Funnies From Friday

Jason took the girls to the zoo yesterday, and Arianna called the gorillas (and apparently most of the other animals too) "Ma Ma". Um, I'm not sure what to think about that!

Bella is still periodically asking us for a new baby. While I was holding Arianna we had this conversation:

Bella: Mommy, do you ever think about having another baby?

Me: No

Bella: But I want one (she's starting to get whiny now)

Me: No honey, we're not having another baby.

Bella: But I need one, because that one (points to Arianna) IS NOT WORKING!!!

Two Quick Things

First, Arianna is finally saying Ma Ma!!!

Second, a funny exchange when I got home from work today:

Daddy: Bella, do you want to come downstairs and see Mommy?

Bella: No, I'm working on my voicemail.

I guess a girl has to have her priorities, right?

More Random Happenings

#1 Arianna took her first steps on Wednesday night. She won't walk to Jason or me, but took three steps to get to Jason's food. I guess we know what motivates her!

#2 Bella is such a hoot, she's constantly cracking me up with something she says or does. Last night she was playing with her magic wand and said, "I'm going to poof Arianna gone so we can have another baby." She's seriously on a campaign to get another baby...a boy this time. She WANTS a brother.

#3 Arianna is starting to form words (that you can only understand in context because they are still baby babble). She says, Bella, DaDa, Grandma, kisses...you'll notice there is no "Ma Ma" on this list. She's also picking up on lots of baby signs. She will sign dog, fan, light, Da Da (you can tell she's a Daddy's girl...she can say AND sign Da Da), nurse, and cracker.

#4 Mommy and Daddy are getting a date night tomorrow!!! Thanks, Grandma Rose.

#5 Bella has decided she's getting married in a pretty dress. She can't tell me who she's marrying, just that she knows she wants one of those pretty dresses (we attended a wedding last weekend, and apparently the dress made a big impression).

#6 Arianna got her first two teeth a couple weeks ago. Now she's working on getting four more...all at once. They are making her very uncomfortable, and she's not bashful about letting us know it!

#7 Bella is super-duper fascinated with all things related to hospitals. Her current obsession is the medflight helicopter at St. Joe. Whenever Jason brings the girls to me at work (usually twice a week) we have to swing by the heli-pad, and see if it's there. Occasionally we get to see it take off or land...and she LOVES that.

There is never a dull moment around our house. I could go on and on. I'm learning to appreciate all the ways I am blessed, even in the midst of what often feels like chaos.

Random Happenings In our House

As I'm sitting here pumping, there are several random things floating around my brain. I thought I'd post them...

First, Arianna has had very little interest in walking. She pulls herself up and cruises (holding onto furniture, walls, etc) but doesn't attempt steps. Last night she grabbed the back of the rocking horse, pulls herself to a standing position, and proceeds to walk it across the floor (10 feet or so). Hmmmm...I think she's hiding a talent from us!

We are attempting to night-wean Arianna (yes, again) and move her out of our bedroom. So, we put her crib in the toy room, and Jason is camping out on the futon. We haven't decided if we are going to convert the toy room into a bedroom for her or have her share Bella's room. So, until that decision is made, she's bunking in the toy room. It looks a little funny, but is practical for the moment.

Arianna has starting using several baby signs. She says "dog" "bye-bye" "all done" "fan" "light" and I'm quite sure she's tried to use "nurse" but it's been inconsistent. It's pretty funny to see her do "all done" because what she's really trying to convey is, "I do NOT want that nasty food you're trying to convince me to eat. Please get it out of my face now."

It's so much fun to watch Bella and Arianna develope their relationship. They are starting to play with each other quite a bit. Arianna loves to laugh at Bella...and Bella loves to be silly to get a laugh. They are quite the entertaining combo.

Saturday evening we went to a cookout at my brother's house (thanks Jim and Amy for having us...it was great). There were several of our family members in attendance, so Bella had lots of people that she was comforable chatting/playing with. At one point I look over and my Dad is sitting is a circle with three other 60-ish men, and Bella. She has climbed up in one of the empty chairs and is hanging with the grown-ups as if it's her favorite spot in the whole world. I wished for my camera at that moment! She is such a ham! I think that was the only point in the entire evening when she let Aunt Amy get out of her sight, though. Bella LOVES her Aunt Amy, and was insistent that she go wherever Amy went.

What is she talking about?

Bella has a couple favorite topics to chat about. The first one is her job. She'll tell you that she got a new job at the hospital, and that she works on computers (or does numbers). She also has a Ms. Shirley at her new job. This is all a direct reflection of everything that she knows about my new job (Ms. Shirley is my boss). She tells us constantly that she has to go back to work. Or she'll pick a specific toy that she has to take to work with her.

She's also has been talking about death a lot recently. This started with a dead squirrel in the road in front of our house. We tried to explain it in 3-year-old terms. Then, Jason's uncle passed away...so there were more talks of death. Finally, one of Bella's little friends has chickens, and one died. Bella made her a card (it never got delivered, but it was made...sorry Ava) and we chatted about it. Through all of this Bella has had lots of questions about who's dead (Aunt MaryAnn and Uncle Mike are popular...I assume because we don't get to see them very often). She's also asked Grandma Rose where her Mommy is (yes, you guessed it she's dead)...and on, and on it goes. I know she doesn't really understand it all, but I can't really tell how much of it she DOES get. So, we just keep answering her questions as best we can.

So, you take these two distinct trains of thought and rattle them around in her little brain and here's what you get..."My job died today". She tells EVERYONE she sees that her job died and she needs another one. She comes up with variations on this too. For example, she told me the other day, "My Ms. Shirleys died...all five of them. I'm looking for another one." Funny kid!

Party with Daddy's Family

Aunt Bethany was in town, and we had a gathering at our house for a lot of Daddy's family. It was so much fun.

Here's Bella with her cousin Lauren. I never realized, until I looked at this picture, how much they looked alike.

One of the highlights was making ice cream. Here's Bella taking her turn cranking with Papa Calvin.

Bella Loves to Play Dress-Up

Bella's Birthday Party

Bella turned three in May. We had a cookout to celebrate. Grandma Rose and David made her a gorgeous cake, and let Bella help decorate it. We all had a great time with friends and family.

She so CUTE!

Catching Up

I'd seriously thought my blogging days were over, but I'm sitting here watching Arianna master the art of crawling.  That just makes me want to post an update.  

Arianna still doesn't quite have the hang of crawling, but she's definitely very mobile.  She is already trying to follow Bella around!  She babbles all the time, and is even starting to form some preliminary words.  This morning when I leaned over her to pick her up from bed she looked at me and said, "Ma Ma."  It was the first time her ma-ma-ma-ma babbles seemed to be in context and specifically aimed at me.  She also says Da-Da to Jason...especially when she wants his attention.

Bella is such a riot these days.  It's so much fun to watch her imagination develop.  She created a pretend friend the other night.  It was short lived, but she enjoyed it for a moment.  She loves to play in her kitchen, with the princesses, and building  blocks.  She's a huge fan of playing outside.  She also loves to watch TV or movies.  We have to set specific limits for her or she'd watch Sleeping Beauty 18 times per day.  One of Bella's biggest accomplishments of late is potty training.  She's been doing really well.  She seems to like to wait until we get in the car to come home from some place (restaurant, zoo, etc) to let me know that she needs to go potty.  Then I have to take her back inside.  I've learned a lot about helping her go in public bathrooms (yuck), but if you have any tips or tricks, I'd love to hear them!

Jason is on his break between semesters, for which I think we are all thankful.  It was a tough one...and he goes back at it in three weeks.  I'm starting a new job mid-May...and I'm really looking forward to it.

I'll post pictures soon (yeah, don't hold your breath).