Eleven months and counting!!!

I copied this quote from the book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (a really good read, by the way) and I think it is absolutely fitting:
"I am always astonished, when I do [see him], at his increasing personhood-no sooner had I gotten used to carrying around a warm lump of baby than he stopped being one and started scurrying around on his own." Yep, that about sums up this last month.

This is the closest I could get to Ryan leaving Tigger be. Oh well, he likes manhandling Tigger (since Bella does it to him, he's getting his frustrations out on the stuffed animal).

Is it just me, or does this face say trouble?

This was right after bath time. We're trying to get Ryan to walk and this toy helps (when Isabella isn't comandeering it).

This is how I knew Ryan wasn't ready for a picnic yet: sitting ON the plate, amid Chex Mix and cracker crumbs, with two hands full of food and a, "What? This isn't how you have a picnic?" look on his face.

We've started Isabella on a "point" system where she gets points for tasks like cleaning up her dishes and making her bed, and gets demerits ("yucky points") for coming out after bedtime or interrupting a phone call. We bought her a piggy bank that has sections for saving, spending, donating and investing, and she made 77 cents last month! She busted out a nickel for rides on "Sandy" at the local Meijer. She loves it!

And cue the Easter pictures! Here she is posing before the Easter egg hunt in the dress Mom made for her. It was a stunner! She liked twirling in it.

And there they are at Nana's. I love the goofy looks on their faces. I will probably never be one of those moms who gets soft-focus, naturally-lit "studio" type shots of my kids, although I am in awe of those who can. Point and shoot, down and dirty. That's me. LOVED Ryan's pinstripe pants and vest with tie and pocket square. Nana bought him shoes too, but his fat little feet wouldn't fit in them.

He matches his car seat! This was on the way home from church.

The kids and I took a quick trip to Chicago to see Jeff and the kids. Here are all the cousins hanging at Wendy's.

We spent the cold, wet Saturday bowling. There was a party going on so we got to experience the black lights, smoke machine, laser lights and rockin' tunes for free! Ryan was mesmerized.

Bella got to bowl for the first time in her life. She had an eight pound ball which she actually carried by herself and threw down the lane (with help). Sometimes we thought it would gather dust before it actually made it to the pins, but as you can see from the screen shot of the scoreboard, she bowled a strike!!



We bought Rachel an origami book for her birthday and I pointed out one of the designs that I thought was super tough to do. In true Rachel style, she nailed it in minutes, very humbly showing me the design. She amazes me with her talent. April is talented with her camera and has amazing maturity (which you get peeks at under all the coolness) and Brian is such a phenomenal actor and I've loved every time I get to see him do his thing effortlessly and with such passion.

And no trip to Chicago would be complete without good eatin'! Here we are at Barnaby's waiting for some of the best pizza around.



And despite a loooonnnnnnggggg trip to Chicago (I missed an exit and added a good 45 minutes to the drive), the kids were in an excellent mood. They are such good travelers and I'm blessed with that! What happy campers-even in Chicago rush hour traffic on a Friday afternoon!



"Date afternoon" at Chick-Fil-A last week (or "Chick-A-Flay" as Bells calls it). Nothing special, the kids were just being particularly friendly and cute with each other.

The best gift we got this Christmas was a pass to the Children's Museum. I've been several times already, and on this day we went with friends. Ryan and Bells enjoy the water area in the toddler room.



And once a week we trek to the library. I get tired of the books we have at home so Bella randomly pulls books off the shelf for us to take home, and there's the added bonus of the toys in the kid section. On this morning we were the only ones there so the kids had full run of the train table. Isabella could spend the whole entire day here. Again, Ryan's face just screams mischief, doesn't it?

And there's nothing particularly Kodak-y about this moment. I just loved that we are sitting amid living room mess, Joshua is home (yay!) and the kids are having a blast using him as a jungle gym. Good times.

The zoo! I will spare you the other animal pictures, but we bundled up a few weeks ago and used our other Christmas present to enjoy the day. Elephants are the only animal Isabella really cared to see, and she was ecstatic to see this one, even as far away as it was.

She's in front of a meerkat exhibit. That was okay, but she was waiting for those elephants!

This was just too cool: a chance to pet a shark. Joshua and I both did it (after admitting we were a little scared!) but they never got close enough for Bella to touch. Maybe next time!

And I leave you with two videos. The first is of Isabella shakin' her booty at the bowling alley. This girl loves to dance and, after watching this video, you will appreciate the fact of my embarrassment when she danced like this to Christmas carols-Silent Night I believe-during our small group get-together.



And this one is of Ryan's nightly ritual: bouncing in his crib. It's just a snapshot into what life is like in my world and a glimpse into what life WILL be like when he gets older: nonstop motion and noise. Wouldn't have it any other way. :o)

"Is it so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun, to have lived light in the spring, to have loved, to have thought, to have done, to have advanced true friends?"