Pretty Sunday afternoon

This morning the weather was so humid!  We thought we were in for a yucky day.  We enoyed lunch with Ron and Andy after church to discuss our new faith journey!  Bri and I have joined the multi-site team at our church.  Beginning this summer we will start working on forming Mt. Tabor's second church campus.  We will launch the new site next September.  Please be praying for us and our group as we begin this wonderful work for the Lord.

After lunch the day became gorgeous!  We enjoyed sometime outside and had our normal relaxing Sunday.

Annual Clean up day and tree give away

We have finally mastered sitting up...well at least for a little while ;)

Every year at my work we have a clean up day.  I handed out free trees to all the residents.  Since, Daddy had to work on Saturday Belle came with me and enjoyed hanging out with everyone.  She especially loved Emery, Patty's granddaughter.  It was so cute watching Belle trying to give her sugar!  Grams came for a visit and took Belle for nap!  We enjoyed brunch later in the morning with Grams and Umpa G.

Long week

We had a really long week at our house!  On Friday Belle and I enjoyed sometime outside and went to bed really early! 

Push ups!

Belle is getting so strong!  She is almost ready to crawl!  She can move her legs and arms but hasn't figured out how to put it all together yet. The funniest thing is to watch her in push up mode.  She will stay in the push up formation for over a minute.  Much longer than Mommy can!  We have started putting objects in front of her and making her "crawl" to get them.  She loves going after this little puppy that Bri's friend Mike and his wife gave her.

Planting

Gigi and Pap were so nice to give us some plants from their yard to plant in one of our beds.  We enjoyed a nice lunch and Belle loved playing on the porch!  While Mommy worked on planting Belle enjoyed some more time in her swing with her Daddy

Daddy hangs the swing

A few weeks ago we purchased a baby swing for Belle for our swing set.  She LOVES being outside and has really enjoyed swinging in the fresh air.

Bri and I started working on the yard last weekend.  The weather was beautiful and Belle enjoyed sometime on the blanket while we were digging in the beds.  We are almost done with a few more plants and some pine bark! I will post some pictures of our progress in a later entry.

Visit from Grandpa and Lizzie!

Grandpa and Lizzie came for a visit from Florida.  Belle was so excited to see them!  She even was able to get Lizzie out of a ticket.  Our neighborhood has installed 4-way stops due to speeding since their last visit and the sherrif's deputy was out and about.  Lizzie not knowing rolled through one of the stop signs and the deputy pulled her in our driveway.  Thankfully, Belle is so adorable that he didn't even write her a warning!

Grandpa and Lizzie headed back to Florida on Saturday, but will be back to NC in the end of May!

7 months old!

I can't believe how fast our little girl is growing up!  In the last few weeks we have noticed that she is becoming a "little" person with an adorable personality.  Happy 7 month b-day sweetheart!

Updates

We have two weeks of updates due a CRAZY couple of weeks!

Belle gets a swing!

Since it was just Belle and Mommy on Saturday evening and Sunday we decided to run some errands!  Today we picked out a swing for Belle to put on our swing set in the backyard!  We have been meaning to buy one for months and I am so glad I did with all this beautiful weather!  We can't wait to have Daddy put it up next week so Belle can start swinging outside!  She loves motion and outside!  Belle and I worked on sitting up a bit today as well.  I think she almost has it!

(Happy Girl!)

Bri said the finish was great at the Master's; we are excited that Phil pulled out the win!  Since they stayed to the end, he won't be home until late!  Well worth the trip though!

Mama ;)

Belle has been making "mmmm" sounds for the last week and half.  On Saturday she officially said Mama!!!  At this point I know she doesn't know what it means, but still it makes this one happy Mommy!!  Bri and his good friend Matt headed down to Columbia on Saturday night since they were going to the Master's on Sunday and of course I had to call him with the good news!  He thinks that Dada is a close second!  We will see!!

Smocking!

I have decided that I am going to try (key word) to learn to smock.  I just loved smocked children clothes, as you couldn't tell!  I had my first smocking class on Saturday at Knit One Smock Too in Winston-Salem.  Martha, the owner and my instructor, was awesome!  She is so talented and I can't wait to learn more from her.  I will be working on my homework for my next session.  If I actually do a decent job, maybe I will share my work ;).  After I complete the beginners smocking, I am going to learn to make a bishop dress.  My hope is that I will be able to smock fairly well in the next 3-4 months.  It really isn't that hard once you get into a rhythm.  Bri has been working so much lately, most Saturdays ;( these days.  We know he does it for us, but we sure miss him bunches!  He headed into work around 10am on Saturday so Belle and I enjoyed lunch with Grams and officially Umpa G ;)

Beautiful Friday evening

Friday afternoon was so nice!  Belle and I enjoyed sometime outside looking at all the plants that are starting to break ground.  Once Brian was home from work we enjoyed a long walk and grilled out!  It was a perfect evening.

Highchair!

(She was intrigued with her cousin Davis!)

On Friday, Belle and I headed to my office for a bit then met her Aunt Amy and two cousins John Harrison and Davis for a little adventure in Greensboro.  We checked out a children's consignment sale(I'm hooked ;)) and then enjoyed lunch at Friendly Center-Mimi's.  Belle as I said before is not sturdy sitting up yet, but we decided to try a highchair at lunch.  She did great!  What a big help for Mommy as well!

Trip to Charlotte

My dear friend Linda lives in Charlotte and it has been a while since we have visited her and Belle's BFF Elsa(Linda's daughter)  So on Thursday, we headed up for a quick visit and some lunch(enjoyed seeing Jessica as well!).  The girls had such a great time playing!  Belle has not quite mastered the skill of sitting up yet, but Elsa gave her some tips!  I think both of them will be mobile (i.e. crawling very soon!)

Belle's Babysitter on vacation

This past week Belle's babysitter was on vacation with her two grandaughters in Disneyland!  It was a surprise trip and we can't wait to hear all about their exciting time.  Since Grams was on Springbreak (only 3 days due to all our snow) Belle was able to spend Monday-Wednesday with her during the day!  They had so much fun hanging out and she slept so well after playing all day!  Belle and Mommy spent rest of the week together!

Happy Easter

We had the best Easter this year!  Our church doesn't technically have a sunrise service since it is at 8am, but it is such a beautiful service that has been a tradition at our church for 69 years!  The music is beautiful and it ends in the cemetary. Truly uplifting on the day our Savior!  Belle looked adorable in her bunny dress and bonnet!  She hung out with her friend Sarah for a bit during the service and loved the music.

After church we headed to Gigi and Pap's for Easter lunch.  We had such a great time!  Gigi cooked a super yummy lunch and it was such a nice relaxing day.  Belle enjoyed her beautiful book, bunny and pearl for her necklace.  Bri's parent have such a gorgeous yard and it was so nice to show Belle around today.  Of course she was really observant of all the sites and sounds.

When we got home this afternoon Belle open her gifts from the Easter bunny!

Happy Easter!

Walks

Brian and I love taking walks esp. when the weather turns nice.  It allows us time to discuss our days and de-stress a bit.  It has been great to include Belle!

Peas

We tried sweet potatoes last week and at first I thought Belle enjoyed them!  But after the first three tries she cried and spit them out every time after!  So we decided to take a break from them and introduce them again at a later date.  She decided to try peas this week and she loves them!  So glad since they are super healthy!

Visit with Grams

(Grams bought Belle this adorable outfit last year in California! It is one of my favorite brands of children clothes--Le top--Doesn't she look adorable in her little sunflower ;)

Since we spend Easter with Bri's parents on Saturday Belle and I headed for a visit with Grams!  We enjoyed a yummy lunch with Grams, Coach G, and Emily.  Thanks guys! Belle and I headed over to Grams' house for Belle to open her Easter basket.  She got so many goodies and loves her new ladybug.  Belle took a nap with Grams while Mommy did some grocery shopping and then we headed home.  Great day!