Helloooooo!

How crazy is it that this month is already half way over? I sure hope that the year doesn't go this fast too. I've heard before that it's like the days drag by, but the months and years fly by. And that is SO true! Fair warning - this post will probably be all over the place. No real theme here :)

The last couple weeks have been really quiet...just the way I like them. Blake's been doing a LOT (and I mean a lot) of duck hunting. He's never been into it before like bow-hunting, but since his 30th birthday is coming up next month, I helped get his early birthday present, a Benelli Super Vinci shotgun! He's loving it and absolutely ate up with the duck hunting. Fine by me - I love seeing him so happy about his new hobby. I've learned to adjust to the hobbies/phases as they come in and out. Luckily, as he's getting older the phases have slowed down :) Stella is just cracking us up though, because I started telling her about daddy hunting {since the first thing she wants to do in the morning is see dada and duck hunting requires one to get up SUPER early and get out before sunrise, no thanks}...so, ever since last weekend, Stella has been going around saying "Da-da go boom-boom!" And then we laugh uncontrollably. Except now she's saying, "Stella go boom-boom!" - and I'm not real sure what to make of that, lol!

{She's already learning how to blow on the duck calls}

Stella started potty training herself on January 1st. Maybe it was her New Year's resolution? :) We've definitely regressed over the past couple weeks. I think in part because the "newness" has worn off and partly because it's sort of inconsistent with her being at school during the day. I'm totally being low-key about it and she still tells us every time she has to go potty. There are just some times when she's already gone in her pull-up and other times where we can sit her on the potty and she goes! Every time she sits on the potty she gets off and looks down in the toilet, waves, and says "bye-bye poo-poo!" and tries to flush {keep in mind this is regardless of if she's actually used the potty}. It's all precious though and in a month or so I'm really going to try and get consistent with it and start using big-girl panties and just maybe we'll be all potty-trained by her 2nd birthday! That would MAYBE convince me that I could possibly be ready to have another baby...but I'm still not nearly for sure I'm ready for that yet!

Stella is absolutely impressing me at the way her vocabulary has come on so quickly. I guess I really wouldn't know {since I have nothing to compare it to} except that her teachers both at school and in the nursery have commented several times over the last month on all her words. She's started stringing phrases together to almost make sentences and she can absolutely parrot anything we say {ahem, that means we really have to be aware of little ears now!}. My favorite is when she tells us "I cold" as soon as we walk outside somewhere. Or when I'm cooking or making coffee or even if the bath water is too warm, she'll tell us "It's hoooottttt." But the way she draws out the words "cold" and  "hot" when she says it is the absolute most precious thing I've ever heard! Stella was moved up to the two-year old class a couple months ago and I also think that has helped with her talking since she's with the bigger kids now. My little sweetheart has been practicing her leadership skills {at least that's what I like to refer to it as} and apparently is "at the top of the pecking order" no matter which class she's put in. There have been several incidents of Stella acting out on other kids, usually scratching, which at least she's no longer biting! We just can't find the rhyme or reason to it. It doesn't seem to ever be the same situation {i.e. fighting over a toy, etc}, but she does seem to like the attention she gets afterwards and the little stinker knows what she is doing is wrong because she immediately looks at the teacher. She LOVES telling the other kid "I sowwy" and hugging them and helping to make their "boo-boo" feel better. This has been a HUGE source of frustration for me because I'm not there when it happens in order to discipline her. I always to talk her about when I pick her up and luckily this has only happened a handful of times, but still, I hate that she's hurting another kid and it makes me so self-conscious when she's around other kids. I hover like an over-protective parent, but it's more so to make sure that I can correct any bad behavior on her part. Dont get me wrong, she's not like this in every situation with other kids...she has such a sweetness to her and such life. All her big smiles just melt my heart. And at the end of the day I know she'll grow out of this soon. There's a lot of development that goes on at this age and I really do believe that with further development with words that she will stop acting out. PLUS, and this is a big plus, despite the frustration now, I can say with certainty that she will not be one to be pushed around or follow the crowd when she gets old enough for those issues. I just pray that she comes to know her Savior at an early age and that she will live passionately for Him.

Well, in other news, this is my last week to be working. I am absolutely elated because this is what I've been wanting since Stella was in my tummy, but I'm also super nervous with fear of the unknown! I've never not had my own money to do with as I please and I also have no idea what Stella and I are going to do to fill our days! I've signed us up for a mommy-and-me "gymnastics" type class at ASI - where I was assured I would not have to be doing any sort of tumbling or walking on an apparatus! I'm also planning to start Stella in a one or two day a week Mother's Day Out in the fall, but I'm still trying to decide where and what will work best for us. I know that the library has "story time" so we're going to check that out - I just can NOT imagine Stella being quiet or still enough to handle that. But, I'm hoping she'll pleasantly surprise me! And then I have some private swim lessons planned for the summer. And I'm also trying to get involved in MOPS! Other than that - we'll just go with the flow and see what kind of schedule we can come up with {I'm pretty big on schedules - I just like to know what to expect}. I'm looking forward to some outdoor activities with her if this weather would ever dry up!

That's pretty much all the big stuff. Here are a few more pics from January so far!

{"Pony" is another favorite word of hers and she loves riding on this "pony" and laying her head down on him and saying "night-night."}

{Apparently G-Daddy has spun little Miss Stella in this chair before because she knew EXACTLY what she wanted to do when she saw his office chair!}

{We had our first bubble bath the other night...not real sure why I waited this long, but I think I had heard that it's not good for little girls to have too many bubble baths because they can lead to yeast infections. She wasn't super impressed with the bubbles, but we still had fun!}

{My mom, sis, and I went to Fireside Pies for a little girls night}

{While we were having our little girls night, Blake took Stella to Chuck E Cheese for the first time. His words were, "She is SO busy." That pretty much sums her up!}

{Stella had an awesome time at Chuck E Cheese just looking at everything, playing with the other kids, riding the rides, and eating her pizza!}

{Her favorite thing about all her play food is actually dumping it out!}

{I love how much she loves her dog}

{She did actually put herself in here and close the door}

{Stella loves to come over when I'm sitting on the floor and push on my back so that I'll lay down and she can get on my back and shoulders - love it.}

{Smiley little girl}

{Somebody is really turning into a daddy's girl}