my daughter in a dress - no way!

Drew and I have talked about wanting to make sure we encourage the passions of our children. I told Drew that if she wants to learn how to cook, I will get her even the weird ingredients so she can experiment. Then he said, "Well what if she wants to be a princess?" I looked at him blankly, like, "Not my daughter" then I thought and finally said, "Well, I guess we'll have to get her a mirror for her room and a tutu." So here is a photo of Bentley, truly the first time I have dressed her in a dress! :) (She looks pretty dang cute I have to admit :)

little miss giggles

First of all, I LOVED the "little miss" books as a kid. When I was pregnant, I perused the Nordstrom girl's section (don't do this by the way unless you have a gift card!) and I saw this cute shirt for a 12-18 month old that said "little miss giggles" and I thought, "This is going to be my daughter". PLus the shirt was on the clearance rack! I thought, I have to get this... then I checked the clearance price, $15 for a shirt she is going to wear for like 2 months? heck no.

Well, Bentley has been giggling lately and I LOVE it! Four things so far have made her giggle, herself in the mirror, me nuzzling her neck, me kissing her tummy and then wisps of my hair tickle it as I kiss her and lastly, I hold her up so she can stand and then let her "fall" towards me.. she thinks this is hilarious! so dang cute. One of the main things I have looked forward to as a mom is to hear my child's giggle, to know what it sounds like... I just LOVE it! And between Drew and me, I knew it would be quite the chuckle! :)

Bentley sees the Ocean

My friend Sondra and I took our kids to Long Beach Tuesday for a mini overnight trip to the ocean. I took this photo of Bentley as she looks at the ocean for the first time. I had her strapped to me in her baby Bjorn and I held the camera out. I know she doesn't understand quite yet, but Drew and I try to remind ourselves to consistently speak truth to her about who is God. And as she stared with her little pink nose at the long beach meeting the ocean, I wanted to convey to her that God knew her before I did and that Drew and I are blessed with stewarding her little life for God. And that such a powerful God who made this ocean, also made her delicately and uniquely Bentley Brooke.

Fun photos of Bentley

Thought I would post some recent photos, enjoy!

Humongo baby!

The beauty of perspective!

This cracked me up! She looks so huge in this photo - ha!

'talking' with daddy

It is so fun to see Bentley go through quite the range of emotions while she talks with Drew in this video. For the last couple of weeks, Bentley wakes up in the morning by letting out a big scream, then when I go in her room to get her out of her crib, she is all smiles. The screams are hilarious, since you can tell they aren't because she is in pain, but simply exercising her voice, not the demons.

mommy and me

How can you not just kiss babies all the time? Love this girl :)

Chatty Cathy

Bentley was talking so much today! I decided to finally grab the movie camera to record it. Notice what happens when Bentley finally sees the camera.

Bentley likes sushi

She has finally reached the milestone of grabbing at things and putting them to her mouth, she enjoys her fish rattle, especially the long tails of the tags. For those of you that freaked out at the title of my post, shame on you for thinking that I would actually feed my 3-month-old raw fish! :)

Happy Birthday to me

"I am 3 months today!"

I see the light

Bentley absolutely LOVES lights. Seriously, it calms her down, if she is crying, I can simply walk her over to our dining room chandelier and she stares and smiles. It is the only thing besides another person's face that makes her smile. Sooo... instead of being a mother that takes her chlid to the zoo, I took Bentley to Tacoma Lighting today to celebrate her 3-month birthday - ha :) She was enamored. My friend Stacey and her daughter Paige joined us since Paige LOVES fans.

Bentley is so enamored that she is not even looking at the camera.

Bentley's first Halloween

Here is a photo of Bentley's first Halloween! She is wearing black and white-striped tights with a orange onesie and jean skirt overalls. And of course, her 'binky' which was a gift from Auntie Madonna and cousin Kate. Sooo funny! Bentley in her Baby Bjorn carrier and I greeted the trick or treaters like this as they came to the door. Everytime I opened the door to give out candy to the kids, Bentley would start to flail her arms and legs in excitement. I thought, "oh how cute, she loves Halloween!" but after several more ins and outs of the door, I realized it was the porch light she was getting excited about - ha