Our Precious Gift

    Okay, so I'm a couple days late, but I wanted to make sure I got a chance to celebrate my baby girl and since I'm 6 years behind on her baby book - this will have to do! :-)
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 On November 15th, 2004 God blessed us with an amazing, beautiful little girl!  I had wanted a baby for so long and after losing our first pregnancy at 7 weeks the year before this, we were BEYOND grateful to have an easy pregnancy and a "somewhat" uncomplicated delivery!  Our families were so excited because our little girl was going to be the 1st grandchild on both sides...talk about being spoiled! :-)  We went to Hawaii when I was 5 months pregnant and while flying I felt her move for the very first time...it was amazing!  I loved all of the wiggles and hiccups she would have.....except when she kept me from sleeping ...which she did quite a bit in the last 2 months! :-)  My OB, Dr. Garner, had decided it would be best to go ahead and induce on the 15th so we showed up at Plano Presby Hospital around 7am.....by 8am Dr. Garner came in to break my water. 
        Okay, let me just say NO ONE told me this (having the dr. break your water) would be painful...all you Super Hero Moms that said  "Oh that! I hardly felt it!"  You are big, fat liars....anytime you get what looks like a 2 ft long crochet hook stuck between your legs....it's going to involve pain!   Granted I do have a pain tolerance of a -10...but still it hurt!  Okay, I digress....  :-)
      Happiness came though around 9:30 am when I got my best friend...Mr. Epidural...ahhh!!!  It even came with a button I could push for extra...until the nurse took it away because I had pushed it 23 times in a span of an hour and a half.   My mom and dad got there by lunchtime and we all just sat and waited.     I was dilated to a 3 when we began, but by 4pm I was only dilated to a 3 1/2 ..almost 4....we realized we may need to go another route.  So, we headed to the OR shortly after that and at 5:08pm, Isabella Joy Linz came into this world!

                  Beautiful baby girl!  7 lbs, 1 oz, 191/2 inches long

                         Pop Pop loved his Bella!

                    Pop Pop, Lolli and Bella

                      You and your 2 grandmas!  You are blessed!

                       Nana and Papaw holding Bella                     

                                 Your baby dedication!

                                You and Kiki!

                                    Aunt Erika and you

                                       Jessies making you laugh

                                          Zia and Uncle Adam

                                      Daddy, Uncle Charles and you!

                                      Your first Easter!

            Mommy loved dressing you up...you weren't always such a big fan! :-)

She has blessed our home with laughter, songs, and such JOY!  She has an imagination that blows our mind, a heart so full of compassion, a completely contagious laugh, and she loves Jesus so much!  My heart feels like it's going to explode sometimes hearing her belt out "Savior, He can move the mountains..."  at the top of her lungs.  I'm so proud, yet I know I can't take the credit...she is her Father's daughter.  Dan and I are so thankful He chose us to be her parents!

                                         Your 1st birthday!

         You make up songs all the time and are constantly performing!

    You always wanted to be in the middle of whatever your brothers were doing....literally!!

                       You always put a smile on your Pop Pop's face!

                          You LOVE your Uncle Joe!!

                       You and "Blakey" had a special bond from Day 1!

                                      You are such a loving sister!

     So, Happy 6th birthday, Isabella!  You are an amazing little lady.  I pray that you will always follow God's dreams for your life...I pray that when life doesn't work out the way you hoped, that you will still trust God and KNOW that He is always good.... I pray that you will always stand up for what you believe in -regardless of what other's opinions are.... and I pray that you will love deeply, unconditionally, and selflessly!  You are going to change the world! We love you, Bella-Boo! 

2 Captain Americas and a Ladybug Girl

This halloween was by far the best one we've had in terms of the kids really "getting" it!   They were very excited about their costumes that Lolli had gotten them when she was in town a few weeks ago and had been BEGGING to wear them around the house!  But I stayed firm...I think the first time you wear it should be on Halloween...and  my luck if I let them play in them before Halloween they would have ruined them somehow and we would've had a complete and total meltdown.  So for the safety (and sanity) of  those of us in the house...dress up can be played AFTER Halloween!  So here they are in their costumes....

    Carter wasn't sure about his mask and more times than not during the night he pushed the eyes of it up on his forehead, but he was excited he matched Will!

     Every house we went to that said "Oh what a cute Ladybug!"  Isabella said loudly, "I am not a ladybug....I am Ladybug Girl!"  I tried to explain to her that not everyone has read the book Ladybug Girl so they might not know and she said to me, "But Mom, I look JUST like Ladybug Girl.  How could they not tell?"  I gave up....

    This boy thought he was hot stuff and was "shooting" bad guys constantly with his glow in the dark stick!

We stopped by Chris and Brandi's house first and got to trick or treat there.  Of course this is where I realized I forgot my camera and only got a picture of them together on my phone and of course I have no idea how to get it on my computer  :(    


This is also where Dan taught the kids what a Reeces peanut Butter Cup was and how they should ALWAYS go for the "big orange" ones.  He also informed them that whoever brought home the most wins...well if you know my kids and how competitive they are I'm sure you know we have DOZENS of Reeces that were brought home.  Daddy was happy!

Then we headed off to Chris and Libba's house b/c their neighborhood was having a block party with bounce houses and pizza!  That was a LOT of fun!  Then we started off our trick or treating by hitting a few houses with Kenzie and Berkley!

   They went right up to the houses and somehow thought it was okay to go IN a few of the houses.  So we had a have some quick reminders that these are strangers houses and that we ONLY go to the front porch.....then they were off again!

   After awhile we headed out to stop by a few more houses!  We had to hit Aubrey and Jen's and make sure our friends Grady-bug and Jettaroo (as they are affectionately called by my kids :-)  got their special Halloween treats from us!  

   Not sure if Bella is throwing up a gang sign or what!!  ;-)  But didn't they look cute?

   Then we hit up the McKinzie house and got some good candy, too! 

We left our car there and walked around the block in their neighborhood.  Literally, our kids couldn't carry their pumpkins by the time we made it back...it was a TON of candy!   They actually wanted to keep going, so we went back into Melissa's to get some walmart bags so we could unload the candy into them and then they discovered the excitement of PASSING out candy.....so we ended up just staying there for awhile!

   While we were there Dady was already starting to coerce the kids into giving him the good stuff!  See those tied up plastic sacks on the table....our candy filled up 3 of those FULL!  and that was after I took out the candy I don't let them eat and gave it to the older kids....CRAZY!   We're letting them have a treat every day this week and then the rest will go to our church fall festival this Sunday for them to use! :-)

               I know I'm partial, but they are seriously SO CUTE!!!!

Hope you all had a great Halloween too!!

Community Helper Day

Well, Bella decided for Community Helper Day she would dress as a Police Woman.... 

but I'm not sure she really "gets" what policemen do.  

When I asked her what her job was she said it was to pass out candy and make french fries for the other workers.  

Maybe she thinks she will be a policewoman at a Chick-Fil-A???

:-)

Cousin Fun!!

A few weeks ago 2 of my sisters and my nephew came to see us! We had such a great time together!  I can't tell you how happy it made me that even though it had been 3 months since he's seen us, my precious little nephew came RUNNING up our driveway -giving out hugs and kisses!  That just made my day! Besides the fact that he's unbelievably adorable....he's my only nephew and he has a BIG piece of his Gaga's heart! :-)

                                     He is seriously so funny!!

We did so much while they were here.  They got to experience life on the soccer fields for 4 hours Saturday...I'm sure that was their highlight! ;-)  Once we finished 2 games and pictures for both teams we FINALLY got to head home and just hung out Sat pm.  We enjoyed Nikki's delicious homemade guac and I introduced them to the greatness that is the Tortilleria at our Kroger that makes HOMEMADE tortilla and taco shells every day...hot...out of the oven...YUM!   And my sisters and I snuck out of the house for a Girls Night and got to see a movie together...fun!!  We went to church Sunday morning and then decided to go to the TX state fair.  I have to say....it was interesting, fun amd great to eat yummy food, but to those of you who have been to Wilson County Fair in TN...it's not much different.  Just more spread out and more expensive. 

                          On the tram in the parking lot to the gate.....if you are smart like you you will convince your kids that this is a "ride" also!! ;-)

                   Enjoying a Roasted Corn Cob and waiting for the pirate High Dive show!

                   Carter, Bella and Will with the Pirates after their show!

         Riding the racecars!  Will and Carter rode together and Blake and Bella!

         Waiting to get on the rollercoaster!  And, yes, we ALWAYS dress our kids in the same color when we go to a really crowded place...it makes constantly counting them easier! :-)  

                    Carter's favorite part...cotton candy!

We enjoyed corny dogs, frozen iced tea, nachos, funnel cakes....oh so good!

  On Monday, Nikki, Natalie and Blake went to school to have lunch with Bella which she loved and then we hit the mall and Sam Moon.  For those of you who have no idea what Sam Moon is, it's basically a HUGE jewelry, purse, accessories warehouse and they now have a home decor store and a luggage and gifts store...so that took awhile! :-)  

  That night we took them to Gattitown, which is my kids FAVORITE place here in Frisco.  It's like Chuck E Cheese but 100 times cleaner, with a pizza and pasta and salad buffet.  And instead of a cheesy character show they have a movie room that you sit in to eat and then a HUGE gameroom with lots of videogames and simulator rides, bowling, bumper cars and some bigger rides!  They loved it!

They had so much fun eating pizza and icees and running around to play games and ride rides!  

They all get along so well and played together so great the entire weekend!  My kids LOVE their "Blakey"!
Tuesday we spent mostly at IKEA and then they got to see the boys play another soccer game before they headed out that night!

                           All of us on our last night together!

               Our silly faces...I think Natalie's is the funniest!  ;-)

    2 of my beautiful sisters! (We missed you, Jessies!!)  As we have gotten older we've become so much closer and I'm so thankful for that!  They are all amazing, strong, fun, beautiful women who love God and love our family!  I'm so proud of them and miss them so much!

 There were many tears in my house the night they left and most of them came from this little girl!  So sad, isn't it??  

       Thank you sooo much for driving so far just to spend time with us!

We love you guys and can't wait to see you at Christmas!!