We Give Thanks

Last year Thanksgiving our beloved friend, Chris, taught Bella how to properly eat black olives. First place each one on a finger, act silly, then eat them one by one. It's quite endearing to behold...really. Ok, maybe not...but ode to childhood. Bella has now passed on this ritual onto Abbey and we CAN NOT eat black olive's without this new family ritual. Yes, you read that correctly...we ALL must participate in this special event. It only becomes slightly embarrassing when in Olive Garden and all gaze upon us while entertaining them with this new family ritual.

Thank you Christopher Lindsey!!!

Uh Oh

Bella got some new lotion for her birthday and wanted to share with Abbey. So I thought I had gotten all of the protective seal off...apparently not! As I gently tried to put some in Abbey's hands it came squirting out...and says, "uh oh".

What you don't see is, it was all over the cupboards, her outfit, and floor as well. Opps!

Happy Birthday

Abbey is officially a 2 years old. She is growing and changing so quickly. It really is bittersweet. For growth she is 33.5 inches tall, a petite 25 pounds, and has an average size head. Cognitively speaking...she's pretty much on the ball. Gets most concepts appropriate for her age, certainly is a chatty one too...although I think we are still the only ones that understand most of it. But the important thing is we do understand. Her favorite snack is cheese or bananas, but will eat most anything you give her...got lucky again. She has a very sweet disposition...she likes to be playful wanting us to chase her, tickle her, play hide-n-seek with her blankie. Some of her favorites on tv are Dora, Backyardigans, Pink Panther, Tom and Jerry, and Hi-5. She loves to sing and dance. Pretty much easy all around. Of course we can't escape the occasional outbursts of defiance...fortunately they are quickly diffused and moves on pretty quickly most times. Happy 2nd Birthday to Abbey!

Bella is now 5! She was SO excited to have her birthday this year! Mostly because I told her we'd think about letting her get her ears pierced when she turned 5. So she did! She very bravely went through the ritual of getting her ears pierced. If you ask, she will tell you, yes she cried, yes it hurt, but not anymore and she'd would have still done it! She's very proud of herself. She too had her yearly physical and appears to be in good health. She is almost 44 inches tall, weighs 43 pounds, and has an average size head. Some of her favorites right now include anything princess, pink, and glittery! Happy Birthday Bella!

Both girls are doing well and we could not feel more blessed!

Fall Fun

Bella's Kindergarten class took a field trip to a local farm. It was rainy, wet, muddy, but FUN! I think it took me three days to warm back up. Burrrrr! They went on a hay ride, got to feed the ducks, saw an animal show, see some of the farm animals up close, and pick a pumpkin from the patch. I got to be a parent chaperon and enjoyed a peek into Bella's new world and friends. She is thoroughly enjoying her new school experiences and making some nice friends along the way.


Since Bella had snack so close to Halloween, we wanted to do something in honor of the season. She was so helpful in making these "spiders" for her classmates to enjoy.

Our first annual "haunted gingerbread house"

Bella and her kindergarten teacher at their class party.

And her most cherished boyfriend.

One of Bella's best girlfriends.

And although we are enjoying all that fall in MI has to offer, we are counting the days til summer already.

Happy Halloween

This year was fun getting into the spirit of dressing up and trick-or-treating. Bella fully got the idea this year and Abbey, well, lets just say she learned quickly the routine of smiling sweetly, mumbling something that resembled the traditional trick-or-treat and was overjoyed to get some sugary treats in return.

Fairy Bella

A not so compliant picture taking

pumpkin, but cute none the less.

Oma was Santa this year for Halloween...messed the kids up in the neighborhood a little.