5/27/14

Happy First Birthday Belle!

Our Little Belle is One Year Old!


She had such a fun birthday weekend!
On Memorial Day we had a little pool party barbecue with all her grandparents, Great Grandma Follett, and all her aunts and uncles. She had lots of fun visiting with all her family!






And today, her actual birthday, we took her to the zoo for the very first time. She had so much fun seeing all the different animals... The monkeys, the otters, and the meerkats were her favorites!



The big, sleeping silverback gorilla was daddy's favorite!






Mommy loved the three grizzly bears!









We are so grateful for our little cutie pie and what a blessing she has been for us. It's been an amazing year!

We love you, Belle!

4/19/14

Belle Kisses


Belle has learned how to give kisses!


Though to be fair she hasn't quite mastered it yet...




4/4/14

She Really is a Funny Girl, that Belle...

The biggest lie every parent tells themselves (and believes) is that they are the one in charge.

Yesterday, Belle started to get cranky after lunch, her usual time. So I took her in for a nap. Normally when I put her in her crib she'll protest and cry for two or three minutes and fall into a knockout, a-jackhammer-couldn't-wake-me-up kinda sleep. This time, I took her downstairs, read her a story, and laid her down in her crib. I handed her her favorite stuffed goofy doll, tucked her in, and shut the door. The whole time she just stared at me with a completely neutral look on her face.

When I went upstairs, I turned the baby monitor on and heard nothing. Absolute silence.

I felt proud of myself. "Looks like all that difficulty in getting her to nap is finally paying off!" I told myself smugly. I was so proud that I decided to reward myself with a root beer and some me-time. I sat in my big poofy easy chair with my root beer and my book and had a very relaxing time. I thought I was the Queen.

Then after about twenty minutes I heard a noise.

It wasn't a whimper, or a yell, or a cry. It was singing.

I paused and put my book down to listen. I turned the monitor up and could make out a very faint "ba-da-ga-da-mamama-da-baba-dadada". Belle was babbling very softly in an almost melodic way, as if not to disturb me in my deluded relaxation. After a minute of sitting in my chair and staring at the monitor with this expression...


...I decided to go down and check on her. I slowly pushed open the door to her room and peeked inside.

She had reached through the bars of her crib and grabbed a little board book (Dr. Seuss' ABC's, to be exact) from off the dresser next to her crib, somehow managed to get it back through the bars, and was sitting up in her crib, turning the pages and singing softly to herself.



3/1/14

Belle's First Restaurant Trip

I know "Baby's First Restaurant Trip" isn't a usual milestone, but we're a family of foodies! This is a big one!
Stephen got a $50 gift card to Red Lobster from work this Christmas so we looked for someone to babysit Belle, but no one was available. It took us an embarrassingly long time to figure out that she was probably old enough to just come along. She had the time of her life!
She met a new friend while we waited to be seated. 


When we sat her in her little high chair she immediately grabbed the dessert menu and clutched it all night long. We ordered her a little plate of French Fries to nibble and she kept giving us a look that clearly said "This is the best day of my life!" We're glad she loves food as much as we do!




2/4/14

Monday Night with the Swensens

The best thing about going to the hospital is the free water bottle they give you.
I'm not even kidding. Depending on the nature of your stay (the only time I've ever been admitted was for child birth) they give you a wonderful, sturdy, 32 ounce water bottle, complete with straw and lid.
The water bottle in question is the reason I have to take several bathroom breaks every night but I don't care. I love it and so does Stephen. I share, but he has already claimed the souvenir water bottle we'll get for our second child. 
Every night, the last thing I do before bed is fill my water bottle with lots of ice and cold water and we both take a big gulp before we go to sleep.
Last night, due to working fifty hour weeks for year's end, Stephen was so tired that he kept falling asleep during a movie we were watching. Finally I asked if he wanted to turn the movie off and just go to sleep, to which he yawned his agreement. So I filled my water bottle and handed it to him for his nightcap. 
Stephen was so tired he forgot to take into account that the lid has two holes in it for the straw and he tilted it back to drink while lying down. By the time I looked up, half the water had spilled onto his shirt and the sheets.
"Honey!" I warned, but he had realized his mistake. Well actually, he realized his mistake from the beginning but was just too tired to care. But when the water started collecting at his chest and back, his eyes shot open and he stared straight up at the empty void as he lay there, petrified. 
"You have water on you!" I unnecessarily pointed out.
At this point Stephen was still half unconscious but aware enough to realize that sub-zero water was seeping through his shirt and against the sheets onto his skin. 
"Get. It. Off." he commanded in a low growl.
In my mind I responded "What am I, a sponge?" but for reasons even I don't know I reached toward the frigid puddle on his chest as if I could somehow clear the water off him without making it worse. I never reached the puddle though, because at this point the cold finally got to him.
He let out a noise that started as a low moan but in a matter of seconds escalated to a pterodactyl scream and leapt off the bed. He did what I can only describe as a Native American war dance while simultaneously spinning in circles, flapping his arms like a chicken, and ripping off his shirt in one fluid motion. All while screaming. 
Somehow, the baby slept through all this. 
Stephen, now shirtless and traumatized, did his best to dry the sheets with a towel but in the end, we had to use the blow dryer.
So after that little detour, we finally settled into bed. 
"Honey?" Stephen asked. 
"Yeah?" I replied. 
"Can I have a sip of your water?"