. bella .

. it was my first time to meet beautiful little bella and her mommy, and it was my pleasure . we had such a nice time together . bella's going to be 1 in about 3 weeks . she's not quite walking but she is definitely on the go . her mommy picked out this fabulous dress and matching headband on etsy and i don't think bella could have looked any cuter .

. since bella was a girl on the go i resorted to trying new measures . elsie (the dog) got to come in and assist with this session . bella loves dogs . it worked for a while, until assistant elsie started eating the feather boa . (sorry the photo is a little dark, i was in a hurry to catch the moment) . she also was caught nibbling on fake flowers, a butterfly, and who knows what else she had that i didn't notice .

. she kept bella still for a few minutes...totally worth it smelling like dogs for a little while .

:)

. princess bella .

. can you believe she left that tiara on ?

. one of my favorite things about babies is when they have enough chub that they have those little v's in their under arms . bella's were perfect !

. she was such a delight .

. i think this was when i first notice she might be getting tired . although she didn't let it bother her . this expression lasted just for this photo .

. such big beautiful eyes .

. thanks carrie and bella, i enjoyed our time together and hope you love the photos of your beautiful baby girl .

. if you'd like to see a few more photos of bella go here or click the children's link at the top of the page .

. sometimes i'm a softy .

. i love the idea of pets in the house, but i have to say it's not for me . in my opinion it's hard enough to keep up with human filth, let alone animal filth . but there's just something about a dog sleeping on the rug that appeals to me . if that was all they would do i'd let all 3 live inside . although i do know that these 3 hunters and gatherers that we have on our hands would not do well inside . buuuut, every once in a while the dogs get a little bit of special treatment and get to come inside for an hour or so to enjoy the comforts of the house . right now that big comfort is warmth . they do seem to do great outside, playing half the day acting as if they don't even notice the single digit temps . when nap time rolls around though off to the barn they go where there's a nice little heat lamp to keep them warm .

. chopper and elsie get to come in because they understand the boundaries of the rug, greta...not so much . she comes in, gets a little loving on and goes back out . boundaries aren't her thing .

. anyway, here's the oh-so-cute choppy on the back porch the other day . he's so cute, and fat, and going grey . and such a good old boy i might add .

. he snores too, which always makes me laugh .

. can't you just hear it in these photos, and his little lip flapping as he exhales ?!

:)

. it's here .

. the last few days all everyone has talked about is the blizzard coming . after all the talk i really wanted to get on with it . and well, when i woke up this morning it was here . many inches and lots of wind . oh, and cold . i put off going outside until about 10:30 . i'm not a big fan of cold, but then the wind and blowing snow on top of it, brr...on the face !

. but it is so beautiful .

. and this was the first time we have seen the two new dogs play in the snow . i haven't seen greta this excited since we first brought her home after she had been penned up or on a leash her whole life . she kept sticking her head in the snow and leaving it there .

. and chopper's thing was to roll in the snow . we all have our quirks, right ?

. then the games turned into 'pick on chopper' . who, i might add, is not as energetic as he used to be, he spent most of the day sleeping in the barn while the girls ran around playing .

. 'will you tell them to stop!' .

. 'please' .

. 'thanks' .

. i miss her .

. but i'm so glad we have her .