Bella visits Santa

We took Bella to visit Santa today at the mall.  The guy playing Santa was really good and I think his beard was real.  Maybe it really was Santa...

Bella was fine waiting in line and standing in front of him but when we put her on his lap she started to cry and the pictures didn't turn out like we hoped.

Thanksgiving at South Bend

We had a great time at Thanksgiving in South Bend.  Bella immediately remembered her Grandma and Grandpa and she had a great time playing with her cousin Oliver and his dog, Sophie.  She enjoyed both of her Thanksgiving dinners and especially the chocolate chip cookie that Grandma gave her for dessert, which she ate all by herself.

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Bella crashed on the way home after a long weekend.

Bella does her chores

We're not sure why, but lately Bella has been scrubbing floors.

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Bella does some yardwork

The leaves really piled up in our back yard while we were on vacation so Bella and Mike went outside last weekend to pick them up. Bella had a great time outside and helped Daddy by holding the cord for his leaf blower. After we worked, we went to swings and played for a while.

 

Halloween photos

Bella goes trick or treating

We dressed up Bella in a kangaroo costumre for Halloween. She didn't like it at first, but eventually had a lot of fun with it - especially when we went outside to pass out candy. She enjoyed seeing the other kids in their costumes and watched them go to the neighbors to get candy. She even wandered over to our neighbors, Tom and Barb, and got some candy for herself.

Bella does some housework

Here's Bella helping Mommy with some vacuuming.

15 months old

It's hard to believe, but Bella had her 15 month check up on Friday. She weighs 20 lbs, 10 oz and is 30.5 in tall. That puts her in the 20th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height. She's so skinny. It must be because of all the exercise she gets running around the house all day.

Here are some recent pictures of her. You can see that her hair is starting to show some signs of becoming curly.

Bella's toy basket

Bella really likes her new toy basket. Unfortunately, she likes it as a toy not as a place to store her toys.

Go Irish. Beat the Wolfpack.

Bella is ready for college football season to start. She has decided to be a Notre Dame fan and her Daddy couldn't be prouder of her decision. Bella slept for most of the first half, but we're looking forward to the second half and more domination from the Irish.

This was her reaction after waking up from her nap and finding out that she'd miss the first half.

Are you ready for some football?

Bella is getting ready for football season. We weren't sure we'd ever put this outfit on her since, for a while, it looked like Brett Favre was going to play for the hated Minnesota Vikings. But he decided to retire instead, so Bella is able to wear his jersey.

The Butterfly Festival

We went to the Cox Arboretum today for the Butterfly Festival, but we only saw one butterfly. Bella had lots of fun running around the flowers and trees. We'll have to go back again some day.