Another Milestone!

Stella has already accomplished a number of incredible feats during her short lifetime, i.e. growing a full head of hair before being born (seriously, who does that!?!)  But, she never ceases to amaze.  In between two blowouts this morning, Stella rolled over for the first time, from her back to her belly.  According to babycenter.com, this doesn't usually happen until a baby is 5 or 6 months old.  This latest accomplishment confirms my suspicion that Stella is somewhat of a baby prodigy.  I've been holding off on dressing her in this Harvard outfit because I didn't want to seem too pretentious, you know, like one of "those" moms.  But now that her genius is out in the open for everyone to see, I figure what the hell, right!?!  I mean, it would only be ostentatious of me to dress her like a prodigy if it wasn't true... but CLEARLY it is.  Anyway, I'm sorry to have to cut  this post short, but I've got to drive Stella to her SAT prep course (her legs are too short to reach the pedals).

The Black Hills

We took Stella out to the Black Hills this week along with Cole's entire immediate family, plus Grandma and Grandpa Engel (Vickie's parents).  The weather was great so we were able to get out and take quite a few pictures with Stella.  Here are some of the pictures from our trip...

This is us in the Badlands.  Cole drove us through the scenic Badlands Loop on our way out to the Hills - it was surprisingly really cool to see! 

This is us in front of the famous 10 Saloon in Deadwood.  They still have the chair that Wild Bill Hickock was sitting in when he was shot.  I also enjoyed the Sex and the City slot machines inside, although I'm guessing those have no historical value.

This is us with Stella at Mt Rushmore.  All the visitors were ooo-ing and ahhhh-ing over Stella more than the monument! :)

Here is Stella and her dad relaxing in our room at the cabin and reminiscing about that time Stella had a huge blowout at Mt Rushmore... a Black Hills blowout!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk Go KU

Stella said her first words today.  Not surprisingly, they were "Rock Chalk Jayhawk."

Ok, so maybe not.  But I'm sure that those will be among her first words.  Her dad will make sure of it.

Visitors

Over the last few months, Stella has had a lot of visitors.  Here are a few pictures of some of the visitors we've had, and some of the visits we've made...

Papa Frank, Jackie, and Raegan came for a weekend to meet Stella for the first time.  Raegan was very good at holding Stella, and walking with her and bouncing her to keep her happy.

Stella's cousin Bentley lives here in Sioux Falls so Stella gets to see her every once in awhile.  This is Bentley and Stella at Papa's 60th birthday dinner at Luciano's.  Bentley helped feed Stella and change her poopy diaper!

Granny Wanny was in LeMars visiting Aunt Peggy so they came to Sioux Falls for an afternoon to have lunch with us and do some shopping.  Despite what it looks like, Stella had lots of smiles for Granny, Peggy and Julie that afternoon.

The weekend before Thanksgiving Stella and the boys were all in Coon Rapids visiting Grandma and Grandpa Prescott.  It was so fun to have them all together.  Here are a few pictures from their visit.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, all of the boys came to visit Stella in Sioux Falls.  We went to the lighted parade downtown, had a movie day, and took a limo bus tour to look at Christmas lights.  Brody and Hank are especially fond of Stella.  Hank even told Santa that he wants a Baby Stella at his house for Christmas.

Stella is the 17th little munchkin on our cul-de-sac of eight houses.  Our neighbor Sophie was so excited we were having a baby girl.  She has made us a couple of really cute homemade cards, and loves to come visit Stella.  One afternoon she brought her a gift and helped feed her a bottle.

Grandma Pearl came to Sioux Falls for an eye appointment and got to meet Baby Stella for the first time over at Ken and Vickie's house.  She loved Stella and, of course, could not get over her hair.  She also said Stella is so good "because her mom is so good."  Those were her exact words :)



Chubba Wubba

Stella has really filled out in the last few weeks.  The change in her appearance has been most noticeable at bath time when you can see the rolls in her arms, legs and belly.  She LOVES her baths.  Here is a picture of her at bath time on October 16th...

And here's a picture of her at bath time two weeks later on November 1st.  No, she is not storing gummy bears in her cheeks to snack on while she's in the tub.  But she is smiling so much more now.  This picture cracks me up!  It was an instant favorite.

Baptism

Stella was baptized at our church a few weeks ago.  Pastor Clyde tried setting her up with one of the four month old boys who was also being baptized that afternoon, but Cole was not interested in that.  Twenty years from now when Stella comes home from college with a guy who drives a Prius and wears a t-shirt that says, "I'm part of the 99%," Cole's going to wish he had this nice young church lad's phone number.

Newborn Pictures

Our good friend Lauren Neff is a photographer here in Sioux Falls.  She took these pictures when Stella was only 13 days old.

Pictures of Stella

I finally had a chance to download all the pictures we've taken in the last week.  Here are a few pics of Stella we'd like to share...

Mom and Dad's first look at baby Stella...

Dad helping the nurse clean her up...

 Proud papa...

 Sleepy lady...

Nana C takes a break from helping Amanda to hold little Stella...

 Dad showing off his little girl to Grampa Ken...

Bridgy and Taylor were in the neighborhood for Peggy's wedding so they stopped by to meet little Stella...

Once we came home Stella started staying awake a little longer and opening her eyes to check the place out...

 Stretching out after my first bath at home...

 Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Merle (Vickie's parents) came for a quick visit...

Phoggy came home after a week at doggy camp to meet Stella...

Stella's first trip out of the house...

 Relaxing at home...

 I like to be swaddled in a little papoose!!