I took Bella to her 22-month well-visit on Friday. Normally, kids don't go in at this age, but we missed her 18-month appt. since I didn't call to schedule it in time before we moved. I really like our new doctor's office. I'm used to being there for at least two hours (our old office was always running behind. . . even if our appt. was at 9am). Our appt. on Friday was at 10:45am and we were in and out within an hour. Bella had to get two shots - her second Hep. A shot and the flu shot. She is now caught up until she's five! (with the exception of the flu shot every year). They also gave us a prescription for flouride. I guess our area does not add it in the water, so she has to get a dropper full every day. Another thing I like about this office is that they give me a print-out of everything that happened at the visit. Normally, I'd be scrambling to write down all of Bella's stats, but here they give it to me and also include where she is at on the charts. I really like this. So, here are Bella's new stats:
Weight: 26lbs. 3oz. ~ 54th percentile
Height: 33.75in. ~ 67th percentile
Head Circumference: 18.74in. ~ 62nd percentile
She had fun, one day, building toilet paper towers and knocking them down.
Bella really likes to jump in the puddles after it rains. It hasn't rained here in a while, so I decided to make some puddles for her to play in. She had lots of fun!
Our roses are starting to go away, but here's the new flower that's popped up in our backyard. Really, I thought these plants were dead when I first saw them, but they just needed a little water, some sunlight, and time since they are a fall flower.
Bella is really into bananas all of a sudden. For a while, she hasn't wanted anything to do with them. She must be craving them or something because she just gobbles them up.
We got a Halloween craft in her Sunday school goodie bag, so I thought it would be fun for us to put it together. I put the glue on the pieces and Bella put them where she wanted.
Here's her Jack O' Lantern! LOL!
I didn't get a photo of this, but Bella got some nasty bug bites on her arms - at least six or seven and they blow up really big and red, just like mine. All weekend, she kept saying "itchy, itchy". Poor kid.
We've started doing nightly baths with Bella. The child who wanted nothing to do with baths a couple of months ago now insists on bathing every night. We used to give one every other night or every third night. I don't mind though. . . it's kind of a nice way to wind down the evening with her.
Andy's watching the Bears/Packer game. From his cheers, it sounds like the Packers are doing pretty good right now. I guess I'll go join him and see for myself.
I got a total of 14 inches cut off. I'm going to send my two ponytails to Locks of Love.
Bella went trick-or-treating for the first time this year. I'll admit, I think I enjoyed it just as much as she did. Our town has trick-or-treating on Halloween evening. When I was growing up, it was the Sunday before. . . and in the afternoon - not quite the same. She dressed up as a tiger and really perfected her "roooaaarrr!" I had a hard time keeping her nose and whiskers dark - she kept rubbing her face.
Checking out her costume in the mirror!
Ready to go!
We stopped at the house of a church member and were able to get a family photo!
Bella got the hang of trick-or-treating right away!
One evening this week, Bella was having a fit because she didn't want to eat dinner. She ran out of the kitchen and this is how I found her. It's her new thing that she does when she gets mad. I guess she figures that, since she can't see us, we can't see her. 
It has been so hard to get a photo of Bella this week. As soon as I get the camera out she runs over to me saying "I see! I see!" She really wants to see the photos in the camera and doesn't have the patience to let me take a photo of her first. Here's what I ended up with. 
And this is what happened when I didn't let her see. Mean mommy!
We went to the pumpkin farm with a group from church today. We enjoyed a fun hayride and Bella picked out another pumpkin! The weather was perfect for an afternoon at the farm!
Before heading out for some ice cream, we were looking for Bella's shoes. After we finally found them, we turned around to discover that Bella had already put some shoes on - too bad they were Mama's! 
On Wednesday, my mom's group had a little Halloween party. We got a hand-me-down tiger costume from our church secretary, so that's what Bella dressed up as. Any passerby may have thought we were torturing Bella as we tried to get the costume on her. She wanted nothing to do with it until it was actually on; and then she loved it. We had a good time at the party and when we came back I let her play in the puddles.
Yesterday was another rainy day, so I thought Bella might enjoy painting her pumpkin. She stuck her fingers in the black paint first and that's the only color that ended up on her pumpkin. 
The Halloween festivities will continue into the week with a parade on Tuesday night and trick-or-treating on Wednesday. We'll probably take Bella out to a few houses just for the experience. At the end of the week, I plan to shop for Bella's costume for next year while all the stuff is on clearance. I'm leaning toward something really girly. We'll see!
Most kids like to play with the toys in the toybox. Bella has even more fun with the toybox itself, the lid specifically. She likes to sit and roll around in it. Can't say that I blame her. . . I remember doing the same thing when I was little (this toybox used to be in the room I shared with my sister while we were growing up). It is just me or is Bella looking way too grown up in these pictures?
Whenever it rains, Bella's car collects the water - which she loves to splash all over the place.
We bought her this little scooter at our church yard sale. It was only $2 and she really likes it. 
From these pictures, it looks like she has the hang of the thing, but she hasn't quite figured how to put one leg on and push with the other. She tends to stand on the base and wait for me to push her around the parking lot. Or maybe she secretly knows how to do it and just wants to give me a little workout!
I joined a local mom's group and the first outing I participated in was a trip to a local farm. We went on a hayride, picked out pumpkins, and got some new crayons and a coloring book. Bella had a great time and I enjoyed getting to know some other moms. This is just the beginning of all our Fall fun. Next weekend, we're getting together with another couple who has a little boy a few months older than Bella. They're going to show us another local farm and Bella will probably get another pumpkin. I also know that we're going back to this farm at the beginning of November with a group from church. I love Fall activities. With all these pumpkins, I'm going to have to make some pies and bake some pumpkin seeds.
Sitting on the hayride with her two pumpkins!
The weather took a turn to the chilly side so I had to dig out some of Bella's winter clothes from last season (that still fit). I was trying to take some cute fall photos of her, but she was too busy to look at the camera so I only got two. 
We had a huge victory today. . . Bella went to the nursery at church and didn't cry AT ALL!!! This has never happened before - such an answered prayer! Keeping her in church really isn't a big deal, but I want her to feel comfortable in settings where mom and dad are absent. The downside to all this is that she threw a tantrum tonight when she wanted to go back to the nursery and play. I guess it's either all or nothing with our girl. In other Bella news. . . she's been speaking in more phrases during the past few weeks. Some of the most common ones are:
Our major accomplishment of the week was getting our New Jersey driver's licenses and license plates. I was so nervous about this trip to the DMV. I always get intimidated whenever I have to go and I never enjoy my experiences there. Thankfully, this was a pretty positive experience. It cost us almost $140 to get everything done that needed to be done, but everyone was friendly so that made me feel good. I guess we're official N.J. residents now.
Our fifth anniversary was this past Friday. Andy lined up a couple from church to watch Bella and we went out for a nice dinner, just the two of us. It has been a long time since we've done this and it was so nice. I was a little nervous about how Bella would do with the sitters - we haven't exactly been the best about leaving her with other people. Thankfully, she did so well. It helps that she feels pretty comfortable with this couple. Now if we could just get her comfortable with going to the nursery on Sunday mornings. . .
He also got me a tart burner and some tarts. . . lots of fall scents: pumpkin, cinnamon, and vanilla. I love these scents!
I made him this little photo collage and am going to frame it. I also bought him some cologne (the same fragrance that I gave him on our wedding day). Every time he wears this cologne, it reminds me of our early days of marriage. We both love that smell. 
Earlier in the day. . . trying to get a good picture of me and Bella together
Making paper hats and being silly.
Hands full. . . she is also carrying a tennis ball that is hidden by the purple ball. The kids loves playing with balls!
Playing on the steps of the Christian Education Building
