Miss Potato Head

Several months ago, Stella found this pair of glasses from a Mr. Potato Head toy. She knew that they were supposed to go on your face, and kept trying to put them on, so I helped her out. She was laughing so hard and enjoyed seeing her picture on the digital camera just as much!

Bathtime

10/01/05 – Stella gets so excited for her bath and can even climb in the tub by herself. I won’t include that picture, but this one should suffice.

The Mouse

10/01/05 – While Daddy was at the Priesthood Conference on Saturday, Stella and I went grocery shopping. I paused in the card isle to look through some of the cards, and the only attention I paid to Stella was to make sure she wasn’t standing up in the cart, which she loves to do. After I made my card selection (which took several minutes), I sat Stella down for the last time and took the LIFE cereal box away from her that she was playing with. It was then that I noticed the enormous portion of the box that was missing. No, not just a corner, a giant hole! She ate the box! I got a weird look at the check-out stand, but luckily Stella’s face had some cardboard on it for evidence.

Pretty Shoes

09/26/05 – Mother Dibble and Anabelle, Elliot’s mother and niece, share their birthday on September 26th. We were especially excited to see Anabelle because we’d heard about the "pretty shoes" she got for her birthday that apparently can’t be removed from her feet unless she’s unconscious. Anabelle’s obsession is not only shoes, but The Wizard of Oz, which is why she is so excited about these "pretty shoes." Isn’t it scary for a 2-year-old to look so natural in a tiara and dangling earrings?

Patience is a Virtue

09/05 – Who knows of a kid who likes to be in a carseat? Stella actually enjoys the trip out to Aunt Lindsay’s house in Litchfield Park (about 40 minutes away). Now that Aunt Lindsay is a stay-at-home wife, we get to visit her more often and she comes to see us too! Stella loves the visit and I love it that she gets to see her aunt so often! I’m so lucky to have a patient child!

Lights Out

09/11/05 – One night while waiting for Elliot to come home from church meetings, Stella and I were watching a delightful episode of Little House on the Prairie . . . ok, I was watching it, Stella was playing. As I was lounging in the recliner, Stella started tickling my foot. We played that game for several minutes, and then at the climax Pa’s life-lesson to Laura, I noticed that Stella wasn’t tickling anymore. I looked on the floor beside me and found this adorable heap of a sleeping baby. I guess bedtime should be a little earlier when your child starts putting herself to bed.

Watcher in the Woods

08/19/05 – In one of my magazines, I saw a bride just peeking over her bouquet and it made for a great picture. Natalie and Ian got a better picture than I did, but here’s the one I got. For the reception in Weiser, we framed a 5x7 picture of this pose and it seemed as though anywhere you walked in the house, Lindsay was watching you!

Mr. & Mrs. Bangart

08/19/05 – My baby sister Lindsay married Keith Bangart on August 19, 2005 in the Mesa Arizona Temple. Sometimes it seems like they’ve been together for longer than 8 months, probably because they were engaged for nearly that long as well! Lindsay was an amazingly beautiful bride and Keith is a welcomed addition to the Anderson family. The reception in Peoria was a fantastic party! Now that the wedding plans are all over, we are all bored out of our minds!

Jayden and Stella

08/19/05 – Stella finally got to meet one of her 11 cousins from the Anderson side when her cousin Jayden came to visit for Aunt Lindsay’s wedding. They are just 4 months apart in age and had a great time together poking each other’s eyes out and giving kisses. Grandma Anderson claims that Jayden finally started crawling after his visit to Arizona and give all the credit to Stella who supposedly gave him the inspiration to do so.

Grandpa Anderson

08/17/05 – Grandpa Anderson is one of the few that got to enjoy a few moments with Stella actually sitting still. Grandma and Grandpa Anderson mostly get to see Stella through pictures, but during their visit for Aunt Lindsay's wedding, she responded to them like she sees them every day!

Tempe Beach Park

08/05 – Stella and I attend a weekly Play-Date group with friends from church. We usually rotate between each other’s homes, doing crafts, scrapbooking, visiting, etc., while the kids try to play nicely together. One hot summer day, the group decided to go to the Tempe Beach Park which has a small water park area for the kids to play in. Even though she got knocked down several times by the older kids, Stella had a great time just running around the water. The video that goes along with this adorable picture is priceless!

Stella's First Birthday

07/31/05 – I was so proud of Stella on her first birthday when she blew her candle out on her cupcake! We had practiced for a month. Stella’s Grandma Dibble, Aunt Bethany, Uncle Adam and Aunt Xan and cousins Ray, George, and Anabelle, and Uncle Keith and Aunt Lindsay, and my cousin Martin and his wife Kendal were able to come to her birthday party. Stella received a lot of fun gifts, including a new doll which she immediately started cuddling, and a new pink purse and phone which Anabelle promptly confiscated. Although there were more gifts to open, Stella quickly ran to retrieve the gifts from her cousin.

I believe this is a picture is of Anabelle waiting patiently to play with the purse.

Stella's #1 Birthday!

Binki

08/05 – As I was sadly cleaning out Stella’s closet and drawers of small clothes, making room for new clothes, I found a binki. Stella never used a binki when she was a baby, but I gave it to her anyway and she kept it in her mouth for several hours. Her new game was to run up to me (wobbly because she was laughing so hard), and then make me bite it out of her mouth. I probably enjoyed the game more than she did because of that adorable laugh!

Mother's Day

05/05 – This is our most current family photo which was taken on Mother’s Day this year. We couldn’t get Stella to hold still and we couldn’t get Grandpa Dibble to take a centered photo! This was the best we could do! This was also my first real Mother’s Day and no matter how many fantastic gifts I’ve been given in the past years, I don’t think any gift can out-do the gift of my little Stella!