BC Pizza

Bodie and I met our great grandparents at BC pizza last Friday while we waited for Mailey's birthday party to start.  Bodie actually climbed around a bit.

After he had a little bit of food.  (A lot a bit of food if you want to know the truth.)

This is him taking a break from all the eating to wipe a little pizza sauce off of his head.

I thought it would be funny to make faces while I went down the slide.  

This is a picture of the first time I went down the slide.  I wasn't trying to look scared in this picture.  I really was a little scared.

Bodie - 11 months

Bodie is eleven months old today. He is happy ALL THE TIME. He loves his blankie, is a good eater, and doesn't like to be contained in any way. Yesterday his 4th tooth grew in. He cannot walk yet, actually, he probably could, but he seems a little scared. We love our Bodie-boy and can't believe he's almost a year old.

Play Dates and Photography

This is how Bodie wakes up from his nap.  Just a huge ball of happiness.

Here's a picture of Bodie that I took all by myself.  It's of him drinking out of a "big-boy-cup".  

Here's another picture I took all by myself.  It's of my legs and the camera strap.

I had a friend over this morning for a play date.  She has a little brother who's a little older than Bodie, so he came too.  We all had a really fun time.  Claire and I played dress-up and princesses.  Bodie and Alec played with everything they weren't supposed to.  It was a success with another one planned for next week.  

I'm still not feeling tip-top, so I'm heading to bed early again tonight.  Need to get all the recovery sleep I can before Mailey's birthday party on Friday.

More Pictures From Up North

Here's the three of us playing superhero costume party.  Mailey and Jet are easy to tell.  I am PINK POWDER!  My powers include a pink puff of powder that temporarily blinds any evil-doers.

Mailey and I with our totally cool shades!

Mailey, Jet, and I after Jet made it down the slide at BC Pizza!
  

Mailey and I waiting for Jet to get up enough nerve to come down the slide!

Tuesday-A Special Day

Today is Aunt Heidi's Special Day!  Happy Special Day Aunt Heidi!!!

I got myself dressed for school this morning.  This isn't anything out of the ordinary, but do you see all of the buttons on this shirt?  I did them ALL BY MYSELF!  (Shhh!!  Don't tell me they are a little out of whack!  I don't want to hear it!)

After school I came home and had lunch.  Turkey dog, peas, grapes, and bread and butter.

It was special because Bodie had the EXACT same thing as me!  His favorite:  the peas!

Here's Vladdy.  She's patiently waiting for any leftover turkey dogs that may come her way.  (Lucky for her she got a few pieces.)

I got up from nap not feeling too hot.  Actually, I was feeling quite hot with a fever of 102.  Ended up in bed and asleep by 6.  

Monica's Monday

Monica took the day off on Monday to spend some time with us.  We played CandyLand.

Then Bodie wanted in on the action.

Monica brought over her Easy Bake Oven and we made a birthday treat for Kev.  His birthday is the third.

Monica also helped me make a treat for myself.  

And this is why we've decided that Bodie is too big for his Excersaucer.  He can climb out of it.  Actually, he climbs all the way until his head is almost touching the floor.  Then he drops the rest of the way to the floor with a big klunk.  Then he sits up, claps, and crawls away, so happy that he has escaped.

Nice weekend

We had a really great weekend. Friday night mommy and Monica were able to go to the Red Wings game and watch them win. On Saturday we had lunch at B-Dub's with Kev and Mon, and Amy and Tim. Then it was home for a nap. We had Tacos for dinner and a nice night at home. Today, we played games while Bodie took his morning nap. My favorite game was Duck, Duck, Goose! It was so much fun! We all laughed so hard. The best part is watching mommy and daddy try to drag themselves up off the floor. Then we played with Bodie once he woke up. After our afternoon naps, we went to Chuck E Cheese's along with everyone else in the area. It was a TON of fun and Bodie went down a slide all by himself for the very first time. Sorry, no pictures. We just went to have fun.

Chess

Over the last couple of weeks Daddy has been teaching me how to play chess.  I know all of the names of the different pieces.  This weekend he taught me how each piece moves.

Bodie thinks it's okay for him to play, too.  He has a long way to go to catch up to me.  He still has to learn that they don't go in your mouth.

Visiting EJ!

We headed up north a couple of weeks ago to visit good friends.  Mailey and I did a lot of reading together, and playing.  We were able to meet up with Jet for some superhero costume time, but mommy forgot the camera.  

Gabby entertained Bodie with some story telling.  We headed to a really fun pool about a 1/2 hour away.  Mailey and I were able to have some mom/baby-free time when Mailey's grandpa took us to a basketball game!  That was my favorite part.  A girl's night out.

Oh, and on the way up, we saw this moose sticking out of the back end of a truck!

When?

Mommy: Noel, hurry up so we can get home to see Barack Obama on TV.

Noel: Rock A Bomma?

Mommy: Barack Obama.

Noel: Barack Obama. When is he gonna come to our house and bring presents?

Mommy: Wow! That would be nice!

Noel: It's not gonna happen is it?

I'm SO Funny..... At Least Bodie Thinks So!

Sometimes if mommy is finishing something up and she can't get right to Bodie when he wakes up, she has me go into his room and talk to him and entertain him and stuff.  And boy can I entertain him.   He thinks I'm a great comedian!  Who knew a laundry basket and a big sister could be so funny?

WHITE DAY!

At school today we are talking about the color white.  So far we've had green, brown, and red. Mommy thought I looked so cute in my preppy white shirt that she took a picture.  And I must agree with her:  I am quite cute in this picture.  Oh, and I've been wearing my hair like this for the past several days.  I like it because it keeps my hair out of my face, but it shows how long my hair is......  Just like a princess.  After school today, some of my classmates and I are heading to Jungle Java to have lunch and play for an hour or so.  I'm excited to check it out.  Maybe I'll have some pictures this afternoon.

If I sing this song, Santa will come again soon. Right?

After Christmas I realized that if I sang this song, Santa may get confused about the time of year and come to deliver more gifts.  (It hasn't worked yet, but I try almost every night.)

A Girl in the Snow With Her Dog

One day last week was absolutely perfect to head outside with Vladdy while mommy made lunch.  It wasn't too cold and we didn't have too much snow.  I did learn, however, that I needed to pay attention to where the pool is.  Right after mommy took this picture I kept running straight ahead instead of following the dog and I ran right out onto the cover for the pool. Thank goodness I don't weigh any more than about 30lbs.  The cover held me up long enough to get back to the side.  But I came in crying after that because I was scared.  Mommy was laughing at the thought of all the neighbors listening to her scream, "NOEL- GET OUT OF THE POOL!!" in the dead of winter.

A Note From Mommy.....

Here is a picture of the first time Noel wrote her name in the correct way.  Usually she would just write a random amount of N's O's E's and L's all over the page in varying sizes.  Today she sat down while I was feeding Bodie and said, "I'm gonna color a E."  And she did.  Then the next time I turned around she had the O and L right beside it.  I said, "Isn't there another letter in your name?"  She said, "N!  Up down up."  Then put it in front of the E -backwards of course- but that's great.  (Yes, I know that the E and O are mixed up.  It doesn't matter.)  Noel wrote her name.  ALL BY HERSELF!  At the same time she was doing that, Bodie finished his cereal and I started loading the dishwasher.  I turned to look at Bodie and he was banging his two fists together - very close to the sign for "more".  And I said, "Bodie do you want more?"  And he started banging his fists really fast and laughing.  So I gave him some cheerios and he ate them all up.  Both of my kids were having "firsts" at the same time.  Yay!

This is the very seat that Bodie was sitting in when he signed "more".  Of course he wouldn't do it for me when I asked him to.  At that point he didn't want more.  I know he's wearing a pink bib.  He doesn't care.  His sister LOVES pink and sparkly, and for now he does too.  It's what happens when your big sister is a princess.  Don't tell his grandma Becky he's got the pink bib on.  She'll run out and buy him 7 blue ones just to make up for it.  ;) 

Amazing right?  Vladdy is capable of calming down.  We had a very nice day on Monday and she took the opportunity to relax by the pool.

Here's a cute picture of Bodie playing while I was making him dinner.  He's trying to eat the tire off his new car he got for Christmas.  He will sit in there and play for two hours if I need him to while I'm cleaning.  Luckily for him, I don't clean too often.

A Few Questions

Thinking face.

So, when mommy and Bodie picked me up from school today I had a few questions.  I'll also include the answers mommy gave me.

Noel:  Mommy?  Where does water come from?   

Mommy:  *long pause as mommy decided how in depth she wanted to go with the water cycle.*

She decided to start with the clouds.  She said that water came from the clouds and once they got too full of water, it rained.

Noel:  Oh, that's nice.  I meant the water we drink.

Mommy:  hmm.  Well that water comes from the city and into our house through pipes.  *She didn't get too in depth on how the water we drink comes from clouds, then it falls, then it goes into the ground....blah....blah...

Noel:  Mommy, where do trees come from?

Mommy:  Well.....  They start out as seeds and the seeds are planted into the ground and start to grow.  Some of the seed grows down and that's the roots and some of the seed grows up and up and up.  And after a lot of years, you get a tree.

Noel:  Mommy, what if I want a little tiny tree to start with instead of a seed?

Mommy:  You know, there are some stores that start the seeds for us, then we can go buy a little tiny tree and put it in the ground.

Noel:  Oh, that's nice.  It's nice that stores do that for people.  How do stores know exactly what people want to buy?

Mommy:  This is the question I don't have an answer for.

Noel:  You're the most perfect mommy.  You're just precious.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

                                                                                                       Here's Bodie with his toy from Santa
                                                                                                         Here's me bright and early Christmas morning opening my gifts.  I hadn't gotten to my Sleeping Beauty doll yet, but you can see my hula-hoop.
Bodie and I are currently in the midst of our Christmas Festivus.  So far we have celebrated twice with four more coming this weekend.  We are so grateful to have so many people who we get to celebrate Christmas with and have so much fun over the holiday.  Santa came to our house on Christmas Eve - you guessed it, I was good all year long.  Then a few grandparents came down that afternoon.  Santa brought me a hula-hoop, Barbie cash register, and da-da-da-DAAAAA....... A singing Sleeping Beauty doll.  She is beautiful.  I get to brush her hair, and put her shoes on, and crown on and listen to her sing ALL DAY LONG.  I love her with all the love any little three year old girl could love a princess doll.  She has her own bed in my room.  And I kiss her on the cheek and whisper, "You are SO precious"  into her ear.  Then, I put her to bed.  Then, I get her up, put her shoes on, and start all over again.  She's perfect.  And the best part......  Mailey got the same Sleeping Beauty singing princess doll from Santa.  He must have known that we are best friends or something.  Mailey called me Christmas morning and we had our dolls sing to each other over the phone.  It was so much fun.

Mailey's Visit

                                                                                                               This is the face Gabby made when mommy asked her to smile.
                                                                                                           Mailey and I playing at the mall.
                                                                                                               Mailey and I shopping at the mall.
                                                                                                                          Christmas Pancakes
                                                                                                                     Matching PJs.

A little over a week ago, my best best best friend in the ENTIRE world came down for a visit.  It had been just about 2 months since we had seen each other.  Funny thing, we ended up having the same pajamas.  Then the next morning, daddy made us Christmas shaped pancakes and we went to the mall.  (CHAOS)  Then we just hung out for the rest of the weekend while our mommies took a much deserved break and headed a few miles away to check out IKEA.

Christmas Party

Receiving gift
Singing on stage
my dove mask
Christmas Party

 Today was the day we celebrated Christmas at my school.  All of my classmates did really well.  We did a reenactment of the Carol of the Animals.  I was a dove.  We had doves, and donkeys, and camels, and sheep.  There may have been more, but I can't remember.  Then we showed our parents all of the songs that we've been singing this year.  After that there was a little reception with treats and things.  And SANTA CAME!  He brought us each a present.  I was a little bit scared at first.  But then he called my name and I went right up to get my gift.  But I forgot to say thank you.  When it was time for Santa to leave I took off after him.  He turned around and I gave him a hug and told him thank you.  It was a big improvement from the last few years.  Last year I wouldn't even talk about going near him.  The year before that, daddy had to be in my Santa picture with me......  And I was crying.

Christmas Card Picture

Christmas Card Picture

So, mommy spent about an hour today taking several pictures of Bodie and I to get a good one to put into Christmas cards.  These are a few of them that didn't make the cut!