That's My Girl...

She's sassy and classy and I couldn't love her more.

Can we just take a moment to examine this pose...?

Another one so you can see how high the heels are.
And she rocks them, no problem at all!

Summer Summary, Part 2

There were too many fun summer pictures for the last post.  So here's another.  And forgive me -- they got mixed up and aren't in chronological order (and I didn't care enough to fix it!).

Family Adventure Week at church

Cousin picture at Carter's 5th birthday (he gave her really specific instructions on posing!)

Her first donut

Awesome, cheap homemade toy.  Pipe cleaners and an old parmesan cheese container.
Kept this chica busy for long periods of time and it was great practice for those fine motor skills.

Check. Out. The. Sticker.  Mommy could have died from happiness.
She got a library card and we checked books out together.  Ahhhh.  Bliss.

We spent a good portion of our summer with at least part
of our clothing missing, though we rarely neglected accessories.

Another fun one--cardboard tubes and a muffin tin.  I had to take a picture because I handed
her the bowl of tubes and asked if she could put them all in the pan.  She grabbed the bowl,
set it on the pan, and looked at me like, "Was that really that hard?".

Apple juice popsicles.  YUM.

Avery and Izzie still rocked the Infant Room at school together on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

She fell in love with crayons this summer.  But they ended up a lot of unnecessary
places and had to get cleaned up (though that was hardly a punishment for her!).
Her love of cleaning and broccoli make it very clear that I am not the only contributor
to her gene pool.

She loved play doh!  We had exciting times at this high chair.  She learned the word "snake" and
now demands one get made anytime the play doh is out.  And one time, I asked if she made a
ball and she held one up in each hand and said "Two".  Who knew she could count?

Celebration for Uncle J after his first successful triathlon!

I wish I knew what this game was.  Wear a hat, throw fuzzy balls on the ground,
wipe them up with a blanket, all while singing a song.  

Our own version of Where's Waldo?  Our friend Gracie was over
and she kept piling on animals and Iz kept saying "Moh!  Moh!".

Summer Summary

Our summer was amazing.  Izzie and I had so much time together, we got to spend so much time with other people we love, and we just got to have fun being a family and having adventures.  I made a bucket list for us at the beginning of summer of 40+ things I wanted to do with Izzie.  I didn't want to waste a second of our summer, and I was afraid it would fly by too fast (which it did anyway, but at least we have lots of fun memories!).

Our list had projects, activities, places to go, games to try, toys to make...  It wasn't so much about checking everything off the list (because we didn't!) but just having new experiences with her.  Some things were quick and others took more time, some were huge successes and others were a total bust, some were about learning and others were about making a mess, but we had FUN!  We learned a song and danced in the rain and decorated sugar cookies and built a cardboard house and saw an airplane and had a dance party and went to the library and learned to play hide and go seek and played with fake snow and had a pajama day and went on a picnic and played with slime.  We still have 7 items to check off (why won't anyone let you feed ducks anymore?!?) and then it will be time to make a new list!

Storytime with Caden and Aves (at the beginning of summer--look what a baby she is!)

Turns out Izzie's rules for dominoes are way better

She loves the zoo!  We had a membership so we went lots!

First baseball game

Don't worry, folks.  We still had plenty of chillaxing time!

My homemade finger paints turned into a gloopy disaster, but that didn't stop her from enjoying them!

We visited her school one Friday to celebrate International Mud Day!

Izzie developed a passion for cleaning ("Moh keenin', Moh keenin'")

We spent time with Great Grandpa

So...the decorating was a little uneven, but the cookies were still delicious! 

Reading books with Grammy.  This summer she really got into reading books out loud herself.  

Colored ice cubes make for fun driveway paints! 

We had several swimming parties at Grammy's

Family reunion at a cousin's farm.  She sat in the dirt forever and literally rubbed clods of it all over herself.

She became a swimming maniac!  Two six week sessions completed and she goes underwater without crying or choking.  Success!  (And her first sucker as a reward!)

Heart Smiles

I know I'm belated in my posts.  Forgive me.  School has started back up and we have yet to form a routine.  So, more stories and pics to follow soon (hopefully), but here's a snapshot that I just love.  I have it hanging at my desk at school because seeing it makes my heart so happy.

They just crack each other up!  (And yes, she's wearing his pjs.)

Our Toddler

I would like to reserve the right to use the term "toddler" loosely with this one.  She is now and will forevermore be my baby girl.  However, given her tendency to speak in sentences, I might have to accept her move out of the world's definition of "infant".  To celebrate her move from infancy, this little one will be starting in the toddler room when the fall term of her school starts in a few weeks.  So yesterday was our darling's last day in the Gingko Room (infant room) at Dimensions.  We LOVE her room and her teachers, and we will miss them so much.  But, this little girl has outgrown them and must move on.  So watch out, Oak Room.  HERE COMES IZZIE!

This was what our little Munchkin looked like when we first sent her to the Gingko Room, and then a picture of her at school from only 6 months ago.

Last day in the infant room?  This calls for a headstand in bed!

Chasing after cousin Caden on the way in.  These two have enjoyed having a lot of time together outdoors at school this summer.  Iz will miss him a lot this fall as he heads to the preschool side!

Iz's hallway (and gigantic stroller).  God bless those teachers for thinking it's fun to take 6 kids on adventures to explore their world.  Sounds like too much work to me!

Isabel's name tag.  It hung above her crib when she first came, but got moved once she started sleeping on a mat on the floor at the beginning of the summer.

Such a fun and happy place to be!

Izzie's cubby and cupboard space.

Miss Denise and Miss Abby.  We love you!

I think Abby and Denise thought I was a little off my rocker as I took pictures of everything on Izzie's last day.  But it's hard to admit she's growing up (and that I'll have to be going back to school soon, too!).  She spent a lot of time in that room with those lovely ladies, and we appreciate them so much!