Labor Day Weekend

It is Labor Day weekend and it is hard to believe that summers over and fall is in the air. The leaves on the trees are changing color already in our backyard. Can you believe it?


What do Nordstrom, Champps, The Soup Man, MSU, Meijers, and The Red Robin have in common?
Balloons. We have a partially deflated balloons (on strings) from all of these places somewhere in our home that Marianna takes where ever she goes. It is hard to keep this kid away from a balloon she sees so our house has now become a graveyard for dying balloons. Here she is toting around the purple Champps balloon she got Friday night. She ate her entire dinner with the balloon in one hand and the same thing the next day with breakfast. It is a Buh, Buh. Very different than Ba for Ball.


Mama turned on the Ipod and that always gets a big smile!


Yia Yia bought Marianna the wicker chair and Marianna loves to sit in it with Mr. Bear. Often, she throws him out of it to make room for only her. Today, however, she appears to being a little more generous and is sharing her spot on the throne.

Bubbles and The Slide

Apparently, to a 14 Month Old, it is VERY FUNNY to watch bubbles go down the slide!!

Here she is again... (we did again, and again, and again) She just has a better trip down the slide this time...

Frinkstock and Lampchopapalooza

Last night was the annual Brian Vanderark (from the Verve Pipe) concert in our neighborhood. In honor of the night aka: Frinkstock, we threw a lamp chop party and had over a few friends and then we walked down to the concert. A good time was had by all...
Here are the chops about to go on the grill...


Marianna loves taking things out of one thing and putting them in another..


Marianna, Grace and Mary



Trademark look by Marianna "Where?" or "What's That?" with the hands in that questioning way...


Kaitlyn...


Unfortunately, these are the only pictures i got of the night...I haven't been behind the lense a lot lately. Marianna is keeping me too busy!

And She's Off!

I knew it was only a matter of time before she got it... she's off!
Earlier in the day, she was on it for a long time, this is just a short clip. I think if you ask DJ he will tell you there are a lot of similarities in our driving styles...especially the stop/go/riding the break thing.

Oh, and she is wearing socks and crocs because at the pool today, she stepped on a metal surface that burned her little feet. They started to blister a little, so the socks are for extra padding. It was a rough day today, but as you can see...she a tough girl!



She's really not going anywhere here, but I thought the video clip was funny.

Learning to Drive

Marianna got this Barbie ATV for her first birthday. Even though she has really enjoyed us giving her rides on it, we have been waiting for her to learn how to do it herself. Lately, she has learned that if you push the button, the ATV moves. The funny thing is though, she gets on it, pushes the button for one second, smiles and laughs, and then gets off immediately. This process repeats itself about 20 times before she is on to the next toy. Here she is in some short videos enjoying her ATV.

Winding Down

Here are just some random shots from the weekend. I was playing around with photo shop and Picasa so here are some nice pictures in Sepia.
I think Marianna was teething again last night because she was uber cranky! She also had her hands stuck in her mouth most of the night so that was also a good clue!


Winding down on Sunday night while we finish up a long weekend of PGA watching!

Picnic Table Time

We got in a little outside time today before the storms came through. Marianna loves sitting at the picnic table like a "big girl". This was actually my picnic table growing up and I love that my parents saved it for us! Today, she had her snack there and had so much fun!



She was having a great time and decided that it would be even more fun to climb on top of the picnic table (shocker....) and when I told her to sit down, I got this priceless face...

(She is definitely my daughter!!)


Marianna has started doing this a lot with her hands when you ask her "where'd it go?" or "what's that?" and says "huh?" It is super cute!

Happy 14 Month Birthday, Marianna!

Today, Marianna is officially 14 Months. I simply don't know where the time has gone!

Marianna's First Lamb Chop

This is not Marianna's first time eating lamb. It is one of her favorite meals. However tonight, she got a real treat. Marianna got to eat a lamb chop like the little Greek she is...she ate if off the bone! Boy, did she love it!! (what's not to love??)
DJ and I both agree, she is a Greek though and through. She loves lamb and she loves her food seasoned, especially with garlic and oregano. She has one healthy appetite and it makes us so proud! Especially, Dada!

Watermelon Snack

Marianna sure does love her watermelon. We just got back from a beautiful day at the pool. She has no fear of the water and loves running around with all the kids there. I think she will be swimming next summer! After exhausting her out for a couple hours there and a this tasty treat...i am anticipating a nice 2 hour long nap!






Such a goofball! We love you so much, Marianna!!

Sunday Funday

It seems the sickness bug has flown away from the Becharas house. Things are completely back to normal this Sunday morning and I couldn't be happier! Sunday Funday has taken on a different meaning as it now is enjoying coffee, reading the paper in the playroom, spending time as a family, watching Marianna play and entertain us.

Marianna first order of business was to get busy in the kitchen cooking her eggs...


Baby was "crying" so she went over to rock the baby in her new crib (that plays rock-a-bye baby!). It took all day yesterday to teach her this crib was for baby and not for her. Turning your back on her, or leaving the room, would mean seconds later a frightened cry and Marianna and the crib in a pile on the floor!



A little dance with the Hokey Pokey Elmo...

Still has a love of books!

We brought back her vibrating chair she had as a baby, since it is called the Infant-Toddler chair. Marianna loves to spend time in it, leaning back and rocking. What is old is new again to Marianna!



Lastly, Marianna has a little corner in the playroom, we will call it a "nook", where she loves to hang out. It is between the laugh and learn home, the wall, and the bouncing zebra. What she is doing there is a wonder to me!