On the road again

Belle finally grew out of her tricycle, but we were having a hard time getting her to ride her "big girl" bike. We finally went out and got her a basket and tassles and then she was willing to give it another try. Yep, spent $15 on a $5 bike.

She still doesn't ride it long, but she's getting there.



I apologize for the camera work. I was walking and holding Ethan at the same time.

The classic kid eating spagetti picture

He loves it when he finds Belle's whistle. He'll laugh hysterically too when he gets it to actually work. Maybe he'll grow up to be a referee.

** I'll also add that as a result of this, Ethan has learned how to whistle. I went to get him after a nap and he had his lips puckered and was actually whistling.

Brother and Sister

Here are a couple cute videos of the two playing together.

I think the background music on this on is appropriate. They had just got done watching Kung Fu Panda.



This happens too when they are in the bath together. Ethan loves to splash with Belle.

Happy Anniversary!!

I CANNOT believe I've been married 9 years. Guess times flies when you're having fun.

Don't we look like babies in this picture.


Happy Anniversary Nic!! I love you!!

Sunday School reflections

Belle was really cute today. Yesterday at Sunday school she made a necklace that is a heart and had macaroni on it. On the heart was the verse "Trust in the Lord with all your heart" Proverbs 3:5. She was really proud of her necklace.

Fast forward to today. She found her necklace again and we had this conversation.

Belle: "Mommy?"
Me: "What?" (in my slightly annoyed tone, because I hear this a lot)
Belle: "Jesus lives in my heart"
Me: "Jesus does live in your heart."
Belle: "Belle loves Jesus"
Me: "Jesus loves you too, Belle"
Belle: "Yea" **sheepish grin**

She's so onry, but gosh she can be so cute sometimes.

Busy weekend!

We seem to have crammed a lot into this weekend. We started off planning to go to the Johnson County Fair parade, but went to the zoo with friends instead. We had a good time and it was a perfect day for the zoo. We're having some pretty low temps for July and it almost feels like fall.

Belle got to see the dolphin show this time and I think she really enjoyed it. She even got to ride a pony. Mr. Ethan was perfect as always. He's such a good sport.





Belle was adopted by a new family while we were there. You could not pry her away from her friend "mermaid".



That night it was cool enough to start a fire and make smores. Belle had never had a smore and loooved it. However it presented quite the problem when it came to bedtime. She didn't go to sleep til after 10.



Today we headed to the fair. Belle wasn't quite sure of the animals after a goat "maaaa'ed" right beside her. She got to ride the carousel, drink a lemon shake up, get her face painted, and play a game where she won a ball.





Nic had a willing participant in getting free goodies out of the vendors in the exhibit hall.



Ethan loved looking at the animals, but he got pretty cranky after riding in the stroller for awhile.

Side By Side Comparison

I've noticed that Ethan is looking a little bit more like Belle. I always thought that he had a look all his own. But there was a picture in the last post that really reminded me of Belle, so I tried to find a picture of Belle at about the same age. I think Belle is a little older in this picture, but you can see the similarities. Atleast I can.

More handmade goodness

You may remember this post and the goodies my friend Ariel made me. Well a couple weeks ago I got a quilt she made for Ethan. It's gorgeous, and certainly something he'll have forever.

For now it's hanging on the back of the rocker in Ethan's room, but I seem to find it missing quite often. I think Belle wants it for herself. She'll lay it on the floor and say she's having a picnic or she'll lay under it and try to get her brother to come find her.

I've really enjoyed Ariel's blog and it makes me want to start quilting too. Maybe one of these days. If I only had more time to do my many hobbies already. Shoot, I just wish the kids would allow me to do my hair in the morning.

Check it out, Ariel even put his name in the quilting.


Ethan has started making this face again. He'll scrunch up his face and breath in an out of his nose. Silly boy!

Our Fourth of July weekend without fireworks

I've been so excited for the Fourth of July to come. I was looking forward to going to the Masonic home, setting up a spot and then hitting all the food vendors before sitting down to watch the fireworks. Last year Belle FLIPPED out and we had to leave. I believe it was because we were too close to where they set the fireworks off. I thought she'd be better this year since she's gotten over most of her sensitivity to sound. Well we'll never know.

We ended up heading to Ohio earlier than planned and went to a family reunion on Saturday in Cincinnati. Belle was up all day swimming and never got a nap and by the time we got home, she was losing her mind she was so tired. So no trip to fireworks, not even able to set off some in the yard.

I was really impressed with how Belle handled herself in the water. Last year she was really scared, but this year she had her shark. She loves going swimming with that thing.

Aunt Gail, AJ and Belle getting ready to hit the pool


Belle seemed to attach herself to Nic's cousin Emily for quite awhile in the pool. Notice Nic in the background playing full contact pool basketball. He is quite literally black and blue from all that fun.


Nic took Belle up the slide and she was none too happy about it. In the end though she kept saying it was "so fun", but never did want to go down again.


The kids and I finished up the weekend in Troy where we met my friend Megan from high school. It had been 5 years since I saw her last. Her daughter was about Ethan's age I think.


We met at the park and the kids got to play together. Afterwards we left the kids with their grandmas and went to K's for lunch so we could actually carry on a conversation. =)

Seth(14mos), Elise (5.5yrs), Belle (3 yrs), and JJ (7yrs)


The birth buddies even got to see each other. Seth and Brody were born on the same day.


Does this look familiar? Ethan is just returning the favor.




And look what Ethan has started doing this weekend. It started when I found him clinging to the side of the crib standing up screaming. He had a death grip on the bars and didn't know how to get down.


Whew!! That was a long one.

Oh and look at what happened to Nic when they set off fireworks at his parents. He said it flew at him and hit him the stomach about as hard a paintball gun. I guess he taught my niece and nephew a few new words. =)

A Man on the Move

Ive meant to get Ethan on video for a long time. He's been creeping for awhile now. No actual crawling though. He's all over the place, but of course as soon as the video camera comes out, he stays in one place. But you can always lure him with food.

He loves eating, which is such a relief since Belle is so horrible to feed. He loves drinking out of his sippy cup and picking up food to feed himself. He had a grilled cheese for lunch the other day and he loooooved it.





You can find Ethan in all kinds of places these days.






Ethan had a lot of fun getting into Belle's stuff while she was away at the grandparents.



He always insists on crawling through this toy.



This is what he does when he's supposed to be sleeping, he'll practice pulling up in the crib.



Remember those little fish Belle got from church? Yea, we're the biggest suckers of all. They now live in this aquarium that sits on Belle's dresser.