The festivities

Its become a tradition to go to the Strawberry Festival parade for Belle's birthday. Its a good parade considering we'd have to go downtown for a decent one around here. The fair parade here in town is just a bunch of tractors in a row.

She just couldn't contain her excitement.



She even got the pageant wave down.



Ethan loved the music. He was such a good boy the whole time.



Then the parade was over and the kids rode home with their candy and loot.


My Grandma sent this cute apron for Belle's birthday. We used it last Friday when we made some funky technicolor cupcakes.

Birthday Girl

Can you believe Belle is 3? Its hard to wrap my head around. There just isn't anything baby about her anymore. She's turning into a little lady.

Birth (what a crappy picture of me, but it was already in my photobucket)


1 year old


2 years old


3 years old

Handmade Goodies

I just thought I'd show off some of the handmade goodies I've acquired recently.

First off is this super cute pillowcase dress that my sister made. She wore it to church this morning and got tons of comments on it. And as you can see, Belle's hair is much shorter. Had I thought of it earlier, I would've taken a picture before church when her hair was done and before she tore the bows out.


And check out this purse. Isn't it the cutest? My friend Ariel made it for me. Check out her great blog and etsy shop. Notice the awesome design of her blog and etsy shop logo. Man, whoever did that is super talented. **wink** =)


Ariel also made me this cute camera strap. It's hard taking a picture of a camera strap while it's on your camera.


Believe it or not, Ariel is also making me a little quilt for Ethan. I had a ton of fun designing stuff for Ariel and love all the handmade goodies.

Tooffies

It's been awhile since Ethan has had a post all his own. The little man is almost 8 mos old. He's been mastering the sippy cup, picking up food (and making it into his mouth), and as of a couple weeks ago he got his first tooth. He beat Belle in that dept, she was over 8 mos before she got any sign of a tooth.

I can't decide if he's trying to crawl or not. If he sees something he wants he'll roll back and forth and then realize that he's only going side to side and not forward. At that point he'll reach and reach for what ever he's after. Throw in a couple leg kicks and he eventually gets it. Belle was already crawling at this point, but I'm not pushing for full mobility yet. My house is no where near ready. Besides Ethan just discovered that he can make farting noises on my arm and I imagine that is much more important to a boy than crawling.

Have you ever tried to get a picture of a 8 mos old's tooth. It's hard, although Ethan was more than willing to chew on my finger.




Can you see it? Look real hard.

Summer Fun

We've had some fun in this wonderful weather.

I broke out the kiddie pool and the kids had a blast.




This is what she did when she started getting cold. She'd go lay on the warm deck.


Dang is this kid cute or what.


Belle has gotten good about riding her tricycle. We took a couple trips around the cul-de-sac this morning.

And saw this little guy


Belle has been sharing with her brother. The picture quality was pretty bad unfortunately.


Belle even got to fly a kite last weekend.

I dare you

I dare you to not laugh out loud at these pics. Or at the very least, crack a smile.

Giraffes & Elephants...But No Mermaids

We had a blast this afternoon at the zoo. We met up with friends Jamie and Ariel and their kiddos Olivia and Titus. It's probably been over a year since Belle's been to the zoo. She was really excited. And she got over the fact that there were no mermaids at the zoo. =)

Belle started out with her "leash" on, but it didn't last long. All in all she did ok. You just can't take your eye off her for a second, because the girl has no fear. I tried to atleast keep her in the stroller between exhibits.


The "leash" came in handy later though when Titus gave it a try. It lasted about as long on him as it did on Belle.

I'm proud of Belle. She did a lot of things she would never do before. She touched the goats and fed the giraffe.




Ethan was golden. I didn't hear boo out of him the whole time. I thought for sure he'd fall asleep, but he didn't. I think he was just taking it all in. He was such a good boy. Jamie freed him from the stroller and I imagine he was glad to stretch his legs for a bit.





And I was reminded again how hard it is to get little ones to sit for a picture.

A Big Deal

I'm on a blogging spree, can you tell?

We had a good dinner tonight. It may not seem like a big deal to anyone else, but for us, it's huge. Belle is a horrible eater, HORRIBLE. Well she's getting better. And tonight was the first time, probably ever, that she had a completely well rounded meal. She had some applesauce before dinner. Then for dinner she had grilled chicken with BBQ sauce to dip in, peas and a biscuit. The key was letting her use a toothpick instead of a fork. She thought it was so much fun and ate so much. It happened without begging on our part too. Whoo Hoo!!

Belle even helped Ethan. Ethan was loving his peas too. He's been on a veggie strike here recently, but has been eating some veggies if we mix it with applesauce. It was so cute, he'd open his mouth each time Belle put a pea in front of him. He loves his sissy.

More ramblings

Me: "Belle come get your shirt on"

Belle: "I wanna wear heart one"

Me: "You'll be too cold in that shirt, lets wear the giraffe shirt since you're going to the zoo and will see some giraffes"

Belle: "Effalants too?"

Me: "Yea, elephants"

Belle: "Mermays too?"

Me: "No, no mermaids"

Belle: "Wiiiide?" (why?)

Belle Ramblings

I'd like to blog Belle's little ramblings more so that I can keep record of the crazy things she says. And while most people can't understand her when we're out and about, she seems to speak pretty clearly at home.

I'm sitting in the kitchen smooshing a banana for Ethan when Belle runs past.
Me: "Belle what are you doing?"
Belle: "Gettin keys, I gonna drive this car"
(Ellen was giving away a car on her show and she was going after some baby keys that I just pulled out of a box)

Ok, Belle, whatever you say. =)

Great Pictures

There is just something special about getting a professional photographer to take pictures for you. I get my share of pictures taken at JCPenney and have my own fancy camera, but there is just something extra when you have someone who knows what they are doing.

We took the kids to Sharon Elaine Photography in Tipp City, OH to try and get a picture for my mom's mother day gift. After leaving I thought it would be some sort of miracle if anything usable came out of that session. Well she must of worked a miracle, cause there are some truly precious pictures. I've attached some of my favorites.

I think I like this shot of the kids. I like the coloring effect as well. I think it'll look nice in my mom's dining room.


This picture pretty much sums up how the whole thing went. How do you get three under three to look at the camera at the same time? I think it still turned out cute.


I can't decide between the next two of my kids



I may just use this as Belle's three year picture. I think it would look nice in her room. I've got a series of three pictures up (birth, 1yr, 2yr) and will swap out a picture every year.


There were just too many pictures of Ethan to choose from. They were just all too darling.


I don't know what it is about this picture, but I keep coming back to it. It's unique in some way and I like it.


Some of you may remember this session we had taken by Jessica Strickland when Belle was 15 mos old. I just love those pictures still.

LOL

You've got to watch this.

"A new study confirms that pulling your hair back into a ponytail is not the same thing as taking a shower"

That one had me rolling on the floor. =)

Ethan's First Girlfriend

We went to Ohio last week to see my friend Anita. I also got a chance to see my friends Sarah and Kelly (and forgot my camera, darnit).

The last time I saw Anita, it was for our reunion and we looked like this.


It was neat to get the babies together and let them meet. Lyla has the most beautiful eyes and what a great complexion. Ha Ha, she looks so tan next to Ethan. He got my skin unfortunately. We laid the kids down and they played a little bit with each others hands. It was cute.

New Cousin

The kids got to meet their newest cousin last week. It was funny to see Ethan as the big kid.

Baby Waren was born Easter Sunday.