What's in a Name?

In the delivery room, when I was high on laughing gas and Nick was holding our darling little girl all he could do was walk around the room murming "You're beautiful, so beautiful". I paused for a moment, checking my current status. Feet in stir ups, legs so tired people were holding them up, my nether regions exposed to the whole world, blood and new baby gunk all over my chest, sweaty hair stuck to my forhead, my all too sexy bent glasses. Sigh, I realized I was no longer the most beautiful thing to Nick anymore. And that's when I knew her name. Isabella Sophia.

Upon deeper reflection alone in my hospital room that night I realized how perfect her name was. Together her name means "beautiful wisdom". Now, getting pregnant was not a surprise for us, it was the next thing on our big "to do" list in life, but it did happen a lot sooner than we thought it would. And right after it happened the life that we had been carefully stitching together piece by piece began to fall apart. We began to question if we were doing the right thing, if now was the right time, and in all honesty there are still days when we ask ourselves that.

There isn't a RESP started for Belle who is already seven months old, we recently bought her her first toy and her wardrobe is gifts and hand me downs. We buy whatever diapers are cheapest, (or that we have the best coupon for), I make homemade baby food simply to save money, we haven't had a date since last New Years Eve, our apartment was built when tvs were only black and white and last redecorated in 1975........

Well you get the picture. But now is the perfect time for Belle to be here. She motivates me to get up at 3:00am to do my paper route so we don't have to live in this apartment forever. My play breaks with her keep me going while doing my day job as a dictatypist. Knowing that she's asleep and totally reliant on us will keep Nick up while he writes a paper tonight. Daydreaming of adding siblings to her life helps us not spend money frivulously. And the way she wakes up each morning completely oblivious to our bank account, totally believing that she has everything she needs reminds me that I serve God and not money.

There comes a point where you just have to suck it up and say "God, I totally trust you with my life. I know that you came so I could live life to the full, and for me full means a house full of kids. So take this oh so little that I have and help me to make it much, help me to make it the whole world to this little child." And He does, because He always knows what you need and just when and how to give it to you, His wisdom is beautiful.

And I know you're all wondering the answer to that age old question- "If Belle had been a boy, what would you have named her?" The answer honestly is I don't know. But at the time Nick was pretty stuck on the name 'Cohen'.

Hallelujah we had a girl.

Rolling Journeys

Isabella is a great teaser. This picture was taken on September 11, 2005. She was rocking back and forth, getting up on her side, doing a great job. I was convinced she was going to roll over at any moment. Nope. She didn't roll over for another 4 days. I didn't want to miss any milestones so I took this picture, and many more just like it to make sure I got her first rolling over. When she did roll over, it was Nick who snapped the pics. We moved all the furniture to give her plenty of space and we sat there, waiting on the edge of the couch. And she did it. I nearly cried. We were so excited, I don't think we would have been more excited if she had hit the winning homer in the World Series.

The day that she did finally roll over was quite the work out for her. She started off rocking side to side, then got almost over and took a break. She just had to stop and suck her thumb a little bit, for what I'm not sure, maybe some extra encouragement? Then she got all the way over and announced her triumph by pushing her self up and looking at the world from a new vantage point.

Swimming with Pops

Every Saturday morning for the months of September and October, Nick gets up early to go swimming with Belle. The majority of her class is about 12-18 months old, although they said it was for children as young as 6 months. She's the only one who doesn't stand yet. There are numerous things that Belle simply cannot do in this class: jump off the edge, blow bubbles in the water, even wear a lifejacket. But she loves it. When we put her in her massive swimming diaper and pull on her swimsuit she starts to smile. When we load her in the car, she's simply beaming, and when she and Nick walk into the change room you can hear a little giggle. She smiles pretty much the whole time. She kicks her little feet like she's racing, she swats the water with her arms, she babbles and soaks in all the sites. Last week, the class was being dunked. The teacher encouraged each parent to do it only when comfortable and only as many times as the child wanted, there was no prize for the most dunks. All the other kids dunked once and had had enough. It took Nick until class was officially over to get the courage to dunk Belle, but once he did she went under many times. She didn't even seem to mind. Most people want their children to be doctors or lawyers, famous actors or authors, to play in the NHL or NBA. Everyone says they just want their child to be happy, but we know the truth. In 20 years I'll look back on this and see if I got the Olympic Champion Diver I'm daydreaming about.

Calgary Stampede

The Calgary Stampede was a lot of fun for us. We went for the grandstand show, fireworks and chuckwagon races. We also saw an extreme BMX group do their routine, but that was a bonus. We spent some time in a petting zoo type area. Belle was too little to weasle her way up to the animals, but even if she doesn't remember I know that that was the first time she saw pigs, chickens, cows and horses. She really enjoyed it, not even baulking at the smell of the barns. She enjoyed the fireworks, although she slept through most of them, they didn't scare her. I had a great day with my little family at the Calgary Stampede and at the end of the day it's hard to tell if Nick or Isabella had a greater time. We did the Stampede like traditional Calgarians. We rode the C-train down to the Stampede grounds, used our coupons for gate admission and only spent the money on the rush seat tickets for the Grand Stand show. It was a great time. There are so many memories, but it's late at night and I can't remember them all. Here are some good pics, including the one we think should be next years poster. I think she makes a good poster child.

The Wonderful World of Weddings

Weddings are a great time for pictures. Pictures of the couple, pictures of you out of your everyday clothes, pictures of your new baby. We went to Russ and Megan's wedding on May 21, 2005 where we didn't take many pictures. But we also went to Troy and Brandi's wedding on June 4, 2005, were we took a tonne. There were four hours between wedding and reception and we filled the time with Belle's first home made photo shoot. So here are a conglomeration of pictures from the weddings.

Random Pictures Part 1

Five Months Old.

This is Isabella at five months old. She returned unscathed from her first trip around time zones and is as happy as ever. I don't know what she weighed this month or how tall she was but isn't that a great smile? August brought about many a good thing in Belle. She really began to love being around people, she started eating solid foods, she finally began to play on her tummy without screaming and she started to put people's voices with their faces.

One important person that Isabella met was Madison. We stayed in her home while we were in Ontario after helping Nick's parents move to Elliott Lake. Madison had a great time playing with Isabella, and I'm sure Belle enjoyed it just as much. We met a lot of people while in Ontario, but for some reason kids like getting their picture taken much more than adults, so this is the only pic we have of Belle with our Ontario friends. While we stayed with Madison, Tyler, Yvette and Jeff we learned that Isabella is quite the splasher in the bath tub and that she likes fish. I'm sure she'll start asking for a huge tank of fish for her first birthday, (at least Nick swears he heard her say that!). This was when Belle started eating food. We started with the traditional rice cereal. A lot of it ended up going into Belle's mouth and staying there which surprised me. She has always been quite a good eater and so far it's a relatively clean process at our house. Belle's love for tv continues to grow. She really enjoys golf, although I think it's because she assumes the applause is for her. Saturdays at our house are spent with ESPN.

Four Months Old.

By the month of July Isabella was on her way to beoming a big girl. She gained a lot of weight and at her four month immunizations weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 14oz. She had gained a whole pound in a month, which I now know is not much at that age, but for us it was a great relief. We could no longer count her ribs when we changed her diaper and her happy nature was now uncontrollable glee. This picture was a lame attempt for my scrapbook. We tried to go to the grocery store to get it at a time I thought would be dead, apparently there is no such thing in Northwest Calgary as a slow grocery store. During the month of July we did a lot of fun things. We went to the Stampede for Belle and Nick's first time, we took a trip to Ontario. We started reading books and Belle became addicted to tv. I know, she's so young, but she is her daddy's girl.
Another great thing about July was Belle's smiles. She had begun to do them in June, but they got so animated in July. We could see them a lot more often as she was not using her soother as much anymore. I just love her smile. You can see so much hope and so many big dreams when she smiles. She wakes up every morning with a smile which is my greatest joy and my greatest personal challenge, as I'm sure I don't wake up many days with a smile.
In July we took our first family trip to Ontario, which we flew. Before our flight took off we let Isabella sort of roll around the seating area so she could get all her wiggles out. While she was laying on the floor she did that face where you put your fingers in the corners of your mouth and pull your lips wide and stick out your tongue. We were baffled, we never make that face at all. What a goof. She did great on her first trip on an airplane. She took a long nap on my tray table, (when it wasn't in the upright and locked position), she watched tv on our personal screen, (yeah West Jet), and she enjoyed watching the clouds. Both of our flights were full of kids and I'm happy to say Isabella was not one of the loud, wiggly, whiny ones who made all the business men squirm.
Once we arrived in Ontario I think Belle started to grow in leaps and bounds. She started holding her own bottle. I didn't even know babies were capable of doing that at her age, but one day she just got tired of how I tilted it I guess and so she took over. We just let her go with it too, I like having my hands free. Who would know that by the time we left Ontario she would be holding her own bottle and beginning the journey of solid foods. They grow up so fast.

Three Months Old.

When Belle was three months old she had actually lost weight. Now no one in the professional world seemed to be too concerned with that, but I however was. So we decided to switch her up to formula, and although it's quite expensive I would say it was a good decision as our little one has been getting bigger ever since. Having sort of recovered from a new baby in our house we began to actually live again. We took walks each night and played with a lot of toys. There was a tonne of cuddling and it was good. She's just a cutie.

Two Months Old.

Isabella at two months old was 8 lbs 13oz and 21.5 inches long. She didn't do much growing and it still amazed me the way the 0-3 month old clothes still seemed big on her. The above picture is of her on May 11, 2005. Before her immunizations, (hence the lack of tear stained cheeks).

Isabella did a great job at her immunizations. Ofcourse she screamed while there was a needle stuck in her leg, but she calmed down right away, and she loved seeing all the other children in the waiting room. I love this picture of her because it's so candid.

Honestly, I think Isabella is going to be a swimmer. I hope so. Now, I may be naive, but I think that it's a fair bit cheaper than dance lessons, or lacrosse, or rugby or ringette. Ofcourse when she is the leading scorer in the WNBA I'll be kicking myself.

These two pictures remind me of how little and yet how amazing babies are. Belle barely reaches Nick's belly button when she sits in his lap here, but given the chance, even at only two months she does her best to support herself on her legs. Amazing. So tiny and yet she's a complete person.

Some of my favorite moments in our first two months together of course don't have any pictures, but these two represent how quickly Belle learns new things, and just how much she loves her poppa.

On the left here is Belle's first road trip which we took to St. Albert for National Scrapbooking day and a baby shower. It was a lot of fun, although Belle cried a lot. She wasn't used to being around people yet. The thing I love about these two pictures are the facial expressions. She has so many good ones and is mastering the "people's eyebrow"!!

One Month Old.

Month One in Review

Isabella Sophia Franks at one month weighed 8lbs 7oz and was 20.5 inches long. She didn't put on much weight that first month. She started off fairly tiny, although her fingers and toes have always been very long. What a cutie.

Our first outing as mother and daughter was to the doctors office for our first well baby check up. Belle fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep for the whole visit. We were there so long they even started asking people to volunteer to come back the next day. Belle slept through crying babies, slamming doors, chattery mothers and whining fathers. She was amazing. When we finally got into the doctor's office she looked around at everything and only got upset when the cold stethescope was put on her. Not bad, not bad at all.

For the first few months of Belle's life we didn't have a stroller and this was how she got around. She was so small for our snuggli that Nick often worried about dropping her out of it! She loved going for walks, but fell asleep quite quickly after we left the house. We're thankful summer was the first season Belle lived through, although it rained a lot here. We were still able to go outside sometimes and that was a nice treat.

This is Belle at one month. She is so tiny in this chair. I'll never get over it. The straps couldn't get any smaller for her! And to be honest, we spent a lot of that first month sleeping while Nick was at work!

The Typical Birth Story.

Although Belle was due to join our family in February, she decided to come on her own time. I worked right up until my due date, and we moved into our new apartment a week later, so it's nice that she didn't have to go through that hassle. On March 9 neither Nick nor I could handle waiting for her any longer. I had been on the induction list since the previous monday and was just waiting for a bed. We decided to go in for a non-stress test to make sure everything was okay with our little bun. We were also hoping that being in the hospital would mean that we would get a bed! Ha. Two days later we got the call. The nurse told us to have a good supper and come to the hospital around 7:00pm. We were there right at 7:00pm, we couldn't wait any longer. They hooked me up to all the necessary tubes and such, started the oxytocin drip and waited for the doctor to come see me. When Dr. Spence got there she said with a smile too big for her news, "We'll probably see this little one sometime Saturday.". Sometime Saturday, you have got to be kidding me- it's Thursday night! The drip started, but nothing was happening, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00. Not a single contraction as far as I could tell. At midnight they decided to break my water to get things rolling. That was the only part Nick left for, he's a little quirky. After midnight things started to get rolling. I would love to say I did the whole deal drug free, but I did get a shot of morphine around 2:30am. I like morphine.By 6:00am I was fully dialated and given the good news that I could start pushing, (sometime Saturday-we'll show that doctor!) Thanks to the wonderful laughing gas and encouragement of the dozen people who somehow ended up in the room, Belle was born after only one hour of hard work on my part. She joined us at 7:13am and we were so thankful she had finally arrived