Mommy

...celebrating with the fam.

Grandpa...

...showing off with Baby Bella.

Nana & Grandma...

misbehaving. Really!

Nana fed Baby Bella birthday cake and ice cream. Not be out done, Grandma was caught giving Baby Bella a taste of 7-UP while Mommy and I cleared the table. Don't get me started on these two.....

And to top it off, neither of them volunteered to keep her for the night after giving her sugar. There ought to be a law....

Love you Nana & Grandma.

Papa is 61...

that is 427 in dog years.

The Cain's and Blythe's got together (at G'ma & G'pa Cain's house) to celebrate Papa's birthday. Grandma prepared a special lunch menu for Papa - salmon patties, roasted turkey breast, black-eyed peas, cream corn, deviled eggs, cranberry relish, and croissants.

Does anyone, besides me, find it hysterical that these two preachers LOVE something called "deviled eggs"? Ironic, at the least.

A nice celebration for a good man. Happy Birthday, Papa.

Side note: Skyler asked Papa if he expected to live to see 62 years of age. Papa said, "I don't know, ask me next year." It's a little disconcerting when people start asking you how much longer you plan to be here. Wishing you many more, Papa.

DISCLAIMER: I just published this post and realized it appears the two preachers, my minor child, and I are smoking cigars. Let me assure you, we are blowing our party favor horns. Let's not get rumors started on the Baby Bella Blog.

Kitty Blanket

Linus had his security blanket, Mommy had her kitty blanket. A dear saint in the church (Mildred Pickle) made Mommy a kitty blanket when she was an infant - it is one of Mommy's most treasured possessions even though it's quite worn from the years.

Everyone knows you can mess with most anything in the house but Mommy's childhood blanket - everyone but Baby Bella, that is. I turned around this morning and discovered that Baby Bella had pulled Mommy's blanket down while I was making up the bed. There she sat, smug smile in tow, desecrating a historical item that belongs in the Smithsonian.

Is nothing sacred anymore? Not for an eight month old.

BREAKING NEWS

Baby Bella has made her first successful attempt at crawling! I took Baby Bella to the day care yesterday and laid her down on the play mat. I placed the diaper bag on the hook, turned around, and there she was - scooting across the mat on her tummy. Then she lifted herself up on one knee and started crawling.

For only a brief moment, but she did advance herself two paces before flattening out on the mat again. I wasn't fast enough with camera to capture the moment but it is one I will never forget.

Larry, Curly, & Moe

Meet Curly. Baby Bella continues to amaze, surprise, and change. Her hair is the latest change that made us say, "Hmmmmm". She has developed a very curly head of hair when Mommy puts her in tub. When dry, she does have a few curls scattered around but nothing like the bath curls you see here.

Southern Girl

Iced Tea - what every good southern girl drinks, right? Baby Bella wanted to chew on Mommy's straw and surprised herself (and us) by figuring out how to get some iced tea in the process.

Not once, not twice, but several times she sucked up a mouth full of tea - and loved it. She would have finished off the glass had we summoned the courage to allow her. Southern girl - by the grace of God.

Celebrate...

...good times, Come on! Baby Bella and fam joined the surprise party for the 15th anniversary of Aunt Eva's 39th birthday. (Do the math - I promised not to reveal her true age on the internet).

Aunt Eva was even willing to share her thrown and crown with Princess Bella. Now that is a lot of royalty in one room, let me tell you.

Jump Up

Baby Bella had a great time pretending to be a Circ de Soleil performer in her new Jenny Jump Up. I always said my kids would be swingin' from the rafters - well, here's proof.

The pursed lips are her signature "I am proud of me" look. And yes, it's a bad hair day. Thanks for noticing.

Cold Winter Day

What do you do with two kids on a cold winter's day? You go to Grandma's, of course. Daddy and the kids enjoyed a relaxing day just hangin' out with the Grandma and Grandpa. Lots of lovin', hot bar-b-Q, and baked beans. Life in good at Grandma's.

Happy New Year!

Baby Bella celebrated the New Year by playing one of her favorite games - throw everything on the floor. Whether toys on her high chair tray or a basket of toys in her nursery, her new favorite past time is making a mess while Mommy and Daddy clean up the old mess.

They say what you do on New Year's Day is what you will be doing the rest of the year. Hmmm. Mommy and Daddy will be changing a lot of diapers and picking up after Baby Bella Boo in 2010. Hmmmm.

CHEERIO's

Or maybe not. Baby Bella tried to gum her very first Cheerio - unsuccessfully. Mommy and Daddy thought she might be able to handle some fun snacks but the fun ended with her dangling over the sink while Mommy extracted it from her throat. Maybe next time.

Happy Days...

...are here again. Baby Bella and Daddy are back to happy and sassy!!!!!!!!! At long last, everyone in the House of Cain was able to return to normal. Baby Bella even smiled and jabbered at us through out the day - aw, life if good.

Too busy getting back to normal to take pictures today so you get to see Baby Bella loving her musical pony from Santa, enjoying the beach hat Mommy put in her stocking, and three ornaments from her stocking.

Uggs

The highlight of Baby Bella's day yesterday was putting on her new pink Uggs for the trip to the pediatrician. Still, she felt so bad the novelty was soon replaced with an all too familiar frown.

The pediatrician walked in an said "wow, we have a droopy dog here." Pretty much..

The fever has returned - as has a real case of fussiness. Can't blame her, she is just miserable. Thankful Mommy could stay home to take care of her today so that Daddy can try to get better himself.

Toys Are Not Enough

Even Christmas toys were not enough to put a smile on the face of our sick Baby Bella. The fever subsided for most of the day but then returned. She is certainly not feeling like her beautiful self.

The pediatrician assures us Baby Bella will be back to normal before long - not soon enough her (or us). She was 28" tall and weighed 19.4 lbs. That makes her in the 97 percentile in height and 90 percentile in weight. (Skyler and I have decided Mommy will be shortest person in our family in 10 years.)

We are looking forward to everyone getting better.

ARGHHHHHH

Baby Bella and Daddy continued to battle the stomach virus today. Bella was up all night with a persistent 102 fever - Daddy wasn't much better. Mommy and Skyler had to share nursing duty - long day in the House of Cain.

The pig on Bella's pajamas was about the only smile on to be found most of the day. Baby Bella is showing signs of progress - bedtime fever of 100.6 was a major improvement.

'Twas the Day After Christmas....

....and all through the house, a stomach virus raged, even for the mouse.

Baby Bella has been fighting a mild stomach virus since Christmas Eve - today it turned ugly. Her fever spiked to 102.2 and we had to keep Tylenol in her to keep it down - it seemed to hit 102 every five hours.

No throwing up just very, very messy diapers - every hour on the hour. We were concerned because she wasn't consuming liquids which is exactly what she needed. The pediatrician recommended we give her chicken broth in a bottle. That was good for four ounces.

Daddy is not feeling well this evening. Hopefully, Baby Bella hasn't been charitable with her virus.

With Baby Bella feeling soooo bad (and looking very ill) I thought it would be a good time to post her formal Christmas pictures. They are on sale for the low, low price of $19.99 each. See Daddy for details. LOL!

Christmas Day 2009

Merry Christmas! Baby Bella and Family celebrate Baby Bella's very first Christmas - what a glorious gift she has been this year.