The Sisters B

Bella's First Sleepover

2011-10-12T14:50:00.001-06:00

Bella had her first sleepover on May 14th (yes I am that far behind still). Jordon, from Bella's former daycare, came over and the girls immediately decided to dress up. All three girls got along, except Becca was very upset that she had to go to her room to sleep by herself. At about 10:30 I had to sit in Bella's bedroom for a little while so that Jordan and Bella could fall asleep. In the morning they enjoyed a special treat of cartoons and cereal on the couch.

Mother's Day 2011

2011-10-12T14:45:00.001-06:00

Mother's day was really nice. Todd and the girls made breakfast for me. We went to church, and then I made lunch for my momma.

I have tried to get a picture of me and the girls every mother's day.

It is somewhat satisfying to hear my dad say that I am a good cook. He is a much more, shall we say, discerning food connoisseur.

Everyone enjoying lunch.

The girls have discovered how to take pictures on my phone. It can entertain them for several minutes at a time. Here is one with me getting in on the action.

Another trip to the Arboredum

2011-10-12T13:31:00.000-06:00

The girls and I have found that our day goes by quickly when we plan something to do in the morning. So the arboredum has become a nice place for us to go. They change it up with the seasons so it is fun to go back several times a year. Having pretend tea is a favorite thing of the girls. They make some of the best tea or coffee - some examples would include chocolate, almond, oatmeal coffee and peanut butter tea.

Mema's Easter Visit

2011-10-12T06:34:00.002-06:00

It has become an annual tradition that Mema and Grandpa visit during Easter. This Easter was no different, and the girls really enjoyed the visit. Bella likes to know exactly how many days they will be staying so that she can keep the countdown going. Making sugar cookies when Mema visits has also become a tradition. If fact, recently we went to decorate a cupcake and Bella asked the guy behind the counter, "Is that buttercream frosting?" Thanks Mema.

Cookie making is always messy. Good thing she has an apron.

Mema also got to attend the Kindermusik class with Becca and me. Becca loves kindermusik, so it was nice that she was able to share this time with Mema.

All the girls listening to storytime.

Mema is a good sport and is shaking her tail feathers like a duck.

We also attended a Ranger game whle Grandpa and Mema were here. It was a hot Good Friday and we were in the sun for the first half of the game. But it was fun.

We come prepared!

Look, even the cousins like playing with beanie babies.

Bella and Mema bonded over crafts. They did several peg crafts. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, Bella or Mema. In fact Mema enjoyed it so much, she bought additional supplies.

Easter Hunts

2011-10-12T06:15:00.001-06:00

Getting a hug from the Easther Bunny

Riding the train at the Mom's Club Easter Hunt

On the hunt at in the church playground

The Northlake preschool Easter egg hunters.

Apparently, you have to wear shades to hunt eggs in your own backyard.

Hunting for eggs is always fun with the cousins. Who cares that they take most of the eggs.

Obligatory Bluebonnet Picture

2011-09-12T08:48:00.001-06:00

Every spring I see the bluebonnets and think, oh I need to get a picture of the girls in the bluebonnets, but inevitablly, in my quest to find that perfect, beautiful, convenient spot, the bluebonnets would begin to fade before I would find that spot. So this year I was bound and determine to be a good mother, and get that Texas Bluebonnet Picture! FAIL. It appears I waited too long again to get a good one, even with all the extra time of a SAHM. So these are the pictures I had to settle for. Oh, well, there is always next year. Wouldn't want to knock everything off my list at once. (note Becca's bangs).

Mommy and Me

2011-09-11T20:27:00.000-06:00

While I wasn't as anxious to keep up with Mommy school I was anxious to knock out all the activities I'd been missing. All the museum mommy and me days. All the holiday special events. So we started with the Dallas Arboretum. Since it was still spring when I declared it summer vacation, the girls had to wear shirts under their sundresses. Grammy went with us, and we had a picnic lunch on the big lawn. There was also a petting zoo. All in all, a fun day. And everyone went home and took a nap, including Grammy and Mommy.

Next on the list was the Science Museum and Children's Museum. Also a good time. And we also packed a lunch and enjoyed it at Fair Park. There was also a dinosaur exhibit that was a lot of fun.

Mommy as Teacher

2011-09-10T20:13:00.002-06:00

With Becca's surgery behind us, I started my own version of preschool. I turned the old nursery into a "classroom". I bought a couple of books on preschool educations. I printed off several worksheet. I bought a marker board. I thought I was prepared. After one week, I was ready to throw in the towel. Bella enjoyed the activities (she loves worksheets), but Becca is really too small to sit and do worksheets or art projects. Thus I have signed an executive order to postpone Mommy School until the fall and declare it summer vacation early.

Becca's Surgery

2011-09-10T20:01:00.000-06:00

April 1, 2011 marked the start of my time as a stay at home mom. April 1st is also the day that we scheduled Becca to have her adenoid taken out and tubes put in her ears. All of the illnesses took their toll on Becca, and the doctors finally decided that the surgery was necessary since her adenoid was probably just full of germies. We went with a different ENT than what we had with Bella since me and him didn't seem to see eye to eye. LOVE our new ENT, and the surgery and recovery went relatively smoothly. Of course we had just got through this with Bella in October so we knew what to expect, and since nobody can top Bella on playing miserable, Becca's recovery seemed like a piece of cake.

Snow Vacation

2011-09-10T19:26:00.002-06:00

Despite, or maybe because of all the snow we had, Bella could not be persuaded to take a beach vacation. She wanted a snow vacation. However, we weren't sure how the girls would do, so we wanted to do something on the cheap. Skiing is NOT cheap. But if we went to NM we didn't have to pay for airfare, so that is where we headed. Popo and Grammy made the trip with us, although we left a day before and while we didn't find any aliens in Roswell, we did find Popo and Grammy. Our first day on the slopes were a little dissapointing. There was little snow left, and Bella was not excited about being on skis. Big suprise. So, it was a quick first day. And then that night Becca had an attack to end all attacks. I remembered her nebulizer, but it tends to work better with medicine. So by morning we wound up in the ER so that we could get her some pulmicort, but of course it could be that simple either becauser I had just filled her pulmicort at home, and the insurance was not picking it up again so quickly. Ergh. By the time if all got worked out, it was pointless to use our lift tickets for that day. But on our last day, we found some fun inter-tubing. All that being said, we probably won't be skiing next year, nor will be go to NM again.

Dr. Sandy

2011-09-10T17:53:00.001-06:00

I recently found out that someone I went to high school with (technically someone George went to school with) is a pedicatric dentist in the area. So I took the girls to see her for their first dentist appointment, and she was great and so was her practice. The girls weren't afraid at all. In fact they were so impressed with Dr. Sandy, they came home and pretended they were "mommy dentists" and began giving exams.

Valentine's Day

2011-09-10T17:49:00.001-06:00

This was an eventful time at the Dyer household. I just notified my boss that I would like to become a stay at home mom before the summer starts. So we decided that I would work until the end of March. It was a decision that was a long time coming, and I am so looking forward to seeing more of my girls. Poor little Becca has had quite a time of it this winter. She is most likely will be diagnosed with asthma in the future, but for the time being it has been lots of antibotics, breathing treatments and sleepless nights. Her failure to get better probably isn't being helped by our decision to get a dog. Glitter is precious, but we will probably be finding her a home soon since Becca doesn't seem to be getting better is is likely allergic to the dog, on top of everything else. We have managed to have some V-day fun by making cookies and decorating them. And of course we also celebrated Todd's birthday, although plans were cancelled due to sickness - seems to be a constant theme around here.

Another first - self inflicted haircut

2011-09-10T16:08:00.001-06:00

For some odd reason, Becca's hair on the crown of her head grown straight down into her face. So I must always have it pinned back or else it is in her face, and she is forced to wear a vial of blond hair. And she is pretty good at keeping her ponytail holders or other hair accessory in (oh you know there is a but coming), but for some reason on the night of February 1, 2010 she decided to take out her Whoville-girl ponytail and chop off that pesky hair in front of her face. Was momma mad? Momma was more mad that Becca had grabbed the scissors because quite frankly, Becca didn't do too bad a job on her hair. Although when Todd said such a thing, I told him it wasn't too bad if she was Farrah Fawcett and it was the 1970's (Becca also managed to tapper her hair at the sides). We had to brave the cold and ice to get Becca a real haircut the next day.

And perhaps it was cabin fever setting in that cause Becca to make bad decisions on consecutive nights (these events occurred during the previously mentioned Winter Whiteout of 2011), because Becca made another egregious mistake by tearing off all the flaps on her lift and flap books. Becca's punishment was sever: All books were taken out of her room for one week. Many tears were shed since "reading" books to herself at night is how Becca puts herself to sleep. She has been caught sleeping on top of her precious books or holding them in her had while she is fast asleep. A co-worker of mine shook her finger at me when I told her that I withheld books as punishment. I say, you gotten know what hurts, which makes the destruction of her precious books all the more baffling. If she starts writing "redrum"in lipstick on the mirrors, I'll know for sure cabin fever has set in.

Winter Wonderland

2011-09-10T15:46:00.003-06:00

I don't have many pictures from the big snow event of 2011 that nearly whited out the Super Bowl that was hosted here in the Metroplex. In fact I just have some from when it first started snowing. We had around 11 inches of snow! So much snow that it shut down the city for almost the whole week before the Super Bowl. The kids were off from school for 4 days. Initially it was too cold to go play in it, but we did manage to go sledding one day, and it was so much fun. Too bad Todd missed all the fun since he felt it was his duty as a Michigander to go to work in the snow. Too bad the rear end of Todd's truck paid the price for his heroism.

Bella's Princess Birthday

2011-08-30T14:39:00.005-06:00

Since Bella had a big birthday party at ASI last year, I decided that we should do something a little smaller at our house. Thus began my campaign of trying to convince her to do a princess party. She didn't need much convincing, although she was torn because she did want the boys to come. In the end, I think it was a big success, although I might have forgotten the "do something small" part. I had a couple of young ladies from our church help we with hair and make-up for the girls. I borrowed princess dresses from a friend of Bella's, and we had made princess crowns and colored our own castle. I think Bella had a great time, and so did her friends. Really, what more can you ask from a 4th birthday. Bella loved playing the hostess to all her friends. The excitement of a four year old is something of a gift to those of us that love them.

New Years Eve

2011-08-09T20:22:00.007-06:00

This was the first year that we really celebrated New Years Eve with the girls. We went over to Popo and Grammy's, and Grammy had fun hats, noise makers, and even bubble for everyone to toast in the new year. The girls made it to midnight (NY time), and loved, loved, loved that they got to drink a grown up drink (sparkling grape juice for them) in champagne flutes. Who knew champagne flutes could be so much fun. Oh, wait a minute, me did, me did.

Christmas Morning

2011-05-08T18:54:00.009-06:00

Christmas morning we continued the tradition of having Popo and Grammy over in the morning for present opening and brunch. This year Santa was very generous to a couple of very excited little girls. Last year we added the tradition of having an Elf on the Shelf. Our Elf's name is Polo (thank you Cristina for remembering his name). Polo reports to Santa on whether you have been bad or good. This new tradition may be too much for the girls. One night I was reading to the girls and Bella was turning the pages, and she accidentally tore one of the pages (destruction of books is a big no-no). So Becca told Bella, "Uh oh. Polo is watching." Bella immediately began to cry uncontrollably. Thankfully it looks like all reports to Santa were good. The girls were really excited about the pillow pets that Popo and Grammy gave them. Apparently they are all the rage with little kids and big kids alike. Also new this year were the specific requests for particular toys. Thanks to Nick Jr., which does not have commercials, the girls had not really ever seem commercials, and boo to The Hub - which does show commercials. Thus the random request for Penbo - a talking pink penguin. You will see he made it into Santa's sack. However, the enthusiasm for Penbo far exceeded his actual fun factor, as he has seen little playing time (I know this because I am writing this in September).

Christmas Programs

2011-05-08T18:37:00.005-06:00

This year Bella was old enough to participate in the Christmas programs at church and school. I was someone embarrassed by Bella's performance during the church program. They performed Jingle Bells - no problem. But as the program continued, Bella got more and more fidgety and by the end the Music Minster had to stand beside her. My embarrassment didn't come as she flashed everyone...over and over... no my embarrassment came when she refused to listen to the Music Minster. So when it came to the Christmas program as school I had little hope. But we had a big talk about keeping the dress down and about listening to what her teachers told her. I think it worked because the school program was really cute. They sang several songs - complete with hand motions and had a little party afterwards. Even Popo was able to make it. I was really impressed that the teachers were able to get that many children singing and doing the same thing at the same time. And the best part - there was no flashing - at least not by Bella.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-01-23T22:24:00.004-06:00

I feel like Christmas really just came and went at the Dyer household. I didn't get to take the day here and there like I wanted to just enjoy some Christmas activities. And when I did, plans didn't quite work out - our Santa visit was a flyby to the least busy Santa I could find on quite possibly the hottest day in December. But we still managed to ride the Christmas train at the local outside mall - which make no mistake the girls thought was GREAT fun. I know this because I could hear them howling with laughter

every time they went by. And we did go to the Christmas on the Square in downtown Garland, which was really just an excuse to eat funnel cake (always a win with the B girls). And Bella, my mom, and I saw the Nutcracker at the Windspeare - fancy - so I thought I'd better not take Becca, but in hindsight, she would have been better behaved than the grade school girls that

sat behind us. Bella was so well behaved that at intermission we went downstairs to get her an ornament. So now it's officially a tradition. The Nutcracker and an ornament every Christmas. And this Christmas Bella learned a little about giving to others. When I told her that we had adopted angels from the angel tree because some people don't have presents at Christmas, she suggested that we also get gifts for our Karen friends. Of course I'd already planned to do that, but she recognized on her own that they have less and it would be nice to get them something, too. She also recognized that her sister didn't have a piggy bank like she did, and she decided that a piggy bank was the perfect Christmas gift for Becca. The girls also gave generously from their stuff animal bins for the clothing closet at church. In fact it was me that saved some of the animals from the donate pile because of my own sentimental value I'd attached to them (sniff...like the little bear I put in Bella NICU crib).

Needs more flour

2011-01-23T22:11:00.004-06:00

The girls got an early start on Christmas while Mema was here by making Christmas cookies with her. The girls had lots of fun - not just making the cookies but also engaging in an impromptu flour fight. The story goes that Becca started it, and I have no doubt that she did. She's a feisty one.

Disney on Ice

2011-01-23T22:05:00.003-06:00

And while Mema and Grandpa visited, the girls got a special treat and we all went to the Disney Princesses on Ice show. It was GREAT! I was so impressed at how great the costumes, skating and sets were. It made me SUPER excited about the prospect of going to Disney world with the girls. Bella was just beside herself whenever the princess would show up. And both girls eyes never left the ice. I have to admit it was pretty cool. Especially the fire breathing dragon from Sleeping Beauty.

Thanksgiving Visit

2011-01-23T19:42:00.004-06:00

This year Bella and Becca got a special treat - Mema and Grandpa came to visit. In all the years that Todd has been in Texas, I think this was the first time he had family here for Thanksgiving - and I think he enjoyed it quite a bit. I know the girls certainly did. They had a countdown going. Every morning they would verify how many more days were left before Mema and Grandpa went home. We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner at our house. I tried my hand at a new recipe for stuffing. It didn't turn out, but I won't give up. Fear not - I plan to try another recipe next year. I guess it's a good thing Thanksgiving only comes around once a year. My brother and his family showed up for lunch after their annual Turkey Run, and what Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without the annual Cowboys game. The girls just loved having the cousins over. George is always so attentive and makes Bella fell so special, and James is sweet in his quite way (really wish he had a sister), and Bella is now old enough that David finds playing with her interesting. But then once the Bernards leave, it is REALLY quite. Then Grace and I ended the day with a trip to Michaels. All in all a good day.

Blast off to Atlanta

2010-12-23T23:13:00.004-06:00

Todd took the girls for an early Thanksgiving/Christmas visit to see his dad. I joined them later in the week. Todd says the flight was uneventful, which is what a mother wants to hear when her husband takes to the sky with her two precious baby girls. Once they got to Atlanta Grandma Dyer spoiled them rotten. She had a Dora tent for them to sleep in and Dora sleeping bags to sleep under. They had Dora sippy cups if they got thirsty and teddy bears to comfort them if they got lonely. They had clothes to model and little fairies and doggies to play with. We also had a visit to the aquarium and the park; they made cookies with Grandma, and most importantly lots of tickle time with the grandparents.

Halloween spookiest night you never seen

2010-12-23T21:58:00.008-06:00

I don't know if that is the correct line to that song, but that is the way Bella sang it. And she sang it all month long. Before we were even in the month of October, I had seen a princess yellow dress on sale and had purchased it for Bella, thinking that I could convenience her to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast (I knew Bella would want to be Aurora because she wears pink, but even I get tired of pink sometimes). I also bought a blue dress so Becca could be Cinderella. Well, my first hurdle was educating Bella as to who Belle was. I had to break out the VCR to show her the movie. But as soon as that yellow dress came in the mail, Bella did not want to take it off. She would get home from school and immediately disrobe and put the dress on. Grammy's annual Halloween party was the first of many opportunities to dress up, and that was the only time Becca was willing to be a princess like sister. After that she found Bella's old butterfly costume and was in love. In fact she loved wearing the head gear to the costume. Wouldn't take it off. She'd rather sweat than let you take it off.

We did our annual visit to the pumpkin patch that is on the way to the girls school and picked out a few pumpkins. And this year I took the afternoon off, and just the girls went to the Owens Farm pumpkin patch. They thought the hayride and maze was a lot of fun. It's amazing what little it takes to entertain them because I kept thinking how lame it was compared to the one we've been to in Michigan. We also fed some goats, but we didn't wind up staying too long because all t

he hay made Becca start coughing. We also did the fall festival at the girls' school, but somehow missed all the trucks with all the treats. Oh well - not like we don't STILL have Halloween candy left over. And then on Halloween night we tried to do too much by going to our church's Trunk and Treats AND make the neighborhood parade. Well, apparently at the neighborhood party they ran out of pizza, so the parade started early, and we missed all the neighborhood kids. But Todd still took our girls and the girls of our Karen neighbor to neighbor family trick or treating. Poor Todd took off through the neighborhood

with six girls, only three of which spoke English

- and I'm counting Becca in that number. It was fun to do something with our Karen friends outside of their apartment complex. It took a little while to build a relationship with them before we felt comfortable asking the parents if we could take their girls with us somewhere. I think all the girls had fun that night.

State Fair AKA Eat-apalooza

2010-11-29T20:58:00.006-06:00

This year the visit to the State Fair was all about eating. Our morning and afternoon was already full, so we just went for a very short time in the evening. As you can see from Bella's blue nail polish and multiple ponytails, Bella had a hair and make-up birthday party earlier in the day. Well, it did not seem like we did much, Bella said it was a fantastic time. Besides eating the girls spent a good bit of time jumping on a pile of ice that one of the food vendors poured out on the grass. So, maybe next year we'll make it to the rides, but really what we learned from this experience is that some funnel cake and ice is

only that is needed for a fantastic time.

Cinderella

2010-11-25T21:51:00.004-06:00

Bella is now at the age where she can go to movies and plays and musicals, so this year I bought tickets for her and me to several shows - one of which was the Texas Ballet Cinderella. So on Sat afternoon Bella and I and LOTS of other little girls and their mommies went to the Winspeare to see Cinderella. The dancing and costumes were beautiful. And despite having what I think was her first sinus headache, Bella did a great job of sitting still and quite through the whole show. This month we went to a Sunday afternoon play of "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake". It is a special children's series that the Eiseman center in Richardson puts on. It was cute and just right for little ones. It's fun to have some special one on one time with Bella. I think she likes it, too.

Halloween

2010-11-25T21:24:00.009-06:00

The girls were a lot of fun this Halloween. We actually got to do some pumpkin activities this year. Last year it was too wet to do too much. We picked out a pumpkin at the little pumpkin patch near the house on the way to school. I guess it has become a tradition. And I took off early one day and took the girls to the Owens Farms pumpkin patch. We went on a hay ride, feed the goats, did the maze, and picked at some pumpkins. Bella also taught us a halloween and fall song. And as is also becoming a tradition, we had a costume controversy. Initially Bella said she wanted to be Spider Girl. And then a pink superhero. A pink super hero that can make flowers bloom and rainbows. And she can fly, and she take me along with her. She told me all this on the way to school one day. So when I saw a pink super hero cape, I thought I'd found the best costume. But then, the girly princess kicked in, and she ultimately was Belle. And actually she put that dress on any chance she got. We also went to the festival at the girls' school. That was fun, but we missed all the trunks of treats. Then we also did trunks of treats at our church before they went trick or treating. Needless to say we did it ALL!

The little patient

2010-08-09T20:38:00.003-06:00

It can't all be fun and games, and earlier this month it certainly wasn't.

Princess Power

2010-08-09T20:34:00.003-06:00

The girls are really having fun now, play together, pretending together, chasing each other, and just having fun. The girls were playing dress up after I came home from Target with new wands. I also came home with one new crown because on my previous visit to the Target Dollar Spot I only picked up one crown. Uh, hello. As Tica pointed out, you have two daughters. You should have bought two crowns. DUH! There, now they can play without complaint.

Monkey Business

2010-08-09T20:28:00.002-06:00

This was the last shot from our Galveston vacation. A picture perfect end. Please note that the monkeys are the result of Daddy taking them into the gift shop. Mommy had bought them these crappy 1.99 key chains. Those monkey entertained the girls for at least on hour in the car, not to mention they continue to be fine, furry friends.

Galveston

2010-08-09T19:55:00.011-06:00

Well, we finally took a family vacation in early July, just after the July 4th holiday. And we took it to where you ask? That's right Galveston. For quite some time now, all Bella has been talking about is going to the beach. Every picture shedraws is of the beach. We picked her up from Sunday school the other day, and her teacher said, "Bella even drew a picture." And I said, let me guess, it is of the beach.Yep. I'm mean these are pretty great pictures for a gal who has never been. There are blue waves, yellow sand, a yellow sun and muli-color fish. So, I finally decide, ok let's take this girl to the beach. Only problem is the nearest nice, beach is at least 11 hrs away. Uh, say what? 11 hrs in the car with my kids. "That's mine." "Mommy can you get that." "I'm hungry" and the dreaded "Are we there yet?" No thanks. I said, she's three; Galveston will either meet her expectations or not. Either way it's a win for us.

Well, we got there late on a Thu afternoon, so after we checked into our room, we went to the beach. What fun! We had sand castles and chased the waves. The sand was still brown and the water still murky, but it didn't stink, there were no tar balls and there were no massive amounts of (fill in the blank) washed up on shore. So the next day we set off for Moody Gardens. That is after we did battle with the millions of mosquitoes that were waiting for us in the parking lot. Oh yeah, and after we got a jump for our battery. Yes, our battery decided to die while we were on vacation and while we were sweating to death in the safety of our car. I'mserious. The mosquitoes were vicious. It got to the point where we would put OFF on just to get to the car, and they would attach the one place bug spray missed - behind your ear, your armpit, your ankles. I digress.

We then got to tour the Rain forest pyramid and the aquarium pyramid. We took in an IMAX 3-D show. Then we did more beach fun that evening. The next day it was back to the Moody Garden splash park which was just perfect fun for the girls. They had two large pool areas, lots of WHITE sand, and a little splash pad that Becca loved!

We also watched Happy Feet in 4-D, and then headed home early. As we were debating on whether to lea

ve in the evening or stay the night, Bella asked if vacation was over. I told it was. And she started to cry. It made me so

sad I wanted to cry. She really had fun. I'm glad! I had fun, too!!

Fireworks

2010-08-09T19:31:00.004-06:00

I think Forth of July will always remind me of when Becca was born. I can remember lying in bed in that foggy, sleep-deprived place that comes with having a newborn and just wishing that all the fireworks would stop going off so I could get some sleep. But this year was much different. The first night we just watched the fireworks at the mall from within our neighborhood. They were nice, but nothing special. So the following night we decided we'd try the fireworks show at Breckinridge Park. It started with a bus ride over to the park. And boy that would have been enough excitement for Bella. She was so excited to be riding on a bus. But then we had several hours to wait on the lawn. Bella quickly made friends with the two little girls that were next to us. And once the music started, then had fun marching and dancing to the music. AND then the fireworks started. The show was fantastic! The only complaint was that the show didn't get started until after 10:00 and by then the girls were wiped out. But we thought it was great.

Terrible Two's Here I COME!

2010-07-09T17:00:00.007-06:00

Well, Becca turned two last month. She started the day with her sister bringing in a bouquet of balloons to her. Then, they began to fight over them, so Becca decided that to secure her balloons, she needed to put her balloons in her mouth while she pushed her shopping cart around. Then Bella poured lemonade on her hair, so we were late for school.

But later that day we had a little party for Becca at her school. She loves to wear sunglasses, so instead of party hats, I brought sunglasses for everyone to wear. That would have been enough, but we celebrated her actual birthday with the cousins and Popo and Grammy. I made the cake this time. Hello Kitty. Wish I had used licorice.

Happy Father's Day

2010-07-02T20:09:00.005-06:00

For Father's Day we went to church and then met my mom and dad at a local pizza place for lunch. Here is Bella being silly. Todd got to take a humungo nap and didn't change a diaper on Sunday. He also got a new golf outfit so he doesn't look like a slob should he ever get to go golfing.

G-ma's 80th Birthday

2010-06-20T20:26:00.004-06:00

My grandmother celebrated her 80th birthday this week, and we threw her a big birthday party. All her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were there (well, almost). I wish we would taken the time to take more group pictures. Oh well, maybe for her 100th - no lie. My grandmother is a strong and healthy old lady. And get this, Todd made and decorated the cake (I made the frosting).

Museum Mania

2010-06-12T20:59:00.008-06:00

The Nasher Sculpture Museum in Dallas has fun kid activities on the first Sat of every month. So I took the girls in May. It was a really nice activity for just me and the girls. We got there by 10; participated in the guided lecture; did the art project; picked up a lunch from Panera and had a picnic at a park that Todd and I frequented as undergrads; and played in the park. Bella even saw a classmate there with her grandparents. Apparently later that week during recess, Bella and the classmate were pretending that they were at the Nasher. So cosmopolitan!

Then the following weekend Todd and I took the girls to the Heard Museum in McKinney. We took a couple different nature trails and "walked through a forest". They had some animals for viewing, and the girls were able to get up close to see them. The trails were nice, but not something to do during the summer. Forgot the camera though.

And then today I had the girls to myself again, and I took them to the Science Museum since the second Sat of every month they have Discovery Days. Wasn't too impressed with the "Discovery Days" part of it, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the Children's Museum was at Fair Park, too. The girls had a great time playing in the dino dig and the water table. Of course we have a sand/water table at home, but I guess they really don't compare.

Bella's first fun run

2010-06-12T20:50:00.003-06:00

Last weekend Todd and I did a 5K (Todd pushed the girls in the double wide), and before the 5k, there was a 1 mile Fun Run. We saw another family entering their 4 year old daughter, so we decided to sign Bella up, too. Bella has done a 50 yard dash, but never a mile. She has certainly walked that but we wondered if she would run it. So, we entered her, and I walk/ran it with her. She really did walk most of it with spurts of running. But like a true champion when she saw the finish line, she ran it in. I was so proud of her. And she has been proud of herself, too. She's told everyone to from her Popo to the lady at the restaurant that she ran a 1 mile race, and that her new pink shoes made her go super fast. Todd and Becca assisted by taking photos and cheering us on.

B stories

2010-06-11T21:19:00.005-06:00

Bella has a difficult time with the state of disarray that our van is typically in, and sometimes it gets to be too much for her and she has to say something about the mess. The last time she commented on the mess, I said well you keep bringing stuff in here and you never take it back out. To that Bella commented, "You bring stuff in here, too, Mommy." Nuf Said.

Becca has always been quite a chatter. One of the first phrases I can remember her saying was while Chris and Julie were here. She stood in the kitchen and cried, "But I don't want to share." So much of what is says is clear, in fact she can now say Bella and not Beya. But she still can't say "sweaty". The other night Becca asked me, "Mommy, why you so sweaty?" I wish you could see it. She rolls her tongue when she says it, and it reminds me of those Jack-in-Box commercials where Jack's mouth just becomes a squiggle when he tries to say chipolte.

Bella thinks herself quite the fashionista. If she had it her way she would exclusively wear pink dresses. So yesterday morning when I paired a turquoise blue shirt and necklace with black pants, I think she just didn't know what to make of it. She crinkled up her little nose in disapproval and said, "Mommy, your pants don't match your shirt OR your necklace." Me, "Yes honey, but black goes with everything." I could see her filing that bit of information away. So today I decided to test her fashion sense, and I genuinely asked her opinion on which necklace I should wear today. And you know something, I think she got it right.

Becca is the master of faces. Always has been. From better beer face to "the Look". Now she has the silly face and the suprised face. And she performs on command, sometimes. In between each time she gives "the Look" she'll roll her head back and laugh.

Some of Becca's favorite phrases right now, "I can do it. I can do it.", "I fell down.", "Daddy's turn." "Why Bella crying?" "Mine. Mine! That's MINE!"

More Easter

2010-06-11T20:59:00.005-06:00

Easter was a little bit wet, but we still managed to have a egg hunt at Grammy's and Popo's. We changed things up a little bit this year. We had Easter lunch at Grammy and Popo's, and PoPo bar-b-que'd. It was a refreshing change. And the cousins brought Cascarones to the egg hunt, and it FREAKED Becca out. She could not understand why everyone was heading each other on the head. Todd had to comfort her a little.

Rabbit Season

2010-05-04T20:01:00.005-06:00

We had a lot of fun again this Easter. At the mom's club Easter Festival we almost got blown away, so we didn't stay too long. Todd's friends from Michigan were visiting at the time, so they came along for the hunt with their daughter Leah.

Snow Days

2010-05-02T19:49:00.006-06:00

Ok, so this is old news, but since the grand plan is to print this blog out for my girls as a quasi- scrapbook, I think I should put an entry in her that covers all the snow we had this winter. The best snowfall came on February 11, 2010 (several years ago we had a good snow day on Feb 14th). So, as with all good snowfalls around here, this one took everyone by surprise. Let me rephrase, the 12 inches of snow took EVERYONE by surprise. It started with school getting canceled at noon. So I picked Bella up early, sent mom home, and bundled the girls up for some romping around in the snow. We, along with the neighbors played in the snow and built a snow man. We came inside for no less than an hour when Todd came bursting into the house at 4:00 wanted to play in the snow. So I threw all our non-water repellent clothes in the drier, wrapped the girls feet in sarin wrap (when I threw the girls in the tub before Bella's feet looked really red and she said they hurt when she put them in the water and then she told me that it felt like needles), and we headed back outside. We built a snow slide that time. The following day was a snow day for me and the girls, and we went back outside and made snow angels up and down the golf course. I feel and got up so many times that then muscles in my neck were sore.

And then as my plane from Honduras landed, it was snowing - March 21st. That time we just went outside for a little bit and just made snow tracks. We were hunting bears.

Sound bites

2010-04-19T21:01:00.005-06:00

At night after I brush her teeth and read her a book and turn off her light, I ask Bella who she wants to pray for. "Grammy, daddy and all the loved people." That is supposed to be "all the people we love". But I like all the loved people better.

And one night Bella told me that she wanted to pray for Preston. Bella proceeded to tell me that Preston was still a baby but he was with the big kids and he was having trouble being whinny since he just turned 3.

Last night when we asked Becca if she farted, she said, "Yeah, I poop-pooped gas."

Tonight as I tucked Bella into bed, Bella said to me, "Mommy, I love you so much. And in the morning I'll have a surprise for you."

Becca has gotten into the Dora/Diego scene now and knows all the characters. So when Daddy showed up with a Boots and Swipper doll, both girls got really excited. And although Daddy bought the Boots doll for Becca (b/c for a time Bella called Becca Boots), somehow Becca got stuck with the Swipper doll. So as she is running around with the doll in hand we hear Becca saying, "You'll never find it now, hehehe."

Mema's sewing magic

2010-04-13T20:32:00.004-06:00

Mema and Grandpa just came for a visit. And this time around I told Mema, I was putting her to work. I'd recently been to a party where they were charging and an arm and a leg for what amounted to handmade outfits. You could pick the fabric and styles and embellishments and fork over a fortune. Instead, I thought, I know someone who can do this. So Grace and I went shopping at Joanne's one night, and I tried to pin and cut the material (Much more complicated than I thought. Yet another hobby I do not seem to be suited for). Grace did all the sewing, and a lot of the cutting for that matter. The outfits were a success! Bella showed up to school on Monday wearing one of her two outfits, and the ladies at the school immediately noticed. I proudly said, "I know aren't they cute. Bella's Mema made them."

Dinner Time

2010-02-11T20:43:00.004-06:00

I think Becca's favorite time of day is dinner time. She loves to eat. However, she really thinks it's unfair that she has to sit at the table to eat. We make her eat at the table mostly because it ensures she is not eating all day. So, in an effort to entice her back to the table, we decided to put her in a booster seat. She loved it. The newness has worn off, and she will still ask to take her meal on the run, rather than sit at the table, but the struggle is not as heartfelt. And I must say, that for a 19 month old baby, she does a very good job of eating at the table and not making a mess. In fact I would say she probably makes less of a mess than Bella. Of course food is Becca's life, so to waste one morsel of food by dropping it on the floor or table is probably heresy in her book.

Bella's Third Birthday

2010-01-17T15:49:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was Bella's third birthday and her first BIG birthday celebration. Bella talked about her birthday all week - wanting to know everyday who was coming to her party and then swearing up and down, that no, Cole (a friend from school) was coming. "Yes he is mommy. He told me he was coming." Cole's mommy never RSVP'ed and did not show up. :( But lots of other friends did. We had 18 kiddos, friends from school and church. We had the party at ASI gym, and the girls, Bridgette and Sam, who helped with party, were great. Todd made the cakes, one Diego and one Dora. He baked the cakes early in the week, made the frosting and decorated the cake. I helped this time, but in the whole grand scheme of things my contribution was minimal. I dyed the frosting and did some decorating on Diego, but the victory goes to Todd. Bella never stopped smiling at her party, and the only whining I remember hearing was when we got to the party room. She didn't care much for the nuggets. All she cared about was the cake; the cake that she had already sampled prior to the party, so I guess she knew it was good. Thanks again to Todd for "fixing" the cake. And while she is not one for sharing with her sister, she was concerned about her sister not having any presents or not being able to wear a tutu or crown. However, it didn't take long and it wasn't a hard concept for Bella to get that the day was all about her.

Christmas time was here

2010-01-09T14:13:00.008-06:00

At Willowbrook Mall in line to see Santa. They do a Polar Express themed display.

Christmas eve before we went to Grammy and Popo's party with all the family.

Christmas time with the girls was a lot of fun. We did breakfast with Santa, pancakes with Santa, and pictures with Santa. We went to Christmas parties; We went looking at lights at night; We went to Christmas Eve service (all of us in one pew); We went to the Nutcracker. I drank A LOT of hot chocolate; Bella & Becca ate A LOT of little chocolates with the advent calendar. Heck, we even had a white Christmas. We had Todd's work party at our house, but this year the girls were at the party. It was nice of his co-workers that they didn't mind, and they certainly tried to charm everyone. And this year we learned about all the houses in the metroplex that have light shows in their front yards. It got to be an evening ritual as we tried to hit several of them up, and with the girls bedtime being 8:00, we would only wind up seeing one of them a night. The Christmas eve service was the first time that either girl had been in the sanctuary. I wound up taking Becca out because she has a problem with being confined. She is at that stage where she thinks she can go and do and doesn't want to be directed or corralled or held. It would sometimes cause a problem when we would go looking at lights, too, because we would get out of our cars, but we could not just let her wonder into the street.

Princesses

2009-12-20T20:30:00.004-06:00

Last night my mom and I took Bella to the Nutcracker. We made it through the whole show, but she was awfully wiggly. What captured her attention the most were the scenes where it was just the prima ballerina dancing. After the first act someone asked her if she was liking it, and she said yes and that she also wanted to be a snow princess.

Tonight I singing Deck the Halls as we were driving home from Taco Bueno, and the girls were chiming in with variations of "fa la la la la". And then Bella said she wanted to sing her princess's song. There were several verses of "Pink is my favorite." And the song ended with, "I'm still a princess even if I don't have my beautiful crown". Todd and I both laughed until we cried.

2009-12-16T20:24:00.002-06:00

We try to keep Becca from taking ornaments off the tree and keeping the wrapping paper on the presents. So the other day when I was putting an ornament back on the tree Becca came running from the front of the house to tell me, "No, no, no!" while she was shaking her little finger at me. So cute. She really has been cute lately. So playful. She tries to turn everything into a game from getting changed to eating her breakfast.

Christmas Cookies

2009-12-09T22:06:00.003-06:00

We have recently engaged in a new Christmas tradition. Santa has sent us a Elf, who we named Polo, that reports to him whether Bella and Becca have been naughty or nice. Of course Becca is too young to understand, but Bella has caught on, and her behavior is much improved since Polo came to visit us, all we need to do is remind Bella that Polo is watching. I just wish Polo would stick around all year long. However, Polo's magic does have its limits. Last night Bella was tired and not feeling well, a dreadful combination. Bella told me that she didn't want Polo to watch her and could I send him home. I decided to drop the conversation at that point. Clearly, she wasn't even capable of being a good girl. I can understand that.

Thanksgiving Turkeys

2009-12-04T09:35:00.004-06:00

We had Thanksgiving at my house this year. It was just the cousins and Popo and Grammy. I have to say the food this year was not all that tasty. I made the corn casserol and the mashed potatoes, and they weren't that great. Oh well, there's always next year. This year Bella ate absolutely nothing. She has become REALLY picky. I'm afraid she is going to waste away to nothing. And unfortunately Becca was suffering from a stomach bug, so we tried to hold her back. I just hope she is still an eater next year, so that she can enjoy the food, and then hopefully next year the food will be better.

The girls made the head dresses at school.

Bella the Biker Chic, Spider and Princess

2009-11-04T20:46:00.006-06:00

This was an interesting Halloween. Initially, Bella did not express a desire to be anything in particular for Halloween. I mean, I'd ask and she'd want to be everything from Dora to "The Map" to a spider to a bunny. So, since my mom's Halloween party this year had a 50's theme, I decided, after seeing a cute jacket, that Bella would go as a Biker Chic from the 50's. There - done. Only not done. As they started talking more and more about Halloween at school, Bella consistently and adamantly started saying she was going to be a spider. So, not wanting to spend too much on another costume but wanting to be the indulgent mother, I decided to make her a spider costume. Well, she loved it. She wanted to wear her spider shirt immediately. What a happy little spider she was. There. Done! Only not done. She was a spider for the two festivals we had on the Sunday before Halloween and for Friday at school. But as soon as she walked into her room, I suspected her spider days were over. She went dancing into school, so proud of her outfit. And then she walked into her classroom. Once she saw the other little girls dressed as fairies and princesses, her face drop. She even walked over to a little girl and petted her shinny cape. So, when I picked her up on Friday guess what - she was no longer wearing her spider outfit, and she did not want to talk about it. So on Saturday when it was time to go to her school festival, she said she wanted to be a princess and refused to but the spider shirt on. Ok, so we put a tutu on her, one of my necklaces and a crown that she made at school earlier in the year. There. Done. She was a princess and loved it! (On Monday I sent Bella's teacher a note asking if something had happened with the spider outfit. She said that perhaps it was the fact that all the little boys were telling the girls how pretty they were in their princess dresses. And that one little boy wanted to hold one of the princess's hand. Ah well, and so it begins).

Pumpkin Cuties

2009-11-04T20:41:00.002-06:00

Well, the pumpkin patches this year were a no go. We had to have had the rainest October ever. But we did manage to go by a church that is on the way to Bella's school that had pumpkins for sale. We went last year. This year both girls go into the fun. They had a bounce house the night we went, and any place that has a bounce house is ok with me, although Becca has a hard time leaving them.

Grocery Shopping

2009-10-29T20:14:00.002-06:00

Yesterday the whole family went grocery shopping because Todd and I both had chili cook-offs we were competing in. So, we go to Kroger because Todd had seen a little girl there pushing a miniature shopping cart, and he thought Bella would like that, so off to Kroger we go. And wouldn't you know, she did like the shopping cart. If fact she got carried away and began shopping for herself. Unbeknownst to us, she put a can of Bushes Kidney Beans in (she loves beans - and especially the kidney beans out of Olive Garden's Pasta Figoli) and she put in a bag of yogurt covered raisins (also another favorite). Silly girl. Todd and I had a good laugh when we were unpacking the groceries.

Becca the thief

2009-10-26T20:08:00.003-06:00

Caught red handed. Becca has the bad habit of grabbing food and drinks off the table. I'm sure Bella did it too, but back then, there was no big sister's food to grab. A lot of time Becca is just reaching to see what's there and make a mess, but sometimes I truly think she is hungry and looking for food. This would be one of those times. Becca really seems to be digging Bella's pancakes with syrup. We don't put syrup on Becca's pancakes 1) because she's a baby and would make a mess, but 2) she doesn't usually like the really sweet stuff. Becca's what you'd call a good eater. Her report from school always says, "Your child ate EVERYTHING today." Like I said, she's her daddy all the way.

Fall Festivals

2009-10-26T19:57:00.003-06:00

Sunday we had two festivals to work and attend back to back. It was a bit hectic, but I think the girls had a good time. Although in between all the madness we didn't get around to feeding the girls until after 7:00. I think Becca ate her weight in Wendy's nuggets. Wendy's nugget. Not even the gold standard Chick-Fil-A nuggets. I made Bella's costume because I had already bought her one when she decided she wanted to be a spider. I had no idea she'd have a preference. I figured I'd have one more year before she started telling me what she wanted to be. Oh well. Even though Bella is very social, she was somewhat hesitant at the Mom's Club Festival. Meanwhile Becca was just going and exploring. She didn't care. I tell ya, these kids will surprise ya. Bella was thrilled to pieces with all the suckers she got, and when I told her that she couldn't have another one, she was ok with that. I was so proud of her. I dressed Becca in the ladybug costume Bella wore for her first Halloween. I tell you Bella was a big baby at first. But boy did she put the brakes on that once she turned about 15 months.

State Fair of Texas

2009-10-01T21:21:00.006-06:00

Todd and I took the girls to the fair on opening day. Before the kids, Todd and I had made it a tradition to take the afternoon off, grab our coke can for reduced entry fee, and head off to the fair on opening day. So this year, we were back - only with the girls. They have some really neat stuff for the kids to do. They have a pretend farm and a big petting zoo. Pig races - which weren't a big hit. And of course the food. No one has to ask Bella twice if she'd like some funnel cake. Hum... maybe if I cover carrots in powdered sugar she'll eat them.

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night

2009-10-01T20:19:00.007-06:00

Last Saturday night, we weren't at the movies, we weren't at a nice restaurant (or even a not so nice restaurant for that matter), we weren't playing hockey, or watching TV. We were at the park. Todd decided it was a nice evening and we should go to the park. He packed us the picnic lunch (or diner in this case) and off we went. I felt bad for Todd once we got there, as he explained that he wanted to grill some hot dogs for us but every bag of hot dogs that he pulled out of the fridge had expired. Who knew hot dogs expired. I always figured the roaches and ants would feast on hot dogs and peanut butter in the next ice age. ANYWAY, it was a nice idea and a nice evening and both girls really enjoyed the park. Last time we were at the park, Becca was still a little hesitant about the swing. She loved it this time. And Bella enjoys the freedom she has to climb and slide where ever she likes. One of the nice things I've noticed about Bella is that she really enjoys watching other people have a good time. She likes to make her sister laugh, but I think she likes watching her sister laugh just as much. It's a lovely smile Bella has on her face when she's observing someone having a good time.

Going on Holiday

2009-09-20T19:57:00.007-06:00

This year we went on two extended family vacations: Memorial Day to Beaver's Bend and Labor Day to Austin. Bella really enjoys having the cousins around. It makes me sad that she doesn't have a big brother because she loves the attention the older boys give her. The picutre above is from the hotel play area in Austin. Becca was really enjoying herself. It was a challenge keeping the girs entertained and fed while the boys played golf and tennis. The picture below is from Beaver's Bend. At that time Bella's class was reading a book and sang a song about a bear hunt. So it was fun going on a hike and telling her that we were going on a bear hunt. She reported it all back to her teacher. Here she is roaring like a bear.

Summer Fun

2009-09-08T21:19:00.006-06:00

This girls are as different as can be when it comes to their feelings about water. Becca loves the water. She does not fear it. She will try to drown herself at least once per visit, and the momentary fear I see in her eyes as she loses her balances and plunges into the water head first is never enough to stop her for one second. After just a few visits to the gym pool she learned to scoot into the pool, rather than crawl in. She could scoot a lot further than she could crawl. But once she started walking all she wanted to do was walk in and out of the pool and splash her sister. That is also a fun bath time trick.

Bella on the other hand, is apprehensive about the water. Most bath nights start with a loud and whiny protest. And she does not like splashing or getting water in her eyes or on her head. A shower (she's had two) is like a slow torturous death to her. Once she is in the water, she mostly enjoys herself, but it is not a glorious good time for her, like it is for Becca.

This picture is from a church outing. We went to a city pool that had a splash park for the babies. Becca loved it.

This picture is from the city water park. Bella really didn't care for it. Instead of playing in the water, she preferred to eat every snack I brought.

Bella and Daddy

2009-09-02T20:45:00.006-06:00

This is a typical Bella picture, with her flashing her big, easy smile. I love that about her.

But in this picture of Bella she looks so grown up. I wanted to post it, too.

Bella loves, loves, loves Dora right now. In fact for most of last week she was home sick, and let me just tell you, in those few days I saw/heard all the Dora episodes I care to hear. But anyway, we still endorse the madness: we call Bella "Dora, we call Becca "Boots" (Dora's sidekick), we buy Dora books and anything Dora in the Dollar bins at Michaels and Target, and I'm sure we will buy the Dora swimming mermaid for her for Christmas (I mean, does it get any better than Dora being a MERMAID!). So one of the new Dora books we bought is about Dora returning all the friendship bracelets that Swiper stole. And the first time we read this story, Bella pipes up, "I have a friendship bracelet that you got for me in Hawaii." I cannot believe that she remembered 1) that she has a bracelet, 2) that we bought it for her and 3) that it came from Hawaii. Note to self - the kid remembers everything! Anyway, she was wearing that bracelet in this picture, but that you can see it.

Beautiful Becca

2009-09-02T20:40:00.003-06:00

Poor Becca. She was drooling like crazy in this picture, but I still wanted to post it because I thought it was a good picture of her.

First Day of Mother's Day Out

2009-09-02T20:38:00.005-06:00

Tuesday was the first day that Becca went to Bella's school. She is only going part-time and only a few days a week. But she is already adjusting very well. She enjoys playing with the new toys and seeing new people. I bought her some new shoes for her first day (the outfit is a hand-me-down). For some reason Becca has a real shoe fetish. She sees her shoes, and she will start calling for them, "Shoes Shoes shoes." And if you give them to her, she will try to put them on. And don't even think about taking them away. Once she sees them, you'd better be ready to put them on her. And then of course the game for her is trying to take them off, as she is trying to do in this picture. I remember Bella playing this game, but not being quite so persistent. There are definitely great similarities in their personalities to mine and Todd's.

Becca enters toddlerhood

2009-08-16T19:41:00.003-06:00

Here is a short clip of Becca walking.

Walking, crawling, climbing

2009-07-27T20:50:00.005-06:00

Well Baby Becca has done it again. She has started walking with no real assistance from anyone. She started walking last Wed night. She just decided to put three and four steps together to come over to were Bella and I were sitting on the floor. Then she did it again when we were outside playing at the water table. And then again when she wanted to play the piano. I have tried to get footage of it, but she is so unpredictable. Actually the thing is, she doesn't really like walking yet. But she will walk if the terrain is too rough. Last night we were at the city pool and they had a splash area. And Becca was walking in and out of the water all evening long. We finally left when I was afraid her little legs were on the verge of getting bloody from all the falling and getting up again. But once we got home, it was back to mostly crawling. But she'll be chasing after Bella soon.

Tonight she figured out how to climb down the stairs. I'd tried to teach her the same day she learned to climb up them, but it was frustrating her when I'd pull her down the stairs after she'd worked so hard to get up them. So tonight she figured it out on her own. But she is not as precise with her steps as her sister was, so I'm a little more hesitant with her. Eventually Becca got bored with just going up and down the two steps and headed towards the flight of stairs; however, I was preoccupied with Bella in the bathroom, so I yelled at her as sternly as I could. Becca stopped, looked around for where I was, and kept on going. As I am running out of the bathroom to grab her, I can her Bella saying, almost to herself, Becca's in big trouble.

Baby Becca

2009-07-20T20:15:00.007-06:00

I've taught Becca to point to herself and say baby. I tried to capture that in this video. Of course they never do what they are supposed to once you get the camera. Becca has always been my baby. She's cuddly; she's whiny; she's dependent. And she's growing up. Yesterday when Bella woke up from her nap, I went upstairs to go get her. Instead of coming straight down, we had a meeting of all of Bella's bedtime buddies. We were deciding who to keep and who to send home (Bella's bed was being overrun with stuff animals). We were laughing and having fun. Hearing the good times and realizing she wasn't apart of it, Becca decided to remedy that. So, she must have opened the gate, climbed the stairs, and crawled into Bella's room and over to her bed. I laughed at the site of seeing her just appear, but I assumed Todd had escorted her up. So when we come downstairs I asked Todd, "Did you bring Becca upstairs?" He says "No. I heard her up there. I assumed you came down to get her." Mind you, she'd only climbed up the stairs earlier that day with me helping her. Like I said, once she decides to do something, she just does it. And just this morning as I was getting everything ready for the morning, I put the bottles away. Becca officially takes her milk from the sippy. I felt like some kind of ceremony was in order. But there was no music ; no fanfare; no one to witness the last bottle going into a plastic Target bag (except me of course). Possibly the last bottle to grace the Dyer's countertops. What joy! What relief! And yes, what sadness.

First Date

2009-07-18T19:57:00.003-06:00

Bella went on her first date last night. She went to Dora LIVE with Popo. And because there was some confusion as to what "Pick her up at my house." meant, we did not have time to get any pictures. But they did make it to the show without a minute to spare. Bella had a great time, and even Popo was impressed with the production. When Popo walked Bella to the door, she yelled, "I'm home." Oh good. Did you have fun? "YEA! I saw Big Dora and Big Boots. But Baby Jaguar was small." And when I asked Popo how she behaved he said, "She was perfect." Ok who believes that? But what do you expect to hear from a grandfather.

Bella and Becca Bits

2009-07-11T15:45:00.002-06:00

When we get in the car, Bella often has to have a menagerie of stuffed animals with her. So we were all in the car discussing what sound each animal made, and she got to dinosaur and was a little stumped. So I asked again, what sound does a dinosaur make. And Becca goes, "RRRRR". And Bella yells at her, "No Becca. Only bears go RRRR."

Becca wasn't born with much hair, and by and large I have neglected her head and hair since she was born. Remember now, Bella was and still to this day, rarely seen without a bow in her hair. I blame my neglect of Becca's hair accessories on the fact that she didn't have much hair. Well, it seems the day has come. Becca has enough hair to put a clip in, as we found this out when Becca's babysitter decided to put one in. When we all got home in the evening it was funny to see Becca with the barrette in her hair. Bella noticed it right away and said, "Beccetice looks pretty." (sidenote: we had started to call Becca - Beccita for "little Becca". Bella isn't able to say this, so it comes out Beccetice.)

Last night we were coming home from our soccer game (yes, both Todd and I our playing coed soccer in 104 weather), and I was just singing whatever popped into my head. So at one point I said/sang "Who do you love." And from the back Bella yells "DADDY."

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T12:10:00.005-06:00

Here are a couple of fun pics taken recently. Becca got a new towel for her birthday, so now we have 2 lion cubs when it's bath time.

This morning, we got up early and did a 5k run with the girls. They were great passengers as I pushed them around the course in the double wide stroller.

The second picture was taken a few minutes ago as the lovely ladies show off their red, white, and blue :)

Happy Birthday Becca!

2009-07-02T15:40:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday sweet girl! This was taken the morning of her birthday. As you can see, she wasn't interested in the icing as much as she was about the cake. Exact opposite of her sister. Becca was not walking by her birthday, but yesterday she did take two unsupported steps for the first time. It would be a stretch to call it walking, but she's getting there. And she will try to mimic anything. I said "dude" the other day and she repeated it back to me. So I kept saying it trying to get her to repeat. And Bella comes by and says, "That not Dude. That Becca." And when we were watching the Backyardigans, Becca hummed the little tune that came on. It was pretty impressive.

Yo! Christmas in July

2009-07-02T15:35:00.003-06:00

This was actually taken several months ago. I was so excited that I got this little vest for $4 at Gymboree. Bella was excited about it, too. I couldn't get her to take it off. Let's just hope it fits someone come Christmas.

Like Spotting Sasquatch

2009-07-02T15:21:00.003-06:00

Hawaiian Vacation

2009-07-01T06:50:00.007-06:00

Here is a compilation video of our recent trip to Maui Hawaii. We were there for a week and enjoyed the hikes, the snorkeling, and the food! We enjoyed the beach also - Cat a little moreso than me. It was a nice break, and we had a great time, but we missed the kiddos and will probably not spent a whole week away from them any time soon. The sites in order of appearance are:

1) Haleakala Crator
2) Our Hotel Room View
3) The Dunes Golf Course
4) Road to Hana
5) Iao Valley

I apologize in advance for the shakey camera hand in the first couple of minutes. It was about 50 degrees on the top of Haleakala with 30mph winds. I think my camera hand nearly froze off...

Becca Walking... sort of

2009-06-03T21:41:00.003-06:00

Here is a little clip of Becca walking with the aid of her little walking toy thingy.

When good cubs go bad

2009-06-03T20:59:00.003-06:00

So Bella has a facination with bears lately. When we went to Beaver's Bend State Park a couple of weeks ago, we didn't go hiking, we went on a bear hunting expedition. She even has some songs about bears. Here she is playing a bear and attacking mommy. Becca even gets in on some of the action...

Canon Rebel xsi Commercial Song

2009-05-29T00:28:00.003-06:00

Wow, Cat has really foo-foo-ed up our blog. nice...

At any rate, here is a little video clip of the song that inspired me to want to learn how to play the piano. It's a 30sec commercial that aired back in the fall of 2008, and it has recently been put back into the rotation. I tried to watch utube videos to learn how to play it, but it was not working for me, so I emailed the composer Michael Montes asking if I could purchase the sheet music. He said Canon owned it, so he couldn't sell it to me, but there was nothing in his contract with Canon that said he couldn't give it away for free, so he emailed me the sheet music and an MP3 file of the song. Woo hoo I was in business. It took me several months to get to where I could do the jumps in the last half of the song. The correct tempo of 100 is still a little too fast for me. This recording is about 65ish. Perhaps I will get there someday.

You saw a what?

2009-05-14T06:05:00.003-06:00

Within the last two weeks Bella has started to see things in her room. At first it was a doggie in her bed, and after being startled awake by her screaming at the top of her lungs, I found her clawing at the bed railing, ready to do a kamikaze dive off the bed. There was of course no doggie, but I did wind up sleeping with her to prove the point. I got no sleep the rest of the night because she kept flailing her arms. On the way to church the following morning, I was yawning and she said, "You tired mommy?" I said, "Yes baby. Someone woke me up in the middle of the night and kept slapping me around." She looks at me seriously, "Daddy slap you?"

And then there was a dinosaur. When I ran up to her room, I forgot my glasses, so when I looked in the direction that she was pointing, I thought to myself, my goodness, that does look like a dinosaur in the middle of the night without my glasses on. And on several occasions, there have been ladybugs (she has always been frightened by ladybugs). One night she refused to get back under the poka-dotted sheets until Todd put some socks on her.

So I've taken the toys off her playtable so they won't cast shadows, I've put solid colored sheets on her bed, what else can I do. Hum, don't ask a question you don't want an answer to. She woke up yesterday morning, stating so sure of herself, "There's no ladybugs in my bed." That's right. "There's an alligator in the sky." Ok, but at least she didn't scream about it in the middle of the night. However, last night she did scream that there was a dolphin in her bed. Go figure.

Piano Prodigy

2009-04-22T01:01:00.003-06:00

Here is a little tune Becca composed this afternoon in her free time inbetween her late afternoon bottle and her jars of winter squash and beef medly.

Bella Bits

2009-04-06T20:50:00.003-06:00

I've started playing soccer again, and my first game was pretty rough. As Todd put it, "It looked painful." So, I had scraps and bruises all up and down my legs, literally. Bella saw my leg and said, "Oh! Mommy needs a band-aide. Mommy, you ok?" Me, "Yea, baby. I'm ok. But my leg hurts." Bella, "Come on Mommy. I tuck you in."

One evening Bella and I went over to Popo and Grammy's to pick up Becca. As we were leaving Becca was munching on a graham cracker. She has a ferocious appetite for graham crackers. We were loading into the car, when Bella notices that Becca has a cracker. She yells at Becca, "NO BECCA! Don't eat it all! I want to taste it." No response. "Becca!" No Response. "Becca, throw it over here." No response. Much later all I hear is a little sigh from Bella as she realizes Becca ate it all.

Going through the drive thru at Taco Bueno has become an after church ritual. This past Sunday I noticed that Strawberry Smoothies are on the menu, so of course I had to get one. And of course, it would not go unnoticed by Bella. So immediately I hear from the back of the car, "I want to taste it." Begrudgingly I pass the cup back to Bella. And to my no surprise, she is gulping it down. In an attempt to reclaim my drink, I reach back to Bella and say, "Come on Bella. Give it back to mommy." Bella, "Keep your hands to yourself Mommy." Alrighty then.

Becca Crib Munching

2009-04-05T23:39:00.002-06:00

Can I See Your Licence and Registration Please?

2009-04-05T21:03:00.005-06:00

Here is a little clip of Bella & her little next door neighbor friend Morgan taking Morgan's new barbie car for a spin.

Oh they look like experts now, but later Baby Doll falls out the back and they run her over. OH no! Just another speed bump.

Becca is on the move

2009-03-31T20:49:00.003-06:00

Last Friday Becca officially started crawling. She had been doing the wounded solider body drag for a while or the throw the body forward and hope it gets me in the right direction. But on Friday she was actually on knees and hands and moved forward (I believe that makes it official). Yeah Becca! I'll post pictures later. She's only recently been interested in moving around, so I think she made progress quickly. She's so much like her father! Once they put their minds to something, considered that challenge conquered. Maybe not right away but they are persistent enough to get the job done. I think it might be nice to raise a little Todd.

Luck of the Irish

2009-03-20T08:13:00.005-06:00

I followed the rainbow, and I didn't find a pot of gold but there were these three leprechauns waiting for me.

Elmo LIVE!

2009-03-02T21:11:00.004-06:00

So instead of throwing Bella a birthday party with friends this year we decided we'd buy tickets to the Elmo show. Well, it was a big hit. In fact after she woke up from her nap (she fell asleep n the way home), she told me, "that was fun!" and then covered her mouth as she laughed. I don't know who does that. Must be from school, but made me laugh even harder so the rest of the day she was covering her mouth when she would laugh or smile. Also, when asked about what Elmo did at the show, she would start kicking her legs, like she was kicking a soccer ball, and I thought ok, well I guess he might have done that. Hum, looks like that's what he was doing to me. Way to go Bella! That is some memory. And speaking of way to go - Bella got a "Happy Gram" from school the other day. Here is what it said: "Today during Stretch-n-Grow, the teacher asked What is this muscle (she was pointing to her tibealus) and Bella responded Tibealus. Way to go Bella! Way to know your muscles!" Ok, anyone know where that muscle is?

Somebody's been sleeping in my bed

2009-03-02T20:32:00.004-06:00

I was trying to change Bella, so I put Becca in her crib to keep her occupied while I dealt with Bella. When I was done, I turned around and Becca had pulled up on the railing of her crib and was gnawing on it. Bella and I thought this was funny, and we started laughing, and then Bella wanted into the crib so she could join in on the gnawing. At one point they were both along the railing with their mouths on it. I didn't get the camera in time to take that picture, but I snapped a few anyway. (sidenote: I just asked Todd how to spell "gnaw" and he said, "like I gnaw your bones". me, "uh...yea, like that")

Thank heaven for little girls

2009-02-09T21:25:00.008-06:00

Anthony, one of Todd's co-workers, came over yesterday to take some pictures of the girls. He took one of Becca at the holiday party. I like both of these pictures because it captures them both so perfectly. Becca is sweet and still. Bella is smiles and silliness, my little payaso. Who knew there were so many different reasons to love.

Becca Bob

2009-02-07T10:47:00.002-06:00

Becca has started this head bobbing thing. Bella thinks it's funny. She says Becca's dancing. And perhaps she is. She seems to do the head bob when Todd plays the piano or when she's bored or when she wants down or well, we don't really know what it means. But it is funny.

Hats and mittens

2009-01-17T14:27:00.004-06:00

The girls got a late Christmas present from their Great Aunt Fran. They loved trying on the new loot. Although Bella kept wanting to pull Becca's hat off by the tab on top. Thank you Aunt Frannie! The girls looked adorable. And we will make use of them when we go for a walk today.

Little Gym Graduation Part Deux

2009-01-17T14:18:00.006-06:00

Today Bella graduated from the Little Gym Beasts class. She has had so much fun in these classes, and it has been a great time for her to share with her daddy. This time, Grammy came to the graduation, and Bella loved the extra attention. She kept going over to her and saying, "Come on Grammy." She wanted Grammy to hop, skip and run. Now that really would have been a sight. Note that both the barrette and socks didn't make it until the end of class.

Happy Birthday Bella

2009-01-16T14:21:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was Bella's birthday and what a difference a year makes! This year she could understand that her birthday was coming. She knows that the days of the week have a name and that her birthday was on Friday and that for her birthday she would get CAKE! She loves cake. She also knows that birthday cakes have candles. She found a stray candle once and put it on top of her head and began singing the Happy Birthday song. And when we would ask her how old she was going to be, she'd proudly yell, "TWO!"

Todd spent the last few days figuring out how to make a cake. As you can see he baked and decorated a beautiful Elmo cake for Bella. She got soooo excited when she saw it. I'm sure if you asked Todd, he would tell you it was well worth all the effort. We also went to her school to help her celebrate with her friends. They had cake and ice cream, and then we left school early and went to the library. Her cousins and Grammy and Popo were supposed to come over for dinner, but the cousins didn't make it. But we had a nice celebration anyway. We told Bella she couldn't eat her Elmo cake until Popo and Grammy showed up. Well, wouldn't you know the second they walked in the door, she ran into the dining room where the cake was waiting and started yelling cake, cake. She talked to Mema and Aunt Launa after dinner through the webcam, and she finished her day staying up well past bedtime playing with daddy and her new little people toys. What two year old could ask for more! Thank you Bella for two awesome years. We love you!

Rolling in the New Year

2009-01-04T15:43:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was one of those rare warm days you get in the middle of winter. A reminder of how nice warm, sunny weather can be. So, we took full advantage of the day, and in the morning Bella "helped" daddy take down Christmas lights. And while Bella napped, Todd and I took turns running with Becca. And then once Bella got up, everyone went biking. Well, at least we attempted. We were only able to bike two miles before ignoring the cries coming from the bike trailer began to seem like child abuse. Bella was upset that Becca's hands were on her back and that she was "eating" the seatbelt. Becca was upset that her diaper was full. Oh uh who forgot the diaper bag! But we are certain that all these things can be remedied in the future (except for the seatbelt eating), and that our bike outings can last longer than two miles.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T17:30:00.005-06:00

Well, Santa was good to us this year. He brought Bella an Elmo restaurant/kitchen that she immediately began playing with and has really enjoyed. She will stand on one side and want you to sit on the other. When I was playing with her I repeated the order into the little microphone by the cash register. The next time we played Bella did the same thing. He brought Becca a little play table that Bella has mostly enjoyed. Becca has really enjoyed the Pooh spinning top that her Gramps and Grandma got her. She is sitting up now, so she uses it to steady herself. Becca also has two little teeth on the bottom, but we haven't been able to get a good picture of them. Becca keeps chalking up first year milestones before we even realize that they have happened. I'm sure one day we will look over and she will be crawling

The weeks leading up to Christmas both girls got sick, Becca is sick in the picture above, and by Christmas mommy was sick. Todd has been struggling with Bells Palsy for a week now. He doesn't have to return to work until the new year, so he is thankful for that.

Did you say there was a naughty list?

2008-12-08T20:16:00.002-06:00

The girls are all excited about the holiday season, ok, Bella is excited about the holiday season. She enjoys turning on the lights to the tree and the lights to the houses in our little Christmas village. She yells, “Lights, Lights” whenever we go out at night – we try not to go out at night as her continuous observations can make the driver skittish. She has an advent calendar and has yet to forget to check it, and better yet I think she has finally grasped the concept that she only gets one candy a day. There was quite a bit of disappointment for several days until she learned this. She also loves playing with her Little People nativity scene. She can tell you that there are two shepherds and who is baby Jesus and Mary. She can identify Santa, snowmen, reindeer and most any other traditional holiday heroes. We take turns singing holiday songs…well I do most of the singing but she makes a great audience. Oh and that naughty list, well, you won't find either Dyer girl on it. But you might find mom and dad on it. Can you believe we forgot to take pictures of Becca's first Thanksgiving. Becca didn't eat much, but boy Bella was heck on that turkey. You won't find her pardoning any of them.

Thanks to Anthony, one of Todd's co-workers, for the picture. He took several of Becca the night of our Christmas party.

Butterfly Halloween

2008-11-18T20:00:00.002-06:00

Bella was a pink butterfly for Halloween this year. We went trick or treating with our friends from Michigan. It didn't take Bella long to catch on. She watched a bunch of kids a few times and then she joined in. I don't think she actually ever said Trick or Treat but she did thank everyone after they gave her candy.

This picture was taken from the day of my mom's Halloween party. That weekend Bella had some awful sores in her mouth and she wasn't much for partying. But once the girl cousins showed up she cheered up quit a bit, but she wasn't her normal cheery self for most of the night.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins

2008-11-15T11:36:00.013-06:00

Here we are at Wiard's Pumpkin Patch in Michigan. We went last year with Bella. This year Bella wasn't afraid of pumpkins.

Here is Bella and her friend Jamison at the Dallas Arboretum . We went here also year also. This year Bella was able to visit the petting zoo. She loves petting the animals.

Here is Todd with the girls at a little place that was selling pumpkins. This place is on the way home from Bella's school, and she would always yell out "PUMPKINS" when we drove by. So one day we went after school and ran into one of her friends from school.
The next two pictures are from a pumpkin patch that we went to in Texas. It is in Grapevine and was disappointing to me and Todd since we had been to the Wierd's Pumpkin Patch the year before. Bella didn't seem to mind though. For Texas that might be the best we can expect.

Playtime

2008-10-13T08:54:00.005-06:00

When we put Becca down on her activity mat, Bella often likes to join her. But Bella gets frustrated with Becca because all Becca wants to do is put the animals in her mouth. And then yesterday we heard Bella crying and when we asked her what happened, she said that Becca kicked her. Poor Bella.

Just like Mommy

2008-10-09T10:39:00.003-06:00

Doesn't every girl have one of these pictures? In addition to wearing mommy's shoes, Bella apparently likes to look like mommy, too. Bella, on her own, has decided that some outfits look like "baby" and some look like "daddy" (any t-shirt) and some outfits look like "mommy's" and these are Bella's favorites. I don't know why, but the outfit she wore on the first day of school, looks like "mommy's" and if it is hanging in her closet she will ask to wear it.

Sisterly Love

2008-10-05T20:16:00.006-06:00

I was trying to get a good picture of both girls in their coordinating outfits (Bella is not big on the idea of wearing the same thing that Becca is wearing). However, as you can see Bella does not want anything to do with Becca. I think Bella just doesn't want Becca forced on her because when Becca is in her carrier or bouncy seat, Bella will go over to her and give Becca her paci if she is crying or rock her. But the best is when Becca smiles at Bella. Bella gets so excited and starts laughing and shirking, "BECCA!". I think Bella truly can't wait until Becca can play with her.

Here's Becca

2008-09-13T14:17:00.003-06:00

With Bella in school this week, Becca and I have had a little more one on one time. It seems that Becca is quiet the conversationalist. I think she might be the one to talk our ears off (not that Bella is any slouch. right now she speaks nonstop about planes and trash). And it would seem that Becca already has a sense of humor. She was smiling and was genuinely mesmerized by one of my co-workers who decided to serenade her with Fancy. And as any good younger sibling should be, she is highly interested anytime her sister comes into her view (actually she might be keeping an eye on her in fear that she will inevitably be falling on top of her). She's pretty tough, though; it hardly phases her now.

First Day of School

2008-09-13T14:07:00.005-06:00

Like other children across the country, September meant back to school for Bella, too. After visiting MANY daycares and MUCH deliberation, I decided to send Bella back to Primrose. While I wasn't happy with the care Bella received last time she was enrolled, I do think it will be different this time. It is a different location, and she is 20 months instead of just 4 months. I decided on Primrose because they seemed to have the best mix of play and learning. Anytime I would ask Bella if she wanted to go to school, her eyes got really big and she nodded her head vigorously, so I figured it was time. She was very brave and excited on her first day, although she did cry when mommy left. But when I came to pick her up, she didn't seem to want to leave, and when I asked if she had a good time, I got the same vigorous response. And yesterday when I asked her if she enjoyed her first week of school, she gave me her version of the happy dance. So it seems like it is going well.

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

2008-09-01T14:30:00.006-06:00

March 31, 2007

September 1, 2008

Now that Becca can hold her head up fairly well, we busted out the bumbo seat, but just as with the swing and the bouncer, Bella has found it entertaining to get in it and use it as her own personal chair. So we let her since she can't break the bumbo seat like she can the bouncer or the swing. Here she is with her hand in her mouth (the last of her canine teeth are coming in) watching Elmo. Bella would watch Elmo all day, every day if we let her. Her two favorite things to ask for right now are Elmo and "Won moor" (One More) vitamin.