$35 of FUN + Bella's first baseball game

So Megs is in town visiting and we were trying to figure out what to do. It was perfect weather but the pool was too cold...so where else do you go to find fun...TARGET! We found this water toy for $35! The girls had so much fun.

Gabby riding the dolphin

Bella mid-air jumping in to splash

Gabby was not as excited as Bella so Daddy toss her in the air a bit.

We are working on waving.

Today we went to Bella's first baseball game...Cubs v. Indians. She loved the food but no so into the baseball.
her hot dog

say "Cheese"

She also kept switching hats with daddy (poor Joel)

Eating peanuts with Megs.Her poor bruises and cuts...they are getting better.

We found Cubs Pez at the store

Later today...we came home and played dress up with Gabby

and a small tickle-fest.

Well I can't believe it will be April this week! We can't wait for Granna, Pappa and Auntie to come in two weeks. Then the girls and I are off to CABO!!! I can't wait to play in the sand with Bella and spend the rest of the time keeping Gabby from eating it!

Bella's Bad Day (which turned into Mommy's too)

I guess 2 1/2 years without going to the ER is a good sign...but today was our day. Bella got in a fight with the concrete and apparently got her butt kicked. So Gabby I headed to pick Bella up around 4 but knew she was outside playing so we headed to the bank first...when I got the call she had fell off a table (she says but no one saw what happened) and scraped herself. We were across the street so headed over. Her head was scratched with a little bump...but as I talked to the director the bump kept getting bigger and more purple...so we of course called papa and he suggested we go to the ER. I dropped Gabby off with Uncle Ryan (who has had her all week...thanks Ryrie)...and we went on to the children's ER. She was so brave and the nurses loved her. She had an x-ray and then showed everyone her sleeping beauty sticker. It ended up just being a hematoma...but when Joel got there he was shocked at her bump...the pictures just do not do it justice...
To make her day worse...that was the 3rd incident that day. A kid scratched her arm and then another kid scratched her eye. We finally got home (it was actually a pretty fast ER visit) and into bed around 8:30. Joel headed back to work when I was in the kitchen getting the card out of the camera...when I saw a scorpion run across the floor and into the laundry pile. I could not believe it. I kept an eye on it in Gabby's pants afraid it would go deeper into the pile I got the other clothes moved...called Joel...it started moving towards Bella's door so I knew I had to kill it (I HATE scorpions)...so I cut his tail off and stomped it and then chopped it into pieces. It is now under gladware until Joel comes home to clean it up. I understand it is a small (ours are big) spider but they just completely creep me out...so now it's 10 pm and I have tons of work to do...but am in Joel's shoes freaked that I will find another one.

On a happier note...I got to finally spend some time with Gabby today (but am freaked out knowing she crawls all over this floor with a scorpion). Anyway...she was too cute even though she has another cold.
she loves to come find us. We'll call to her now and she follow us around the house.

I got a great picture of all of her 6 teeth!

Lots of Pictures

So the next few weeks is insane so I figured I should put these on here before I never get them added.

Bella party she threw for Gabby the other morning.

Bella had to be like Daddy last weekend and put on a bandanna...then of course Gabby needed one too.
They kept them on all day

Gabby making her noises at dinner

Bella and Gabby "dancing"

Bella putting together a puzzle (with the help of blankets, teddy, shamu and george)

Friday night we made a tent...both girls were crawling through having a blast.

Bella then had to add all her friend and put them night-night.

Just practicing some football

Have to love our weather...

Blowing bubbles

Bella and Gabby have so much fun together.

Ending with a "funny" story. Although at the time I was not amused, but the other morning I was on the phone with a vendor. Bella said she had to potty so I told her to go ahead and go. She headed to the bathroom and then came running out..."Mommy I pottied" so I told her good job and finish my phone call. She was very persistent about her potty experience and grabbed my hand and took me to the bathroom where she showed me that she pottied...on the floor! Of course next to her potty! I was not as impressed or excited as her. Of course then I went into the speech "where do we pee-pee?" "We pee-pee in the potty" At this time Bella thought it would be a good time to copy everything I said. I think she figured out pretty quick I was in no mood to have be a little copy cat and she promptly went to her room to play as I cleaned up the bathroom while keeping Gabby out. Oh what a morning!

videos...finally!

So I finally got these uploaded. Here is us reading bible stories before bed. As you can tell Bella adds her own two cents at the end of every page.

What would bedtime be without a song from Bella.

This is the video of Bella explaining why her princess fork is broken.

Bella singing I'm a little teapot. She gets most of the words...just not really in the right order.

This is from New Years (I know a little old), but it was funny how Bella figured her way of how to dribble.

I couldn't leave Gabby out - she discovered how fun it is to play with a bouncy ball.

Standing Up by herself

So Gabby was just hanging out getting ready for bath time when she pulled up on Joel and then let go standing for quite awhile before sitting down. We were so excited...I'm not sure I'm ready for her to walk...but know it's drawing near. Life has been crazy this past month with the girls and figuring out what we're going to do with our house. The girls (although seem to send me to the loony bin most of the time) keep me focused on what really matters. Bella was cute today driving to school she stated that "today is the best day ever" and then I gave her some cookie tonight and she said "mommy thank you very much"...it was too cute. She was also so excited that her Beauty and the Beast dvd came today. I have so many videos but am having a problem loading them from my laptop so if I ever get a chance to get on the other computer I'll try it from there. Gabby is changing so fast...she loves when Bella walks in the room and makes it known when she is not getting attention from anyone. Bella is enjoying bossing Gabby around. The other morning Bella found the 1st birthday streamer and napkins from her party that we've told her we'll use for Gabby's. She said she was going to have a party for Gabby. So I was finishing up some emails and came out to Gabby draped in streamers, the napkins next to her, and an entire container of puffs poured on a tray for them to share.

Here's a couple of pictures from today (have to love our weather right now)...I have more on my other camera I'll try and put on this weekend.
checking out the grass.

The Girls are so fun!!!

I know I posted quite a bit last week...but since I finally downloaded all 600 pictures I took in Feb (I know it was even a short month) it seemed that a lot happened with the girls....so here goes...

Gabby is letting go with one hand and the other day she let go with both. She has great balance and I know it is just a matter of time before she starts walking. She has recently discovered how much fun it is to empty her diaper bag out.

The girls playingGabby found her tongue

Being just like big sister

Bella tagged Gabby with stickers.

Gabby also loves Bella's fridge toys. She like to push the animals so they make noise. She is getting so big every day and is understanding more and responding to us asking her to come. She also squeals at people (anyone) who isn't paying attention to her.

Bella eating daddy's ice cream cake. She was so cute. Joel gave her a princess/kid fork and she couldn't cut through the ice cream, so she told her daddy that the princess fork was broken and she needed a big fork...then she ranted about the broken princess fork for about 2 minutes...none of which we understood.

Gabby playing with pots and pans

So on the drive home Friday Bella asked to color. I said okay and made it clear to only color on the paper..."Bella what do we color on"..."the paper only". So I pull into the garage to hear Bella laughing with delight..."look mommy I colored on my legs, I'm going to show Daddy" Not only had she colored on her legs but also her hands...

Saturday was Bella's first swim lesson...she did great. Almost drown at the beginning and I freaked out...but didn't want to scare her. She was on the step and the teacher her told her to stay...of course Bella just jumped in and the teacher had her back to her. Bella was struggling under the water for what was actually a few seconds but seemed like forever. I went running into the pool about to jump in when the teacher turned and grabbed her. Seeing her under the water trying to reach the top is still so vivid in my mind. It didn't phase her and I didn't want to scare her by pulling her out, so she finished the lesson and had a great time. She listened to everything the teacher said after that. I went back into the parents area and a lady asked if I was okay...then a dad said well that's why they are here...he was such a ass I didn't hold back and gave him a piece of my mind.

So I've become even more addicted to photoshop as you can tell below. I've found these great things called actions (Thanks Angie). They can create all sorts of looks to your photos (vintage, washes, etc)