New Sitter, new journey

This week Bella has started with a new sitter. Eric and I decided a few months ago that we wanted Bella in a new environment with more children and more room to run around in. I had been really reluctant to start looking, as she has been with Simone since she was 4 months old. Bella was only with 2 other children at Simone's and both were boys. We are so grateful to her as she helped to raise Bella for the past year and a half. Not to mention, she has kept our baby girl pretty healthy. However, now that Isabella is older and really thrives on learning new things, we figured it was time to make the big switch. Lucky for us, our good friends the Cox's started a new sitter they loved for their baby and referred us to her. Our other friends who I used to work with as a teacher at my school, use the same sitter. In fact, 3 of the children who go to this sitter are teachers' children. So, I brought Isabella by to meet her and get a feel for the place. Bella loved it! She has a backyard with slides, swings, etc. She did not want to leave! Eric and I brought her by a 2nd time, and again she loved it :D
Tuesday was the big test though. This would be the day that Eric would actually leave her. As soon as Bernie (the sitter) opened the door, Bella went right to her. Bella gave Daddy a kiss and said "bye daddy". Eric said she even helped close the door on Eric ! I checked in on her 3 times that day and she did great. Bernie was pleased that she never shed a tear and did so well. Having worked with children for many years, I know that sometimes the 2nd day can be the real test of how the child will separate from their parent. This is usually because the child now knows what to expectand that Mommy or Daddy is leaving. However, Wednesday she did great as well. Eric and I could not be more pleased. She loves the new sitter, loves the children, and is just so happy to be there. Bernie is a nice Hispanic Christian woman who I can tell has a real knack with children. She brought Bella to church on Ash Wednesday, which I love :D We are so excited to see Bella's progress with Bernie and her new friends.

Valentine's Day 2010

Before Isabella, Valentine's Day was all about Eric and I. Now of course things have changed! Eric and I still did celebrate the special day on Saturday with dinner and a movie, which was nice. On Sunday, Eric had to work so it left Bella and I to get things done for our Valentine's dinner and prayer and candle lighting in honor of Isabella's baptism anniversary. First, I made her and I blueberry pancakes..yum! We then got started on making Valentine's cards for Daddy, Nino Stevie, and Nanni. She loves to do anything where she gets to help so she sat down on the table and helped make each and every card. She loved sprinkling the glitter :) Then it was time to make the cupcakes. She loved mixing the batter and adding all the ingredients. She loves to help make salads or anything involving food :) I let her taste the batter a few times and when it was time to take the batter away, she cried :( A picture is below, it's cute!
It was then time for her nap while I started dinner and set the table. I made Chicken and mushroom Fettucine. Yum!! As I was making dinner, Eric came home and I had him wake Bella from her nap. Together they made the Caesar Salad. Nino and Nanni joined us for dinner and Bella gave them each their cards. After dinner, we lit Bella's Baptism candle and I read the prayer that we have to read every year and we each promised to continue to teach her all about God and our faith. It was very sweet. Eric and Steve did some work in my laundry room while Nani, Bella, and I to frosted the cupcakes. Bella loved them! My little girl definitely has a sweet tooth she inherited from her Daddy.
It was such a good and long day. It was so sweet to celebrate it with our loved ones and for Isabella to start our family traditions. Happy Valentine's Day to all!






CRYING BECAUSE I TOOK AWAY THE CUPCAKE BATTER

The Hoover's have moved!

Two weeks ago, we moved in to a new home. We are so excited to have gained an extra room for the new baby, to have a bigger backyard, and live in a much nicer area. We love it! The move was not so fun as I am pregnant and could not do much. In fact, while Eric was cleaning the old house, I decided to move some boxes and was not watching where I was going and fell down the hallway. I was a little freaked at first since I am pregnant, but a suitcase in the hall broke my fall. Now I have a softball size bruise on my leg! So needless to say, I did not move another box thereafter :)
We had 4 men moving on the big day, and I am so grateful for them. Eric was also a trooper and after a day of moving, went back to the old house and cleaned until midnight. Then, he woke up the next morning and went back and cleaned the carpets. YAY Eric! Being pregnant does have a few benefits :)
Overall, the move was okay and we have finally settled in to the new home. Bella had no problem with the transition and is doing great. Here are some pictures of the new house....

OUR LIVING ROOM ALMOST DONE

All is well

Friday I had my 19 week appointment. My Dr. told me that my lab results were in and the ultrasound pictures were fine. Once the Dr. had got a hold of them, they determined that his face was fine and were able to see all of his facial features fine. YAY! I also was told I have a 1 and 5500 chance of having a child with Down Syndrome (which is awesome). So, I am no longer worried about my little man :D I am so glad all is well with him. My kids like to give me a little scare!
I have not gained a single pound as of yet, which is so odd since I have to now unbutton my top button on my pants and just feel uncomfortable already. My boy is measuring in the high range for length (no surprise there),in fact 2 weeks ahead of schedule! So, there is obviously no need to worry that he isn't growing. My blood pressure was good, and all is good. We are so excited! Now we get to do the fun part...shop for our son!
we also moved this weekend which I will blog about later, basically it was terrible! Oh well, our baby is fine and that's all that matters....