In Loving Memory

A Million Times

A million times we've needed you,

A million times we've cried.

If love alone could have saved you,

You never would have died.

In life we loved you dearly, 

In death we love you still.

In our hearts you hold a place,

No one else will ever fill.

It broke our hearts to lose you,

But you didn't go alone.

Part of us went with you,

The day God took you home.

Our precious Grandpa D--we will treasure you in our hearts forever.

Her Own Style

Auntie and I made this blanket for Isabel while I was still 

pregnant.  She loves wearing it around her neck like a scarf.

Isabel is a big fan of sunglasses and half-clothing.

Did I mention the half-clothing?  And mismatched shoes?

The hair is still a battle. 

Izzie went on one bike ride with Daddy where she had to wear a helmet.

Now, she requires a helmet any time she is outside.  Playing with chalk,

going on a walk, riding in the swing--you can never be too safe!

Iz loves sitting in chairs.  Once she gets in them, she

points at everyone that should join her.  She had

quite the crowd going for this read-aloud.

Munch had her first incident report at school.

She was playing, tripped on a toy, and face

planted on a tree stump.  Busy girl!

Happy Easter

Finally, some Easter pics for you all!  It was a marvelous day.  Izzie had an Easter egg hunt at home in the morning after getting an Easter basket full of outside toys (and an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, yellow polka dot bikini!).  Then it was off to church for a photo op with Caden and Avery (sorry, I don't have a good one of the three of them, but I'll steal one from Em and post it later).  After that, a nap, lunch and another Easter egg hunt at Nana and Grandpa's house with lots of family.  Finally, the last Easter egg hunt of the day and lots of playing outside at Grammy and Grandpa's with both of our great-grandpas in attendance.  Whew!  What a fun day!

Go-Wi!

Izzie's new favorite thing is going outside.  She can't get enough of it.  For the past 4 days, she has been saying her first official phrase over and over and over..."Wanna go-wi!" (Wanna go outside!).  It's precious.  Needless to say, we have spent many hours in the great outdoors as the weather has improved over the last week.  She loves it.  A picnic at the park with Daddy, a bike ride, Easter egg hunts, walks, exploring the yard,...she'll take whatever she can get.

I know someday they'll frustrate me to no end, but I love the muddy footprints in my house right now.

Accessorize

It has been awfully busy around here lately.  I will be going back and adding some posts for March, so you'll have to check back.

Izzie currently loves to accessorize.  Last weekend, a friend came over for dinner and Izzie was in crop pants with pink Crocs and two barrettes in her hair.  A couple days ago, I went in to get her from her nap and she was standing in her crib holding her pajamas.  I tried to pick her up and she got really upset and handed me the pajamas.  So, we had to put the pajamas on (over the clothes she were already wearing) and then she was as happy as can be.  She added her polka dot rain coat on her way out of her bedroom, so she was getting a tad bulky.  But she proceeded to help Daddy change the toilet seat and fix the shower.

And tonight, she wore her rain coat, a necklace and three purses (one around her neck and one on each arm).  This get-up seemed good enough until she found her sparkle shoes in her room, and then we had to put those on, too.  This lasted awhile, but then she spotted my sunglasses in the kitchen and added those.  You get the idea.

Isabel is hilarious and determined and creative.  It is starting to get hard, because she knows what she wants but can't tell us, so there have been a few explosive tantrums around this house.  They are short-lived, but very dramatic.  This chick is still as laid back as she used to be most of the time, but when she gets frustrated, watch out!  She seems as cool as a cucumber, and then all of a sudden everything falls apart!

Isabel's Dedication

Bryan and I participated in a 6 week parenting class, and at the end of it we had a dedication for Isabel. The basic idea behind it was that we were making a promise to raise Izzie up to know Jesus, but we also made a family mission statement as a part of the class.  It was a great experience to look forward and think about the type of family we want to have and the type of person we want Izzie to be.  Of course it looks good on paper, but we know we're going to need a lot of prayer and ibuprofen to get there!  :)  The Meyers dedicated Caden and Avery at the same time, so it was such a special day!

Chaos

Our house is in a state of chaos these days.  Izzie is constantly opening, closing, emptying, dumping, relocating, rearranging, throwing, organizing...You get the idea.  If it even resembles something with a loop it is a necklace and goes around her neck.  She ends up with quite the wardrobe these days.  If she can sit in it or on it or by it, she will--regardless of the comfort level.  If she can fit it in her mouth, that's how she will carry it (I'm still not sure where this came from...).

But most of the chaos is due to book explosions you will find in at least three locations on any given day.  The options are to get rid of my books (gasp! not an option!), to torture my daughter by not letting her play with them, or to just roll with it and spend my days tripping over paperbacks.  Not surprising, you may have guessed we have currently chosen option 3.  Please don't judge when you come over to our house.  There will be books everywhere--front entryway, dining room, living room, hallway (all places books are currently flung in my home), etc..   It doesn't matter how often we pick them up and put them back (with Izzie's "help" sometimes).  It takes 2.5 minutes of being home for them to return.  Hopefully there is some osmosis happening while she's flipping those pages and she'll turn into a genius who can buy me a house with a beautiful library someday...

She loves a classic World War II novel.

Wearing an apron, holding two sippy cups,

sitting on the bathroom floor.  Duh.

 One doggy purse + 6 necklaces = Ready for Vogue

Return of the doggy purse necklace.

And a wire basket seat.  Comfy.

C. H. A. O. S.  This seriously took 16 seconds.

 (Somewhere, wherever he is, LeVar Burton is smiling.)