So this little outfit may not be as high of quality as the other ones I like to make Stella, but it is definitely more exciting!  (if you can read it, that is)  

Stella - the wild child - with perfect timing

So I decided two days ago, that I would go buy one of those little toys that kids can push around and walk behind at a consignment store near our house, because bending over to hold Stella's hands everywhere she wants to go gets pretty tiring.  The first time I went to the store, Stella fell asleep maybe a minute before we pulled into the parking lot, so I turned around and went home.  A couple off hours later, I made my second jab at it and drove down to pick up a walking toy.  A couple of weeks ago, I had tried this already, but Stella cried when she realized the toy moved.  It freaked her out.  So anyway, we get there, she tries one out, and she loved it, as long as one hand was on the toy, and the other one was in my hand.  So this didn't completely solve the having to bend over and help her out problem, but I thought it was a start.  When we got home, I had Stella try it out once.  She walked with it one time across our very small living room, and I was proud.  But then she really surprised me.  She was standing, like she often does now a days, and then took three steps.  She has only taken single steps up until this point, so three in a row are a big deal!  Now the toy seems semi useless - she can use it to practice and to get faster, but I thought man, perfect timing.  10 mins after I put money out for something, you prove that after all you didn't need it that much.  At least she likes playing with the little flaps and activity things on the front side of it.  ;) 

  

Untitled from Melissa Smith on Vimeo.

11 Months!! AHHH!

11 things about Stella at 11 mos.

1. She love love loves TV.  We do not get cable, so actually what she loves are educational videos...(learning to read, sign language, spanish sing alongs, etc.)  but we are keeping the "educational" part a secret from her, just in case that word rubs her the wrong way.

2. She still is not all that fond of eating.  Now, she mainly likes to "taste" food by putting it in her mouth for a second, and then grabbing it out with her hands, or spitting it out, so that she can throw it on the floor.  

3. She has taken a few steps.  She is nervous to walk.  She concentrates so hard the times she's attempted a step, but usually she just stands until she wants to move, and then in a very controlled manner, squats down to her hands and knees, and crawls off.

4. She is now in the 18 pound range.  She recently has grown a ton.  Being that she now uses bottles again really helps.  She has apparently realized that in the car she is stuck there anyways, and so she often graciously eats and eats, or drinks really, away.  LOVE IT!  I am glad to know she is healthy.  She is also tall.  Around 30 inches last time we checked.  Growing like a weed these days.

5. She can finally...(I cannot stress finally enough) entertain herself for about 10 minutes when she wants to.  It has to be when she decides, but that is great!  I will take any little section of time I can get.  

6. She "says" a few words... very very babbled... but we think we are translating correctly.  Some are, whoa (when she falls or anything like that), Pooh (as in whinnie the pooh), Food (actually pronounced ba by her... but it definitely means food, maybe she gets it from bottle?).  Thats all I can think of right now.

7. She has a strong belief that she is to be the speaker in Sacrament meeting every Sunday.  She loves to blurt out many many different things, and we have had to take her out I think every meeting since she was 3 mos.  Hmmm...I bet this one will only get worse too.  

8. She loves to "play" with other little kids her age.  She is very social right now, and it is cute to watch.  She loves to pull every book at her level off the bookcase.  If I try to clean them up while she is awake, she will come stop me, or come take the books back off before I can put them all up.  There is no doubt in my mind that her intent is soley to make a mess - doing whatever may be necessary to achieve that goal. 

9. She has reverted to her old not sleeping through the night thing again.  Last night it was 6 times that she woke up.  Hello...nighttime is for sleeping, she does not understand.  I am hoping this is only because she is teething and has been the last week and a half.  (PLEASE!!!)

10.  Speaking of teething... she is getting her 4 teeth in on top.  Two have poked through, the rest are taking their time.  She is going to look so old!

This next one is technically more than one thing, oh well.

11.  Cords are her thing.  If there is a cord, she is going to yank on it.  She loves pictures of Jesus.  She will not stay sitting in a shopping cart.  She has started to cuddle a little more:).  She pulls even the little clips out of her hair now... great!  If I am on the phone, she gets jealous of the person on the other side, and has to sit (crawl all over) on my lap.  She loves to read books with mom and dad, especially Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?     

Two days in a row!!!

This past weekend - Andy finished his observation of the Family Court Judge here in Lexington. He really enjoyed the time he spent with this Judge, and learned a ton. I even went and sat in on an adoption so that I could see what he was talking about. It was pretty neat. Andy mainly saw divorces and custody battles. Let's just say he has an even stronger will now to never tick me off! ;) Anyway - to celebrate, or just fill up his now free time, we went to the beach at Lake Murray by our house two days in a row. It was pretty windy - but Andy and Stella still enjoyed playing in the water - a ton! I was more comfortable being the designated picture taker from the sand. Much warmer. I couldn't believe how long Stella wanted to stay out in the water. I made Andy bring her in when she started shivering. Otherwise she would have stayed out there all day. Andy was letting her "ride" the waves, and she giggled and giggled. I am glad she loves the water so much! I LOVED the beach as a young girl - and could stay out in the water all day long. I still could if I had plenty of time to get used to it. I can't just jump in anymore - but once I'm in, I don't like to get out.














Stella crawled over to make friends with a couple of kids that were playing nearby. Turns out they are in our stake. Both of the kids were trying hard to win Stella's attention. She was loving it, but also feeling a little confined when the girl kept putting her hands on Stella. She handles crazy kids pretty well though. She is gonna be a tough cookie.

Mother's Day...

So I know Mother's day has come and gone - but I wanted to at least post a picture of my sweet little Stella and I. She is currently getting 4 teeth in on the top. Two have poked through (the two on her right) and the other two are right there trying their hardest to show through out of her gums. Poor little thing is not a happy camper, but we are doing our best to help her stay comfortable. Anyway - her we are on My first official Mother's Day!


Happy (late) Mother's Day to all mothers who read this - but especially to our Mothers - whom we love very, very much. Muah - you are the best!

This last weekend, we went camping about 3 hours away at a place called Jocassee lake. It was beautiful. That is one thing about South Carolina...you never run out of beautiful places to visit. Andy has been wanting to camp for a long time now. Once I had Stella - I made a no camping rule until she was sleeping through the night. Well...now that that is finally the likely thing - we can go camping. Andy did a wonderful job of cooking, and taking care of Stella and I out in the woods. Stella really enjoyed "eating" the little pebbles that were all over the place. I had to watch her like a hawk. I couldn't really put her down, because crawling on the gravel was scraping her knees, and so my arms were tired by the end of the whole thing. We had a good time though - and next time will stay longer than just a night since it is such a ways a way.








You may notice that in many of the pictures Stella is staring off into the distance. There were two dogs at the site next to ours - and Stella is obsessed. She obviously takes after her Dad, and LOVES dogs. She is going to probably be the kind that begs for a puppy every Christmas. Everytime we got close to the dogs - her entire body would tense up and she would hold her breath and her mouth would drop wide open. She had such a good time being outside so much. So much fun in fact, that her already intense dis-like of sleep became even more apparent. She crawled around our tent for two hours while we were trying desperately to get her to bed. We did everything to try to help her see that it was time to drift off into dreamland including faking asleep ourselves. None of this worked and she wanted nothing to do with sleep when she was enjoying herself so much. At one point she was so sleepy, she was crawling around the tent with her head dragging on the floor because she had no strength left to hold it up. Shortly after this happened, we pulled her close to us, and Andy started rubbing her back, while I was rubbing her cheek and ear. This often calms her down. And sure enough, it worked this time...and she fell asleep sitting up, so we had to gently move her down to where she would be comfortable.




Andy had the chance to do a little fishing while we were there. We also went swimming in the lake. It was soooo cold - so I only got in to my waist - but Andy was flippin around all over. Stella would lift her legs all the way up as we lowered her down, because she did not want to get wet - but after a while she was addicted to the water - and kept crawling towards it.




























The lake was only recently dammed, and underneath there is an old church and cemetery where a lot of people scuba dive. Andy and I want to dive here before we leave for sure. We have never dove in a lake - because it seems kind of boring, especially after cancun, but it would be cool to go into an underground church! A little weird to see graves under water - but probably more cool than freaky.