Christmas Recap

On Christmas morning, we packed up the car and headed out to Wisconsin. Fifteen hours later, we pulled up in my parent's driveway - very grateful to have arrived. Out of the whole trip, Bella only slept about 45 minutes. Thankfully, juice boxes, suckers, and a portable DVD player kept her mildly entertained.

Here are a few pics from the Benetti family celebration.

Bella and Auntie MaryMy new sweater! I can always count on one my sisters to keep me in fashion.Auntie Jodi and BellaTaking care of her new baby.My dad and KristenLori and her boyfriend, Ryan. Bella enjoying all the festivities!Starting to get a little tired.Auntie Lori and BellaBella's silly faceNext stop: Kilps Home

Bella opening some more presentsNice group shot!Playing with Uncle TomNext stop: Meade Home

Since Andy's sister, Laura, is due to give birth any day now, they couldn't make it down for Christmas, so we went up there. Bella had so much fun playing with her cousins, Jacob and Tyler!

Fun in the snow! We haven't gotten any snow in New Jersey yet, so it was nice to see some (for about fifteen minutes and then we went in because it was cold).

More present time! Here is Jacob opening up his gift from us.The boys helped Bella with her gift. Snuggling up with her new babyJacob and Tyler took such nice care of the doll. They're definitely going to be great big brothers!

Bella liked feeding her too.

Three little monkeys jumping on the bed!Tyler-Man!We ventured out to McDonalds one afternoon for some lunch and playtime!The slides were definitely a big hit!Play-doh time! Here's Jacob with one of his creations!Bella hard at workGetting scooped up by Daddy/Uncle AndyBack to the Kilps Home:

Bella giving Grandma a hugGrandpa feeding Bella some ice creamCute photo with the grandparents!Tomorrow morning we're heading back to the Benetti home for a couple of days and then we'll head back to New Jersey Thursday morning. The trip has sure gone fast. I'm feeling a little sad about leaving. . . hopefully I'll be more ready in a few days.

Over the river and through the woods. . .

to Grandmother's house we go! (and Grandpa's!) Other than a little packing and a few loose ends, we're ready to go!

Here's a recap of our Christmas Eve! This is our tree last night after we put the presents under it. We filled Bella's stocking with goodies for the road trip. Opening the presents in the morning!Getting ready for the Christmas Eve services. I tried so hard to get a nice picture of her standing in front of the Christmas tree, but this was the best I could do.The three of us after the 4:00pm service.Bella handing me her candle. Bella needed some Daddy time so she snuggled up with him while he was putting some finishing touches on his message. She sure loves her Daddy!Wisconsin, here we come!

Sick

Remember last week when I said that Bella has been extra cranky lately. . . it's because she had an ear infection. We had a few rough nights and then she spiked a fever. We called the doctor on Tuesday and couldn't get her in until Wednesday. (Interestingly enough, there are no Urgent Care/Walk-in clinics around here. It's either the doctor's office or the emergency room.) She's now on Amoxicillin (she likes this) and ear drops (she hates this). I'm glad that her behavior had a reason other than her being in the 'terrible twos'. This is Bella's first ear infection. Doesn't this photo just make you sad.
Here's Bella feeling a little better and working on a Christmas craft. Here it is on the tree!How old are we? Bella wanted to be swaddled tonight. I wrapped her up in a towel after bathtime and it kept coming loose, causing Bella much distress. I decided to take one of her big blankets and secure her in nice and tight. She sat like this for quite some time while watching a Baby Einstein video. Since we'll be on the road all day on Christmas, we're doing our own family Christmas tomorrow. I'll try to update the blog with these photos before we take off.

9 days until Christmas. . .

Before we know it, we're going to be on the road heading back to Wisconsin for Christmas. We're taking off on Christmas day. Can't wait!!!

Well, our dental appointments went good. No cavities for any of us! It was, as we predicted, pretty traumatic for Bella to go back there by herself. After it was all over, it took a while to calm her down. I think we won't be taking her back to the dentist for at least a year and we'll probably insist on going back with her next time.

Here's a relaxed Bella! We've had a lot of indoor days this week as the weather has been pretty icky. Doing a little leisurely reading.Playing with her new magnadoodle (which she refers to as her "draw").Going up the slide at Chick-Fil-A. She loves slides and there's always a lot of drama involved when it's time to leave. This day was no exception. Playing on the "big bed" as she calls it. Admiring the ornaments and lights on the tree.Bella has had somewhat of a 'cranky' week. I'm not sure if it's just her age and she's exerting herself more or if she isn't feeling well, but she's just been more edgy and quick-to-tantrum. She's been sleeping in a lot, which makes me think that she's going through a growth spurt. Last night, she woke up crying a few times. I'm starting to think that her second set of molars are working their way in. I tried to feel around for them and couldn't find anything, so I guess we'll just wait and see.

Over the past few weeks, we've had speculation of a slight mouse problem in the house. We never saw a mouse, but had a few missing red hots on our Christmas cookies that led us to the conclusion. They were our invisible guests until we saw this tiny little critter scampering across the kitchen counter. It was tiny and kind of cute. We both had compassion on it and didn't want to hurt it. Andy tried to catch the little guy but it got away and ran through a hole in the laundry room. At least we know how they're getting in! Looks like we've got a hole to plug.

BELLA'S SECOND BIRTHDAY2 YEARS OLD

New York City

***There is nothing wrong with your computer. I'm aware that the header image is all messed up. Blogger has a bug right now that I wasn't aware of when I tried to change the image. I've looked into this a little and it seems that anyone who has changed their header image in the past few days has had the same problem. Hopefully it will be fixed soon!

This little stool is one of Bella's birthday gifts. She feels like such a big girl because she can brush her teeth and wash her hands all by herself. She really likes to be up there and gets upset when it's time to come down.
On Friday afternoon, we headed up to New York to visit our good friend Erin and meet her husband Jeff. We went to college with Erin and I lived on the same floor as her our sophomore year and in the same house our senior year. She has been living in New York City for the past five years. We reconnected a couple of months ago and decided that, since we live pretty close, we needed to get together! It was a fun time filled with great talks and food (Erin's a great cook)!

Bella making herself at home in their apartment.
Erin and Andy playing a game while Bella looks on. We went to a nearby park on Saturday afternoon. Bella was in heaven! She kept wanting to go down the slides again and AGAIN!A family photo! These are a rare occurrence. (This is also the same image that I tried to put in the header). Jeff and Erin! Aren't they a cute couple!All of us in front of their huge Christmas tree!
Bella slept on the ride home. As we approached a toll booth she woke up and said "I want chicken." Apparently she was confusing the toll booth for the drive-thru at Burger King! An honest mistake, right!

This is an ornament that Bella and I made. She offered the handprint (snowmen) and I drew in the features. I can't take credit for the idea, but isn't it cute!
We all have dentist appointments tomorrow and I'm really not looking forward to it. I'm generally not a huge fan of going to the dentist but I'm dreading it a little more on Bella's behalf. They are going to take her back there without us and I'm nervous about how she's going to do. At least we'll get it over with first thing in the morning.

The Birthday Girl!

We have a two-year-old! Isabella had a great birthday. In the morning, I opened her closet and told her she could wear whatever she wanted. Without hesitation, she said 'bubbles' and ran up to the polka-dotted dress that she refers to as her bubble dress. She loves to get dressed up! At lunchtime, we went out with some friends from church who treated us to a meal and also gave Bella some fun gifts. Throughout the day, people from church stopped over to give her a present and wish her Happy Birthday. Bella is so loved by the people here and that really warms our hearts. With all the fun and festivities, she didn't go down for her nap until after 3pm (she usually goes down around 1pm). She was still asleep at 6pm, so we decided to wake her up. We had pizza for dinner and cupcakes for dessert. It was fun to watch her get into the whole celebration - this is the first time she really knew what was going on. There were times when she was just giddy with excitement! After blowing our her candles, we had a movie night and watched 'Ratatouille'. We even let Bella eat some Skittles! She didn't get to bed until after 11pm! Here are some photos to recap:


Opening up her presents from Grandpa and Grandma Kilps. What a cheeseball! She got a singing snowman that she loves to play with!
If she received nothing else but these balloons, she would still have been a very happy birthday girl. She even wanted to sleep with them and when I said 'no' there was quite a bit of drama! It looks like she's praising the Lord, but she's actually reaching for the balloon strings!
Cupcakes and presents!
I took this photo while we sang 'Happy Birthday!'With a little help from mom, she blew out the candles!Yummy cupcakes!I took this photo at 6:52pm - exactly two years after this sweet girl entered the world.Opening up some more presents. We bought a Magna-doodle for our child who loves to draw.Time for a movie!