Cora's Blessing Weekend

This weekend we were able to have Cora's blessing weekend. It was so much fun having family around and spending time with one another to celebrate this special event in our life and Cora's life. The first night everyone was together we all got together and had dinner at O'Charley's for dinner since they have free kids meals...with all the kids on my side of the family...this really pays off!
Then Sunday was Cora's blessing. It was extra special as it also happened to fall on my Mom's birthday...September 30th. So we also had a little birthday celebration with her as well. We all had tons of fun with all the kids playing together and eating pizza and eating cake and enjoying each other's company. Cora was great for her blessing and there were lots of people in her circle. Included in the circle were Nick (who gave her the blessing), Otto Hildebrand, Randy Bell, Jud Carle, Edward Felker, Andrew Felker, and Kendall Walker. We were so greatful for those that were able to come and celebrate this special day with us!

Cora's Blessing and as mentioned before, Nick was the one to give her the blessing: Parts of it are a bit choppy as the recorder was a bit fuzzy for part of the recording, so I've added what your Dad said to those fishy parts.

"Our dear Father in Heaven, by the authority of the Melchezidek Priesthood, we come before Thee at this time to give this child a name that shall be had upon the records of the church. The name which we give her is Cora Anne Bell. Cora at this time your Heavenly Father wants you to know that the sweet spirit you are and how much He loves you and appreciates you. He wants you to know how much joy you bring into your family's life....at this time He gives you a blessing that you will be able to be a strength throughout your life...that you will be able to be looked upon for guidance...so that you will be able to help those in need...that you have a special gift...we bless you with these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Nick said "you were blessed with a spirit to recognize the needs of others and that this was a gift you would use this to serve others and reach out to them throughout your life."

Cora Anne 1 1/2 months

Cora likes her swing...although she sometimes gets a bit top-heavy and slides to one side or the other. The blanket sometimes helps, but it didn't this time as she kept sliding over. But, she was still happy...so I snapped a shot!

Summer Hats

Sporting our new summer hats for this upcoming summer. Kayley loved wearing these new hats about every day for about a week. So, I took a picture of them. Although this picture shows the hat actually on Cora's head when in reality, half the time when she put Cora's hat on her it would be on her face.

Children's Mercy

At the beginning of September, we had to unfortunately take Cora back to the hospital for a urinary tract infection. We were there for 3 days, almost 4 trying to get her fever under control. It was scary, but amongst it all, Cora was still fairly happy throughout the entire visit. I had to get a picture of her splint for her IV, it was sad to see them put it in, but she survived and then after that it was kind of cute to see it on her. Luckily she just had the urinary tract infection, but they still had to do all the tests on her because of her age. They all thought she would have meningitis...luckily that came out negative and it was just a matter of controlling her fever. It was scary as I had to stay by myself, I know I'm a chicken! The first night Nick and Kayley actually stayed. Kayley was so good and just curled up on the extra chair in the corner of the room. The nurses actually didn't even know she was there until in the morning. But the next night they both had to go home. Cora was quite the trooper. She nursed great amongst all the IV chords and I got to enjoy some yummy food since I was nursing. My favorite thing was their oreo milk shake...it was to die for! We finally got to go home and have our sweet, healthy Cora back though!

Caught in the Act

"Caught in the Act"...I had to get a picture of her cute sleeping position. She's already looking and acting like a girl. Also, until we lost this one, Kayley always insisted on Cora sleeping with her (Kayley's) baby. "Baby" is a prized item in our house as Kayley can't sleep without her or without a binky. It was very grown up of her to share one of her babies with Cora. We now only have one baby left as the other have gotten lost, so she no longer shares her as much. I guess Cora isn't that special yet! :)

Purple Girls

I decided to dress all of us in purple this day. Kayley kept going around talking about her "back pants like Mommy" almost all day. It was fun, so Nick had to take a picture of his girls in purple.

Maggie Moos

Here is proof of how much our family LOVES Maggie Moos...even at such a young age! We went tonight and Nick let Kayley pick out her own flavor. She of course picked out the blue kind, which ironically ended up being one of Nick's flavors...wonder how that happened!!??!? But it was Blue Cotton Candy and boy was it BLUE!! Kayley got it all over herself and then had to of course love on Cora so Cora got some through osmosis I guess. I didn't have my camera with me, so we looked like horrible parents taking them out of there without washing off their faces so I could have them pose at home with the camera. Needless to say, I don't go anywhere now without my camera!

Cora 6 weeks

Here's our big girl Cora. In this picture, she is one month and 1 week old. She sure is cute and is learning to smile. One of my favorite things to do is wake up to her smiling. As soon as she starts waking up, I lean over her crib and she just smiles really big. The other morning, she was eating and her Daddy gave her a kiss good-bye before work and she stopped eating and just looked at me and smiled as if to say, "That's my Daddy!" It sure was cute! We are enjoying having a new baby in the home.

When You Turn Your Head...

Kayley is really growing up and with that she is learning the art of being a girl. One of her new favorite things to do is to get ready in the morning with Mommy. This includes her putting on her own make-up (as demonstrated here.) Oftentimes when I'm not looking a new mess occurs with some new make-up on the floor. I'm just glad it hasn't ventured on the walls or the carpet.

Table Rock Lake

We went to Table Rock Lake over Labor Day Weekend with the Walkers and Grandma Bell. It was fun as we got the condos and took our jetski. Kayley and Ashlyn didn't get on the jetski, so this tube was their "boat". But we got to go swimming with them and relax in the condos. Thanks to Grandma watching the kiddos, the Mommy's and Daddy's got to have fun on the jetski! We also learned that this "boat" tube is best to be used as a kids boat than as a boat for the adults to have pulled behind the jetski...it was quite hilarious watching everyone attempt to get on it and stay on it! Also, it was Cora's very first time at the lake and even though she doesn't remember it and wasn't old enough to get out in the sun, she was still a great trooper! It was a fun relaxing weekend!