Christmas #2 - "Small" Guier Family Christmas

Last Saturday we celebrated Christmas with my parents. We took the girls to see Santa at Crown Center where we used to always go. Bella did pretty good waiting in line for the long wait and enjoyed seeing Frosty and the Purple Crayon. Our family picture was in front of the antique mechanical Santa that's been at Crown Center for... a really long time. I remember it when I was young so it was a neat experience for me to have Bella there.



Bella crawled and played her way through the playland right before sitting on Santa's lap.

Could she be any happier? She LOVED the playhouse!

Santa was a different story. This picture is probably looks the least torturous that we got. Needless to say, Santa is not on Bella's nice list!

After Crown center we came back to the house and enjoyed a cookie decorating craft time! Valerie's sugar cookies are the best!

Later that evening we exchanged gifts and Bella couldn't wait to get her first baby doll out of the box!

Christmas is my favorite time of the year! I love being surrounded by so many family gatherings!

Christmas #1 - The Sachses

On the 13th we traveled to Jefferson City to celebrate Christmas with my mom's side of the family. Lots of great food, fun aunts and uncles, and more boys for Bella to play with!

Here is sweet Sophie, I love kissin those cheeks!

Grandma and Grandpa made amazing lasagna which we all enjoyed, even Bella!

The boys huddled around Bella are my younger cousins. They were so sweet playing with her and she of course loved showing off for her new audience!

Here are all the ladies in family! Bella loved seeing her Great Grandparents and Great Aunts and Uncles again! We are so thankful to have such a big, fun family! We love you guys!

Play Date!

This week some friends from church came over for a play date. Bella is very popular with the boys already! We were even missing Samuel, who wasn't feeling so good.

The pink car with the boa was a big hit! We all took our turns getting a ride in it and trying not to get our fingers smashed!

This is sweet sweet Erick! He enjoyed pushing Bella around in her car! We are so excited for Erick to be home from Guatemala with his mommy and daddy! You can check out the Whitworth blog that we follow listed on the side of our blog.

Curious Bella

This past week Brandon has had to install door latches on our cabinets. Bella was very interested in what was going on, and when she discovered she could no longer explore in certain cabinets, it was a sad day!

She is learning early how to be handy around the house! I'm so thankful I have a handy man for a husband!

One Year Pictures!

What a big girl we have! I can't believe she's almost ONE already! If you would like to check out her photo shoot, go to www.m-mphoto.com then click on "Photo Cart", Portraits, and Vanessa (Bell'a pic) and the password is Johnson.

We love our photographer! Her name is Jennifer and her company is Moments and Memories. I highly recommend her to you for photographs of your kids, or family!

Snow Day!

We had quite a snow today so we decided to stay in and avoid the streets. Snow days can also make you want to pull your hair out if you're cooped up for too long. I think this was what Bella was trying to tell me at lunch today! What a cute new look! haha

Bella enjoyed seeing her breath on the cold windows as she watched it snow.

Christmas Tradition

This week I started reading a book called Treasuring God in our Traditions by Noel Piper (John Piper's wife). I am so excited about this book and the idea that Brandon and I get to start our own family traditions. This is something I've looked forward to when Bella was born. I remember all of the family traditions I had growing up and we plan on continuing them and making some of our own. One that I loved as a child was having my own little tree in my room and getting to decorate it however I wanted. This may have been the beginning of my hobby of decorating!

Here is our tree in the living room.

This is in our room. Of course blue and brown to match! It also has a Bride and Groom ornament, baby ornament, and a family heirloom ornament from the Johnsons hanging on it.

Bella has a ballerina tree of course! She did help pick out the cute little ornaments at Hobby Lobby! She became a local celebrity there wearing her distinguishable hat the other week with all of our trips! The employees recognize us! That could be a bad sign! :)

Bella came down with a cold this weekend, but nothing that bringing out the Christmas PJ's early and a little Baby Einstein couldn't cure!

Road Trip!!!

We packed our bags earlier this week to make our first drive with Bella down to Waco, TX to celebrate Thanksgiving. Bella was very excited at first helping me pack our bags!

Thanks to Nana we borrowed a DVD player and that calmed the tears more than a few times while not being able to get out of the car seat! She was so excited about it and held it like a book the whole time on her own.

As soon as we got there, Bella wanted to play with the puppies. She was entertained with them all week long.


Aunt Christie and Uncle Barry got this adorable Snow Bunny dress for Bella this winter! So warm and cozy!

This was Bela's first Thanksgiving! She ate lots of turkey, green beans, and mango!


We couldn't leave without making or mark of course. She found lots of fun things to explore while at Grandpa Bob's house!

Happy Birthday Brandon

We had a chili dinner and my mom and dad, Kevin, Val, Lea, and Sophie all came over to celebrate Brandon's birthday. Of course we only got a picture of the girls! The chili was really good and we had a great time with the whole family especially with Kevin back in town for the week.

Brandon's birthday was actually the 18th so this post is a little late. We began his morning by making breakfast and opening gifts. Bella even made a special card.

This week we were in Waco for Thanksgiving and we celebrated the November family birthdays. Christie's was the 6th, and Bob's was the 17th.

Brandon's truck wasn't actually a birthday gift, but he got it the same week. We were so blessed by this new truck and so excited we could all ride together in it!

A Moment of Weakness

Our weekend getaways have changed post Bella! We knew things would change, but just weren't sure exactly how! After a long day of car riding and no naps, I caved in and our little sweetie got a little something sweet.

We had a fun weekend in Branson. Bella of course got so many compliments and was the center of attention for the crowd there. This was a fun little moment with her mommy!

Don't worry, she didn't get as much as it looks like. Her little bite was mostly around the outside of her mouth!

Happy Halloween!

The past few weeks have been busy. Last week I was at training all day every day for my new part-time job. It was hard to leave Bella so I'm glad it's over! The past couple of weeks have been filled with a visit from Grandpa Bob, a visit from Amy, Bella's parent educator, and a visit to the Doctor's office. At Bella's 10 month appointment she weighed in at 16 lb 12 oz and measured 27 in. She fit nicely into the 10th percentile of other kids her age.

This is a picture of Bella's first experience in a "big bath" with her friends Kaylin and Elayna! She loved the freedom and all the toys and bubbles! What sweet girlfriends!

We went to the park last weekend only to get blown away by the bitter breeze, we can't wait until spring when we'll be able to enjoy it a little more!

Bella was a little ladybug for her first Halloween! I think it fit her personality to the T!











We loved getting Bella dressed up as a ladybug for her first Halloween! She absolutely loved the whole experience! She was laughing at the other kids' costumes and waving the entire night! We traveled around to a few of our friends' houses to say "trick or treat!" We finished off our tour at Nana and Papa's house where she got a bag of goodies! Baby Mum Mum crackers are her favorite!