Relearning life...

[10 months. pictures. kidney stones]

Mirabelle turned 10 months old this past week.  Boy has the time flown by this year!!  I found myself thinking about her 1st birthday party the other day and it just blew me away...  My baby is on the verge of being a toddler!!  She has been growing and developing like wild fire this month.  She now has 3 words (Dada, Momma, and Bye-Bye), she waves, she can pull herself up and stand, she gives kisses, she is learning to clap, and she can mimic just about any sound we make with our mouths. 

The day after she turned 10 months we had a well-check out at her doctors office in Sugarland so, since we were already out that way, we went to the mall and got portraits taken at Picture People.  Its been since Christmas so it was time to get some portraits done before she turns one.  They turned out great.  I will post a few at the bottom of the post.  If you are interested in ordering any prints leave a comment and I can send you the link for the website so you can place an order.  I did print a few wallets and 4x6 size pictures to give out to some family members but beyond that would be on your own. 

Last weekend Bill was super sick with a bad stomach virus that left him feeling terrible till Tuesday of this week.  Thankfully he is back to normal now.  Around Tuesday I started to feel like I was coming down with the same thing.  Wednesday and Thursday were worse than Tuesday.  Finally, Friday morning around 6 am I woke up in excruciating pain...I felt like I was in labor all over again.  After about 3 hours I couldn't take it anymore so Bill had to take me to the minor care ER center.  Turns out I have my first kidney stone!  They think it's too big to pass on its own so I will be going in Monday morning to have a procedure done where they will reduce it so that it can pass easily. 

I have heard from people that a kidney stone is more painful than labor.  Now that I can compare I would say that its similar but different.  The trouble with the kidney stone is that there is no break, where as with a contraction, you know that you have a 30 second to 2 minute resting period to look forward to before the next one comes on.  This was like a 6 hour long contraction...and we are talking BACK LABOR!!  I tried to think back on what I learned in my birth class for helping with pain so I have been taking a lot of hot baths and using my labor breathing. 

I could definitely use some prayer...I really don't want this thing trying to pass on its own since it is the size that it is.  Unfortunately I have no one to blame but myself for this stone.  My medication can cause kidney stones I knew that I would need to stay on top of my water intake but lately I have been very lazy about it.  Live and learn!!

P.S. There are some new pictures in the "Mirabelle Ani" photo album if you want to take a peek!

[8 months in Seattle]

Lately Mirabelle has been a bit of a cranky pants and I feel helpless to her aid at times.  Mostly she just needs lots of extra snuggles--that I CAN do and I love do snuggle that precious angel so, so what if the laundry piles up!!  Turns out my stinker has cut not one but TWO teeth over the course of the last two weeks.  She is now the proud owner of her bottom two front teeth.  She is even showing them off in the first featured picture below.

This girl travels well!!  This past Monday we headed out to Seattle for the Resurgence Conference at Mars Hill Church with took place at their Ballard (main) campus.  We had to take 3 planes to get there and she slept the entire way there.  Mirabelle and I didn't attend much of the conference but Bill and the Kaleo elders in training got their fill.  It was wonderful I've heard and the little I participated it was great.  I spent most of my time exploring Seattle for the first time, despite the fact that this was my third trip there.  I rode around with Jeanette (our worship art minister's wife) and amazingly we didn't get lost once.  I had the joy of showing her from point A to point B where once Bill, Mark Retzloff, and I walked 5 miles uphill thinking it would be an easy stroll to Mars Hill...HA...WHAT A MISTAKE THAT WAS!!  She was impressed.  We went to Archie McPhee which is this quirky store that literally sells tons of random crap you don't need but want.  We drank lots of coffee and window shopped in a bunch of shops downtown that were very unique and excentric. 

One night we had the pleasure of traveling into the mountain regions just out of the city to one of the elders parents homes and had a home-cooked meal. It was so good and the neighborhood and scenery was breath taking! 

The last day there we hung out at the Public Market by the shore and bought some organic dried fruits, handmade cake donuts, and then had fresh seafood for dinner and a nice restaurant.  I actually tried sushi for the second time in my life and acutally liked it.  Now I'm on the hunt for a restaurant here in houston to go try it again and see if I TRULY like it or if it was one of those "in the moment" kinda things.  I think I would definitely want it cooked though. 

Mirabelle was a bit fussier the way home but everyone around us on the plane still commented on how well behaved she was.   Then today I noticed her new tooth so that explains it.  She is very happy to be home and back in familiar space.  I am sure she will be excited to see all the familiar faces at Kaleo tomorrow too.

The day we flew home Mirabelle turned 8 months old!!  How  quickly time is flying by!

Well, I better get to bed...I will leave you with a few pictures from our trip...I appologize but I have not had time to edit any of them so some of them are a bit blah.

[Picture post]

Just taking a break to show off my precious girl being as cute as ever!

[2 First Times in the same week]

This past wednesday Mirabelle participated in her first Ash Wednesday service!

The next day..she decided to start sitting up on her own!!

[7 months already!]

Mirabelle went and turned 7 months old without asking us...thats kids for ya!  She is doing wonderful and her personality is revealed more with each day...it makes us love her that much more.  We are pretty sure she is going to be an attention ham and able to draw a crowd with her antics.  She cracks us up all the time with her faces and sounds.

She started solids this past month, and so far, her favorites are yellow squash, frozen bananas, and sweet potatoes.  I make them all fresh with  my "Magic Bullet" so we are saving lots of money making it fresh and in bulk, not to mention, we get to avoid all those nasty additives and perservatives. 

She has gone from a scooch to an army crawl.  We expect to see those knees up and into a full crawl any day now!  Also, she is sitting up great in a highchair but not independently just yet.  She has gotten to the age where the 30 minute Baby Mozart video actually captures her attention and she loves going for walks in her stroller.  We are lucky enough to live across the street from a walk/ jog trail.

Oh, I forgot to mention, she also likes to share apples with Bill.  She did this the other day so I had to run and get the camera...what a goof!

[Christmas Day]

Christmas day was a great day!  We woke up early and made breakfast and had Grandma McNeese and Nana (Mom) over for presents.  Mirabelle looked precious in her new outfit and enjoyed learning how to rip paper, and chew on bows.  After breakfast at home we went to Aunt Kim's for brunch and presents with more family.  We had a great day and Mirabelle had a blast cuddling with her cousins Jennifer and Hannah.  Jennifer and Meredith were excited to get new tv's for their room and Hannah got tons of cute clothes and craft type gifts...not to mention tons of Hannah Montana stuff.  Mirabelle got some great toys too!

Its hard to believe Mirabelle has already had her first Christmas!!

[Christmas Eve 2007]

The Advent season has come to an end and we had a wonderful celebration with our church as well as our family this Christmas.  Chirstmas eve started with, none other, than a lunch at Casa Ole!  Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jarrod are in town from Florida and Mirabelle has enjoyed much cuddle time with the two of them, not to mention we all have enjoyed their company...ehem..and their Wii!!!

After lunch we went to visit Grandma in at the hospital.  Unfortnuately she was not able to join us for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner and present opening extravangaza at the Streger's house but we had a great time visiting.  Bill read the "Christmas Story" and we enjoyed watching her open her gifts.  After recieving poor care at West Houston Hospital she is now at a rehabilitation center in Bellaire recieving physical therapy to help strengthen her legs.  Please keep her in your prayers as she recovers. 

Monday evening was our Kaleo Christmas Eve gathering.  This was the first year that Bill, Mirabelle, and I could light the advent wreath.  It was really neat having Bill upfront reading the weekly scripture with Bible in one hand and baby in the other as I lit the Christ candle. 

After the gathering we headed over to the Streger's for food, laughter (lots of it!!), the usual innapropriate comments and scarcasm, as well as the repetitious use of the word "ass" which has now become a holiday tradition (don't ask!!).  Bill even got an "ass" for Christmas as a gift this year from his grandmother (see picture below).  Mirabelle was showered with many wonderful gifts...lots of Melissa and Doug toys, cute clothes, precious shoes courtesy of Aunt Christy, and Bill and I were super suprised with the gift of a 40 inch flat screen LCD-TV!!  We can't wait to get it hooked up!!

After gifts, we played Uncle Jarrod's Wii system and it was a blast!  Bill and I boxed and our muscles have only recovered from the workout as of today.  We also played the bowling game and had fun watching Bill throw his bowling ball on the "ground" several times as well as one launch into the audience behind him!! 

It was a wonderful evening and Mirabelle was so well behaved despite being up almost 4 hours past her normal bedtime. 

Enjoy the pictures below:

[5 months old today!]

She is growing up too too fast!!

[The Hartley 5]

I want to say congratulations to the Hartely family on the arrival of their new baby boy, while also welcoming precious Malachi Jayden to their family, as well as to the Kaleo family.  The family has been praying and waiting patiently for God to bring them their son through open adoption. Please pray for this wonderful family as they bond and grow with the help of God.  Also pray for the birthfamily as they mourn the loss of this precious little boy.  I pray that God would give them peace and assurance that this situation is in God's hands and they could not have chosen a better family to love and nurture this child.  I pray for the long journey towards emotional and spiritual healing that they have ahead of them...may God's love, grace, and mercy be seen!

The Hartley's are the one's that introduced us to New Life, which is the adoption agency that Bill and I were using (will be using) for our adoption.  As you all know, we were in the waiting process for a birthmom to choose us when we found out we were pregnant with Mirabelle.  In the near future we will be "back on the shelf" and moving forward again with our adoption. 

[make that four...]

In a little less than an hour my baby girl will be officially 4 months old.  She has already lived 1/3 of her first year!!  Its amazing how far we have come and how big she is getting.  This month she started laughing out loud, rolling over, and she has bonded well with her Daddy.  When he comes home and she hears his voice from across the room, she starts looking for him and smiles.  It's precious! 

This past month she has gone on her first trip!  This past weekend we went camping with a few other families and friends from Kaleo.  The weather was perfect and we had a great time.  This was also Bill's first camping excursion and luckily it was a positive experience for him as well. 

Mirabelle was impressed by all the new sights to see.  Nature is awesome!  She slept well all bundled up in the 40 degree weather.  Friday night we cooked hot dogs over the fire and enjoyed some smores for desert.  Saturday morning the Stroms cooked up some great pancakes and we discovered that Bill now likes pancakes as long as they have butter and powdered sugar on top! We already have a 2nd trip in the works to Enchanted Rock so it looks like our family has a new hobby.  Here are a few pics from the weekend: