Halloween Fun

Only days after the excitement of Bella's first birthday, it was time to have more excitement (and more opportunities to consume sugar!). Bella says that she'll need a year to recover from having a birthday & Halloween so close together...luckily for her, she doesn't have a choice.




Always brush your teeth after eating sweets.

One year older and one year wiser

Bella had a wonderful birthday. Of course, she has no other birthdays to compare them to, but she had a great time. She celebrated with lots of family and a couple of friends. She still has yet to take her first step, but she believes that we must celebrate one monumentous occasion at a time. To date, Bella can say about 15-20 words (not counting what she tries to repeat after a person) and she can do about 15 signs. She has learned so much in only one year's time.


The Party:


Bella is not too sure about being the center of attention.


"And just what exactly am I supposed to do with this thing?!?!?"



"So you call this sugar, huh?"



Meet my friend Caroline. She teaches me how to do things, like eating cake and taking care of baby dolls!

The after-party:



The first year pictures:

Go Tigers Go!

Bella's first Memphis football game didn't go how we wanted it, but she had a great time.

It started out waaaay early in the morning, since the game started at 11:00 am, there was a full stadium, and the fair going on at the same time.



By the time we left the house, Bella was fired up!


Bella stopped for a quick nap in the car before the game, but it was a very very brief nap since she was so excited with the new experience.


In the stadium:




She loved looking for Pouncer, so she could wave at him.

Say Hello To My Little Friend(s)

That's right family, friends, and people we've never met before that are reading this for various reasons...we have 2 teeth! Click on one of the pictures to make it bigger, and check out the one little white tooth that made each picture. Since the teeth aren't all the way in, and fairly new, Bella's a little shy about showing them off. However, she's happy about them none-the-less.



Bella was also happy about getting to go to her friend Caroline's birthday party; here are some shots from the party. The last one isn't Bella, but thought it was a fun one of Caroline.

Check Out My Kicks!

Bella got her first "official" pair of shoes. She told us that they help her to run faster and jump higher. They must help her do something because she is all over the place!










The good thing about that, though, is at the end of the day, she looks like this :

9 Month Photo Shoot

It takes hard work to look this good. Okay, not really.

Bella's First Long Trip...and Beach Excursion

We went the 13th to Clayton, NC (just outside of Raleigh) to visit Bella's Grandma & Grandpa (Mark's dad & step-mom). Even though it was a 10 hour car ride, she did very well. Bella loved playing with her Grandpa's beard & petting the dogs.

On Sunday, we took another car ride to Kill Devil Hills in the NC Outer Banks area. (No, we didn't get the "OBX" sticker for our car like every other person that visits the area) Bella wasn't too fond of the ocean; she liked the beach pretty well, but the ocean was another story. She hadn't had a good nap that day, so it probably wasn't the best day to try something new. By the time we had to leave the beach, she was getting used to it.


On Monday, we visited Kitty Hawk and the NC Aquarium.


Even though most of the trip looked like this for Bella...

She still had a great time!