Three....Stubborn...And Testing Herself..

So Bella is "testing" her mommy a LOT lately.

My last trip to Target with Bella went pretty much like this:

"Bella if you are a good girl you can pick out a Barbie and a donut." "Ok, mommy I promise I be good."

Part way through Target she is being an angel and has picked out her Barbie, suddenly we pass by the bath toys and she spots a Dora toy...

"MOMMY, I WANT DORA!!!" "No Bella, mommy said you could pick a Barbie, maybe if you are a good girl Santa will bring you Dora." "I WANT DORA, I WANT DORA, I WANT DORA!!!"

So time to check out! I had wrapping paper I was getting and couldn't leave it so I went through the check out with Bella screaming at the top of her lungs. Told the checker to keep the damn Barbie and we didn't even look at donuts.

Bella screamed at the top of her lungs out of Target. I could feel all those eyes on me, knowing most people were probably thinking, "why the hell can't that woman control her child?" I didn't care though. When we got to the car I had to hold her down in her carseat to buckle her in. When we pulled out of the Target parking lot she had already twisted her way out of the buckles somehow and was STANDING in her carseat. I was FUMING. Thank god we live 2 minutes from Target.

It was a day full of no cartoons, no candy and no fun for Bella after that.

YESTERDAY when I picked her up from school there was a note from her teacher: "Bella was very loud during nap time and did not take a nap, she kept getting off her cot and running around and smiling about it."

Gee, that's just great Bella. What is this girl doing or thinking?!? I know she's only 3 but I just can't believe how she has been acting lately. We've doing well though and taking things away from her and sticking to our threats. I hope she grows out of this stage soon!!!

LOVE them!!!

Bella's First Haircut

Tonight Bella got her hair cut for the very first time :) I took her to Twin Images in Iowa City to see David, she LOVED it!!! We just had it trimmed, she maybe had an inch taken off. Just enough so her hair doesn't get too tangly so easily :)

She sat so well for David, just watching what he was doing in the mirror. Here are some photos :)

In Bella's Words...

"I went pee pee mommy, we don't swim in our pee pee."

Um, Bella you are right, we don't swim in our pee pee.

Me telling Bella it's time to take her nap yesterday...

"But, but, but, but Mama I want Missy to read me a story."

(She's been saying but, but, but when she can't spit her words out, so cute ;))

Decorating the Christmas Tree...

"Mama I'm gonna dance with Christmas" (bring on the dancing with the tree:)).

Heading out the door this morning for school..

"Wait Mama, I want to give the Christmas tree a hug, I love you Christmas."

God I LOVE this, she is so LOVING the Christmas season, she is totally her mother's daughter :)

Dear Supernatural Force

Please stop making my hubby's back issues worse...

Really we can't take much more, I was already reminded by my lovely mother that when mother nature decides to dump the white shit on us that I alone will be out in the horrendous below zero temps shoveling our mother of a driveway...

Give him some relief, even if it's just for one damn day it would be greatly appreciated...

School Pictures

Bella's school pictures turned out amazing, I LOVE them.

Too bad they are so pricey so only Bella's Grandma's and Papa's get one, but I can show them on here :)

WARNING - Anger Follows...

F*&( the goddamn Growth Clinic at the U of I. I got told today that because Bella grew a lot in height and not in weight that she is disproportionate....ARE YOU F*$(ing kidding me?!?! My beautiful daughter is not disproportionate, she's petite and perfect in my eyes. I don't have people stopping to stare at her because she looks like a freak for being super tall (hopefully you can sense my sarcasm) and skinny.

I was proud of myself though and stuck to my guns, pretty much anyway. When asked if I give Bella water I said yes. The doctor was apalled and said "why would you be doing that? There is water in milk! Only give her milk and NO water." I questioned that, I told her that as a runner and an adult trying to live a healthly lifestyle I'm tired of shoving fat into my daughter, restricting her water when she wants it, etc. She just made no sense to me and kept putting me down and saying, just think if you weren't doing the calorie boosting where would Bella be at right now? She also told me that the height growth shows she is getting enough calories to grow taller but not enough calories for the weight gain, WHATEVER!!!

Again I was told that there is NOTHING wrong with Bella besides her small size. When I asked if it's possible that Bella just has a high metabolism like her dad and will just be a tall petite girl/woman, the doctor went around my question and went on to something else.

It's all a freaking joke, we are not going back there again. I'm going to cancel our March appointment and be free of this. I can't take the stress of these appointments anymore, especially when the doctor makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong.

I love you Bells and would do ANYTHING for you, time to just be happy, eat what you want, drink water if you want it, and not worry anymore!!

LaPetite Fall Festival

Last night we had the Fall Festival at LaPetite. Bella invited Grandma and Papa to come so they could meet her teacher and see her classroom. Ava was there too and she and Bells looked so cute in their costumes :)

Bella had a lot of fun playing the games and getting a tattoo, she chose a T-Rex tattoo :) We got the new Ice Age movie, it is hilarious and now Bella is a little obsessed with T-Rex's. She won a few prizes and just had a blast.

Here are a few photos from the fun night.

3 Year Check-Up

Bells had her three year check-up today, she was 24.5 pounds (that's with clothes on), so she is in the 3rd percentile for weight and she is now in the 25th percentile for height, she just keeps getting taller! This appointment was with our family doctor, not the Growth Clinic, we go to the Growth Clinic next month where they weigh her naked so she'll probably be a little less.

Dr. Beck thinks Bella is doing wonderful, very smart and the perfect size for herself. She did have to get one immunization shot and got the H1N1 vaccine, they both sucked. Our nurse didn't realize how strong Bella is and when she got her shot in the leg she jerked really hard, the needle twisted in her leg and popped out so they had to redo the shot :( Bella was so upset, it's hard when they are babies, but this was so much harder with her knowing what was going to happen. She was beyond upset and screaming at the top of her lungs, I felt AWFUL!!!!

So rather than go back to school today she gets to go spend the afternoon with Grandma and Poppa. Her poor little thigh is bruised and she started breaking out in a rash immediately, but with Benadryl it seems to be getting better.

All in all, she was a good girl and it was a good visit. She got THREE stickers, I think Nikki felt so bad for the shot so she gave her extra :)

I still can't believe Isabella is three, and such a mature little girl. I'm thankful the shots are over for a year! :)

Grandma Visits....A Princess Party...

We had a wonderful time with Kyle's mom Ellie who visited from Oregon to be here for Bella's birthday. Ellie is AMAZING, seriously, she made the princess dress that Bella wore for her party AND the apron/chef's hat to bake the cake in AND the awesome castle cake for the Princess Party. I am so blessed to have such wonderful in-laws whom I love and adore as I do my own parents. It's always so sad when it's time to say goodbye, but here are some photos of the fun :)

Being silly with some fun stuff Grandma brought.

The awesome matching apron and chef's hats. (Bella's cousin Mac has a set too :))

How cute is she???

Having way too much fun with Grandma making the castle cake.

MMMM....chocolate...

Her ever faithful friend, Tybalt.

The phenomenal castle cake.

Pumpkin patch time.

Seriously..Chop off my limbs, please...

So I am going to the doctor on Friday, today is the 16th day in a row of being in pain. Saturday for Bella's birthday party (I will get some photos on here soon), I had to bail early and go to bed before I threw up from the constant pain. Most of the party I was laying down on the rock in front of the fireplace so it would hit my back just right and relieve some of the pain.

I have NEVER had issues like this before. Every part of me hurts, from my hands to my knees to my feet, I can't stand it anymore!!!! If it really continues on until Friday I'm going to be a big bawl baby of a mess and probably vomiting constantly because I just can't take it anymore.

Aleve no longer does a thing for the pain, Ibuprofen is like candy to me now and does nothing for the pain. I'm pounding water hoping maybe I'm just dehydrated, but there's no way that's it.

What the hell is wrong with me?!?!?

Please, some higher power has got to help me feel better soon....

Isabella Jean is THREE!!!

Time is going by far too fast, I can't believe our little Bells is already 3 today!!! She is growing and changing so much right now, almost potty trained and speaking very well too :) Here are a few of my favorite photos out of 1,000's :)

I love you Bella Jean, you are my sweet little bug and you mean more than the world to me. I hope you will always know how special you are and how much your mommy and daddy love and adore you.

Fall Beauty...

Bella's First Dental Appointment

It was a huge success!!!! I was concerned they wouldn't let me go back with her, but since it was her first appointment they let me :)

I had been prepping Bells that she may have to go back by herself with the nurse, and she said to me "ok, mommy, don't worry, it will be ok, I'm a big girl"...with her sweet, round blue eyes looking at me with so much love and care :) God I love my girl!

So we go back to the room and the dentist introduces himself, four other dental assistants are just oohing and awing over Bella and can't believe what a little peanut she is ;) I must say, she did look very tiny in the dental chair. Bells was a little concerned when the dentist started moving the chair up and back so she could lay down, but she listened well.

He told her he needed to count her teeth and that a bright light would shine in her mouth so he could see. She opened her mouth wide before he even asked her, he was very impressed. She seriously sat there the entire time with her mouth open mesmerized by the tools he was using. She didn't even flinch when he rinsed her mouth and used that air sucky straw thing (I hate that thing).

Aftewards he told me that Bella was the best 2, almost 3 year old patient he's ever had. That her teeth are pretty much perfect, the spacing between them is good because that means her mouth should have room for all of her teeth, no cavities either :)

Just a great appointment and another milestone for Bells, who got SIX stickers AND a new Tigger toothbrush.

New Blog...

I've created my own special blog....

Forwaring....it's very personal, there will be photos and cursing and god knows what....

I'm documenting my P90X journey, it's the only way I know I'll keep to it, by talking about what I do daily....

Please feel free to follow me on my personal journey....or not....

http://stephiegkicksthefat.blogspot.com/

Of course we'll have this happy blog as well keeping up with the entire Griffin family :)

Grandma Rocks!!!!

Ellie had told me she was going to make some Princess dresses for Bella....

They arrived today and OMG they are amazing!!!!!!

Thank you so much Grandma, Bella is going to totally freak when she gets to see them when you get here!!!! :)