Autumn Come and Nearly Gone

I can't believe I have let almost 4 whole months go by without updating our blog. We have been staying very busy with the girls and all the events here that keep our schedules pretty packed. I suppose the biggest news is that we have moved to a new house here in England. We are now just right outside of Mildenhall in the even quainter town of Worlington. There's not too much here folks...a small church, cricket club, pub and town hall with a said to be haunted inn... And I almost forgot, the best 9 hole golf course in the world. There is also a little park right by a horse pasture that has met Bella's approval because it has swings and we can walk there! Other than the move, we had a pretty good Halloween apart from the fact that our house was in shambles since we would be moving the next day. Bella loved dressing up and I took her trick-or-treating in our old neighborhood which gets pretty into Halloween. She liked it, but mostly just wanted to go into people's homes...nosy little girl.

We are loving our new home and settling in slowly, but surely. There will be some pictures of the rear and front gardens (aka yards) and a picture of Bella Picasso in the new kitchen. I will try and post more photos once the house is a little more orderly.

All else is going pretty good. I am really missing family with the holidays quickly approaching, but the girls keep me pretty busy, so there's not too much time to frown. Bella had her first trip to the dentist today. She was very excited and on the way to the room, shouted out, "this is going to be fun!" I think the hygienist was pretty surprised. She hopped right up in the chair and was great the whole time. She only got a little concerned when the dentist started putting the chair back. I anticipate quite a lot of pretend play involving a dentist chair and her babies. If all goes well, we might hop on our first flight with Paul tomorrow. He is going on a trip to Azores (you'll have to look it up because that is next on my list of things to do) and we thought we would join him since a friend of mine is going with her daughter. When we get back, we will be busy getting ready to host a big Thanksgiving dinner at our new house for some of the single guys and gals in Paul's squadron as well as a few other families we know. It should be a good time...since I'm not doing much of the cooking! Happy Thanksgiving a little early. We miss you and love you.

p.s. Sorry for the random pictures...no time to order them....just gotta push "send"

Look Who's Two...and baby Ariana too!

Well, the big sister, Bella, turned two a few weeks ago on the 11th. Grandma Patty made it just in time for the party and to meet Ariana for the first time. Bella had a blast at her birthday party and loved having some of her little friends there to join in all the fun. She was so excited to blow out her candles and open all her presents and managed to tame her "terrible twos" for the whole party...not one tantrum!

It was such a blessing to have Grandma (Christina's mom) to come visit, especially when we were sent back to the hospital with Ariana for a few days. She had a high fever and after many tests and careful watch, it was determined to be a virus and we were able to go home again with a healthy baby. We didn't get to do much sightseeing while Grandma was here, but we were all thankful for her help and Bella especially enjoyed playing with her Grandma.



Since Grandma has gone back home, I have been adjusting to having two girls to watch and love. Thank God for Bella's afternoon nap...may it remain till she is at least 4. Overall, Bella is doing great and we are really proud of how well she is adjusting. She acts up a little when she feels she is not getting enough attention and the other day she might have thrown a spoon at her little sister (Ariana is pretty tough, thankfully) but most of the time she wants nothing more than to hold her and kiss her. She can't wait till she can play too, but for now, is satisfied playing with her baby dolls...nursing them as mommy does and changing almost as many stinky, stinky diapers. Ariana is an expert eater, pooper and sleeper doing all three several times a day. She slept 6 straight hours last night and likes a long, late afternoon nap just like Bella...hooray! We are planning a trip up North this weekend...our first with 2 girls , so we will have to update you on how that goes. Hope all is well and we shall blog again soon!

Ariana Renee arrives!

We have been enjoying the past few months hanging out as a family and getting ready for the next member to arrive. Christina was feeling like she was ready to have the baby anytime at about 2 weeks from her due date, the 4th, so we put it into high gear and got Isabella's new room and the baby room all set up, and just in time!

On the eve of the 1st Christina started feeling some contractions, and by about 2am on the 2nd she knew it was time. So we called over a friend to watch Isabella for the day and headed on in to the hospital around 6am. We got into the "pool" room, which was great because it not only had this huge pool for water births but also this huge bed for going through the labor.

After getting there Christina and I went for a walk to try and keep her contractions going on schedule, as they were only going at about one every five minutes. They didn't speed up any, but did start getting a lot more intense. So after Christina urged the midwife to check her multiple times, she finally did and found Christina to be at 9 cm. Since there was no time to fill the tub, Christina got to see what a landlocked delivery was like.
She did great, and got Ariana out at around 2:45 on the 2nd of July weighing 7 pounds and 5 ounces. Ariana had the cord around her neck, so she had a little trouble breathing at first.
She was doing well within minutes of delivery, but the doctors wanted to be safe so they kept her there overnight.

I was unable to stay, so I went home to be with Isabella while mom stayed with Ariana. The next day Isabella went to the hospital to pick up Mom and her new sister! After a little run around we were finally able to leave the hospital that night. Now everyone is back home and doing well.
Thanks to all for their thoughts and prayers.

Together Again

It has been quite a while since our last blog entry and probably the biggest news since then is that we are all together again and back home in England. Just a few days after Bella and Christina arrived home, Paul returned from his deployment. Bella was so excited to see her daddy and seeing him actually get off "his" airplane helped her to make all those connections about where he had been for so long. She kept pointing at "daddy's airplane" and was just so full of joy at having us together again.




We were able to take a short holiday to relax and reconnect before settling back into our daily routines. We went to a seaside resort in Great Yarmouth where we spent our time swimming, biking and mainly just being together. Bella really enjoyed this little park that we stopped off at on the way home. It was an amusement park and children's zoo where she got to feed the goats and go on rides. We've got lots of photos, so we hope you enjoy!




It was so nice to get away for a bit before returning to our regular routines. Paul has been flying a lot and is currently on his third class for his master's program. Bella and Christina have been enjoying some rather wonderful weather....it has been warm and sunny for more than a week straight now. With the new baby's due date steadily approaching, we have been making plans to get the house ready for our new addition and are still working on that perfect name. When asked what we should name her little sister, Bella replied..."Bingo." Now if we even refer to the baby with a different name she is quick to correct us saying, "no, baby sister name is Bingo!"

Thanks again for all the prayers and support while Paul was deployed. It was great to see people back in Minnesota and Bella is still talking about all her friends and family and loves looking at pictures from our trip. We miss everyone and wish all you moms out there a Happy Mother's Day.

It's a Girl!

On February 15th, Christina went in for her 20 week appointment and ultrasound. She was blessed to have both her Mom and Bella along to view a picture of the baby for the first time. The great news is that the baby is healthy with all its fingers and toes and seems to be developing right on schedule. We decided to find out the baby's sex this time around and we are very excited to announce that Bella will be having a little sister come July. Isabella really enjoyed the ultrasound and was very attentive to the technician pointing out the baby's eyes, nose and fingers. She would look at the screen and say "baby sister" and now she knows that her baby sister is in mommy's tummy. It was hard not to have Paul there, but Christina was able to give him the news shortly after her appointment and he is thrilled to find out that there will be another girl joining the family.

Christina and Isabella are still enjoying themselves in Minnesota despite the cold weather. Bella got to play in the snow for the first time. She wanted to touch it and took off her mittens to do so, which of course didn't go so well. She does love sledding, but has a hard time walking with all her snow stuff on....she looks a bit like a pink marshmallow. She is having fun with family, going to the zoo with Grandma and playing piano with Nona are just a few of the things that have been keeping us busy. She is also enjoying, maybe a bit too much, watching t.v. at Grandmas and all the treats that are around the house.

Paul is staying even more busy, flying almost every day and working out whenever he gets a chance. He will also be starting up a new class online for his MBA very soon. Paul and Christina keep in contact with emails and phone calls at least a few times a week. Bella doesn't know exactly what is up, but she likes to wave to her daddy whenever she sees an airplane fly by. We miss you Daddy,we miss you this much and more.....