Pictures, pictures, pictures...

Okay, we went 4 or so months without a laptop and only a fairly slow desktop without any storage so I couldn't upload any photos which also meant I couldn't post any pictures (at least not easily). So now that we have a laptop and a way to post some pics I thought I'd give you all a little treat and show you some of the funny things Bella has been doing these last few months. Most likely these are not going to be in any order, but give me some credit, at least I'm doing this much.

I'll start of with a shot from yesterday. Kellie came up this weekend and since she won't see Bella between now and her birthday, she made Bella a little cake. So we sang her "Happy Birthday" and let her blow out her candles and then let her go at her cake. There's a video of this at the end of this post.

She was being quite in the kitchen, which is usually not a good thing, but this is what I walked in to find. Yes, that is an upside down stool.

"Oh my!" She loves wearing Mommy's shoes.

I love the way she is standing.

She did not want to take pictures in the dress Grandma Sue sent her for Valentine's Day.

Until we let her put on the sunglasses and 'talk' on the phone.

So cool.
Loves the tubby.
This is the outfit she chose for herself so she could push around her doggy and kitty. Tiara, high heels, purse, stroller... perfect.
Playing dress up as Tinkerbell.
Playing dress up with Maddy.
Playing with the computer Grandma and Papa got her for Christmas.
Taking a swig of a cold one... a cold ROOTbeer, duh.
Maybe she thought we were having water problems in the living room? Either way Mommy's wellies are so much fun to wear.
Still one of her favorite games to play...
Lights on, lights off...
Look closely at Bella's face, she is copying the dog.
Playing hide and seek with herself.
Story time with Maddy.
"Sitting" in her chair Grandma and Papi Rogerson got her last year for her birthday.
She didn't want to look through the glass, only through the crack between the wall and the glass.
Pushing her doggy around the zoo.
We went down to Medford get another look at apartments in the area and got to spend a little time with my cousin and her family.
Another good use for Bella's baby doll stroller. Jacob 'pushing' Claire.
Jacob checking out the bug on his arm.

Bella finding Easter eggs at the park by our apartment.

Playing another piggy game with Daddy.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Bella one week early.

Bella was the director of this video. I just found this on my camera. She took it a while ago, but I never saw it. Look at that crazy hair!

Me and two of my friends are taking a photography class. Last week during class we went out and took some action shots of a lacrosse game.

Then we went over to our teacher's son's baseball game. I love the puff of dust coming off the catcher's glove.
It was a stressful game. It reminded me a lot of going to my little brother's games.But it all worked out and they won.
Jen and I were feeling a little adventurous and decided that we should go out and take advantage of some early morning light. We got up before the sun and headed out to the Portland International Rose Test Gardens. Not too many roses at this point, but it was still pretty.
The Amphitheater at the Rose Test Gardens.
One of the only roses we saw.
This flower was crazy. That one purple bud was growing right along the other pink ones.

Bella = Turkey

As many of you may know, we call Bella "Turkey." She is such a little turkey sometimes that the name just seems to fit. Well, last night I was eating a salad with ham and turkey on it and Bella decided that she wanted to help me eat it. I started out giving her ham and for every bite that she wanted she had to say "ham, please" before I would give it to her. Then I asked her if she wanted turkey, she got this funny look on her face like she was a little confused and pointed to herself and said "Turkey?" She thought I was talking about her. It was pretty funny. So I told her that that meat was called turkey too. So when she asked for a bite of turkey she said "turkey too, please." Maybe it's time to give Bella a nickname that isn't food related.

Top 10 Things to do in Portland...

Okay guys, I need some suggestions. For those of you who live here, used to live here or have even visited I would like suggestions of things that we should do while we're here. Dusty informed me that I only have 23 days until we leave for our trip to Connecticut and then we'll only be here for about 3 or 4 days when we get back before we move for good. I want to make sure that I do all (or at least some) the things that are unique to Portland. I'm looking for parks to visit, sites to see, places to eat, shops to go to, walks to take or anything else you think I (we) should do. Even if it seems obvious to you (you think we may have already done it) suggest it anyway, we probably haven't done it. Help me get out of the house and do some fun things. I may even blog about it. Thanks in advance!

Annoying.... but so funny...

Bella is our little turkey, but she's still pretty funny. She knows what she wants and when she wants is and how she wants it done. She has an opinion about EVERYTHING! She is constantly trying to get into my personal space even after I've asked her NOT TO CLIMB ON ME. She loves sitting right in front of me (or even on me), she wants to use my arm to boost herself up onto the bed or couch or chair or... whatever else she can find, and basically be in constant contact with me or Dusty (and on the occasion her favorite mommy-substitute, Jen). She wants to show me how she can climb things, jump off things, slide down things or swing on things. She wants to show me what she's playing with and what each toy can do. She wants to tell us what she's going to have for dinner and then will decide if she really wants to eat it, even if we give her what she's chosen. She likes to push the buttons on her toys that make noise until I can't stand it (if I hear, "you've made a match, look what you've found, you've made a match hear a duck sound, quack quack"... one more time...). All the while she does these little funny things that consistently make me laugh. Her favorite friend's name is Maddy and for the longest time I thought she was calling for Maddy ALL THE TIME, but then realized when she says Mommy, it sounds exactly the same. Now I can tell which is which, but she does still call for Maddy multiple times throughout the day. Her favorite letters are O and P and she some times wanders the house just saying O,P,O,P,O,P... She likes it when new people enter the room, but instead of announcing them she announces herself ("BELLA!" or "Hi Bella"). She wants to know what mommy and daddy are doing and sometimes do the same thing. Yesterday Bella and I were laying in mommy and daddy's bed watching TV and she had to have her blanket over her just like mommy did and then she had to go out to the living room to make sure daddy had his blanket on too ("mommy's blanket, Bella's blanket, daddy's blanket"). She wants to make sure that we know certain things are just for her and usually refers to herself in third person ("Bella's train"). She likes to 'walk' on the ceiling in our apartment (a game we call "spider pig") and she'll go to daddy and just say "Bella piggy" when she wants to play. On occasion she likes to play by herself and when this miraculous event happens she doesn't want you in her room with her. If you try to enter she will tell you to leave ("daddy out" or "daddy no"). She finally knows how to open and close all the inside doors in our apartment. One of her new favorite games is to shut herself in our room and then wait for you to call her or ask where she is so she can "reveal" herself. Of course while she's waiting for you to call her she's standing on the other side of the door yelling "Bella! Bella! Bella!" and will continue to do that until you call her. She loves to wear shoes and likes to put them on herself. She can often be seen with two mismatched shoes, often on the wrong feet. I think she has finally figured out the potty and some times she will come and tell me that she's going to to go the bathroom, but when I ask her if she wants to go to the potty she says "Potty, no. No potty!" She likes to go over to the front door to go to the bathroom, I guess she just wants a little privacy. She also likes to announce to the room that she has tooted. Most often, we already know (she can be quite loud... must take after her daddy...), but in case we didn't hear her she'll tell us ("I toot"). She likes to use the TV remote and turn the TV off while we're watching it. She turns it off and then looks at us, so proud of her accomplishment. She is mastering the art of the "fake cry." I think she thinks that we buy it, but as soon as you can get eye contact she stops crying. So far it's not working in her favor. She likes to repeat what we say to her, often leaving out a few words or syllables. This can lead to some very funny concoctions. These are just a few of the things that Bella does on a daily bases that make me laugh, some times so hard that it makes her laugh and then I laugh harder, then she laughs harder. It can get a little crazy around here.