December Mania Part III: Bella's Birthday Party

This girl had so many birthday celebrations she's going to think her birthday is all of December! With my graduation on Saturday we had to wait until Sunday to do the full on birthday party. So Sunday December 19th we had a wonderful party consisting of family, friends and Bella's friends. It was a wonderful time and a truly great group of people. Thank you to all who attended and those who were there in spirit. You all made Bella's day extremely special.

Bella and I spent most of Sunday at my parents getting ready for the party. Bella is such a great helper, she even helped Nana wash the doors. No one really knows why we needed to wash the doors but she helped all the same.














Here she is posing for the camera.














In her Birthday outfit. I was pretty proud of this one, she looks super cute!


















Cousin Mira














Opening presents!














































Auntie Tracy made sure Bella had her very own Elf on the Shelf. It took a while to not be afraid of it though. For the first 3 nights Bella would point to it and say it scared her. Tracy assures me that that's the point.














Becca with her Mama Ceri, Becca was the Sunnyside representation at the party.



















Kari and Lili playing with the fireplace air thingy, that's the scientific name.















Apparently no boys allowed is not a rule in Bella's tent.














Auntie Mel and Auntie Amanda, that's right Bella has a LOT of relatives that aren't actually related, what can I say, we're blessed with so many amazing people in our lives.














Cake time. Bella was awesome at blowing out the candles this year and going to town on the cake.



























































































We were so happy to have the Jonses stick around for a while after the party, we hadn't had quality Jones time since the KU game. Bella and Evey had a blast playing in Bella's new Monkey tent. We even got some quality hugs before heading home.






























It was a wonderful party. Even Bella was worn out and ready to go. Here she is all bundled up with her new blanket/backpack.


















Thanks again to all who made Bella's birthday party so special, whether you were there in person or spirit. We are so lucky to have such amazing friends and family.

~Trish

Memorable Monday

December Mania Part II: Trish Gets her Master's Degree

After 4 1/2 years I have completed my Master's Degree. I decided that I had spent enough hours working on it I wanted to do the whole graduation ceremony and everything. I was really glad I did. Even though I finished my classes and work in August, it was really nice to attend the ceremony on December 18th 2010. It truly felt like a culminating event of a lot of work and a great resolution. Eric, Bella and my parents were able to attend the ceremony with me. It can be told best without words.

Bella watching with Nana and Poppie



























































































































Beautiful Pictures of Bella as she watched and ran around in the bleachers.








































The Ceremony


























Poppie texting during the speech. Bad Poppie!


















A Video of my Name being read and walking across the stage.


Mom the Graduate with Bella



























My beautiful family.


















Foreshadowing? I hope!



























My handsome husband and I. I could not have made it through without him. From bringing me snacks while I did homework, to watching Bella, to reading my papers, Eric has been there for me through the whole process. I love you baby and Thank you!


















I'm a happy girl!


















To Celebrate, Mom and Dad took Bella for an overnight and Eric took me out on a date. We began the evening with an Excellent meal at Angler's Seafood House and completed it with dear friends at the Lyon. Thanks to those of you who were able to make it and the many of you who sent wonderful messages and were there in spirit. It was a truly wonderful evening.






































So now, I'm officially smarter than my Husband. You all have permission to rub it in. Hee hee! ~Trish

December Mania Part I: Bella's Birthday Dinner

December 2010 was a whirlwind of events. Everything went so quickly in fact I hardly had time to get ready to go back to school, let alone blog. Therefore I fell behind, drastically behind. So be prepared audience, over the next several (oh 8ish) posts, I will bring you up to speed on the Neuteboom Holiday festivities.

The beginning of December was fairly uneventful. It wasn't until the second week (December 14th to be exact) that the adventures began. we kicked off our holiday season with Isabella's 2nd birthday. I can hardly believe that only two years ago I was watching White Christmas in the hospital with the snow falling. This year I watched it with a beautiful toddler bouncing around the living room and eating goldfish.

Bella turned 2 on Tuesday December 14th. In celebration my parents took the three of us out to Kokoro's for dinner. Bella loves sushi, especially miso soup, this was also the night we discovered her love of all things crab. She took down a whole portion of softshell crab nearly by herself.

In addition she loved sharing her birthday with Nana and Poppie, plus the bear given to her was such a hit that his name has officially become Birthday Bear. Here we are together at dinner.

Bella with Nana














A very happy Birthday Girl.













Roaring at Birthday Bear.











My Mama and I.


So thank you so much for a wonderful dinner Mom and Dad, you sure spoil us and especially spoil Bella.

~Trish

Memorable Monday

Memorable Monday

Memorable Monday

Happy 2nd Birthday Bella!

Our Beautiful girl is 2 years old today! I can't believe how the time has flown by. She is above average is smarts, and as independent and strong willed as Eric and I put together. We are the happiest parents in the world with our precious toddler. I can't wait for many more years to come. This just gets better by the day.

So Happy Birthday big girl! Mommy and Daddy are so so proud of you!

Memorable Monday

Lawrence Christmas Parade

This weeks Memorable Monday is brought to you by the Lawrence Christmas Parade. This past Saturday Bella and I had an exciting day filled with a Birthday party, parade and even a second Thanksgiving. The morning began with Bella's friend Sadie's 2 year birthday party. Sadie is part of The "Mommy Mafia" a group of friends and I who all met at a nursing support group and became great friends. We do playdates, lunch dates, mommy's night outs, and a book clubs. It's a wonderful group of amazing women who have been so important to me these past two years. Sadie and Tara are all within a week old of Bella so we enjoy having December birthdays together. Sadie's birthday was a blast and we all headed downtown to enjoy the Christmas Parade. Bella LOVED the horses. Whenever there was a gap between groups she looked very concerned as she asked me "More Horsies?" or "where'd horsies go?" At one point she stood up in the street, looked at me in great earnest and said "Horsies beut-i-ful." I readily agreed, they were beautiful. We saw donkeys, ponies, and all types of horses imaginable. Then afterwards we headed to lunch at The Orient (not our best visit, service was very slow, and food was half amazing, half awful).


























































On the way home Bella fell asleep for nap and was so out that Eric and I got her inside, took off her hoodie and a couple of layers before tucking her in bed, without even waking her up. Sometimes it amazes me how well she sleeps. Nap did take a bit longer than expected so we missed the majority of the Lampe's Thanksgiving part deux, we did make it over in time to meet a couple of their friends and do some grazing.

It was an outstanding Saturday, our Next few weekend are packed with Holidays and Birthdays and I'm looking forward to it all. Speaking of Birthdays, a shout out to Miss Evelyn Jones!! Happy 4th Birthday! I can't believe Evey is 4, I remember holding her in the hospital, snuggling with her over the following summer, watching her grow and thinking how amazing it would be to have a baby girl. Now I love watching her play with, snuggle and enjoy hanging out with Bella. Hooray for dear Friends who become Family. So cheers to the Jones Clan and Happy Birthday Evey!

~Trish

Memorable Monday