Happy Halloween!

Bella celebrated her first Halloween today!
I was a little sentimental because it is the last of her "first" holidays
as she will be one next week. :( But we had a great time and here are the pictures to prove it!

Bella was "practicing" her trick-or-treating before her friend, Noa, came over to go out.


It is hard to tell, but Bella's Halloween bag actually says her name on it.
I think she likes it!

Mommy (nurse), Bella (Piglet), and Daddy (Daddy) walking home after a fun-filled night of trick-or-treating. Bella was such a good girl!

Bella was doing "so big" in her Halloween onesie just before bed on Halloween night.

One last Halloween hug for Nena before bedtime!

Boo at the Zoo!

The Down Family headed to Boo at the Zoo this evening with Avery, Cate, Noa, and Wyatt (and all the parents, too!) It was very crowded, but a lot of fun. We tried to get a good shot of all the kids in their costumes, but we weren't very successful. :(

Cate, Noa, Bella, and the man of the evening...Wyatt
Wyatt and Bella holding hands

Group shot...Bella, Wyatt, Cate, Avery, and Noa

I love this picture of Avery's costume...the tail is my favorite part!

Bella, Cate, and Avery

Another group shot...at least they are all in the picture!

The highlight of Bella's evening was popping wheelies down the steps to get to the parking lot. She cracked up each time John popped the stroller up!

Happy Halloween from the Down Family!
(Thanks for taking this picture, Rob!)

Our Interesting Weekend

We had a very interesting 3 day weekend! My mom and I took Bella to visit Gigi on Friday. John and I spent a rainy day playing with Bella on Saturday. Finally, we had an eventful day on Sunday starting with the Halloween Young Run and ending with 3 hours stranded in KFC! Details to follow...

We headed to Solomons Island on Friday. Bella had a great time visiting with Gigi and meeting all of her neighbors! She also LOVED playing on the organ.

John and I got to spend a lot of time playing with Bella on Saturday since it was so rainy outside. She started imitating our fake laugh and John got a cute video of it. I wish there was a way to silence my fake laugh and still be able to hear Bella's laugh. Mine sounds more like a cackle, but Bella's is pretty cute!

We decided to let Bella participate in the annual Halloween Young Run in Rockville. Even though she can't run (or walk for that matter) on her own, she had a great time. She even got her very own Halloween Young Run T-shirt. It's just a tad too big, but she loved wearing it around the house.
The morning of the race...
"Mommy, I need a good breakfast to prepare me for
my first Halloween Young Run!"
It was quite rainy and chilly, so Bella had to wear her new pumpkin coat to the race.
Bella actually walked (holding my hands) for a good portion of the race. She would have liked to walk the whole time, but my back couldn't handle it. Every time I picked her up, she kicked and tried to get down. She loved seeing all of the other kids and wanted to keep up with them. She got to wear her own little number and even earned a ribbon! We couldn't really stop to take pictures because it was so yucky outside, but I convinced John to take one quick shot before heading back to the warmth of the car. Not a pretty picture, but you get the idea!
When we got back to the car, several people told us that our tire was flat. John got out to look at it and sure enough...it was FLAT! We had to pull back into a parking spot and John tried to change it in the rain while I attempted to keep Bella occupied in the car. We ended up calling AAA because the lugnuts were on too tight. The AAA guy had to use this special machine to get them off. We were there for over an hour. Then we had to get new tires put on my car because the spare wasn't so great and my other tires were on their way out. We stopped at Mr. Tire on the way home and they said it would only take 60-90 minutes. By this time, it was lunch time for Bella. So John dropped me and Bella off at KFC (across from Mr. Tire) and I fed Bella her lunch while he took the car back to get new tires. After dropping off the car, John walked back to KFC to have lunch with me and Bella. 60 minutes passed, 90 minutes passed, 120 minutes passed...you get the picture. We were stranded with a baby in KFC for nearly 3 hours! They kept telling us it would only be 10 more minutes, so we never called for help. What a day! We are all home safe, sound, and dry now though and that is what matters!

Butler's Orchard and 11 month Update

John and I took Bella to Butler's Orchard last weekend. We had a blast! Bella LOVED the pumpkins and the hayride.


This is my personal favorite!
Bella was fascinated by the HUGE pumpkins!

Peek-a-"boo!"

I have always thought that Bella looked like John, but I think they look like twins in this picture. Just the way they have the exact same smirk cracks me up. It's like they are both thinking..."Do we really have to take another picture?"
Bella absolutely loved the hayride!
She thought it was like the bathtub and kept trying to "splash" in the hay.
"Hey, I found the perfect pumpkin!
It's a little too heavy for me, but I will try to pick it up."

"Thanks for picking it up for me, Mommy!"
Bella was 11 months old on October 7th. We don't go back to the doctor until she is 1 year, so I tried to do her stats myself. Our scale says she is 24 pounds and I measured her at 31 inches. I will be interested to see how close I am to the actual measurements when we go to the pediatrician next month. She will stand on her own for a few seconds and then go back to holding on to something. She loves to walk around if she is holding someone's hand or a toy (as evidenced below). Bella can say "Mama," "Dada," and "Nena." She says all kinds of other things as well, but we only have guesses about what she is actually trying to say. She still only has her two bottom teeth, but her top ones are trying to come through. We are hoping they will come through soon!