The 'Southern' Bells

Snowbabies

2012-01-30T18:18:00.001-06:00

Daddy was home Saturday and he and Zane got out to play in the snow a little. I put this little cutie in her snowsuit, but we didn’t stay out long. The wind started blowing pretty hard. Every time a big gust of wind would come, Hollin would act really surprised. She would suck in a big breath and get really wide-eyed. But how cute is this snowsuit??? This little guy had a great time playing with his new digger that Mama Doot got him for Christmas. He made a few snow angels and threw around some snow.Then I snapped a few pics of him inside with his crazy hair, rosy cheeks, big brown eyes, and Polar Express shirt. Every morning he’s been getting himself dressed before he comes downstairs—including picking out his own clothes. It may be 12 degrees outside and the middle of winter, but most days he comes downstairs with shorts and a t-shirt on. When I try to get him to put on pants he says, “These are my pants. They my fav-rit.” Everything is his ‘fav-rit’ right now.And he likes to wear Matt’s boots. Today that resulted in him falling in the kitchen and busting his top lip. It looked bad (why do mouth injuries have to bleed so much??) but I think the final result is just a busted, bruised, puffy upper lip. Poor guy.In other news, it was 45 degrees today in Madison! Everyone keeps telling us that this is the warmest winter ever….I’ll take it! Just hope we don’t pay for it later….

love

2012-01-19T15:05:00.001-06:00

I’m totally in love with this cute girl and her big brother. I love watching them together. I love that they love each other. I could probably love a third. And if Matt reads this he’ll probably make a urology appointment.

Christmas card/birth announcement combo

2012-01-16T20:37:00.001-06:00

We had family pictures taken while we were in Arkansas for Thanksgiving. Thanks to Amy at http://www.studiobellaphoto.com/ for the great pictures! I had already planned to have Hollin’s newborn pictures taken while we were there (thinking she would be two weeks old), but these were actually taken on her one month birthday.

3 months old

2012-01-16T17:18:00.001-06:00

Ha-ha-Bear. Princess Poodle Doodle. Bear bear. Whatever you wanna call her, Hollin is the sweetest baby girl ever. She hardly ever cries…only when she’s really hungry or if I’m not around. So she’s really a mama’s girl. Like, “oh, mom went downstairs to zumba and dad’s in charge? WHAAAA!!! I WANT MY MAMA!” It looks a little like this… And really there’s nothing wrong with her. As soon as I pick her up or even talk to her, she stops. I’m not sure how she knows it’s me, but you better believe that she does. Little stinker. She sleeps at least six hours at night. Sometimes seven. She doesn’t cry when she wakes up, just grunts or goos.She’s wearing size 1 diapers and 0-3 month clothes.She tried out the bumbo & liked it for a little bit.She’s got the best big brother. He can always get a smile out of her. Her right tear duct must be opening some because her eye is draining less. Zane says, “Her eye wuhk a little bettuh now?”She’s my little laundry buddy, content to hang out.“Bubbles” is her newest nickname. That’s how I know she’s mad at me. Like, if she’s in the swing and ready to get out, instead of crying or yelling…she starts blowing bubbles. Sometimes her whole shirt will be wet. And she’s got the best cheeks ever.Here’s a picture of Zane at three months. He had some good cheeks, too. :)I love this sweet girl. Can I just bottle her up and keep this sweetness forever? And then when she’s 13 and gives me that ‘mom-you-just-don’t-understand’ look I can open it up and remember the days when she thought I was pretty great? pretty please?

my three year old

2012-01-10T18:44:00.001-06:00

Newborn baby boy One year old Two years old Three years old!

My three year old. Everyone talks about the ‘terrible twos’. I would label Zane’s past year as the ‘terrific twos’. But I fear that we are seeing a bit of the terrible threes.This past year I was blessed with the best two year old I know! He finally started talking around 26 months and now he never stops. He seriously sounds like a teenager most of the time. He’s funny and sweet and has a really tender heart. He loves his baby sister. I mean, we really rocked this kid’s world this year and he survived. I think he’s actually going to make it without any permanent damage! We moved him from the only home he’s ever known. Moved him from Arkansas to Wisconsin. He had always stayed with family (mostly our moms) and is now going to an in-home daycare. And then the big one: a sibling. And he handled it all really well. Especially, the sister part. He has NEVER been ugly to her. He just wants to hold her, kiss her, talk to her. When we ask him if she can go home with some else he always says, “Noooooo!”I think I can finally say (without jinxing anything) that he’s officially potty-trained! He’s been in big boy undies exclusively for about two weeks now with no accidents! He has even woken us up a few times at night because he needs to teetee. His biggest hold-up was (I think) a fear of pooping in the potty. Once he got over that (read: bribed with MANY toys), he’s become a pooping machine! And still asks, “What I get for pooping in the potty?”

Just a few things that he currently says/does that I want to remember:

*Matt usually does bath time and every time Matt washes his hair he says, “Noooo, don’t do it!” in a really high-pitched voice.

*When Hollin wakes up he says, “Her taked a pretty good nap?” and talks baby-talk to her, including “hey baby ha-yin, you a pretty sweet guhl”

*Calls Matt “Dada Matt Bell” or “Dada Matt Schnell” and has started calling me “mommy” instead of mama.

*“I make you funny?” means ‘did i make you laugh?’

*He says that we live in ‘Missconsin’. And I think we’ve really confused him in the sports department. He’ll say, “Go Bad-guhs. Pig Sooie.”

*I mentioned the terrible threes….well, he’s started throwing some really big tantrums lately and he does this thing where he growls during the fits. Matt and I say he’s ‘getting his demons out’.

*When we ask him to hug us he does (very briefly) and then says, “I let you neck go now.”

We are so thankful for a healthy, happy, funny, energetic (wild), sweet three year old.

i make you funny?

2012-01-05T21:37:00.001-06:00

Zane. What.a.character. We thought he would never talk. He showed no real interest in verbal communication (other than crying) until he was about 26 months old. Fast forward to 36 months and the kid never stops talking.

The phrases I hear at least 286 times a day include:

“You wanna pwaaaay wiv me?” He repeats this over and over even when I’m IN THE FLOOR playing with him!

“Mommy, mommy watch this!” Not always followed by something good….

“Help me find my____” (usually it’s Finn McMissle, Holly Shiftwell, or Farmer Jed)

Every morning he asks where ‘Dada Matt Bell’ is. Lately he’s been calling him ‘Dada Matt Schnell’. After I tell him that dad's at work he says, “He always at work. Those people feel better yet?” He knows that Matt goes to work to ‘help sick people feel better’.

He wants ‘baby Hayin’ to lay with him. When she cries he sings, “Baby Hayin, Don’t Cryyyyy!” and talks baby talk to her. “Hi baby sister. It’ll be otay. I wuv you.”

Today she started crying in her swing while I was in the kitchen fixing him ‘a-hah jew’ (apple juice). “Mamaaaaa! Her cwyin! Her STRAIGHT UP cwyin ‘bout her milk!” I asked him to repeat it and then died out laughing! He said, “Mama, I make you funny?”

And my favorite conversation of late went like this:

Me: You need to wash your hands because they may have germs on them.

Z: I don’t see them germs.

Me: That’s because they’re too small to see.

Z: We need a telescope.

Me: You mean ‘microscope’.

Z: I not mean.

So he wasn’t concerned that I called him a microscope, just that I called him a mean one. And, for the record, I have NO.IDEA. how he knows about telescopes and microscopes.

Yippee!

2012-01-04T22:27:00.001-06:00

Zane is Three!

Zane turned three years old on December 27th and had two birthday parties to celebrate!

Zane Bell is kind of known for his boots. He wore them all summer with his shorts. Given the choice, he picks boots every time. When he was dressed like Woody for about two weeks straight back in October, it became apparent that he would be having a ‘Cowboy’ birthday party.The past two years we have had the party at our house in Little Rock and invited our families to drive up from Hampton and down from Conway. Although having a birthday two days after Christmas makes planning a party a little difficult, it also has it’s benefits. Ok, just one benefit that I can think of, and that is that we were already in Arkansas!

We had the first party in Conway on Dec 23rd. We had hot dogs, chips & dip, baked beans, and cupcakes. DeeDee & I handmade the cute cupcake toppers. Yeah, right. She found them on etsy. I found these cowboy boot ornaments on clearance the day of the party. I think I’ll start Zane his own Christmas tree in his room and use ornaments from his birthday parties. I have monkey ornaments from his first birthday and tractors from his second birthday. Trusty old Butterscotch held a sign welcoming everyone to the party. We also put up pictures of our cute little cowboy, and a pair of DeeDee’s boots from when she was a little girl.I found these cute candles at HobLob to put in his cupcake. A cowboy hat, sheriff’s badge, and cowboy boot. So, I lit the candles and we sang happy birthday. Apparently the wax had plenty of time to pool in the cowboy boot during our serenade. Result—birthday boy blows out the candles and hot wax splashes back into his face! Birthday party FAIL! Oops. Series of pics… Trail mix party favors. “Happy Trails”We couldn’t let Zane’s actual birthday go by without doing something for him, so we had another party in Hampton! My brother had to work and couldn’t stay for the party, but he made sure that Zane had an AWESOME birthday boot cake! And it didn’t taste like boot at all :) It was delicious! Is this not incredible?!Zane saw lit candles and said, “Noooo! I don’t want to!” I held him & promised he wouldn’t get hurt again.The birthday boy and some of his party guests… When it came time to blow out the candles, Zane said, “NO! I don’t want to!” I had to convince him that they wouldn’t hurt him this time!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-03T21:55:00.001-06:00

Hollin’s arrival into this world (and my maternity leave) came at a great time! For the first time, I didn’t have to worry about being off of work for the holidays. Very convenient, considering that we had a little bit further to travel this year. The kids and I were able to spend 18 days in Arkansas for Thanksgiving and 13 days for Christmas. Sounds like a long time, but somehow I still wasn’t able to see everyone that I wanted to. Matt was there for about four days for Christmas and over a week for Thanksgiving. It was great to spend time with family and friends. We were spoiled with too many presents and too much food. And very grateful for all of it.Santa came to Conway & brought Z a trunk of costumes. Hollin got some cute clothes and a chair for her room.And just when we thought we owned every toy ever made, we headed to Hampton where we were proven wrong. Of course, he enjoyed playing in the ice chest best. Sweet girl Sweet babies with Mammaw Alice The day after Christmas was not Matt’s best day. No, he didn’t get into Zane’s costumes…this is a make-shift eye patch he wore after Zane accidentally poked him in the eye and caused a corneal abrasion. I was really worried because he had to drive 900 miles home the next day. By himself. And eyes are pretty important for driving. Thankfully, he got some medicine and was much better the next day.

There’s a commercial running right now…I think for AllState. They play the theme song from Cheers. “Sometimes you wanna go Where everybody knows your name. And they’re always glad you came. You wanna go where you can see Troubles are all the same. You wanna go where everybody knows your name.” Pulls at my heart strings right now. You don’t realize how true that is until you move to a place where no one knows your name. But that’s another story.

Here are a few kiddos that know my name.

‘that airplane lady’

2011-12-28T18:46:00.001-06:00

Traveling with an almost three-year old and a nine week old…alone. Scary. But I did it and lived to tell about it. Honestly, it couldn’t have gone any smoother.

We had to leave the house at 4:30am and drive to Milwaukee to catch our 6:55am flight. We cut it close, the security line was slow moving, and I got a little nervous that we weren’t going to make it. Zane could’ve just walked through, but he wanted to take his shoes off, too (of course) and they made him take off his fleece. I had to fold up the stroller to put it through the metal detector, dress/undress Zane, take off/put on my shoes, all while Hollin was attached to me in the Moby wrap. Because she was all wrapped up on me, they required me to have my hands tested (for chemicals?…not sure). Needless to say, these things slowed us down. But we ended up making it to our gate in plenty of time, and for some reason there were only TWENTY people on our flight. This meant we could take up as much space as we wanted.

Zane chose the very first row. Once we sat down he told me he needed help with his seatbelt. I told him I would help him. “NO. I want that airplane lady help me.” He later told her he needed help. She had a three-year old grandson, so she was pretty smitten with Zane. Later he said, “I wanna tell that airplane lady something.” She wasn’t around so I’m not sure what he was gonna tell her. When she asked if he wanted a drink he said, “No, I fine. You have pretzels for me.”

He fell asleep right before we landed (of course) and the flight attendants were SO helpful with getting the stroller and him into it, getting my carry-ons, etc.

Our next flight was really empty, too. Hollin barely made a peep the whole time. And was the cutest little flyer. All that morning traveling required a peaceful afternoon nap underneath the Christmas tree.

Christmas in Madison

2011-12-28T15:42:00.001-06:00

Santa found out that we were going to be in Arkansas during Christmas, so he made an early stop in Madison on the night of December 16th! He not only brought presents….he brought some snow from the North Pole, too! Zane got every Cars 2 character imaginable, an “ipad” (Innotab), and other goodies. Hollin got some boots, leg warmers, hair bands, etc. Santa left a trail of M&Ms from Zane’s room allll the way down the stairs into the living room. Zane chanted, “Fol.low.me!” all the way down.The night before we left Santa some milk and cookies and a note from Zane and a carrot for the reindeer. Zane had ‘snowmen’ ham & cheese for dinner!After all of the ‘Christmas’ morning excitement, we packed our bags. We had to leave at 4:30am on Sunday to catch our flight to Arkansas!

two months

2011-12-17T18:38:00.001-06:00

Hollin-bear-bear, as she’s known around these parts, turned two months old yesterday. I can honestly say that it’s been a great two months! She is such an easy baby. And I have permission to say that because I know the other end of the spectrum.

I love her predictability. She eats at 9:30pm, I wrap her up in her miracle blanket, insert the ‘haha’ (paci), and she self-soothes herself to sleep. She sleeps a four or five hour stretch (she has slept six hours and seven hours once), then she pretty much eats every three hours the rest of the day. She’s rarely awake longer than two hours, then it’s nap time. “Tummy time” usually results in nap time and her cheeks look so squishy. Oh, those cheeks. Don’t you just want to eat them up? They are sooo kissable! She only cries when she really hungry. Otherwise, she just kind of grunts and occasionally makes a bird-like noise. Today Zane said, “Mama, Ha-yin sound like a cat!”

Most people say she looks like me. It’s probably the cheeks. And her hair looks red in pictures, but not really in person. She’s pretty much the sweetest baby ever.At her appointment yesterday, she weighed 11lb 9oz and was 22.5 inches long. She has really good head control and the cutest grins. Our only concern at the appointment was that her right tear duct seems to have not opened yet. Here’s Zane’s two month pic. I think they look nothing alike. Matt says they do.What else… Oh, yeah. She’s the gassiest baby ever, but I guess that’s good because she’s happy. More room out than in! Although, it’s a little embarrassing when she does it in the Target dressing room. They could honestly rival a grown man.

She’ll be 9 weeks old tomorrow and will be boarding an airplane for the first time. I’m flying to Arkansas with both kids, so wish me luck!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Lindsey!

2011-12-11T19:04:00.001-06:00

We hope you have a great 29th birthday! Can’t wait to see you in ONE WEEK!

We love you and miss you!

Love,

Zane-O-Tot

and

The red head

11 Degrees

2011-12-10T20:21:00.001-06:00

Way too cold to get these babies out, so I don’t feel guilty that we stayed in our pj’s all day. Well, Zane and I did. Dad was moonlighting at the VA, and Hollin has too many cute clothes to stay in one outfit for long. So this girl just hung out being cute.This guy “pwayed” a lot, tt’d in the potty, and colored.And we laughed at each other making silly faces.And he loved on little sister. (I promise she doesn’t have lipstick on!) This picture kinda sums up my day: piles of laundry, Zane watching TV, warm slippers & coffee to keep me warm. The funny thing is, we’ve barely had any snow…soon to change, I’m sure! Oh, Wisconsin…why do you have to be so cold? At least we’re headed south in eight days!Side note: someone made this bow at my shower and it matches her outfit perfectly! I can’t remember who made it…anyone wanna claim it??

Olbrich Botanical Gardens

2011-12-08T19:58:00.001-06:00

It’s starting to get really cold here in Wisconsin…the high tomorrow is 20! We’ve been trying to find some fun activities to do because we just all seem to have a better day if we get out of the house. It does Zane good to run around and get out his ‘many energies’ and it does my sanity good to talk to other adults and to have a small break from his very repetitive questions. Today we joined our neighbors, Skye & Siela, at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Siela is 19 months old, so she has a good time trying to keep up with Zane and she LOVES baby Hollin. And Zane definitely likes going places with a cute little girl!Currently they have the atrium set up for Holiday Express. It’s filled with Christmas trees, poinsettias, bird houses, and TRAINS! Zane was intrigued! You can see Thomas going by behind Zane and his cute shirt that was made by one of the sweet nurses that Matt works with (and Z’s goofy grin).We also went into the Observatory which is full of exotic plants and flowers, birds, fish, and a waterfall. Bonus…it’s really warm in there!

This little doll was a perfect angel the whole time we were there. I think she really enjoys the sling. And I think she also enjoyed all of the attention from the ladies that worked there.I’m glad we’ve found another fun place to visit this winter. Another bonus: it only cost me $5.50 ($3 to get in and $2.50 for Zane’s ice cream)!

Smiles & Frowns

2011-12-06T16:11:00.001-06:00

“You mean this guy is gonna bring ME presents?!”

Get ready for picture overload because ohmygoshmybabygirlwasgivingmethebiggestgrinstoday andshe’sthemostpreciousthingeverandI’mOBSESSEDwith her! phew. Seriously, though. She’s cute. Ok, so while Miss Hollin is all smiles and loving her current role in life (what’s not to love about eating, sleeping, pooping, getting 1000s of kisses a day, and being dressed like a little doll?)….her big brother had a rough morning.

Enter frowns:

Here’s why: We watched The Polar Express last night. And apparently we should have had a talk about when ‘Ho Ho’ delivers presents. This morning I hear Zane jump out of bed and call from the top of the stairs, “HO HO come! HO HO COOOOOME, Mama!”

Um, he did?

Z runs down stairs, looks around, and begins to wail. So I try to explain that Santa comes on Christmas Eve and leaves presents for Christmas morning…in about three weeks. And that he would bring presents to DeeDee’s house and Nana’s house because that’s where we would be at Christmas.

“Ho Ho not come to my NEW house?!?! WHAAAAA!”Looks like I’ll be making a call to the North Pole to ask Santa to make a special delivery to ‘Ane’s new house’ on December 16th.

I think our trip to the children’s museum cheered him up a little. Until it was time to leave, of course.

Freeze Frame Time

2011-12-04T21:52:00.001-06:00

Sometimes we laugh,

And sometimes we cry

Some days it’s hard to figure out our way in this life

But it’s moments like this that make me wish

That I could freeze frame time. *lyrics by Brandon Ryder (click here to listen)

It’s his potty and he’ll go where he wants to

2011-12-01T21:37:00.001-06:00

We’re working on potty training at our house. Basically, if Zane has on a diaper, he’ll go in it. He’ll even tell you, “I like to tee tee in my dy-cer”. Let him run around in his birthday suit and he’ll go to the potty every time.

Today he yelled, “I need to tee tee! Baff room door locked!” Somehow he had locked the door. Matt told him just to go outside and opened the front door for him. He was kidding. Sort of.

So Zane just stood on the front step and did this…We were laughing hysterically and told him to go in the bushes!

Folks, it was 29 degrees out there. But that’s one less diaper I had to change.

Hollin’s Nursery

2011-11-08T10:13:00.001-06:00

I had Hollin’s room perfectly arranged before she was born. Perfectly arranged in my head, that is. In reality, I brought this baby girl home to an unfinished nursery! Very unlike me. I’m not sure why it wasn’t finished…I went in there everyday and ‘nested’, I guess. I would spend so much time in there folding clothes, hanging them in the closet, rearranging, but not actually fininshing the room. I had everything in the room, just not hung on the walls. We finally finished it before Matt’s parents left. They left on Saturday (29th) and we stayed up late on Friday night getting everything finished. I still need to get curtains, but for now it’s finished. The wall decal is from etsy and is really cute….but NOT easy! The letters were one of my craft projects. The view from the doorThe crib, rocker, night stand, & changing table are from Zane’s room. DeeDee got Hollin the lamp & recovered the lampshade. The mirror was in our house in Little Rock and hadn’t found a place in the house here, so we ‘bronzed’ and ‘antiqued’ it to match the room. I’m in love with the canvas that Dayle made! Matt found this rug on clearance at Target!Our beautiful Hollin Bell

the one with the pumpkins & costumes…

2011-11-05T10:56:00.001-05:00

On Friday, October 28th (the day I was scheduled to have Hollin) we took the kiddos to the pumpkin patch. Matt had to work, so his mom and dad took me and the kiddos to Schuster’s Playtime Farm. Next year I will buy a season pass! This place was AWESOME! There was so much to do that Zane could’ve played forever! There was a hayride to the pumpkin patch, barrel-train, bouncy pillow, pumpkin cannon, fort, general store, school house, petting farm, playground equipment, bakery, corn maze, and probably lots of other stuff that we didn’t even have time to see!

Since Zane was leaving the next day to go to Arkansas with DeeDee & E (and therefore trick-or-treating in Arkansas), we dressed him up in his Woody costume so that I could see him in it. I found it odd that he was the only kid dressed up there, but I loved how all the other kids just acted like it was normal. They would run passed him and say, “Hi, Woody! Where you going, Woody?” He looked so cute! I’ll let the pictures say the rest… For those of you that have never been to Madison, the background of this picture is what most of it (outside of the city) looks like. Corn fields everywhere! It really is a beautiful state (what I’ve seen of it) and we’ve had an especially beautiful fall.

to remember…

2011-11-01T21:21:00.001-05:00

Just a few silly things that I want to remember from Hollin’s birth….

*Matt and I were sitting on our bed, him trying to convince me to call the doctor, me trying to remember how close the contractions are supposed to be before you call… We got my phone to look up the clinic’s phone number on the internet. I typed in “Madison Women’s” (for Madison Women’s Clinic) and my phone autocorrected it to “Madison Wieners”. We were laughing so hard! And it hurt to laugh during a contraction.

*Matt was on call, of course. We heard a pager during the c-section and I asked Matt if it was his. He said, “Oh, well if it is! They’ll just have to wait.” Turns out it wasn’t his…luckily!

*Matt asked me during the surgery how I was feeling and I said, “I’m fine. I’m just in a strange mental state.” That cracked us up for some reason.

*My doctor told me to feel free to talk to her during the procedure, so at one point I asked her if I had a lot of scar tissue. She said she wasn’t that far yet, but she was sure there was probably just a normal amount. Matt said (sarcastically), “You’ve just got a really average uterus, Sarah.” Dr. S said, “Oh, I’m sure your uterus is extraordinary!” I don’t know why (maybe the strange mental state?) but I said, “That sounds like a great facebook status! ‘Doctor says that I have an extraordinary uterus!’” We all got a kick out of that!

*The first thing I said when they held her over the drape was, “She’s so SQUISHY!”

Siblings

2011-10-27T09:40:00.001-05:00

Zane is still pretty oblivious to the baby in the house. He will pay attention to her if we specifically ask him to give her a kiss or tell her hi. He likes to rub her head, too. But, for the most part, he forgets about her.

This was last Wednesday night, our second night home from the hospital. We asked him to hold his sister and take a picture with her. You can tell he’s got an idea brewing…. Guess what’s coming…Oh, yeah. Another lick. Or ‘the ultimate stamp of approval’, as one of my facebook friends called it.We did get one ‘human’ kiss out of him…It took him a few days to even notice me feeding her. When he did notice, he said, “Her eating you tummy?” I told him yes, that’s how she gets her milk. “It’s white milk?” Yep, I don’t make chocolate. What must go through the mind of an almost-three-year old?

I took a picture of Zane every month on his ‘birthday’ for over two years. Always in this chair, with his monkey. I haven’t decided what Hollin is going to take her picture with yet, so for her first ‘monthly pic’ I just took one in her crib. She looks so tiny in it!

bringing baby home…

2011-10-24T10:13:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday we got to bring our sweet little girl home! Initially my doctor said that they routinely keep patients three or four days, so we would probably stay until Wednesday or Thursday.

On Monday morning at 7am we were awoken by a jack hammer in our room. Ok, it wasn’t actually in our room, but it was so loud that it sounded like there was a lawn mower or something INSIDE our room! There was construction going on and it was so loud that we couldn’t even talk to each other. (Wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that we have to go back on Wednesday and have her hearing re-evaluated in her right ear?) When Dr. S came by, she said that since this wasn’t our first baby and we were both medical professionals, she would let us go home on Tuesday as long as everything was going well with me and the baby. Hallelujah!

Our stay at the hospital was actually GREAT! Everyone was SO nice. The nurses were great and so, so helpful with getting me and Hollin comfortable nursing. We had a big private room with a bathroom, and Matt even had his own bed. There was a “family kitchen” down the hall with free snacks and drinks available 24/7. I wouldn’t have minded staying longer if it weren’t for the horrible construction noises. Then again, it felt SO good to be home and to see Zane.

Matt said that it felt so different driving home with a new baby this time. He said he had never been so nervous behind the wheel of a car, as the day we brought Zane home. Everything has just seemed more calm and normal this time (including the baby!).

This is the dress that she came home in. Her DeeDee made it and it’s so precious. Funny: Matt and I put it on and buttoned it up the back….We later learned we had put it on backwards. We’re goofballs. Either way, she looked like a little angel. She also had on her Razorback socks. It’s weird to me that we had a baby in Wisconsin! She’ll always have Southern roots, though.

Zane meets Hollin

2011-10-20T23:01:00.002-05:00

Is that not the sweetest face you’ve ever seen? Matt went home Sunday morning to tell Zane that his new little sister was here! They both headed to the airport to pick up his DeeDee and then came straight to the hospital so that he could meet Hollin. When he first walked in the room, he came straight to me and asked if had a boo-boo. I still had an IV in my hand, so he was a little concerned with that. I told him that it had medicine in it that was making me better and that baby Hollin was there to see him. He said, “Her not in you tum-tum no more? You tum-tum not big anymore?”He was very excited to hold her and gave her lots of kisses. He said, “She so tiii-ny.”Then, just as any good puppy dog would do, he gave her a nice lick on the nose.And he thought it was hilarious! Here’s a close-up.We asked him if it was ok to feed her pizza and he said, “No, her don’t have any teeth.” Is it ok if we bite Hollin? “No, she not so tasty.” Funny kid. Matt dressed him in his ‘Big Bro’ shirt and then he insisted on the hat and boots. And DeeDee made him a ‘Woody vest’ for Halloween and obviously he had to wear it immediately!

Here’s our first picture as a family of four.Her actual due date was November 5th and we had planned the delivery for October 28th. My mom had booked her flight for the 26th, and Matt’s mom & dad hadn’t booked their flights yet, but were planning to come the beginning of that week, too. So, obviously none of them were here waiting for her arrival when we headed to the hospital on the 15th! We were so lucky that they flew up here on the first flights available! DeeDee left Little Rock on a 6am flight and was here by noon!Nana Beth was at the hospital by 10 that night. They were so disappointed to miss the birth and so anxious to get their hands on this baby that you would’ve thought that they waited a year! They both met her before she was even a day old and she will never know the difference.Here are a few of the only pictures I’ve gotten with her eyes open. They were taken on Tuesday, our first afternoon home.

Hollin’s Arrival

2011-10-18T22:07:00.002-05:00

When I got home from work on Saturday night, I told Matt that I had mixed feelings. I knew that it would be bad timing for us to have a baby right then (he was scheduled to be on call all week and we didn’t have any family here yet), but at least I was 37 weeks (term baby) and I was miserable and wanted this baby out of me! Little did I know….

I went to work on Saturday, telling myself that I just had to make it through four more shifts. We were pretty busy and I hurt all day, which was really nothing new. Once I got in my car, I realized that these were a little more painful than normal, so I downloaded a contraction timer app for my phone and started timing them.

Matt had made vegetable soup for dinner and it was yuuummmy! I ate dinner and (secretly) kept timing. After about two hours I realized that they actually were pretty regular, at six minutes apart. I showed Matt my app and he said we needed to go to the hospital. I was worried about ‘crying wolf’ but he talked me into having the doctor paged and she thought it was best if we met her at the hospital just to check things out.

One of our friends, Kirsten, saved the day and came to the house to stay with Zane while we went to the hospital. I was pretty confident that I would be monitored for a little while and then we’d be back home. Zane was already in bed, watching TV and when we got ready to leave he said, “No, You make me weally weally sad! Don’t weave me!” Matt told him he could watch TV as long as he wanted. Z looked at me and said, “Dada say I can watch tt!” Kirsten said he was asleep about 30 minutes later.

Once we were hooked up to the monitors at the hospital, my contractions went from 6 minutes apart to 3 minutes apart, and I went from 1cm to 3cm, all in about an hour. And, just as I remembered, contractions are painful, annoying, and don’t stop. By a stroke of luck, my doctor was on call that night and let me know that they were going to start preparing the OR for the c-section. I got a little upset then, just thinking about how we had a waiting room full of about 40 people when Zane was born and this time it was just me and Matt. Even though that wasn’t the ideal situation, I feel like it brought us even closer together because we only had each other. I was also relieved because I wasn’t going to have to be pregnant any longer, excited to meet the baby, scared to have surgery, guilty for leaving Zane…so many things.

At 12:34am on Sunday, October 16th, 2011 we welcomed our precious baby girl! Hollin Elizabeth weighed 6 lb, 14 ounces and was 20 inches long. (Zane was 6 lb, 15 ounces and 20.25 inches. Almost exactly the same size!) We feel very blessed to have her!

Hollin Elizabeth Bell

2011-10-18T18:02:00.002-05:00

October 16, 2011 @12:34am

6 pounds & 14 ounces, 20 inches

call the ‘tt’ man

2011-10-13T21:07:00.001-05:00

Oh, gosh. I’m literally wiping away tears because I’m laughing so hard. It’s really difficult to discipline Zane sometimes because he’s SO FUNNY.

Just now we were watching The Incredibles. Zane touched the tv (and fingerprints on the tv drive.Matt.crazy). Matt told Z not to touch the tv. He did it again. Matt told him, more sternly this time, to NOT touch the tv. He did it again. So Matt secretly turned the tv off with the remote and said, “You touched it again and it broke. You touched the tv even after I told you not to.”

Zane says, “I touch the ‘tt’ a wiiiitttle bit.”

At this point I’m biting my lip. Covering my mouth. Looking away.

Matt says, “What are we gonna do now, Zane? You broke the tv.”

“You call that tt man and tell him come fix our tt, Dada Matt Bell. You call that tt man.”

Yep. I snorted. And then Matt starts laughing. I mean, how in the world does he even know that there’s a such thing as a “tv man”?? Needless to say, The Incredibles is playing once again on our ‘tt’.

Sleeping babies

2011-10-07T19:02:00.001-05:00

This little boy is obsessed with what time of day it is. Every night he asks, “It nighttime, mama?” First thing in the morning he says, “It not nighttime anymore. It mohn-in time.” Sometimes, just before dark, he’ll say, “It not really, really nighttime.”

Last night Zane and I were in ‘mama’s bed’ watching cartoons. It’s kind of our nightly routine. He’ll tell me, “Ni Hao (or whatever is on) not over yet, mama. Ni Hao not over yet.” So when Ni Hao went off, I turned off the TV and we said our nighttime prayer. Then Zane said, “It nighttime, mama?” “Yep. It’s nighttime.” “Ok. I go get in Ane’s bed.”

WHAT?! He grabbed his blanket and off he went. I just stayed there, a little in shock. I looked at the monitor and sure enough, he had crawled into bed! I waited a minute, but I couldn’t stand it. On one hand, this is a dream come true. Just a month or so ago, bedtime was a kicking, screaming fit. So this is a definite improvement. But it made me SO sad! And there was no way I could just let him go to bed without being tucked in, so I went in to tell him goodnight. I told him that he was such a big boy to get in his big boy bed all by himself. He said, “You get in bed with me.” Um, ok. Today he came and told me, “Don’t wake Hah-yin (Hollin) up, Mama. She’s seeeepin.” I said, “Ok, she’s sleeping in mama’s tummy.” “NO! She seepin ov-uh dare. Don’t wake her up!” This is what I saw:That’s a good sign of a great big brother, right?

Bumpdate: 34, 35

2011-10-05T15:33:00.001-05:00

34 weeks, 3 days 35 weeks, 3 days

My 35 week & 4 day ‘Top Ten List’:

10. It takes me about ten whole minutes to maneuver myself out of bed. First I have to wrestle with “Boppy”, my human-sized pillow that I sleep with to attempt at a comfortable position. After I untangle myself, I then try to roll over. It’s not so much a fluid rooolllll, as it is a ‘scootch, nudge, roll, toss, rinse & repeat.’ Throw legs over bed. Push up from side. And, finally, attempt to stand.

9. Nine (hundred) times per day (at least) that Zane says one of the following: “Hold me, Mama. Ane’s feet don’t work. Ane can’t walk—he TIE-YUD. Ane can’t go up stairs—him a puppy dog. Mama puppy dog take me up stairs.” Adorably cute, annoyingly heavy.

8. I have eight items that need to be hung on the walls in the nursery.

7. Seven more shifts left at work before maternity leave!

6. I washed and packed six gowns/outfits for the hospital. All with matching hats or bows. Some with shoes. (On a side note, I’ve packed nothing for myself. Plan to do that in the next week or two.)

5. Five seems to be the magic number of times I get up to pee during the night. Five times getting up x 10 minute process = pretty much one complete hour of sleep lost just because of the smooshed bladder.

4. I have four pieces of clothing in my closet that fit. Hope it doesn’t get really cold between now and post-baby because ain’t nuttin’ gonna zip over this watermelon.

3. Three more doctor’s appointments before Hollin arrives!

2. TWO pieces of bedding that I am waiting to arrive in the mail. This is a whooole ‘nother story, but to sum it up….I ordered CUSTOM-made bedding. According to the pictures that I was shown AFTER the bedding shipped, the skirt was not made out of the material I requested. I emailed the lady (and attached my original email stating which fabrics go where) and she replied, “Oh, you’re right. Sorry I missed that.” ???? I was expecting, at the least, that she would refund part of the money or offer to make the skirt in the correct fabric. Anyway, I received the sheet, blanket, and pillow, but am still waiting on the bumper and skirt. We’ll see what I think of it when it’s all here and go from there. And I’ll post pics when the bedding is here and everything is hung on the walls.

1. One more weird pregnancy occurrence this morning. I say ‘one more’ because with Zane I had a few things happen to me that were weird. Well, actually they weren’t that weird, they just occurred in the wrong order. One of those was PUPPPs (puritic urticarial plaques and papules in pregnancy), which only occurs in about 1% of pregnancies, normally occurs in the third trimester, rarely happens in subsequent pregnancies, and may be associated with a reaction to male DNA. (Ha, I’m literally allergic to boys!) Instead of getting it in the third trimester, I got it about one week AFTER Zane was born. But, no worries…it doesn’t happen in subsequent pregnancies and I’m not having a boy…..Right??? Well, this morning I woke up with this WEIRD, bright red, rashy looking thing on the right side of my belly. Normally, I wouldn’t expose this big ole belly on here, but I had to document:Beautiful, right? Also, I have no idea why my belly button looks so pointy. I had an appointment at 10 this morning and by the time I got there, the redness was almost gone and it never itched. So who knows what it was?? Everything else was normal. Her heart rate was 136, my blood pressure was 110/70, and my weight was still 110 pounds (hahaha yeah right!). Almost there!

Madison Children’s Museum

2011-10-04T18:48:00.001-05:00

This will probably become our second home during the winter months. Zane could play there for hours. Wait, Zane did play there for hours and still didn’t want to leave. He’s been once before with the babysitter. This was my first time. We were looking for something to do that was outside of the house so that Dada could study (peds boards coming up on Oct 10th!) and that wouldn’t wear me out too much. We wanted to go see The Lion King in 3D, but it was only playing during naptime. I went ahead and bought a family membership. There are so many different things to play with, crafts to make, a cafe…There’s even this little ‘log cabin’ in the middle of the 5 & under play area that moms can use for a little privacy to feed or change babies. “Dis one go wiiiight here.”Zane didn’t seem to care that this area said “4 years & up”. He’s pretty brave! “Giddy up, hawsey!” Who’s that handsome guy on the TV? Fun day with my little man. We both came home and took a nap!

being productive

2011-09-27T11:26:00.001-05:00

So what have I been doing while my little boy is having the TIME OF HIS LIFE? Running errands (I’d forgotten how easy it is to run in stores by myself!), cleaning, load of laundry #6, got my flu shot (and you should, too if you plan on holding baby Hollin anytime soon!), working on the nursery, and learning a few crafts.

Did I just say ‘crafts’? Me? I’m the least crafty person I know, but decided to give it a try. Here’s some pictures of the picture frame I made:

I started with a $1 wooden frame from Michaels. Found some cute scrapbook paper and paint at Hob Lob. And then added her name! Next up…blocks! Her name for the wall:

Finally, some frames for the family to put Disney pics in:This last picture was taken last week. It just documents the other really important stuff I’ve been doing. You know, like growing a human.

He left me for a mouse.

2011-09-25T19:47:00.001-05:00

Mickey Mouse, that is. Lucky little boy is spending the week at Disney World! I must admit – I’m jealous! I’ve never been to Disney, but at 34 weeks preggo, it was definitely not a practical option for me to go right now. So, instead, I’m trying to enjoy a child-free week! I’m relaxing, working on baby girl’s room, washing baby clothes, and running errands while Zane is dancing it up with Jessie!DeeDee flew up on Tuesday. The first words out of Zane’s mouth that morning were, “Hi Mama. DeeDee here?” Saying that they were excited to see each other is quite an understatement. They flew back to Arkansas on Thursday and Zane had lots of visitors. He was SO excited all the way to the airport. Giddy. Like he knew where he was about to go. Saturday was the big morning! He flew to Orlando with DeeDee, E, Lindsey, & Erik. He needed to read over the safety features first. Such a cautious flyer ;) They said when they first got to the hotel, he looked down off of the balcony and said, “I’m gonna have fun down there.” Matt could NOT stop laughing at that! Entering the park with Lindsey on Day 1. He quickly made another friend, too. A few more pictures I’ve received today… Mesmerized by the parade. I know he is having so much fun! But it sure is quiet around here….

32 Weeks

2011-09-12T21:52:00.001-05:00

and 2 days.

Here’s the belly pic. She’s a growin’. Her ‘tiny little tap dancing’ on my hip bones now feels like she’s doing this yoga pose with her feet pushing my hip bones apart.But if her feet are pushing my hip bones apart….that would mean that her head was below the hips…Uh huh. That’s what it feels like. ‘Nuf said.

And when she finishes that pose, she moves on to this beauty:See that left foot in the air? It has no remorse for my right ribs…the same ribs that Zane had an affinity for. But at least they’re not numb yet.

Things that I miss: having more than one cup of coffee, sleeping through the night, taking a hot bath and having more than 50% of my body actually under the water, being able to bend over, wearing normal clothes, being able see/reach my legs to shave them. And this proves that you can find An.y.thing on the internet. The ‘Razor Reach’. Haven’t tried it, but I’m curious…. Things that are flat-out annoying: getting out of breath walking up the stairs (for that matter, sitting on the couch and feeling out of breath), getting up five times at night to pee, back pain, grunting every time I put on shoes or bend over to pick something up. And let’s face it, with a two & a-half year old, I’m constantly picking things up….including said two & a-half year old.

Things I’m craving: orange juice with lots of pulp and fruit punch gatorade. I eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch almost every day. It’s not so much a craving as it is that nothing else sounds good.

Things I fear: going into labor with no family here (what the heck would we do with Zane?), another baby that never sleeps, jumping back on board the Crazy Train, Zane’s world getting turned upside down again. I feel like I’m constantly telling him how much I love him and trying to explain what’s about to happen. I tell him that he will still be my favorite little boy, even when he has to share mommy with his sister, even when I can’t spend all my time with him. But how much does he understand? He just looks at me and says, “O-tay. Luj you, too, mama. You my besssss fran.”

Things I’m happy/excited about: having a healthy, uneventful pregnancy, getting the bedding in and finishing the nursery, looking at a closet full of pink stuff, getting a pedicure (it doesn’t take a lot to make me happy), meeting our little girl, going home in November, seeing what a great big brother Zane will be.

Things that make me laugh: Zane asking if Hollin will build a snowman with him and him bringing me a heating pad and saying, “You back hurt, mama?” Sweet boy. :)

Go Badgers & Woo Pig!

2011-09-11T10:05:00.001-05:00

Rumor has it that it will soon get cold here. In fact…in extreme cases, it could be 100 degrees colder than it is right now. (As in 75 minus 100 equals –25.) I think that there should be an entirely different word for temperatures that low. ‘Cold’ just doesn’t seem to do it justice. I can think of a few words, but we’ll wait and see once I’ve actually experienced it.
Rumor also has it that our work/responsibilities around here will soon more than double. There’s a certain little girl due to make her arrival in about seven weeks or so.
That being said, when Matt was offered two tickets to the UW-Oregon State game, we weighed our options.
Cons: We didn’t have a baby-sitter, we didn’t have a ticket for Zane, and Matt was on call.
Pros: Matt rarely gets paged when he’s on call (knock on wood). We could hopefully find Z a ticket to get in to his first college football game & he could sit in our laps. It was a beautiful, mid-70’s, 11am game and only one child to keep up with (and buy a ticket for), so if we didn’t stay the whole game, it wouldn’t be a total waste, right? Right!We had great seats, with cushions and seat backs, right on the aisle. And God bless the person beside us who didn’t show up, so we actually had three seats! There were a few moments that could have potentially ruined the day. Matt got paged right at kick-off (luckily it was non-emergent). The second half of the first quarter sounded like, “Ane wanna go home. Ane not watch football AN.EEE.MORE. Ane really DOOO wanna go home.” Poor guy was really hot and tired. Enter….NAP! Right across our laps! The nap lasted until the beginning of the third quarter, and he was in a much better mood when he woke up. Aaaand, the M&M’s and Sprite didn’t hurt. :)We left right after the “Jump Around” at the beginning of the fourth quarter (a little scary because you can feel the whole stadium moving). We had to get home in time to change into our Arkansas shirts, put pork chops in the smoker, and get ready to call those Hogs! Zane sang the entire way down from the stadium…some song about us being up “weally weally high” and going to “Ane’s new home”.Here’s a picture of the back of his hat, just because it’s cute. I loved hearing him yell, “Go Badg-uhs!” And when he said, “Woody say, ‘Go Pigs, too!’”

the big boy bed

2011-09-09T16:07:00.001-05:00

It’s official. He’s in the big boy bed. And things are going surprisingly well!So our original plan was to keep Zane’s room exactly as it was in ‘Ane’s old house’, and that’s what we did at first. He was still doing so well in a crib (not climbing out) that I was afraid to rock the boat. We were going to keep Hollin in our room until after Christmas, get Z big boy furniture for his birthday (and by this time hopefully he would be used to baby sister being around), and then do the switch. But….somehow, once we moved to Wisconsin, we got in the habit of Zane sleeping in our bed. This was NEVER the case in Little Rock, unless he was sick and we wanted to keep an eye on him. I knew that this had to change before the baby came. And there’s really not room for her cradle in our room. And her room is right across the hall….so we jumped the gun. And here’s proof that he actually sleeps in there:Not to mention that I found this really cute madras quilt and stars sheets on sale at Pottery Barn Kids and just couldn’t wait to order them! (still need to hang curtains)The first night he woke up THREE times. He actually didn’t seem scared. The first time he wanted Buzz Lightyear. The second time he wanted his ‘haha’ (pacifier). While I was looking for it and covering him up, I placed Woody on the pillow beside him. His string accidentally got pulled and he started singing ‘Home on the Range’. Zane whispered, “Shhh, Woody! It’s night-night time!” I couldn’t hide my laughing! The third time….well, it was about 5:30am and I told Matt to just put him in our bed.He’s been in the big boy bed for six nights now. We’ve been laying down with him until he goes to sleep. The last five nights he has slept all night! And when he wakes up in the morning, he calls for me. When I go in, I either get him out or he says, “I get down now?” So bittersweet that he’s not in a crib anymore.

him’s a giwaaaaffe!

2011-09-07T15:28:00.001-05:00

An entertaining lunch with Zane today. First of all, he ate. A LOT! PB&J, cheese, grapes, baked Cheetos, Better Cheddars…I know, a lot of cheese products, too! The boy loves cheese, which I guess makes him a good ‘Wisconsonian’. ?Is that a word? He saw a package of Kool-Aid (that mysteriously showed up on our counter) and said, “I see that man. I wanna drink him!” He was, of course, referring to the Kool-Aid Man. So I made him some Kool-Aid and he really enjoyed it. I told him that I loved his beautiful eyes and so he started opening them really wide! Ha!He was very entertained with pulling his grapes off of the vine. There were four left and he was pretending that they were the ‘hawsey’s feet' (horsey). Then he saw that there was one really long part of the vine on one end. He said, “Him’s a giwaaaffe! Him’s got a weally long neck! Him a nice giwaaaffe…my besss fran!”He keeps me entertained. Love to hear his random thoughts….

bwave boy at the lake

2011-09-01T17:03:00.001-05:00

While Lee & Amanda were in town, we went to the Wisconsin Dells. Think tourist town, like Branson. Except this town proclaims itself the “Waterpark Capital of the World”. In Wisconsin! There are a ton of waterparks and almost every hotel and resort has a waterpark included. As you would imagine, lots of these are indoor waterparks. Makes sense to me.We decided to have a nice relaxing day on Lake Delton and rented a big boat. We were unaware that Lake Delton is about the size of a football field. Ok, bigger than that, but definitely no Lake Degray. Pretty, nonetheless.

The weather was PERFECT! How does high 70’s in August sound, Arkansans?? The water, however, was frigid! I could barely stick my toes in the water. No swimming or water sports for us. Well, most of us…. This little guy really wanted to swim in the lake. We lowered him in a little. He just laughed and said more. So, we lowered him more. He loved it. And decided that he wanted to jump off of the boat into the lake. I told him that he was the BRAVEST little boy I knew. Immediately after jumping in, he said “I want out! Want out! Want out!” We quickly pulled him out and I wrapped him up in a towel. He kept saying in this pitiful little voice, “I bwave. I weally weally bwave.” I’m pretty sure he has no idea what that means, but it was so cute.Look at that cute little naked booty! :) He was so tired on the boat and asked if he could take a nap. MY CHILD asked if he could take a nap! WHAT?!?! Poor little guy just couldn’t get comfy in his life jacket & I couldn’t let him take it off. He’s only pretending to be asleep here.It was a really fun trip! We finished the night off with our first trip to the “Black Bear Inn”. We’re going back tomorrow night because we discovered that they have FRIED CATFISH!!! Not an easy find up north!

pirate ship

2011-08-29T21:15:00.001-05:00

Zane likes to pretend that all jungle gyms are his “pirate ships”. He especially loves if there is a steering wheel in it so that he can ‘steer’ the pirate ship. He calls himself ‘Pirate Man Ane’ and I’m ‘Pirate Man Mama’.

Uncle Bob & Gigi (Lee & Amanda) came up to Wisconsin this weekend to visit and they got Zane (& Hollin) their very own ‘Pirate Ship’!!! He was so excited! This one didn’t come with a steering wheel, but Dada & Uncle Bob found one. In this picture, Zane had just said, “Sank you, Uh-hul Bob.” He’s already a pro at climbing the rock wall.He calls this his airplane. He rides it “fah fah away to Dee Dee & Nana’s house”. Bob, Gigi, and Dad got to work on this right after Zane went down for his nap. When he woke up, it was almost done! The slide wasn’t on yet, so Zane “slept” on it. Then he said, “Put dat slide on!” He even used the swings, which he never does!This little guy’s day just got better, because then we heard the ice cream truck! This time he got Dora ice cream. Fantastically messy! I had to carry him straight to the bathtub!And then tried on his new belt from Dee Dee & E!Thank you Bob & Gigi for my new pirate ship!

zane’s adventures in baby-sitting, again

2011-08-28T18:33:00.001-05:00

So this is what our mornings have looked like lately. Some little stinker keeps finding his way into mom & dad’s bed. I love how his little toes are curled. That’s okay…I sleep fine. I’ve discovered that using my big body pillow as a barrier keeps Zane from kicking me out of the bed. Matt, on the other hand, says he sleeps with a head or feet in his back. This was Thursday morning. I had to wake Zane up early to take him to his new baby-sitter’s house while I went to my three hour glucose test. (Yucky, boring, long, but I passed!) It was taking Z a little bit to wake up. I asked him to say ‘cheese’. “No, I tan’t say cheese.” “You just said it. Say it again, except with a smile!” “No, I tan’t!” But after he got his ‘a-ha juice’ (apple juice), he was a little bit friendlier.Update on the child-care situation: While we LOVED having ‘Miss Chessie’ come to the house and keep Zane, our schedules just weren’t coordinating exactly. We miss her and will definitely call her again for a weekend or date night.

Last Monday was his first day with ‘Miss Jeri’. She (SO conveniently) lives in our neighborhood. Not just in our neighborhood, but on the street behind us! Miss Jeri keeps several kids in her home. We went over Sunday night so that Zane could meet her and feel comfortable in her house. Before we left he was giving her kisses and ‘eww-ahhs’.

Monday morning I told him I was taking him to Miss Jeri’s to play with other kids. He said, “I pway? It be fun?” I got there early so that I was sure to have time to spend with him there until he felt comfortable. He immediately started playing with the little girl that was there (also two) and barely looked up to tell me good-bye. That was so reassuring.

He was a little more apprehensive on Tuesday morning. He told me, “I want you stay and pway, too. I not want you go bye bye in that shirt.” (He knows when I have on red & khaki that I’m headed to work). There was a little lip-poke and a few tears, but they didn’t last long. She brought him some grapes and he started playing with the other kiddos (2 two-year olds this time, boy & girl). After a few minutes he said, “Woof woof. Bye bye. Be sweet.” (The ‘woof woof’ is because he commonly pretends to be a puppy dog.)

Then on Thursday morning he did just fine. No tears. He was still napping when I got home from my appointment, so I just came on home and was able to get the whole house clean before he woke up. When she called, I just walked over to get him. So convenient! Matt picked him up on Monday & Tuesday when he got off of work, so Thursday was my first day to pick him up. When I walked in the door, he RAN to me and hugged me so tight! It was the best feeling!

He talks about ‘pwaying at Miss Jeri’s’ so that makes me feel like he likes it there. I'm really thinking this is going to work out great! Answered prayers!

“Mmm Bah Chee”, and other randoms

2011-08-19T09:23:00.001-05:00

Aka Sponge Bob. What is the deal? What kind of magical sponge power does Sponge Bob have that he can suck kids into the television, make them point out every item in the grocery store with his picture on it, and scream to watch him at bedtime? The ice cream truck came by our house and of course Zane had to have the “Mmm Bah Chee” ice cream. I used to think he called him “Mmm Bah Chee” because he thought Sponge Bob was cheese…he does kinda look like a piece of Swiss…however, the other day he pointed to a blue sponge in the kitchen sink and said, “Blue Mmm Bah?” In other news, some days Zane thinks he is too big for his high chair and likes to sit at the island. Here he has pushed one of his chairs next to the bar stool so that he could climb up. And you can count his ribs. Probably because he would prefer to “eat” his plastic play food.We’ve been going to a playgroup on Thursdays with other wives/kids of UW residents and fellows. Zane loves to go play and it gives me a chance to meet some new people and have “mommy talk”. We’ve also found some new parks and play places we otherwise wouldn’t have known about.Last night Zane said, “Mama, you pway wiv me?” Who can say no to that? So we played Mr. Potato Head in the floor. He was waving MPH’s hand and saying, “Hi hi hi” in a really deep voice. Cracks me up.

Miss Hollin’s Shower

2011-08-15T18:16:00.001-05:00

The hostesses: Sara, Amy, Allyson, (me), Whitney, and Crady (and Kristina’s not pictured). Random, but weird fact: if you look at this picture from Zane’s shower, we’re standing in this exact order (almost, and I didn’t know Crady then).

My great friends have spoiled me once again with a great shower for Hollin! One of the highlights of being back in Arkansas was getting to see all of my friends in one place! Thanks for making it so convenient for me, guys!

The decorations were SO cute! Some of our family that came to celebrate: The girls acting silly!Hollin (and myself) got so many great gifts!My crafty friend Amy taught us how to make bows. What a great idea! The bow holder was full by the end of the shower!Thanks everyone for such a great shower!

Wedding in Arkansas

2011-08-13T21:59:00.001-05:00

So, I was horrible about taking pictures last week when we were in Arkansas…I was a little busy and stressed out that the grumpy little guy in this picture wouldn’t make it down the aisle.

In his defense, he felt horrible for several days. The Monday before we left, he fell at the park and split his lip open.Doesn’t look too bad here, but it later turned into a HUGE ulcer. Ugh…I know how painful those are and this poor little guy didn’t eat or drink for about three days. Combined with the fact that we got to AR on the hottest recorded day IN HISTORY (115 degrees), we were concerned with dehydration. Long story short, he felt better just in time for the rehearsal, looked darling in Kara & Daniel’s wedding, and was the perfect little ring bearer! Wish I had more pictures of the wedding, the beautiful bride, and the fabulous reception….maybe I can get some from other people later.

Kara is brilliant and got Zane the perfect gift: TRACTORS! He played with these and didn’t make a peep during the rehearsal dinner.Oh, just looking at these pics…I have to tell the story of the ‘blue shirt’. I had Z a cute little outfit all ready to wear to the rehearsal. And he wasn’t.having.it. He wanted to wear his blue shirt and blue shorts. Which were in the washing machine, of course. We throw them in the dryer, force ibuprofen down his throat, fix his hair….clothes still wet. I iron his shorts to get them dry. Matt starts ironing the shirt, all the while Z is yelling, “I want BLUE shirt!!!” Matt tells him he’s ironing it to make it warm. “I want COLD BLUE shirt!” At this point I’ve lost my mind and throw the shirt in the freezer while saying in my most sarcastic voice, “There. Your blue shirt is getting cold in the freezer. It will be fabulous.” Problem solved. Back to the wedding: Here’s a glimpse of the pre-wedding meltdown.And the wedding party with the perfect little ring bearer. This was before the wedding, during pictures. I carried him down the aisle, kicking and screaming, stuck him in his spot, and ran. He was perfectly still. Even gave a few smiles. And maybe got everyone to clap for him when the pictures were over….

Conversation with Zane

2011-08-12T22:35:00.003-05:00

Zane was very talkative on the way home from dinner tonight. A cute little conversation that jumps from one subject to the next. Here’s a little peek into the thoughts of a 2 year old.

Me: Ready to go, Brother?

Z: My name not brudder!

Me: But you’ll be a big brother when Hollin gets here.

Z: Hollin be a brudder, too?

Me: No, Hollin will be your little sister & you’ll be her big brother.

Z: Hollin come to Mama’s new house? And DeeDee’s house?

Me: Yep, when she’s born she’ll come to Mama’s new house. And when we go to DeeDee’s house, Hollin will come, too. Where is Hollin now?

Z: In mama’s tummy. It’s weally, weally big! (honesty, right?) I see MOON! It’s weally, weally bwight. Dare’s a man up dare (There’s a man up there.) It’s nighttime?

Me: Uh-huh, it’s nighttime.

Z: It’s nighttime at DeeDee’s house and Nana’s house?

Me: Yep.

Z: Oh, no! That moon went bye bye. (It went behind some clouds) He went to him’s home. To see him’s mama and him’s dada. Bye bye moon! See my alligator shirt?

Me: I see your alligator shirt. I like it!

Z: I like it, too. I like my brown shirt, too. Aunt Kaye Kaye got it for Ane. My name Ane Tom Bell (Zane Thomas Bell). What's you name? Mama Tom Bell?

Me: Nooo. My name is Sarah Elizabeth Bell

Z: O-tay.

Sassy Cow Creamery

2011-08-01T17:03:00.001-05:00

Farmer Zane!

On Saturday we took Zane to the Dane County Farmers’ Market, which is America’s largest producers-only farmers’ market. It’s held every Saturday morning during the summer and encircles the whole capitol. And it is AWESOME! Last week Matt made us a meal completely from the farmers’ market: steak, grilled corn, zucchini, bell pepper, and cheesy bread. YUM!

When we left Zane informed us that he didn’t see any cows at the farmers’ market. So…we took him here:

It was a fun little Saturday outing and basically free ($2 for Z to play games). And then of course we had to buy some ice cream!

Checking out the cows and goats.

Bounce house

The only disappointment was that the flyer listed ‘tractor rides’ as one of the activities. Zane was so excited about riding a ‘fuh-fuh’. Apparently their idea of a tractor ride is one of the little ride-on toys that you peddle. Um, my little cowboy is used to riding on REAL tractors, so this just wouldn’t do. He’s looking forward to our trip to Arkansas this week so that he can ride a “BIG fuh-fuh”!

sleep

2011-07-30T15:22:00.001-05:00

This is a picture I just took of my video monitor as documentation of how well “naptime” is going. He’s not yelling or mad. In fact, he’s having a great conversation with someone. Woody, maybe?

We’re about to start ‘sleep bootcamp’ around here. I won’t go into great detail here, but with the move and all of the changes going on, Zane’s sleep schedule is really messed up. He’s been staying up late, sleeping late, refusing naps and then crashing late in the afternoon…which makes him stay up late again…and the cycle continues.

Anyway, that’s beside the point. I wanted to include this to remember a few things about how funny Zane is.

A few minutes after I took this picture, he started yelling, “Daddy Matt! Ane poo poo, Daddy Matt!” Too bad ‘Daddy Matt’ looked like this: Which means that “Mama Churra” got to do the dirty work. Yes, he really calls us by our first names. Sometimes he even calls Matt “Daddy Matt Bell” but it sounds like “Daddy Matt Beh-yull”. So funny.

While I was changing his diaper he started singing ‘Old McDonald Had a Farm’. He came up with this all on his own. Because I’m not that creative. His verse: “With a poop poop here and a poop poop there. Here a poop. There a poop. Everywhere a poop poop!”

He went right back down after a clean bottom. Which means we’re once again at the late nap. Down for the count at 3pm. Great.

zane’s adventures in baby-sitting

2011-07-29T19:11:00.001-05:00

Doesn’t this look like the face of a happy boy?!

Lots of recent changes for this little guy. New house, new town, and biggest of all, no grandparents around. My biggest fear about this whole move has been finding someone reliable to keep Zane and how he would adjust to everything.

One out of two ain’t bad….(more on the adjusting part later)

Zane seems to LOVE his new baby-sitter, Chelsea! After his first day with her, I asked him if she was nice. “Uh huh! And pitty (pretty)!” Um, hello? You’re two! But he’s right. ;)

Their first day together she took him to the park in our neighborhood. For three hours! I’m sure he was in heaven! And she was able to get him to teetee on the potty, so mommy’s happy, too!They went to the Madison Children’s Museum the next time she kept him, where he made this little art project. When I got home I asked him if he made it. He said, “Made it for you, Mama!” So sweet. We will be buying a family pass to this place because, judging by her pics (so glad she took pics for me!) it looks awesome! Petting the baby chick! Making a long distance call to Arkansas??? This looks a little dangerous….My favorite thing is that he looks SO stinkin’ happy in these pictures! She also took him for ice cream. He made his own sundae and put chocolate syrup, lots of sprinkles, and gummy bears on it. (Aunt Lindsey, you should be proud). Matt and are afraid that he’s going to be disappointed to see us on our days off of work!

Missing Friends

2011-07-29T17:58:00.001-05:00

I’ve got a lot to update about…with the move, work, Zane’s adjustment, growing baby, etc….but I just wanted to get these pics on here because I’m SO behind!

Matt and I have a great group of friends in central Arkansas and they were thoughtful enough to throw us a going away party before the move. Being here makes me realize how easy it is to take your friends for granted. Just knowing that they are just down the street or an easy drive away is comforting. Now I just have to remember that they are only a phone call away. And three years will go fast, right? Right? ugh.

Brad and Crady hosted the party at their house. They just moved to Little Rock last year for Brad’s residency at ACH, but we feel like they are family now.Thad &Sara, our bff’s from med/pharmacy school Ryan & Amy, my bff since….she was born?Whitney, college roomie & we’re matchy-matchy :) Justin & Kasey. J is a resident, K is a pharmacist…obviously have lots in common! They were our ‘dinner’ buddies and Zane loves Kasey! Lee & Amanda, aka ‘Bob’ & ‘Gigi’, aka ‘the inlaws’I miss friends that take goofy pictures like this. Matt & Nate’s infamous awkward prom pose pic. We have one like this in our wedding album. not kidding.And pictures like this! Showing Hollin the love. We might have been making fun of pregnancy pictures.We had so much fun! It was great to see all of our friends before we left. :( And I couldn’t resist this next picture, although Matt might kill me for it…. Miss you girls!

Because I miss him…

2011-07-10T21:22:00.002-05:00

My heart hurts.

That’s what I’ve been thinking. “My heart hurts.” And today, my friend Amy said those exact words when I told her how sad it was to tell him goodbye for nine days again.

Matt’s mom and dad brought Zane up last Sunday and stayed until Wednesday. It was SO good to see him! (And them! Thanks Dee & E!)Things I want to remember about Zane’s trip to see us:

*Feeling like our family was complete again, even if just for a few days.

*Wearing his hat and boots every day. Except to the water park.*Z wanted to ride EVERY ride at the water park, but wasn’t big enough for most. So, we rode the ones he could ride over and over. and over. As soon as we would splash at the end he would say, “Do it again!”*We made him a “dog house” out of a cardboard box in the hotel and he pretended he was a puppy. Entertained him for at least 30 minutes. And we tricked him into eating by bringing him “puppy snacks”. He probably ate a pound of cheese curds out of his “puppy bowl”! (And we may or may not have had a noise complaint called on us….)

*The train at the zoo*The carousel*While Matt was carrying him on his shoulders, he kissed Matt on the head. I said, “Did you kiss your daddy on his little head?” Z said, “No. I kiss daddy on his BIG head!” Hi.larious! *Riding the turtle*Everyone in the airport called him “Tex”. And he even tipped his hat to one lady, said ‘yeehaw’, and danced a little jig. No kidding. :)*Oh, he liked riding the “alligator” (elevator) in the hotel, but would stand as straight as a board against the wall while it was moving.

Next weekend can’t get here fast enough!

22 Weeks and her name is…

2011-07-02T16:54:00.001-05:00

22 Weeks

The awful curtains in the background are in the hotel! Not quite my style :)

Things of note this week: (1) Matt felt her kick and (2) apparently there are exactly ZERO Ob/Gyns in Madison that take my insurance. No kidding. It was looking like I was going to have to drive about 40 miles to the clinic & hospital. After being accustomed to UAMS & ACH, I was not thrilled about having this baby in a small town hospital. So, we are getting Matt’s insurance, too, so that I can see a doctor that is associated with UW (the hospital where Matt is working.)

And her name is…..

Hollin Elizabeth Bell

I found the cutest boutique here in Madison, Patty Cakes, and they even sell bows! Matt knew I was afraid that bows wouldn’t be very popular in Madison (and from what I’ve seen so far…they’re not) so he even got excited when we saw them. Now we can make sure that Hollin has a big bow in her hair to match every outfit. I can still raise her as a proper ‘Southern girl’ even in Wisconsin!

Matt & Sarah move to Wisconsin, Part 1

2011-07-01T10:23:00.001-05:00

So long, Epernay Loop.

A summary of the past two weeks of our lives, splattered with Zane pictures, of course.

Last Monday, June 21st, the first of two PODS was delivered to our house. The next one arrived on Tuesday. Our plan was to pack all week and leave early Saturday morning to drive up; however, the best laid plans…Matt packed allll day Monday-Friday. The attic was a nightmare and took most of his time. In the meantime, I worked on the inside of the house. I packed everyday, except Thursday. By then my back was killing me, I had developed an awful cold, and just needed to rest. I didn’t hesitate to remind Matt that I was doing all of this while carrying another human with me the whole time! I spent Thursday with Zane, swimming, playing, and cuddling.Friday afternoon was the worst day of the week. I was tired and pretty emotional. And then my mom came to get Zane for the weekend. This meant saying goodbye to our baby boy for NINE days! He spent the weekend with my mom and then came back to Matt’s parents for the week. I know he’s had the time of his life and never needed for attention, but I’ve never been away from him for this long! Enough of this topic, I’ll cry again.Our big snag came on Friday afternoon. Once the two PODS were full, we realized we were also going to need a UHaul trailer. Matt filled it with trash and headed to the landfill around 3:45. Guess what time it closed? 4pm. Didn’t make it in time. So now we had this UHaul trailer FULL of garbage that had to be emptied before we could fill it back up with the stuff we were taking with us. Great. Plan delayed. Matt’s parents, Lindsey, Erik, Matt, and I spent Friday night (LATE) finishing up the garage, packing the house, and cleaning the now empty house. Matt, his dad, & Tyler went to the landfill early Saturday morning and then we headed back to the house, where my brother and Erik showed up once again to help.By 2 pm Saturday we were loaded up and ready to go. I wish I had a picture of that, but the camera was packed away somewhere. Needless to say, with Matt pulling the UHaul behind my Tahoe, and me driving the truck with the bed full of randoms, such as grill, lawn mower, chain saw, weed eater, brooms, etc….we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies headed to the big city.Matt & I drove about six hours, to Mt. Vernon, IL, where we spent the night. And maybe the bed bugs really did bite. Gross. Sunday morning we got up and drove another six hours until we arrived at our new (temporary) home away from home away from home….the hotel.Our house won’t be ready until the middle of July, so we are living in a hotel until then. That, and the fact that I still need to find childcare for Zane, are the main reasons he’s still in Arkansas. BUT, DeeDee & Skeet are bringing him up here on Sunday for a visit! I can.not.wait! I’m gonna squeeze him and kiss him til he begs for mercy!

Hat & Boots

2011-06-30T23:05:00.001-05:00

His current required attire

He goes no.where. without them. At first, it was just the boots. Now, it’s hat AND boots. Most days this is not a battle I choose to fight. In fact, I think he looks pretty cute in his boots. Cutest little cowboy around.He’ll bring me Woody and say, “Woody boots on. Woody hat on. Ane boots on, toooo. Ane hat on, toooo.” So I’m not sure who’s to blame: Woody, “E”, or “I”? Maybe all three! He chose his “pajamas” in this picture. Fleece, zip-up, footed pajamas (in the summer in Arkansas!), hat, and boots.I don’t care what he’s wearing…he’s absolutely gorgeous!He even sleeps in his boots. Every.single.night. One night I rocked him to sleep. He was OUT. Snoring, twitching, limp. OUT. I put him in his bed and he didn’t make a peep. I slowly slipped a boot off of his foot. His eyes SHOT open and he yelled, “Uh uh! Ane’s boots ON!” I did what any sane human would do. Put the boot back on his foot and slipped quietly out of the room. He looks (and is) so sweet. Here he is at DeeDee’s house. Laughing because “Ane toot!” As my friend Christine said, “He’s the rootin’est, TOOTIN’est cowboy around! You have to wear your hat & boots on the tractor!And you have to make sure everyone else does, too. (And sometimes belts are also required)And they’re a definite requirement when playing at Uncle Bob’s house. I love my little sheriff! Glad he’s here to save the day!

Smart frog

2011-06-04T13:55:00.002-05:00

I made my last trip to Hampton on Wednesday. Not last as in forever. Last before moving north. Zane and I spent wednesday & thursday visiting with family, and doing what little boys do best. Riding tractors.

My mom was walking around my grandparents' yard with Zane. Pappaw has lots of 'knick knacks' in the yard, including some frogs. My mom pointed to one of the frogs and said, "What's that frog doing?"
Zane: "I-own-know" (I don't know, his answer to everything)
Nana: "He's drinking a coke and reading a book. He's a smart frog."
Zane: "Ane smart fwog, toooo!"

So, we've been calling him a 'smart frog' since then.

Moving

2011-05-24T17:35:00.001-05:00

Our preparations to leave Little Rock ‘behind’ are becoming a little more solid. As I was driving today, it hit me like a ton of bricks….we leave in a little over THREE weeks! That’s less than one month. How did it sneak up on me like this?(Zane looks surprised, too.)

After having our house on the market for six months, probably ~20 showings, and zero offers, we’re taking a different route. Apparently, with the market this horrible, people are scared to buy….which means there are tons of renters out there! So, we’re exploring the option of a long-term lease on our house. If this works out, we’ll still be putting equity into our home, and could possibly move back into it when we come back! So I’m not really saying good-bye to the house, it’s more of a “see ya later!”Matt took a quick trip to Madison last weekend to find us a place to live. He got there on Friday afternoon and left Saturday afternoon. Twenty-four hours to find the place we’ll be eating, sleeping, bringing home a new baby, raising two kids, snuggled close under blankets during the coldest winters we’ve ever experience, and spending time as a family for the next three years. Kinda scary that I will be moving to a place that I’ve never stepped foot in. He did find a place (that I love in pictures) and we should know this afternoon if it’s ours or not. Fingers crossed!

Our tentative move date is June 20th. Scheduling movers….still on the to-do list.

I still haven’t taken the MPJE, but I am registered and have study cards! That counts for something, right?? And I have a job! (As long as I take this stoooopid test and pass…) Maybe Z will let me take his ‘banket’ to the test. I bet it’s good luck.Childcare is our other BIG to-do, but I’m not even gonna think about it until we get there. I just want my boy to be happy and taken care of.In the meantime, I look forward to seeing family and spending time with our friends before we leave. Friends like these two sweet boys :)

And their goofy daddies.

When I see this picture, I can hear his laugh. I have a feeling that laugh is going to be what gets me through those first few weeks in ‘Sconsin. And Kaye Kaye, I promise to be a better blogger, upload lots of videos, and Skype!

Sugar & Spice orSnakes & Snails?

2011-05-18T21:10:00.001-05:00

It’s a Girl!!

Last Monday night we went to the hospital with Lindsey and she did a quick ultrasound. She let us know pretty quickly that she thought she was getting a NIECE!!!

We got further confirmation today at my doctor’s appointment. The ultrasound picture above is proof. If you look to the left, those are two legs, booty on the right, and nothing “growing” in between.

Matt was thrilled that it’s a girl, Zane looked at us like we were crazy, and I was excited that she looked like she was sleeping very soundly. That’s what I’ve been asking for: a healthy, happy, sleeper! We tried and tried to get her to move around, but she looked pretty comfy, all curled up in a ball with her foot above her head.

Here’s the best face shot we could get. Now, let the name debates begin!

Baby #2, 15 Weeks

2011-05-13T15:49:00.001-05:00

Maybe it’s time that I write about baby #2?! That’s right, 15 weeks and no hiding the baby bump. Although I can still button my regular pants, it’s much more comfy to just jump into the stretchy pants and enjoy their, well…their stretchiness!

Although we have a lot on our plates right now, Matt and I agree that we are excited about baby #2. What we don’t agree on is baby names. He says mine are either ‘weird’ or boy names that I’m trying to use for a girl. I won’t mention that his favorite girl name is actually a boy name. (Oops, I guess I just did.) His rationale? “But it’s a better boy name.” Huh? Or we agree on the name, but not the spelling. So for now, we refer to this unnamed child as “Peggy Sue”. Poor little peanut.

I don’t think Zane cares whether he gets a brother or a sister, as long as it’s of the sheep variety.So far, this pregnancy has seemed easier than the first. I have only been sick a handful of times. Pretty sure I was sick every.single.day with Zane. Funny sickness-related story: One morning Zane was in the bathtub and I was ‘hugging’ the toilet. Zane started filling his mouth with water, spitting it in the tub, and saying, “Mama, Ane sick, toooooo!” No, no you’re not. You’re making fun of me and that’s not very nice.

My only other pregnancy ache/pain so far is round ligament pain. Basically, anytime I get up too fast or, heaven forbid, try to roll over in bed, this incredibly sharp pain shoots through my lower abdomen. One night I woke up screaming in pain. Once I caught my breath and explained what was going on, my sympathetic husband said, “That’ll teach you to roll over.” Thanks, hon.

For some reason, I’ve turned into a great big ole clutz. Last Thursday I fell down the front steps of our house. Long story that starts with me, Zane, a ride-on car, and some steps. Ends with me having two skinned up palms, a skinned knee, and a bruised leg. Oh, and a laughing husband (like I said, sympathetic). Then on Monday night I fell out of my Tahoe. This one starts with a sleeping baby in a carseat and clean (aka SLICK) running boards and ends with a bruised shin and hip, and me busting my bottom in the garage. Don’t worry, Z was still sleeping away, safely in his carseat.

Monday night my great sis-in-law did an ultrasound for us. I have my next appointment on Wednesday, and if nothing has changed, I’ll announce whether we’re cooking up some ‘sugar & spice’ or ‘snakes & snails’.

I’ll end with a random (but great) picture of Zane & his “E”.

Zane-isms

2011-05-01T12:26:00.001-05:00

Now that Zane has finally started talking, he has his own little language. Here’s a dictionary of sorts.

Ane: Zane

Ha-ha: paci

Eye-hi’s: glasses (as in eyeglasses or sunglasses)

Fuh-fuh: Tractor

Shoo-shoo: Choo-choo train

She-she: Paisley (our dog)

He-He: Henry (Lindsey’s dog)

Ewwww-ahhhhs: Hugs (Because he always says this while giving a big hug)

If asked what my name is, he says, “Ane’s Mama Shura” and Matt is “Ane’s Dada Att”. He wakes up from his naps yelling, “Ane’s Mama, Ane’s Mama”….so as not to be confused with anyone else’s mom that might be here?

The other day we were strolling out the door--scratch that--making a mad dash out the door, grabbing purse, coffee, Z’s clothes, paci, sippy cup, etc and headed to Conway. Me: Oh, here’s your chocolate milk. Z: Ooooh, sank you, Mama. You hold Ane’s ha-ha? (Translation: Oh, thank you, Mama. Will you hold Zane’s paci?)

Another favorite….We were outside and could hear sirens. They sounded like they were getting closer and closer. Me: Those sirens sound like they’re coming to our house, Zane. I hope we didn’t break the law. Zane: I dinn’t bwake waw! (I didn’t break the law.) I think this is so funny, because he has no idea what “the law” is, he just knew HE didn’t break it!

He’s a very sweet, cuddly boy. He gives great kisses and “ewwww-ahhhhs”. I’ve got him trained pretty well. I just say, “You know what Mama needs?” and he gives me a big kiss!

After many discussions about the baby-in-mommy’s-tummy, he still doesn’t get it. Whenever I ask, “Where’s Mama’s baby?” He point at himself (always his cheek) and says, “Wight dare” (Right there). Aaaaannnd, technically he’s right. He’ll always be mama’s baby! “Dare” has about three syllables. Poor kid is definitely going to be speaking a different language to the people we meet in Wisconsin!

Easter 2011

2011-04-29T17:11:00.001-05:00

Happy Easter from the Bell Family!

For the record, Matt picked out their Easter duds.

Does this look like the face of a child that would announce to the whole church (during the sermon) that “E teetee’d!!!”?

This does.

Just chillin’ in my new monkey chair.

Zane had Easter bunny Kit Kats (his fave), bunny marshmallows, and Pez for breakfast. Maybe that’s why he didn’t sit still during church!

Zoo

2011-04-26T12:47:00.001-05:00

Front row (L to R): Marley, Lydia, Zane, Cy, Della

Back row (L to R): Amy, Sarah, Kristina

Two of my very best friends (and kiddos) came to Little Rock last week for a zoo playdate. We had made a promise to get together before we move to Wisconsin. I have literally known Amy since she was born, and I’m sure I met Kristina not long after. I grew up with these girls and it’s funny now to see us running around chasing a bunch of kids! Our kids are all one year apart (ages 4, 3, 2, 1, infant, and bun in the oven).

We were lucky that the rain held off, but it was a COLD April day!

Cy and Lydia were so good during the trip. They just chilled in their strollers while the big kids ran around.

This picture is no surprise, since Zane is still obsessed with tractors (“fuh-fuhs”).

Zane wanted to pet the bear. Ummmm, no.

I have never seen a giraffe do this. Zane’s favorite part of the day. The carousel.My favorite part of the day. Actually, the 3 1/2 hour afternoon nap was my favorite :)

We had a great time! I’m sure there’s a great zoo in Madison, so you girls start planning your trip north!

Changes, large and small.

2011-04-11T21:59:00.001-05:00

And they are rapidly approaching. With our move to Madison just two short months away, it’s getting harder and harder to block all of these changes out of my head. I try not to think about them all at once, for fear that my head might explode. But maybe I should just put them all out there. A checklist of sorts. Let’s see if I can come with the top 10 changes/to-do’s/worries for the Bell family…..

1. Selling our house. Bittersweet. We really need to sell our house. SOON. But this makes me so sad. I love our house. This is the house I brought my baby home to. When we pull in the driveway, Zane always says, “Mama house, Dada house, Ane house.” I’m sad that it won’t be our house anymore.

2. Finding a place to live in Madison. We haven’t even really looked yet. See #1.

3. I still haven’t taken the MPJE (federal & state pharmacy law exam). This is my last step to getting my Wisconsin pharmacist license. Between working full- time and chasing a two-year old, I just can’t seem to find time to study.

4. Childcare. I have no idea what we’re going to do with Zane while we work. How do you look for childcare online? Not possible. This is really my biggest worry because Zane has only stayed with family and I worry about him adjusting.

5. Work. I’m about 99% sure I have a job lined up in Madison. but….see #3. And I’m hoping to work part-time but that’s dependant on #1.

6. Because #1 & #2 are still up in the air, we don’t even have an exact move date.

7. Because we have no move date (and nowhere to move to) we can’t schedule movers.

8. How are we going to get two vehicles to Wisconsin?? I know the obvious answer: drive. But I am NOT driving 800 miles ALONE with Zane Bell. nope.

9. Moving away from all of our friends and family to a place where I know NO ONE. Scary.

10. There’s one more itty-bitty, yet great BIG change coming our way. This one I’m not dreading. Worried? Yes. Scared to death? Yes. Overwhelming? Heck yeah. Exciting? You bet.

Random phone pics

2011-04-10T21:01:00.001-05:00

What two year old doesn’t love Thin Mints….in the bathtub? Diva.It’s been a tough day. He really needed to relax on the massager to work the kinks out of his back. Right. The best way to take a toddler to a restaurant! Not a peep through the whole meal. This meal, on the other hand, didn’t go as well. Of course this bowl had milk in it when he decided it made a great hat.Zane was very interested in the fish as it was being reeled in, even touched it while Skeet held it. But once it fell on the dock and started flopping around….he wanted NOTHING more to do with it!

I love this picture. My dad, “I”, with his little cowboy on the horse.Zane pretending to be asleep in the front yard.One of his favorite activities, playing on the tractor. Who needs clothes?And, finally, Zane and his buddy, Parker. Just cruisin’ around in the Jeep. Don’t they both just look thrilled?

Wye Mountain

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This is the face of a sweet little boy. And also the face of a little boy who loves mischief.

Two year old boy + Open field of daffodils = Impossible to take pictures!

This is what he did the entire time…

RUN!We practically had to pin him down to get pictures with him. Our attempts at, “Smell the flowers. Kiss the flowers. Say cheese.”, often resulted in TACKLING the flowers.

Our family pic

And just for fun…

2010

2009

Play Dates

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At the Park

This face cracks me up! He looks pretty proud of himself!

It was pretty outside one day last week, so we met Whitney, Alyssa, and Blakely at the park!Little MonkeyLoves to slide and has NO fear!Just a swingin’ Cute boy

At Jumpzone

At Playgroup

(although, he mainly played by himself. Who could resist the tractors??)

With Aunt Lindsey

And when it’s cold & rainy outside…

E-I-E-I-O

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Zane’s favorite “episode” from the Little People: Discovering Animals DVD is called Trading Places. Farmer Jed’s animals are a little confused. The cow is baaing, the sheep is mooing. In the end the animals discover that they are happiest being themselves.

Zane’s favorite part is when they sing “Farmer Jed, he had a farm. E-I-E-I-O.” He sings along as loud as he can. He requests this video by saying, “E-I-O Mama! E-I-OOOO!”

Here’s a little video of him singing. He also has strawberry icing on his face from the Valentine cupcakes we made together. Someone ate all of the sprinkles that were supposed to go in the cupcakes. I’m not naming any names, but he’s short and weighs about 25 pounds….

Snowy day randoms

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Not a lot of excitement going on here. Just more and more snow! Zane is still loving it and wants to go ‘ah-ha’ (outside) all the time. Unfortunately, it was 16 degrees here this morning, so I held him off until after lunch. By then it was a balmy 26! Usually snow in Arkansas is a HUGE deal, but we’ve had so much this year that I think Zane is no longer impressed by it. I guess this is good practice for me getting us both bundled up and out the door! I’m sure we’ll be doing a lot of this in Wisconsin next year!

Some of these pictures were taken with my phone, so they’re a little blurry.This boy really loves the snow! As soon as we step out the door he starts rolling around in the snow! He just laughs and jabbers and has a great time! Kind of reminds me of the way he acts in the swimming pool…just jumps right on in! He LOVED the neighbors’ sled. It had a rope attached with a handle that was just perfect for me pulling him around. It was so much easier to pull than I anticipated.He loved riding with “Kin Kin”.

I thought he was going to fall asleep riding on the sled because it was a little, ok a lot, past naptime.

Speaking of it being past naptime, here he is throwing a little tantrum in front of the neighbors’ door. I’m sure they wondered what all the commotion was going on outside their door.Here’s my cute little snow bunny.Yesterday when we came in, Zane’s hands and feet had gotten wet and were freezing! They were so red and I felt horrible. Today I tried something different. I kept him in his footie pajamas under his snow suit. Then I put a pair of my really long, thick socks on his feet and up over the snow suit. I also put a pair on his hands (over his mittens) and pulled the socks up under his snow suit. This kept his mittens from falling off and snow from getting down in them. Worked like a charm! His hands and feet were completely dry and warm when we came back inside!

Finally, here are a few pics from my camera from the last two snowed-in days.

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