Memorial Day!

We had a very full and a very fun Memorial Weekend! We enjoyed a couple warm days by the pool, time with friends, Celebration at the Station, and more time with the fam! The highlight for Bella was making big red ice cream for the first time with her daddy. This was Brandon's favorite growing up, and may continue to be just Brandon's favorite. :)

Sunday night we went to Celebration at the Station, which is the largest Memorial Day celebration in the midwest with well over 40,000 people! We enjoyed live patriotic music from the KC symphony, Kettle corn YUM, and fireworks! A perfect night!



Bella enjoyed some reading time with Uncle Kev on the chair! We will miss him when he leaves for Peru next week!

Summer Fun!

Bella's been helping with the laundry for awhile but this week she was pretty concerned when we had to wash her lovie blanket raffi! She was pressing her face against the door to make sure he was okay!

This week we enjoyed being outside and playing in the water. We were in the baby pool and I looked up under our deck and saw a robin's nest! The mama bird was feeding it's babies! Bella didn't notice, but I thought it was so neat!

Bella loves her little water bottle and the water hose!


It looks like the water was a little cool for her at first!

Pics of Bella

Last Sunday night we had a lifegroup dinner at the Styles house on the lake. Our sweet friend Amy Hayward took some great action shots and here are some she got of Bella. It was so hard for me to even narrow it down to these 5! A child's smile (especially Bella's) fills me with so much joy! I could watch her laugh all day long!

2nd Trimester!

We are officially in the 2nd trimester! Yeah, this is my favorite trimester as far as how good I feel! I've gotten my energy back and no more nausea. We had a doctors appointment and got to hear the heartbeat again! It was around 159. Mommy and baby look great!

Bella update for this week... we are trying to cut back to one nap in the afternoon because she wasn't taking a morning nap very well any more. It's been great running errands and getting things done outside the house in the morning! I don't think we've quite made the adjustment yet though. You can see below she hit the wall during lunch! Yes DURING lunch! haha, for a girl that doesn't like to skip a meal this was quite a statement!

Here are a couple cute shots in her new shades! She thinks she's quite the covergirl! She was even doing poses with her arms crossed but I didn't get that shot!

Mother's Day Delight

We had a wonderful weekend full of celebrating Mother's Day. Kevin came home so we could have a family lunch on Saturday and present my mom with her purple flowering Wisteria tree to plant in the backyard. The guys were in charge of lunch and we had my dad's famous BBQ grilled chicken, homemade mac'n cheese, sister shubert's rolls, and smokehouse baked beans. Yum! And Val's banana cake for dessert!

It was a perfect day for playing outside and getting some great pictures! Bella's grown out of the stage where she would just sit there and let us mess with her. She has a mind of her own now, and it's not made up to sit still for too long! We're out front in front of the fish pond.

We were out in the backyard here. My mom's landscaping is amazing, lots of great places for pictures! After lunch Brandon took me to the plaza and I got a makeover and new makeup at Bare Essentials. It was so girly and so fun! Brandon was a great sport as he spoiled me! We enjoyed an amazing prime rib at Houston's (i'm craving red meat so of course Brandon thinks it's definitely a boy).

Bella's new favorite thing is to take rides on the mower! She wanted to drive it all by herself, but not until she's 16!

Having fun with daddy... " I can go so high!"

Here is a miniature version of Val and I... we used to match all the time! What cute girls! We love cousin Sophie!


I'm sad I didn't get any pictures of our Sunday lunch that Brandon prepared. He grilled salmon on cedar planks, grilled a mixture of veggies in this new grilling basket, and a salad that could have fed the 5,000. It was amazing and I was so impressed!

Who stole a cookie from the cookie jar?

Okay, I guess this was my fault, but about 7:30am the house was awful quiet. I was doing the dishes from breakfast and I call out Bella! Where are you? No response, which means she's into something. i hear some rustling from our bedroom and sure enough this is what I found behind the stack of pillows! Those darn resealable packages! You've got to be smarter than a 16 month old!

"Brush Your Teeth, chu chu chu chu...."

I remember bits and pieces of the "Brushing your teeth" song from Raffi years ago. Poor Bella is getting my version after 25 years of memory loss! I have got to see if those CDs or would they still be on tapes, still exist! Haha!

Well we finally got Bella a big girl toothbrush. I was tired of getting my fingers mutilated and chomped down on using the little rubber one you stick over your finger! She was so excited to pick it out herself at the store and use it this morning!

When I said, "Brush your teeth." I think she was a little confused because she insisted on brushing her hair! She is used to brushing her hair in the morning, so this will be a little transition! At least her hair smelled like berries! I thought she also looked ready to hit the golf course with daddy in those plaid shorts!