I'm 13 months!!!!

Nella turned 13 months this past Sunday! It is hard to believe how she has changed so much in such a little time. She is not a little baby anymore and seems to behave more like a big girl! Her look has changed to me as well. I can now see what she will look like as she grows and I can predict what her sweet little face will look like when she grows! She is a blast and we are enjoying every minute with her! I am LOVING being home with her and breaks my heart to think about going back to school! But I know my other kidddos need me too! :)

Nella can take 6 to 8 steps on her own now....but if she is traveling long distances she wants just one finger. It is really sweet and I love how cautious she is about it! She can stand all by herself now, but if she is standing too long she will move to where she can lean on you! I love that she still wants us to be close even though she has all this independence now! She is a very good listener! If we tell her she cannot go upstairs right now, she will stop climbing and come down and the same when upstairs and she wants to go down. She can go down the stairs all by herself now. She has so many words and she continues to pick up a new word each day! Her newest words are: hi, stop (top), no, hot (ot), bird, poof (it goes with a song we sing), night night, up, baby. She will also sign please and thank you! She will get frustrated and want help and begin to cry and we say if you need help Nella say help please. She will stop and sign please. It is the cutest ever! She points to everything and says ooha (which I think means what is it?). She does this all day long as she wants to know more about what things are called. She tries to say ee i ee i oo when we sing Old McDonald had a farm.

Our biggest challenge these past three weeks is hitting herself. We are continuing to be consistent and remind her to be nice to Nella and not hit. We tried distracting her and telling its okay to be frustrated, but she continued to hit. We started sitting her out when she does it three times in a row and it is helping. When she gets done sitting out she will kiss us and we make her sign sorry. She has been doing better and it has not been happening as frequently, but hard to see her hurt herself like that! She tends to hit when we tell her it is not for Nella or she cannot do something like...it seems she is upset with herself.

Little things about her that she is doing this month. She does a surprise face when she does something she wasn't expecting. She loves to hug and kiss everyone and everything. She mimicks everything we do...so funny and makes you think about what you do. On the trip, she mimicked my mom chewing gum and now she does it on command when you ask. She also loves showing you where her tongue is.

We are having a blast and she is growing and changing so much!!!!


HAPPY JUNE!!!!!

Happy 5 years

Matt and I have been officially been married 5 years. We have been together 11 years. I am more in love with him today than I am the day I met that handsome green eyed boy sitting in my Trig 2 class. I remember that day that I was thanking God that may last name started with a T and his started with a S, so I could sit by him since we had to sit in alphabetical order. I remember thinking how was I going to get him to pay attention to me....so I would curiously ask him what answer he got the math problem or ask him about the baseball game....to just try to get him to smile at me....and 11 years later...we are more in love than ever.

In these past 5 years together...I have a learned a lot about Matt. He is so reliable and when you ask him to do something, he will do it perfectly. He likes his laundry a certain way and usually does his laundry on the same day...makes me giggle everytime!!!! He can make me smile and laugh until my stomach hurts because he is just goofy and I love it!!! He is what I call the heater...I love it because I am always cold and so I love snuggling up to him and being warm! He has a huge heart and will help out anyone who may need it. Matt will always tell you the truth. He doesn't skate around it or try to make you feel better...he just tells it...which I have grown to love..sometimes I would like some skating....He likes to be on time...it drives him nuts that I tend to be late...but we have worked on it ;) He adores his family and he will do anything for us! Especially his girl Nella!

We have learned a lot through our years...and I know we have SO much more to learn...but we have had our share of ups and downs with infertility issues and adoption expenses and taking in God's plan and trying to roll with it...which neither of us do well....when I look back on the past year and half...its been our best! The anticipation of our child coming home that God had chosen for us....is crazy, miraculous, and takes our breath away still when we look back on it...And being in our role of mom and dad is my favorite. I adore watching Matt with Nella. It melts me. He is the only one who can make her giggle so hard! She loves her dada! And me...I am at my most confident and feel comfortable finally in who I am! I am a mama...the role that I always dreamed over and longed for! I love it! I love our family and so look forward to what God has in store of us!

The best has been watching my love grow in his faith with God. I have been apart of Matt finding God, asking Jesus to come into his heart, being baptized, and continue to grow in his faith daily. He has challenged me and we have grown so much together. We are still growing and still learning...but I love our journey so far and cannot wait for what's to come