen's terms means "Good luck on trying to control her". Bella has kept us on our toes since she arrived in our home. She never ceases to amaze me with her determination and physical strength. As she gets older it is more difficult to coerce her into doing what I want her to do :). I know all you moms are saying "welcome to my world". I thought I had enough biceps strength to man handle a 21 month old, but that thought is dwindling.

She is getting cuter and bigger everyday and sometimes it is hard to remember what she was like as a baby...then we were quickly reminded by the three hour awakenings happening again!!

Bella found a new sense of freedom when she started crawling out of her crib and pack n' play in Utah. It continued on when we got back to Dallas and so we decided it was time to convert her crib to a bed. Nobody ever told me how difficult that transition could be. Bella decided that she could get up whenever she wanted whether it be at midnight, 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 4:30 a.m., and finally the real wake up at 5:30 a.m. She was literally getting out of her bed 4 times a night and then would do the toddler run to our bedroom (loud enough to get the cops and apartment management called on us).

So we decided to try a new game plan. There was a "fairy" toddler bed at Babies 'R Us that she really liked so we thought we'd give it a try. She was very excited as we assembled it, which was entertainment in itself. I'm happy to report that she is mostly just waking up at the 5:30 am time. Though she wakes at 5:30 we are often able to get her to sleep another hour or two by walking her back to her room. She definitely loves her "big girl bed"!

I have attached some pictures from our family photo shoot. I think the pictures really capture the essence of Bella :). There is also a video of Bella singing some of her favorite songs. She has fallen in love with the video and song "Frosty the Snowman". I know that we will be watching this video all year round. I hope all is well with all of you!

Christmas Vacation

We had a great Christmas vacation! It started out with my brother and dad flying out to see the Cowboy's beat up on the Giants (unfortunately the Eagles did the same to us a couple of weeks later). It's always more gratifying, especially for my family members that travel from afar, when they pull out the "W". Since it was the second to last game at Texas Stadium tickets were not cheap. Before leaving Dallas we found out Santa was getting some Reindeer hunting material at Cabelas so we snuck over to get Bella's picture with him.

We headed to Utah for a two week trip. First we went to Salt Lake where we got reacquainted with the freezing cold and big snow storms. Ahhhh, that is exactly what I do NOT miss about living in Salt Lake, especially when we left mid 70's weather in Dallas. However, it was fun to see the temple lights in the snow and it was also a blast to go sledding with Bella. She was obsessed with the snow and had a great time making "Frosty the Snowman". The house we stayed at was loaded with built in fun. We had a steam room shower, sledding hill in the back yard, ATV to ride up and down the drive way and 9000 empty sq feet for Bella to run loose in.

Down in St. George we enjoyed our time with family. Bella loved being with her cousins and went crazy every time she played with them. Sledding was also on the agenda in St. George (ok really it was Cedar City since there was no snow in St. George when we got there). Luckily there were no casualties to report. I got to enjoy the finer things in St. George, like Pasta Factory, Paulas (to Ricks dismay), Charlies shakes and Cafe Rio. Christmas was good to us and Santa was very good to Bella. We had to ship most of her stuff home because it wouldn't fit in the suitcases. Rick spent a significant time studying while in St. George and he took his National Boards right before we left to return home. Bella and I had a lot of bonding time!

It was a great trip and we thank all of our family for the accommodations along the way. As fun as it is to go on these trips it's always nice to get back to a normal schedule too.

A day after being home Rick took off again for New Orleans. He was fortunate enough to see one of the most renowned games in University of Utah football history. It was probably the highlight of his year hands down.

Elmo Live!!!

On our way to see the show.


Bella and Lucy with their spinning Elmo toy.


Waiting "impatiently" for the show to start.


Bella's excited face when the show starts.


Poor Rach got stuck with Bella because she was the nice one. Not like Bella's mean parents or the scary usher who wouldn't let her rush the stage.




Bella and Lucy wrapped up in their towels after swimming.


Down at the Riverwalk.

Bella's favorite person in the world has to be Elmo. She sings and dances to the Elmo's World song and she watches him faithfully. Let's just say she is a huge fan. Someone who definitely competes with her for the biggest fan award would be her friend Lucy. Because of this loyalty and undying love for Elmo, our friend's Marshall, Rachel, Lucy, and Gracie and our family took Bella and Lucy down to San Antonio to see Elmo Live. It was fun to see the girls enjoy seeing Elmo in person. Bella became a crazed fan during the show and attempted to run up on to the stage, not just one time, but three separate occasions. The usher had to warn us a few times about our rebellious daughter and also about her out of control dancing in the aisle. They had such a great time and we are so glad that we got to go. We got to go swimming, play some Wii, and go down to the Riverwalk. It was a short trip, and other than me getting completely creamed in Mario Party, it was a fun trip.

We hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving. Rick's grandparents came into town for the holiday and we had a great time taking them around the city. Bella has been having a little bit of separation anxiety problems, but luckily she warmed up to her grandparents in no time. Hopefully this anxiety will all go away soon, but unfortunately it seems to be getting worse. Nursery has been a "no go" for several weeks now and gymnastics has become a little difficult for her too. Very weird.

Bella and her friend Lilly jumping in the crib. They were little jumping jelly beans.

Happy Halloween

We had such a great Halloween this year, as well as a great October all together! Bella went to her first pumpkin patch and loved every minute of it. She got to ride a train, pick out her very own pumpkin, and play in the pumpkins! I asked her if she wanted to be Dora or Minnie and she chose Minnie. She loves her Minnie Mouse that she got from Disneyland and she carries her all over the place! I think that her favorite part of the whole costume were the gloves.

Our playgroup had its 1st annual trunk or treat and we had a great turnout!! Unfortunately since Bella has my grace and coordination, she biffed it twice within 15 minutes of it starting and tore her dress. That's my girl :)!

On Halloween night our friends the Berry's invited us over for dinner and to go trick or treating. She made a killing with all of the candy she got and really buttered up the people handing out the candy by saying "Tick or Teat" and "fank fu". She did a great job and didn't get scared when we went to a house that had "Leather Face" outside with his chainsaw. We are loving all of the candy, not to mention that I found my favorite new candy bar "white chocolate Kit Kats."

Other than that, we are keeping busy; Rick with school and me with enrichment. I had no idea how time consuming a calling could be!! Luckily I am not a primary president or a relief society president!! Bella just continues to grow and went to nursery for the first time yesterday (two weeks late due to sicknesses in the Larson household). I must admit that it made me a little sad to see her go in there. She is growing up way too fast!

Our little Nadia!

Bella has now been to gymnastics three times and loves it! It is so cute to see her in her leotard and trying to do the different apparatuses. She really gets excited about the bar. I think that will be her best event :). Her teacher is so great with her and I am so glad that I found this class, it really helps get her energy out.

Nothing new is happening out here. Rick just finished a huge pharmacology test and passed with flying colors. A lot of people are trying to recruit Rick to join their practices from places like North Carolina to here in Dallas to Arizona to Utah and finally to California. It is a very exciting time, but also very scary to have to make this huge decision on where to live and where to raise a family. Rick, however, is not stressed, as I take on enough stress about it for the both of us.

My enrichment leader calling is keeping me super busy, but I am actually really liking it. I am not creative, but when you have people on your committee that are it really helps out. We just got our tickets to go home to Utah for Christmas and the best part of it is that we got a great deal on them! Too bad the baggage fee will make up for it.

Hope you all are well!!!

September Days

Bella at our church playgroup. Of course she had to dive into the fountain. She sure does love the water.




Bella with her friend Hayley at the mall. It was so fun to see our friends that had moved to Houston. They are just a couple of days apart and they just loved getting into trouble together!


Life has been so fun and yet crazy out here! I can't believe that it is already a couple of weeks into September and that Halloween is just around the corner. Bella is growing up so fast and is really becoming quite the show off. She loves to dress up and be girly, but at the same time loves to get dirty in the mud with the boys. I think that it is a great combination. There has been great news on the allergy front, Bella is now allergy free and is enjoying the new taste of milk products. This has been great for me not having to prepare a separate meal for her and plus, all of the choices I now have before me for her breakfast and lunch foods. This has been so nice and we are so lucky that it has been very short lived.

We got Bella a VW Bug, of course the Power Wheels model (like we have that much money :)). We found it off of Craigslist for a great deal and she loves it! She just drives around the house trying to run over our cats and us! We are so proud! I have attached a video of her crazy driving for you all to enjoy. She also has now signed up for a gymnastics class. Her little friend Lucy and her will now be gymnastic superstars. Look for them in the 2024 Olympics :)! She loved the bars and was really excited to be able to jump and walk on the beam. We will have pictures of this shortly. It will be so fun to see her wear a little leotard for her classes. She also has been enjoying her Kindermusik class. She loves to dance and loves music so this class has been great for her and especially me. These classes have been so nice in getting her energy out and also getting her out to play with other kids.

We are also so happy because the Dallas Cowboys season started up again ! We love the Cowboys and are going to miss going to the games out here.

Rick is still going strong in his last year of dental school. After all of the tears of him picking Baylor over UNLV, I am so glad that we chose Baylor and what a blessing it truly has been. This is a great place to live, I just wish that it was a little closer to home. If it was, we definitely would be staying.

I hope you all are doing well and I will be checking in on your blogs!