And We Have an Answer

Arabella has been through a slew of tests recently because her new pediatrician in Maryland was still wary of the events in Arabella’s life all just being a coincidence.  Bella has had feeding issues, short stature, and physical development issues.  Now, she’s fine.  Tiny, but fine.  However, our pediatrician still thought it was worth having a little bit of genetic testing done.  I’ve always been grateful for having cautious doctors who recommend further treatment or investigation and I wasn’t about to stop that trend now. 

We went to Johns Hopkins and had some testing done after our initial meeting with the geneticists.  Bella had vials of blood drawn, a full body of x-rays, an ultrasound of her abdomen and all of the organs in that area, another set of x-rays, and an echocardiogram performed.  What did the doctors find?

X-rays: normal, with a bone age of 3 (2 standard deviations from normal which is in a normal range)

Ultrasound: normal.  All of her organs are in the right place and the right size and shape.

Echocardiogram: Normal…mostly.  Each person has three valves that stem from the aorta for blood flow, but Bella has two that look partial fused together.  I’m not really sure about this.  We will find out a lot more at our follow up visit.

Blood work: Body parts are functioning normal, BUT, Bella’s chromosomes are different from a normal girl’s chromosomes.

This week we found out what Bella may or may not have: Turner syndrome.  Syndrome is a scary word, but it doesn’t have to be.  All syndrome means is that there is a set of symptoms that are common to a particular condition.  Turner syndrome has a set of characteristics that apply to the girls who have it.  These girls may have some or all of the characteristics and the characteristics may be mild or more obvious.  Bella has been fortunate enough to have very few and very mild characteristics thus far.  In fact, the characteristics are mild enough in her that the doctors of the genetics clinic want to take one more vial of blood to look at her chromosomes more closely to be completely sure of what they are diagnosing. 

Turner’s is something that occurs only in women and is becoming more common in the sense that more and more doctors know what to look for in a patient.  To give you an idea, here are some facts:

• TS affects 1/ 2,500 live female births.
• There are over 71,000 women and girls living with TS across the United States.  Over 300,000,000 people live in the US.
• It is estimated that only about 1% of fetuses with only one X chromosome survive to term and that approximately 10% of all miscarriages are due to Turner syndrome.
• Diagnosis of Turner syndrome is confirmed by a blood test called a karyotype, which analyzes the chromosomal composition of the individual.

What does our future hold with this diagnosis?  Well, initially it just means monitoring and more doctor visits.  Bella will now have a cardiologist, as heart problems are common in Turner patients, and an endocrinologist, because of growth is always an issue for Turner patients.  Other parts of her body will be more closely looked at during checkups (some yearly, some not).  When she comes to the typical age of puberty, we will discuss how we want to add estrogen to her hormone regiment.  There is a very small chance she will go through puberty like normal, but it is unlikely.  The real question will be when to start estrogen, as it is an essential hormone to a woman’s body.  As she reaches adulthood, she will have to decide how she feels about having children and what she is willing to go through to have a child. 

Things are going to be complicated, but completely manageable.  Am I happy to have this diagnosis?  Once we have verified it, yes and no.  I am happy to find out  what’s going on and to be able to have a plan, but there are some aspects of this syndrome that are sad to think about.  For now, we’ll continue to live life as normally as we had before.  If we didn’t tell anyone Bella has Turner syndrome, I’m pretty certain no one would know the difference.  She’s happy and healthy and I can’t ask for anything more. 

It's been a long week

It has been a miserable week.  A very close friend has her son in the hospital and he's been in a hospital since he was born almost 3 months ago.  His future is very unclear right now and it's very heartbreaking to watch her go through all of this.  She has an amazing support system, which I am so grateful that she does, but I know these past months have not been easy for her.  She and her family are always in my thoughts and I just want to see them happy again. 

Also, this week we found out a possibility for what's been going on with Bella.  It is most likely the diagnosis we will get, but the doctors are going to take one more vial of blood to examine more closely.  They want to be 100% sure of what they are diagnosing before we meet again and talk about what we will do next.  For more information on that, move on to the next post.

Change

Recently, I talked with a good friend about our kids leaving the baby stage and entering the next phase of life.  This is the time when many women (and men, even) consider having another kid.  Even those of us how prefer the toddler stage miss things about having a newborn or little infant. 

I don't particularly miss the helplessness that a newborn has while learning how to move and eat and do everything else besides lying there, making noise, and pooping.  However, when that goes out the window, the cuddles and dependency often does, too.  My kids are that type, no doubt.  Bella cherishes her independence and wants to do everything on her own.  Jude is making his way there. 

So, I can see that I probably would have gone through massive baby fever around this time with Bella, but I ended up not missing a beat.  Jude was here by the time Bella started running away from me.  Now that Jude is hitting that phase, I have a much appreciated calm about the situation.  These will never stop needing me. I know that.  I love that.  They will get older, though, and do more and more on their own and need me for different things.  My role as mommy will always be changing and I'm ready to fill that role in whatever way I can. 

For now, the mommy in me is very settled into this phase of life.  I don't have the baby fever that other parents might when their first is moving past being a baby and becoming a toddler.  Will I ever be in that phase again?  I don't know.  Things are always changing here and plans to have another child (no matter what I might want them to look like) will change, too.  Right now, it's all about appreciating what I have and the life I've been given.  I try to spend a little time everyday thinking about that, because you never know when your life will change, for better or for worse.

One A Month: 7 months to 1 year

Part 2 of Jude's first year.  Here we go!

August 2011

Jude is beginning to pull up on things, gets his second tooth, and has his first move (to MD).

 September 2011

Jude is becoming interested in books, goes to his first carnival, and is cruising around all the furniture.

October 2011

Jude begins to imitate sounds, goes trick or treating for the first time, gets 4 more teeth, and celebrates his sister's second birthday.

November 2011

Jude eats his first big meal at Thanksgiving.

December 2011

Jude celebrates his first Christmas, begins to say words (yeah, dada, baba in context), starts to stand alone.

January 2012

Jude is beginning to walk!  Jude moves into his first new house (well, our house) and celebrates his first birthday (next week!!!).

One A Month: Birth through 6 months

We have one more week of Jude being our official baby.  Then he'll be one and officially be a toddler.  He's begun to walk just a bit, but still isn't set on doing so full time, so we'll still classify him as our baby for now :).

In honor of this coming occasion, I'm taking a look back at our little man's first year (part 1).

January 2011

Jude's biggest first: Birth!

Here he is at 4 days old.










 February 2011

Jude's first outing to church and over to Mimi's house (my mommy).  First bath in a tub.

March 2011

Jude has his first smile, is sleeping through the night, and grasping objects.

April 2011

Jude is rolling over (back to tummy), mini push-ups, passing a toy from one hand to the other.

May 2011

Jude is rolling both ways, got baptized, eating rice cereal and veggies (baby food), taking his first road trip (to Tulsa).

June 2011

Jude is rolling to get somewhere, holding his bottle, eats fruit (baby food), finds his toes, army crawls, gets up to his hands and knees then rock back and forth.

July 2011

Jude is drinking from a cup, sitting up on his own, crawling, getting his first tooth!

Life Update: November edition

Wow I've been lazy this year.  At least, when it comes to this blog.  I have around a third of the posts I did last year.  Now that the year is coming to a close, I figured another post is in order. 

We finally sold our house.  For the next two months, I will be able to look at our bank account and see "paid in full".  It's a great feeling, until you realize that I'm going to have another mortgage starting in March.  Hmmm, oh well.  It's worth it to have a place that's our own.  I'm getting more and more excited about it by the day.  We have a pre-drywall appointment on Thursday to see the inside of the house and where everything will be.  Getting a new house allows you these funny little experiences.  You don't get to see underneath the drywall in an older home, unless you do some heft renovations. 

Aside from all of our housing plans finally working out, I've been thinking a lot about babies recently.  So many new little ones have been entering our world and it's such an exciting time.  Things have finally slowed down a bit, as the last baby due of those I know is due in February.  I think we may have a lull coming for a year or so :).  After all, not too many people want to have babies back to back. 

It's strange to think that I had a newborn at this time two years ago and was 7 months pregnant this time one year ago.  Then I take a step back and realize how fast that went and that now is the time to enjoy the lovely chaos in my life.  After having two for a while, I know I'd love to have more kids (especially after meeting an amazing mother of five, whom I work with).  However, I know I'd love for both of my kids to be cognizant of a pregnancy if we have another baby.  I'd love them to be able to talk to us about it and, if I'm really lucky, have them help out with a new baby once in a while. I think that would be so cool.  But, hey, we all have dreams that don't always work out the way we planned, so we'll see if my little dream happens as such.

In the meantime, it's also hard to believe that Jude's closing in on his first birthday.  Unlike with Arabella, that happened fast.  He's huge and extremely active and mischievous.  He can hold his own while playing with Arabella.  Aside from walking and talking, he's so much like his sister.  They both love to play and dance and that's what we do all day long.  I look forward to him beginning to walk and talk next.  I'd say learning, but I think he knows how to do both and just chooses not to.  It wouldn't surprise me if he is headstrong like that.  Amidst that, I look forward to planning a mini-first birthday for him and seeing him slam into an awesome mini-cake.  You should know, that is always the best part of a first birthday.  If there's no mess, then how do you know you've had fun?

For My Kid's Rooms

I'm getting really psyched about our new house now.  The biggest reason, aside from it being ours and not a 30 year old creaky, paper thin walled apartment, is that I get to decorate two kid's rooms.  SO EXCITED!

Just for kicks, here are some of the ideas I've been throwing around.  For Arabella's room, we'll be going with a Disney Fairies theme.  That's easy enough.  I'm not too worried about her outgrowing this in 5 years.  The base of her room will most likely be a sage green and everything else will be able to be replaced easily.  She already has the fairies bedding, so here's what we're looking at getting her next:

Wall decals, a kid's chair, a lamp.  She already has a white bed and dresser.  It's all coming together in my head where everything should go.  We'll see if it all actually happens when we get there.

As for Jude, I'm finally proud to say I have a clear view of what I'd like to do with his room.  I played with the idea of a solar system room, but it has evolved into a specific them: Star Wars.  Steve has mentioned this many times before but I wasn't on board.  I wanted to be sure I could find things that don't look super cheesy or expected.  I wanted Jude's room to be cool.  Now, I've found some really neat items that I think can accomplish my goal.  Here's a look at the items for Jude's potential room:

Toddler Bedding:

Absolutely necessary quotes:

Vader clock:

The wall lightsaber:

Movie poster:

There's quite a bit out there that will be cool without us over doing it.  Then there's the thing we really want, but most likely won't get:

That would probably be overkill....but it really is awesome.  If we are so lucky to get most of this done soon after we move, I'll be able to get some good pictures up of both rooms.  I'm hoping we can get everything I'd like and that everything will come together nicely.  We'll soon find out!

Sooner or Later

SO, we were supposed to close on Thursday this last week.  Now did that happen?  No.  Of course not.  That would be far too easy.  Now we have a leaky roof to have patched up and then we might possible have our closing scheduled.  I wouldn't be so infuriated if this wasn't the buyer's lender's fault.  We did everything we're supposed to do, but their laziness has cost us more money.  I can safely say that I would prefer not having to sell a house again for a very long time.  I know we will, but it doesn't have to be anytime soon. 

On the other front, we have completed another step in buying our house.  We went to a pre-wiring meeting and to the design center to pick a few things out for the house.  That was fun, so to speak.  It's neat to pick out some colors and where your wiring will go, but it isn't like going to on a dinner/movie date.  Hopefully, this week Steve will have the pre-construction meeting to get a tentative timeline on how things will pan our for our new home.  As of right now, the frame for the first level is in and we're well on our way to having a brand new townhouse.

It's been stressful to move.  However, there are so many great things that wait for us here.  We just have to get over this hurdle and things will start to ease again and we'll be able to relax and enjoy life. 

Happy Birthday Arabella!

Today is a great day.  Two years ago, I gave birth to my sweet girl.  It really is hard to believe on some level.  I feel like it's been two years, but that's mostly because it's been a long road.  We've never had any major, life altering problems with her, but many things have taken quite a bit of work.  However, what child ISN'T worth all of your strength and energy for years to come?  Not one! 

Arabella is my petite ballerina.  She's just a sliver bigger than her brother, she has more energy than five toddlers, and she's smarter than Steve and I combined.  She hates new foods only to love them three months later.  She still wants her bottles, because, damn it, Jude has one too!  She sings everything she can remember and she shakes her booty while she does it.  She kisses her family and tells us she loves us.  She's everything I've ever wanted in life and more.  And right now, she's throwing apples on the floor :).

Happy 2nd Birthday, Arabella Nicole!

Worst Waiting Game Ever

We sold our house.  That's definitely exciting.  HOWEVER...now we begin one of the most miserable waiting games in the history of mankind.  To sell your house, you actually have to close on it to finish the deal.  That will not happen for another 30 days (actually, October 27th for us). 

There's a number of things that can go wrong in the meantime that can cause the contract to fall apart.  We have to have our house inspected.  Once that happens, the buyers will create a list of things they want taken care of before the option period is over.  That option period is 10 days.  Then we have to have an appraisal to ensure that we are selling for what the house is worth.  Really, what our house is worth is up for interpretation.  The first person might say something and a second person will suggest it's 10K higher or lower than the first person.  Either way, whatever the appraiser says can cause things to fall apart.  Then there's also the fact that the buyers can just change their minds.  Isn't that a bunch of sh......poop? 

All in all, things look good.  These buyers are getting the house a great price and in great condition.  Still, jumping through hoops to be sure the house is acceptable and constantly waiting for update phone calls and emails is not my idea of fun.  One thing this does afford us, though, is the opportunity to get serious about where we want to live up here in Maryland.  Some of you may know that we have been considering living with Steve's parents.  It would help us pay down some debt by having a smaller housing cost and it would help them afford a bigger (IE nicer) house.  Our other option is to look at housing in our own price range. 

The market here is very different from Texas.  You get less house for your money, but there are different amenities that come with a house here, as well.  You may be buying a townhouse and it may have smaller rooms in general, but you also tend to get a deck and a basement (many of them actually are finished).  There's also more affordable housing on the water, although I'm pretty certain we aren't really interested in living on the water.  Also, taxing is different, so while we'll buy a more expensive house, our monthly payments won't change very much.  So, tomorrow we will go look at some houses in the area to see if it is worth buying our own house or if we will go forward with living with Steve's parents for a couple of years.

Even still, buying a house here is contingent on closing on our house in Texas.  And so, we wait.

In Maryland

And here we are.  We made it to Maryland.  I would be more excited if we didn't have an angry neighbor who decided to yell on his phone for an hour last night.  Lots of f-bombs.  Angry neighbors scare me.  Other than that, things are going pretty well.  Our apartment is what we need it to be (mostly) for the time being.  There are lots of restaurants and shops convenient to us.  Things just seem to be in a short driving distance in general and I appreciate that. 

One thing that does freak me out though is that the highways are lined with trees.  I can't see where I'm going!  It's a little unnerving since I don't know where things are yet.  I'm sure in a couple months it will be beautiful. 

Something else that is fantastic about the area is the temperature.  Even when it's warm outside, there's a nice breeze that doesn't just waft more hot air in your face but cools you down a bit.  I'm kind of excited to go check out Annapolis because I'm sure there's going to be an even nicer breeze by the water. 

It's a little hard to fathom what the coming holidays and events are going to be like in this new area.  We have to remain frugal while we're waiting to sell our house because we only have a certain amount that the company will assist with.  It's fun experiencing a new area and a new adventure, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared out of my mind right now. The coming months hold a lot of unknowns, but we'll do our best to figure it all out.

Cheers

We're going to move.  It's really going to happen.  We have expected it was really going to happen but never had anything tangible until now.  Within the next week, Steve will be in Maryland and begin to work on his new project and hopefully look for a house or apartment for us.  Yes, we also have to sell our house, but I'd rather not think about that.  The best we can do there is get our house looking as close to a model home as possible and hope that somebody wants it. 

All of that being said, I am guessing that my posts will become sparce after the next few weeks.  I'll be visiting my parents for a short time then moving up to Maryland.  Once the kids and I get up to Maryland, things are likely to get very busy.  I'll be finding new doctors, looking at places (if we haven't chosen one), and figuring out the lay of the land.  Also, I get to prepare for winter.  A REAL winter!  I'm excited and a bit nervous.  After all, I've driven in a bit of ice a couple times, but I have no clue what snow will be like.  And then there's all the cute winter clothes that I will actually need.  I'm sure I'll post about all of that excitement after I get started on it. 

In the meantime, here's to Texas.  I'm probably not going to miss the state (and who can blame me at this time of year), but I'll miss quite a few people who live here and some of the delicious food that won't be matched (I'll miss you Tex-Mex).  And, here's to Maryland.  You're bringing me closer to friends I have so missed and will give me an opportunity to live a different kind of life.  Cheers!

Ready or Not

These next two months are going to be very stressful.  In the next 48 hours, Steve will receive his start date and we will be able to get in contact with a realtor to get our house on the market.  Most likely, Steve will be leaving on August 10th or 11th and will be in Maryland from then on.  I get to stay behind for a bit as we try to sell the house.  I find this very frightening as I have to watch over my two sweet little monsters.  It might not be so bad if I had a near by adult to spend time with but most of my friends and family live at least an hour away.  That makes it hard to just get up and go find some good company.

There's also the fact that I have to try to keep this house immaculate while I remain here.  Ideally, we will find a townhouse to buy within the first month that Steve is there and, after another month, we will be able to move into it.  However, there's never any guarantees that things will work out the way you want.  So, I plan on bracing myself for the worst.  Even while doing that, though, I plan to keep myself sane by reminding myself that this isn't forever and my situation is not that bad.  It isn't.  I'm not completely without help, it's just a little ways away.  This isn't forever.

I'm glad that we are finally getting close to the end of this journey.  I am very much ready to move. 

Children's Inspiration

With an impending move ahead, I've been thinking about the (eventual) direction I would want to take with the kid's rooms.  Decorating a room just the way you want can be expensive, so these are merely ideas to get me started.  I thought I'd share some of my favorite things I've found so far!

For a shared room:

For a room just for Bella:

For a room just for Jude:

I'm really getting into the idea of fantasy and fairy tale themes for the kids.  I've always loved anything fantastical, so why not immerse my children in it!

Make it Work

It's been 6 months since Jude was born, even though it doesn't really seem possible.  All along I've been making things work.  Feeding two kids at the same time.  Getting two kids to sleep at night, at the same time.  Getting two kids to take a nap at the same time.....working on that.  Keeping a house tidy....really bad at that still.  Keeping Steve and I fed.  There's always a laundry list of things that need to be done. 

I have a problem of making things as simple as possible.  Doing the bare minimum, if you will.  My goal for the rest of the year is to change that.  I want to find a way to make things work without sacrificing the quality of the outcome.  Things have been so up in the air for months now with this move looming over our heads that I haven't done much of anything I've intended to do.  Now, we're going to move in the next couple of months, and possible again shortly after that if we go find a house.  No more waiting.  All of the things I've wanted to do, its time to take the steps to make them reality.

I need to start setting my goals and looking at the steps I need to take to attain them.  I want a massive white board with sectioned off areas.  That would be great :).

One baby per month (sort of)

Holy cow!  Babies be everywhere!  I can't even guess how many babies that have been born in my circles in the past few years.  In fact, this year, it's almost 1 a month!  Steve says that we are just at that stage of life and I completely understand.  Most of our friends who are married have been so for at least 2-3 years and have had a chance to settle into a career or whatever else it is they've wanted to accomplish.  That means babies!

For example, 2008 started it all.  2 babies (April and December).  In 2009, 6 babies.  In 2010, 8 babies.  This year, 7 have already made their appearance.  There's still 5 to come....that I know of.  And we have our first entry for 2012.  One of my cousins is expecting his first in January next year, around Jude's birthday.  This is crazy, in a good way of course. 

After talking about it with Steve, he made the point that it will be like this for a few years.  It's family building time.  Honestly, there is not better time of life!  The next 20-30 years are going to be a grand adventure that's for sure.  Then, our kids will be doing the same....scary.

Here we go

So, we're officially moving.  Now we officially need a date.  This whole mess is very frustrating.  Until Steve gets some paperwork turned in, we don't really know what's going on and contacting the relocation people is pointless.  I'm very excited for this move to be done and it hasn't even started.  And by done, I mean we're there, settled in, and our house here is sold.  That last part is VERY important.  I mean really, who wants to pay for two residences.

There are some things working on my side for all of this.  I do have to find a new pediatrician (BOO) but at least I have until October to find one for sure.  That is when Bella will have her 2 year and Jude will have his 9 month appointment.  I'll have to find new doctors for Steve and I, not that we ever go now.  However, we probably should. 

I can search for new Mother's day out programs for Bella.  I like the one we're in, but there might be a Catholic one in MD and Steve would be excited about that.  Also, perhaps there will be a little bit of variance in the pricing.

The one thing that I'm really excited about, though.  DE-CLUTTERING!  During this move, we have to be able to whittle down our belongings to what can fit in a 2 bedroom apartment.  I must say, I love that idea.  I feel like we have so much junk and half of it doesn't get used.  Time to clean out!

One added bonus is that I might be able to go see my parents (who have been in Alabama for a month now).  It would be a tad out of the way, but what better time to go than when you're on the move anyway!

By the end of August, all of this will be decided and done.  It seems unreal that in 2 months we will go from knowing nothing to not being in Texas and everything (almost) being decided.  Here we go.

Never Bored

I'm very bad at updating, aren't I?  Well, it's been an interesting month so I suppose it isn't a big deal.  Recently, I've had to learn to cope without my mom being in town.  Now she's not just not in town, she's not in state.  It's been strange, but I have done a lot better than I thought I would.  I find things to occupy our time and I think it's been easier on the kids being at home all of the time. 

Being that we're in a new situation, we've been trying some new things as well.  Steve and I decided that it was time to sleep train Bella.  It's been 3 weeks, and while we've had success we certainly still have a ways to go.  She still cries when she has to go to bed, but that's our fault for not creating good sleeping habits for her in the first place.  Another thing I know will need to happen soon that could throw a wrench in our plans is moving to a toddler bed.  She's starting to climb and I'd rather not experience broken bones if I can help it. 

We also started back up with food therapy since Bella was starting to slip in her growth again.  We've seen immediate progress!  She's begun to eat more solids and take less bottles and now we are slowly trying to wean her off formula all together.  Now, she's a solid 22 lbs and continuing to gain weight, so now seems like the right time to move in that direction.

As for Jude, well he's so delightfully normal that it's almost boring.  I say almost because he's my son so he simply can't be boring to me!  He's gone through all of the vegetable purees and we're almost through the fruits.  This kid can pack away the food, that's for sure!  I'm guessing he's close to 19 lbs now.  Then there's his quickly emerging personality.  Lots of people thought I would have a nice calm, sweet baby since Bella is such a ball of energy (and has been known to be a bit challenging at times).  That's a load of baloney!  Jude is super energetic and is already becoming quite talkative.  He doesn't really say any consonants like Bella was at this point, but he loves experimenting with raspberry sounds and gurgling, among other things.  He's getting close to sitting on his own and then most likely crawling will come very soon after. 

I'm certainly not bored during the day.  Perhaps a bit overwhelmed at times, but never bored.

Jude is on a Roll

Today, Jude and I went to his 4 month appointment.  As I already knew, everything is going wonderfully.  He is still the polar opposite of his sister and making it relatively easy to have two kids.  He has now reached 17 pounds and 26 inches long, and it's only a matter of time before he catches Bella in size.

After talking with his doctor, he now has her full blessing to start solid foods.  We've already sampled some cereal but within a couple of weeks we can also try adding a vegetable to it as well.  This boy is huge and he wants to eat.  The more I get him to like food now, hopefully, the more he will want to eat later.  I have a feeling that he won't have any trouble picking up whatever I put on his tray and gobbling it up.  You never really know until you try it, but all signs point to this conclusion.  Of course, I have to get him sitting up on his own and picking things up first :).

Jude is also rolling around to his right.  He'll try to roll to get somewhere, but only to his right.  I don't know why, but I suppose anything to his left just isn't as interesting.  This also leads to lots of waking up in the middle of the night.  At least he'll go back to sleep in a decent amount of time without me having to feed him.  We'll get back to consistently sleeping through the night soon enough.  By 6 months, we expect him to be sitting on his own and possibly start crawling.  He's right on track.  Soon, he'll be the one knocking his sister over!

In the meantime, I'll allow Bella to torture him with her hugs and kiss because it's just that adorable!

Why Yogurt?

I'll tell you why.  Because, it's packed with nutrients and it can be calorie loaded as well.  And, what's most fun for Bella, you can dip stuff into it including (but not limited to) crackers, a spoon, and your fingers.  She is particularly fond of doing this with her fingers.  The messier we can get, the better the experience.  This isn't really my favorite philosophy, but it's what's best for Bella.  As I type, she is covering herself in peach yogurt and talking about how she likes it.  She also has taken to saying "Mmmm" when she eats.  Steve is highly amused by this.

Feeding Bella is certainly an adventure.  It takes time and effort and you aren't always successful.  Really, you might be successful 50% of the time, if you're lucky.  However, this is something we can overcome.  In fact, this is how Bella is going to become proficient with a spoon and fork, because heaven knows she won't let me feed her anymore :).

And now there's a big glob of yogurt on the table.  The most fun you can with a spoon is flinging your food.