Cora turned 1 a couple weeks ago, and I failed to blog about it! Better late than never…
We didn’t make a big ordeal out of the day, but celebrated her first year over dinner with my mom (my dad was out of town).
That green thing you see with a bow on it is the Bilibo that Cora got for her birthday. It’s a molded piece of durable plastic- an open ended shape that has limitless uses. Since its been in our house it’s been a walker (see below), a turtle shell, a chair to spin circles in, a kitchen sink, a stool to reach light switches, a tunnel for miniature cars and people, and a cradle for dolls. Obviously Cora hasn’t been the one to come up with all these uses, but she will most definitely be adding to the list of possibilities as she gets older.
Tired baby at the end of the day. Happy birthday, sleepy head!
Thanks to our wonderful family, we were able to sign Abi up for dance class! The 12 week session started yesterday, and if Abi had been any more excited she would have popped.
Here is a picture of her practicing at home in one of her leotards from Ben’s folks, and a picture of her getting out of the car yesterday at the Chattanooga Theatre Center.
The parents are made to sit outside the room while class is in session, so besides peeking in the tiny window in the door a couple times I didn’t get to see much. She thoroughly enjoyed her time, though, and can’t wait until next week.
Here are a couple pictures of baby Cora, since I can’t help but share her cuteness with you. She had a cold/sinus infection for most of last month, but she is beginning to feel better now and is acting more like herself.
About six months ago Abi got hooked on watching Angelina Ballerina. Ever since then she has been dancing around, wherever she can find enough space. We bought her a dance lesson on DVD a while back, and she ate that up until she got bored with it. Ben and I have always thought her dancing is cute, and have even noticed that she’s been getting a little bit better lately.
But last night! Last night she asked Ben to dance with her (as she often does when he gets home from work in the evenings) and she displayed some pretty good moves. Ben and I kept looking at each other like, “Where did she learn this?” and, “How did she get so good?”. I manged to get some of it on video to show off. There’s some goofing off mixed in, but you’ll get to see the fancy footowork a couple times.
(aren’t you proud of me for figuring out how to post this?!)
Ben and I have wanted to get her enrolled in dance classes, and we looked at it a while back but soon realized that they were far to expensive for our budget- to the tune of $120 for 1 semester (12 classes). After seeing what we saw last night, we are determined to find a way for her to explore this interest and natural talent she has. We are turning to you, our family and friends, to ask if you’ll help support Abi’s dancing. If you can, would you consider donating to the “Send Abi to Dance Class” fund? I messed around with html code for a bit, and made this fancy “Donate” button as you’ll see below and in the right sidebar.
If you are able to give anything at all, we (and she) will be so grateful. We’re trying to get $160 raised by the end of January in order to enroll her in the classes (and buy ballet slippers, tap shoes and a leotard) beginning Feb 6th.
For those of you who don’t get to share in the every day (most days) fun- and even those that do: Here are some pictures from the last month or two that make me smile.
Cora (who is almost 6 weeks old already) has been showing us pretty little smiles for a couple weeks now, but today is the first time I tried to get a picture. Before now I haven’t been able to take my eyes off of her long enough to take a picture when she starts showing off her toothless gums.
This isn’t a big smile, more of a little grin, but it’s the best I could get before she decided it was nap time.
We’re all doing well, if not tired (of course). Abi is enjoying being a big sister, and taking all the changes very well. She loves to give her hugs and kisses. 🙂
I have tons of pictures to share from last month. We had a bunch of fun as a family going to a real live pumpkin patch with our good friends. My Amber friend just happens to be a great photographer, and she took some great pictures of our family for us while we were there.
Abi picked out her own pumpkin. It was perfectly Abi sized, and orange-er than all the rest.
Then, we asked her to pick a pumpkin for Jelly Bean (AKA the baby in my belly), and after finding this little one, she decided to lift up my shirt, put the (cold) pumpkin on my belly, and then pull my shirt down over it. Cute!
A couple days later after we’d brought our pumpkins home, it was time to decorate them. I decided to make it easy and mess-free this year.
In case you can’t tell, that’s Jelly Bean’s pumpkin hiding behind those huge eyes and weird ears.
Abi likes Winnie the Pooh. Pooh likes honey bees. I figured it would be fitting for her to be a bee for Halloween. However, she only put her costume on after much coaxing by Grandma, and would only keep it on long enough to smile for some pictures. Ten minutes later, off it came.
I have tons of pictures to share from last month.
We had a bunch of fun as a family going to a real live pumpkin patch with our good friends. My Amber friend just happens to be a great photographer, and she took some great pictures of our family for us while we were there.
…and I’m so excited about it. A couple of weeks ago I went out and bought tiny pony tail holders and cute little clips, and she loves them… most of the time. She is two, after all. I think when you’re two its against the rules to love something 100% of the time (but that’s a whole different post). 😉
In this picture she is sitting next to my parents’ new dog, which she lovingly calls “New Dog”
Yes, I know it’s been a long time since I’ve paid this blog any attention. That’s why I’m here now. I don’t have anything new to share- I just wanted to let you all know that life is still life here with our family.
I’m now about 4 months (18 weeks, to be exact) pregnant, and things are going smoothly. I’ve been feeling the tiny little thing kick for a few weeks now, and I’m loving it. It makes that nasty first trimester worth it. 🙂
And because I know you’ll be wondering these things…
We’re planning another home birth with the same midwife as last time.
We’re not finding out what we’re having- another surprise!
I’m due in January.
Abi has no clue what’s in store for her. We tell her there’s a baby in my belly, but she thinks that we’ve started calling my belly button a baby. She kisses it, because she likes the reaction it gets from me, and she rubs my belly because that’s what she see’s me doing. When we see little babies when we’re out and about I tell her that we’re going to have one of those in a few months, and she says “Yah”, but only because she’s, in general, a pretty agreeable kid.
And now, because a post without a picture is boring…
We're so glad you care about our family and take the time to read our blog. We'd love to hear whats new with you, too! Please feel free to email us! BCSandLMS@gmail.com
Help Pay for Abi’s Dance Lessons
Abi loves dancing and is showing so much natural talent. We really want to get her signed up for dance classes this spring, but they they are expensive and we are unable to fit them in our budget. If you'd like to be a part of sending Abi to dance classes, please click this donate button below. We (she) really appreciates any amount you can give!
GOAL UPDATE:
$179 raised so far! Anything else we receive will go toward future semesters and uniform requirements. Thank you all!
Ben Snell
Laura
Raising Baby 
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