Wordless Wednesday

Bumps, Books and Brownies.

What an eventful night at the Anderson home!

First, Bella and Ty were playing too rowdy and Bella accidentally opened the door (not knowing that Ty was standing right behind it) and whacked the poor little guy in the head. What followed was a combination of screaming, crying and the instant appearance of a bruised and swollen goose egg on his little forehead. I have a feeling this is only the beginning of having a little boy.....but he's my tough little warrior, and he's doing better now. A little Tylenol, ice and cuddling did the trick.

The evening progressed as normal after dinner with the kids playing in the playroom, and Bella taking charge of her "classroom". She makes anyone who is in the playroom sit down for "circle time" (she learned that at Pre-School) and then she puts a little seat at the top of some stairs so that she looks like the teacher. She then proceeds to either sing a song to her "class" or read a book. Tonight, Tyler was the student in her captive audience and she read him Bearenstein Bears. I honestly think she has a knack for being a teacher!

And finally, Ty went to bed and Bella and I baked some brownies together.

To say the least- I am exhausted! Its been one of those busy days of cleaning the house, laundry, running errands, working out, playing with the kids, taking them to swim lessons, bumps on the head, books and brownies.

But I wouldn't trade it for anything :-)

What Happens When Aunt Bri Babysits...

We had the joy and pleasure of watching out sweet little Allie last night so her mom and dad could have a date night together. Tyler flirted with her all night long, and Bella just wanted to play dress up with her. So we had a little fun and dressed her up in all sorts of princess and ballerina costumes! She looked like a little angel....and Ty sure thought so too! :-)
Come back soon Allie- we love you! XOXO

Funniest. Picture. Ever.

Ok- I'm sorry, but this is hilarious.

Bella and Tyler wrestle and play together all the time, but this was the best shot I've gotten! In some weird game of dodgeball, Bella had Tyler trapped on the couch in the playroom, and she ran in to make her hit...poor Ty screamed and put his hands up in self-defense but he was at her mercy!

I got this shot that shows the sheer joy (and terror!) on Ty's face. I still laugh when I look at it. It's so hard being the little brother! I bet he's plotting his revenge for when he's much bigger, taller and stronger than his big sister....Bella better watch out!

Priceless!

(PS. If you click on the pic, it might make it bigger to better see Ty's face!)

Still Growing!

Thankfully, Bella's flowers are still growing! We were pleasantly surprised to see they have grown even more over the past day! Funny thing is, they actually start to grow leaning in towards where the sun is pointing, so they were starting to bend a little and we had to turn them to face the sun from a different angle. Isabella has done a great job of watering them....hopefully we'll start to see flower buds soon!

Tried To Get A Stellan Picture....

I had good intentions, but the pictures are a disaster.

First, I wanted to kids to wear orange, but to my surprise- Bella doesn't have anything orange! Weird. An orangish-pinkish dress will have to do. So then I tried to get the kids to sit down with a sign for Stellan, but my efforts were met by two cranky and distracted kids. In the above picture, Bella was trying to look around me to see Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on tv.....

...then in this picture, Bella is totally uninterested and Tyler decides to bolt from his seat to go dunk his soccer ball in the basketball hoop (really, any ball will do for him!).......

...and finally I get the two of them to sit still and this is what I get! Both look annoyed and distracted, and Bella has a lovely pout on her face with a double chin.

Splendid.

Oh well- my intentions were to express our love and prayers for baby Stellan! I suppose God doesn't care too much about how the pictures turn out ;-)

The Many Faces of Isabella Jade

Bella is her mothers' daughter....for sure.

You know what happens when you are a rambunctious, hyper, overly-creative, singing, dancing, and non-stop talking little 3 year old?? ! You end up having a little girl that's just like you! It's my mom's turn to just sit back and laugh now as she watches Bella dance around the room, making up songs and asking a million questions about everything. It used to be me doing that same thing when I was 3. In fact, my mom has multiple moments of deja vu' as she watches Bella grow. She is so much like me when I was that age- its scary.

Although she is normally very uncooperative when I want to take pictures, some days she loves it and hams it up for the camera. Here are just a few of my little sunshine.

And yes, that is a butterfly tattoo on her arm....she got it at gymnastics and refused to wash it off!

Prayer Request....

If you haven't read MckMama's blog before...then you've been missing out. I admire her passion, her gift for writing, her zest for life as a mother, her creativity, her photography talent.....but most of all, I admire that in the midst of a storm- her brand new baby facing life threatening heart surgery- she stand in complete and utter praise for the Lord.

She could lose her son! No one has ever seen his particular type of heart condition before...in fact- he wasn't even supposed to live past birth! But now she holds vigil at his bedside in the ICU (with 3 other children at home, mind you), and still looks to Jesus and praises Him without ceasing.

That is such a gut-check for me.

Tomorrow, her little boy will be undergoing a very fragile heart procedure. If you are reading this, please take a minute to lift her in prayer. Pray for wisdom for the doctors, pray for peace for Jennifer (McK Mama) and pray for a miracle for Stellan.

I will definitely be in prayer tonight and tomorrow......while I squeeze my two beautiful and healthy children that God has (unfairly and undeservedly) blessed me with.

Lord, be near.

Something's Growing!

Yay!

We woke up this morning to something growing in Bella's little flower pot project! You should have seen the look on her precious little face when she saw the little sprouts...too cute! She is so excited...and I'm actually a little excited (and relieved!) too, because she has been talking about it and checking on it all day long since planting the little seeds. For a minute, I was worried that nothing would grow, and then deal with a disappointed 3 year old. But the little plant is proving me wrong! Thank you 99 cent isle at Target!!

Picture of the Day

ZiZi

The other day at Target, we gave Bella a little do-it-yourself flower pot from the 99cent isle to keep her happy while we shopped around. She hadn't forgotten about it, so this morning she asked if we could finally plant it. So after breakfast we planted the little seeds in the pot and Bella chose to put it on the window sill in her room so (in her words), "I can see it every morning".

The flower is a zinnia, but Bella was having a hard time remembering that, so we named it ZiZi. Actually, Bella wanted to name it "Ariel" (go figure.) but almost everything she has is named Ariel, so we kept tZiZi.

We will keep taking pictures of it as it grows...so stay tuned!

Let's Get Physical!....

Bella is channeling her inner Olivia Newton John this morning.

Getting ready for gymnastics class, we threw on these adorable leg warmers (even better with little crystals on them!) and turned on some music so Bella could shake her groove thing.

She just cracks me up. She was singing and dancing her little heart out, and even showed me how close she was to being able to do the splits! I've really seen how her self confidence and little spirit has come out since starting dance classes and gymnastics classes. She just glows!!

Enjoy the below dance sequence :-) but try to ignore the purple panties sticking out from underneath her leotard...I don't know how to make them stay hidden!

And just to make me smile....here is a picture of my boy right after waking up from his nap. He has his favorite blanket and favorite duck in hand...such a happy little man! Such joy!

A few pictures of Bella at gymnastics are in her Picasa album- just click here and look towards the end of the album: http://picasaweb.google.com/Bri.and.John/LifeOfA3YearOldOctoberToRecent#

Come And Knock On My Door....

"..we've been waiting for you...."

You know you're singing that in your head now ;-) But it's the appropriate welcome song for my new neighbor...my little sister!! Starting in May she will be another resident of the Valley of the Sun. Scottsdale just got a little bit sunnier :) It may not be permanent, but she'll be finishing up her nursing degree here, so that puts her here for at least a few years! Most of you that know my sister and I know that we are 5 1/2 years apart...so that means the last time we lived near each other, I was 17 and she was 11 1/2! That's almost 10 years ago! (Yes, do the math...I'll be 27 soon and I'm not happy about it) So finally, the Riolo sisters reunite.

We found a great apartment for her this weekend, and then went out to celebrate at the same Mexican restaurant John and I went to after buying our house here in Scottsdale. The tradition carries on!!

Love you Em! See you soon neighbor!

Disney On Ice!!

I've mentioned it before....but John and I are most definitely suckers for our kids.

Although we love going out with our friends, hosting dinner parties, going to Suns games, eating out and seeing movies....nothing sounds better to us on a Friday night than surprising our little girl and taking her to see Disney on Ice. When did that happen?

But here we stand, completely and utterly in love with our son and daughter- and so, Disney on Ice has now replaced the usual Friday night outings. But the best part is always seeing the look on their little faces. We took Bella by herself to the show because we see what a great big sister she is...and sometimes she needs alone time with just mom and dad. Bella was enthralled by everything. The lights, costumes and of course...the Princesses. She sat and clapped and waved and laughed the entire time. John and I just laughed watching her laugh. What could be better?

More pictures will be in Bella's album in our Picasa web albums....Easter pictures too.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Bri.and.John

Easter

There is seriously nothing cuter than little kids on Easter Sunday at church.

Running around in little suits, frilly dresses and my favorite- Easter bonnets. My little Prince and Princess were all fresh and clean and in their Easter outfits, ready for church and looking as precious as can be!! We got up early in the morning to do an Easter egg hunt, followed by breakfast together and then off to church as a family. Tyler especially loved the Easter egg hunt because, let's face it- anything that resembles the shape of a ball will get him excited! I tried to get a picture of the two of them together...honestly I tried. But the only one that came out clearly was one of Bella giving poor Ty a choke hold in order to get him to stand still. So here are a few other (separate) pics!

And here's (above) a picture of Bella, Grandma and Papa dyeing Easter eggs the night before. It's a Riolo family tradition to dye eggs and everyone "claim" their own egg for an egg fight the next day! Bella had a blast.....Tyler just wanted to eat them :)

Mystery Fruit....Solved!

After many people giving me ideas as to what fruit might be growing in my yard...we have come to the bottom of our mystery. A bird had started to peck at one, so we picked it and took one look and smell of the fruit inside, and realized it was a passion fruit! We googled it and found that my mystery tree is actually a yellow-rind passion fruit. And they are delicious! You scoop out the sweet center and the rest of the fruits' meat surrounds it. My mom could tell right away that it was a passion fruit after taking one taste. Its so sweet and tropical tasting...like we picked them right out of Hawaii! They are my little pieces of tropical refuge here in the desert ;-)

Reporting For Work Dad....

My boys are twins again!

I worked the night shift last night, so as I slept in the morning, John took Ty with him to run some errands for work. But you can't go out without representing the family company! :-)

Tyler was an honorary employee of AutoMate today. Hey- we've got to start making these kids earn their keep around here, right?!

Like Father, Like Son.

We thought it was kinda funny how Ty looked like John after getting his hair buzzed today.....so John and Ty went off to the gym dressed as twins! :-)

Both have big blue eyes, shaved heads, and matching Jordan basketball gear. Whenever Tyler goes with John to the gym, he stands at the glass window where the Tot Stop looks out onto the basketball court, and he goes nuts when he sees his dad. He's obsessed with basketballs, so he's probably just excited to see those! But as I look at this picture, I can't wait to see him turn into a man like his dad. I love my boys!!

So Fresh and So Clean!

Ty got a much-needed haircut this morning! First a bubble bath, followed by a trip to the barber for a fresh buzz cut...my boy looks so clean and handsome! Now I just have to figure out how to keep his nose from running...his shirts from getting dirty..and how to keep him from trying to eat crayons.

*Sigh* A mom's work is never done!

Best Big Sister.

I have been so proud of Bella lately.

She is really coming into her own as a good "mommy's helper" and fantastic big sister. Now that Ty is in a big boys' bed, Bella goes in his room in the morning when she hears him calling us, and she gets him out of bed and brings him to the couch in the living room. Actually, its more like she pulls him out of bed...poor little guy! But then she gets a cup of juice or milk from the fridge for him and the two of them play together. It's awesome!

This morning Bella even got herself dressed for gymnastics...and picked out her shoes and everything. I didn't do anything to help her- she just did it on her own! When she heard Ty waking up from his nap, she went in and got him, and the two of them sat together on the couch watching cartoons while Ty woke up. I ran to get the camera because this is how I found them....

She's so tender with him, and you can just see how much she loves her little brother. I'm sure someday (when Ty is towering over her!) he will return the favor by being a very kind and protective brother. Boys that want to date Bella will have to go through Ty first!