2 year giraffe pictures

These are a little late but I wanted to make sure and post them.

This month Bella has:

1. Loved hats!! She wants to wear her hats at all times. At all times, people.

2. Is still learning how to vocalize her thoughts-hence, her vocabulary is expanding daily.

3. Loves to color. And she is intense when she colors. She gets very focused on her masterpieces.

4. She loves to read EVERY book at night. She has a stack of about 30 she'll dump out of her box before bedtime and we have to read them all. She has to read them all with me. And then dump them on Mike to read them all with him.

5. She's trying to learn how to ride her tricycle. We have not mastered that yet but we're trying.

6. She is giving more and more hugs and kisses - yes, melts our hearts.

7. Tantrums? what? They are here!

8. Bella we love you!

Halloween 2010: Tree-huggin style!

Y'all know that I love cucumbers and hummus and dirt and trees and wind and being outside and organic gardening and...so, yes I'm a tree-hugger. And, I'm ok with that. So what would this momma dress her daughter as for halloween?
Wait, what is that?

The sweetest little garden gnome you have ever seen.Remember last year when she was a flower? You can see it again here. Last year was a flower - this year was a gnome, so next year she will be a chickepea or a root vegetable. =)

After showing off her outfit, she promptly led her Granddad and Nana to the park behind my sisters house.
Way to go Granddad! This was a really tall slide with lots of steep stairs. He was holding onto her tightly!

Look at those faces!

Birthday pics: Number 3 - An ode to the dads

Y'all know how much I adore the men in my life - my husband, my dad, and my father-in-love. So, it does my heart so good when I see them all interacting and loving little Bella to pieces. The final installment of birthday pics mainly consists of the dads and Bella!

If you know Mike, you know he loves soccer! So, he's starting to teach Bella early.

However, Bella would rather sit on the ball and roll off of it. Oh well, one day she'll get it.

Bella was giving her Granddad a lesson in anatomy. "Nose", "eyes"...

Then Granddad would reiterate what she said. This was usually accompanied by tickling too!

Oops, a little too hard Bella.

And, a little "honk honk" to the nose.

She finally got the "two" down and was showing her Granddad how old her was.

While Granddad was getting nose "honks", PawPaw was getting major tickle-laughter action. Notice Mike in the background sneaking up to tickle? Yes, she's already laughing.

Uh, oh. He got her.

And, once again - Daddy pretending to simple "walk" in Bella's direction.

Oh, got her again!

PawPaw then got in on the action to lift her up. She would say "two, fhree, GO" before he would lift her up. We're still working on "one, two, three". For now, she can just say GO and i'm sure her PawPaw would do whatever she wants.

Yep, I think she's happy.

After LOTS of fajita consumption, it was time for the cake. She wasn't sure what to do with the candles on her cake.
She needed a little help in blowing them out.

That's ok. Remember this picture from last year? At least she didn't scream the ENTIRE birthday party this year. Bella received some great gifts - lots and lots of clothes, books, a couple of toys, a tricycle, and a donkey teaccup from Aunt Alli and Uncle Brad (they bought it on their honeymoon in Spain). As a side note, I thought it was a llama toothbrush holder. oops! Sister of the year, right here people!

And, she LOVES her Elmo from Christie and Joey. "Melmo!"
Ok, everyone. There's her second year birthday in three blog posts. Thanks to all of our family for coming to celebrate.

Happy Birthday sweet Bella! You are loved by us all! (Notice Bella's face in both of these pictures? She had no idea what her family was doing...)

Birthday pics: Number 2

And, installment #2 of birthday pictures.

I love this picture of Christie and Joey!
Look what Bella got from Grammy and PawPaw!

She is not quite sure how to ride her bicycle yet... We're learning some more...

So, we, as the all-knowing parents, tried to get in there and help her learn. But, she liked to be pushed around more than ride. That's ok. She'll get the hang of it one day.
Uhm, or not.
Bella also enjoyed playing pumpkin-peek-a-boo with Nana and Granddad.

The theme of the party was Eric Carle's book, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". We had grilled beef and chicken fajitas, grilled veggies, cheese dip, vegetable dip, salsa, guacamole...it was a feast and feast indeed we did!

You like? This little caterpillar creation was made by yours truly, with help from my dad and Mike's mom. It's a family affair over here - that's how we roll.

Grammy and PawPaw also brought a ball which was a HUGE hit! You should have heard her laugh!

More to come!