Beautiful Bella

Look at that hair! Isabella has been waking up looking like Doc from Back to the Future. A bird could live on the back of her head. I think it is quite adorable especially the way the side curls up. We have decided we are in denial that we have moved. I know one day we will have to grieve but we are planning on it being after Christmas. I have been so busy unpacking, decorating, and exploring it hasn't had a chance to sink in. 

Isabella has been extra happy, cuddly and fun lately and I love it! She is becoming such a kid. She has such spunk and personality. She reminds me so much of the little girl from Remember the Titans. No one will back this baby in a corner! When I am trying to teach her something I point my finger at her like such a mom. The other day I said no isabella don't do that! and she just pointed right pack at me put a hand on her hip and said No! my little fireball ayayayayay.

Here are some of her latest quirks:

-the obsessions with dogs is only increasing. Someone up in heaven is having a good laugh. Darn you netflix dog movies that promise kids little cute puppies and happily ever afters with them!!!

-loves to cuddle with mom and watch any movie that has a dog, music, or any animal that resembles a dog. Brother Bear is our current favorite. That movie is hilarious!  

-has learned to make the most adorable little face and say "mama" as she holds her hands up. She knows this will get me to do anything so I will get this about 20 times a day

-kisses kisses and kisses. We are getting tons and you won't hear any complaining about that;)

-loves nursery at church and story time at the library. we don't even get a goodbye when we drop her off. Not complaining about that either.

-Loves cheddar cheese

-Dance parties are a must everyday especially with her dad or a stuffed animal as her partner. Her dance moves are getting weird and I blame Stephen since he has been her partner lately

-LOVES to put shoes on. sometimes she will be walking around the house with only her fancy church shoes and diapers. This one is such a weird little quirk but it really helps when I'm getting her ready for the day...

-fruit snacks will get her to do anything. Fruit snacks=bribes (can I do your hair? fruit snacks, sacrament is almost over I promise! fruit snack)

-has like a million adorable faces she does. Seriously. My current favorite is the pout. She has learned that we love them so she does them to get our attention and then claps for herself when we laugh. Definitely my child.

-calls everyone she loves Mama. 

-understands English and Spanish great but speaks pure babble except for bye, hola, agua and Mama

-folds her little arms and bows her head when we pray. 

-her current favorite songs are Shake it Off by Taylor Swift and Vivir mi Vida by Marc Anthony. 

I have an amazing kid and everyday I grow to love her more. Life can be so tough sometimes and trials can seem to never go away but Isabella makes it all seem lighter and makes me forget. Isabella's middle name is Luz and lately I have been thinking how happy I am we named her that because that is exactly what she is: a little light not only in my life but in everyone's life she touches. 

West Plains

Did I ever mention we moved here on a facebook message Stephen got from an old buddy from college? When you think about it that way it seems pretty insane. So as we are leaving Kansas after dropping off Stephen's dad from the airport, it finally sinks in that this isn't just a long road trip or vacation. We actually have moved away from Utah to this random small town in the middle of Missouri, where we know no one and have no clue what awaits us there. I kind of start losing my cool. Did I also mention we didn't really have an official home yet? We had talked to a ton of landlords, found one that seemed to work but didn't want to pay for anything without seeing it so we were driving straight to the place and hoping it would be home. Well it all sounded well planned in Utah, but as we are driving into West Plains, it's pitch dark, we are exhausted from 5 hours of driving and have a stomach bug, oh yeah and a i'vereachedmylimit toddler, it seemed pretty stupid. So we start freaking out. What if we hate this place? Our GPS can't find it how in the world are we gonna get there? Isabella just pooped her pants, Crap! Literally. We say a prayer and regroup. Stephen calls the landlord, I change Bella and we come up with a code phrase. We love code phrases. We agree that if we don't like the place we will say "hey we need to run to Walmart and buy peanut butter" give us a break we were exhausted and our bowls were about to explode so it seemed sensible at the time. 

By a miracle of life we find this place. And the nicest man I have ever met greets us. As soon as the door opens and I see the place I look at Stephen and say "I never want to buy peanut butter again in my life." What a place! It was built only 2 years ago and looks like no one has ever lived in it. It is by far the best place we have ever lived at, heck I've never lived in such a nice place my whole life! 

West Plains is pretty cool in some ways and not so cool in other ways. Walmart is pretty much our shopping place for everything. I mean EVERYTHING. I'm still not sure how everyone makes a living out here since there are like 3 stores including Walmart. Drug dealers? let's hope not. Well you know at least we will save ALOT of money cause there is nowhere to spend it? half laugh half cry

On the other hand it is refreshing how chill and slow paced life is here. No one is worried about fashion or having the latest technology or upgrades. One of the reason's I hadn't blogged yet is I wanted to take a break and just relax for a bit. It remind me a ton of Tatumbla (where I grew up). Everyone is extremely nice and friendly. The cashier at Walmart almost hugged us after we paid. As you are driving it looks like people are flipping you off but they are actually waving. 

During the weekend Stephen's friend, A. Jones was here for the holidays and we had a chance to hang out with him. We ended up going to a ranch his dad and a friend own and had a blast. Isabella got to ride a horse with me and loved it. Being the not animal lover that I am you would be surprised to know that I've ridden horses quit a few times before. Not a ton but sometimes my mom would rent horses from local farmers and we would spend a few hours riding. The ranch was amazing and got me really excited to live here. 

I'm not gonna lie it's gonna take some getting used to after living in Salt Lake and having so many options of stuff to do and everything was conveniently close, especially the temple (the closest one here is 3 hours away) but it just feels right, like we are supposed to be here for a reason. 

our backyard view (i can't believe i have a backyard!) 

this is our house, we live in a duplex so we have neighbors but I have never seen them so it feels like it's just us here. It's a pretty chil neighborhood with four houses about 2 miles of town. 

From the Ranch we went to with A. Jones, such a cool place. 

And finally my little Bells. She is growing so fast and I kind of love it. 

Kansas

The drive to Missouri was a long long roller coaster. Let's just say I am sooooo happy we have arrived and plan on flying anytime we go back to Utah. Stephen's dad came to help us drive and before making the drive I thought we didn't really need him but afterwards I was so grateful he came. Isabella behaved pretty well for her age but we had a huge melt down once and many stops to let her run around. Thank goodness we planned to go visit grandma Wells in Kansas and not only got a good break from driving but had a blast with Stephen's dad's family.

Grandma Wells is NOT what I imagined. All I had heard before of her was that she had 10 kids, is 84 years old and lives in Kansas. I imagined a tall, stocky lady who was very strict and serious. Instead I met this wonderful tiny lady who loves to crack jokes and is insanely patient with crazy active and mischievous 1 year old. She loves to sow and knit and is insanely talented. We visited the farm she grew up in and heard stories of her childhood and family. During Thanksgiving I gathered all the gran kids to play UNO and she showed up to play with us. At one point she put red on green and being ridiculously competitive I called her on it. She looked at me and said, "Im the grandma forget about it!" and winked. What an awesome lady. Did I mention she loves watching Dancing with the Stars? We all have guilty pleasures I guess. 

haha Isabella and I definitely didn't pose for this pic but isn't Grandma Wells cute?!

I forgot to mention Isabella is pretty dog crazy. I mean she is going through a serious dog phase. She calls them wowows (spanish nickname for them) and anytime she sees one she freaks out. Butch is Grandma wells companion of the last 7 years and Isabella's whole obsession during our stay in Kansas. Where Butch went she went, she would mostly hang out in his house with him and just play and talk with him. Oh man I can't believe I am saying this but I think we are going to have to buy her a dog someday. Maybe. 

Seriously how cute is this?

This is the farm grandma Wells grew up in. It has such a peaceful, slow paced kind of feeling to it. I felt like I was in a scene of Gone with the Wind.