our little corner of the world

1. Daddy's done taking the Bar. Meaning, Daddy's back!
2. We're (pretty much) moved into our apartment. Our bed frame may be up against a wall, I may not have located half my kitchen appliances, but we're in.
3. I'm obsessed with Dole Sensation Watermelon juice. Belle's obsessed with watermelon.
4. Speaking of the princess, she's also obsessed with shoes. Totally. The first thing she does in the morning is locate a pair and ask to have them put on, please (she signs "please" whenever she wants something, making her even more irresistable than before). Note that in the above photo she's both wearing a pair and requesting that a new pair be put on. It's never ending. She also insists that we are wearing shoes at all times. If she spots bare feet, she'll locate the appropriate pair of shoes and start doing the please dance until you comply.
5. Also, the apartment has a playground. And lots of grass. In other words, we just moved into that little place called Heaven...

here comes the sun

The other day I noticed Belle playing 

just where the sun met the floor. 

And for once, 

I had the camera near when I needed it.

 And yes, she is obsessed with shoes, 

as any proper lady should be. 

total suckers

So whenever we find a dying bird, we have this uncanny need to SAVE IT. This is the third sparrow my sister has brought home. And so far, it looks like this is the one that is going to survive. This little lady (apparently they've determined it's female) lives on a diet of mushed up egg yolks (cannibal bird?) and dog food.

Isn't she adorable? I don't know what they're putting in dog food these days, but our little feathered friend is thriving.

Now, what to do with a pet sparrow?

By the way, it is not illegal to harbor sparrows or starlings. They are, in fact, "nuisance birds," and it does the native birds a favor to keep a few indoors.

weeeeee!

She makes sliding look like possibly the most fun thing in the world, no?

for those of you

For those of you who do the yogurt trick, that one where you pretend that eating a yogurt is just as good as a delicious piece of chocolate cake (it so doesn't work does it?), try Yoplait's Red Velvet Cake variety. I was skeptical at first - I mean, a cake in a yogurt? But yum, yum,  yummy. It's no Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake, but it has far less calories and works as well as any cake avoiding trick I know. (Meaning that most tricks don't work. Let's be honest.)

For those of you who don't have to count calories, please go try Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake. And eat a piece for me. Heaven. (Seriously - just click that link. And try resisting.) And for those of you who aren't near a Cheesecake Factory, my condolences.

For those of you who like salt and vinegar potato chips, try Lay's Dill Pickle version (really similar - with a little extra flavor to go with all that salt). I thought my sister-in-law was nuts - eating chips flavored like pickles. Ew? But it's one of those things where you try one, and you can't stop. The salt may be burning a hole through your tongue, yet your hand just keeps dipping into that bag of salty goodness. 

 

For those of you (like me) who are obsessed with Johnson's Bedtime Bath soap - Belle will be bathed in it until she's thirty - try Johnson's Melt Away Stress Moisturizer. Yes, I realize that they just re-packaged the scent into an adult container, but I FELL FOR IT. AND I SMELL DELICIOUS. 

 

And for those of you who forgot how stinking cute this kid is...

 

then and now

So if Annabelle is just casually walking around, especially when she's curious about something, she's taken to holding her hands behind her back. I love how she looks all nonchalant, like, "Hey, don't mind me. Just checking things out." It's ridiculously cute, and her Grandpa Cheney is particularly in love with it because he did it too. Grandma Cheney tracked down this photo of a little Grandpa. Not only does he look adorable, but I love the pure nostalgia of the photo. Check out the car crawling by behind him.

And because babies are incredibly cute during any decade, a few more:

one of the girls

When Annabelle's Aunt Courtney had some friends over to play, Belle followed them around like a puppy dog (and they were so sweet to let her). She loves doing whatever the big kids are doing, especially if the big kids happen to be a gaggle of girls. When the girls went out to eat some pizza, they were nice enough to let Belle accompany them. I looked out the window to see her sitting in their circle, munching on bits of pizza, just like one of the girls. 

I think it's perfectly adorable. I have three sisters, and they are my best friends. With our mama, we make possibly the best group of women ever.  And watching her follow these girls around, giggling when they giggled, playing the games they were playing, I decided she really needs a sister. Because they are seriously the best.

Now if only someone could do something about that whole being pregnant thing. Because I think I have to do that again to give her a chance at a sister. Dang. It. :)

out and about

So we spent a few days up near Bear Lake for a family reunion. The lodge we stayed at looked out on to a huge grassy area that featured a playground and volleyball court. When we got there, I set her free on the grassy field, and our little outside bug went crazy. She ran and played, tripping every other step, but never caring. When she had to come in to eat or sleep or something so unnecessary like that, she'd kick and scream. And watching our bug out there made me realize that a back yard is not a preference for us, but a must.

just horsin' around

Belle loves loves dogs. And apparently all other animals. 

The girl has no fear - as soon as I walked up to these pretty ponies, 

she grabbed the horse's snout and gave it a few pats.

We didn't ride, but I'm pretty sure she would've been 

happy to trot around on one of these oversized dogs.

happy baby

There are few things in this world 

that make this baby as happy as 

running around outside. 

Similarly, there are few things 

that make this baby more unhappy 

than telling her she's nearing

heat stroke 

and has to come inside.

for those of you

For those of you who might be trying to switch your kid from the bottle (or breast) to the sippy and are having only small amounts of luck, try Nuk's Learner sippy. The folks at Nuk did something magic to this little five ounce container of wonder - it's the only sippy she'll drink milk out of. In other words, it wouldn't be more valuable to me if it were glazed in gold.

For those of you like Flamin' Hot Cheetos, try the Cheetos Mighty Zingers Cheddar  & Salsa Picante. Not as flamin', but super delicious. Really good for my weight loss efforts too.

For those of you who want a super cute "poopy pouch," check out these super easy patterns. Because I'm about as handy with a sewing machine as I am at hitting a golf ball with a club, I'm recruiting my super talented sister-in-law to help me. (Read: to make it for me.) I'm packing less and less in the diaper bag these days, so it will be handy to just throw this in whatever I'm carrying.

For those of you who were looking for pictures of a baby practicing her sweet ninja moves, you're welcome. :)

at the top

Silver Lake is nestled at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon. It's surrounded by a lovely boardwalk, which makes it the perfect "hike" for a girl who's just realizing that her feet can take her running away from mama. Watching her run, swing her arms around as she pointed at every little thing, and try to jump into the marsh, we remembered how much our pink-nosed girl loves the outside. We felt a little bad that we've kept her cooped up so much recently.

 

This is one of the biggest reasons we moved back to Utah. Next to having an aunt or grandma on hand at any moment in time, our mountains were calling us. And we're so glad they call to Belle as well.