SLEEPING BEAUTY

I love when they go, go, go and just can't go anymore. Bella has been fighting taking naps anymore and most of the time I let it go. But every now and then it catches up with her.

Love it!!

BELLY BELL, SWEET PEA

This picture captures Bella perfectly. She is silly, happy, dancing, goofy, and beautiful.

There's a park by our house that is full of dandelions. We love to pick them and make wishes. Each of the kids wishes they could fly.

Bella's wishes: I wish I could be a princess. I wish I could go ice skating. I wish I could have a loose tooth.

Bella is the sweetest, kindest, most affectionate little girl. She'll come up and put her hands on your face and tell you how pretty you look today, or that she loves you, or that she likes what you're wearing. She is always complimenting others. She lights up a room with her smile and laughter. She is such a good listener, usually doing something the FIRST time I ask and doing it with a smile. She is pure, innocent, and good.

Without fail, everytime we're in the car, she'll say:

"Careful not to hit those trees. Careful not to hit that sign!! Careful not to get in a crash!! Put your seatbelt on!!"

I overheard this:

Gage: Bella, stop acting like a 2-year-old.

Bella: I am NOT acting like a 2-year-old. I am 3!!!! I am acting like a 3-year-old!!!

THE LITTLE MERMAIDS

Bella and Paisley have the best swim teacher ever. Her name is Miss Allison and she has patience and love like no other. Her voice and demeanor never wavers. NOT EVER. And we are very grateful to her.

Bella has really become a good little swimmer. She has good form on freestyle and on her dives. She has no fear and just dives right off the diving board, then turns 90 degrees and swims to the side. Paisley also has no fear and thinks that she can swim independently. She gets mad when you help her, even though she really needs it. She loves to dive off the diving board and swim down to grab the rings. By the end of their lessons, she made so much progress.

When it's not their turn, the kids are to sit on the step and wait, but this rarely happens. Except for Paisley. It's hilarious. She sits there perfectly still and waits for her turn. Miss Allison would often comment to me about how calm Paisley is. Ha!! Now that's just funny. But I never let on.

Bella is a chatterbox. She does not stop talking the whole lesson. She's talking as she's about to go under the water and picks up where she left off when her head comes up again. It's seriously non-stop. About everything and anything. Even Miss Allison would gently remind her that when it was another kid's turn, she couldn't talk with Bella. But that never phased her one bit. She would talk to all the other moms - telling them all kinds of stuff. She would tell them, "I love you" and it was the first time she'd seen them. They never quite knew what to say in response. I would just cringe and pretend not to notice.

I love my little mermaids!