A few milestones for Belle

Bri and I can't believe our beautiful little girl is almost one!  Where does the time go?  I want to put her in a bottle and never let her grown up!  Well, you know what I mean, just not too fast!  Belle has cut her second tooth on the bottom and has six, yes 6 tooth buds on the top that have not broken through the gums yet.  What does this mean?  Our recent sleep has diminshed for a bit. 

Belle can stand without support for about 10 seconds.  Once she realizes she is up she will squat back down.  However, with the assistance of her hippo she will scoot all over the living room. Brian and I think she just doesn't want to walk right now as she has had the ability for months now. Her pediatrician told me to get ready at her 6 month check up! She is just going to do it on her own time, which is fine with Mommy and Daddy! 

Belle is beginning to enjoy story time much more, reading books to herself and pointing out things that interest her in the stories.  She is also starting to grow some more hair which makes her Daddy very happy!  The jury is still out on the color for sure!  Belle has tried all sorts of yummy food lately loving lentils, shrimp, salmon, figs, spinach and pasta.  I am so happy she has been an adventurous eater so far!

We are just loving every minute of our sweety pie!

A new Mommy mistake

(thanks lizzie for our cute shoes!)

This summer I have just kept Belle in her little bare feet most of the time.  The weather is nice and it is truly easier not to have to worry about shoes.  Well, have I learned my lesson!  I should have been putting shoes on her periodically for her to get used to them.  I put a pair on her the other day and she screamed until I took them off.  She can't grip herself to stand up or crawl in her normal spider like ways!  So I am now trying to put a pair on her for a little bit each day.  I hope that this will work since she will probably be walking soon and babies can't be shoeless in the winter right?  Guess that means the "girls" need to do a little shoe shopping!

I can feed myself...

Belle has started feeding herself in recent weeks...or at least trying.  I have begun chopping up whatever Brian and I are eating in small pieces and letting her try our dinner.  The other day she tried spinach penne pasta with white bean, artichokes, spinach and shrimp.  She loved it and it only took her 45 minutes to eat all of it!  But at least she had fun and of course so did Bosco and Scooter.  Belle is their new best friend and dinner time!

Pink pool for a pink kinda girl!

As most of you know, my little "Belle" is a girly girl at an early age.  It probably has a little bit to do with her Mommy.  Who knows what her style will be when she gets older, but while Mommy has a say...she is all girl!  A few months ago we went to pick Belle out a pool and couldn't seem to find the right one.  So, Bri waited in the car with Belle at our last stop and I ran in and picked out this pink little pool!  Of course Bri shook his head and said, "Seriously, a pink pool!"  But, it was the only color they had left in the type of pool we wanted!  Belle loves her little pool.  Here are a few shots of her in the shade playing!

Our Salty Dog

When we were in Hilton Head "all" of us bought Salty Dog t-shirts!  We had planned on getting a group shot, but forgot--maybe next year!!  Belle looks like a little grown up in her t-shirt and shorts!  I was fortunate to receive two fabulous ice cream makers for my birthday in July.  Homemade ice cream traditions on Sunday evenings in my family were one of my favorite memories as a child that I want Belle to remember.  We made our first batch of Brian's grandmothers vanilla ice cream in our old fashion ice cream maker.  Thanks Gigi and Pap!  As you can tell Belle was a big helper!!

Riley Bean!

I think they are trying to figure out how to get to the golf balls.. :)

Our great friends Jeff and Caryn live in Myrtle Beach so unfortunately do not get to see them very often ;(.  They were visiting in Greensboro a few weeks ago so we headed up for a cookout to see them!  Their little girl, Riley was born one month to the day after Belle.  Belle and Riley enjoyed catching up since their last play date at Christmas(not as much as their Mommies!)

Congrats Kim

My dear friend Kim has just completed a grueling Nurse Anthesiest program!  We are so proud of her accomplishments.  A few of us had a little celebration for her graduation.  Belle was able to enjoy a bit of the fun before nap time!

Hoosier Land~

Towards in the end of July Grams, Belle and I had an adventure to Indiana to visit all of my extended family.  Both of my parents (and me) are from Indiana so that means lots of family to visit!!  The night before we left we stayed with Bri and I dear friends Luke, Linda and Elsa (Belle's BFF).  We were so excited to celebrate Elsa's first birthday, if only for a few minutes!!!

We headed to Charlotte airport and moved through the airport fairly quickly with an infant.  However, due to weather in Chicago we were stuck on the runway for over two hours not able to get off the plane.  As you can imagine it took a lot of creativity to keep Belle occupied.  I now have a whole new appreciation for parents traveling with infants!  Our first airplane trip Belle was not mobile...oh what a new experience!

Sleepy Belle-only slept for an hour on both flights!

Since we had missed our connecting flight in Chicago, we had a little time to spare to trek to our gate.  We finally boarded and Belle flirted with the man behind us the entire 30 minutes we were on the plane.  She was peep through the seat and then pop up above staring at him!   If he wasn't her Daddy's age I would swear she had her first boyfriend.  It was too cute though!  We finally landed in South Bend 5 hours late and my wondeful Aunt Karen was waiting for us!  She brought Belle her own Indiana bear and Belle was happy to visit with her again.  We are so fortunate that Doug and Karen live two doors down from my Grandmother making visiting both very easy!

When we arrived at Grandma BJ's house we had a house full of visitors waiting for us!  It was great to see my cousin Kate and meet her little boy Owen.  He was born in the beginning of July making the two "newest" cousins great friends.  Growing up, I am a July baby and Kate is a September baby; we just swapped with our children.  Belle took lessons of walking, talking and eating finger food from Owen.  They had a great time!  Below are some of pictures of their fun!

(Come on Owen, lets explore!)

Belle and I spent the night with Uncle Doug and Aunt Karen one night of our visit and we were lucky to visit with my cousins and their children as well.  Belle met Nolan, Clark and Harper...Yay for cousins.  We enjoyed feeding the ducks, a quiet dinner and a walk to Rice Cemetary.  Thanks guys for a great evening!

My family lives on a beautiful river called the Saint Joe.  It is so peaceful, I forget about all the fond memories from the 4th of July(s) and family gatherings until we go back!

My Aunt Mary headed up from Fort Wayne and joined us half way through the week for a visit!  We enjoyed dinner at one of our favorite restaurants La Hacinda.

(Belle meeting sweet Sadie...sitting with Grams and Great-Grandma BJ)

We were so fortunate to be in Indiana during my grandmother's 80th birthday celebration.  We all enjoyed a party at a yummy Italian restaurant.  It was great to see so much family!

Just a few shots of Belle with a few off the guests from the party!  There were over 30+ people to celebrate Great-Grandma's big day!

On our last day in Indiana my Uncle Doug and Aunt Karen had my mom's family over for a boat ride and river picnic!  It was Belle's first boat ride and she had a blast checking out all the sites and sounds of the river!

(Belle with my cousin Lora)

Belle enjoyed her first trip to the midwest!

A month worth of updates

Whew, what a month we have had in the Ledbetter family!!  I have been extremely fortunate to have quite a bit of time off from work this summer to spend with sweet Belle.  Our summer has flown by!  Bare with me as I post some highlights from our last month...first year birthday looming in our very near future!!