I'm SICK of my family being SICK!

Well the Hammonds have all been sick since 2009 began. I got sick on New Year's Eve and stayed sick until the 3rd of January. Then Bella got sick from a kid at daycare on the 8th with RSV. I'm so mad at that mom for bringing her child to daycare after going to the MD and finding out he had RSV (which is highly contagious!). Bella started breathing treatments on the 11th and was on her way to recovery when she woke up on the 15th with fever again and then found out on the 16th she has double ear infections. So now she is on antibiotics for the ear infections and breathing treatments for the RSV, oh boy! Then on the 15th Brett started feeling bad and actually sounded like death on the 16th when he had to keep Bella while I could finally go back to work. When Brett took Bella into the MD, she said he probably had RSV too, are you kidding me? Well I started Brett on a Z-pack that I had left over from my pregnancy and Mucinex-D and Tylenol and whatever else I thought would help (echinacea). He thankfully is much better today (18th)! I'm so ready to get back to normal. I never thought I would miss work! Hopefully in the morning, we all wake up well (well enough that is) and Bella can go to daycare and Brett and I can go to work! Prayers are needed that Bella's lungs clear up, her snotty nose is getting better, but her cough is still pretty bad at times. Also, prayers that Brett is also on the road to recovery. And finally prayers that I don't lose my mind! Bella is not her happy, cheerful self when she doesn't feel good and Brett is not a lot of help with her when he feels bad, so I've been going solo. Besides all that I am trying to think about Bella's first birthday party, I can not believe I just wrote that, she's gonna be 1 already!!!!! This has truly been the best year of my life, I love that little girl so much and am truly blessed that she has grown and developed normally and is very smart! She is walking very well with hand-held assist, she'll be doing it all by herself soon, I think. I can't imagine my life without her and I hope she knows how much she is loved. Until next time..........

Well the Holidays are over, back to the daily grind....

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year. The holidays go by too fast! We had a blast with Bella on her first Christmas. She got stuck on her first toy and I had to be the mean Momma and take it away so she could open all the rest of her toys. She had fun, but didn't quite know what to do as far as opening the presents. She mostly wanted to climb on all the boxes, imagine that! Santa brought Bella lots of new toys that are more age appropriate than the stash she had before, we didn't want to buy her too many and then Santa not be able to bring any. She is starting to walk really well behind one of her new toys, no time now before she'll be taking off on her own. We really enjoyed my family being here for Christmas. Dad, Mom, Sarah, and Megan were all here with us at our home on Christmas day. We then travelled to Haynesville for Christmas at Bev and Keith's house which is always fun as well. I got a sewing machine and Bev has promised to teach me all she knows, which I hope is a lot, b/c I know nothing. I plan to sew Bella lots of new spring clothes and maybe I'll get so good I can quit my job and just sell clothes for babies. We came home on Monday the 29th, thankfully over our entire trip, we did not get a ticket, but we did get stopped once (we got a warning). Megan and Dad and Sarah all came back on 12/31. Brett popped some fireworks, but unfortunately I didn't get to see them b/c I was very sick, something I caught while in LA. I was sick all day New Years day too and then didn't go to work on Friday either. Finally feeling better today! Sadly, Megan is leaving for Alaska tomorrow, I wasn't able to convince her to stay with us here in Houston. I am really going to miss her! Well I guess that's a wrap on our 2008 Holiday season! Hope you and yours had as good of one as me and my family did!

5 teeth and counting!

Bella got another new tooth. She has the Left upper canine tooth in now. She is really starting to get the hang of table food. She ate sloppy joe meat and green beans on Friday at daycare. She is eating gerber graduate finger food and chewing or gumming them pretty good. She is not a fan of 3rd food b/c she expects them to be soft and just swallow them, but then she finds a chunk and chokes. Bella had her picture with Santa on Friday as well. She did not smile just looked at him like he was crazy. I'll post the picture if I can. Bella also drank from her sippy cup for the first time today. We decided to get her a different one, b/c she wasn't sucking on her other ones she was just biting the spout. The softer spout made her suck on it like a bottle and then boom, she had the hang of it. She does sometimes drink too fast and get a little choked. Well just one week to go until Megan is here!!!!! Very excited can you tell?

Finally, I'm writing something!

Well I've been busy lately so I haven't had a lot of time to post anything. We are getting ready for the holidays, so that means our decorations have been put up. We had an exciting time so far with our tree. We got it on a Monday night (12/1) and then we hosted small group at our house on Tuesday, so I got up early to decorate Tuesday morning. Well the tree was a hit, but then about 12:30am I woke to a huge crash and the tree had fallen over and everything I worked so hard to put up fell off. So the picture below is of the second attempt to decorate. Well Bella is the only one I have bought for so far, she's easy to buy for, plus I can shop with her and she not realize it's her present:) I'm thinking it won't be like that next year. Brett is driving me crazy lately, he's on Santa's bad list and probably won't get anything for Christmas. All he has asked for is $1500 gun and no way am I buying it for him. He won't tell me anything else he wants, so he doesn't get anything. Well looking forward to seeing Megan in 2 wks exactly from today. I have missed her so much! Please pray for my brother-in-law H.A. as he is in Iraq and pray Megan can cope with his abscence. Well if I don't check in again, I want to wish everyone Happy Holidays.

Another new tooth!

Bella got her fourth tooth yesterday (11/14). She now has both the middle top and bottom teeth. She's ready for table food soon! I went to the Nutcracker Market today with Stephanie. We had a good time, but man was it crowded. We both were so excited to be able to shop at Paul Michaels. We both got some great decorative items for the home and for the holidays. I also found Bella a great dress, so cute (check out the pic below)! I've decided I have to learn to sew, I could be making a killing. Brett and Bella spent some quality time together while I was gone, she gave him a good poopy diaper:). The whole family made a trip to Lowes tonight to pick out our bathroom remodel items. We found almost everything in stock and so far the total cost is well within our budget. We will probably be able to do the kitchen countertops too! Yeah!!! We have a new roof, was started yesterday and then finished today. One problem, we can't cash our insurance check yet. Found out we have to have it endorsed by our mortgage company, so that means we have to send it to CA and then wait for them to send it back. I hope our roofer understands our dilemma and doesn't get mad. Please pray he understands when Brett tells him. Well until next time..............

3 TEETH AND COUNTING

Well Bella got another tooth. One of her top middle teeth came in over the weekend (11/9 to be exact). She feels much better, poor baby her mouth was hurting. We also made a visit to the pediatrician's office on Friday, 11/7, b/c she had had 3 poopy diapers that were a little loose. The Dr seemed to think she was o.k. could be teething or a little virus. Bella also has red cheeks, rash caused by something, I'm working on figuring out what it is. Besides all these things, she is acting perfectly normal and she weighed in at a whopping 21lbs 5 ozs. She now eats 3 meals a day, and enjoys them!!!! She is getting so big and mischievious! She knows what the word "No" means, but she doesn't listen! So far so good at daycare, they haven't made me mad yet! Please pray that Bella's little cheeks will turn back to their original snow white color. Poor baby looks like she has a sunburn. Side Note: Megan I love the new picture!!!!

Bella's first Halloween

Well Bella went trick or treating to one house, our closest neighbor. However she did give away some candy to other kiddos. She loved her dress, bright colors I guess. She even kept her ears on the whole time. We didn't have as many trick or treaters as we did last year so we have tons of candy left over, which does nothing for my figure. I think I'll take it to work! Hope y'all love the new pics of Bella BOO!