Bella has been doing so great with potty training. Ever since we've been back from Kentucky, I've been putting her in underwear during the day with a diaper still at night. We had a few accidents at first, but the past few days have gone especially well - she has stayed dry! I've even taken her grocery shopping, to the park, on various errands, etc. and she has never had an accident in public - she also doesn't seem to have a problem with public restrooms. For the past two mornings, she has also woken up dry! While I'm not ready to officially declare her as potty trained, I think we're just about there!!!
These next few photos are from a few weeks ago. I had Bella help me make some banana bread. I usually like to include her in my baking in some way to keep her occupied, though it usually creates more work for me. This time, she was actually very helpful. She stirred and mixed for me and our bread turned out soooo good. And she had lots of fun in the process.
I found a good deal on bubbles so I stocked up for Bella's hippo, which can easily go through a whole bottle of bubbles in one afternoon. Bella loves this toy.
Bella's feet. I painted them for the first time. She was so excited about her "pretty feet. Just like Mama's!"
Here are the ultrasound photos that I promised. The first one was on May 5th when I was 6 wks. 4 days pregnant.
This next one was from June 11th when I was 11 wks. 6 days. The picture is not the greatest. The baby's head is at the left with the feet to the right (blurry because they were moving during the picture). What we saw on the screen was much better.
Andy and Bella accompany me to all of my visits. At the next visit, Bella got confused and asked me, "Where did the TV go?" By TV, she meant the screen that we saw the baby on. Guess she thought we'd be getting another ultrasound. My next dr. appt. is on Aug. 6th and then we have our 20 wk. ultrasound on Aug. 7th. If we were going to find out what we're having, we'd find out on that day. . . but we're going to wait! I thrive on the suspense!
Many people have asked me if Bella knows/understands that we're having another baby. She does. When we ask her where the baby is, she points to my belly. We also moved her old crib to the baby's room and when she saw it she said that it was "Jellybean's (our nickname for the baby) crib." She is a little confused in some regards though because she also thinks that there is a baby in
her belly. I figure that, as mine gets bigger and bigger while hers stays the same, she'll start to figure it out.
BIG GIRL BED 
WASHING DISHES 
I took Bella blackberry picking with some friends on Wednesday. It was hot, but we got some delicious blackberries (or 'libraries' as Bella called them). 
Bella ate quite a few when we got home.
And then we made a pie together!
What a great little baker!
Tomorrow morning, we're off for Texas! My side of the family is all meeting up at my brother and sister-in-law's house. We get to meet our niece! Bella can't wait to see Sydney. She talks on and on about holding her and feeding her. She's also pretty excited about getting on an airplane and "flying in the sky". Guess I better get packing!
The family that we got together with has an 11 yr. old daughter, Jamie, who Bella thinks is the absolute coolest! 
After some hours on the beach, we headed out to the boardwalk. Bella ended up falling asleep on this tram. The sun and the water really wore her out. 
A few rides perked her up. She went on a carousel, little boats, flying elephants, and a truck.
We ended the night around 9pm and then headed home for church the next morning. After church, we were off to the shore again - this time to Long Beach Island - to stay at the shore home of a different family from church. We got a few more beach photos. 
And. . . here I am at 20 weeks pregnant. 
I religiously took a photo of Bella next to her teddy bear each month during her first year of life. I finally got around to doing something with them.
This may not be news to some, but I wanted to make an official annoucement on the blog that we're pregnant! I'm currently 17 weeks. I've had two ultrasounds now that I'll try to get up here at some point. As you can see, our due date is Christmas Eve - kind of a busy day for my pastor husband. We just think that God has a sense of humor. About a week ago, I started feeling the baby move. I love that feeling! So far, everything has been going great and we pray that it continues!
Another fun summer activity that we've been doing is water balloons. Bella enjoys trying to pop them. 
I only fill them with a small bit of water to make it more of a challenge for her. 
I can happily say that Bella seems to have passed through her monster phase - at least for now. The past week and a half have been so much better! In retrospect, I think there was a lot going on that left her feeling out of control which caused her to act up more than usual. We were in Wisconsin for two weeks. After we were home for a week, Daddy left for a week. A couple of days after he came home, we left for Kentucky. In a month's time, she was apart from Andy for three out of the four weeks. They needed a little rebonding time - a couple trips to the park, shopping for new shoes, and a little Taco Bell seemed to do the trick. It seemed that once Bella and Daddy were back on track again, her behavior got a lot better. I am so thankful! 
