Thanksgiving and Belle's Blessing

We went home for Thanksgiving and it was so much fun! Belle was the highlight of all the parties! We ate dinner with my family in the afternoon and then went down to Springville that night to play with the Nielson bunch. All of Belle's aunts, uncles, and cousins adored her throughout the week. She loved being held by everyone! Then on Saturday we blessed Belle at my parents' house. My whole family was there and most of Platte's siblings were there. Belle was a little angel. Everything was perfect and we appreciate everyone for coming! Here are pictures of Belle in her first white dress. :)
So pleasant

The Ricks Family, Grandpa Gardner, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and Paige

The Nielson Family, and Blaine, Amy and kids

Belle in her blessing dress laying on the beautiful afghan my mother crocheted for her

I Have Been Tagged

Lucky Seven

7 Things I can do:
1. I can play the piano and the organ
2. I can cook
3. I can read (yes, I know most people can read--I just mean I can read, love, and appreciate a good book)
4. I can quilt and sew
5. I can play and watch sports with Platte
6. I can tell if something in my house has been touched or moved
7. I can scuba dive

7 Things I can't do:
1. I can't eat ramen and tomato juice like a true Nielson
2. I can't do crafts
3. I can't dance
4. I can't call random people on the phone (or even not so random people). Calling people scares me.
5. I can't draw
6. I can't eat fish
7. I can't whistle

7 things that attracted me to Platte:
1. His kindness to everybody he knows and meets
2. His smile and looks
3. His spirituality
4. His athleticism
5. His family and his background
6. His work ethic
7. Simply the way he has lived his life, even when it hasn't been perfect or easy

7 Things I often say:
1. I love you
2. How was your day?
3. Hi, Mom
4. You are too cute for words!
5. It's okay sweetie
6. What are you cryin' about?
7. Good job to you (Don't know why we add the "to you" part, but we do)

7 People I admire:
1. Platte
2. My mom
3. My dad
4. Daniel and Andrea
5. Adam
6. Whitney
7. Amanda

7 Favorite Foods:
1. Potatoes (especially au gratin, baked, and mashed)
2. Pretty much all sweets (Key Lime Pie--only from Florida, cheesecake, blondie--from Applebee's, homemade pie, homemade cookies)
3. Homemade soup and bread
4. Cafe Rio pork salad
5. Waffles with peaches and cream
6. Training Table's Bacon Ranch Burger
7. Drinks--Stephen's Hot Chocolate (Mint Truffle), steamed milk, and strawberry milk
And despite this we actually do eat quite healthy at our house!

7 people I tag
1. Anybody who wants to

Belle's First Smile

After many weeks of dry expression, Belle finally smiled. I noticed that some of her little pants might now actually fit her so I decided to try them on. Lo and behold they fit! So I had to go a little further to finish the outfit. With a bow in her hair and socks on her feet I put on her first pair of shoes...and then it happened. Her first smile. Let's hope she doesn't already have a love for shoes! Until we can capture the evidence on camera you'll just have to trust that our story is true.
Belle looking cute in pants and shoes!
Look at those cheeks!
At a local sports grill watching college football!! Belle is sure to be a sports fan with all the games she has watched!
Platte thinks this bow is a little too much, but us girls like it!
Hmmm
As you can tell, Belle doesn't like to pull her pants as high as Grandpa Nielson used to!

Halloween

Even though Belle couldn't eat any of the candy at the ward Trunk-or-Treat or the other costume party we went to, she still enjoyed the festivities. She was a cat by day, and a fairy by night.
Belle--the Black Cat
Belle--the Fairy

One Month and Growing . . .

Despite liking to cry more than ever before, Belle is doing great! She has surpassed the 8 lb mark and anxiously looks forward to feeding time every three hours. She has yet to crack a smile (except while in her sleep), but we are looking forward to the day when she does. She was able to meet some of her cousins and aunts and uncles in Blanding this past weekend - which also means that she experienced the joys of traveling through the Rez. We tried to explain the different monuments in Monument Valley, but she kept getting the Mittens, Bear, and Rabbit confused. She also had a blast this past week with her grandparents and Aunt Amanda! They were so great to her, as always. Enjoy these pics.

Belle's first dress!

Belle loves bathtime!!

She also loves to sleep!

She loves to watch her dad play football

She loves making this little face--and her mom likes to dress her up!

Belle's first trip to Monument Valley

Just getting ready for bed

Getting ready for her first Sunday at church

More pictures of Belle

Since her birth, Belle has been growing like a weed - a weed without water that is. We had to take her back into the hospital last week because she had jaundice and was losing weight. After being in the "spotlight" over night, she was all ready to come home. Really though, we were quite worried about our little girl and are now happy that she is doing well. She's finally gained her birth-weight back and is growing up to be strong just like her dad (this is Platte writing, of course). Here are some more pictures of the little cutie.


One of the rare moments when Belle is wide awake!


Pretty in pink.


Belle and her mommy.


See any resemblance? Platte thinks so.


Little shrimp.

Baby Belle continued . . .

Belle's Birth

We are the proud parents of Baby Belle. She is so cute! She was born on Sept. 11th (take that Bin Laden!)at 4:50 p.m. She is 6 lbs 15 ounces and is 19 1/2 inches long. So far, she loves to make little noises while she sleeps, swing her arms out wide, cross her legs, and pucker her lips. She is so cool. Heather did a great job bringing her to us - it took 19 hours of labor! We are so glad Belle Heather Nielson is here.

R.I.P. Gil

A moment of silence please - our beloved little fish "Gil" was taken to the great lake in the sky last week. We think he died simply from Heat. This darn heat of Yuma got the best of Gil. We were actually quite sad about losing him (Platte swears he was a boy). He has been with us for our entire marriage. Platte took custody of Gil from France while they were roommates together at BYU. Platte said France never was good at taking care of pets, so he took control of him. It's been about 3 years since Gil was purchased from Wal-Mart. Luckily, we took a couple of pictures just days before he succumbed to the heat.

Internship in Yuma, AZ

Platte is doing criminal defense work this summer in Yuma, Arizona. He was hired as a legal intern at the Yuma County Public Defender's Office. Crimes are a-plenty in this border town, so Platte has learned a lot and is enjoying his job. As you can see, our living accomodations are, well, CLASSIC! There is no other way to describe them, I guess. Yuma is ridiculously hot to say the least. A normal day reaches 115 degrees, easily. To make matters more interesting, the A/C in the trailer isn't the best. But, through swimming in the Colorado river and going to the beaches in California, we have made this summer fun.

Cruise with the Hunts

With the first year of law school completed, we set out for a Bahamas cruise with Blaine, Amy, and little Abigail. It was a lot of fun! We had a great time snorkeling, swimming, finding seashells (Blaine found the best one), eating key lime pie, and drinking margaritas in "Margaritaville" (j/k).

She's on the way . . .

Our little baby girl is due September 20, 2008. We are so excited! We already have her name picked out - but you will have to wait until she is born to know it! This is Heather at 25 weeks.

Hi Everyone

Welcome to our world! We have happily joined the world-wide blogging club. We hope you enjoy surfing our blog as much as we have enjoyed surfing yours. More pictures and info are forthcoming.

For now, we are living in Yuma, Arizona, for the summer while Platte works as a Legal Intern with the Yuma County Public Defender's Office. Heather has been doing her best to survive the unrelenting heat. Temperatures exceeding 110 degrees is certainly more difficult to handle when you are 6 months along! But rest assured, our little girl will be well equipped with homemade bibs, burp cloths and blankets.

We look forward to keeping in better touch will all of you out there!