Happy Birthday!

Today Little Bella turns two. So far she has opened her new little play stove and a supercool magnadoodle. Her party is on Sunday, so we'll post pictures then, but for now you can marvel at how much she's changed!

Li'l cutie

We had family pictures taken a few weeks ago. Turns out that Lella is the only decent looking one in the group.

Catching up to do!

Sorry for the long absence - December is a busy month for us! Here's some pictures to catch you all up on the goings on of Little Bella B.

We decorated Christmas cookies sometime last week. We wanted Lella to get a chance to help, especially with the sprinkles. I put some in a small cup for her so that she could pinch out bits and put them on the frosted cookies. She, of course, picked up the cup and dumped the sprinkles on the cookie to form a mound, and then proceeded to draw in it with her finger. Brilliant. Here's the cookie and the kiddo enjoying the cookie:



We held off on getting our Christmas tree this year because we wanted to fit everyone in comfortably for Thanksgiving. So we got the tree the day after Thanksgiving instead of the day before. B was spending the night at the grandparents' (so we could hit all the black friday deals bright and early!), so she was quite interested to see this great green monstrosity in our living room when she got home!


As a true child, Lella loves the snow. Whenever she sees snow she says, "Snow! Awesome!". Now that the snow has melted, she looks outside and says "All gone snow." It's all very cute. Here she is watching one of our first snowfalls.


As a true girl, Lella loves shopping. She finds shopping bags and goes 'shopping' around the house. This generally involves finding things and putting them in the bag and walking around. Here are the results of one of her shopping trips:


And, last but not least, Papa got a new laptop. Wanting to be just like dad, Lella had me pull out my old laptop for her so that she could sit on the couch and 'play computers' with dad. Too cute.

Sewing with Grandma

Last night we went out to my parents' and watched the Apple Cup (Yay Cougs!). Mom was quilting, and Bella wanted to know what was going on up there. Grandma let her up on her lap and Bella observed for a little while, and then was given a pin which she kept sticking in and out of the quilt. Then she played with the thread, and then with the thimble. It was all very cute and picture worthy, so here we give you one of the many photos taken during the game.

Computer work with Dad

Bella is always very interested in what we're doing on the computer, so the other day I pulled out my old fried laptop for her to play around with. She is (of course) not satisfied to sit on the couch with her laptop while we sit at our computer. She must have her computer where ours is, and sit next to us, tapping away on the keys in perfect harmony with us.

Making Cookies

Bella helped me make molasses cookies the other day, and by 'helped' I of course mean that she repeatedly dipped the spoon into the bowl and licked it off, all the while pulling magnets off of the fridge. It was a lot of fun and the cookies were super yummy. Here's our little domestic-diva-in-training:

Taking a Walk

We took advantage of the beautiful weather this afternoon and walked down to Bucer's for some chai and cookies. It was a fun little girls' afternoon out. Note the ginger cookie crumbs on the little cutie's face.

Cleaning up

Last night after dinner, Bella decided to help with the clean up. Andrew and I had put away most of the dishes and tucked the dirty dishes into the dishwasher for the night, and we were sitting on the couch talking. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Bella doing something over by her high chair. Then I heard her in the kitchen opening and closing the silverware drawer. Then I realized what she had just done. I got up to verify, and to my amusement, there was indeed a toddler fork in the silverware drawer. Bella had picked up her dirty fork off of the floor under her chair and put it away in the drawer. Can open . . . worms everywhere . . .

Fall Carnival

Saturday night was the Fall Carnival put on by New St. Andrew's College. Bella loved the opportunity to dress up as a fish again and get more candy. Papa had to work, so we went with Auntie Am and had a great time. Bella didn't quite get most of the games or activities, but she did get the cotton candy.

Trick or Treat!

Last night we headed out to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner and halloween festivities. Bella did her first trick or treating, and she was quite good at knocking on the doors and saying "thank you" and "bye bye", but she couldn't quite get "trick or treat". The funniest part, however, was when she had her first pixie stick: