Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year, as always. This year, we had about 30 for lunch at my Grandmother's house. It was definitely a full house, but I think everyone enjoyed themselves and there was definitely plenty of food for everyone! Bella really enjoyed everything, but I think her favorite was her Nana's sweet potato casserole. She kept asking for more "candy" and I finally figured out it was the sweet potatoes she was referring to. Bella also had a good time playing with her cousins. She has been talking about everyone since last Thursday, and has asked several times to go visit them. Hopefully, she'll get to see everyone again soon! It was nice to see everybody, especially those we don't see often.

Bella and Grandmama playing with the bells.

Part of the lunch line!




Bella and her cousin Layla. Layla is always ready to pose for a picture!

Layla waiting for some lunch.

Layla and my mom.

Bella riding the golf cart with her cousins, Shea and Megan, and their mom, Heather. Bella really enjoyed playing with Shea and Megan! Maybe we can visit them in Colorado soon!

Will, Melissa and Layla

The guys decided to play football after lunch.

Bella's Modeling Debut :)

Since moving to Wilmington, I have joined the Junior League. I joined as a way to meet new people, and have met several nice girls as a result. This past weekend was the annual Junior League Holiday Market. One of the girls that I have met through Junior League designs children's clothes and asked Bella to be in the fashion show Friday evening. Obviously, this was Bella's first experience doing anything like this. I dragged Scott kicking a screaming with me to help out with Bella so I could hopefully get some shopping done with some friends without having to keep up with Bella. I saw Scott a few times chasing Bella around the Schwartz Center before the fashion show was scheduled to begin. Every time I saw him, he looked more and more irritated :) But he was a good sport, and after what seemed like an eternity, the fashion show finally got underway.
I was nervous about how Bella would do, since the little ones were expected to walk the runway all by themselves. Bella was the last of 5 kids to go, and she did great! True to Bella style, she completely worked the crowd. She walked all the way to the end of the runway by herself, just like she had done this a hundred times before. When she got to the end, she flashed a big grin, stomped her feet and turned around to come back. I had to finally grab her before she ran back down the runway again. I think Bella had a good time and I've included a few pictures...

Starting to go down the runway.

Just like an old pro...

Stomping her feet for the crowd :)

Half Marathon

I finished my first half marathon yesterday! After months of training, I'm glad to finally have it over. If someone had told me this time last year that I would be able to finish a 13.1 mile race, I would have seriously thought they were lying. It's definitely not something that I thought I would ever do. I have always enjoyed running, but only got into doing races this summer. I finished my first 5k back in June, and decided afterwards that I could have myself ready for a 1/2 marathon by the fall. It was hard work, but I made it! My goal was to finish in 2 hours 15 minutes or less. I knew after the first mile that I was having a good day, so I beat my goal! My official chip time was 2:05:45. I was pleased with that and I finished in the top half of the runners. I had a great time, and will definitely do one again one day. Just not for a while! My legs need to recover :) I've posted a few pictures.

Just after crossing the finish line and spotting Scott and my dad waiting for me.

My friends Leigh-Ann (on the left) and Anna who ran with me.

Miss Bella in her Grandaddy's hat



The Lindsay family after the race.

Trick or Treat Under the Sea

Since this is our first Halloween in Wilmington, and the first Halloween that Bella has really been able to participate in, I thought it would be fun to go to the aquarium last night. I had read about it in the paper, and thought it would be a fun family activity. Apparently, everyone else in Wilmington had the same idea. It was packed, but I think Bella really had a good time. It was dark in the aquarium, and they had the exhibits all decked out for Halloween. There were pumpkins and skeletons in all the tanks. It was pretty neat. Plus, they also had trick-or-treating throughout so that was fun too!

Bella and the ghost frog...

Watching the lobsters...

A pumpkin in the fish tank.

I think we all enjoyed the alligator exhibit. I've never seen them that close!

Have you ever seen a cuter cat?!

Ft. Fisher

I am really behind on keeping up with my blog. I have actually had some consulting work to do lately, which has been taking up my time during Bella's naps. So, since that's when I normally have time to get on the computer, I've gotten a little behind. I was recently chastised by my mom for being a slacker, so I'm posting 2 today, assuming Bella doesn't wake up before I finish.

A few weekends ago, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather (and Scott's day off) and go down to Ft. Fisher to play at the fort and on the beach some. I got some good pictures, although most are of Bella from behind. She doesn't stand still much to get her picture taken, so most are of her running away from us.

The water was pretty cold that day, and I was hoping that would be enough to deter Bella from wanting to get in the ocean. It wasn't. She would've gotten all the way in if I had let her. Every time the water came up on her feet she would say "COLD!", but then when the wave would go back out, she would yell "COME!!" Each time Bella goes out on the beach I am convinced even more that we are raising a beach bum. I guess it could be worse.

A picture of us in the cold, cold water...

Bella and Daddy on the canon at Ft. Fisher...

Running away...

Sometimes Bella doesn't wave to people when we ask her to, so Scott and I will take her hand and make her wave. So I guess Bella thinks that's the way you're supposed to wave, by holding your wrist and waving your hand around...

After playing at the beach, we decided to stop and get some pumpkins. Bella seems to be obsessed with pumpkins these days. She points our ALL the pumpkins that we see. Any that she sees from the car, on a walk, and even the ones on our porch, each and every time we walk past them. So needless to say, Bella was excited at the pumpkin patch. She tried to pick up a lot of big ones, until she finally figured out she wasn't strong enough. She finally settled for 2 little ones, and she has been carrying them around ever since. I don't know what she's going to do when Halloween is over and the pumpkins have to go in the trash!

Funny Bella Things

I know I haven't posted in a while, so I wanted to share a few funny Bella things from today. It has been raining all day, so we're stuck in the house. It's actually worked out pretty well because I had gotten a little behind on my house work. Anyway, after I finished cleaning this morning, I sat down to enjoy some time with Bella (and to watch Ellen :). Just as I sat down, Bella came to me with her music box. It's a little box that plays "Happy Birthday" when you turn the crank. My mom gave it to Bella for her first birthday. Bella loves to hear the song and she's getting better at turning the crank on her own, but she still needs some help. So, after she had been trying to play the song herself this morning, she brought it to me for some assistance. Let me interrupt this story for a minute to just say how much of a sweet tooth Bella has. We can't even walk through the bakery in the grocery store without Bella pointing and saying "CAKE!" It's bad. Anyway, back to the story. As I started to play her music box for her, she started dancing, as usual. But today, she decided to make up words to go along with the song. Bella was dancing and singing "cake, oh cake, cake, cake" to the tune of "Happy Birthday". I couldn't even finish the song I was laughing so hard. She is quite the funny girl! It made me think though. In her short 20 months, I don't even think she's heard the song and had birthday cake afterwards often. I counted 3 times. Her first birthday, mine and my Dad's joint birthday party this summer, and then Scott's birthday. 3 times. That's it. It only took 3 times for her to associate this song with cake. I told you the girl has a mean sweet tooth :)

After Bella finished her song writing debut, we got back to watching Ellen. Today Kid Rock was on. While he sang, Bella kept saying "hat, hat" and pointing towards the TV. I noticed he was wearing a blue hat, and acknowledged this to Bella. Then she went to her toy box and was frantically looking for something. I soon realized she was looking for HER hat to wear. We found her hat, and she enjoyed watching the rest of the show while wearing it. Surely she realized that her hat and Kid Rock's hat were a little different....

Maybe he should consider wearing a pig hat :)

The Day Before Hanna

I'm slow posting, I know. I realize this almost was a week ago, but I'm just getting around to it! It's not that I'm too busy, I'm just slow.
Tropical Storm Hanna arrived last Friday/Saturday, and I didn't know how long we would be stuck in the house. So last Thursday, especially since the weather was beautiful, Bella and I wanted to take advantage. I decided to get the baby pool out and let her play. My plan was to sit in the rocking chair and read a book while she played. Yeah, right. Relax by the "pool" with a 19 month old?! No way. Especially when that 19 month old is Bella. She loves to put leaves, sticks, dirt and sand from her sandbox in the pool. She did enjoy my feet in the pool and everytime I tried to take them out, she would put them back in for me. She wasn't quite strong enough to pick up Mommy's big 'ol legs by herself, but I let her think she was putting my feet back in the pool by herself.



We enjoyed our "pool party" and luckily were only stuck in the house until about noon on Saturday. We were definitely grateful that Hanna wasn't bad at all!

Ahhh... Vacation

Well, I guess a beach trip with a toddler isn't so much aaahhh as it is AHHHHHH! We got back last Saturday from a week at the beach with my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and neice. Although, it wasn't as relaxing as beach trips before kids, we all had a good time.

This year's trip was so different than last year's. Last year, Bella wasn't quite 6 months old when we went. She spent all day on the beach with us last year. My parents had brought a little portable swing so between that and a big blanket laid out under the tent, she was set. She ate, napped, and was passed from lap to lap. It was pretty relaxing.

This year was another story. Bella is a very active and independent little girl. She required intense man to man coverage. She tried to go to the pool multiple times a day by herself. She also visited anyone within a 50 yard radius of where we set up on the beach. Scott and I brought all our sand toys from home to keep her occupied and even took a mid-week trip to one of those horrible Wings stores to get more toys, but somehow, our toys were not as good as everyone else's. Luckily, there was a really nice family that sat near us each day that didn't mind Bella playing with their things. They even had a cool play house set up on the beach, it was the only thing that would keep Bella still for a few minutes. So we all took turns chasing Bella. At least it kept us from getting too lazy on vacation.

We had great weather. The temperature wasn't too hot, and it only rained one day. The day it rained, we visited the aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores to see the fish (or sheshes as Bella calls them). That was the first time I had visited since they did an extensive remodel a couple of years ago. It has come a long way since the aquarium I visited as a child!

Bella kept all of us entertained. One morning, Scott got up with her so I could sleep in. Somehow, Scott thought my mom was watching Bella, and my mom thought Scott was. Meanwhile, Bella was helping herself to a box of Famous Amos cookies she had completely emptied onto the kitchen floor. My brother walked into the kitchen with my neice and Bella was in the middle of a cookie pile, had a cookie in each hand, looked at him and enthusiastically yelled "COOKIE"! No one knows how many she ate, but we all got a good laugh out of it!

She has recently learned how to shrug her shoulders and say "I no", which means she doesn't know, and it has unfortunately become her answer to a lot of questions. I ask her multiple times a day where she has put various things, and she used to help me find them. Now, she just shrugs and says "I no". Great. So helpful. I can't only imagine what the teenage years with Bella will be like. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of her new "skill" on vacation.

Of course, we took a ton of pictures. I mean a ton. My dad has a new camera that everyone played with. I think my dad told me we took over 400 pictures last week. I didn't include all 400, but I did post a bunch of my favorites. I was going to try and put them in order, but Bella's awake, and she's not wanting to hang out upstairs...

Here's Bella after a swim with her Daddy.

Yes, that's a leash on Bella. As I mentioned earlier, she's a very independent little girl. She has no fear of being separated from us. So the leash has been great! She feels like she has the freedom she needs and we have the peace of mind we need. In this picture it looks like my mom is having a hard time keeping up with Bella!

Bella and I on a big frog.

The one time Bella sat down for like a minute. Just long enough to get someone's chair really dirty.

I just liked this one.

Will and Layla

Playing in the sand. We got really dirty every day!

Bella and the alligator.

What a sweet face!

Daddy and Bella looking at the sheshes.

Bella enjoyed her float for a little while.

Layla and Melissa.

Playing in the surf with Daddy.

Melissa and Bella. Bella LOVES Melissa. She calls her Saa. Melissa's a good sport even when she's trying to get Layla to sleep and Bella busts in the room looking for her Aunt Saa.

On the move again!

Playing in the playhouse.

We thought if we put Bella in a hole it would keep her still. It didn't work, she just climbed out. Just kidding!

This beach ball was actually mine when I was a kid. I can't believe it still holds air!

Swimming in the ocean with Daddy.

Bella didn't think she was dirty enough...

The portable swing that Bella used last year and Layla used this year. Bella doesn't fit anymore, but she tries. She would swing and say "Weeee"!

All of the crew.

The view from our balcony.

Digging Bella's hole.

Love the attitude.

Playing with Daddy. Bella is such a Daddy's girl these days.

I can't believe she fell asleep!

In the playhouse.

Bella liked to push Layla around the pool. Poor Layla was such a good sport.

Bella's a crab!

Grandma and Bella.

Enjoy your sleeping baby now Melissa! Next year, she'll be busy busy!

On the move!

With Grandma.

That's one cool baby.

Nope, Layla's not in her jumperoo!

Mommy and Bella.

Looking at the sheshes.

Grandma and Bella.

I wonder what she's saying...

It's Grandma's turn to chase Bella!

It's good to be back home, but we all had a good time. I guess we did get enough aahhh moments to feel refreshed and ready to get back to our routine. Although this year was quite different that years past, I wouldn't trade it for the world!