New House

For the last month, Stephen and I have been in the process of buying our first home, and are all set to close on July 23. We are super excited about it and can't wait to get out of the duplex we've been renting for the last year! We looked at about 15 houses in the Athens area (and poor Bella got drug around to every one of them!). The most important thing we wanted was a safe, family-friendly neighborhood, in a nice area with a low crime rate and good resale potential; and in the end there was only one house that met all of those qualifications and was within our budget. Not our dream home, but certainly livable, and I think it will be really cute once we make some improvements.

Here are all the details about the house: 3bd/2ba, 1160 square feet, built in 1992, fenced-in backyard, covered front porch, one-car garage, eat-in kitchen, wood-burning fireplace in living room, 10-15 minute drive from campus, and very close to grocery stores, restaurants, the state botanical gardens, and a huge playground. The house is also on a cul-de-sac, which will be great when Bella starts riding a bike. We're most excited about Bella getting a room of her own and I can't wait to finally decorate a nursery for her.

We had a house inspection and termite inspection done, and the seller has agreed to fix most of the issues that came up on the reports. Overall, the house is in good condition, and the only bad thing about it is that the roof, water heater, and heating and air are all from 1992, which means we'll probably have to replace them while we are the owners of the house.

Front of house


Front porch


Kitchen (Peeling this outdated wallpaper will be our first project!)


Living room (I'm thinking taupe for the walls)


Backyard and deck (veggie garden going in next summer!)


We're going to visit the folks in Alabama this weekend, then we'll have a week to pack, followed by a week to move, so there may not be many blog posts for awhile. I have no idea how we're going to pack and move with Bella in tow but I guess we'll figure it out. Really wishing there was someone close by to watch her! I feel bad about putting her through the stress of moving, but hopefully she'll get over it when she finds out how great it is to have her own room where she's not disturbed by us.

A Day in the Life of Bella

Playing


Baby Talking


Bathing


What day could be complete without crying?


Cuddling



Sleeping


And I'll spare you a picture of Bella's other daily activities, which include either my lactating breasts or diapers. But for those of you who can see the humor in diaper stories, here's our best one yet: Bella had her two-month shots a couple of weeks ago and has felt hot quite a few times since then, so I have to check her temperature pretty often. We all know the best way to take a baby temp is rectally, so I don't even mess with the oral or underarm, just go straight for the bootie. I was in the middle of the six-second rectal temperature taking, when with no warning signs whatsoever, Bella blew out a doo-doo that was so forceful it blew the thermometer out of her hiney and sprayed poop all over me, her diaper changing pad, and her Boppy pillow. Oh, yes. It was a mess. Thank God for Dreft stain remover (and thank you Jenny for the recommendation!). I told Stephen that Bella's just practicing on me so that her aim will be perfected for when he is the one taking her temperature...

Mema's 90th Birthday Party

Family from all over the country came together in Dallas to go to Mema's 90th birthday party. It was so special for us to be there to celebrate and get to see family from Texas, Alaska, Montana, Colorado, and New Mexico. Mema didn't know that all of her children, and some of her grandchildren, who live hundreds of miles away, would be there until they showed up an hour before the party started and surprised her! This was Bella's first birthday party to go to and she loved being there to meet so much of her Ing family! Now she just needs to meet my sisters Jennifer and Emily, who live in Sacramento, California, and she will know almost all of her Ing family relatives!

The birthday queen in her crown!


The infamous birthday cake made by Martha and Heather



The Ing family


Four generations


So happy to see Uncle Ron and Aunt Becky, our strong and beautiful breast cancer survivor!



Uncle David, who bent waaaay down to kiss Bella's head several times


We had such a good time visiting with the Kay family, who we never ever get to see, and they were SO good with Bella!

Aunt Mary


Bella loved Andrea, who gave her some awesome baby massage!


Cousin Jason


Heather, who loved Bella's feet, and Uncle Richard, who loved her tight little grasp on his finger


Debating over what musical instrument Bella should play when she gets older!


The sweet, sweet moment when Mema was thanking Martha for planning such a wonderful party

Road Warrior

The day Isabella turned six weeks old, we left for a two week road trip to go to my grandmother's 90th birthday party and visit family and friends in Texas and Alabama. It was wonderful for Isabella to get to meet lots of these people who we rarely get to see. I loved how happy everyone was when they met my sweetie! At first we were quite apprehensive about taking a baby that young on a big trip, but it turned out to be great. Isabella loves to sleep in her car seat, so being on the road was the easiest part of the trip, even though we had to stop every couple of hours to feed her. And taking a big trip turned out to be just what I needed after feeling chained to the house for weeks.

Bella's first time to cross the Mississippi River (she wasn't as excited about it as we were!)


Chilling out on the huge king size bed during Bella's first night at a hotel


Dad's expression the first time he saw Isabella


Papaw and Nana happy to be with their first grandbaby!


Mema said she was "studying all of Isabella's features," it was really cute


First trip to Aunt Martha and Uncle Richard's house


Meeting cousin Chad


Our Tucson friends, Andrew and Whitney, who now live in Denton, Texas, came to see Bella


First trip to Austin to see cousin Jesse, Heather, and Aunt Mary


Meeting more Tucson friends who now live in Texas-- Astrid, Justin, and baby Tilly (who is still residing comfortably in her mommy's tummy!)


Bella meeting her Great-Great Aunt Jane


Back in Alabama, meeting our friends Adam and Christan


Meeting my brother Lloyd for the first time


Bella meeting Stephen's grandmother


Meeting my friend Jenny and her son Isaac (who is five months older than Bella) and my friend Inna who was home from Portugal




Isaac kept trying to hold Isabella's hand and right after this picture was taken he rolled over to be closer to her! It was so cute!


In Huntsville, Alabama, meeting Bella's cousin Caden, who is just four weeks older than her


Back in Athens, Isabella meeting another Tucson friend, Al, who was taking a road trip of his own and stopped by to see us


Whew! All of this visiting wore Bella out!

Two Months Old: Isabella's Stats

At Isabella's two month check up, she weighed 9 lbs 13 oz and was 23.5 inches long. She's grown four inches and has gained four pounds in the two months since she was born! WOW! She has become much more alert over the past couple of weeks and is extremely inquisitive about her surroundings. She can stare at her mobile or play yard for 20 minutes and be content with just looking at everything. She's starting to kick her legs a lot and move her arms constantly and she's losing her grasp reflex. She LOVES her bath time now, I think it is her favorite part of the day. When she is fussy and crying, we slip her into the bath water and she stops crying immediately! Best of all, Isabella is starting to make lots of big smiles and is laughing too! She laughed for the first time last week while Stephen was playing with her. Her smile is my favorite thing in the whole world to see! Her eyes are the most beautiful dark blue right now, and she definitely has Stephen's dimples! I haven't caught them on camera yet, but they're there!



This is the only smile we've caught on camera. It's when Isabella met mom's fiance, John. I'm guessing that John got Bella's approval since she gave him such a big smile!

Confessions

I have to admit I've been a very bad blogger the last month. We have been super busy with a long road trip and house hunting, but I promise a blog is on its way! Thanks to all you loyal blog readers for checking in and not giving up on me!