A Very Pumpkin Weekend

We went to Rocaberry Farm last weekend for some kettle corn eating, pumpkin picking, goat feeding, train riding, hay climbing good times.  The highlight of the whole event for Iz was the animals.  We stood and stared at the pony rides for awhile.  She was not interested in getting on them, but insisted we stay and watch them ("No, I look at horsies!" when we tried to walk away).  Then there were some pigs and chickens that held our interest for awhile.  But, the goats.  Oh, she loved them.  We fed them, petted them ("I touch.  Mommy touch.  Caden touch."), and then just sat in the stroller and watched them.  Everyone else ventured on to bigger and better things, but Iz and I stood in one spot watching one goat on a bridge for quite awhile.  It was difficult to drag her away, but once we did her and Caden found a Disney "haunted" house (only haunted because it was slightly dark) and they managed to run through that quite a few times to help her forget about those goats.  (How we managed to get through this whole affair without a picture of her by a goat is beyond me, but she loved them nonetheless!)

Look at how tall my girl is! 

Pretty little flower! 

Next time our directions will need to be more specific.
"Look through the flower and say 'Cheese', Iz."  Well, she
said "Cheese" as we took a picture of her backside...

Not sure what I'm doing...but she's having fun!

Chillin' with my cuz...

A quick pic before we ran through the "haunted" house again 

Out of 4,000 pictures, this is the only one where all three were looking.  Sort of...

Iz finally found the perfect pumpkin!

Another attempt... 

We love Grammy and Popper!  (I don't know if I've mentioned it yet, but
that is Izzie's pet name for Grandpa.  Not quite sure where it came from,
but I am a fan!)

**UPDATE**  Grammy sent us some goat pictures she had taken.  Thanks, Grammy!

Foooootball!

We've had a lot of fun this Husker season.  We have had the chance to visit the new arena several times with Daddy to see where he's been working, checked out some pre-game fun (and the adults have gone to a few games), and watched some games at home.  Our littlest fan requests to watch football with Daddy sometimes now.    

Checking out the arena with Daddy

Check out his hand around her neck...melt my heart

Go Huskers!

A cold day...and we forgot Izzie's coat.  So next time you see
us, tell us this sweatshirt was totally worth $35...yikes!

Cutie pa-tooties

Checking out the Farmer's Market one lovely Saturday

We Count to Ten!

Isabel has given up her battle against the number 8.  At first, her counting was sparse at best - "1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10!"  She soon picked up four and six, but five was a bit of a struggle.  It wasn't long before  she had them all but the number eight, and she was pretty firm in her insistence that it not be included in the line-up.  Suddenly, on Friday, she sat in Bryan's lap and counted to 10 perfectly without any prodding or help.  (I'm inclined to believe that her resolve weakened when she realized her teachers at school did in fact use the number 8 as well.)  Regardless, it's been an exciting weekend and we've probably made her do it a hundred times!  Getting it on camera is another issue--of course the little monkeys don't perform when you want them to--but I finally got it (sort of).  I just love her sweet little voice!

A Party!

Uncle Brenton got married yesterday!  We are so happy to have Auntie Karina join our family.  Mommy and Daddy were both in the wedding, so Iz had a date with T and Grammy (and T curled Izzie's hair for the first time!).  All Izzie really understood about the day was that there was going to be dancing and cake--but that's all she needed to know to be excited!  She had to be escorted out for the ceremony (it was just too hard to see Mommy and Daddy up front without causing a scene), but she was back in action once the reception started.  (I forgot my camera and we never actually ended up with a pic of the bride and groom...so we'll have to add one when we get it!)  Congrats Brenton and Karina!

Just chillin'

Look at that hair!

A kiss for Mommy...

And a kiss for Belly...

She got sick of pictures pretty quick (you can catch a glimpse of the lovely couple in the background)...

...But everything was better when she found the cake pops!

Her Big Smile

 
Izzie calls this her big smile.  "Mommy!  Mommy!  Beeg smile!"  It's one of my favorite things about her right now. 

The other thing I love about her is how good she as at giving hugs.  It's a process.

She declares it first:  "I hug"

She throws her arms open wide

She turns her head

She goes in for the kill

Her teeny little pudgy hands pat your back while she does it

And once she give one to one person in the room, everyone else present is fair game. 

19 Month Maniac

This 19 month old has changed so much!

*Izzie's constant conversation has been present since basically birth, but the exciting thing now is that we can understand her most of the time!  She still will say certain things over and over and over--getting in our face and looking really serious--and we have no idea what she's trying to communicate, but those times are fewer and farther between.

*Isabel counts..."one...two...three...four...sixsevennineTEN!  We're missing a few numbers, but her enthusiasm makes up for it.  She went shopping with Grammy at Walgreens and found a puppy she wanted.  "One, two, four, seven.  Moh puppies peas Gammy."  Shock of all shocks she came home with two puppies instead of just one.  I was actually surprised she didn't have seven.

*Izzie reads books to us now--even turning them around to show the pictures like they do at school.  But  "myself" means she's going to read to herself and you should find something to do to keep yourself busy.

*Isabel describes everything:  "Birdie is high", "Rock is heavy", "Chickie is hot", "Bible so funny" (no, I did not make that one up--she was reading to herself and laughed as she said it--so we have some work to do).

*Munchkin LOVES her babies.  "Uh oh, she poopy.  I change."  She is so sweet and tender-hearted as she takes care of her dolls.  It is precious.

*Izzie has an opinion on most things now.  The shoes she wears, the show she wants to watch, the baby she wants to play with, the food she wants to eat...  Though it's occasionally exasperating, it's really exciting to see her coming up with her own ideas and seeing her little personality develop.

*Iz has turned into a tall and skinny little girl!  The only remnants of the chubbalicious we once knew are the little pouches of unnecessary fat on her inner thighs (but who doesn't have that...?).

 

 

A Funny...

Auntie Em sent me this picture while Iz was at her house one day.  You know how sometimes you have a day where everything seems to work out perfectly?  This day was the opposite for poor Emily--3 unhappy kids who refused to take naps and were generally grumpy.  The culmination of this lovely day was a half-naked Iz running through the sprinkler with Caden while holding Jerry and sucking on a binkie (normally reserved for bedtime only).  On those kind of days, though, it's all about survival.  Whatever makes them happy and gets you through the day.  God bless you, Auntie.

"Will work for food"