all i wanna do....

is DANCE DANCE DANCE.

stella and daddy before bedtime (if you look really close you'll see daddy has a tutu on just like stella).

amber's visit.

our friend amber has been here from south carolina for a few days. on thursday, amber and i spent some time hiking in the rain drizzle at wilson's creek national battlefield. it was beautiful. even in the rain.

this morning, while amber was getting ready to leave stella was saying "amer, where you going?"

we had coffee at our favorite coffee shop : the coffee ethic.

then it was time for her to go home. we had a fun half week!

patio.

we have been working on a new patio area out our back door for the last several weeks.

this is michael working with the concrete.

while that was setting up a bit, stella played with willie. willie is her horse. some friends gave her willie for Christmas last year and it is seriously one of her most favorite toys.

playing with uncle jason.

and after the concrete had set up enough we put stella's handprints in it.

this is after the forms came out and the gravel went down.

and finally we have dirt...hopefully we will have grass growing in there next spring.

little rock zoo.

this weekend we ended up going to arkansas to my parents. we took stella to little rock to the zoo (it was freezing!) and she had tons of fun :

seeing the turtles swim...

watching the tigers prowl...

growling at the bear...

waving at the bear...

jumping off the benches...

growling at the bear statue...

petting the bronze fish...

and running all over the place!

fall day = chalk

half birthday!

stella's half birthday was on october 1. we have been measuring her on the door frame between our kitchen and dining room since she was 14 months old. now we are doing it on her bithdays and on her half birthdays - so twice a year. she gets SUPER excited to get measured!

playtime!

tonight we kept stella's best friend reese while her mommy & daddy went to a fundraiser thing.
aunt jess brought us happy meals for dinner.

then we played

and played

and played (reese heard a choo choo train and was pointing out the window)

and we kissed

and then everybody passed out!

fun was had by all. we didn't even have any meltdowns!