Hanging Out With Daddy

Mommy was not feeling well today, so Daddy agreed to stay home and help with Bella. Not only does it give Mommy a great break and let's her rest, but it also gives Daddy some great one-on-one time with Bella. They love the "sleeping game" where Daddy pretends to sleep and Bella tries to wake him up. She squeals and laughs everytime he "wakes up" and surprises her. Here's a picture of them watching cartoons this morning after breakfast.

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My First Ride

I've been trying to give Steve a lot of opportunities to be on the bike since he brought it home last Thursday. I know it's been awhile since he's been on one, and I wanted him to feel really comfortable with it. I finally got to get a ride on Saturday night! We got a babysitter and dropped Bella off at 6:00, but we didn't have plans with friends until 8:00. So we grabbed the bike and drove up north about an hour or so. It was awesome! You feel like you're in your own little world...it's so much wind! It's definitely a little wierd being on a moving vehicle without a seat belt on. We had a great time, though. We grabbed some dinner, got caught in the rain, and just enjoyed the view! Mel caught a picture before we left. I was vain and left my helmet off for the picture.

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New Shoes

Time to go shoe shopping for Bella! We bought some new, brown dress shoes for Fall and a pair of gold and pink sandals for her to practice walking in.

Steve's New Toy

I know everyone knows already, but my post has to be about Steve's surprise! We have been saving towards a motorcycle since we got married! Life gets in the way and comes up with more important things, so along the way - house, Bella, school - the "motorcycle fund" has been emptied and started again numerous times.
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Saving started once again this summer, and we had been talking about the right timing. Our plan was always to make the motorcycle a graduation present, but that will be in December, and there's a good chance it will be too cold for Steve to ride it in the winter no matter how much he loves it!

Lately, I knew Steve was just waiting for me to say "yes". So I decided to surprise him! I found out which one he really liked - if you spend any amount of time around Steve, the conversation will ultimately turn to motorcycles - and I called the dealership myself. I told them what I was planning and the salesman loved the plan!

Wednesday morning, I got a friend of mine to watch the babies during naps, and went down to sign the papers. It was a lot of fun! It was also really calming knowing we weren't about to go into debt for this - Dave Ramsey and our parents were right!

My plan was to surprise him this weekend and have one of our friends drive up to the house riding the bike. I take after my dad, though, and couldn't wait that long. Wednesdays are always rough days for Steve since he doesn't get to see Bella and has a long night of class, so it seemed like a great "pick me up"! I surprised him with the Bill of Sale and he was speechless! Yay!

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Big Girl Shoes

We finally put Bella in real shoes for her to walk in. Her Grandma Wires and Grandma Meyer have gotten her shoes already, but we've kept her pretty "bare" until now. Yesterday was a BBQ at church, and I knew she would be walking around on dirty surfaces, possibly even outside, so it seemed like a good time to cover her feet.

It's so funy to see her be so comfortable with walking, but then have shoes on her feet, and it's a whole new experience! She looks like Bambi trying to walk! She is fascinated by the shoes and loves to try and put them on, even when she's wearing another pair already.

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The blog won't let me post my video, but I might try Facebook.

She Keeps Life Interesting

Last night, Steve and I were cleaning up the kitchen and Bella was playing in her playroom. When Steve went to check on her, he came and told me that she was laying on her beanbag and playing with a book - all by herself! As an English teacher and lover of all things reading-related, it makes my heart super-happy to find her looking at books by herself! These are those moments when I've convinced myself that my child is a genius!

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Snuggling

Bella loves to get her stuffed animals out of the playroom and carry them around the house with her! She has two big bears that she always tries to carry at the same time - it rarely works, but it's fun to watch her little brain try to figure it out!

New Gear for the Babies

Today is the first day of watching a third baby, so last weekend, we grabbed some new baby gear. Nothing too exciting, just some stuff to make life easier. We bought some child-proofing gear, which is wonderful because it lets me run upstairs and do some laundry without worrying about the kids downstairs. I also found some extra high chairs on Craigslist that hook right onto the counter. I love them! I use it for Bella even when there aren't any other kids around!

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My favorite childproofing purchase - covers for the stove knobs! Bella is tall enough to reach the stove, and I'm always worried that she's going to figure out how to turn them on, which would pour gas into our house.

Rex in the new highchair. It's really easy to just switch out the babies when it's someone else's turn to eat lunch! So easy!

Found Bella this morning, just laying on some pillows and watching Sesame Street. She has a tough life!

Odds 'n' Ends

We wrapped up a busy week with a great weekend! Saturday night was date night - so rare and so much fun. Steve and I left Bella with a babysitter and went out to dinner. Then we walked around and outdoor shopping plaza. It was so relaxing to be out, just the two of us. Afterwards, we met up with some friends for dessert. Here are some pictures to wrap-up the week!

Mom Wires wanted to see some pictures of Bella's face while she was walking, so I tried to get some good ones this past week.

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Friends came over on Friday night to play video games and ended up leaving all of their "gaming gear" here for the weekend. Steve and I have been playing Rock Band a lot - it's a game that has a fake guitar and fake drums, and you have to follow the notes on the screen to play along. Bella decided she liked the drums, too. She definitely gets the good rythm from Steve!

And finally, my hair! I got it cut in a pixie style on Saturday, and I'm still practicing how to style it, etc. I have never used any products on my hair, so I'm now learning about wax and gel and hairspray. I got really good feedback at church today, so that was encouraging, too. Plus! I've already figured out how to style it in a mohawk!

Thinking of Going Pixie

I have a haircut appointment on Saturday, and I'm thinking of getting a pixie cut. I've been bored with my hair lately and have felt like it was very heavy on top. Even with it being as short as it is, I have a big section of bangs that still always falls in my face. Soooo...I found a picture of an actress that has the style I like and I'm taking it with me to the salon on Saturday. Here are some of the pictures I like of an actress named Ginnifer Goodwin. Wish me luck! I may be crying on Saturday and refusing to go to church!

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Pool Party

Bella had her first "friend" birthday party today! It was a pool party in the front yard, and it was so much fun! We had also agreed to babysit for a friend of ours, so we had Charlotte and Bella together. There were about 5 or 6 kiddie pools set up around the yard, and they had also set up some slip 'n' slides and other water toys. It was the perfect setting for a hot afternoon. Bella did awesome and stayed occupied the entire time! I'm going to try and post another video of her walking in the grass, but if I can't get it to load, I'll just post some pictures.

Bella Walking!

I have never been able to successfully post a video on here, but I'll see if it works this time.

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Bella took her first official steps this morning! Mel and I were sitting in Mel's room, and Bella was in there with us. She just stood up and started walking out the door! I didn't even catch on at first! She took about seven or eight steps out the door and sat down; then she stood up again and took about four more steps.

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I didn't get it on video right then, but I took a short one a few minutes later. I'm not sure if I want to post it on Facebook yet, because Rex had just been put down for his nap and was crying in the background. I'll see if I can get more this afternoon or evening.

Puppy-Sitting...Again!

We're babysitting our friends' dog this week. We remember how hard it was to find our own dog-sitters when we traveled. Now that we don't have dogs, we've been trying to help out our friends when they need it. Here's Lucie!

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She's a cocker spaniel, and she's really cute! She reminds us a TON of Butters - she's very needy and has been following me around the house all day.

Blooms!

Our dahlia blooms have gotten really big!

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