3 Year Old Conducting the 4th Movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony

I know this has gone around a little bit, but just had to put it up here. Too cute and too funny!

Our Little Cheerleader

Makaela usually loves to be thrown in the air. She picks and chooses her days when she like it and doesn't like it. Recently she started to throw her arms out to the side every time she was in the air, and not long after that she added her legs to that. Looked like she was doing toe-touches in the air. Couldn't resist taking a video :)

9 Months!!

Yesterday, we got to go see Makaela's doctor for her 9 month well baby check up!! I also scheduled her 1 year appointment--1 year--C.R.A.Z.Y.!!! I can't believe that we are that close already! Anyway, so Makaela is growing--out, but not up much :) She was 17 pounds, 4.5 ounces taking her up to the 20th percentile for her weight! And she was 26 1/2 inches long, taking her down to the 10th percentile. The doctor said she is just small and everything is very proportionate so he is not concerned. It was fun to look through the list of activities they will do in the 9-12 month range and see that she is doing all but 2 of them (well 1 1/2 kindof). One said that she may try to take a first step or two which she has not tried to do. The other said that she may start to say "mama" and "dada". She is kindof doing that, although not actually associating it with us. But everything else she is doing--most recently cruising around furniture!

Going back to the whole "mama" and "dada" thing--most of what comes out of her mouth is "guh". Occasionally she does utter sounds that sound like "mama" and she will occasionally say "da" as part of "dada". Sometimes even after Nathan sas "say dada" she will say "da". But there is one thing she knows for sure--and thats the dog. We've talked before about how much Makaela loves Bella, but now she tries her hardest to say "dog". It still comes out "guh" buts its a VERY definitive "guh". When she see's Bella she says "guh". When we say "Makaela, say dog" she says "guh" with much excitement and gusto! She knows dog but she just has not put together the right consonants yet :)

She loves--all fruit except Bananas. She liked them at first, but not currently a huge fan. She loves all veggies except for Avocado--which she did enjoy at one point. I think she is just getting picky :) She obviously loves Bella :) She loves to follow us anywhere we go. She loves strangers (uh-oh). She loves everyone at church. She loves to play peek a boo. And she loves lots of other things too--mind is just drawing a blank at this point.

Anyway, just wanted to update you on her stats :) Video of our little cheerleader coming soon :)

Trip to Cali

Last week Makaela and I enjoyed a short, busy and fun filled trip down to California. My parents were very gracious and they got me a ticket to come down and see them...and so they could also see Makaela :) We had such a wonderful time with them! It was far too short--but I'm sure it will always feel like its too short. Makaela actually got to see most of her aunts and uncles which was so much fun! She even introduced some of them to Chick-fil-A. She's such a good niece :) She also got to play with her 2 cousins on the Board side. It was so much fun to see her interact with them now that she's more interactive. Emma is 2 1/2 and Addy is 6 months and she had fun with them--for the most part. Toward the end when she was real tired and probably ready for some sense of stability to life again, she did not enjoy her cousins playing with her. She definitely had only child syndrome--but we aren't planning on changing that for a little while yet. For now, she will just have to learn to play nice with the kids around church and hopefully Christmas will be better! We are so excited to be back down there in just a month and a half or so! Time will fly, we are sure and we are eagerly anticipating time with both of our families!! Here are some pics and videos of our trip :)

Makaela Loved the Star Music Toy at Grandma and Grandpa's

Spending time with Great Grandma Helen

Grandma and Grandpa with their 3 grandgirls. Waiting for some boys to come along.

Ahem, Nathan Board needs to get on that :)

Hangin with nana Karen at Chick Fil A

With Auntie Alicia. She's providing grandbaby # 8 and girl # 5. Girls are winning :)

Makaela lovin' on herself in the mirror. Her face is a combination of squealing excitement with screaming frustration out of tiredness and lack of stability/schedule. Fun times :)

Uncle nate--He's the one who we're waiting on for some nieces and nephews :)

Darren's two girls Addy (6 months) and Emma 2 1/2.

So, here Darren and I decided to try and get a picture with all 3 girls. We have 1, Emma, who will sit still for a picture and smile at the camera. We have 2, Addy who is learning so much that she is enthralled with everything around her. We have 3, Makaela, who is faster than the speed of light and to get her to sit still without crawling to me for a picture is a miracle. Darren got a different angle of this shot, but I think for now we both failed at getting on with all 3 girls looking at us smiling that wasn't blurry :) So for now, this is as good as it gets.

One last thing, a video of Makaela with the star toy at grandma and grandpas. :) Thanks mom and dad for the trip and can't wait to see you at Christmas!!

Bella Vs. Nathan

So this video--well--back when we lived in Cali, Nathan used to play with Bella under the blanket all the time (which also meant I was washing the blanket all the time). We were a little less strict about Bella being on our couches at that time, however, the new (to us) couch she has not been allowed on. But in this particular instance, I couldn't stop it from happening. I also realize its very contradictory to tell Bella to "get down" and then tell her to "get him". I just gave up and let it happen. I'm sure she enjoyed the interaction :) Her whole goal is to get to Nathan's head which he is keeping mostly well covered. She did catch a break and got her little nose in there at which point Nathan started saying "OH GROSS! OH GROSS!"

Bella Vs. the Curtain

Yes, thats right, the curtain. As usual, I did not get the camera fast enough to catch the ferocious barking, but I did catch some of the growling. The vents are in our floor, and consequently when the heater comes on, the air blew our curtains out. Bella at first was laying on her bed--sleeping. But as usual, her 6th sense (the one that lets her know she's afraid of EVERYTHING) kicked in and she got up and started growling and barking at the curtain!
The noise at the beginning of the video is the episode of Dancing with the Stars that we were currenty talking about. I think I should just develop a once for all title for posts about Bella. Any ideas?

Our Lip Smacker

One day, Makaela just up and stated smacking her lips. She did it A LOT during the little breaks from drinking her bottle, but there were a few days where she was smacking almost non stop for most of the day! It was her most recent new trick :)

Kisses for Mom

Makaela LOVES to give kisses (oh great!!). So far, she only kisses people whe they are holding them. Sometimes they have to ask for them--but sometimes she just goes for it. It's so cute. But, why in the world do they always start off their kisses with big ol' wide open mouths?? I know she sees our lips puckered when we kis her so why the big ol' mouth, I don't know. And sometimes she has to think long and hard before she decides to go in for the kill :) Here are a few videos :)

Our Love Bug

I discovered that nearly every little girl spends her first halloween as a ladybug :) They are just so darn cute that way though that the whole world has to do that! :) So much for origiality! Cuteness is a different factor :) Here are a few pics from Halloween. We didn't go out--we decided that we'd feel a little silly trick-or-treating with an 8 month old who was clearly not going to be eating the candy. Instead we went to the local Fred Meyer to kill time and hopefully avoid having lots of activity at our house. Turns out our neighborhood is not as desirable a place to trick-or-treat. The candy would probably be lame in comparison to some other neighborhoods in the area--true story. :)

Our Little Love Bug

Makaela loves to smile for the camera, however, she was a bit confused to see the blinking light on the camera with no one standing behind it. Hence--confused look and no smile :)

Hello Fall, welcome to our home :)

Well, fall has finally found its way into our home :) It has take a little while, but the brisk weather and the combination of sunshine an rain inspired me to get those last few fall decorations taken care of :) I am a little disappointed, however, because I feel like I've scoured the earth to find gords and with no success! There is I might go to 1 or 2 other grocery stores, but I might just be too late. I have seen LOTS of squash, but none of the gords that have the shape of little yellow squash. But fear not, I will continue my search and hopefully come out victorious! In the meantime, I got some pumpkins and cut out the middle so I could insert little "pumpkin spice" candles. I saw this idea from my dear friend, Lisa, a few years ago and just loved it! Now the smell of spice pumpkin and cinnamon are fillng our house--and shortly the smell of pumpkin chocolate chips shall be joining the sweet aroma in our home. I just love fall :)