I'm TWO!!!

January 28th!! Belle turned two and we can hardly believe how fast she is growing up!! She has been a dream come true and we have loved the past two years more than anything!

For her big day, she woke up to chocolate chip pancakes! Then, a trip to the zoo on the most beautiful winter day ever (60+ degree weather), and a dinner out with brownie a la mode spewing with warm hot fudge for dessert!! We are also going to have a small family party on Sunday. Here are a couple photos of her big day.

Mmmm. Chocolate chip pancakes!

The day before her birthday we also went the Tiny Tots orchestra. She loved it! Here she is after the performance running and playing by the statue.

We could make a list a mile long about all the things we love about Belle. Here are just few that always brighten our day and make us smile!!

• The constant hugs and kisses we get ALL day long
• The hiccups every time she laughs
• When she carries mom's purse and wears mom or dad's shoes and pretends she is grocery shopping with her grocery cart (apparently we go to the store too often!)
• How brave she is with EVERYTHING! The pool, spending the night with Nana/Papa, Grammy/Pepe, hiking, tumbling
• Her sentimental side-she cries and laughs all the time in movies or books
  
• Her absolute love of books
• When she runs and pumps one arm back and forth and shouts ahhhhhh
• Calling Sierra WahWaWa
• When she sings (which is all the time)
• Saying "shhhh" when we go hiking in the woods so we can listen to nature
• Her love for Kipper the Dog
• Her incredible imagination when she plays with her babies and toys
  
• Dancing with her tutu's on
• Her non-stop talking
  
• And finally, when she says "hold you" instead of "hold me." It breaks our heart into a thousand pieces because we think it is extra special that she wants to "hold us" while we hold her!! And she does it with her arms wrapped around us in the deepest, most special hug ever!
  

Happy Birthday, Belle!! We love you with all our heart!!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

This past weekend we had so much fun celebrating Jamie's birthday!

Belle spent the night with Nana and Papa and we got a night on the town to celebrate Jamie's birthday. We enjoyed our movie and dinner which doesn't happen much these days (and a breakfast out too)!! Belle was so excited to make a special treat for Daddy's birthday while we were gone. He had a nice surprise when we went to pick her up.



Here we are at Evergreen Lake where we did some ice skating. Belle was excited to put her skates on and immediately started to head to the ice,
but the second she touched the ice with them, she wanted nothing to do with the skates!
However, as soon as we took the skates off and she went out in her boots, she had a blast. She was out there with Daddy for over an hour!



We are so lucky to have such a fun, loving daddy! Happy Birthday, Jamie! We love you!

Cold, but still fun...

It finally has started snowing in Denver! It has also been bitter cold, but that doesn't stop Belle, Sierra, and Dad from going out and having some fun!


Sierra thoroughly enjoys sprinting in circles at top speeds in the snow! We're not sure how her legs can actually move as fast as they do.
You can't see her eyes because she's probably running so fast that the freezing, cold wind sealed them shut! But you gotta love the ears!Then inside to warm up with Belle's favorite, hot cocoa, and some serious painting time.

Christmas Eve and Day!

We went to Jamie's aunt and uncle's house for Christmas Eve. Belle got to spend some time playing with Graham. She couldn't have possibly had a better week! It was filled with fun playing with her cousins and friends and receiving a boat load of gifts!!
Nothing is better than some chocolate on Christmas....
Who would know that throwing tissue paper in the air was about the greatest thing on earth?


Christmas morning was one of the greatest days for Jamie and me. Watching the excitement in Belle's eyes when she went down to see what Santa brought her almost made me cry! She could hardly believe her eyes and said the biggest "WOW" ever! It is so special to watch your child discover the excitement of Santa and Christmas!

She first ran to her easel. Do you love her hair or what? This is how she looks every morning when we get her up. It always makes us laugh (her too when we show her in the mirror). Don't worry, she got a new brush and some hair detangler from Santa.
The dollhouse she plays in all day long now.

Sierra was pretty excited too! She had fun opening her present!
Getting ready to go to Grammy and Pepe's. Unfortunately, this dress lasted for about 5 minutes before she wanted to put something else on.
Again, overly excited about MORE presents at Grammy and Pepe's house!


The kids table.....Running the hallway with Cameryn and Rowynn and cracking up!We had a great week! It definitely went too fast! We still have something to look forward to: Belle's 2nd birthday and the arrival of Belle's new sibling in a few months which, if you can't tell, is growing at an uberous rate!

Pre Christmas!

Belle was extra lucky because she got to start celebrating Christmas early! We went to my parents house a couple days before Christmas and were with Jamie's parents for Christmas Eve and Day.

Here are some shots of our time with my parents. Noah and Belle had so much fun playing together and opening all their great gifts!

The family having Christmas dinner.
Noah and Belle anxiously awaiting the best part, the ice cream parfaits!
Both couldn't get enough of the parfaits in their special glasses! How cute is this?









Present time! Belle loved every minute of tearing off the wrapping paper and finding out what was inside.
Baby Will's first Christmas!Checking out the scene.
Taking extra good care of baby Will!
We had a great time and Belle asks about Noah everyday. Hopefully we'll see you again soon!

Santa's Lap!

My mom and I did some shopping at the mall. After riding the merry-go-round and walking by Santa a couple times, Belle decided she was ready to sit on his lap. We weren't sure how this was going to go, but to my astonishment she sat right down. You could tell she was a little frightened and stared with huge eyes at me. She didn't cry at all until the camera lady asked me to come behind the camera in hopes she'd look at the camera instead of me. The second I stepped back, Belle lost it. It about broke my heart because she thought I was leaving, but I was so proud of her for being brave for about 30 seconds!

I couldn't take a picture with my camera, blah. We had to purchase some from them, but here is how they turned out. The quality is bad because to post this, I had to take a picture of the picture with my camera. The real picture is much cuter!
Here we are making Christmas cookies to surprise dad when he got home from work. She had a good time smooshing the dough and pressing down on the cookie cutters.

I'm not sure who had more fun, Belle making the cookies or Sierra eating everything that dropped on the floor. It's nice having a Sierra around because we never need to use the vacuum or broom.So, I'm no Martha Stewart. I can't bake, cook, or do anything crafty. Our cookies turned into big blobs of nothing. So much for the cute Christmas cookie cutters! Oh well. We had fun decorating them in our own special way and Belle loved them no matter what they looked like.
Plus, they tasted delicious and we all enjoyed eating them!

Here is our best early Christmas present...Belle in a box!