Birthday party #1 pictures...

Isabella's first birthday party this year was celebrated at Chuck-E-Cheese & the zoo in Fargo. We met my mom, sister, & Kayla's boyfriend Kacey there. It was lots of fun & Isabella seemed to really enjoy it. She liked Chuck-E-Cheese so much that we plan to take her there again this winter & possibly for her birthday next year. She loved the games & I was surprised that the pizza actually tasted good. We had some coupons with so it was pretty cheap to buy lots of tokens for the games which meant we played tons of games. Isabella didn't want to pick out any prizes so my mom and I picked them out. Kacey & Kayla were nice enough to give all their tickets they won to Isabella, but I don't blame them since the prizes aren't anything someone older than 10 would want.

The zoo was lots of fun too, but Isabella ignored most of the animals so she could run down the paths instead. We got her a cute pair of green sunglasses with giraffes on the side, a couple of books about bugs (hopefully it will help her get over her fear of them) & a spider, which is gross, but Isabella loves them.

Again, the pics are not edited or in the correct order. I'm soooo close to being caught up on posting. Woo hoo!

My mom & sister got bellbell a cooking outfit. Super cute! Yes, she's naked...your point?

daddy & princess isabella

One of the presents Isabella got from my mom & sister was a Cinderella outfit. Complete with crown, shoes, & a purse which she thinks is a backpack for some reason. She wore this outfit for 3 days after she got it.

Bellbell running by a peacock. She basically ran the entire time we were at the zoo & didn't pay too much attention to the animals.

Yes, it's a buffalo painted like a tiger. I don't know, so don't ask. I can't remember what they called it, but maybe Doug does.

Also, there's some people standing next to it.;)

Bellbell & daddy checking out the camels/lamas. I don't know my animals very well. What's your damn point?

They had a fenced in area where you could pet/feed goats, or sheep, or whatever they are. Bellbell seemed slightly interested in them, but would not pet any. Thankfully she didn't want to stay there to long because it smelled.

bellbell checking out a tarantula...she hates bugs that fly, but she LOVES spiders...

Isabella picked this present to open first because it was wrapped in pink paper. Again, she's a princess...don't forget that...

yummy bday cupcakes...very, very yummy...thanks grandma!

Bellbell & grandma playing a game.

Bellbell couldn't reach this one very well so she used daddy as a chair.

You are supposed to step on the red buttons on the floor when they light up, but Isabella wasn't quick enough so Doug, my mom, and myself did it for her. ;)

Not birthday pictures...

Bellbell is definitely a princess at heart. There are days when we have to call her princess & if we say her real name she will ignore us until we say princess.

cutest little girl...

Isabella's Play-Doh snowman.

Bellbell & daddy playing piano.

Isabella listening to music.

Is it Christmas already?...

I've posted a bunch of new pictures. Woo hoo! I'm soooo close to finally being caught up. Now that I said that I probably won't post for 6 months, but oh well. Once again, they are not edited & are not in the correct order. Eventually I'll find the time/patience to fix all that, but for now I just wanted to get them on the blog.

Aiden wasn't feeling well in this picture & just wanted me to hold him. I had to get some stuff for Isabella so I put Aiden in his carrier. I decided to take a picture of him because he looked all cute & pathetic. Isabella decided she wanted me to take a picture of her instead & tried to block Aiden out of the picture.

Even when he's sick he smiles.

deep thought...

a princess painting a masterpiece...

Isabella wearing her old Vikings sweatshirt & posing with her blue carebear & russian nesting dolls...

"Whaaaat?" (imagine Doug saying it while swinging his arms above his head)

This is our enactment (is that a word?) of a Britney Spears moment.

Isabella is the bodyguard/entourage yelling at the paparazzi to stop taking pictures. While Britney Spears (me) is still trying to figure out how she dropped her baby again. Poor Sean Preston...

Ok, so we didn't actually try to do this, but after Doug took the pic & I saw it I couldn't stop thinking that this pic looks just like something you would see Britney Spears doing. Too funny...

Meet Audrina...Aiden's twin sister.

I'm joking. April & Kevin know that if I had a boy I would do the same thing to him.

I don't think we could have zipped it up though...

happy to be at the park...

Aiden is not afraid. He will chew on the purple bunny even while Cupid gives him a death stare.

Cupid & Aiden

Is eating one of her finished cookies. She did a very good job. They tasted even better than when I make them. ;)

Bellbell rolling the balls of dough in water and sugar. We made my all time favorite cookies in the entire universe.

BTW, that's a root beer bottle in the background. Just wanted to make sure everyone knows Isabella wasn't drinking beer while baking. ;)

When Isabella helps me cook/bake I let her taste just about everything we are using. Unless, of course, it could make her sick like raw meat. Here's a pick of her tasting the flour while we are baking cookies. If I had let her she would have eaten the flour by the spoonful. I had to tell her SEVERAL times to stop eating the flour. gross...

silly butts...

Even in a crappily taken photo that's not edited you can still see how beautiful Aiden's eyes are. Best eyes ever!

you know Aiden has had too much to drink when he can't pick himself up off the floor...

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

The whole potty training thing sucks. Isabella understand what she's supposed to do, she shows all the signs of being ready. Unfortunately, she doesn't want to do it. She refuses. One day Doug was able to get her to sit on the potty WITHOUT a diaper by letting her eat her pizza in the bathroom. Gross...very gross, but it did get her to sit there for a little bit. No peepee in the potty, but it was a small victory.

Bellbell-194 Mommy & Daddy-negative 193

dancing queen...

i think he's tired...

We took Isabella to the fair this summer. This is, for whatever reason, the only pic I took while we were there. This was also the only ride Isabella was willing to go on. It was an awful choice for her first ride. The truck she is in has a window that she couldn't really see out of & the ride went too fast for little kids her age, in my opinion. After she went around the track twice I had to ask the carnie guy to stop the ride so she could get off. She was terrified. Unfortunately, when she got off the other kid that was on the ride had to get off too. I felt bad that the carnie didn't just let him stay on for longer. Sorry little boy!

I believe that is a ball they are playing with.

We bought and old school nintendo a few months ago. We bought an Elmo game for Isabella that has her match shapes/colors. She loves it & learned what buttons to push right away. On this morning she insisted on playing while eating her breakfast. That's my little multi-tasker.

i don't know how she doesn't fall off the couch like this..

Bellbell has started to play with Aiden. Every now and then she wants him to sit/lay by her. Her biggest thing is holding his hand. Although she tends to hold his hand too tight so I'm trying to teach her to hold it gently.

2 cuties...

Too funny...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-qJaow1Kf0

Well I got a few pics posted...

I was planning on posting a bunch of pictures this afternoon, but Aiden & Isabella decided they hated my plan. Therefore, I was only able to post 3 new pics. I'll get around to posting more in a few days I hope. Later stinky butts!

daddy and isabella putting together a very, very difficult puzzle...since they are both extremely smart they were able to finish it...

putting on some blush...all over her face i guess...