Christmas #2 and Christmas #3

We spent our Christmas morning at home with just the three of us. Bethany loved opening presents, but she wanted to play with everything right after she opened it. We just asked her, "Do you want to play with this or open another present?" She picked open another present for quite some time. That wore off about half way through. I really had to convince her to open the last few presents. Some of them I just opened until she could see what they were and then she finished opening it when she saw what it was.

Bethany got great gifts from everyone. This will really improve our play times. Mommy and Bethany were getting bored with the old toys.

She's not too sure about the paint brushes. This was the best I could do to get to pose with her new shoes. Daddy holding the shoes while she opened another present. This was still towards the beginning.

This is Bethany's gift from Santa. A new kitchen. Notice there are no pictures of her face. She was way too busy exploring the new kitchen.



For our third Christmas we went to my dad's side after we were done opening presents at our house. Bethany was ready to leave after she woke up from her nap (just a couple of hours after we got there). She kept saying, "Bye. Bye-bye." She wanted to get home and play with those presents.

Bethany and Carly each got a Care Bear or as Bethany calls it, a Bear Bear.
Logan in one of the presents from "The Game". Nope, Shane's not wearing anything on his face.

Bethany had to try on Kiersten's boots. Bethany and Logan having fun.

We were supposed to have another Christmas with Shane's family on Christmas Eve, but we decided not go because of the weather. Still, we were pretty pooped with everything we were doing over the Christmas season. I'll be back soon with pictures from Bethany's birthday.

A Visit With Santa

Tonight we took Bethany to the Festival of Lights and to meet Santa. It all went well.

Entering the Festival of Lights.


I wish the pictures weren't so blurry. Bethany was sitting on my lap, so it was hard to hold the camera still.

This was a really cool train.

The Enterprise made a stop at the Village.

There was also an appearance by an X-Wing.

When we saw this, Bethany started making a noise like a horse. It took me a minute to figure out what she was doing. It kind of just sounded like she was fussing about something.
While we were touring the lights she kept asking about Santa, and she was soooo ready to be there while we were driving to Santa's place. She seemed like she was really excited about seeing Santa and said she was going to sit in his lap.

Well, she didn't cry when we came up to him, but all she did was look at him. She wouldn't interact at all, she just stared. She wasn't going in his lap, but she would sit by him, if Daddy was there.

She's still checking him out.

I like the to think this isn't a scared look on her face, but one of awe. It was her first celebrity meeting, and she was just a little tongue tied.I'm glad that she didn't freak out about Santa. That bodes well for Disney World.

Christmas #1

We were hit with a pretty good storm on Friday. Luckily our power didn't go out like so many other people. And the weather hasn't really gotten much better over the weekend. We've had our two church services this weekend cancelled. On one hand, a lot of work had gone into the services and we were really excited for them, but on the other hand, it was nice to just have some time to spend at home. We've gotten so wrapped up in the business of the season, and I'm glad the weather forced us to take it easy today. Too bad our football teams weren't playing.

Here's the tree in our front yard covered with ice. It still looks like this since it hasn't gotten warm enough to melt. This was our street on Friday. That's all ice in the road. Shane still made it to work and was one of the few people there. I said he should have gotten extra credit or something.

On Saturday we had my family here for the first of our Christmases. This was just a smaller gathering with both sets of my grandparents, my parents, and my sister.

Bethany all decked out in a Christmas gift. After she had paraded around, and I said it was time to open another present, she had to take everything off. Earrings, ring, necklace, everything. Then we let someone else open a present, and before we could continue, she had to put it all back on. We'll be getting a lot of use out of this present. Bethany and Grandma playing with one of her favorite presents. She loves blocks. She didn't want me to get her out of bed this morning. She wanted Daddy to do it. But then I mentioned that we could play with her new blocks, and she was ready to pop out of bed that instant.
Another dress-up outfit that will get a lot of use.

The Caramel Thief

In keeping with Christmas tradition, I made some caramels. Shane and I tried to get Bethany to try one the day that I made them, but she would have no part of them. Now I'm sure you're wondering why we didn't just leave well enough alone, and go on peacefully living without Bethany knowing what a caramel was. I don't know why we didn't, I guess I just wanted to share the joy. The second day I got her try one, and there was no going back. She loved them and couldn't get enough.

Well a day or two later, Shane had just left for work, and I was drying my hair in the bathroom. My mommy instict told me I should go check on Bethany, and am I ever glad I did. She was standing next to the island in the kitchen, and she was saying, "Mmmmm. It's good. Mmmmm. Good." Then I noticed the two caramel wrappers sitting in front of her and the whole bowl right there as well. She had grabbed the bowl of the top of the island and just helped herself. Now I make sure the bowl is kept out of reach. But Bethany knows where it is at all times.

This is what we've been doing the past week or so.

Aunt 'Manna brought over her stethescope. Bethany enjoyed playing with it. Despite the fact she looks like she's about to cry. She was just paying very close attention.
Bethany looks mad here, but she wasn't. I think she was just mid-chew. I thought it was so cute that she gave her bear a cracker too.

Mommy and Bethany in our typical self-taken pose.These are some of the attempts of the picture we tried to take for our Christmas card.

Thanksgiving . . . Sort of

Bethany wasn't feeling well over Thanksgiving, so we don't really have too many pictures. It was nice to see family again and eat, but it was not fun having Bethany so crabby. So we have mixed reviews when it comes to our Thanksgiving.

Bethany is feeling better now, though. And she's back to her old self. Just the other while we were baking, in a moment of frustration, she threw an egg on the floor. She didn't want mommy to help her crack it and kept saying, "I do it. I do it." Usually when she reaches her boiling point, whatever she is holding gets thrown. That poor egg didn't stand a chance. So for the next few times we're baking Bethany will be off egg duty.

We've been working on learning Bethany's colors and counting. She does okay with the colors and she even managed to count to 10, but she left out the 8. Much to my surprise, I discovered yesterday that she is able to identify a lot of shapes, and we haven't really worked on that. She's just picked it up from when we play with her shape sorters. She knows circle, square, triangle, heart, and star. Hmm. I wonder what she'll pick up next.

Our pictures from Thanksgiving are very meager due to Bethany not feeling well.

Our little cowgirl on Thanksgiving Day.
This picture was supposed to include Bethany, but all she wanted was to be held by Daddy.

Of course we had to get out the tree right after Thanksgiving. Bethany had a lot of fun helping.

It was nice to tell her to pick up the yellow piece and she knew which one it was.These snowmen have provided lots of entertainment lately. She loves to get them both going at once.
Watching her beloved Woody, in Toy Story, with Daddy.

Another First For Bethany

Bethany's vocabulary has just taken off. Everyday she seems to use a word that I haven't heard her use before. A couple of days ago, I was making some phone calls and needed Bethany to be quiet while I was on the phone. I told her as much and really reiterated the fact that she needed to be quiet. As soon as I got off the phone our conversation went something like this:

Bethany: Mommy? Mommy?
Me: Yes, Bethany.
Bethany: Mommy. Quiet.
Me: Yes, you were very quiet while Mommy was on the phone. Good job.
Bethany: Play cards.
Me: You were playing with your cards while you were quiet.
Bethany: Yeah.

I couldn't believe it. However, the very next phone call I was on, she took my lip gloss and quickly unscrewed the lid. I started chasing her, and she managed to get lip gloss all around her mouth, on her sweater, and on the carpet before I wrestled it out of her hands. I guess we still have a few things to learn when it comes to her phone manners. I did discover that Goo-gone takes MK lip gloss out of carpet.

Here's some problem solving in action. She pushed the chair over all by herself. She loves cookies.

A walking ad for Daddy's company. Sorry about the blurriness. Doesn't she just look like she's got a secret? She probably did.

One of the latest games. Shove all of my stuffed animals in a box with me.

Daddy and Bethany
So Bethany's first was her Christmas program at our Thursday Bible Study. I knew she wouldn't do much because she doesn't really sing with us at home. She just lets us sing and occasionally claps.

Here she was at the beginning of the program. Doesn't she looked thrilled? That expression stayed on her face through two songs.

After a little bit, she decided she could stand up and clap. Still no singing. In this picture she just noticed the microphone above her. She loves microphones.

Finally, she worked up to dancing. Here's the video I took:

What I love is when she spots all the kids behind her. It's almost like she's thinking, "Hey, how did all those kids get back there." Apparently she really likes the song, "Pharaoh, Pharaoh." That figures. I really used to like that song back in the day, but now, not so much. Once you get too much of a good thing, it kind of makes it not so good, like almost unbearable. However, when I asked Bethany if she wanted to sing it yesterday, she got really excited. And she kind of sang along, which was pretty cute. I think I can make the sacrifice for her.

Dirty Dancing in Chicago

Last Saturday was such a great day. Amanda and I went to Chicago and met our cousin, Kelly. We were going to see Dirty Dancing the play/musical and do some shopping. We grew up watching the movie, Dirty Dancing. Kelly was the one who introduced us to it. What's funny is that some of the scenes are completely inappropriate for young girls to be watching. Fortunately, I don't think we had a clue what was going on, we just liked all the dancing. When I heard they had turned the movie into a stage show and they were coming to Chicago, I knew I had to see it. And I knew who needed to be there with me, Amanda and Kelly.

We didn't have as much time as we would have liked to shop, but we did manage a very, very quick trip inside H&M, one of my favorite clothing stores.

On the way to Michigan Ave. I thought it was so cool to see this street just split in half in the air.

Looking up at the Chicago Tribune building.

Part of the Chicago skyline.

As you can tell, it was pretty chilly. It was so sad to think that just a week earlier we had 70 degree temperatures. The show was absolutely fabulous. I enjoyed every minute of it. If you liked the movie, you will love the play. It was great to watch it with other fans of the movie too. You should have heard the audience cheer when Johnny said, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner."

After the show, we were wondering around looking for a bathroom. It's amazing how many things are closed around the theater district at 5:00 on a Saturday. We had passed by a little cafe because it was empty, but as other things we had tried were closed, we made our way back there. It was open and had a bathroom, so that was a plus. We decided to get some dessert and take a little bit more time to chat with Kelly before we parted ways.

As we're sitting there talking, Kelly turned around and then did a double take. She started staring at two ladies who were at the table right behind her. She looks back at us and says in a very excited whisper, "THAT'S BABY!" The actress who played the main character in the play was sitting right there. Kelly got all excited and I thought we were going to have to pick her up off the floor after she passed out. It's a good thing Amanda is a nurse, because I knew she could handle the situation.

After they finished eating, I went up the table and asked if they were who we thought they were. They confirmed what Kelly said and they graciously let us take a picture with them. Another actress in the show was eating right next to us too, so we asked her to be in the picture as well.Here's who everyone is: Me, Kelly, Amanda Leigh Cobb(played Baby), Thea Brooks(in the ensemble), Amanda, and Katlyn Carlson(played Lisa, Baby's sister).

We had such a great day and it's a really good show. If you have a chance to go before it ends in January, do it.

Fun in the Fall Foliage

We took advantage of the last warm day before the weather turned cold, and went outside to play in the leaves. The funny thing is that these leaves aren't even from our tree. Our tree has tiny little yellow leaves that had finally all fallen. They like to come into the house, so I was glad to be done with the leaves. However our neighbor's tree decided Bethany needed an experience playing in the leaves.

Here's the evidence of our fun. Notice that Bethany wouldn't put her arms down in any of the pictures. I guess she didn't like the feel of the leaves.




This is her 'Mommy give me the camera' pose.

Of course, she had to help me sweep/rake the leaves. Most of the time she just pushed the leaves out of the pile I had made.

And, my absolute favorite picture.

I've got another update about my weekend, but you'll have to wait for a couple of days. I don't have time now. Don't they always say to leave your audience wanting more? Here's a hint. "I carried a watermelon."