Seeing RED

I love the color of Ari's hair, it is so beautiful. I took this picture to show the essence of her red hair and how much her hair has grown. Yep, it's still as red as ever and it sticks straight up most of the time. I am crossing my fingers that her hair color doesn't change, but we will have to wait and see. The other pic is Ari and her daddy just cuddling on the couch after daddy has come home from a long day at school. She loves her dad so much and I love to catch these little moments when she is just content being still and hanging out (it doesn't happen too often but isn't it cute:).

Our Favorite Place These Days

Ari and I get bored very frequently being in this apartment all day so we take trips to the park. Thank goodness we have a park so close by and we can walk there every day. It's so sad because I know Ari misses all of her cousins when we go to the park and she gets so excited just seeing other kids playing on the slides and monkey bars. The park is full of squirrels running all around too and we actually saw a cute bunny rabbit the other day as well. Pretty sure Bobby thinks I am crazy because I talk about the squirrels so much and how many there are here, but they are so cute and Ari and I love to watch them run all around. We are very easily amused here in the midwest. We have loved it here though and we find things to do to pass the time and make our days fun. Ari's favorite is the swings, probably because since she was a couple months old we would take her in Mom's backyard and swing her all the time when she just needed a break from being inside. Now, I do realize I am this child's mother but, you have to admit, the pics of her in the little hat and bundled in the stroller have got to be the sweetest ever.

Visiting Uncle Jared

Ari and I took a short road trip a couple weeks ago to visit Uncle Jared in Des Moines, Iowa. Work had sent him there for a week so we hopped in the car and drove the 2 hours to have lunch with him and visit. Pretty sure that the trip was well worth it even though we were only there for a few hours. We miss the family a lot so it was nice to have him so close for a little while. Ari did scream for one whole hour there and one whole hour back, I mean SCREAMED. I felt so bad but there was nothing I could do so I drove on. I wish I could have said, "Ari, look out the window at this or that" to keep her distracted but all there was was a whole lot of nothing and corn. We had so much fun and Ari even pooped all over herself at lunch just for Jared. Thanks for taking us to lunch and for spending the afternoon with us, we had so much fun. Love you. I also included a picture of Ari's Uncle Jason when Ari was a little younger as well because we love him and miss him too. They are both available girls so heads up.

Open mouth, insert ANYTHING and EVERYTHING

I love that I have been able to catch Ari with all these different things in her mouth. Not that I promote my child sticking all yucky objects in her mouth, but these pics are so cute. What is it with babies this age thinking that once they learn to pick things up it automatically goes into their mouth? Every day I have to make sure there is not even a piece of lint visible on the floor or else Ari somehow finds it and it goes in the mouth. All potential visitors will be happy to know that I usually have a clean floor because of this so come on over and try it out! Hint. Hint.

Our Morning Ritual

In case you don't know, my sweet Ari is like a permanent fixture at my side. She is in this stage where she won't let me out of her sight and, because I am home with her all day and need to get things done (like take a shower and get ready for the day, I know it's crazy stuff right), I have to find creative ways to keep her entertained. When being on the floor and playing with all of Mommy's things doesn't suffice, we revert to making a soft spot for her in the sink with my robe and letting her relax and talk to herself in the mirror. It works every time, atleast for a few minutes. She really does keep me smiling with all of the silly things she does each day and I love it!

She is STANDING!!!

I think I have a heart attack atleast once a day because my baby is pulling herself up and standing. She grabs whatever is available and it scares me to death! She falls once a day if not more and she always bumps her head and I usually freak out. Here are just a few pics of her new trick.

Ari loves to eat all by herself

When I make dinner I have to keep Ari occupied so I can get stuff done. I usually put her puffs in a bowl but she ends up knocking them out anyway so I have now started putting them on the floor. She loves to feed herself and here are a few pics demonstrating that. There is one where she has her whole face on the ground, yep, my daughter is sometimes too lazy to pick up the puffs so she just dives in to eat them directly off the floor. I love her weirdness, she makes me laugh daily with the things she does.

BATH TIME

Ari likes to swing each piece of clothing that is taken off her body before bath time. I usually try to call someone and let them hear Ari yelling and talking to herself as she looks and plays in the mirror before bath time. She has more fun playing on the counter with Bobby and I than she does getting in the bath. She is a talker just like her Dad. Another thing she does love is to snuggle with Bobby or I in her towel right after she gets out of the bath. Thanks to Aunt Emma we have a nice fluffy towel that she still fits in even at 9.5 months.

Random cute pics of Ari

Our first pictures in Nebraska - Ari turns 9 mos.

We made the move to Nebraska at the beginning of August and it was a long, long, long trip. It took us about 20 hours and we started at night so it would be easier on Ari and she could sleep for a good chunk of the trip. After a long night, an even longer day and a blown tire we made it safe and sound only to find out that our apt. was, shall we say, not what we expected. It was a stressful couple days but we moved out of the ghetto and into the apt. we live in now.
We have enjoyed our time here thus far but have started missing the fam a lot. Thank goodness for cell phones and family who loves me and lets me bug them constantly. Ari and I have learned our way around town and we frequent the park to get out of the apt. and so she can see other children and doesn't have to stare at my face all day. We have learned to get along without Bobby now that he is in law school, but we enjoy every minute of his free time that we do get to spend with him.
The above pictures are kind of a look at how much Ari has grown in the past couple months. She is getting so big, and she has more hair. Yep, still red and I love it!!! She is now standing and walking along the furniture. She has her bottom 2 teeth and the top 2 are breaking through as we speak. She crawls all over the place and pulls herself up on everything and it scares me to death because she is still shaky and falls a lot. Ari also talks/yells up a storm and loves to say Mama and give kisses which totally make my day, especially the hard ones. She is our sweet heart and I hope you all enjoy these pics and know we love and miss you.

6 months old

Again, I am catching everyone up with how Ari has grown and these too are pictures no one has seen. We got these taken by a lady who came up to us and gave us her card and asked if she could take some pics of the baby. They turned out okay but I chose a few that I liked the best. She was 6 months old here and it's weird to look back just a few months and see how much bigger she is now. She is our princess.

Incredible pics by Niki Duenas

I am going to be back tracking a bit so I can share some of Ari's cutest pics taken by cousin Niki. We haven't got to share these and we thought she did such an amazing job. Ari wasn't extremely cooperative near the end but Niki was so patient and the pics turned out great. We had so much fun spending time with Niki and trying fun things to make Ariana look so cute. Thanks Niki, we love all the pictures you took and the way you made our Ari look so beautiful. Here are just a few.

The First of Many...

We finally started our blog!!! I know this was a long time coming but I promise I will do my best to keep it updated so our loving family and friends can see Ari and how big she is getting. We miss you all and hope this makes it a little easier being away from the baby and us (if any of you are even missing us:). I will be putting up lots of pictures for a while so everyone can see Ari and all the new things we have been doing and she has been learning.
We are excited to be in Nebraska and Bobby is really enjoying school even though it is kicking his trash. We don't get to see him too often, but he has made it a point to be home to eat dinner with us before he studies the night away. Ariana & I are adjusting and meeting new friends to pass the time. We make a lot of runs to the grocery store across the street and to the park, we are taking advantage of being outside while the weather permits. It's all new but it's a good adventure and experience for all of us.