The Baby Story (it needs to be told)

Even though Stella is now almost 8 months-old, I feel the need to tell the story of how she came to be. She was a very pleasant surprise and we were very shocked at first but after a little while we couldn't have been more excited.

Thanksgiving, approximately 6 months along:) She was barely starting to kick around this time. It was so exciting!

                          

And just before the due date..... I avoided pictures for most of my pregnancy and finally Alex made me take some toward the end. I'm glad he did because then I would have had no pictures of the last month.

Molly was my best bud during the pregnancy. She was always right there with me:)

About one week before my due date I had been in pre-labor for a few weeks and was very ready for Stella to get out! I know women labor for far longer than I did (17 hours) but it felt like forever!! But then she was here and we loved her from the first moment we saw her!

7 lbs. 6 oz.

Perfect baby girl

Sweet daddy.

Hanging out with Aunt Brita

Stella and her Grandma Susan

Meeting Grandma Jackie!

The cousins meet! Stella Mae and Vivienne Claire:)

Stella's guard dog:)

Stella's first swim. She was pretty darn cute in her Gap swimsuit:)

At our family reunion on Camano Island this past summer. Alec, Vivienne, Isaac, and Stella

It has been a wonderful 8 months! We love our happy, screaming, smiling girl!

Momma's kitchen helper

Lately Stella has become more and more clingy. She doesn't like to be in a room by herself, she needs to see Mommy at all times and there are those special moments (that are occurring more frequently) where she wants to be held all the time. This makes it very difficult to get anything done so when I need to make dinner I set her on the kitchen floor and give her something to play with. She seems to really enjoy orange spatulas:)

Last of the summer days

I'm super late on this one. It has been getting colder and colder the last few weeks and the leaves have turned orange and red and are starting to fall now. It's absolutely gorgeous! During our last few days of warmth we tried out the little baby backpack and Stella loved it! (I think Alex did, too!)

Chubby cheeks!

This sweet little face always makes me melt.

Cute daddy.

Maybe I post too many pictures...but I just can't choose any to leave out! Those lips!! And of course I have to include a picture of Stella's cool uncle Jake. He's pretty good on anything with wheels.

Our little guard dog....sort of

Not the best picture...sorry

When staying with my dad at his house we would frequently get deer in the backyard and this particular time we sent Molly out after them knowing that a 4-pound poodle could do no harm. Well we tell her to "go get 'em!" and off she goes and the poor deer start to run away and then stop, turn around and just stare at Molly as if to say "really?" Instead of running away the deer started walking toward Molly and she didn't know what to do so she just stood there and every once in a while would look back at us to say "am I done?" We finally called her back.

The next time around Tiffany's slightly larger dog, Hurley was with Molly and they both went after the deer. Since Hurley was there the deer took off this time and Molly went after them barking. If only she knew that it wasn't her that actually scared them away:) Sweet Molly.

The deer came back at night and this time they were walking up to Molly! We decided she belongs with the deer.