Work Work Work

All in a days work! I love watching her brain process different tasks. I also find it amazing that all babies and toddlers progress in a similar fashion!

First is stacking and then lining up objects. I am sure that I will be entering in the terrible twos soon.

I have to wonder though if she will even go through them because she has always been a little early on things... Maybe she went through them at 1 yr because that was a rough time!!

One can wish!

Sara

Missing Belle

So while away on vacation in Durango Colorado, my mom and dad watched Belle. Of course I missed her so I asked my mom for a picture.... She sends me the first pic where it looks like she had been living in the wild for her entire life and sleeps with the wolves! Thanks mom :)

Then later that day my dad sends me the cleaned up pic and all faith has been restored!

No matter what she looked like I know that she had fun! She keeps talking about gra (she still cant say grandma) and papa. She evens talks about the dogs and wants to give them cookies.

It's so nice to know that Belle has two wonderful sets of grandparents that she feels comfortable enough to be around without me and Nate.

The time away is always nice but after a day I am missing and wishing that Belle was there to experience everything with us. Maybe when she gets a little older we can travel much more together!

Sara

Getaway

Nate and I are on a little getaway sans Belle for a friends wedding. My heart is aching to hold her but I am enjoying devoting all my attention to Nate.

It's crazy how much free time I feel that I have without Belle around! I miss that little bug.

We both got an amazing Elk steak dinner and a full night of sleep. Of course I woke up several times feeling like something was missing but then I quickly crashed back to sleep.

Onto hikes and some brewery beer.... Because we can.

Sara

Growth Spurt

I can always tell when Belle is about to have a huge mental growth spurt. Her sleep turns to crap and she runs, runs, runs, and her brain never shuts off!

She said her first sentence the other day, "Ouch. That hurted." and it was way too cute for words. Lately she just babbles complete nonsense and then randomly throws in a few intelligible words. She appears to like telling other kids around the neighborhood "no" when they are doing something wrong. I have a feeling she will become the watch dog :) I might have to reel her in that way she doesn't become too bossy!

I can't wait to figure out what mental leap she will be taking. Maybe it will be completely memorizing the rest of her favorite book, Hop on Pop.... just maybe.

Well her little nap is up so let the rest of the day move on!

Sara

Brazil Needs Change

Even though we have moved back to the US I still feel connected to Brazil. I enjoy keeping up with the news and future events that are going to be held in the coming months and years. Nate and I have always talked about how amazing the country could be and the potential makes you sick when you see it first hand. One of the most beautiful places you could ever visit but the effort put into the country doesn't match the physical beauty.

Check out the video below to see that riots are now happening to hopefully make some changes! I am interested to see how far this will go and if anything will change as a result.

Sara

Busy Bee

We just finished a weekend garage sale and we are all exhausted! The neighborhood decided to pull together and make a huge garage sale.

All the kids ran around from house to house as we struggled to stave off heat exhaustion. By the end of it all everyone had decided that march would have been a better time to do this!

Despite the heat all of us managed to sell almost everything!!! Success :)

Now we are gearing up for a little get away while my family watches Belle! I am super excited to spend a few days with Nate and happy for Belle to bond even more with my mom and dad. Maybe she will finally say Grandma correctly?!

Sara

Picasso

I am trying to bring out Belles creative side without being to crazy messy!

Water colors are perfect! We learn colors and we get to be creative. Right now she loves it and its the first thing she wants to do in the morning.

We head outside, her with juice and me with coffee and start painting! I love it :)

She just amazes me everyday! Love this kid!

Sara

Fun in the Sun

Lately we have been outside as much as possible and in the water as much as possible! Each day we meet new friends and find more things to do!! This summer is really proving to be the best yet!

Sara

Cleaning

We closed on the house March 11 and it's not even June yet and I am sick of cleaning! Toilets mostly and I am sure you can guess why. I mean, who loves cleaning a nasty toilet?

I do have to say that transitioning from my house being super clean ALL the time to it being clean most of the time is challenging. I feel the stress to constantly clean because that is what I have become accustom to the past three and a half years! I miss Claudia and Rosa!!

For example I had in my head that I would only have to dust the house once a week. WRONG. I don't do it more than once but a few days after I do dust it's already collecting on everything. It annoys me!

The dishes are never ending as well as the laundry. I find that I don't like unloading the dish washer so much that I will hand wash the dirty dishes before unloading the clean ones to make room for the dirty. I also dislike putting laundry away. It usually gets done in a mad dash right before Nate comes home otherwise I would let it sit on the couch forever!

My favorite cleaning activity is vacuuming and I do it probably three times a week for the entire house. Baseboards, windows, blinds, and the refrigerator are clean when I see it dirty. For example, yesterday I found chalk all over the wall and baseboards so the walls got cleaned and the baseboards with the Magic Eraser sponge. If you have kids and don't use this device you are working too hard! This thing gets everything!

Hopefully once all the boxes are unpacked and random things have homes then the house will just appear cleaner. Right?

Sara

Day in Belles Shoes

I only missed the water balloon party.... Lets just say she had a great day :)

Sara