Bridal Shower

Bethany and I went to Rochester for my friend Missy's bridal shower. Bethany was a very good girl through the whole thing, and she got to see her buddy, Layla! Aren't they cute?

Altoids with Daddy

Bethany and her daddy spent quite a bit of time this morning playing with the Altoids tin. What a couple of goofs.

Snack Time

Bethany jumps at every chance to be a big girl, so she's totally into drinking out of her sippy cups. Today she got to use it quite a bit, since her mom forgot to pack a bottle in the diaper bag. Ah well, she didn't mind.

Zoo Revisited

Grandma Miriam is up visiting for the weekend, so we took advantage of my newly acquired zoo membership! Better pictures this round seems how I had a "spotter" for the baby.Waiting for the sea lion to swim by.

Checking out the lazy otter.
Feeding time for the mountain goats.
Saying "hello" to our lemur friend.
Ready to go home.

Lemur

The lemurs were putting on quite the show for Bethany today. We spent a good 20 minutes just watching them run around like crazy.

Zoo Day!

Today was such a beautiful day! Bethany and I got up, bagged a lunch, and headed to the zoo (we took a cue from the Smiths). After a few wonderful hours there, we walked to the park to enjoy our lunch. Then we headed back home for a nap, before spending a lazy afternoon on a blanket in the front yard. Needless to say, Bethany was happily in bed much earlier than normal.

Birthday Wishes

A number of people have been asking me what Bethany wants for her birthday. So, please don't think I'm requesting presents for Bethany, but for those already interested, on the right you'll find Bethany's ongoing birthday wish list.

Story Time

Bethany and Daddy enjoyed a relaxing story together before Bethany headed off to bed. "Fifi the Fish" - which, by the way, is Bethany's new favorite book.

Rainy Day

Bethany has mastered the art of pouting. When we tell her "no", it's amazing how quickly she can make us want to give in. Not only does she show off a super big frown, but she puts her head down in her arms and whines. Honestly, how can you say "no" to this face?I believe this particular incident started because I was trying to bite a grape in half before offering it to her. Not to worry - I promise that immediately after taking these pictures I picked her up for a big hug.

Bethany Walking

Here's the promised video. It appeared sometime in the night.

Walking!!!

We had Mike and Mary over for dinner tonight, and Bethany walked for the first time!!!! Once she took the initial 5 steps safely, she quickly gained courage and made continuous circles between the far couch and coffee table in our living room. What an amazing girl I have. I uploaded a video to YouTube, but it's taking forever. Try clicking on the me on the right hand side of this page and see if you have any success. I'll put it in the blog tomorrow for easy access!

Goofball

What a goofball my baby is.

I love Jonas' toys!

Bethany had a fun afternoon at Aunt Sarah's house. She went through all of Jonas' toys and played with every one of them!

Week Wrap-Up

Well, break is officially over. We took advantage of the snowfall over the weekend to do some sledding. And Bethany and Jonas got their Easter pictures taken on Sunday. They were both very smiley and got some great pictures! It was hard trying to choose just one! Today it was back to school for me, and Bethany was happy to be spending the day with Jonas and Aunt Sarah again. I definitely missed hanging out with her though.

Peek-a-Boo

Not to spoil you, but here's another video. This time it's one of Bethany's favorite games - peek-a-boo. Don't get too hooked on all these posts; I'm on break remember!

Explore and More

Bethany tried to play in the big kid part of the museum, too. They had a cool farm stand, but Bethany was too small to sell food over the counter. She put in a good effort though. She also found a ballerina mirror, but was too busy checking herself out to do much dancing.Finally, she and Jonas took turns hanging out in the toddler tunnel. What goofballs.

Wanderlust

Bethany, Jonas, Aunt Sarah and I all went to the Explore and More Museum today. They have an awesome "culture corner" where the kids can learn about a few different countries. Bethany played bongo drums in South Africa, and then threw off various items of clothing in Mexico, Vietnam, and the Netherlands. Talk about a good time!

Biscuit

Bethany seriously loves these biscuits, and I'm happy to say that she's become significantly neater while eating them. No bib or anything!

Playground

Bethany and I went to the playground today to celebrate the unusually warm weather. Granted, the snow wasn't exactly gone, and the swings weren't up yet, but that doesn't mean we didn't have fun!

Playing Yahtzee

I'm adding this extremely short video we took while in Ohio just because that half-laugh, or whatever it is, cracks me up every time.

Kick off of Spring Break

I'm on spring break, which means an entire week of hanging out with the baby! Yay! We spent our weekend in Ohio visiting Grandpa and Grandma. Bethany ate out, played Yahtzee, and of course got walked around everywhere. She also got to see a bunch of her friends - although she played shy for most of the visit! And at the end of the day, she went to sleep in a box. That's right - we forgot the playpen and put Bethany to bed in a box. If it helps, it was a big box.

Miscellanous Bethany

I'm not sure when or why these pictures were taken, but they're cute... so here you go.

Maracas!

I know you can't see Bethany's face in this video, and that's kind of sad, but here's proof that she does indeed have her father's musical gene.

Cold Day!

Bethany was a very happy girl today. She played with Grandpa a lot, and was having fun being the "big" cousin showing Jonas how to work his exersaucer. She's also gotten in the habit of trying to put his pacifier in his mouth for him, which is quite entertaining to watch!Bethany's trying to keep an eye on Grandpa over my shoulder the picture below. It's one of her favorite games!

McDonald's Play Place

Yesterday we went to McDonald's after church because I thought (wrongly) that they had a ball pit that Bethany could play in. But, I was not deterred, and climbed all they way to the top of the Play House with Bethany. She enjoyed it until we got to the very top and she looked down and saw how far away her daddy was. So we took the fastest way down - the slide. She enjoyed going down, honest! But as soon as we stopped she was crying again to get Matthew to feel sorry for her. What a daddy's girl.

Pebbles Moment

This is my 200th post to this blog!! Today we had fun playing with Bethany's gorgeous hair. I don't think she noticed the new do, but I loved it. I'm thinking we'll have to get the pony tail going for church tomorrow morning.

Chuck E Cheese

Bethany and Jonas went to Chuck E Cheese for lunch today with Uncle Mike and Mary. They had tons of fun, from what I'm told. (Beth's feeling much better, by the way, in case you haven't already guessed.) Anyway, she rode on her first "roller coaster" and played basketball and Mario Kart. How old is this girl?Mike took a video of the roller coaster ride, and I uploaded it to YouTube. Click on the "Me!" under "Bethany's Buddies" there on the right side of this page to go to Beth's YouTube channel and see it.