11 Months Old

This is a hodge podge of random things going on right now.  First of all, we have been reallllyyyy busy lately. Now that our commute is a little over an hour, it seems like we spend a lot of time on the road and away from home. It is so worth it though to come home to open, fresh air and peacefullness.

Briggy loves the outside. Our grass if finally coming back, so we spend most of our day outside. I love it :)

Here is one random story:

So on Friday we went to a friend of mine from high school's wedding, Marissa Weston (Garcia). It was so pretty and she looked gorgeous! The reception was downtown Albuquerque and it looked like something out of a magazine! So pretty! We took Briggy and we parked not too far from the reception so that we didn't have to walk through all the craziness when it was over. Well around 9:30 Brigz was pretty done and needed to go to sleep, but was too excited to, so we decided we should head home. We put him in his stroller and pjs and headed back to our car. We are not used to downtown Alb at all by the way. So we arive at the parking garage of where our car was... it was closed. Locked up. We had no way to get to our car or even barely see it. It was then that we noticed a very small sign that said "closed at 8pm". Crap. We didn't have a car seat, so we couldn't call a cab. We couldn't get to our car to get keys to Corey's work car. So what do I do? Call mommy and daddy :) They had to get things together, hail a car seat from my brother in law (saint), and then head up to down town. My dad is pretty strict, so going to downtown stresses him out any way. In the meantime, corey and I are cruising around downtown... late at night... with a baby... and are asked for money about a zillion times. We saw hookers, cracked out people, and a chick in a top hat and stilts. Crazy. We finally found a safe spot in the movie theater.

our grumpy faces

Brigz crashed out

 After two hours, my parents came to our rescue. I asked if they would drive us by the garage to see what time it opened so they could drive us back in the morning. As we pull up, there are people walking out!!!!! the door is just closing. So in a split second, my crazy husband jumps out of the truck, sprints as fast as he can, and slides like Indiana Jones under the garage door which barely missed him by a couple inches. It was the craziest, most halarious thing I have ever seen! My parents and I watched him from the truck in awwwwww. So to make a long story short, we got the car out at about midnight. Brigz slept through the whole thing. Corey and I were traumatized from all the crazy people. And my poor parents drove all the way up there. They said it was worth it to see my skilled husband do a baseball slide under a giant metal door... it will be a story to be remembered :)

On a great note, our wild little man is 11 months old today!!! I am so in love with this little face:

If you can't tell, he has boogies running down his face, which is a perfect representation of him right now. We don't know if it smoke or a cold, but he has been the booginator for two weeks now. He is so much fun. I swear I say this at every age, but this it so my favorite age right now. He learns new things every day, and is starting to understand me more and more. He is so silly too! Here is a little about Briggy at this age:

• He is taking about 3-5 steps on his own at a time right now. Well, not really steps, more like sprinting strides. He thinks being on his own is the coolest thing since a pacifier, so he gets really excited when he is independent. He might be able to walk more if he didn't get soooo excited!
• He will walk all day holding my hand. It has to be with his left hand though.
• He is a speed crawler.
• He is into EVERYTHING. He can't be left alone for two seconds.
• Our coffee table is his best friend and worst enemy. If he didn't love it so much, I would have moved it a long time ago. He thinks it is a race track and sprints around it. He also totally wipes out on it too. It isn't sharp or anything, but it has left it's marks. On Saturday, I was doing hair for a wedding, and Corey was watching him. I guess he hit the corner with his mouth and put a large slice in the inside of his mouth by his from teeth. He bled for three hours. We almost took him to the ER, but the doctor told him how to treat it over the phone. Now he has a fat lip and a cut on the outside as well. It doesn't bother him, but I was freaking out!
• He still isn't a big sleeper. He wakes up about ever two-three hours for a little nursing session and back to sleep. Any suggestions on how to get rid of this would be helpful :) My doc doesn't know what to do about it.
• He is finally an eater. I am so thankful. He eats four meals a day. Sometimes, not very big meals, but he still is getting nutrition. He is still a skinny butt, only 18 pounds, but he is perfect. He really like healthy food with not a ton of calories, he is really active, and also very tall so the doctor said he is doing great.
• He talks. alot. He repeats so many words we say. He consistently still says dog, dada, mama, baba, moo, baa, quak quak, fall down, ready go, and lots of babble.
• He claps, rolls em' up, shakes his booty (funniest thing ever), blows kisses from his ear, he loves peek a boo, and high fives.
• He is in 9-12 month clothes.
• His feet are in 12-18.
• He takes 1-2 naps that are 1.5-2 hours a day.
• He is a super cuddler. He gives lots of bear hugs and his will pat your back and rub your neck.

I am so in love with our little guy! I can't beleive he will be a year next month. I love spending every day with him. God has blessed us so.

Little Piggy

We finally have figured out the little tricks to make this boy eat!!

... and eat!!

I watched a few youtube videos on fussy eaters, and with a few minor changes, he is doing great! The only things I have offered that he won't touch are mandarin oranges, green beens, and raviolis. I think it is because they are slimey. Cross your fingers that this continues! Now onto our next challenge... sleeping!

Tres Anos!

Holy Guacamole, we have been married 3 whole years!! Time flies when you are having fun! If you don't already know it, here is the story of Mr. Crazy Corey Bell and me :)

When I was fifteen years old, I was in Denver, Colorado for a horse bowl contest with 4-H. Corey was there for a livestock judging contest. I have known one of Corey's best friends Kevin Burns since I was little from showing horses and he was in Denver with Corey. Kevin introduced us and Corey shook my hand, winked at me, and told me he was going to marry me. Awww, how sweet... or totally creepy which is more of what I was thinking! We ended up spending a lot of time together that weekend and ended up kissing...oooooohhhhh la la ;) We said goodbye and I never thought I would see him again.

For six months, I always thought about him. I also knew he was serious trouble! He would randomly call me, and we always seemed to miss each other when I came through for a volleyball tournament or he came through for judging. After six months, we met up again at 4-H State Conference in Las Cruces.... and it was total cheeseball from then on out. Yes, it was love at 2nd sight. Yes, I couldn't spend two seconds away from him. Yes, he was still big trouble. But good trouble :) That goodbye was a whole lot harder. I ended up crying my whole way back to Albuquerque not knowing when I would see him again. Turns out, I saw him three days later in Tucumcari. We ended up seeing eachother at least every other weekend for the next 2 years.

After his senior year, he went to South Plains for college in Texas... an extra 1.5 hours away. bummer. But we still made it work. The next year, I went to Texas Tech so we could be together. It was awesome finally being together!... and pretty fun too!!!

Then we got engaged and it was the happiest moment of my life until that point :) We planned our dream wedding and had a blast. We wanted everyone to just have fun... and I'm pretty sure all our friends did! Too much fun maybe?? No, not possible. haha!

After four amazing years in Lubbock, we decided to come to Albuquerque. We don't why we did either other than amazing family. After living here a year, we got one of these:

and then one of these:

So, so far we have been dating since 2003 and married since 2008. And life is amazing. I am one of those people who never quits talking about their husband, and makes every one gag. I am so glad I married the person who makes me laugh every day. I am so blessed to have the best husband ever. We may not be exactly where we thought we would be, but we thank God for that. We have an awesome little boy and so many blessings. I thank God for him every day. I am pretty sure he is the one who hung the moon :)

Muhammad Ali

That is what I have decided is Brigz's new name. He doesn't have enough time to heal before he gets another bonk. Poor baby.

 The kid never stood a chance. Genetically, he was made to be an accident waiting to happen. I have never met anyone as accident prone as myself. From being run over by a car, to having nicknames such as "hurricane Abbey" and "Scabbigail", I have always dreaded the thought of having a child with my bad luck. After I married Corey and the baby word started getting thrown around, his family all warned me that Corey was a "climber" and when they couldn't find him they would look up.

It turns out, that Brigzy has inherited both terrible traits. He doesn't just want to play with his toys, but on them.... and then he falls off. I never leave him by himself. EVER. And I literally play with him every hour he is awake, yet Corey and I still can't keep up with his bumps and bruises. So when you see pictures like this...

please don't report me to CPS. Just say prayers that our medical bills don't cost Corey and I as much as they cost my parents :)

Long Boat Key, Florida, Moriarty, NM (aka "The Ranch"), and Misc.

So we are finally settled in our new place. Awwhhhhhh. I feels good for it to finally feel a little more like home. It took extra long to get to this stage for a few reasons. We are renting a house from a friend that Corey grew up showing steers with his kids. It is across the street from the guy and all Corey's cows. We are leasing the land they are grazing on. They are awesome people and we are excited that God answered our prayers and let us find a place that we can "test out" to see if we like living this far from Albuquerque. ANYWAYS it took longer to move in because the guy's son was still living in it and was remodeling a house with fire damage. It ended up taking a lot longer to get it done, and in fact it still isn't done. He is living off of a generator right now, which I feel really bad about! But we had to be out of our other house!!! We had one weekend and five days to paint, fix a bunch of stuff, clean, and move both houses. It was rough. We used to say that we were never moving again until we can afford professional movers. I still stand by that. But we survived!

Five days after moving in, we headed off to Long Boat Key for our family's annual beach trip. It was amazing.

Walking at sunset with Briggy Man

My two favorite boys :)

Cutie Patutie

Amazing Sunset

We had a week of total vegging. We ate more food than imaginable. Ice cream. Enteman's donuts. Peanut butter M&Ms. Everything. But it was still awesome. I was worried because last years trip was a bit crazy with a 7 week old. This trip was so much more relaxing because Brigz could play in the sand and with Mason and McKenna.  My grandparent's condo is so great for the kiddos because it goes right out to a pool and then the ocean. Brigz liked the pool some days and the ocean other days. We are oh so spoiled and blessed and we appreciate every second of it. 

Then we came home and have been going non-stop to get the house together. I am more anxious than other moves because it goes so much slower with a baby. I count on Corey getting home to get too big of stuff done. Here are a few before and after pictures of the extra bedroom/office and our master bedroom.

Master before (with the owner's son's stuff in it)...

...and after.

another view

Extra bedroom/ office before...

...and after

My great grandma's old cross stitch holder-thingies

Book case

Brigz's room is done, but I haven't taken pictures yet. It came out so good. It went from hot pink to more of a boys room. It is a lot bigger and he likes it so far :)

The best part of our new house is the back porch. We have all grass surrounding the house and not a house close to us. The back of our house is open rolling hills. We have a big porch that blocks off the famous Moriarty wind and we have eaten dinner out there almost ever night. It is perfect. So quiet and so us. We love it.

Also.... our little man turned 10 months old! I can't beleive it!!! It goes by sooooo wayyyyyy too fast! Here are a few things that he is up to:

• He is a wild animal crawler. Sometimes he crawls normal, but most of the time it is one leg up or both legs up like a bear crawl. He only crawls to get to furniture that he can walk on. He holds onto walls and walks through our house.
• He is crazy. I have been around a lot of babies his age and even worked in a day care, and he is one of wildest kids I have ever seen. He like to bang his head on things and he thinks it is halarious. He can't sit still for two seconds. If he gets stuck to where he can't get around something, he will scream bloody murder until we help him.
• He is trying to walk. He will hold one hand or any object he can, but he is scared to take steps on his own. He has let go a couple of times, but won't move. I am okay with that :) He is going to be a holy terror when he is more mobile than he is now :)
• He says dad, daddy, dog, hi, mama (but doesn't associate it with me yet), nana, yaya, lala, and has mimicked us a couple of times. It scares me! he has said thank you, love you, and cross.
• He wants to be outside. all. the. time.
• Bella and Mason are his best friends.
• He is so mamma attached right now. I am soaking it in because I know he will one day only want daddy. 
• He still hates food. I am lucky if he take 5 bites of real food a day. I have tried EVERYTHING. He eats our food and every other brand of baby food ever made, and he just isn't interested. He lives on milk, yogurt melts, and gerber cheetos. He sucks on watermelon, banana, grapes, and any other fruit but spits it out once he has the juice out of it. He is a little skinny butt, but the doctor said to just keep trying and he will tell you when he is hungry. 
• Because of his non-eating, he is still eating 2 times at night. He eats around 4 oz. and gulps them down. 
• He is the sweetest, silliest, cutest, happiest, funniest, and best little thing I have ever had :) Corey and I are in heaven with him.  

In the meantime right now, I am soaking up every second of the Casey Anthony trial I can. I am obsessed!

Life is good. A new chapter has opened and so far it is great. God has given us so many things to be thankful for.