Spaghetti

is not on Stella's list of favorites. . .

Yes, that's spaghetti in her eyebrows, eyelashes, ears, hair, etc.



I'm not for certain if it was her runny nose or the taste, but dinner was quite the struggle last night. I had just bought some new baby food for her and was sure that she would love the baby spaghetti. Nope! My little sweetie has been a wonderful eater for the past month. She finally wants to eat, even a couple of jars at a time some days. Stephen told me that she ate her breakfast well this morning so I'm thinking it was more of a power struggle last night.

Curls

I just love Stella's hair. Because of her curls, it's hard to tell how much it has grown. As you can see in this picture from a bath last week, it's getting much longer! The curls wrap tight once it starts to dry. I'm going to have so much fun with bows. I already love to play with her hair.

Can you tell that she enjoys a shampoo?



Thankfully, her little face boo boos have healed!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday weekend with your friends and family. We have certainly been enjoying ourselves. Stella had a great first Thanksgiving!

Thankful

It's never hard to find things that I'm thankful for. I have been blessed in so many ways. This year, that is even more true because of little Stella. The joy of a baby is so indescribable. This year has been the best of my life so far.

Her bib says it all. . .



This is Stella's normal mischievous look.



I love turkey!



Happy Thanksgiving!

Holiday Cheer

Decorations = Temptation in our house this year. It's hard for a little baby to see all of the pretty, sparkly stuff and not touch it. Stella turned 10 months Saturday and is so very busy. The decorations have kept her entertained, but I will have to say that she has done better than I expected with them so far. She is learning about no-no more and more each day. It's so much fun to decorate for the holidays and as I posted before, I was happy to have a week off to get it all done before the madness of the season begins. Between Thanksgiving, a concert at our church on Sunday, and going to Nashville next weekend, there would have been no other time to decorate. So this year I broke my normal rule and have the house ready prior to eating my turkey! The only thing left to do is garland around my door and hanging our huge wreath above the garage. That will be a project for Daddy!

SNOW - I wish!



The table is even festive.



Buying for a little one is absolutely too fun and easy.



Traditional red and green. My favorite.



And like every year, Graceland is prominently displayed with her own decorations.



I don't know what I like more about this. The toy soldier, or the fact that it was less than 10 dollars at Decor Direct a couple of years ago?



I am so proud of the wreath I made this year! It beats the huge price tag on most I've seen at flower shops during the holiday open houses.

Stella Meets Sam!

I can't believe that it took so long, but Stella finally got to meet Sam last weekend. He is the son of one of my greatest friends, Lauren. Lauren moved to Memphis after high school. Although there are lots of miles between us, we always have so much fun together when we get the chance. I'm thankful for lasting friendships. Lauren had Sam in March and it's so much fun to watch our babies grow together. Our schedules were finally free, so Stella and I made the trip to Memphis last weekend. It was a rainy day, but we still got out to have lunch and go to a few stores. Then it was back to Sam's house for some playtime. Stella loved Sam's Leapfrog table. We enjoyed our day and can't wait to see them again soon!

Hello new friend!



What did you say, Mom?



I'm not sure what this face means. . .



"Hey Sam, smile for me."



:) CHEESE - I love this grin!



Check out that stream of drool. You know what that means. More teeth!

Home Sweet Home

Stephen, Stella, and I have been enjoying the week at home. We've slept in, cooked breakfast, watched lots of tv, played hard, and other fun things with just the three of us. That would explain my lack of blogging. You will all be glad to know that we have also checked a few things off the vacation to do list. The house is more clean and organized than it's been in quite some time. The Christmas decorations are out of the attic and ready to go up tomorrow. Stella's playroom is completely bare and prepped for painting. If I could decide for sure on the color, that part would be complete as well. It's been a wonderful week at home.

Why did I decide to blog today? Because there was an incident worth the effort. Stella and I have both been suffering from runny noses this week. She has napped more than usual. She had been down about 2 hours this morning when Stephen and I heard loud screams from her room. This is not normal for Stella. She usually just babbles or we hear her slapping her crib with her little palms on the baby monitor. Stephen went to get her and then I heard him yell my name. He came running in our room with her to inform me that he found her HEAD FIRST in the clothes hamper beside her crib! Luckily, she was fine and was giggling about it by the time they reached me in our bedroom. Stephen, on the other hand, was white as a ghost. It scared him so much when all he could see were her little feet sticking out of the hamper. The next 15 minutes were spent lowering her mattress!

Notice where the hamper is in this picture. Thankfully, it was a little closer today or it wouldn't have cushioned her fall. I still can't believe she made it over the side!

I Need A Vacation.

I know I take too many pictures of Stella in her bed, but is there anything much cuter that a sleeping baby? She gets in some of the funniest positions. She looked totally exhausted in her bed last night. Maybe she is ready for a vacation, too? I am so excited about spending the whole week with her. Then, only three work days the following week before Thanksgiving and another Friday off. Lots of Stella time!! I have a few things planned for the week.

1) DEEP clean my house.

2) Paint Stella's playroom.

3) Get down all of the "merry" as my Granny calls it and decorate my house. I normally wait until the weekend after Thanksgiving, but I can't pass up a whole week off to get it done.

Words

Well, I've put off blogging about it thinking that it was still babbling. I guess it's for certain, Stella can say mama, dada, and byebye. She will crawl towards us saying all 3, so they aren't always right but I still thinking that she is trying to say our names. When we get ready to leave I try to practice byebye with her. She won't always wave, but she has said it a few times. How exciting!

She also took a STEP last night! At Nene and E's house, she took one step by herself towards the ottoman. She is gaining balance more each day not to mention bravery. She can crawl so fast and that's still her favorite method, but she also cruises fast along the furniture. When she does let go, she normally sits down quickly with her eyes wide as if to say, "Woah! I'm not quite ready for that yet." Now that she took one independent step, more are soon to come I'm sure. We'll see if she decides to practice more or if crawling is still better.

Too Fast

I think the pictures speak for themselves.

2 days old



9 months old

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like

Thanksgiving - but everyone has forgotten. That's why there are Christmas decorations at every turn. Mom, Aunt Sis, Stella and I went to all of the open houses at area shops yesterday. It was fun to see all of the new things and get ready for the holidays which are so close. But, I have to say that I love Thanksgiving so much. I always look forward to quality time with my family and all of our traditions. We have many!

Stella was tired before we hit the first store. The blank stare started quickly.



She finally gave up and fell off of Aunt Sis's shoulder.




Who cares about shopping or Christmas trees?

Ouch!

Here is a new addition to our list this year: Stella's 1st battle scar


Poor little thing. The more mobile, the more dangerous. We're just glad that all of our professional pictures were taken last week!






Bumps, bruises, and scratches won't hold her back. We played hard yesterday afternoon.

Hmmmm. . . what's in here?



I'll just tip the basket over and find out.



Mommy, it looks worse than it really is. I promise.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Stephen turned 27 yesterday. We had a family dinner for him last night that included lots of his favorites, he opened presents, and then we watched some of the election results for awhile. I'm sure he loved sharing his special day with the election. Stella had a big day playing at Nene's and then partying all night. She fell asleep on the way home. This is a picture of her after we got in the house.



I took her out of the carseat and went to put on her pajamas. She was still out of it and never opened her eyes until I pulled her shirt off. She woke up and whined a little before rolling over and curling up into her normal sleep position. Poor baby! She was exhausted.



I was able to turn her back over and put her jammies on quickly without much fuss. No rocking was required to go back to sleep. Whew! Finally in her bed.