The many expressions of Bethany

Stink eye

Smirk face

finger painting

who me?

Not sure about all of Charlie's hugs, but I think I'll let him!

Oh Bethany, you are such a funny girl! I laugh at you daily with all your expressions, noises and actions. Your stink eye developed after I was doing that expression when I smelled your poopy diaper which you quickly associated with sitting on the toilet. When we asked if you were stinky you'd make the face and run to the bathroom. Now its expanded to other areas and if you don't like something you might give it or them the stink eye! You have such a beautiful smile but I can never catch it on camera because it is quick and then you're off to the next thing. I hope you continue to wear your heart on your sleeve and let us in to what you're thinking even when we get the stink eye :) I love you baby girl!

Fun with Bethany and Charlie

This weekend our nephew Charlie had his 1st birthday party! It was fun to see him dig into his cake especially since Bethany was so careful with hers. Is that a boy vs. girl thing? It was fun to celebrate with family and eat yummy food and watch Charlie open so many fun gifts. Bethany acted like an old pro and wanted to show Charlie how to open everything first. My Aunt Lynette was so thoughtful and brought Bethany a book so she'd have a present too, isn't that sweet?

Bethany and Charlie had so much fun - especially with the balls in the inflatable pool that my sister got! They were so excited to play in them but Bethany wanted to keep all the balls in the pool while Charlie was trying his best to throw them every which way. I think both of them slept well that night after Charlie's fun day!

Yay, balls!

We went to the Children's Museum awhile ago together and I wished we lived closer because I would get an annual pass. They had some really neat toddler areas and this water area below was fascinating for both of them.

Exploring a tunnel

This concludes another episode of "Fun with Bethany and Charlie", tune in next week for "Adventures with Chicago-land cousins"!

Recent pictures

We went to the 8th floor of Macy's with some other moms from Cross of Glory and ate lunch afterwards on the 12th floor. Bethany enjoyed all of the elf's but didn't enjoy the long lines :) We had hoped to see the puppet show too, but it was sold out and the kids probably wouldn't have made it to the next show!

Gentle touches to cousin Charlie

look at my teeth!

"Cheese"

It's brisk baby

I love my rocking chair that Morfar had as a little boy

The Alamo

a room with a balcony, fun to roam around in

Ready to go exploring

10 months old and summer catch up post

It has been awhile since I've posted so I'm going to attempt to catch up. The last few weekends we have had friends out to the cabin which is always a lot of fun. We had Dan's friends from Mankato there one weekend - usually we go up to the Gjovik's north of Brainerd but this year it worked out better to come to our cabin. It was fun to go boating and for Bethany to meet Asa who is a few weeks younger than her.

Climbing the stairs together.
Here they are playing on the musical table together

Then we had my sister and her family and my parents over. We actually took Charlie on Friday while Amber and Brent went to a wedding and so Bethany and Charlie had some cousin time. Here are some cute pictures from bath time. I was very wet sitting there watching them because they splashed so much!

We went to the State Fair this past week and enjoyed cheese curds, endless cups of milk, Sweet Martha's cookies and Australian battered potatoes. Bethany grabbed one of the cookies while we were darting under cover from a pop up storm and had chocolate everywhere! We also visited the Miracle of Birth center where Bethany got to come face to face with some of the animals we read about in one of her books. She loved seeing the little pigs, sheep and calves.

Labor Day weekend we finally had our Bethel friends out to the cabin. We'd been planning it since before Memorial Day trying to find a weekend where everyone could come. It was a blast! Kevin and Jon both brought their cameras to take some pictures of Bethany and we got a few cute ones I think. When they send them to me I'll be sure to post a few.

I'll do another post of some other pictures over the past month as well, but in the meantime Bethany turned 10 months old! She is learning so many new things like raising her hands by her head when we say How big is Bethany? She claps a lot and sometimes waves too. She definitely knows the meaning of "no" but usually does the no thing and looks at us to see what we will do. I thought we were going to get by, but Bethany has learned to drop things over the edge of her high chair. She eats 3 solid food meals a day and loves to try everything we give her. We play hide and seek and peek-a-boo around corners a lot and she loves it! She loves to be chased too if we crawl after her but usually stops and turns around to try to have us pick her up after awhile. She is standing on her own for longer periods of time and goes between pieces of furniture by taking a step sometimes. I think she'll walk by her 11 month birthday....

She gets sooo excited when she sees people she recognizes, especially us when she hasn't seen us all day or for a few hours. When she is interested in something she'll get quiet and look at it with her big eyes and sometimes make high-pitched noises or squeaks with her mouth slightly open while switching between looking at us and the item of interest. She sleeps very well with 2 solid naps during the day and between 11-12 hours of sleep at night. Very few times does she wake up and need us - mostly she can put herself back to sleep. She loves her books - especially the animal book when we make the sounds. We read a Bible story every night before bed and I can tell she knows its bedtime when she sits on dad's lap in the rocking chair while I read the story. Dan prays and then I cuddle her for a minute or two while she lays her head on my shoulder. Then she lays down in her crib and usually doesn't cry before drifting off to sleep.

Bethany you are at such a fun age where you love mommy and daddy and others too! We love your sweet personality and how you comfort others when they are sad like the kids at daycare or friends at home. We hope you continue to display empathy for those around you. We can't believe that you are standing on your own and feel a little sad that you may be walking soon! That means you are becoming more of a little girl than the tiny baby that we took home from the hospital last fall. We love you so much!
Here are some fun 10 month pictures of Bethany by her monkey:

She looks like a little girl instead of a baby in this picture I think

8 months old

Bethany is a very active little girl! We get comments a lot about how "busy" she is, and "wow, look how energetic she is!" It's true, she is squirmy, wiggly, loud and needless to say, not shy at all. I'm not sure when this stranger anxiety will happen, but Bethany loves to go to anyone who will play with her. We are struggling with this a bit at daycare because Bethany would prefer to have someone walk her around from toy to toy and have a dedicated play person all day. There are other kids, so it would be great if Bethany would be better at self-directed play or perhaps crawl to the toys on her own. She is getting much better at tummy time, but instead of crawling she decides to turn herself to the nearest stable object and pull herself up to standing. Bethany also loves to make funny noises. One sounds like a coughing noise and it is made when she is very excited to see someone or something new, and her mouth and eyes are WIDE open. She is such a funny girl! I also taught her how to make noise with her lips pressed together and blowing so that is also a constant noise. She is getting so good and picking up tiny things and has fed herself Cheerios and pieces of a banana. The lake is a big bathtub for her and she has fun splashing and trying to lean out of our arms to drink it (not allowed). We play "humpty-dumpty" sitting on the dock and now she leans forward to tip off into our arms when we say "fall!" We will see if she starts to get the hang of crawling soon but we are still enjoying the freedom of having her stay in one place :)

We'll have another weigh-in at the end of July with her 9 month appointment, but we went in today to make sure her cough was just a virus (which it is) and they weighed her in fully clothed at 17 lbs! We've just started her in size 3 diapers, although size 2 fits fine too. She still just has the 2 bottom teeth that arrived at 6 months, but her hair is finally growing back in and its blonde. Very fine, but relatively thick hair so it all stands up :)

8 month picture with her monkey

Lots of lake pictures!

cousins

loving the lake!

Father's Day

Hard to get us all looking for family pics, oh well!

Auntie Amber and Bethany

Just me and my dad

Today we had Charlie's dedication at Amber and Brents church and Charlie had a little accident while on stage.... Amber quickly got a blanket to wrap around him but it will be a very memorable dedication! Afterwards we hung out with yummy food and celebrated all of the fathers. Then Dan's parents came over for dinner and we grilled bacon wrapped steak, potatoes, garlic bread and salad. Lots of good food today!

I made Dan a card from Bethany with some recent pictures of her. She loves her daddy so much and I think its cute how excited she gets when she sees him. You are such a great dad to her and I love watching you as you care for her and teach her new things. Thanks for being such a great role model for her - I love you!

Cousin photo shoot

Amber and I decided to get some pictures of Bethany and Charlie together and dressed them in overalls and hoped we could get a few cute shots. They did very well and not only did we get a few of them together, but they had some fun ones by themselves and with all 4 of us! Bethany will be 6 months next week and Charlie 3 months. It will be fun to do this periodically as they grow since they are so close in age.

Vladimira Poopin

Last night we were watching the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver and although I think its really long and boring watching all the different countries parade in, I did feel like I learned a little bit more about Canada. When Russia came through Bethany was really talking so we asked her if she thought she was Russian. Dan said her name could be Vladimira Poopin and she laughed! She's laughed a tiny bit before now, but this time it was very clear - too funny!

I know we haven't posted many pictures recently, so I promise I will get on Dan's computer soon so I can do that. That is the only computer I can post pictures from for some reason. We have some fun ones of Bethany and cousin Charlie together.

Bethany is now in her 3-6 month clothes and they fit pretty well on the length already. I think that will be an ongoing problem that she outgrows her length way before the width. I love to dress her in the cute outfits that we received as gifts; I feel like a little girl again with my "dolly" although this is much more fun! Bethany is now grabbing things and everything goes into her mouth. She loves to bat her toys or pull them towards her while trying to fit them into her mouth. She gets a little surprised when she bonks herself in the head with them!

Happy Valentines Day tomorrow! I'm excited to spend it with my two valentines

Kathryn and her daughter Sophie (1) came over to visit last weekend and while I think both girls were distracted by basketball on TV we had to get a picture of the 4 of us.

Bethany wearing one of her new 3-6 month outfits!

Dan and Bethany came along to a work conference I had in Dallas the first week in February. She did great on both plane rides, only crying a little at the beginning before sleeping during the take-offs and landings. I think all of the other people on the plane (including many of my coworkers from MN who were also on the flight) were glad she was so good!

Bethany at the hotel room in Dallas.

My sister had her baby! Charlie Allen was born on Feb 3rd at 3:40 a.m. weighing 7 lb 9 oz :) He is a little cutie and its been fun to take pictures of Bethany and Charlie together. They are going to have so much fun growing up so close in age!