Preparing for Bella's Christening

Our little sweetie is being christened this Sunday! I was really worried (and still am) that her gown won't fit. It is size 0-3, but she is now 14 pounds and the gown says up to 12 pounds. My mom and I tried it on a few weeks ago and there was still room, but my mom was going to move the buttons around the neck just in case. I can't believe how big she is already and that she is only four days away from being three months old! She slept sooo much last night and today that I was worried, but I think she is just growing.

Last night she fell asleep around 8:30 pm and didn't wake to eat until 2:30 am! Then she was back up at 5:30 am and went back to sleep after eating and woke around 8:00 am. Then she slept for another hour or so around 9:00 am and again around 11:30 am. Then she stayed awake from 2:30 pm until just now around 8:00 pm. She usually doesn't sleep that much so I was thrown off.

I am so happy to be home with her! I don't want to miss a thing. She is "talking" up a storm now. Especially to her daddy! We also read every day and she looks at the pictures and smiles...it is too cute. Speaking of cute (lol) we LOVE this picture of her! She looks like a little Hollywood doll.

I just joined Facebook about a week ago and I am amazed. I was always curious about what all the hype was about. I found SO many people I graduated high school with and others I lost contact with years and years ago. It is nice to reconnect. It's also addicting.

So, I will post pics from this Sunday as soon as I can :)

Daddy's Little Girl!

Bella is TOTALLY Daddy's girl! I can't even adequately describe the look in her eyes when she sees her daddy. She lights up and it is just too cute. She "talks" to him on and on. I can never get her to "talk" the way Joe can. I guess I will have to hope for a boy the next time around so I can have a "momma's boy" ;)

Joe is such a great father. I am blessed to have him as my husband and so grateful that I have a man who is such an incredible daddy. He adores his Bella!

A New Blog for a New Chapter

This new blog is all about this new chapter in my life: blossoms and blessings. The word blossom has a few definitions. One is "to develop; flourish," and another is "a period or condition of maximum development". I feel that these definitions apply to this period of time in my life. I am working on developing the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22): love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Lord knows that I have my work cut out for me in this endeavor :)

Blessings are all those things that God has given to me. I used to see only what was good, at least in my opinion, as a blessing. However, I have learned that even the difficult times are a blessing from Him because the Bible says that "God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them" (Romans 8:28-29.)

The most awesome blessing is our beautiful daughter, Isabella. After initially undergoing three failed IUI procedures and enduring the loss of three sons in three failed adoptions at the hands of a con artist we knew that God granted our prayer for a child when we conceived on our first IVF attempt last summer. Our daughter is healthy and precious.

This is a new day! Joe and I are "...forgetting what lies behind and pressing forward to what lies ahead" as stated in Philipians 3:13. Thank you for joining me here!