downtown

A few days ago I took the kids to downtown Boise on a little shoot with my good friends Audrey and Alison. It really is so fun to be able to go out with friends and do what I love to do all at the same time. I knew Stella was going to be very difficult because since she's been able to walk, there is no telling that girl what to do. She's her own woman. I brought Mase & Bo to try and contain her and to help make Lily laugh. It's nice to have a couple of big kids around to help me when I need it. I ended up getting lots of cute ones of Lily, but only a couple of Stella. I'm sure it'll probably be another couple a years before Stella will cooperate with me. At least I've got Lily. She actually tries to pose how I show her to if she's in a decent enough mood. Having girls is so fun.









I just wanted ONE of her pushing this tiny stroller around but nope, she had other plans. Still, how cute does she look. I just want to swoop her up and give her a million kisses when I look at this shot.






Big brother Bo making her laugh like only he can.






I love her smile so much. Her baby teeth are the cutest. I'll probably curl up in the fetal postition when they start falling out.

her party

I am still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that Stella is now a 1 year old. Time goes by much more quickly as you age I think. Anyways, we had a little birthday party for Miss Stella at Mom & Dad's house. Between our kids and Danielle's kids, she had plenty of help opening her presents. She loved her new baby doll, the toy camera and the bouncy zebra she got. She had fun with her cake too. She dove right in to it. I think her cake smash photoshoot from the week before was great practice. Happy birthday sweetheart. We love you so much!!!

12 months

This next part will probably be pretty boring to anyone other then me. Feel free to skip on over it.

1st month
- Sleeps 6-8 hours at night. (only did this for a weeks or two) 6 days
- Umbilical cord fell off. 12 days
- Smiled at mama for the 1st time. 26 days
- Got baby acne :( 28 days
- Had 1st hair cut. 28 days

2nd month
- Sleeps about 4-5 hours most nights. 4 1/2 weeks
- Grew out of newborn size diapers. 5 1/2 weeks
- Takes about a 3 hour nap in the swing most afternoons. 6 weeks
- Starting to make cooing sounds. 6 weeks
- Smiles a lot. 6 weeks
- Her eyelashes are getting long and pretty. 6 weeks
- Usually will sleep from 10:30 to around 5:00 am. 2 months

3rd month
- Sleeps from about 10 pm -10 am only getting up once to eat. 2 1/2 months
- Her hair, or fuzz…is coming in on top. 2 1/2 months
- Can hold her head up well. 2 1/2 months
- Is starting to bat at objects. 2 3/4 months
- Won't take a bottle anymore. 2 3/4 months
- Recognizes mama. 2 3/4 months
- Started to suck her thumb sometimes. 3 months

4th month
-Stella has started moving around a lot. I'll put her down on the floor and she'll end up two or three feet away. 3 1/4 months
- She can put some weight on her legs. 3 1/4 months
- She's discovered her hands and feet. 3 1/4 months
- Stella is liking to put toys in her mouth. 3 1/2 months
- She's grown out of size 1 diapers. 3 3/4 months
- Laughed a real laugh for the 1st time. 3 3/4 months
- Trying really hard to roll from her back to her belly. 3 3/4 months
- Had 1st bath in the big bathtub. 3 3/4 months
- Rolls from her back to her front already! 4 months

5th month
- Will take a bottle of breastmilk again. 4 1/4 months
- Will sleep 8 hours straight at night on occasion. 4 1/2 months
- She's getting so grabby. 4 3/4 months
- Rolls over all the time. 5 months
- Rolls on to her tummy when she's trying to fall asleep. 5 months

6th month
- She's not really liking her bouncy chair or swing lately. I think she's getting too mobile to be happy in them. 5 1/4 months
- Usually takes one short and one long nap a day. 5 1/4 months
- Can hold her upper body up well and can stand up with help. 5 3/4 months
- Got her 1st cold :( 5 3/4 months

7th month
- She really want to get to her stuff. She'll kind of maneuver her body when she's on her belly to reach a toy. 6 1/4 months
- She cut her 1st bottom tooth, two actually. 6 1/4 months
- Starting to push up on her hands to support her chest. 6 1/2 months
- Started 1 meal of rice cereal a day. 6 1/2 months
- Her hair is starting to come in a little longer and thicker. 6 1/2 months
- She's taking one long nap in her own bed a day and she'll usually fall asleep once or twice during the day for little cat naps. 6 1/2 months
- Puts her arms up with her hands by her face when she's afraid of something or gets nervous. 6 1/2 months
- Started wearing size 3 diapers. 6 3/4 months
- Stella is rolling all over the place. 6 3/4 months
- She laughs all the time. 6 3/4 months
- Starting to sit up by herself for a minute or two. 6 3/4 months
- Pushes up onto her knees sometimes and gets in the crawling position. She'll rock back and fourth. 6 3/4 months

8th month
- She's sitting really well. 7 1/4 months
- Really liking her dinners and is eating well. 7 1/2 months
- She's "talking" a lot and getting really social. 7 1/2 months
- Started on two meals a day, breakfast and dinner. 7 3/4 months
- Learning to clap her hands. 7 3/4 months
- Stella makes a cackling sound sometimes when she laughs. 7 3/4 months
- Starting to scouch along the carpet. 8 months

9th month
- Starting to say "Da da" in a cute tiny breathy voice. 8 1/4 months
- Starting to crawl. It's a mix of regular and bear crawl. 8 1/2 months
- Can get into the sitting position by herself. 8 3/4 months
- Cutting top two teeth. 9 months
- Crawling well. 9 months

10 months
- Can pull herself up to a standing position. 9 1/4 months
- Stella clicks her tongue on the roof of her mouth. 9 1/4 months
- Grinds her teeth sometimes. 9 1/2 months
- Says mama. 9 1/2 months
- Dances when we play music. 9 1/2 months
- Loves to climb stairs. 9 1/2 months
- Is starting to wave her hand. 9 1/2 months
- She's walking along the furniture. 9 3/4 months
- She can stand by herself. 10 months

11th month
- Is starting to eat little bits of big people food. 10 1/4 months
- She likes to stand up or move all over when she nurses. Bug. 10 1/4 months
- She no longer likes to eat baby food. 10 1/2 months
- Saying dog, "dah" and "hi". 10 1/2 months
- Took a couple steps on her own. 10 3/4 months
- Loves to walk around and push Lily's bike around the house. 10 3/4 months
- She self feeds every meal. 11 months
- Is loving to stand up on her own and tries to walk. 11 months

12th month
- Loves to climb on everything. 11 1/2 months
- Loves my cell phone. She'll dance to the ringtones. 11 1/4 months
- Unloading drawers, cupboards, the dishwasher etc is her new fave. 11 1/2 months
- She'll wave at people, dogs, chickens, horses, whatever and say, "Ha!" 11 1/2 months
- Has started pointing at something when she wants it. 11 3/4 months
- Really is trying to walk by herself a lot. She'll walk along the walls and furniture to help support her. 11 3/4 months
- She's walking most of the time now. She's still pretty wobbly and she'll fall quite a bit but she's very persistent. 12 months
- She LOVES to go outside. She'll point to the door and say, "Uuu". 12 months

And a couple sweet shots of the big birthday girl.

happy 1st birthday Stella!!!

It's hard to believe it's been a year since you graced our home. We love you so so so so so much Stellabelle!!!!!!!










While I was giving Stella her bath, Bo had his way with what was left of Stella's cake. I must admit I was a little annoyed he had made such a mess. But I ended up laughing about it. He was having so much fun and looked so goofy, I couldn't help it. He's such a boy.