It's Offiicial

Our little baby is now a walking 1-year old.

Happy Birthday Bentley!

Today she took 4-5 steps in a row and just kept doing it over and over. Even though we could tell she was tired she continued to practice walking. All that tiring work did result in an early bedtime; she could hardly keep her eyes open. As if she wasn't into everything before, I'm sure she will be into even more in the weeks to come.

Bentley has also discovered that she can hold on to the spindles on the staircase to walk both up and down instead of crawling. This is bound to lead to something DANGEROUS.

Wherever Bentley is, there is Bria. These two are pretty good pals, even if Bria doesn't understand that Bentley doesn't always want her help.

All Sick

When we got home we all ended up with a cold. D, Bria, and I all had symptoms before we made it home, but Bentley ended up with the same thing yesterday. When Bria is sick you can't even tell because she is running around doing all of her usual things, and at the same pace. This is the first time Bentley has really had anything, and she is the opposite of Bria. As we have come to learn is pretty normal. Bentley is either sleeping, laying on the floor trying to sleep, or cuddling in D's or my arms. Also, she has to snuggle with the puppy she got for her birthday. It is hard to see my children sick, but especially when they are acting sick.

Bentley fell asleep on D's lap shortly after she got up from a nap. This cold completely wiped her out.

Vikings, Labor Day, Birthdays, and More

This last holiday weekend we went to the TC to visit D's family. On the way there we stopped to see some friends. One of our friend's dads recently bought a helicopter, so we had to stop and take a look.

It is a pretty fun little helicopter. Bria and Kuper sat in it, but they didn't have time to go for a ride. D and his Dad needed to get to the TC to make it to the Vikings game with the rest of the men in the family. We made it in time and the men headed to the game while the women took care of the kids.

All of the older kids had a great time sleeping in the tent with grandpa and grandma every night. They were well behaved and slept great the whole time.

Friday morning J's sister and fiance came by to help us celebrate some birthdays.

Here is Bentley's first birthday cupcake. She really didn't like the feel of the frosting, so she wouldn't even pick up the cupcake. She did take a few bites when I fed it to her, but otherwise she only wanted to smear the frosting all over the tray of the highchair.

Bria opening one of the gifts she got for her birthday.

Bentley opening one of her gifts.

We also celebrated grandma's and cousin J's birthdays. There was a lot to celebrate.

Later that evening all the women had a chance to go do something together. The men took the kids and we all went to an improv comedy show. It was a great time and plenty of laughter.

We took it easy on Saturday and just spent the day doing different activities around the house or in the neighborhood and some quick shopping. Of course, we ate plenty the whole weekend. The food and hospitality where great. Sunday we went to church and traveled home after lunch.

Bentley with cousin L.

All of the cousins had a good time playing together, and as they all get older they play together better. Bria calls all of her cousins her best friends, and is always sad to leave them.

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!