It has been a while since I posted pictures. Here is one of Bella in front of the Christmas tree and the other one is Bella, my brother and I. All of my new pictures are still on my camera, but I will get some more on soon.

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Bella started ballet last week. She really enjoys it and seems to be quite good at it for her first time!

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Bella started 3-year old preschool yesterday at St. Mary’s. She really seems to like it!!

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Today would have been Cory’s 32nd birthday. Bella and I went to the cemetery to take him a card she made - we also ate doughnuts (the store didn’t have good cupcakes) and sang Happy Birthday to him. Bella told him she was going to swim classes and would talk to him later.

So, in honor of Cory….we sing a song….

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

You look like a monkey

and you smell like one too!

Monkeys :-)

Bella and I went to the circus last night in Lancaster. We met up there with some friends, Jill, Dave and their daughter Madison. The girls had a blast! Even though they are a couple years apart in age, they get along well and have a great time together. The circus was crazy expensive, but it was worth it to see the girls having so much fun!! They both said their favorite part was when the clown broke the radio and slapped the other clown. Goofy girls! Myself, I liked the guy on the big metal wheel…actually, I just liked his open shirt and spandex pants!! I didn’t have the heart to tell the girls that was the same guy who "played" the clown. Essentially, I guess we liked the same guy…Here are a couple pictures of the girls at the circus and at McDonald’s. Don’t I look excited to be riding on the elephant? They made me ride because the girls were too small!! I hate heights!

Bella and Madison at McDonald’s Playland

Riding the Elephant

A current picture of me - getting ready to go out on the big town of Madison on my 30th birthday last weekend. I give a whole new meaning to "white girl", don’t I? No tanning for this girl…or woman I guess…since I am getting old!

Happy 30th Birthday

I want to thank everyone for continuing to view our website anf for writing such sweet comments! I lost the password for the site, so I have been unable to make posts other than sending pics from my email. I also have not been able to view comments for approval until this afternoon. There were 43 posting and should now be on the site!

Bella and I are doing well. She will be starting 3-year old preschool in September (she won’t turn 4 until December, so she misses out on “real” preschool until next year). She is such a great little girl and is so much like her Daddy! She loves so many things
1.) singing (favories? - Billy’s Got His Beer Goggles On (Neal McCoy) - Brand New Girlfriend (Steve Holy) - Fly Away (Tim McGraw) - Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol) - Love You (Jack Ingram) and Give It Away (George Strait). My favorite one she sings is Love You. If you have heard it, there is a line that says “there is only one four-letter word that will do”…she says “only one four dabb do”.
2.) Reading - we try to read at least one book at night, but her favorite is “Bad Kitty”, which was given to her by her Uncle Guido.
3.) American Idol - she really liked Blake, she always calls him “the cute one” She also really likes Supernanny and House. I try not to let her watch those shows, but she really likes them!!
4.) Drawing - she does a great job drawing, I will try to take a picture of one of her drawings and put it on the site, she loves drawing her daddy. She is also learning to write her whole name and does quite a good job on that!
There are many more things she loves to do. She is such a talented girl and is going to be smart like her Daddy. One funny thing about her is that she is scared of the guy on the Oxy-Clean commercials! When she is naughty, sometimes I tell her I am going to call Oxy and she stops being naughty right away! Hate to do it..but it really works!!

Bella is a constant reminder of how great Cory was - she looks like him and acts like him (not sure if this is good or not). We talk about him a lot and she likes me to tell her the story of how I met her Daddy and how he got sick. It is really hard to explain to a 3-year old why other little girls have a Daddy and hers is in Heaven, but she seems to understand to some degree. She doesn’t understand how medicine can help some people, but it couldn’t help Daddy. We talk about this at least 3-4 nights a week and it really helps both of us!

Me? I am doing well. I still have my “bad days”, but it is getting better. I have been dating someone (Jake) for about a year and it is going very well! I have known him for about 15 years, so there is a comfort level there. Bella really loves him and his family, so that is good! I am sure it is hard for him as well, being here at the house seeing pictures of Cory, hearing me talk about Cory…but he knows how hard this has all been for me and is very supportive about it. I have slowly started taking some pictures down, but it will take some time before I can really change everything. I will always have some pictures up though as he meant so much to Bella and I, but I also know that I have to move on and it is not fair to anyone, including Bella and I. Bottom line is that I really miss Cory and love him, but I need to move on with my life - I know that is what Cory wanted because he told me before he passed away. This really helps me…

Anyways, this is a lot longer than I had planned! I am getting ready to head out of town for a couple of days. I am turning the big 3-0 tomorrow, so we are getting away overnight to have some fun!

Please keep writing and I will continue posting!!!