St. Louis Weekend!

At the end of June, we went on our annual weekend trip back to St. Louis. This was now Bella's third trip there, and every year it definitely gets a little more fun! We left on Friday morning and arrived in St. Louis in the late afternoon. Bella was awesome in the car for both trips, which was such a relief. That is another thing that has gotten easier with each trip! She had new Dora videos to watch, read books, and slept some (albeit a very short while- she is for some reason unable to sleep longer than 40 minutes in the car).

We took Bella to Forest Park when we got there on Friday to let her run around for awhile and burn off some energy. We lucked out in terms of the weather for the weekend- it actually wasn't blazing hot, which is so unusual for a St. Louis summer. This pregnant lady was VERY thankful for that!

We went to the Friday night game all decked out in our gear. It's so funny seeing Bella wearing red. :) Not a color I typically have her in!
I was a little leery about how the game would go. I thought we might be walking up and down stairs all night, or a certain little girl would have a freak out session about staying seated... but my fears were wrong. Bella was great during the game, although we didn't stay for the whole thing since we wanted her to go to bed at a semi normal time.
Doing a very silly smile with Mommy. :)
Bella wasn't too interested in actually watching the game of course. She did love to join in on the clapping and danced to the music that played!This is how Bella spent her time at the game- playing with a Fancy Nancy sticker book!One of Derek's favorite sights. :)
On Saturday morning, we went to the Magic House, which is a HUGE children's museum. Bella had so much fun there last year, so we knew this year would be even better for her since she is older. And she definitely had a blast! She played in the pretend house, feeding food to the stuffed kitty...
Drove in cars and trucks...
Worked as a librarian at the library checking out books...
And played nurse to babies. This was probably Bella's favorite thing to do! She loved rocking the babies, putting their diapers and clothes on, feeding them, listening to their heartbeat... We are hoping that means she will be a good helper to baby sister in a few months. :)
Weighing her baby.
Bella also had lots of fun "getting groceries" and checking out all her items.
And naturally slide loving Bella found all the various slides to go down. To her dismay, she found that she couldn't go very fast on this one since it was a plastic material. But laying her full body down let her go much faster!
Building up a big tower with Daddy, which was promptly knocked down.
Naturally we had to visit the water room! Surprisingly Bella wasn't as crazy in there as she usually is. She must already be getting her fair share of water play this summer.
Having a tea party with Mommy, Raggedy Ann, and Raggedy Andy in the little attic room.
And here was a highlight of our trip to the Magic House- a visit to the static electricity ball! Bella actually enjoyed this quite a bit and wanted to do it two times- I think she liked seeing Mommy's crazy hair.
Crazy how it traveled through her so much onto me! We looked pretty silly! It's also funny seeing how long Bella's hair actually is since it's not all curly.
Picture with Daddy after our busy morning!
And then a picture with Mommy. After the Magic House, we headed to our old favorite pizza place- Dewey's!
Bella then took a nap in the afternoon, and when she woke up, we headed to the zoo! Again, we were very excited to take Bella to the zoo as she is such an animal nut and we haven't been to the zoo yet this year. And she didn't disappoint us with her excitement! I'm pretty sure she was chattering non-stop about the animals throughout the whole afternoon.
We obviously couldn't get her to look at Daddy for a picture as she was much too busy investigating other things. :)
Unless Mommy yells Bella, so she turns to look at me.!
Checking out the "big kitties" with Daddy- definitely a favorite for kitty loving Bella.
In particular, she was quite obsessed with seeing a baby Jaguar- which comes from her Dora and Diego love. Diego has a baby jaguar, so she was pretty intent on seeing one at the zoo. Unfortunately, no jaguar or baby jaguar was to be found... but we told her that a leopard was a jaguar instead, and she accepted that well. Bella still talks about how he was licking himself, even a month later!
Peering down at the tigers.
We took a ride on the carousel (on the jaguar of course!) which Miss Bella loved.
Waving at Daddy!
The penguin exhibit was another favorite for Bella (And us, since it's nice and cool inside!) Again, she still talks about how the penguins were splashing and how it was cold inside the building. She does not forget her favorite things! Here she is hugging a penguin statue outside. :) So loving!
Taking a picture with Mommy and the penguin!

On Sunday, we then headed back to Iowa! It was a very fun weekend trip for our whole family, and our last trip as a family of 3- eek! Definitely a little crazy to think that next year we'll be carting around a THREE year old and a baby again.

First Month as a 2 Year Old!

We have now experienced our first month with a 2 year old. And it has been terrible! :) No, Bella doesn't have too many "terrible two" days, although she can definitely be a little naughty at times- mainly due to the fact that she is so stubborn and strong-willed! But overall, Bella is such a good little girl, and she continues to just grow up more and more each day. Particularly with her vocabulary! She seriously talks non-stop and has such long sentences. Plus, she is very articulate when talking, so she is easy to understand. Bella also has started coming up with some funny phrases, which we kept track of through the month.

Bella Sayings

-"That's okay, that's okay"- used when anything goes awry or she does something naughty. Such a little manipulator already. :)

-"I still sleeping" or "I still crying"- used when she is mad about something or doesn't want to do what we want!

-"I go do something" or "I go get something"

-"We're having fun out here!"

-"I love you so much!"

"Awww, they love each other!" These two lines are used frequently in her play. There's lots of love in Bella's world!

-"They're friends!" or "They're family!"

-"They're nice!" or "They're friendly!"- used when talking about something that is actually not that nice, like witches or scary animals. Apparently it makes her not scared of something if she says that it is "nice." Whatever works!

-"I snuggle on the couch with mommy." One of my personal favorites for obvious reasons. :)

-"I gonna jump on you!" We have no idea how this started, but at bedtime if Bella is in a silly mood, she tells us this with a mischievous look on her face. And then proceeds to jump on us. It's now become a fun little game for us all!

-Answers "nope" or "yep" to questions

-"It's Mommy's turn!" Also a bedtime saying, although not Daddy's favorite one. Derek and I take turns putting Bella to bed, and every night without fail, shortly before it is bedtime Bella pipes up "It's Mommy's turn!" And then proceeds to have a royal flip-out session if she is informed it's Daddy's turn. Poor Daddy!

-Uses he, she, I, and you all in the correct ways

Miss Bella has been having lots of fun with bubbles lately, particularly since she knows a Dora song about popping bubbles!
She can somewhat blow bubbles on her own, but prefers for Mommy or Daddy to do it so that she can go chasing them around. :)
Dancing on the driveway and singing some song... We hear lots of music being sung in our house on a daily basis! Children's songs, Dora songs.... some more Dora songs... :) Bella has a pretty little voice though and carries a tune very well!
We tested out some sprinkler play with Bella on a particularly hot day. She was not too sure about water splashing in her face at first!
It's funny how Bella is so fearless when she is in an actual pool, but splashing water makes her duck away!
We had a picnic at her favorite park one Saturday evening. Bella enjoyed the second Happy Meal of her life. :) The fries are her favorite, and of course the toy!
She then got to have play time. Naturally, the slide was the main order of business!
Being her craaaazy silly self. :)
We have also been busy with making beautiful drawings on the driveway. Swinging has been another favorite outdoor activity. Bella will seriously want to swing for like 15-20 minutes straight, which is a long time for our busy girl! And she likes to go HIGH. And Mommy or Daddy have to swing beside her, despite our protests that we are much too big. :)
Here Bella is demonstrating the "I'm still sleeping" pose. Mad about something apparently. :) It's hard not to crack up when she is doing that!
We had a wedding this month for one of Derek's co-workers. Bella was sooo funny at the wedding and reception. First, she chattered throughout the service about seeing the girls in their "princess dresses" and how the bride was "Snow White." She then sang along with the music, quite enthusiastically. It was hard to tell her to sing softer since it was so sweet! Then at the reception, Bella had so much fun twirling around on the dance floor- even before the actual dance started! She is all about being a little princess.
Daddy with one of his little ladies on Father's Day. She wasn't too interested in having her picture taken obviously... :) Though Bella is definitely a little Mommy's girl, she still loves her Daddy very very much! Daddy is hopeful that baby girl #2 will be Daddy's girl as I don't think Miss Bella is going to be switching her allegiance even after baby comes around.
And here is Princess Bella modeling some of her own princess outfits, complete with beautiful jewelry....
And high heel shoes. :) She's got to learn young, right?
Bella's hair continues to grow and grow and grow- and remains very very curly! It is hard to get hair ties in it because it gets so curly, but I can occasionally get a ponytail or pigtail to work. :) She looks so grown up with her hair pulled back! Bella also had a fun little girl outing for the first time this month- she got her first "pedicure" with Mommy and Grandma Sheri. (Or rather, we got pedicures, and she got her nails and toes painted). Bella showed that she is definitely all girl as she loved the whole experience! She chattered non-stop about what they were doing, dangled her feet in the water, watched the girls paint our toes... I have a feeling she'll enjoy more of those visits in the future!
Bella has been swimming at Grandpa Doug and Grandma Sheri's pool a few times this summer. She continues to be a little water rat and still practices her swimming skills! And of course loves doing big jumps into the pool. I'm pretty sure she would jump in without me even catching her- she has NO fear. Which makes Mommy very fearful. :)
After swimming time, Bella likes to go drag out allllll of Grandma Sheri's toys. There is quite a collection, so she keeps very busy! Playing with my old Fisher-Price dollhouse from when I was little is a favorite. She has been playing with dolls and dollhouses a ton lately- very much into the imaginative play. Bella also likes to play mommy with her baby dolls. It's funny to listen to her because she tells them what we always tell her- like go to time out when they're being naughty... :) A lot of her babies are naughty it seems! Much of our day is spent doing very girly activities to Daddy's dismay. However, he can occasionally get her interested in playing soccer or basketball when she has a burst of energy and wants to run around for awhile!