New Addition

Big news in our family.  My sister welcomed her first baby girl on August 2!  Alta Arnell.  Isn't that the cutest name?!  I am biased.  She came out a little bruised, due to being face up.  Poor thing.  She healed up in no time though.  My sister, obviously was a champion and handled labor like it wasn't a big deal.  She has always had a high pain tolerance.

 

 ^^Cute little family^^

I was lucky enough to spend a week with the new babes and Melinda a right after she was born.  Not sure if I will ever be living in Utah again when my sister's have any more kids, so I ate it all up and probably wore out my welcome.  

 ^^I had these really high, unrealistic expectations for Henley's reaction to the baby.  This picture pretty much sums up their relationship so far.^^

I went with my sister to Alta's newborn photoshoot and they put Henley in some.  First cousin photos, and I think they turned out incredibly well.

 ^^BFF's^^

Welcome to the family Alta!  We love you to pieces.

More Animal Love

This summer I feel like we have spent more time with animals then I have in the past decade.  Maybe we should become members of Peta or something.  Those of you familiar with Logan, we hit up the Cache Valley Fair last month.  Most of our time was spent with the animals as stated above.  Henley was more than intrigued with the pigs, sheep, horses, cows, etc.  Very exotic Logan.  I was mostly captured with the people watching.  Much to my disappointment we didn't get to spend very much time in the carnival section where all the magical people watching happens.  I did see two mid-drifts that I wish I would have never seen.  Those bad boys are burned in my memory forever.

 ^^Checking out the oinkers^^

 ^^There were tiny little piglets in this corral.  Super cute.  Makes me want to get a miniature piglet^^

 ^^Please let me touch Mom^^

 ^^Very focused on touching this lamb's nose^^

 ^^Don't forget the ever famous city displays made only out of food products.  I never appreciated this when I was a youngin.  Much more impressed these days.^^

We also stopped by Willow Park Zoo.  The fee to get in was $2.00 which makes sense.  The zoo consisted mostly of birds and anything slightly interesting was in a cage within a cage within a cage.  The emu's were by far the coolest thing there and Henley could actually see them.  Good thing we went with some really good company. 

 

^^See George?...Her stuffed giraffe she takes everywhere.  It seemed only appropriate to take him with us to the zoo.  At one point Hen threw George over a fence we were standing at.  I then climbed and leaned over the fence while Kristin held on to my pants.  Awesome/brave mom moment.  Wouldn't want to lose a $1.50 Walmart toy.  Too bad we didn't get a picture of that.^^

 

 ^^Lovely ladies and their babies^^

 ^^I wore my zebra shirt.  We were all sorts of appropriate with our accessories and attire that day.^^

 ^^Picking at the grass before we took off.^^

I would highly recommend the zoo if you need something to do.

Crossing Off the To-Do List

Simple DIY projects call my name.  Really simple.  I am not a seamstress or artist, although I wish I were.  There are a million DIY's wandering the world wide web and I have learned to stick with the easy-peasy ones.  I saw this ASOS Bonjour sweatshirt tutorial and thought I could tackle it and save some cash.  In the meantime, I have struggled finding onesies for Henley that are unique, affordable and don't have a huge monkey or butterfly on it.  Thus, the project went from a sweatshirt to a Bonjour onesie and I love how it turned out.  She wears it all the time and it goes with everything.  

  

^^Not the best shot of the shirt, but you get the point^^

After the Bonjour onesie was a success, I figured I could try to make another stencil with the magic freezer paper.  I think it turned out pretty cute. 

 

Then there is me.  I spotted this bad boy at Anthropologie and immediately fell in love with everything about it.  Except the price.  (The next week I met up with my sister and she of course had the gorgeous top on and had somehow bought it for a screamin' deal --she is the best deal finder evah).  Great news is, this amazing blogger had my same thoughts and created a tutorial.  The sewing was definitely for beginners so it was right up my alley.  I bought the black tee at Target and the material at JoAnn's for $1.25!  Total cost of the shirt was $9.25!  I am elated when I get a bargain and projects turn out.  I have worn this baby too many times to count. 

^^I'll say it so you don't have to -- I am not good at selfie's.^^

 

^^Taking a picture of my back is more difficult than I thought possible.^^

He Came Home...For a Bit

Last week was AH-MAZING!  Rich was able to fly in for a measly four days.  Obviously I would have liked it to be longer but I will take what I can get.  The second he got here we were on the go.  First and foremost, the Bell household is a simple zoo.  Meaning, there are quite a few pets compared to my parents house which have zero.  Henley had to be introduced to all of them.  The two cockatiels, three dogs (Lumber being her BFF), three horses, numerous chickens and roosters, etc.  She is quite the animal lover.  Maybe even a vegan...too early to tell though :) 

Not only were we busy with animals, we were pool hunnies.  Seven Peaks, Utah Lake, and Grandma & Grandpa Bell's pool were all hot spots for us. 

 

^^Side note -- Henley pulled this "underbite" look for a couple of days.  Once Rich left, I realized she had another tooth coming in she had been playing with.  We enjoyed the bitter beer face while it lasted.^^ 

 

^^Super unimpressed by the slide.  This cracks me up because we thought we were being extremely daring parents by taking her down the BIG water slide.  She could not have cared less about it.^^ 

 

^^I lathered her whole head in sunscreen.  She refuses to keep a hat on anymore.  The process reminded me of the Full House episode where DJ is babysitting and she butters the kids head.  You 90's peeps know what I'm talking about.^^

Wave running brings us joy.  When we were dating we did this often for entertainment and loved every second of it.  I even have stitches to prove it.  We figured Henley was bound to be born with the wave running passion, so we strapped her in a gigantic life vest and took her for a ride.  I don't know why I expected some shrills and squealing, alas she was more worried about the key flapping in the wind.  Next year, right?  She did love being able to crawl through the shallow warm (disgusting) lake water and eat as many handfuls of sand she could possibly sneak in without us seeing.  Hopefully she doesn't get an STD from that.   

^^Last family photo before he took off^^

It was a well used break.  We partied hard.  We went back to Logan exhausted, sun kissed, and missing Rich more than ever.  Cheers to only four more months of this crap.

Summer Outings + 10 months

Lots of park visits are keeping us entertained.  Climbing through the tubes, watching other kids, and obviously the baby swings are our favorite things to hit up.

^^Get in my belly!^^

I love me a good snow cone.  This was Henley's first introduction to the nectar of the Gods.  Love at first bite. 

We have a little reader on our hands.  I feel really lucky she enjoys books so much.  She will sit down with me for 30 minutes a day (at least) and read through every book we have.  Going to the library each week and getting a new set of books probably plays a role in her lengthy attention span.   

Doesn't she look like a little girl in the picture above?!  Just like every other mom out there, I cannot believe how quickly time has passed.  Almost a year old!!  Below are ten things about this 10 mth old.

1. Obsessed with raspberries
2. Throwing is her new hobby, and then typically chasing what she threw
3. Touching everything
4. Standing up in her crib and screaming
5. Nodding yes and no
6. Crawling all over me whether I am sitting, laying, standing, etc.
7. Loves to turn the radio on and listen to music.  Also loves me to sing to her (woof)
8. Snuggling after a nap
9. Opening and closing drawers, cupboards, doors
10. Animals - - she adores them

^^Daily ritual.  Hanging out with Grandpa when he gets home from work.^^