Camping? Surely You Jest...

 No.  No jesting here.  We camped.  With a 3 month old.  Bryan had been asking me for several weeks to go camping on Memorial Day weekend, but I kept putting him off since the end of the school year is so busy.  But finally I agreed.  (I would not have agreed if we had not been able to borrow a pop-up, so we at least had some pretend "walls" around us.)  And not only did we take the baby, but we took the two bigger babies dogs as well.  Why, you ask?  Because we apparently are gluttons for punishment.  In five years of marriage and dog ownership, we have never taken them camping.  So clearly it makes sense to try it for the first time with a new baby.  If nothing else, the dogs made us realize how easy the baby was (and they were only allowed to stay one night before being sent to Grammy's house). 

Isabel did awesome.  Chill baby.  Relaxed, slept, relaxed.  Still did the 10 hours at night (which I was wondering about given the early sun and noise of other campers).  We had a great time with visits from lots of fun people and s'mores, so looks like we'll be doing this again.

Izzie napped for an hour while I was getting us packed up at home,

and for an hour when we got to the campsite and unpacked.  Lovely girl.

 

Jordan and Meg came to visit Friday night.

Auntie and Grammy had to drive out when I realized we brought

everything except the kitchen sink...oh, and our bag of clothes. 

Not a big deal except for the fact that we had nothing but a dress

for Izzie and it got chilly at night.  So they rescued us.

Downright cozy.

These two chilled while I made breakfast.

And then I fell through the chair.  Bryan refused to help until he got a camera. 

And I can't even make a good excuse for the crocs and tall socks (I could try to

explain that I was wearing pants, and then it got hot and I couldn't find flip

flops...).  But really, there is no reason a person should look that terrible,

even while camping.  I deserved to fall through the chair.

 

That's the nice part of being 3 months old.  If it's hot, go without clothes!

Such a face!

Her favorite pasttime was staring out the windows at the trees.  She LOVES to watch trees.

A room with a view.  But who needs it when you have Jerry?

 

R.I.P Frasier

If you didn't have the pleasure of knowing the little black poodle these pajamas are in honor of, then the rest of us feel sorry for you.  It's been a long time, but we still miss our Mr. Fluff. 

(Side note:  Isn't she scrumptious?  I could just take her home with me.  Oh, wait...)

She "Sits"

Okay.  She sort of sits.  Isabel has been holding her head up really well for awhile now.  She will sit leaning against something (Mommy, Daddy, the couch, her Boppy), so we thought it was time to try the Bumbo.  She looked slightly shocked that she could see us both at the same time while sitting up.  It was a whole new world for her!  We squeezed her little thighs into that thing, and she sat there for quite awhile before she got tired of holding up her giant melon.  Iz was quite pleased with herself.  (And I have finally given up on trying to stop any and all development, so I guess I will embrace this new phase.  Whatever.)

We LOVE Jerry

Jerry is the pet name we have for Izzie's blankie. It's a giraffe. Jerry the giraffe. (Actually, a giraffe head attached to a small, silky blanket.  I thought it was a little creepy at first.)  Not the most creative of names, I realize. But sometime in the haze and craze of the weeks following Izzie's birth, I jokingly called him Jerry. And it stuck.

We do not leave the house without saying, "Where's Jerry? Do you have Jerry?".  Or we ask Isabel, "Do you want to snuggle with Jerry?" and giggle at how ridiculous it sounds.  Because, really (and please, no offense to the Jerrys of the world), could there be a less kid friendly, cuddly name?

But...oh my...how this girl loves her Jerry.  My dad said to me, "That pink thing she has is like a drug."  And it is.  It barely touches her face and her eyes are closed and she is snuggled in.  Jerry was one of the first things she would grab and hold onto when she was little bittie.  We love you, Jerry.

Jerry is good for squeezing

Jerry is a good side while you chew on your fist

Jerry is also a delicious main dish

(She is cramming the silky in as far as it will go)

Jerry is a good carseat companion

And when you need to just get away from it all,

Jerry will hide you from the world

(When I laid her down for her nap, Jerry was cuddled next to her. 

I found her like this, and was a little concerned about the breathing

situation, so I moved Jerry. In the middle of her dozing, she pulled

him back over her face.  Point taken.)

A Lovely Mother's Day

We had a lovely Mother's Day. On Saturday Izzie, B and I went to Menard's and bought all of the flowers for our yard, and then we spent the afternoon planting and doing other yard work. And on Sunday we lunched with Nana and suppered with Grammy. An all around good weekend!

Here are the flowers we bought.  Izzie LOVED shopping for them. 

She got a kick out of staring at all the lovely colors and shapes...

...but she was much less impressed with the planting part of

the afternoon...she got bored and slept through most of it.

Munchie in her first set of big girl jammies (a set with shirt and pants, not a

sleeper!).  Doesn't it look like she's trying to say something in this picture?

If you look close in the picture, you can see the drool stains all

down the front of her.  This kiddo is turning into a waterfall.

Mommy and Me

What She's Up to Now...

This girl. Sheesh. She is getting so big. Don't mock me. She is.

Isabel now grabs her binkie and tries to put it in her own mouth (usually upside down or backwards, but still!). She scoots. She talks. She holds her head up perfectly when you're holding her. She is on her way to sitting. She has ever expanding thighs with several unnecessary creases. She is officialy 3 MONTHS OLD. We love it all.

This is what happens when we leave the room now. Look at her face. "What? What's the big deal?" Munch scoots all over the place by pulling her little legs up and pushing herself backwards.

Look at her go! She sits up and holds her head so strong.

Trying to get a picture of those thighs. Look at them. Mmmm. Delicious.

These pictures are slightly overdue. About a week and a half ago, my parents invited us over to unveil a surprise they had been working on for Caden and Isabel. It was a new playground! It's actually the Ritz Carlton of playgrounds. A door and screened in windows are coming for the clubhouse, as well as some other finishing touches, but you get the idea. Isabel is one spoiled chickie.

Look at that thing! A Dana Daniel original. And I'd
say it's pretty well-built since he said that's where he
and my mom will head if there's a tornado.

Made with love.

Her first time down the slide. Look at her cute face and

ignore my weird one...I was worried about something

on her toe and didn't realize it was picture time.

Her first time in a real swing. She loved it.

She has the men in her life wrapped around her little finger.

Happy May!

Miss Isabel is changing more and more every day. This picture is of her after her second bath of the day (a necessity when you fill your diaper up to your armpits...no more description necessary). I could just take a bite of her (or about 25...she's getting a little chunky these days). Delicious girl.

I was really excited one night this week. We were playing on the floor, and when I gave her this squishy block she held on to it! Not in the newborn "You just stuck something in my hand so I'll grab it" kind of way, but the "This looks cool I want to hold it" kind of way. She pulled it up to her mouth and chewed on it awhile, and then kept grabbing at it when I put it in front of her. I'm not saying she's advanced, just that I was excited. :)

I believe I've mentioned her funny, squishy, waking up faces before. Here Bryan caught her mid-wake up. Scrunched up frog face. I hear you, girl. Mommy doesn't wake up so easily either.