Birthday Weekend!

Normally I'm not a huge fans of my birthday, but Justin is well aware of this and consistently goes above and beyond to make sure I have a special day... and since he's extra wonderful he even gives me an entire Birthday Weekend! Saturday started with a morning full of Bella, an afternoon of shopping and then a birthday dinner with friends from work at Cheesecake Factory (delish!) Sunday was my actual birthday so we started at First Watch (my favorite place for breakfast) and after a quick afternoon nap for me and Bella we headed to the East Side for this huge (free!) Christian festival that encouraged families to arrive with a cooler and a blanket for an afternoon listening to Matthew West, Brandon Heath and Jars of Clay - it. was. awesome.

okay, it was awesome, and ridiculously hot. poor girl, she had a good time though!

keeping herself busy between sets...

After the long day Sunday we decided to extend my birthday weekend (like I was going to say no when J suggested it!) and putzed around in the morning before taking Bella to the zoo in the afternoon. it was especially awesome because it was another free activity as our county gets free admission on Mondays, alright! It was less awesome when a terrential downpour randomly came and soaked us to the core (you should have seen us trying to run from one exhibit to another searching for any kind of cover... me jumping over puddles so my flipflops wouldn't get wet - like it mattered since it was raining so hard anyway - and Justin trying to manuever a crying baby in her stroller, it was ridiculous!) and the day concluded with a dinner at Dave & Busters, which turned out much better than we expected because Bella was mostly content just chillin' in her stroller while we played games! Happy Birthday to me!

BIG fan of the giraffes!pointing out the fish once we finally found cover from the rain!
not nearly as exciting as giraffes as it turns out...
she did enjoy squirting the water... all that power in those little hands!
WINNER!
picking out her prize with all our winnings...

can't. quite. decide.

her new fuzzy friend! ...that she's already forgotten about :)

sleepytime - or not

for some crazy (awful) reason Bella stopped sleeping through the night. the last four nights she's either up crying at 1:30ish, but goes to sleep after five minutes of backscratching, or 5:30 and she's likely up for the day. I usually take care of the wakeup calls in the middle of the night because J's still pretty incoherant, but he is an absolute rock star about getting up with her in the early morning... seriously, my hero! this morning I was a little jealous to come down and learn I'd missed a cuddle session!

Bell's Newest Trick

Bella's vocabulary isn't exactly something to brag about (I don't think, I wouldn't have any idea though because I don't know where she's supposed to be at anyway!) but we're thrilled each time she picks something up, mostly because she's so darn cute when she says it! She's got mama, dada, dog, cat, plane (sounds exactly like dog, but whatever. an oversight.) and now "uh oh". She loves uh oh - so proud of herself each time she says it! her favorite lately? sitting in her high chair, saying "uh oh", showing us her perfectly adorable toothy grin, then dropping whatever she's eating on the floor and looking back up at us like she did something amazing. I'm sure the game will get old eventually, but for now, it makes my heart happy!

Congrats Cousin!

a BIG congratulations to my cousin Anna on her engagement last week!! I got the text on the drive home from Columbus and literally screamed out loud I was so excited for her! She and her fiancé live in Seattle and he proposed at the top of a mountain during a hike complete with the ring and champagne in his backpack to celebrate! Well done Barclay! I’m seriously so so excited for them and can’t wait for the wedding next spring/summer - we just booked our tickets to go visit my family in Seattle and Idaho at the end of the summer, we’re really looking forward to it and finally giving a congratulations hug and squeal in person!

I think one of the reasons it’s so easy to be happy for Anna is she’s so charismatic and happy that you just love to see good things happen for her. We’ve always loved when the other would visit, she’s literally like the older-sister I don’t have and we always got along really well and gravitate to spend time with each other when the families are together. Growing up we were pen pals and I still have some of the letters she sent me and our dialogue was completely ridiculous, it was awesome! I can still remember the thrill I got each time my mom handed me one of her decorated envelopes after getting the mail for the day, and the fervor to respond as soon as possible about the boy she liked and tell her all about my latest crush. I’m so blessed to have such a great relationship and influence as a constant in my life…

Anna, in celebration of you I’m going to wear the pink shirt, so you should definitely go purple. I love you!

We Heart America (and Fireworks)

Every year since I've moved to Ohio we've celebrated the Fourth of July by hosting a bbq for friends and family and consequently I've missed fireworks for four years in a row because no one's "well" enough to drive to a park to see the action... we've climbed on the roof each year to try to see something, but nothing. ever. four years. Did I mention 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays? There is quite literally nothing like seeing them at home in Loveland - the entire city goes to the lake and the show is awesome - complete with heart-shaped fireworks (what would you expect from the land of love?!)

This year I really wanted to see fireworks so Justin packed everything up and drove us to Columbus to stay with some of his high-school friends and watch Red White and Boom at the state's capital. Their show is rated in the top-ten in the entire nation (I still liked Loveland's better, expect the finale, theirs was phenomenal). Bella did great the entire day and woke up in the park just in time for the show that started at 10:00. I was nervous she was going to be scared and I'd still miss the fireworks because I'd be walking around with her, but she absolutely loved it. She was clapping and bouncing and completley giddy! Granted, we paid for it the next day keeping her up so late, but it was worth it. Happy Independence Day, God Bless America!

my new favorite picture of Belly Bean - and she's rockin' her first ponytail!
it's kind of a long video, but I love the end, you can literally see her face light up!