Rolling in the New Year

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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.