First Steps

We are so excited, Bentley took her first steps today. We knew she was close. When D came home from work he held Bentley in front of him, and she took 2 to 3 steps to get to me. She wouldn't repeat the performance. Instead she would just go down on her knees when we tried to hold her to stand. I'm sure that walking completely on her own will come quickly, or maybe not, since Bentley does everything in her own time. Lately she has been walking while barely holding on to one of our hands, and she has been reaching from one piece of furniture to the next to get around. Since Bentley was walking to me I didn't have the camera, so there aren't any pictures. Maybe next time.

Ten and Eleven

Somehow, I didn't get around to posting Bentley's ten or eleven month pictures. Even though these are late, I thought I would post them.

Ten Months


Eleven Months


It is getting harder and harder to get a picture of Bentley looking at the camera. As soon as I set her down where I want her, she is turning around to touch or climb on whatever is behind her. Even when Bria is standing beside me acting crazy, Bentley hardly takes notice. Bentley was never very cooperative to begin with, but being mobile has made it more difficult. She is, however, learning a lot with all of her exploring. She is also trying to say a few more words, and points at objects (which helps us determine what word she is saying). I think we are going to end up with two very talkative girls!

Nothing Much

There isn't a whole lot going on these days. School starts here tomorrow, but we don't have any kids in school yet. The club that I am in charge of had our monthly activity at the swimming pool this afternoon. It was an extremely warm and windy day, so it worked out well. I wish I had pictures of the girls in the pool, but I didn't plan well enough to bring the camera.

Also, as of today I will also be helping out with our church's monthly after school program. Bria is very excited about that because even though she isn't old enough to go, she was told that she could attend. Our church teaches about Christ and the Bible to kids who may not hear about it anywhere else.

Bria is really the only one who has had excitement these past couple of weeks. Last weekend grandpa and grandma came and got her. She spent the weekend plus a few days with them. They had fun camping a couple of the nights she was there. It also allowed D and I to take a quick trip to RC for one of his work meetings and some errands. We were also able to meet some friends for supper.

Other than that, life has been a bit more relaxed, and we are enjoying it.

Who has time?

I haven't had any time in the last month to update the blog. The sad thing is that I don't even know if that means that we have had a lot going on or not. I have been busy getting things ready for Vacation Bible School (VBS) the last couple of weeks, and VBS is actually being held this week. I was in charge of the set and the skits. The project ended up requiring some work that I wasn't expecting because we didn't get all the resources that we needed. Our church is so small that we just borrow VBS materials from other churches. I had to be creative and search for some things on the internet. Also, I did the set design in the evenings when D was home. Our church, however, doesn't run the air conditioning during the week so it was 90 degrees in there every night. Now that we are into bible school, D and I have been practicing the skit every night with the other members while the kids are at VBS. Because we live right next to the church, we can put Bentley down to bed, practice our skit at our house, go perform, and come right back home. Bria, even though she is too young, is being allowed to participate in VBS. That was the only way that both D and I could help. Bria has really been enjoying it, and has even been memorizing her verses.

Here are some pictures from the past month.

Two sisters who really love each other. Bentley is really good about giving loves to all of us. We all love getting loves from her too.

The girls coming to cuddle with mommy in bed. I was so tired this morning that I laid in bed for a moment and everyone else decided to climb in too.

Bentley was exploring the laundry basket.

Big sister Bria pulling Bentley around on the car. Both girls were laughing, even when Bentley kept falling off.

This is Bria's creation for a bike helmet.

Other than VBS the only other activity we have had (that I can recall) is that my aunt and uncle from California came up and were at my parents' house for a day. The girls and I went to visit them last Thursday. It was just a quick day trip, but it was nice to get away from all the work here. We are hoping that after this week is over, life will get back to normal. Whatever that might be!