A post for Aunt Christie and Uncle Joey - and updates!

Aunt Christie and Uncle Joey bought Bella this sweet outfit at Christmas - and the weather is good enough to get in it! So, we went and played outside. Aunt and Uncle Parson, we sure miss and love you guys!


Here she is playing with her new outside toy!

This was right before she uprooted the flower. "Gentle, gentle Bella". Oops, there it goes.

Some more Bella updates:
1. She is "talking" on the phone. She'll hold it up to her ear, "talk-babble", and then laugh. Repeat this process for a while and she has a conversation. I guess she hears Mike and I talk and laugh and talk and laugh on the phone. It's really like she's having a conversation with her spontaneous laughter.
2. She is mimicking everything! I'll wash her hair. She'll wash her hair. I'll wash her arms. She'll wash her arms. I'll wipe off the table. She'll wipe off the floor. I'll dance. She'll dance. Or she'll dance and then i'll dance. Either way - she is mimicking everything we do!
3. She is still singing. This morning in church she sang, semi quietly, through the entire sermon. And, she also played peek a boo with the people sitting behind while her daddy was preaching. I'm glad he can preach around some of his church members making funny faces during his sermon. ha!
4. She is really inquisitive. She's always been very patient and will study a new toy or a new object for a long time. I guess she saw Mike and I stack papers one day and we saw her doing it last night. You know...the stacking where you pick up a lot of paper and tap the ends of the papers to line them up...yep, that's what she did. Cute little genius!
5. She is giving kisses and hugs without asking! awww, this may be my favorite.
6. She's dancing but she added a circle-circle action. Sometimes it's a circle-step forward-circle action. She will also dance on demand when you ask her. Mike and I may or may not join in nearly every time.
7. The humidity here lately has done wonders on her hair and my hair (Abby, I saw your facebook status about the frizz - girl, Bella and I both hear ya). Her hair is so cute when it's crazy and curly though. Mine? Not so much.
8. She is pretending to blow her nose. Whenever we giver her a wipe or a kleenzex she'll pretend to blow her nose while she wipes it. Where did she learn that?

Baby #2 update:
I'm feeling semi ok. It feels very similar to how I felt with Bella. Off and on nausea - some days are better than others. It could be worse so i'm trying not to complain too much. I also started the tired-all-the-time phase. We are at 8 weeks so it should only be 4-5 more weeks of this. That's very doable! I've done it once. I think I can. I think I can. We have our first sonogram tomorrow - woohoo! I still remember that sweet moment of seeing Bella for the first time - and looking up at Mike's face - and both of us kindof laughing/sighing at the same time. Just precious. I'll probably get all choked up again.

And, dad the rest of the post is for you.
Our roses have come out in full force with the great rain we've had! Aren't they beautiful!

Here's the square foot garden: transplants.

Tomatoes are coming in!

The lettuces and peas and spinaches are sprouting!

Look how much these have grown!