A very full week. . .

The big event of our week was definitely Bella's birthday; but before I get into those pics, I thought I'd share a couple from our Christmas decorating which we did the day before her birthday. Bella did her fair share of decorating - focusing mainly on the red globes. She would put them on and take them off over and over.

This was the look she settled on!It was fun to see her get so into it. The house is all decorated now and I love it! My favorite time is in the evening when the only lights on in the living room come from the Christmas tree. So pretty!

OK, onto Bella's birthday! We had a jam packed day of activity. After church, we had some friends come over who have a little girl about a year younger than Bella. We ate pizza and cake and opened a few presents. Here's Bella sporting her new hat and gloves!The birthday girl with her cake. Cake decorating is definitely not one of my talents. I have no idea how to decorate with frosting and have it look nice so I just grabbed some ribbon and let that be it. Bella didn't seem to mind.

We got this birthday girl hat for her first birthday though she didn't want to wear it then or last year. This year she actually sought it out and put in on herself. I think she liked being the "birthday girl"!

After many attempts to blow out the candle by herself. . . . . . Daddy stepped in to help her out. She gave it a good effort though!Opening up one of our gifts to her - the Sleeping Beauty dvd. She's really into Disney characters and princesses lately. Time to eat cake! We also got her the Minnie Mouse plate that she's eating off of here.

After cake time, we headed off to a kid play place called Kid Junction. They have big slides, rides, and lots of pretend play areas: post office, pizza shop, grocery store, etc. Bella loved it! Here she is in the slide area.

The play restaurant was definitely a highlight. Bella took great care to make some delicious meals!There was also a dress-up stage area.My camera battery died after this. I should probably invest in a back-up one. Thankfully, we still got lots of pics from Bella's big day. When we got home, Bella opened up some more presents and then we popped some popcorn and watched Sleeping Beauty. All in all, a very fun birthday!

Later in the week, Bella and I put together a little gingerbread house. She's been looking forward to this ever since she saw the box earlier in the week. I thought she'd need a little more assistance from me, but once we got the actual house up, she decorated it all by herself. Notice the Snow White outfit. Like I said, she's really into princesses lately.

Here's the finished house! I have it proudly displayed in the dining room.

That same day, I had another doctor appt. Baby is doing well - the heartbeat was in the 160s! I still haven't progressed any, but the baby is very low. My doctor mentioned that my belly was measuring a little small, so he ordered another ultrasound which I scheduled for the next day. I wasn't too concerned at first, but as the day went on I felt a little bit of worry slip in. The possibility of a slight problem was enough to get us to do things we hadn't done yet: pack my hospital bag, pack the baby's bag, install the carseat, wash some clothes, etc. I am happy to say that we are ready for this baby now and everything is looking good! Baby is measuring right on track. We also finished the baby's room this week, though I haven't taken any pictures of it yet. Stay tuned!

On Thursday, Bella had her 3 year well visit. Here are her stats:

weight: 31 lbs. (50th percentile)

height: 31.75 in. (50th percentile)

We have a healthy, average girl. Looks like she is slowing down in her height as she used to be in the 90th percentile for that. I really didn't think that would last too long anyway. Bella did great at this appointment. She got a doctor kit for her birthday and has been really into checking our heartbeats, blood pressure, ears, etc. so she was totally prepared and even a little eager when it came time for the doc to examine her. Some things he had her do were identify colors, jump, hop on one foot, and draw a circle. She passed everything! Next visit is in a year!

Friday evening, our township had its first annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Andy was asked to do the invocation. Here is the mayor handing him the microphone.

Bella all bundled up. It was a very chilly night.Good thing we came prepared with some hot chocolate!This week, we have dental appointments coming up. I'm really not looking forward to it as Bella was fairly traumatized the last time we took her to the dentist. Here's to hoping that this one goes much better. And of course, I'll have another baby appt. Between all my appts., the extra ultrasound visit, Bella's well visit, now the dentist. . . I feel like I've been living at the doctor's office.

Next week, I'll be sure to post pics of the baby's room!

Tomorrow. . .

. . . Isabella turns three!!!

I'll probably say this every year, but it always seems so true - this was a big year for Bella. She transformed from a toddler to a little girl. She went from her talking in 2-3 word phrases to conversations with us; from a crib to a big girl bed; from wearing diapers to being potty trained. Pretty soon, she's going to be a big sister! Yes, this has been a very big year! We love this little girl so much and enjoy watching her grow and learn new things each day.

Jodi & Aaron's Wedding

We're back from our extended weekend in Wisconsin. The days went fast, but we had lots of family connecting time - which I always enjoy. Jodi and Aaron had a beautiful wedding! Here is the lovely bride before the big event!Me and my little sis!Bella was the flower girl - more on how that all went below.All of the ladies! Me, Kristen, Bella, Tracy (Aaron's sister), Jodi, Lori, Amanda (Jodi's friend), and Mary.Like I mentioned, Bella was the flower girl in this wedding. We practiced her duties and I had a goodie bag all ready for her when she finished walking down the aisle. She was so cute at the rehearsal, chanting to herself, "step. . . step. . . throw!" and then she would toss the leaves like she was throwing a baseball. On the big day,however, she got a case of stage fright. Andy and I walked down the aisle ahead of her and by the time I reached the end, my sister told me that Bella was crying. Sure enough, the poor girl was frozen still with big tears in her eyes - not wanting to budge. My mom quickly jumped to her feet and carried Bella down, while tossing the leaves herself. Thankfully, when you're little like Bella, you can pretty much do whatever and it still ends up being cute. Here is the happy couple after the ceremony. The new Mr. & Mrs. Kreuser!Our big family!The wedding partyOur little (but soon to be bigger) family!My mom's side of the family at the reception.

Bella has been really into taking photos these days. She sure had a field day with the cameras on the tables!

As the night went on, this little lady really loosened up!Here she is with Jackson, the ring bearer. She was too shy to go by him initially, but clearly got over that (too bad it didn't happen until after the wedding was over).

Jodi dancing with Dad.Lori and Ryan - another cute couple!Bella was a dancing queen at this reception. She had me out on the dance floor a lot! I even woke up a little sore the next morning!

She kept Kristen pretty busy too!My little lady!

Sydney was kept pretty entertained by Jackson. He sure had her smiling and laughing!Congratulations Jodi and Aaron!!! We love you!While I stuck around for the gift opening on Sunday afternoon, the Kilps crew headed out to Jelly Belly for a little tour. From what I can tell, it looks like they had a lot of fun!All the cousins together!Andy and Tim sporting their Jelly Belly hats!We pretty much spent the whole day on Tuesday on the road. The drive took a little longer both ways due to a bit of snow; but overall, the trip went great! Today consisted of unpacking, laundry, and grocery shopping. I had another baby appt. this morning (they are happening weekly now). Jellybean's heartrate was in the 150s and this little one is in the right position - head down. I haven't progressed at all as far as dilation, but I didn't expect to as I'm still four weeks from my due date. Next appt. is December 3rd.

Tomorrow, we are having our own little Thanksgiving celebration at home. I'm cooking and I'm really excited about the stuff we're going to eat! It should be a nice, relaxing day; which will be really welcomed after coming off a busy weekend and long drive. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Surprise!

On Wednesday night, I attended what I thought was going to be a pot-luck at church. Little did I know that the event was also a surprise baby shower for me! Since this is our second baby, a shower was totally off my radar. Needless to say, I was pretty shocked when I walked in the door to be greeted with a big "Surprise!" and to see tons of gifts on a table. Andy was in on it too - and he did a great job keeping the secret. I don't have any photos from the shower (though a few women from church were taking pictures), but I did take a photo of all the gifts piled on our dining room table when we got home. This kid is set! Everyone was so generous and we were truly overwhelmed, in a good way, by everything that they did for us. Some of the women also purchased gifts for Bella, so she wouldn't feel left out. Between opening presents, helium balloons, and cake, Bella totally thought that this was her birthday party. She kept calling the balloons her birthday balloons. Won't she be thrilled when we celebrate her birthday again in a couple of weeks!We keep Bella's dress-up clothes in this hamper. Recently, she has discovered how much fun the empty hamper is to play with. Where's Bella?
There she is!We have a busy week ahead of us. Lots of little items on our to-do lists as we prepare to head back to Wisconsin for Jodi's wedding. We can't wait for our first road trip in our new van! And, of course, to see all the family!!!

Meeting Chuck E. Cheese

I've already shared some Chuck E. Cheese photos from last month, but decided to take a few more this time since we were celebrating November birthdays with my Mom's Club, which is Bella's birthday month! This hat she was wearing stayed on for maybe 30 seconds. Before we left for the restaurant, Bella told Andy that Chuck E. Cheese was going to come out and that she was going to play with him. Andy asked me if there was a mascot that walked around. The only C.E.C. that I'd ever seen there was the puppet on stage. On this particular day, however, after we finished our pizza and cupcakes, Bella spotted out of the corner of her eye Chuck E. Cheese walking around! She jumped out of her seat and squealed, "Let's go play with him!" I ran after her and we found Chuck E. Cheese. Bella's interaction with him was quick, but she did get a big high five in there. I didn't ge my camera out in time, but here she is afterward, very happy to have met her first "celebrity". Shortly after seeing Chuck E., he went to the back room. I'm pretty sure that whoever was dressed up got changed. Bella thought that he was just going potty and was determined to wait for him. After a while, I told her that we could take a picture with the Chuck E. Cheese on stage. This seemed to appease her. Of course, when we got there she just wanted a picture of the puppet, so there you have it. Here she is all buckled up in the van. What a cheeseball! She's been into Mickey/Minnie Mouse these days. Fortunately, she was given a Minnie doll sometime last year before she even knew who she was. Whenever she takes a doll out with us, Bella is very concerned that they get buckled up too. It's very important to keep Minnie safe!If I want to occupy Bella for a good amount of time, all I need to do is let her play with this puzzle. She is so content to sit and put all the letters in their place. She'll repeat this over and over. OUR NEW VANOne great thing about digital scrapbooking are quick pages. Different people create layouts and then leave a space open to insert a photo. I'm just starting to collect these and take advantage of them. I think quickpages will come in handy when Jellybean gets here and I want to document lots of stuff from those early days but may not necessarily have the time to come up with my own ideas. To give credit where credit is due, this page was made by Cinnamon Designs. Andy finished painting the baby's room today. I love how the color looks on the walls! I made some curtains which we put up tonight! The room is starting to take shape!

I feel like Jellybean is really getting cramped in my belly. I often get this feeling that he/she is trying to stretch out in there but doesn't have enough room. Just 6 weeks and 3 days away from my due date!!!

Halloween Festivities!!!

We had a fun week filled with pumpkin painting and carving and, of course, trick-or-treating! Bella wore her cat costume again and looked so cute! I planned on painting some whiskers on her face, but she wasn't going for that. This was her first house of the evening. Whenever a person opened their door, Bella would say, "trick-or-treating!" We didn't really try to correct her - she was close enough. As we started to walk away, she'd immediately say, "let's go to another house!" She definitely enjoyed herself.I started to get concerned that Bella would want to be out all night - but as she felt her bag getting heavier with candy, she was ready to head back and eat it! Before heading home, we stopped at a church family's house. Bella wasted no time digging in! Here I am at 32 weeks pregnant! I either hear from people. . .
1. "You're looking good for how far along you are!"
2. "You look like you're ready to pop!"

I'm definitely feeling my size, but when I compare to pictures of my pregnancy with Bella, I know there's still some room to grow.
Tomorrow morning, Andy and I are getting our flu shots. Bella got hers a couple of weeks ago - she did so great. She didn't even cry! Hopefully we do just as well!