Blueberry pancakes

Here we are the morning after our big trip eating a giant breakfast including, but not limited to, blueberry pancakes and veggie sausages.

As you can see Hella has no problem diving right into them. This girl loves food!

Impromptu Family Vacation

The Alamo

Here we are checking off the first item on the "Things we have to do before we leave Texas" list.

Everyone sits on a cannon when they see one, right?








HemisFair Park

We couldn't go into the Tower of the Americas due to ongoing construction. Besides, playing with Hulk is more fun anyways.











Cascade Caverns

Another disappointment : Closed at 4pm (we got there at 5:15pm)

Oh well... but look how we can hold her up for a cheesy photo op.








She ran around picking up little rocks and putting them in her mouth. (no, she did not swallow any)

She had a ton of fun!

Time to wash the van!

This is the first time Hella has been able to join us in washing the van. She was very interested in the bucket and all the bubbles, she never left its side.













She quickly figured out all the fun things you can do with bubbles, like paint and eat!













After a hard days playing she went from cute and dry to completely soaked! And somewhere along the way she managed to lose a shoe.












Did I mention that she actually rolled around in the dirt? It's not fun if you don't get covered in mud, right?

The girl she's becoming

Check out that expression...

Almost eleven months old, and she's already got skills you wouldn't believe...wrapping adults around her fingers like she was born to it...

She likes to run.

She insists on feeding herself.

She's up to 4 teeth.

She laughs all the time...ALL the time.

She has no fear whatsoever...especially of her brothers.

She likes the outdoors.

She likes Daddy's kisses.

She LOVES Mommy's.

But nothing compares to her blanket...

Her hair hasn't decided if it's going to be blonde or red...

She's amazing...a word way too small for her...

Her birthday is a little over a month away...book your tickets now, we've got plenty of room...

Pasta...yum

Hey everybody...
















In case you didn't know, Pasta tastes so much better when you cut out the unnecessary things like, say, utensils...
















and go straight for the gold!

Ouch!

Well, here it is. The picture of her first bloody nose. She was just walking around carrying an old dilapidated VHS box, when BAM! she falls and smacks her nose on the coffee table. We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief...her first accident resulting in bloodshed has come and gone, on to the breaking of bones! *wink*

ATTACK AT DAWN

The players:
Christina, the mom
Rik, the dad
Boris & Spike, the brothers
Hella, the monster

The scene:
Early morning in the Speed house. Overnight, Boris and Spike have crept into their parents' bed...as usual. Christina is to the starboard side, Rik next to her, then Spike, and Boris lying on the port side.

6:45am
Hella wakes up for her early morning nursing. Christina, dutiful as always, brings her into the bed with everyone else. This, it turns out, is a dreadful mistake.

Dun dun dunnnnnnn...

7:10am
Christina has fallen back to sleep. Hella has finished her nursing. She sits up, surveying the sleeping family, a malevolent twinkle in her eye.

7:11am
The attack begins.

She launches herself onto Rik's face, slapping, drooling and biting. A squeal of girlish glee punctuating each dive. After getting nothing more than a groan, she changes tactics. Sitting back up, Hella spots Christina's long hair. A few quick tugs elicit more groans. Next up is Spike. She clambers over Rik, kneeing him in the nose. Spike's response to the pummeling is much more satisfying to Hella's black little heart...he shrieks...loudly. Next, Boris is quickly dispatched with a few swift kicks to the face...bringing more yelling.

Rik halts the carnage by grabbing her and pulling her under the covers. She will not be contained. Fighting her way out, she dives onto Rik's face again, this time with a well-timed eye gouge. Christina pulls her off, winning herself a giggling head butt to the mouth.

By this time, both boys have risen and joined in the melee; punching, jumping, laughing, screaming and tickling. Rik and Christina look at each other with bleary eyes...time to get up.

what have YOU done lately?

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1980 What???

I saw this dress and couldn't resist. I'm sure you can see why.


Nearly 9 months old, and still no teeth. That doesn't seem to diminish this beautiful smile.

BEDBUGS AND BALLYHOO

The week of X-mas has been fuzzy, hectic and full of action.
Hella has survived her first holiday season with poise and charm.
Her grandmother (Oma) has come for a visit from New York, and the
two of them have become fast friends...bonding primarily over breakfast.
Hella's brothers are driving her parents' crazy.
Hella, however, has been her usual silky self.

Yes, that IS a My Little Pony.
Mommy is so excited...

Things left unattended, immediately become
the property of Ms. Hella Katchoo...

This is not a human being...this is a prototype
of the next generation of companion androids...
codename: Athena.

When a day full of activities winds down...
sleep...sleep...sleep.

Tree with trimmings...


But, for how long?

I know she's not smiling in this picture, but I just thought she looked really cute.

To keep warm during the cold days inTexas, tights and booties are a must.


When going outdoors one should always wear a hat.


When all else fails, find a buddy.

Hella vs the bread.


Well... what did you expect?


It wasn't exactly a fair fight. That bread never stood a chance.

Like any good girl, Hella slept peacefully the entire 13 hours it took us to drive to Nashville for a Thanksgiving with the grandparents.

Sure it was a bit cooler, but nothing keeps a girl warm like being in her Daddy's arms.

Sometimes it takes the grownups too long to feed the kids and they have to go looking themselves.

Tofurkey aside, Hella prefers the dessert portion of the meal. She is her Mother's daughter.

I was in the bathroom starting to dye my hair when I hear some loud short bursting screams start to get closer and closer. I look down and of course Hella Katchoo is staring up at me. So...I continue to dye my hair periodically looking down at her beautiful smiling face. She lies down on the rug sucking her thumb. She pulls herself up on the kiddy toilet. She grabs the toilet paper and sits down pulling it towards herself. "That's enough, Hella Katchoo." I say as I slowly grab the wadded up paper from her tiny clenched fists. She just smiles. She crawls over to the door where she just sits down and stares at me. Oh my god, I think. She's amazing. And she doesn't stop staring. Looking straight through me. I'm rendered speechless. By a 7 month old baby girl...speechless. Now that's something.

So, Hella found an abandoned cup of juice within reach...it didn't take her long to discover the joys of sugar...

Then Spike showed up to rescue his cup...we won't show you the next picture in this series...we're sure you can imagine the screaming...

The great and powerful Hella Katchoo...standing at 6 months! Can nothing stop this beautiful behemoth? Is the world doomed? Stay tuned fearful mortals...stay tuned...

Hella is amazing, but unlike her brothers, she is not a superhero(ine).

She is far above such pedestrian labels.

Hella simply is.

HELLA KATCHOO SPEED

the world will never know what hit it...