Kindermusik

For Stella's birthday, Grandma and Grandpa D gave her Kindermusik classes and boy have we had a great time!!  We sing songs, learn sounds, dance and Stella gets a chance to interact with other children her age.  She has met so many new friends and we have had a blast.

In class on Monday, we sang the song "Riding in the Buggy" and the lyrics are:

Riding in the buggy Baby mine, Baby mine!

Riding in the buggy Baby mine, Baby mine!

Riding in the buggy Baby mine, Baby mine!

Riding in the buggy lookin’ oh so fine!

(You can replace Baby with your child's name.)

Except this time, the teacher had a "buggy" for the children to "ride" in.  Stella loved it!  She's chompin' on her fingers in the pic, but she enjoyed ZOOMIN' around the room!

I've enjoyed watching Stella grow and learn so much through music and I highly recommend these classes to everyone.

Yummy Soups

Kyle hasn't been feeling well the past few days so I made my Grandma's homemade vegetable beef soup yesterday and it was delish.  And actually, for the first time ever, it came pretty close to tasting just like my Grandma's!  I was pumped!

Today I was still in the mood for soup and Kyle was too so I thought I'd try and make a soup with chicken.  I google'd "crock pot chicken and pasta soup" and found this delicious recipe.

Slow Cooker Italian Chicken-Pasta Soup

1 1/4	pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1	cup diced carrots (about 2 medium)
1/2	cup finely chopped onion (1 medium)
1/2	cup halved pitted ripe olives
2	cloves garlic, finely chopped
1	carton (32 ounces) Progresso® chicken broth
1	can (14 1/2 ounces) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2	cup uncooked small shell pasta Mix all ingredients except pasta in 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on Low heat setting 8 to 10 hours. About 30 minutes before serving, stir in pasta. Increase heat setting to High. Cover and cook 20 to 30 minutes or until pasta is tender. Serve-With Thick slices of hearty Italian bread drizzled with olive oil complete this Italian soup meal. Do-Ahead The night before, cut up all of the components for this slow cooker soup. Package them separately and refrigerate. In the morning, assemble the soup in minutes. Special Touch Sprinkle each serving of soup with grated or shredded Parmesan cheese.

I'm all about using the crock pot, especially when our schedules are hectic and busy.  It's definitely a lifesaver!  I used chicken breasts because that's what we already had at home, but would probably try the chicken thighs next time.  The chicken breasts were a little dry but it was still super yummy and I highly recommend it.

Princess Stella....I mean, BELLA!

We've always treated our dog, Bella, like she was our "first born" child and always will.  She has been spoiled rotten since the day we got her.  She sleeps in the bed w/ us, gets groomed once a month (she used to get groomed more often before Stella arrived...oopsy!  However I brush her all the time! ;)), gets distilled bottled water and has more toys than I have shoes!!  Basically we treat her like royalty and now I'm beginning to believe she thinks she's a princess too.

As you can see in my last post, we love taking family walks in the evenings.  Well, this time, Bella thought she should be the driver of Stella's car.

"Ahem, faster, Daddy!!!"

I don't think Kyle knows what to do w/ all of these princesses in the house.  Oh and did I mention I'm a princess too?! hee hee

Stella = Toddler?!

I've been getting weekly emails about "What Your Baby Is Doing/Going Through/Etc." since the day Stella was born.  Every Tuesday when I open my email there's a wonderful email that says "You're Baby is __ Weeks Old..."  Well, this Tuesday was a different email...it said "What's Up w/ Your Toddler".  Hold on...TODDLER?!  I have a TODDLER?!  That can't be!!  My sweet baby girl was born just yesterday and now she's a toddler?!  Man, time really goes by too fast!  I guess it's true though because she's such a big girl and doing so many fun, new things every day.

Grandma & Grandpa Stroman gave Stella a "Castle Chateau" for her birthday and she is loving it!  It has a slide, swing and lots of gadgets she can play with.  The weather has been perfect for playing outside so she's enjoying getting to swing, slide and play like a big girl.

She also loves her car that mommy and daddy bought her for her birthday.

We love taking walks in the evenings so this car is perfect for our walks in the neighborhood.

A good friend of mine has a blog, Pot Luck With Jess, and she always has unique posts about rooms she would love to create...pretend rooms.  She created one for her son, Jackson, and she's also created one for her soon-to-be little girl, Eliza.  These "rooms" are adorable, precious and one-of-a-kind.  I've always told her "Make me a pretend room!" because she's so creative and has wonderful taste.  Well, this week, she did just that - she made a pretend "big girl room" for Stella.  Check it out here!  Isn't it awesome?!  I just love it and of course it's our fave colors, pink and green!!  Thanks, Jess, for creating such a beautiful big girl room for my toddler!

Another Birthday!

Today is my hubby, Kyle's, birthday and we have had a wonderful day as a family.  Even though he had to work, we were able to sneak in lunch together at McAlisters.  After lunch, Stella and I ran to pick up his birthday present (long story, but we've been looking for his present all week and just hadn't found the right one), came home, wrapped it and waited for daddy to come home.

When he arrived, Stella and Bella were SO excited to see him....and I was too...we couldn't wait to give him his birthday present!  He was so excited when he saw his USC GAMECOCK polo shirt and a HUGE bag of Dunkin Donuts coffee {his fave}!

Kyle mentioned that he wanted to get pizza for dinner.  I wasn't too thrilled about it, but I figured it was his birthday so I'd let him choose.  However, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to suggest Amber, a local Japanese Hibachi place, since we usually eat hibachi to celebrate our special occasions. {hee, hee} And the power of suggestion worked!  YAY!

We had a delicious dinner at Amber and Stella was such a good sport and loved watching "Andy" cook for us.  She cried when he lit the stove top on fire the first time but when he did it the second time she was all giggles.  Of course everyone at our table just "ooh'd and aah'd" over Stella so she enjoyed that too.

Happy Birthday to the man of my dreams!  You are such a wonderful daddy, friend and hubby and I couldn't imagine anyone else in the world I'd rather share this amazing journey of life with.  I love you!!

Stella's First Year

On Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 4:18 p.m., God blessed us with the most perfect, beautiful, precious baby girl in the whole wide world.  When the doctor placed Stella on my chest and I looked at Kyle there was a sense of completion, a sense of happiness and love that I've never felt before.

We both cried tears of joy as we looked at this beautiful gift we had been given.  I knew that she was so special but I had no idea that she would enrich our lives so much in her one year of life.  What an amazing year it has been!

She has learned so many things from rolling over...

to sitting up...

to crawling...

to walking (holding on to furniture, of course!)...

and everything in between.  She has now taken 2 steps or so at a time on her own so we know that the walking/running/toddling stage is just around the corner.

She has 9 - count them, NINE - teeth and is "growing" more on a daily basis.  I'm sure that's what's been making her feel a lil poopy the past few days - however, her feeling poopy is nothing compared to the horror stories I've heard friends tell me about their babies that are teething.  We are DEF blessed in that department!!  She pretty much sleeps through the night but this teething thing has been affecting her sleep schedule a little bit.  She always wakes up in the best mood, though - she's such a happy baby!!

Stella is eating real food and for the most part she likes what she's tried.  She doesn't like grits and I've told her we have to work on that...a true southern girl LOVES grits so I'm sure she will get used to it soon.  She's not very fond of spaghetti and with the "Italian" in her blood, she better get used to it, too.  Maybe it's just b/c she hasn't tried Grandpa D's spaghetti yet! ;)

Stella is now weighing in at a whopping 17 lbs. 12 oz. and is 27 1/2 inches long.  She's still a tiny lil peanut but she's proportionate - 5th percentile for her height, 10th percentile for weight, and 5th percentile for her noggin.  Even though she's tiny, she's 100% healthy and that's all we can ask and pray for.

Like I said before, this past year has been amazing and more than we could have ever imagined.  We love our little princess and we can't wait to celebrate many, many more wonderful milestones to come!

Princess Stella's 1st Royal Birthday Celebration

On Wednesday, September 22nd our sweet lil peanut turned 1!  WOW - the year flew by, but what an amazing year it was!  Kyle came home Wednesday with Princess cupcakes to celebrate the our lil princesses birthday.  Boy were they delish!  Stella definitely enjoyed her first cupcake!

Saturday was the 1st ever Royal Celebration!  I have been preparing for this day for many, many months now and I couldn't wait for it to arrive!  I wanted to make the decor for the party myself instead of buying everything.  I love "arts and crafts time" so this was so much fun for me.  Check out the DiEduardo Castle - all ready for Princess Stella's guests.

Entry way to the DiEduardo Castle.

Birthday banner and photos of Stella from birth to 1 year.

Party favors - for the boys (Prince Charmings) and for the girls (Princesses).

More banners in the dining room.

Pom poms hanging from the ceiling.

Bathroom decor - "Mirror, Mirror On the Wall, Who is the Fairest of them All?"

Cupcakes and Princess Peanut smash cake.

{I definitely couldn't have pulled all of this off w/out the help of my mom and my aunt, Sandra.  They came up Friday and helped prep, decorate, clean, cut sandwiches into princess crowns and SO much more.  Also thanks to my mother-in-law, Kyle's aunt, Lynn, my Aunt Joan and  my dad's wife, Joan who helped clean up after the party.  I had to give a HUGE shout out to all of these amazing women for helping me pull this party together!!  Thank you!!}

Princess Stella had many fellow princesses and prince charmings at her Royal Celebration.  

The Princess & King Daddy

 Opening her gifts and wearing her Princess Crown.  (It only lasted about 5 seconds - but it was cute while it lasted!)

Wow - look at all of these gifts!  

A) she has so many amazing friends and family - what a blessed girl! 

B) where are we gonna put all of this?!?  LOL

{BTW, can you see Bella trying to get in the pic too?! LOL}

 

Cake Time!

Loving her smash cake!
She also loved the bounce house too!

 Having fun in the bounce house!

Jumpin' w/ Jack and Christopher

We were surrounded by so many wonderful family and friends and all I can say is Stella is one loved and blessed little girl.  Many thanks to everyone who made this day special for our little peanut, princess, Stella Lou!

Ahhh, what a perfect ending to a perfect day!