a year ago today

last year on this very day, adam and i were joined by our parents at st. mary's in evansville to get a peek at our tiny bundle of joy. on that day we saw her (clearly) for the very first time. and we learned that indeed she would be a she and she would be isabella joy elizabeth jochim.
i dressed my belly up for a fun way to share the news with all of our friends and family. i had blue tissue paper for back up :)

today our nearly 8 month old girl joined us at the operation christmas child packing party at lhbc. she enjoyed some pumpkin for dinner and smiled at every new face that walked in. when we came home she started scooting forward instead of just backward. she also waved (ok, maybe it was a fluke, but i sure looked like a wave!) at her "auntie" ashmill and her "auntie" carly as they were leaving our house.

my word, a year makes a big difference. i wonder if i will ever make it through another halloween without getting all weepy about my first halloween with this sweet baby in my life. oh goodness, i love her so much.

fab five friday

it's been a while since fab five friday has happened here. but the night was so wonderful that i thought i would end it with some things that have made my week fab.

1. RADICAL by david platt
this book is rocking my socks off. i think i'm a little over half way through it. and it is a joy to gather with like-minded women each wednesday morning to talk about what God is teaching us through this book.

2. izze sparkling pomegranate juice my sis and i had a wonderful (baby-less) date tonight where we talked over this fabulous drink. except lara had sparking blueberry. both tasted wonderful. 120 calories, 0 grams of fat, and it claims to be all natural :)

3. barnes & noble (please don't sell!!!)

b&n is where said date with my sis took place. we looked at craft books and chatted til we got to sleepy to chat anymore. we decided that we hadn't had a just the two of us hang out time since well before babies...and maybe since college....but that can't be right! we also decided that we will indeed make a habit of hanging after the babies go to sleep!

4. avocado!

i guess pre-baby i never thought about how fun it would be to share one of my very favorite foods with my child! i love to cut an avocado in half, smash one side up, dice the other, and then enjoy it with my baby girl. so far, it really is her favorite food. and i love it. someday i'll add some tomato, lime juice, and garlic and we'll share it with tortilla chips!



5. my mei tai baby carrier

ok, so it isn't the actual mei tai, it's a knock-off. but it is wonderful. i still love my (knock-off. no. handmade.) moby wrap, but this "mei tai" is so good. you can see by the look on b's face that she thinks so too. seriously, i will promote baby-wearing until the cows come home. even now that we have a happy baby, wearing her makes shopping trips so easy!

how about you? what has made your week fab?!

7 months!

our baby girl is 7 months old today. we did our traditional monthly photo shoot this morning. she measures up to her moose from her grandma j in an outfit from her bebe. (yeah, i'm nerdy.)

even though b has been able to sit up for a couple of months now, i took pictures of her sitting up with her month and moose for the first time today. she is growing so fast!



bella joy, you are 7 months old today! at 7 months you are quickly out growing your 6 month clothing and are starting to wear some 9 month clothing. you are so long!

you are eating 3 meals a day and having five milk feedings a day. we are getting the hang of the eating from a spoon thing and are starting to really enjoy food. so far you have had carrots, butternut squash, sweet potato, peas, green beans, broccoli, avocado, banana, pears, rice cereal and multi grain cereal. your favorites are avocado, bananas, and sweet potatoes. actually, i think you will like any fruit!

this week you have started scooting. you get up on your hands and knees by yourself, but them instead of crawling forward you scoot backward. it is the cutest and funniest thing! i know you will be crawling in no time.

you have your two bottom middle teeth and one of your top ones is pushing through. we are so thankful that teething hasn't made you super fussy. just snotty and cough-y. :) your bottom teeth are big enough now that we see them when you smile and it is, of course, so cute!

you love people and animals. you smile when someone new enters the room and you laugh harder at dogs barking than at anything else.

we can't wait to see what you learn this month!

on the move

bella boo is officially on the move. she isn't crawling. yet. i'm certain that it won't be long. this afternoon i sat on the floor in the living room and ate my lunch as baby girl played on the floor. one second i was taking a bite of my sandwich and the next bella joy had scooted off the rug and onto the floor. then she scooted under the shelf. i couldn't stop laughing! oh boy, the days are about to get really interesting! :)

progress

miss bella joy is napping in her bed right now and has been for an hour and 15 minutes. this isn't the first time she has napped for so long in her bed this week. she is growing up. we are making progress. i am so proud of her, but at the same time, i'm so sad that she is growing up so fast and doesn't need me to nap anymore. ah, bittersweet.

we are also making progress with the solid food eating. this week b has started opening her mouth for the spoon! we haven't had to trick her into it anymore! she still isn't consuming tons of solids, but we are making progress and it is good. she has had carrots, butternut squash (or squtternut bosh for all of you friends fans), sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, broccoli, and she will have avacodo this weekend. then its on to fruits and 3 meals a day! wish us luck :)

and the photo at the top is courtesy of my awesome bff ashmill. she took some family photos of us this weekend and we supported her trip to africa. check out her website and read about her trip. she is an awesome photographer!