Stella Webb

Fall 2011..

2011-11-23T14:15:00.001-08:00

Hi, Spencer and Everyone!

We hope you're all doing well.

Our family has had a busy and fun fall so far. Stella continues to grow smarter and funnier and cuter, every day. She honestly says the funniest and smartest things every day. It just amazes us and provides us with constant enjoyment and entertainment.

She continues to love her preschool class. She is so social, she loves all the kids in her class and they love her too. She is still in a little dance class and a gymnastics class too. She really loves the gymnastics class the most right now. She's actually starting to get a cartwheel down. :)

As you can see from the pictures, she was Cinderella for Halloween. She had picked that out months in advance and never changed her mind. So, she had a great time dressing up as Cinderella and even tried to do her 'best princess smile' all day long! Ha, ha. This was the first year we actually took her 'trick or treating' around the neighborhood. She thought it was the best thing ever and still talks about it almost every day. She also had a school party, a church party and a party at her grandma's house. So, she got some serious use out of the costume this year! She asked me yesterday if she could be 'Sleeping Beauty for Christmas'. So, now she thinks she is supposed to dress up for every holiday!

Tomorrow we'll be spending Thanksgiving at my mom's house. Stella is excited to play with her cousins, but not so excited to eat turkey. She's pretty sure she won't like it...and she's probably right. She still has a palate that consists basically of peanut butter and honey sandwiches, chicken nuggets, spaghetti-o's, yogurt, apple sauce and crackers. :( We're doing our best, though, to keep her tummy full despite her lack of enjoyment over food.

We hope you enjoy the pictures.

Love, The Webbs

Summertime 2011...

2011-08-29T14:11:00.001-07:00

Hi, Everyone! Hope you're all doing well. We are plugging along through the hot months and looking forward to the fall!

Stella is as vivacious, smart and beautiful as ever. She is very interested in letters, spelling and reading now. She always asks how to spell everything and when she sees letters she always tries to identify them - and is getting pretty good at it! I have the feeling she'll be an early reader.

She is now 28 pounds and 38 inches tall.

She continues to surprise us with the funny and intelligent things that she says and remembers. She has the memory of an elephant.

We've stayed busy over the summer with vacations, swimming, movies and having play dates with her little friends in our neighborhood/ward. She has a little set of girl friends that are in our ward that are so cute all together. It's fun. She's very social and is already a leader amongst her peers.

We went to California a couple weeks ago and took her to Disneyland. You'll see some pictures below of the beach and of Disney. She got to meet 'the real' Sleeping Beauty and give her a hug. She was in awe. :)

She started back into gymnastics and dance two weeks ago after a nice summer break and is doing great already. The teacher moved her up to a more advanced dance class already! It's so cute. She's getting really good at watching the teacher and following her example.

Today was her first day back at preschool. She was very excited and not nervous at all. There are some pictures of her below (in the purple / pink dress and purple flowers in her hair), of her 'first day of school' outfit.

We love her so much and are so grateful to have her. She is our little ray of sunshine.

Late Spring / Summer 2011...

2011-07-14T15:52:00.001-07:00

Hi, There!

We hope that everyone is doing well! We sure are. We're making it through the hot summer...staying busy with the two girls. Stella is doing great. She's growing all the time and has really matured over the last few months. She's such a beautiful and smart little girl.

She is loving swimming this summer and is getting more and more brave in the water. We're working on learning to swim. Stella had a great third birthday and this year she actually understood what was happening! She was very excited for her 'Alice in Wonderland' party. Grandma made her an Alice dress to wear and she had a great time helping me decorate for it. She got a big girl bike this year!

We're taking it easy this summer but she will be starting preschool in August as well as back into dance and tumbling class. She's excited to get back into her classes. She's still loving nursery and her teachers told me that she's the only one in the class who can remember and sing all the songs in there.

Here are a few pictures from the past couple months.

Love,

Cam, Jenny, Stella and Scarlett
Playing in the rain.

Walking with Grandma at the lake.

She loves dandilions and calls them 'wishers'.

Thank you to the Rodebacks for the cute birthday presents! So cute. Here she is wearing her Tiana dress. She loves it.

4th of July.

All ready for her dance recital. She did so great! She remembered the dance and did the whole thing. She also waved to the audience from the stage! I think her favorite part, though, was that she got to wear make-up.

Her little dance class with their teacher.

At the Grand Canyon. She really wanted her little doll to be in the picture. That's why she's holding it up like that! :)

Tired girl in the car on the way home from the Grand Canyon.

Bounce house at her bday party.

She really gave that pinata a good beating!

Showing her guests her new bike!

Spring 2011

2011-04-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

Hi, Everyone! How are you all? We're doing great. Just adjusting to having the two little girls instead of just one...it's amazing how much busier you get each time you 'add' a child! :) But, we're having a great time with them both and love them so much. More than words can express.

Stella is doing very well. She is growing up way too fast and is way too smart! Her preschool teacher told me last week that Stella is definitely the most advanced one in her class - although I already knew that for myself! Ha, ha. She can spell her name and count to almost twenty. (Sometimes the 'teens' throw her off...!) She knows her birthday and her age as well as the birthdays of Cameron and I. She knows that we live in Gilbert, Arizona and that the president is Obama! She has the most amazing memory - I don't spend all day drilling these things into her head. I just have to tell her things a couple times and she never forgets. That can also work against us too, though. We have to be very careful not to use any swear words around her or say anything that we don't want her to repeat. Even if she hears it once, she will start using it in context! Ha, ha. She's just an amazing little girl. (I know you all probably don't mind if I brag about her! So, I always take my opportunity here - hope that's okay!).

She is now 37 inches tall and 26 pounds. She had a root canal done on her front tooth (the one that she fell on and it went dead. She did great. The meds they gave her to relax her completely knocked her out. So, she never even knew we went to the dentist. Now her tooth is bright white again and will hopefully be around for a while now! The other option was just to pull it. But, I couldn't bear the thought of her being without a front tooth for the next five years or so. So, we went ahead with the root canal and it worked out fine.

She is obsessed with the new Tangled show - Rapunzel. So, we took her back to Disneyland last month (in March) and she got to meet her. (There's a picture of it below). She thought it was the best thing ever! :) She was sick on the first day of our trip. So, she wasn't up for a whole lot other than riding in the stroller. But, the second day, she had a great time.

She has a dance recital coming up in May. That should be interesting to say the least! The dance itself is adorable - but we'll see if they can get eight two-year-olds to actually perform in front of an audience! I'll be sure to take pictures and post them. The costumes are adorable.

As you know, her birthday is coming up in June. She's having an Alice in Wonderland Tea Party for it. It should be cute!

Anyway, I just also wanted to say thank you to you all for being so great to us. I think you know this, but my mom is an attorney here in AZ. She recently helped out with an adoption representing some adoptive parents. As she told me about the sad situation with all the people involved (the baby was born addicted to meth, the families were all fighting and unsupportive of the adoption, the birth mom had had several abortions previous to this adoption, etc, etc), I couldn't help but just feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for all of you. We feel so lucky and blessed to have you in our lives. We always say that you feel like an extension of our own family and that we love you all very much. Words can never express the magnitude of love that we have for our little Stella and never a day goes by that we don't remember what a miracle it is that we have her.

Love, Jenny and Cameron
Dancing in the back yard, with Mom and Dad.

She loves to twirl and watch her skirts fly!

Making cookies with dad one Saturday morning.

"Working" in the back yard!

On It's a Small World in Disney.

It was very sunny in Disneyland! That is her kitty that she calls 'Dyler'. She names all her dolls and stuffed animals the funniest names!

Stella meeting Rapunzel with her cousins.

Running to California Adventure!

Look at that face! How cute is that?!

Disneyland, Christmas and a new sister...

2011-01-16T13:20:00.001-08:00

Hi, Everyone! Happy New Year to each of you. We also hope you had a nice Christmas. We wanted to thank you all (both the Simons and the Rodebacks) so much for the gifts for Stella. They were all just perfect! She is such a girly-girl and loves princesses, dress-up, dolls, Barbies, stuffed animals, etc. It's so fun. So, thank you again. We truly appreciate your thoughtfulness.

As you now know, we have had a new addition to our family - baby Scarlett. We picked her up over Christmas there in Utah - Brigham City is where she was born. It was quite the experience...different than our experience with all of you, and yet also very special. She's a good little baby and we are so grateful to have gotten her. Stella has been having a lot of fun with her. We feared she may be a little jealous - but so far she has been a little angel about everything, even sharing her toys and blankets with Scarlett! :) She tries to be a lot of help and wants to fetch diapers, wipes, blankets, etc, for me when I need them. It's so cute. I can't wait for them to be best little friends and hope that they will be (since they are only 2.5 years apart!).

Stella decided last week that she was ready to be potty-trained. She had resisted it for a couple months and I had decided to put it on the back-burner while we adjusted to having the new baby home. So, I hadn't even mentioned it to Stella in a week or two when all the sudden she said "Mommy, I'm going to go to the potty." I said okay, not really thinking she would go, but taking her anyway. She went and has not had an accident since. Ha, ha! She really is growing up now.

In December we took her to Disneyland and while we were there she was playing around with her cousins in the bathroom at the hotel and fell on the tile, right on her front tooth. It didn't bleed, but she cried pretty hard and I could tell right away that the tooth looked like it had been 'moved' a little bit. We called our brother-in-law who is a dentist and he said just to watch it, that there was basically nothing to be done right then. So, we watched it for the next couple weeks as it darkened and eventually proved to be dead. So, you'll notice in some of her pictures that she has one dark front tooth. It's so sad - it breaks my heart. We are, however, going in to have a root-canal done and a cap put on here in about a month. So, while that may not be a very fun dentist's visit, her tooth should look back to normal afterword.

Overall, Stella is doing so well. She is smart as a whip and such a clever, funny little kid. We just adore her every minute of every day. She is still going to play-school (preschool) and loving it. Last week they learned about Polar Bears which she loves. So, that was fun. She loves nursery and her play-group. She's so social and says the cutest things to people - always introducing herself and her parents by name to everyone we every talk to, including strangers in the store, mall, etc. She knows her birthday and both mine and Cameron's birthdays as well. She's still going to tumbling and a tap/ballet class, which she also loves. We keep her busy - and she needs it! She's extremely active and bores easily! :)

Anyway, again, we hope you're all doing well. Talk to you soon!

Fall Fun...

2010-10-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry - weird picture to put as the top one - but once again, I can't get this blog to cooperate and so I can't get the pictures in the order I want them! Ha, ha. This is a picture of Stella and one of her 2nd cousins who is in our ward, at our trunk-or-treat party tonight.

This year, as you can see - Stella wanted to be Strawberry Shortcake...or 'Straw-shortcake' as she calls her. She has loved the new Strawberry Shortcake videos for about the past year and so we thought it would be fun to be her for Halloween. Strangely - it was apparently a very popular pick because we had to go to four different Halloween stores to find the outfit! They were sold-out of it everywhere we went. But, we finally found it and she looks adorable in it. We sprayed her hair pink, which she loved!...and we painted freckles on her cheeks and nose, which she also loved because she thought she was wearing make-up. :) So, it turned out to be a fun Halloween.

Other than that, she's just doing great, growing up so fast and is so smart and cute. She continues to love her preschool class and her dancing class. She, however, is resisting the potty-training idea. But, we are starting to work on it. Since she's our first - the potty training idea is new to us too - so we're all learning together! :) She is still a good sleeper...she sleeps three hours in the afternoon as well as from about 8 pm to 8 am every night. So, we consider ourselves very lucky for that! She is SO active in the day that we figure she just needs that much sleep! She says the funniest things and talks so well, people are always surprised.

We hope you are all doing well. Stella is one special little girl. We love her with all our hearts.

Stella (strawberry) lounging at the trunk-or-treat.

More lounging at the trunk-or-treat.

There was a fun Halloween party at grandma's house this year. Here is Stella with some of her cousins, getting ready to paint a pumpkin.

Again at grandma's house before the Halloween Party.

My mom gave her some candy and this is how excited she was. She's a candy nut!

We went to a pumpkin festival near our house and she got her face painted. She was very sad when it washed off that night!

Again at Schnepf Farms, pumpkin festival.

There was a petting zoo at the farm. She thought it was awesome!

Stella checking out the chickens.

She got to ride a pony. She was so excited and picked out the tiniest pony there.

Getting ready to ride an alpine slide up north.

She's kind of a scaredy-cat. She doesn't like slides or swings, etc, really. So, she was a little nervous for the Alpine Slide. But, she went with Daddy, so she had a good time.

Stella's Summer...

2010-08-23T16:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a fun summer for Stella and our family. Stella is growing every day and is speaking in short sentences now. She can talk very well for her age and is such a little smarty-pants. She can count to 15, say her ABC's (although there are sometimes a few letters missing!). She can spell her name and knows the first and last names of just about every family member (extended family included!). She loves playing with her cousins and talks about them pretty much non-stop. She likes her nursery class as well - but isn't known for being the best 'sharer' in the class Ha, ha....I think it comes from being an only child and having all her toys to herself at home! :)

Her real passion seems to be dancing. She wants to dance all day every day. She tried a ballet and tap class last week along with the mom and tot tumbling class that we took last semester. She absolutely loved the dance class and cried when it was over. Every morning when she wakes up now she asks if it is "dance class day". So, needless to say, we went ahead and bought the tiny little ballet and tap-shoes and signed up for the whole semester!

She also started a little preschool class this week. It's called Sunshine Preschool and only has 2 and 3 year olds in it. (It's kind of like a 'joy school' except the moms don't help teach the class.). She was a little nervous to go in today, but was very excited to wear her new pink backpack. She had a great time and especially loved the snack. :)

She is now 32 inches tall and 23.5 pounds. Her hair is growing out a little bit, and is still as curly as ever. She's doing great and hasn't been to the doctor once (other than for her 2 year old well-check), since she got her ear-tubes in. So, she's a healthy and happy little girl. Here are some pictures for you of the last couple months.

All American Girl!

4th of July

4th of July with some of her cousins

She's a cotton candy lover!

More 4th of July festivities

Whenever we're at home, she refuses to wear anything besides a leotard and a tutu. :)

Tiny Dancer!

Yes, she still loves her binky. I haven't had the nerve to take it away yet!

At the beach in California

In California for family vacation.

Stella and Daddy on the beach

She loves peanut butter sandwiches!

Stella and her cousin Gigi at the beach

Stella and Gigi

Stella helping Dad with his birthday candles

In California

Playing hopscotch! ?

More hopscotch!

At the wildlife park in California

More beach

Stella very busy building a sand castle!

Walking down the boardwalk to go to dinner for Daddy's birthday

First day of school! Her prized pink backpack.

More first day of school

She actually posed for this one! Amazing. Wearing her new dress that grandma made for her!

Stella Turns Two!

2010-06-13T16:08:00.001-07:00

Hi, Everyone! Well, it's taken me a while (again!) to get some new pictures posted of Stella for you all to see...But, hopefully you will think these are worth the wait! We had these pictures taken two days before Stella's second birthday. We think they turned out adorable.

It was so nice to see all of you in May. It felt just like going to a family party or family reunion for us. So, thank you for making Stella and I feel so at-home with your families and for being so gracious and providing us with a couple of great meals!

Stella's second birthday has now come and gone...Cameron and I have grieved the idea for the past week, that another year of her childhood is already past. It's a strange thing that we never realized until we became parents that while you relish watching your children grow up, it also breaks your heart to know that with each passing day, it is another day with them that you will never have back. At this age, she changes so much each day and week, it just feels like time is fleeting! Anyway - other than that, her birthday was a great day. She had a swimming party with all her cousins. It was a princess party - and we decorated all in Pink and Silver with crowns and cupcakes as the theme. It turned out really cute...and since Stella is such a fish this summer, it was a perfect setting for her!

She's been in swimming lessons since the end of May and is getting pretty good! She loves it and thinks that she can swim on her own. She even pushes my hands away sometimes and tries to take off! She is such an independent little thing - sometimes I think that if I let her go, she probably would just start swimming!

She is also still in her tumbling class, which she loves. She is a dancer by nature, already, and loves the bars and the trampoline too.

Stella got tubes in her ears two Fridays ago. It was a little traumatic for me and Cameron to see our baby go into the hospital to have 'surgery' so to speak. But, she did great and was back to her usual vivacious self within a few hours afterward! We are very grateful for the fact that there will be no more ear infections anytime soon.

Other than that, we are just trying to keep out of the heat! We may still be getting a new baby this summer, in July. So, while it may be a long-shot, we are hoping and praying it might work out that Stella can have a new little brother! :)

We hope everyone is doing well and is happy and healthy. Talk to you soon!

18 - 20 months

2010-02-19T12:29:00.000-08:00

Hello, Everyone! I just realized that I hadn't posted any Christmas Day pictures for you of Stella and that it had been a while since I updated this blog. So, I thought I'd post a few. This picture (above), as you can see is at the end of Christmas Day! Poor little Santa's Helper had a big and fun day that day, but she had 'had it' by about 5 pm that night after all the festivities at our families houses! :) (See she's cute even when she cries!).

Stella is doing great and is maturing every day. She is a great talker and can say just about anything now. Almost every day she surprises me by saying a word that I didn't even know she knew! She's now speaking in 2 and 3 word sentences which is really good for her age.

She is about 33 inches tall and about 21 - 22 pounds. She still doesn't have a lot of hair, but it is growing (slowly but surely!). It's cute and curly.

She loves to play in her 'kitchen' that she got for Christmas, she loves to read books (that's probably her very favorite activity, which we're glad for!), and she likes to watch Elmo, Curious George and Tinkerbell. She also likes to play outside and is just getting brave enough to go down the slide at the park.

For Christmas, my parents gave all the grandkids tickets to Disneyland. So, we used them a couple weeks ago. Stella loved it! (I wasn't sure if she really would yet or not...). She had a great time looking at everything, riding the little kid rides and just running around with her cousins.

She is taking a little tumbling / dance class (it's a mommy and me class, so really she runs around like crazy and I chase her around and try to help her do summersaults, hang on the bars, jump on the trampoline, etc.). It's great fun and she likes it.

She is also beginning to love nursery. At first, it was like torture for both her and me, leaving her in there! But, now when we ask her if she wants to go to church, she says 'Toys? Bubbles? Fun?" It's cute. It's also nice that I can attend Sunday School again instead of roaming the halls. (My Young Women are sad, though, that she never comes there anymore to entertain them!).

Anyway, here are a few pictures. Some are of Christmas Day and then it pretty much skips to our trip to Disneyland. Apparently we didn't have much going on in January, because I didn't take any pictures!

We hope everyone is doing well.

Stella at our family Christmas party a few days before Christmas.

Christmas Morning!

Dad showing her how her new toy worked on Christmas morning.

Opening a present. She really had the 'hang of it' by the time she was done that day!

Cooking something in her new kitchen, wearing her apron over her pjs!

More cooking...

Stella in California, walking in to Disney Land!

Stella and Dad on the tea cups!

Stella and mom on the tea cups...

More tea cups

Running to the next ride with her cousins close behind!

It got pretty chilly by the evening...but Stella was prepared with her hat!

Toward the end of the night in Disneyland.

November and December...

2009-12-20T21:34:00.000-08:00

Hello, Everyone! We hope that this season finds you all happy, healthy and warm! :) I had some good pictures to share with you, so I thought I'd send a few on through. These are from Thanksgiving Day (the ones where Stella is wearing the brown shirt and orange skirt), a few from decorating our house for Christmas and then there are some we took today with her in her Christmas Dress.

Stella continues to grow and amaze us every day. She is so funny and has her own little personality. She is officially approaching the 'terrible twos' we've decided. She is determined to have things 'her way'!..and if she doesn't get that, then beware, a 'fit' may ensue! :) The bad news for us is that she is so dang cute, even when throwing a fit, that we can't help but just laugh and give her kisses!

She is talking a lot now - she can pretty much say anything you ask her to. She is learning her letters and numbers and is loving all the books that the Simons sent her! She is 32 inches tall and 20 pounds now (at her 18 month well-check).

She has been loving all the Christmas decorations, lights, etc. She knows that Santa says 'Ho, ho, ho' and although I don't think she really understands the present concept yet, she is definitely having fun with the whole season!

She is so beautiful and such a blessing. We are amazed by her every day - in so many ways.

Enjoy the pictures and we wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-05T23:40:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween happy fall, from Stella! Stella has been loving the fall season. She is obsessed with pumpkins which she pronounces 'kinkins'. She sees them everywhere and points each one out to me all day! It's so cute. So, you can imagine she loved pumpkin carving with some of her cousins. For Halloween she was Tinkerbell. It was such a cute little outfit on her although she didn't really like wearing it! She kept pulling on it and saying 'oss'? 'oss?' (off). But she did have fun seeing the other kids at our neighborhood Halloween party and trick-or-treating! Most of all, as you can see below - she loved the candy!

She is doing great, by the way. She weighs 19.5 pounds and is about 29 inches long. She had an ear infection last month, but other than that has been very healthy even through the fall season so far. She loves to play outside and is looking and acting older every day! She's talking really well for her age and can even sing little bits of the Alphabet song.

Enjoy the pics!

More one-year-old pictures...

2009-09-26T22:50:00.000-07:00

Hi, Everyone! I thought I'd send a few more pictures of Stella from the family pics we had taken in July. I've had such a difficult time getting these pictures to post because of the high resolution or something! I eventually had to load these pictures one at a time!

Anyway - obviously, she is now a couple months older than this. She is doing great. She is walking everywhere - and even running! She can say all kinds of things and can repeat just about anything you say to her in one or two word segments.

We've been getting out all our Halloween decorations and she is loving them! So - it's been fun to let her see them all and play with them. This is the first holiday yet where she has actually been a little bit aware of it. We are excited for Halloween. She is going to be Tinkerbell!

She loves playing with her cousins and thinking that she is one of the 'big kids' even though she is just a little tiny thing next to most of them! She also loves all her aunts and uncles and grandparents. She is not, however, very fond of being babysat by anyone but those specific people! So - thank goodness our family lives near by!

Talk to you soon!

New Pictures

2009-08-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hi, Everyone! I just wanted to share some new pictures of Stella that we had taken a little over a month ago...for her first birthday. We finally got them back and I thought you'd like to see some of them...these are all of the ones of her by herself (all the rest have us in them too). There are a few more too that are really cute - but I'll have to send them in a later post because the blogger site is down right now and won't let me upload any more pictures...So - stay tuned! :)

She's doing great, by the way...walking like crazy and talking a lot too. She's such a special little girl. We feel so blessed to have her in our lives. We hope you are all doing well.

13 and 14 Months!

2009-08-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

Stella has had a great summer. She is growing and learning new things every day, it seems. She is just the cutest little thing we've ever seen.
No - she's still not quite walking efficiently yet - but she is taking a few steps at a time and while a bit wobbly, she is finally starting to get it! More than walking, though, she is really starting to talk. It's the cutest thing. She can now mimick just about anything you say to her and is saying a lot of things on her own too. Her favorite being "What's That?" or "Who's that?". She calls our dog by name now and can say Elmo! She loves her grandma and grandpa and says their names quite often! She is also saying the names of her cousins and can identify them by name in pictures.

She loves to swim and is learning to 'blow bubbles' in the water and kick her legs. I think by next summer she'll be really ready to learn to swim!

We went on two vacations this summer - one to Lake Tahoe, California and one to Seal Beach, California where we stayed in a beach house. She had a great time with her cousins on the beach and is finally old enough to actually play and dig in the sand...and boy, did she ever! :) There are some pictures below of the vacations and just some other random ones that have been taken over the past couple months.

She is, as always, still small for her age. But, she is starting to fit into some of her 12 - 18 month size clothes and is wearing some of her size 3 shoes! So - she is growing - if slowly! We love that she is petite - it's so cute.

We hope you all are doing well and are staying cooler than we are! :) Now that we're done with our summer vacations - we are looking forward to the fall!

Stella with mom and dad in Lake Tahoe.

Stella at Seal Beach the first night we were there. She was still becoming accustomed to the sand!

After a few days on the beach she was having a ball rolling in the sand and digging away...not to mention trying to eat the sand!

Stella playing with her cousins Grace and Hannah. She thinks she is a big-girl when she plays with them.

Getting brave down by the waves!

Reading her favorite book at the dinner table in California! She was much more interested in that than in her food.

We thought this was such a funny picture of her. We all had a good laugh when we saw it! Happy little baby!

So dirty! A bath was definitely in order after this particular afternoon on the beach!

Cameron with all his ladies! This is Stella, Hannah and Grace, our nieces.

This picture is a funny one - Stella with her little cousin (the only one younger than her right now). She is always messing with him and trying to give him his binky, etc. Here I caught her in action poking him right in the eye! Silly girl.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LITTLE MISS STELLA!

2009-06-22T15:23:00.001-07:00

Stella's birthday was a lot of fun. I have to admit, though, that the whole day, I was a little weepy...I don't know if that is something that is going to happen to me every time she has a birthday or if it's just because it was her first one! I just could not believe all day that it had been one year since her birth. It seems like no time at all has gone by - and on the other hand, it sort-of seems like we've known her and loved her forever!

The day of her actual birthday, Cameron and I took her out to have waffles at our favorite little breakfast place. She loves waffles. Then we met her cousins for lunch and just had a relaxing day. Her actual party was the next day, Saturday, which was a Luau party (sort-of a Hawaiian theme since it was a pool party!). We had Hawaiian food, lots of fruit, hawaiian punch, popcicles, pink and green hawaiian / flower decorations and I made her cake with Hawaiian flowers all over it (above! Sorry - for some reason, on my new computer I have no control over which pictures end up where on the page. They just go where they want and I can't move them!).

She got lots of cute little gifts and all her cousins and a few little friends came to the party.

It was a great day!

Eleven Months - Pool Days!

2009-06-03T21:05:00.001-07:00

Hello there! Well - it's been a little over a month since I posted. Stella has continued to grow and become more and more beautiful and funny and her latest craze is going to the pool. She loves the water and loves hanging out with her little cousins who join us there on many days. She especially loves her younger cousin (who is three months old). She won't stop trying to see in his carrier and trying to give him his binky. (Usually she ends up sticking it in his eye or something - but she really makes an effort!).

Let's see - what else is new with her...she now has four molars which she just cut this week. She - as you know - is turning one at the end of this week. We are having a pool party for her with all her little cousins and a couple little neighborhood friends. We have mixed feelings about her turning a year old!...it's so fun to see her grow - but we are sad that she is passing such a big milestone already! We have just truly enjoyed each and every day we've had with her over the past year.

Here are a few recent pool pictures of her! :)

Nine and Ten Months...

2009-04-14T21:26:00.000-07:00

Hi, There! I haven't blogged in a while because my old computer was literally getting so slow that it would hardly even allow me to upload pictures, etc. Poor old thing - it's been a good friend! We've spent many hours together. :)

Anyway - I finally broke down and bought a new computer. I bought a Mac Book which so far has caused me nothing but confusion and frustration! But, hopefully I'll get it all figured out soon. In fact, as we speak, right now it's not allowing me to get rid of the underlining here and the formatting on this post is all crazy...I hope it is okay once it actually posts!

I'm pasting a bunch of pics below...just some that we've taken over the past couple months of the baby, etc. She's such an adorable little girl! Every day is a new adventure with her in our lives and in our home. We sure do love her.

Here are a few updates about her:

She has six teeth! Four on top and two on bottom. She can say several words - although not always on command - mama, dada, bye-bye and no-no. It's so cute. She has been crawling everywhere for a while and now she is standing up to furniture, etc. She is eating more and more real food and many days now can eat tiny bits of our regular meals. She likes to feed herself. She had the stomach flu so bad two weeks ago that I took her to the ER in the middle of the night. I was afraid that she was dehydrated. As it turned out she was fine - they gave her some fluids and nausea medication and she started doing a lot better. (I probably over-reacted!...first-time mom and all...but better safe-than-sorry, right?!). She waves and claps and her new favorite thing to do is point. She points at everyone and everything!

All the baldies in our family. Sorry Stella - you're the only girl in the bunch - you're also the 'bald-est' of any of them! :)

Cameron and Stella in our Hotel room in Newport. We drove over for a weekend in March just to get away. It was so cute - those two in their matching hoodies!

Silly girl! Pulling dad's hood down over his eyes and laughing like crazy!

Stella and Me outside the Crab Cooker in Newport. The waitresses in there thought Stella was so cute they were literally standing in a circle around her and all screaming and laughing. The whole restaurant was looking...it was pretty funny. I have to admit - she did look pretty cute that day! :)
I turned 29 this month...Stella got to go over and play with her cousins while Cameron and I went out that evening. This is Stella and me on my Bday before we left.

Stella zonked out in her stroller as we walked up and down the beach in Newport.

Stella in her favorite spot - in front of the DVDs. She would work all day to get those doors open and pull out all the DVD's if I would let her! Yes - every once in a while I open up the doors and let her yank them all out!...and believe me, she does not rest until all 100+ DVDs are strewn around the room.

Stella got sick two weeks ago with the stomach flu. This was right after - so she was looking even more lean than usual...I seriously think she lost weight with her flu if that's possible. In the ER, they weighed her in at 15.6 pounds, which is pretty tiny for a 10 month old! Poor little thing! She's feeling much better now and is back to loving food!

Stella and Cameron on Easter Sunday...My mom made this dress and flowers for her. It was so adorable.

Stella splashing around in our hottub. She LOVES it in there.

Eight Months...

2009-03-02T14:19:00.000-08:00

This past month was a special one for us, as you know. We were able to be sealed to Stella in the Mesa, Arizona Temple and bless her in our ward. The sealing went really well. The weather was beautiful and the day went really smoothly. We had never been to a sealing of a child to parents before (we had only been to marriages), so it was a neat and new experience. Our friends and family were there and my mom got to be Stella's escort in the temple. It was so amazing when my mom brought her into the sealing room and we were already there. She just looked like a little angel. She was very well behaved the whole time and was just smiling at everyone around the room. It was so cute. The spirit in the room there was so strong and it was a real manifestation to us what a blessing it is to have her in our lives, as our baby.

The next day was the blessing and it went well also. Cameron gave Stella a really beautiful blessing that she would be, among other things, a strong, virtuous woman and that she would always know how many lives she has touched and how many people love her.
It was a great weekend and one we had been anxiously awaiting.

Some of her other recent accomplishments - she now crawls like crazy. She is really fast! She never stops moving and getting into mischief! LOL! She now has not only the two bottom teeth, but also one of her top teeth and the other is coming in as we speak...making her very cranky! She waves 'bye-bye' and claps (sometimes - we're still working on the clapping thing). She can say 'mama', 'dada', 'ba-ba' (bottle), and 'bye-bye' (but bottle and bye-bye sound pretty much the same!). She's finally wearing her 6-12 month clothes!..so she is growing, but is still a petite little thing.
Here are a few pictures that I have taken recently - some of which are from that weekend. I took some cute pictures of her in her 'Steelers' jersey that Spencer gave her. But, they are on my small camera and for the life of me I can not find the cord that allows me to download pictures from that camera to my computer. So, I'm going to have to go buy a new cord in order to get those pictures downloaded! Sorry! Hopefully I'll get that done soon! :)

Do you think they were copying each other on purpose?? :)

With her cousins at the temple on her sealing day.

With my family on the day of the sealing.

With some of Cameron's family on the day of the sealing.

Just after the sealing on the stairs of the temple.

Seven Months...

2009-01-15T15:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

We hope that you all had a nice Christmas and New Years. We sure did...mostly we just relaxed and spent time with family. We had a lot of fun doing the first Christmas stuff with Stella. Thank you to the Simons and the Rodebacks for the Christmas gifts. You are too generous. We consider ourselves very fortunate to have such great birth parents and families.

She had fun opening the presents - mostly she loved the 'paper' that we ripped off the presents - but she'll catch on soon enough! :)

A few updates on the baby. The adoption was finalized there in Utah on December 15th. The hearing was conducted by proxy meaning that we did not have to appear there in court in-person. Our attorney and Sandy from LDS Family Services appeared for us. It was a happy day for us...Now we can bless her and be sealed to her. The dates for that are January 31st for the sealing (in the Mesa, Arizona Temple) and February 1st for the blessing.

Another update, Stella now has two teeth! They are so cute! She was teething for a while and then all the sudden one morning, they were just there! She's so good-natured, she wasn't even that fussy or anything. She is also sitting by herself now and is just on the verge of crawling. She gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth - I'd say she'll be crawling within a week or so.

I took her to the doctor this morning (the poor thing had to get four shots!). We found out that she is now 27.5 inches long (75 percentile), her head is in the 33 percentile (I can't remember the exact number of inches), and she is now 15.1 pounds (12 percentile). So, apparently she's kind of tall and thin! Let's hope for her sake that ratio sticks with her when she's an adult! :)

Here are a few pictures of her. Some are from Christmas time, Christmas morning and others are just some we had taken recently.

Taken just last week...

I thought you might like this one because you can see her cute little teeth and her big blue eyes!

This is her blessing dress - I wore this dress when I was her age...my mom saved it for me in case I had a daughter. So, it is very special to me that she will be able to wear it for her blessing.

Christmas morning!

Six Months Old...

2008-12-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

As you know, Stella is now (as of almost two weeks ago) officially six months old. She is definitely a 'baby' now, rather than an infant. I love watching her develop but at the same time it pains me to see her grow so fast! I just want to capture every stage she goes through and never forget what it was like.

She has such a little personality. She's a really sweet baby; always smiling and laughing. She is really starting to love being around all her little cousins - she just sits there and watches them - she is so entertained by the things they do. You can tell she can't wait until she can join in the fun!

We are having fun getting ready for her 'first Christmas'. I found in a local boutique a cute little soft baby doll that is actually named 'Baby Stella' (which is what everyone calls our Stella). I thought that was so cute...so, I bought her that doll for Christmas and the little baby stroller and cradle that go with it. There is also a line of books called 'Stella'. They are really cute books where this little girl goes on all these adventures - like 'Stella - Princess of the Sky' and 'Stella - Princess of the Sea', etc. So, I couldn't resist getting her those as well. The funny part about it is that I was actually hiding these gifts in Cameron's office. He came in and started laughing at me for hiding presents from a six month old baby...but I thought we better get into the practice of it! :)

This week the adoption becomes final. We are waiting impatiently (LOL) to receive the official word that everything has been signed off in the courts. After that we will wait for them to send us all the official paperwork and then we can schedule to bless and be sealed to her. We are very excited.

Here are a few recent pictures of her. Georgeous as always!

Halloween and Other Things...

2008-11-11T22:24:00.000-08:00

19 - 23 Weeks...

Hello! Well, I finally have some good pictures to post for you to see...These range from about October 20th until just yesterday. Thank you to Spencer and Angie for the cute little outfits you sent. She has worn them both and the boots will be so cute this winter!

It seems amazing that Stella is now five months old. In some ways it seems like she's been here forever - and in others ways it seems like yesterday she was born. It is so much fun watching her grow and change every day. She is rolling over both ways now and is on the verge of sitting up. It looks like she is going to get her two bottom teeth here pretty soon. She reaches for things she wants now including if she wants someone to pick her up, which is so cute! She loves her 'exer-saucer' which is the toy she sits in and plays with all the little toys around the edge. She will jump and laugh and play in that thing for quite a long time! She continues to be a happy baby who loves to laugh and smile. She is such a joy in our lives.

Stella's Halloween Costume - She was a bumble bee! She was even in the 'Gilbert Republic' newspaper in her costume - on the front page!

Happy little Bumble Bee at our Trunk-Or-Treat party in our ward.

Stella with Mom and Dad passing out candy at our Trunk or Treat.

Stella in one of her 'scary' Halloween outfits! :)

Wearing her Babies Gone Batty Onesie! So cute.

Again - On Halloween Day.

On Halloween.

This one makes me laugh - her little belly is so cute.

Stella at a family reunion

She loves her baths! (She's wearing a washcloth!)

Jenny and Stella at a wedding. Stella was the Belle of the Ball!

Growing Cuter Everyday! - That's for sure! :)

Again...

Stella in her Exer-saucer - Funny Girl.

Weeks 15 - 17...

2008-10-14T21:53:00.001-07:00

Hello! Well - it's been a few weeks since I have updated only because we haven't been doing much! So, I haven't had many pictures to share! Hopefully in the next few weeks I should have some good pictures since Halloween is coming up!

Stella is growing every day and looking so much older now suddenly! She is using her hands a lot more now and can easily grab toys and fingers, etc, that are placed in front of her. She is rolling over - but only now and again...She has become attached to this one little silky blanket and she likes to hold that and feel it with her fingers when she goes to sleep. She started eating rice cereal last week. She loved it right from the very first bite! It creates quite a disaster when she eats it, but she loves it! She can only eat all organic, soy-free rice...the first kind we gave her had soy in it and she had a little bit of an allergic reaction (some hives on her cheeks and neck).

She's so funny - she is very particular lately about who she will let hold her! She mostly likes to be with me, then Cameron...and after that, she'll pretty much cry if anyone else takes her...I think it's just a phase - but it sure does make her cousins and aunts / grandmas crazy! I guess she and I need to get out more often, around other people! :)

Here are some recent pictures of her!

In her guitar pajamas - still no hair to speak of! :)

She has the cutest gummy smile!

Here is Stella and Dad watching football last Sunday after church. Neither one could take their eyes off the TV!

Sitting in her Bumbo chair. She thinks she is such a big girl when she sits up in it!

Weeks 13 and 14...

2008-09-17T09:30:00.000-07:00

Well - weeks 13 and 14 are now complete! I can't believe how fast the time is flying by. Even though I am always anxious to see what she will do next or how she will grow and change - I also ask her every day to stop growing-up already! I know I will miss this little baby stage when it is over. Stella is absolutely the most beautiful, funny, adorable baby ever!

Last week we went to the East Coast and took her with us. I can't bear to leave her behind just yet. She had her first plane ride...and got to see her first baseball game - at Fenway Park (Boston Redsox) - a memorable experience for sure. She and I only stayed about 4 innings and then she was ready for bed!.. then we took her to NYC. I'm not kidding when I tell you that we could hardly even get anywhere because so many people (mostly ladies) were stopping us to oggle over Stella! Of course it never gets old hearing how cute she is - but by the end it was getting almost rediculous! :)

She has become a lot more vocal over the last week or two. She's learning to use her voice a lot more and she has the cutest little high voice. She's doing a lot of cooing and talking. She looks like she thinks she is really telling you something when she talks! She's growing a little chubbier now - getting some little rolls on her legs finally. She's still wearing 0 - 3 month size clothes - but I think pretty soon she'll be able to move into some of her 3 - 6 month sizes. (I hope so - because all her 0 - 3 month clothes are very summery!).

We've started taking a morning walk in the stroller. When she gets up around 6 am, it is cool enough that we can take her outside. She loves her walks - she is quiet the whole time and just looks around at everything.

Here are some recent pictures of her.

Spencer, do you remember, we bought this outfit when you were here? Well, finally it fits!

Stella being held by her cousin, Sam. Her cousins can't get enough of her!

Stella's other cousin, Luke. He is exactly a year older than Stella. At this birthday party, he was trying to give her hugs and kisses the whole time! :)

Stella and her best friend, Junior watching Baby Einstein.

Here she is also watching Baby Einstein - she has figured out the TV and is obsessed! Anytime it is on, she cranes her neck around to try to see it! Funny!

Here she is sticking her tongue out at the camera (as usual!), at the Redsox game in Boston. Dad was telling her all about the plays. I don't think she was listening...LOL.

Stella and Dad at the Redsox game.

Stella on her first plane ride. The plane wasn't too full - so she got her own seat. She slept on her beanie-bed almost the whole way! She looks pretty tired in this picture! :)

Weeks 11 and 12...

2008-09-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hello! Here are the latest and greatest pictures of little Stella. Don't you love her smile (above)? She has the best smile.

She turns three months old this week! Can you believe it! She went to the doctor two weeks ago; she is 10 lbs. 1 oz., 23 inches long. (Her height is in the 55%, her weight is in the 10%, her head circumference is in the 35% (all for her age). So, she's doing good in height, she just needs to keep gaining weight! :)

Here she is at our friend's house in Las Vegas.

Stella (right) with her friend Lulu (left) ready to hit the road.

This one is funny! It looks like she's pointing at her tongue.

Spencer, you gave her the outfit she's wearing in this picture! It's so cute and bright.

Nine and Ten Weeks Old!

2008-08-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

Stella has been a busy girl over the past couple of weeks! We went on a family vacation with my family (Jenny) a couple weeks ago to California - then ended up going on another one with Cameron's family this past weekend (again to California!). This time we went to Disneyland and the beach - so I did get some pictures of her in those two places.

Overall, she's doing very well, as usual! She's starting to actually look chubby in the face and belly (her legs are still pretty skinny!). She had her first runny/stuffy nose last week - poor little thing...but it didn't develop into any real illness or anything so that is good. She is smiling a lot now and starting to laugh a little bit...she smiles the most when Cameron sings her little songs that he makes up! :) She sure is a pretty little girl!

Here are some pictures of the last 2 weeks - sorry that Cameron and I are in a lot of them (I'm sure you really want to see pictures of us! LOL) - I just didn't have that many of just the baby...So, here you go!

Stella and Cameron in Disneyland

Stella and Jenny at the beach -sorry it's sideways - I keep on rotating it, and for some reason it keeps going back sideways!! :(

Stella at the fireworks in Disneyland - they didn't even phase her!..she just kept right on sleeping.

Stella crashed out after the beach on the way back to the hotel.

Stella and I like to color coordinate our clothes! :) I know - cheesy! LOL.

Stella during her afternoon nap.

Seven and Eight Weeks Old!

2008-08-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Okay, I have been really excited to post these pictures. I was going to do it last week, but we went to California for vacation and my Internet connection was so bad where we were staying, it didn't have the power to upload these pictures into the blog. So - the baby has now been on her first vacation. She did really well staying in hotel rooms, etc. She and I have a pretty routine schedule every day as far as her feedings and nap times go - so I was a little worried that she would get 'off' her schedule and be unhappy during the trip. But, she was such a good girl! She still ate when she was supposed to and then napped in her stroller if we were out. She hardly cried the whole trip.

We had these taken almost two weeks ago now - they turned out so beautiful! The baby gets bigger and more beautiful every day.

Six Weeks Old...

2008-07-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

This last week Stella was six weeks old...and did it ever start to show! She is really holding up her head well now, she is beginning to be a lot more alert and seems to be absorbing everything she sees! She is looking people right in the eye now and smiles at them when they talk to her! It is so adorable.

She also slept through the night the last two nights (about 10:30 pm to 5:30 am), which is amazing...and so nice to get a full night's rest - although it's not like I really do because I still wake up just about every hour to check on her!...I know, I know, it makes me sound crazy. I'm sure I'll get over it soon...well, Cameron's getting a full night's rest anyway...then again, he always was! LOL!

Here are some pictures of the baby from the last week. We had the professional ones taken last Saturday and I was hoping they'd be back by the time I posted this, but no such luck. I should have them back by the end of this week - so they will be on next week's post!

Five Weeks Old!

2008-07-15T18:27:00.000-07:00

This week, Stella (Payton!) is five weeks old. She seems to grow and change every day - and is getting more beautiful every day too...she is getting on a good feeding and sleeping schedule, now usually only waking up twice in the night to eat (11 pm and 3 am). She is an early riser, though - getting up for the day at 6 am - bright eyed and bushy tailed! :) She is beginning to fit into her Newborn and 0 - 3 month clothes a bit better now...and is now starting to love her bath! She kicks and coos a little bit in the warm water. It is very cute.

She was supposed to have her pictures taken this week (professionally). But the photographer, who we love and has done many other pictures for us, got sick and so we rescheduled for next week. I know those pictures will be amazing - I'm so excited.

In the mean time - here are a few pictures that have been taken recently of the baby...more to come soon!