Stella's 4th Month

Waking up to a phone in her face... again!

The last few days of January came and went, and we were into February. This month has been a month of everyone repeating, "Look what Stella can do!" Our little girl was smiling, chattering, rolling over, and laughing. Now the challenge to document her talents became an all out war! My parents wanted me to see her activity while I was at work, and I wanted Steve not to miss a milestone. Thus far all we had on camera were smiles, so we had our work cut out for us.
 
What this all meant for Stella is that there was always a phone in her face!  The poor child; I think she truly began to hate seeing the back of an iPhone.  She would be doing something we would want to capture, see the phone, and she would instantly shut down.  Luckily, we had one day the first weekend in February that everything came together.  My parents were at a birthday party for my Lali, and I was home watching Stella that day.  I don't know if it was because we didn't have too much of an audience, but in a few short hours I had three big milestones all on camera.  I was able to send Steve pictures of her actually enjoying tummy time, a video of her rolling over, and he even got to hear her little cackle of a laugh! 

Hello!

Tired after showing off for Daddy!

After our big weekend, we we about a week away from our monthly visit from Steve!  Steve would be coming up to celebrate Stella's 1st Valentine's Day and my birthday, and we also had a few more important things to fit into his visit.  Stella would be taking her next set of professional photos with my friend Kendall, and Steve wanted to get a jump on our house shopping.  We both realized that he now only had three more monthly visits until he would be here to stay!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day was a day of dressing the little girl up in pink and hearts, and more about planning for this holiday when she gets a little older.  The day definitely made us both think about traditions that we would like to start for our family.  I can't say that we have it all together, but it was interesting to think about traditions we had growing up on holidays and birthdays that we wanted to perpetuate.  Luckily for us, Stella won't remember that her first Valentine's Day did not include any traditions.  Next year!

The next day brought Steve!  Unfortunately I had to work, but it meant that Steve and Stella would get a lot of time together one-on-one. I was definitely jealous that I was a work while the two of them played, but we had a great time together every day when I got home.  It is always nice having Steve around because we get to share the Stella love.  We are now only two monthly visits from Steve being here permanently!!!  It is going to be nice to have two of us to take care of the baby.  I can only imagine being able to look over and say, "Your turn!"

Steve's February visit was short, but we made sure to book Stella's next professional photography session while he was in town.  Stella is signed up for a "Baby Steps" program that my friend, Kendall, does with her business.  Stella had photos taken when she was two weeks old, just before her four month birthday, next will be between 6-9 months, and she will end on her 1st birthday.  Kendall takes the best pictures of Stella, even when you have the challenges that a baby can bring.  Stella was due for nap time at this session, but she really did play along for Mommy and Daddy.  Between outfit changes, being tired, going inside and outside, and making all kinds of annoying faces and sounds, Stella managed to give us an excellent session.  We even got our first family photo!  Here is just one of her photos from the session:

Our little giraffe :)

Steve left to return to Albuquerque, but not before giving me a VERY nice birthday present!  He decided that I needed some pampering, so he bought me a fancy spa package.  The nice thing was that they let me break up the treatments because I couldn't get away from Stella for more than three hours.  I scheduled my first treatment, a massage, the day after my birthday and it was amazing!  It was so nice to have a clear head and just relax for an hour :). 

Speaking of my birthday, it was quite a special day to remember.  Last year, I got a very special early birthday present- I found out I was pregnant.  My family was actually in town for my birthday, so I told them while we were out for dinner that night that we would have a new addition.  To spend this birthday with the baby that we celebrated last year was very special! 

Only a few days after my birthday, Stella turned four months old.  She had a month of truly growing into her little personality, and letting us capture it on video!  Here she is:

February 28, 2012