Bella and her sister.

Now this might sound strange to those of you who don't know the situation, but Bella met her sister for the first time this weekend. Tramell has a four year old daughter named Keyshira, who is from a previous relationship. Throughout Tramell and I's friendship and through our relationship, I've formed a very strong bond with Keyshira and love her very deeply.

Bella is very timid around people that she doesn't know, and tends to cry if someone unfamiliar is holding her. This was not the case with her sister. From the moment that she saw her face, she was smiling, cooing and giggling at Keyshira. I know it sounds corny, but it seemed like one of those innate connections that no one can really understand between siblings. Though the two sisters have different mothers, they understood that they were indeed sisters. I was a nervous wreck before Keyshira came from Augusta! (Mel's home town) I thought "Well, what if she's jealous of the attention Bella is getting from her daddy?" and "What if she shuns her completely?" or "What if her mother has given her the idea that Bella is here as her enemy?" ... It was quite the nerve racking event for me, emotionally and mentally.
Little did I know that I should have had no worries. Keyshira was a little mommy and a huge helper. She was so excited to see Bella smile and talk to her, and even more so when Bella would smile and talk to her daddy. She was VERY protective and when Tramell's mother held her, and Bella started crying, she said "YOU MADE MY SISTER CRY! NOW GIVE HER TO ME!" ... The minute Bella was in Keyshira's arms (with my help, of course) Bella stopped crying. It was great.

I hope that there are many more good times to come between the two sisters and now that Keyshira has seen Bella, she will be able to come spend more time in Atlanta.

Bella and the "Nice" list.

Bella met her Santa this past weekend. She refused to take her pacifer out of her mouth, but we still got some cute shots anyways. Her Santa just so happens to be my God Father, Johnny Lawler. He said "No picture I take this year is going to mean as much as this picture right here." That meant alot to me, and I'm sure later in life it will mean alot to Bella. We had a great time seeing the Lawler family, taking pictures with Santa and listening to the piano students play their music. We had to hurry off because it was my grandfather's (PaPa) 79th birthday and my cousins had prepared a slideshow of photos. We had a great time there as well. Daddy was sick and missed out on all the festivities. He's recovering from a pretty bad case of food poisoning (we suspect) and is starting to feel alot better! We love you Daddy!

Bella and her Bing.

Bella met her cousin Daniel Bing a few days before Thanksgiving. It was quite the playdate. :) She rolled over for the very first time while Marni (my sister-in-law's sister), Daniel and I were all playing and it was the cutest thing ever! Though we have yet to see another roll, I expect some soon ! The two babies bonded and had such a great time. Daniel has the most BEAUTIFUL blue eyes I have seen and looks like a miniature version of his daddy. It is soo adorable. Bella was loving the chance to hang out with someone her own age ! Haha. She played with his toys, talked to him and they cried to eachother. It was great. She also got to see her Aunt Andi, Uncle Gabe and got to see Daniel's grandparents, Max and Gary Rosen.

While Bella rolled over for the first time, Daniel (who is a month and a half older than Bella) sat up on his own for the first time! (I think they bring out the best in eachother. :) ) We hope to see Daniel again soon when he and his parents make another trip to Atlanta.

Bella And The Beach!

I was so thankful for my family this Thanksgiving. We had the wonderful opportunity to go to Navarre Beach, Florida and spend a week at a GORGEOUS beach home that belonged to a family friend. It was Bella's first trip to the beach and the first trip to the beach in a long time for Tramell and I. We had a BLAST with my mom, my brother, my sister in law and all of her cousins. Wonderful food that Joseph cooked (omg he should be a chef.), wonderful times on the beach with everyone, and quality time with my daughter and my fiance. I couldn't have been more thankful for the people in my life and the year that had passed before me.

Bella dipped her feet in the water but wasn't too happy about it, being as the water was cold. She loved the sound of the ocean, and slept like a champ the entire time we were there. Oh, only if I could get her to take two good naps a day back in Atlanta ! She has honed her talking skills and doesn't stop now. We absolutely love it. We had full days at the beach, waking up at about 6:45 every morning and relaxing. If the world was so easy that we could own a gorgeous beach home, cook for our family members, and just be beach bums. Oh, the life of Floridians. :) Tramell and I hope to be a Floridian family one day. I feel that I grew closer to everyone that went on this vacation. I gained a new appreciation for my family, for my daughter's bright smile, and for my wonderful fiance. Things get hard with all three of the listed at times, but everything that you go through with them is worth every second at the end of the day.

We are Bella and The City but for one week we were Bella and The Beach!

Goodbye Beach! We hope to see you soon!

Bella and her Birthday.

Happy Birthday, Bella!

Today you are 3 months old. It feels like time has flown by! You are SO fun and have brought so much joy to mine and your father's lives. You truly are my biggest and best blessing. Although right now you are crying yourself to sleep in your crib (you are currently on a napping strike, as Marni calls it.) you laugh, smile and coo all day long. You are SUCH a happy baby. Lately you have been talking in full conversation to myself, your Daddy and your Queenie. No one else gets much conversation :). You are learning to sit up on your own and doing such a great job! You're also doing a great job with baby cereal (I'm SO proud of you for that.) Hopefully more solid foods in the near future ! Well, we're off for our first beach visit together in the next few days and we will make tons of memories together there !

I love you and Happy Birthday,

Your Mommy

Bella's Words.

Bella has finally realized that she can make noises other than screaming and crying. She now communicates very openly and clearly. She has also begun communicating with her toys.

Pay attention to the "word" that comes out around the 50 second mark ! She uses her tongue to say a "word" ! So smart.

Loss

My Aunt Lynn passed away this morning. She had a brain tumor, and had to have a biopsy taken on it, and passed in recovery from the surgery. It's difficult for me because as different as we were, my aunt and I shared so many of the same passions. She was so involved in the rescue of animals and keeping the enviroment healthy. Her heart was always in the right place, though her actions may have been a bit off. She told my mom two days before she died that she loved all of us (my siblings and I) and my mom said "Lynn, they love you too." And she said "But why? I'm the crazy aunt." My mom replied, "That's exactly why they love you." She never judged anyone, and was always behind you whenever you needed her.

Though she made my younger brother Sam and I go stand around trees and protest when we were seven (remember that Sam?), I always had fun with her. There is never a dull moment when a Lay is involved, but especially my aunt Lynn. I hurt for her children. Some didn't spend the time with her in her last months as they should have.

She always made sure she was there if you needed her. She couldn't make it to my baby shower, but she made it a point to come to my home with an antique rocker she had refinished for me and when Bella was born, she came to the hospital with a GORGEOUS Feltman Brothers dress for her.

She loved all of us, unconditionally. And she will so greatly be missed.

I love you Aunt Lynn.

Bella's Fairy Wings.

Bella and her play time.

I'm elated. Bella's attention span has clearly lengthened and she can keep herself occupied for about 30 minutes at a time in her play gym. She has figured out to kick the bars of her play gym in order to get things on it to jingle and move. Smart? I think so. She is just an amazing baby. She is sleeping through the night, she is happy most of the day, bath time is her favorite activity and I couldn't ask for a more precious little girl.

She adores her uncles, she really does. She has so much fun with her uncle Gabe & Joseph. She's warming up to Sam, it's taking a while. :) She loves both of her aunts, too. She just likes to flirt with her uncles lol.

Bella and a giggle.

According to all the text written on 0-3 month old babies, Bella is one of two things : extremely advanced, or an alien. She is already pretty much holding herself up while she's having tummy time, she has control of her head, pulls up on her OWN while we hold her fingers and she has already giggled. Two full fledged, real giggles. Ahh, the magic of the Lay and Clark genes. (I kid, I kid.) We have finally been able to get Bella on a very good sleeping schedule, which has afforded me the opportunity to finally catch up on 4 months of missed sleep. (I didn't sleep well in my last two months of pregnancy.) I think she is a much happier baby now that she is sleeping better. She is changing and growing more and more everyday. I'm lucky I have the chance to stay home and witness her milestones.

The support system that was created in the midst of my pregnancy is the best. My wonderful fiance, my AMAZING mother, my oh so sweet aunt & grandmother, my mother in law and my father, a gaggle of uncles and pack of aunts make life so much easier. To all of you, thank you. (Oh and a very special thank you to my great cousin Rachel. Thanks for everything. Love you shug.) I would not have understood the importance of so many things if it weren't for all of you.

A few more photos and I'm off!

My angel :)

And here goes nothin'...

So I have narrowed my baby tirades down to Blogger. Facebook didn't exactly work, the MySpace is long gone & e-mailing updates is quite taxing on the soul. And here I am.

Bella is a whole 8 weeks and 4 days old at this point and is smiling, cooing, and giggling like a pro. I had no idea I had the capacity in my heart to be so enamored with someone so little. She amazes me everyday. Here are a few pictures to catch everyone up.

about 5 hours old. my darling.

coming home from the hospital.

one week old.

There are many more pictures to show but it seems I'm having a few issues with blogger at this point. :)