dedicated to ryan

like her mom - she loves ice - like her dad she loves water

hi da da da

some fresh air

Yesterday we went on a litle walk through the woods. It felt like is was about 15 degrees, but Bel is a champ. She just likes to be outside, no matter the conditions.

An Eventful Thanksgiving Break

I know this was a while back but our Thanksgiving Break was an absolute blast! Ryan was between semesters so there was no pressure to study anything and his girls took full advantage of his time. We spent the first few days with the James' where we shopped, watched the food network (ok maybe that was just me), enjoyed lots of laughs and great conversation. Ryan and I got to sneak out and see the much anticipated James Bond Quantum of Solace. (thanks Mandy, Trav and Mel!) Best of all Bel got some extra cuddle and play time with her sweet dad.

From there we made our way to the Olsons' where my parents had made the 20 hour drive to join us. With this crew we got to go see Twilight (wahoo!) even the men came and enjoyed themselves (I think). I have to admit I was a little worried about letting Ryan come along since I'm too embarassed to read those books aloud, but none (or not too many) of the heinous teen infatuation lines made it to the big screen. Here we also enjoyed good food and good company and were able to experience geocaching for the first time - what a treat. I esecially enjoyed walking Snake Alley - the road with the most curves in the world. (I really get a thrill out of quirky sites like this - so cool)

It is such a blessing to have great family on both sides - we had such a great time with everyone and I genuinely love all the people we were with.

In other news it's begining to look a lot like Christmas...

One of the things I am unmovingly opinionated about is having a real tree at Christmas, so here is our evergreen house guest. It is the driest tree with the sharpest needles that we've ever had, but it is a thing of beauty nevertheless. We put it on a table so Bel can't get to it, but now she just crawls under the table and tries to play with the string of lights - the temptation is just too great.

I love this time of year!!! I probably had the best morning ever today. Ryan took me and Bel to Pancake Day - a fundraiser for the local college choir where they sang Christmas carols and fed us all you can eat pancakes and sausage. I know, I know I am the luckiest girl in the world - pancakes and live, talented christmas carols in one venue - it was like I had died and gone to heaven!!!

The Belén Update

So here are the latest developments with the smallest and most charming girl I know. Belén is…

Developing a sense of humor – thinks the same parts on baby einstein videos are funny, made up her own little game of giving me her binkie and taking it back, and gets almost hysterical during hide-and-seek with dad and parachute baby with her blankie

Eats her fruits now too – when it came to solids Bel was totally sold on veggies but the sweetness and textures of the fruits took some getting used to.

Loves her dad – she gets SO excited when he comes home – she will crawl to anywhere in the house by his voice distracts her from eating and keeps her awake when she’s tired. So dad can’t be around if we’re trying to get anything done

During Thanksgiving break she…

-had her first taste of Diet Coke (this is Grandpa Wood’s fault – as I always knew it would be – although he blames Bel)

-ate her first French fry

-learned to wave (she’s still learning so doesn’t have a 100% response rate, but she does a great wrist flop when properly coaxed

the suspense is over

I have been excited about a certain present that I knew I was getting from Ryan and yesterday... it came! I have to apologize because I tried but couldn't get a single good photo. (it's too small to focus in on and the metal reflects the light) anyway you'll get the basic idea. This is our version of the shoe necklace - where you have a baby shoe with birthstone for each child. I saw a ring like this in the Sundance catalog and we just built on the idea.
The circle is our family and Belén is represented by the single Amethyst (her birthstone - February). As the years pass and we add kids to our family we'll add their stones to the ring - they'll all contribute to the shape and value and uniqueness of our family and this ring.

then and now...

I had some work to do today so Ryan put Bel down for one of her naps. As always when ryan spends time with Bel he snaps some amazing photos. This one we couldn't help but see the similarities between her at 2 days old...

and now at 267 days old...

she's still the same charming baby with big bright eyes, but now with more hair and more personality.

And now a few random sidenotes about life in general... it's raining outside - i love that sound, bel has 2 teeth (she knows when we are trying to photograph them, so you'll get to see them when she's not so protective), they've started playing Christmas music at Walmart, i've been jogging a few times and actually enjoyed it (weird), i'm so excited for Thanksgiving! (and i updated the fun facts about us on the side bar)

Umpire Face

Wearing her dad's hat and making this face I think Bel looks just like a baseball umpire.