MoRe WoRdS!

Gwen is talking so much now!
She has added these words to her vocabulary:

*Bella (silent Ls)
*Cuddles (the Ls are silent though)
*Ninny for Minnie
*Hey!
*outside (her favorite!)
*move
*go!
*bye-bye (it comes out die-die!)
*see yah
*got yah (that originated @ GWL cuz she was scarred out of her mind of the whole place!)
*Mommy (finally!)
*Aidan (she loves her cousin Aidan!)
*baby
*pretty (comes out tit-ty)
*Doz (for Wizard of Oz)

Wizard of Oz no more!

Bella and I decided that when Gwen went down for a nap today we were going to hide the Wizard of Oz movie case. She is obsessed with that movie and wants to watch nothing else EVER! Paul, Bella & I can't take it anymore! She calls it 'Doz.' I think the reason she is so obsessed with it is because once I could turn her seat around in the car at one year old, that was the movie that Bella was hooked on in the car at the moment. That is just an assumption but.....Bella loved that movie too but not nearly as much as Gwen does! I don't think Bella will ever want to watch it again in her entire life! The 3 of us have the whole movie memorized! When it is playing Gwen sings along (not the actual words) with 'Somewhere over the Rainbow.' She loves the part when the tornado is on and walks around going 'Ha, ha, ha, Ho, ho, ho, Hee, Hee, Hee, Hee, Ho....'

Sisters

Great Wolf Lodge

We went to Great Wolf Lodge overnight last week with Aunty Chris, Uncle Mike, Aunty Mandy, Aidan & Aaron. We had a ball and were exhausted! Gwen was not too sure of the place for about the first 2 hours then she kind of liked it, not as much as I thought she would enjoy it. For the first few hours I was holding her and she was clenching my arm and I kept telling her "I got yah" so for the first 2 hours I was holding her all she kept saying was "Got yah" cuz she was so scared and did not want me to put her down. And I thought Bella would just find it mediocre but she LOVED it & wants to go back!


Paul & girls playing air hockey in the arcade

Bella & I riding a 'roller coaster' ride~that girl loves an adventure!

Girls ready for bed on top bunk (where Bella slept); Gwen slept on the big bed with Paul & I, then just Paul, then just me. I played 'Musical Beds' all night....

Gwen sportin' her 2-piece bikini

Bella & Aidan in hallway holdin' hands

Gwen finally liking the kiddie pool

Aidan , Gwen & Uncle Mike

Nighty-nite Daddy

the 'Wolf Den' in our room

Church Sunday

We went to church a few Sundays ago so Bella could sing at church for Lutheran Schools week. She even walked all the way up the center aisle and then changed her mind; so she ended up in the pew with us. Aidan (& Uncle Mike!) were up there too.


Gwen in her Sunday best dress! We have been really trying hard to attend church more. One week it was divine~Bella was in Sunday School & Gwen went to the nursery...for 15 minutes. She was beat red and blotchy by the time I got there! It was heart-breaking. She went into the nursery for my MOPS meeting once without any difficulty but....Now, she won't go in the nursery without me in there with her. Now, I have to chase her around the whole church because she refuses to even sit still in the pew for one whole minute!

See Aidan & Uncle Mike up there....

Gwen!

Gee, I guess Gwen really wanted those strawberries!

Princess Gwendolyn Anna

Visit with Schiemann's

Due to everyone's busy lives, we have had trouble getting together with friends. So on Sunday, we invited Ben, Michelle, Caden & Cayley over. It was fun! Both of my girls just ate up Cayley! Don't worry, she loved it!

Bella & Cayley

Uncle Ben makin' the kids go crazy!

Gwen & Cayley

Michelle, Cayley & Gwen

My 31st Birthday

My 2 day birthday festivities started on Monday @ my Mom's house. She made me a dinner that I love & requested (roll-ups, breaded green beans, mashed potatoes, 7 -layer salad, blueberry jello & a filled-cupcake cake). It was ALL deelish!

After I decided last year I was not going to celebrate my birthdays anymore, this year actually turned out to be a nice birthday! I took Bella to dance for an hour and then Michelle Upchurch had us over for lunch of Asian chicken noodle salad & Barefoot Contessa lemon pound cake. (let me tell yah, boy did we 'pound' that cake for sure!) She got me a Barefoot Contessa cookbook (my very 1st!). Thanks Michelle!

Then Paul's parents came over and watched the girls while we went to my favorite restaurant (Melting Pot). Nonny bought me a Coldstone cake and Paul & the girls sang to me when we got home. Thanks everyone for making my birthday extra-special!

Bella made me a Play-Doh birthday cake~how sweet! It didn't taste very good though...

Paul's 32nd birthday

We celebrated Paul's birthday 2 days in a row. On day #1, I made him a crab leg dinner at home without the kids here. That was nice! On his actual b-day I made him P.F. Chang's for dinner (chicken lettuce wraps & spicy chicken). Opa, Nonny, Chris, Aidan, Aaron & Aunt Patty (it was so nice to have her here with us to celebrate!) came over for cake. Paul's fav is ice cream cake from Dairy Queen and I let Isabella pick it out (can you tell?)

Weirdly, I took no pics of Paul on his b-day other than the video with him in it. (see below)

Mee-maw Patty & Gwen


Mee-Maw Patty & Bella