Happy 4th of July, Folks!

Izzie-Bee was a huge fan of family and friends and food, sprinklers and chalk and sandboxes.  Mark her down as unimpressed by water balloon fights and loud fireworks.  But all in all, our 4th of July party was a success (once Izzie figured out that it actually wasn't a birthday party for her after all...).

The day before.  Made a banner and a picture at school.  She picked her picture
out of a pile of identical ones instantly.  I said, "We better check if it's yours!"
and the teacher said, "It is.  She insisted she didn't want any red."  Patriotic.

If this is the drama at 2, imagine when she's 16.

Skinny Minnie.  Where's my chubby baby?
(Oh, in my belly...)

Daddy and Brian Abbott's homemade sprinkler extravaganza

Our party guests before the 500 count water balloon fight.
Daddy goes big or goes home, to say the least.

Is this love?  Probably not.  Henry was crying for his mom and trying
to yank his arm away 5 seconds after this picture was taken.  

Izzie loved the flag decorations -- her and Grammy practiced the Pledge of Allegiance

Love.  This.  Picture.  These girls are a hoot.  Avery's surprised face can't be beat.

Is there anything boys love more than fireworks?  Look at Caden's pose!

Taking turns on the sucker with Popper and Aves

Realizing we haven't shown a picture of brother in awhile--he's under there!

Our attempt at a family pic.  30 minutes after bedtime should have happened,
already out of our patriotic gear, and snapped between bangs and cries at
the loud fireworks.  Hey, it will do, right?  At least we're all there.

A Date with Popper

Popper works long days Monday through Thursday and just works mornings on Fridays.  So he and Caden have been having Friday dates for a long time, but he's been waiting for Izzie to be potty trained before inviting her on the adventures.  Popper started asking Izzie a few months ago, "You still pooping in your pants?" and she'd say, "Yeah", which meant no dates yet!  But last Sunday he asked and the answer was no, which meant this past Friday was her first big girl date with Popper!  I asked her where she wanted to go and she said, "Popper's gonna take me to the pet store."

They ended up venturing to the hardware store first, then Runza (and her first play land that she would actually go in and enjoy by herself), followed by TWO pet stores.  The second pet store was necessary you see, because the first pet store didn't have turtles.  What a travesty.  When they got home I asked what they did, "We went to ... (whisper) da pet store!"  I think it was a success.  Popper told me later that after lunch she said, "It's so nice to play and eat."  Haha!  What a goose.

Mommy had to snap a picture on their way out the door.  "Bye, Mom!" and off she went.  Kind of choked me up how big this girl is getting.  Going on her own adventures without me!  (But then again, I had the house to myself to clean, so I can get over it!)

All dressed up.  Two bracelets, a necklace, and a donut.

Potty? TRAINED.

This girl just makes life too easy for us.  We started potty training on a Monday (June 9th, I believe), and by that Friday this girl was accident free.  Mommy was gone over the weekend for a girls' shopping trip, and while I was gone she and Daddy mastered going potty in public places (McDonald's, Nana's house,...).  This was a big deal, because it meant we weren't tied to home and the froggy potty anymore!

We tried potty training in December because she seemed interested and I had a break from school, but it didn't last.  It was too hard to manage since our schedules weren't consistent for her, so we decided to wait until school was out to try again.  I think that's part of the reason it went so easily, though, because she remembered and has used the potty intermittently for the past few months.  It also helped that we had Rapunzel underwear, and she got FOUR smarties when she went.  Four is a lot when you're only two years old!

This was a stack of books that she collected to read aloud
to herself while she pottied.  The stack got so big that she
spent over 30 minutes sitting on froggy, even though she
went in the first 30 seconds.  The kid loves books.

An activity Mommy created to help Iz with numbers.  Just the other day, we
realized that although she could count to 15, the number 5 had somehow
disappeared completely.  So we made number cards to 10 and hung them on
the wall as a fun way to practice counting.  Five is slowly making a comeback.

Caught.  Dancing to Rapunzel in her bedroom.  I think I'll keep them both.

Summer Fun

Oh, summer.  We love you.

Giant stick?  Check.  Apron?  Check.  Sun hat?  Check.

Oh, to be 2 years old.  The joy of a hose and a pool.

Check out the organization of those crayons.  I
messed it up once and she kindly redirected me,
"No, Mommy.  It goes HERE."  Got it, babe.

This was entertainment for quite awhile.  PILLOW PILE!

"I will read to them so they don't cry.  C'mere, girls.  COME HERE!"

Building a sandbox with Daddy.

Salt dough sculptures

The Big Girl Room

There were a lot of things on Mommy's "To Do" list once school was done.  First up was moving our big girl to her own big girl room with a big girl bed (can you tell what phrase we've been using over and over around here lately?).

It was quite a project, as the big girl room is in what was once the old playroom (the spare bedroom upstairs).  So to do that, we needed somewhere to put the old playroom--aka Bryan had to finish the bedroom in the basement.  Once the playroom in the basement was complete, we started working our magic in what was now going to be Izzie's room.  We didn't tell her about it or show her anything beforehand because we wanted it to be a surprise.  I was a little nervous about this--that the surprise might be more of a shock and too much of a change--but we went with it anyway.  We had mentioned before that she would be getting a big girl bed (she had gone shopping with us a few weeks before), and talked about how brother would use her crib when she was done, but that was about it.

Izzie went to Grammy's for a few hours one day so Mommy could work on the surprise, and then when Daddy got home he finished putting the bed together and we did the big reveal.  She gasped.  She smiled.  She jumped up and down on the bed.  She loved it from the get go.  And while I was a little worried about her seeing her old room torn up, she happily walked in and said, "This is where brother sleeps?  I like his room, Mommy."

Big grown girl still loves her Jerry.

If you come to our house, please note that her bed is "purple".  Wink, wink.

The wrinkly curtains were there for a trial run.  She cried when she saw them
in my cart at Walmart (even though she had no idea they were for her), and
said, "I don't like these.  I want purple!".  I figured I would make sure she
didn't have a panic attack before I hung them permanently.  But the purple
sheets, blanket, and pillow were enough of a distraction and the curtains stayed.

I was more traumatized by the experience than she was, that's for sure.  I put her in that giant bed for bedtime, and then said I would sit with her because I thought she might be afraid.  She sort of just stared at me awkwardly, and then I realized I was not needed.  I stared at her video monitor for what felt like most of the night, but she did fine.  It took her a half hour to fall asleep, but she laid in bed quietly just like she used to in the crib.  She slept all night, and in the morning she called for Mommy when she was ready to get up, just like I told her to.  

The next morning.  "I had a good nap, Mommy!"

Two weeks in, and she's a pro.  For those of you who have yet to make the move to the big girl bed, I highly recommend you train them to wait in bed for you in the morning.  Izzie won't get out of bed until I come in the room, and it is very handy.  We don't have to worry about a toddler roaming the house without us, and if she gets up way too early then she quietly entertains herself until Mommy is actually ready to get her up.  It's also handy for nap time so that she is resting and giving Mommy a break even if she isn't sleeping (though this little princess usually has no trouble getting her beauty sleep).  

One day, her 2-3 hour nap was only about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  This was not okay with Mommy, so I told her she needed to stay in bed and rest until I came and got her.  She did pretty well for about an hour, and then I heard her yelling for me.  Obviously I did not move fast enough, as she moved to sweet talking.  "Mommy!  Mommy!  Come and get me because I love you!"  If I wasn't already on my way that would have gotten me moving for sure!

Next up...potty training and binkie banishment...  Yikes.  Pray for this mommy.

Isabel Giggles

Little Miss Talkative makes us laugh on a daily basis.  Sometimes we probably shouldn't, but it can't be helped.  One of my favorite things to do is just sit and have a conversation with her.

At dinner time...
Iz:  "How's your day, Mommy?" (a little surprised, I answered that it was good)
       "And how's your day, Daddy?" (laughing a little, he said his was also good)
        After a bit of a silence..."Ask how's my day?"
Ooops.  Manners lessons from our 2-year-old.

Walking through Target one day...
Iz:  "I need a new shirt, Mommy.  This one's pink and I like purple.  Purple's my favorite."  Well, can't argue with that logic.

Please note the pearls, not the food in her mouth.  We get pretty fancy for church.

On our way to a graduation party, our girl says, "It'll be wonderful going to your party, Mommy.  You'll be a wonderful girl and I'll be perfect."  Whew.  Glad she covered that so I didn't have to.

Check out the rain boots!

Getting in T's van one day, she spots Avery and starts singing, "Girl, look at that body.  Girl, look at that body.  Do you work out?"  We can blame Daddy for that one--he's been singing that to her since she was a baby.  Much more inappropriate sounding coming out of a toddler's mouth, however, but much funnier...

"Do you know what's that sound is?"  This is one of my favorite phrases of hers.  It's just right enough to understand what she's asking, and just wrong enough to be adorable.

Trying for a thumbs up

She's really big on complimenting people right now.  Daddy redid a bedroom in the basement to make a playroom for her, and the first time she walked in she said, "Oh, Daddy!  You did such a good job!  It's just perfect!"

Watching birdies with Daddy.  She loves looking at them, but they terrify
her up close.  "Hold me!  They gonna get my toes!"  Even the little ones.

"I like you tummy, Mommy.  It's gorgeous." (Nice to hear, though hard to believe at 28 weeks...)

On the way to another graduation party...
Iz:  "Why is it windy?"
Mommy:  "Because we're driving down a highway and going really fast."
Iz:  "But why is it windy?"
Mommy:  "Because the air is blowing around."
Iz:  "But why is it windy?"
Mommy:  "DADDY?  Wanna take this one?"
Daddy:  "God made it windy, Iz.  Ask him."
Iz:  "Is he gonna be at the party?"
Umm...

"Reading" Mommy's book to herself.  She
gets pretty into it, and is very expressive!

Darling girl had five or six slivers in her shin (no idea how that happened), and so Daddy had to do a little work on her leg.  We explained what was going to happen and that it might hurt a little bit, but that it would make her leg better.  She sat really well and didn't cry until the very end (thanks in part to some expert distraction via bug book by Popper).  A couple of days later in the car she says, "Where's my owie, Daddy?  I can't see it.  Did you fix it, Daddy?  Thank you for fixin' my owie, Daddy."  She's so darn polite sometimes it surprises us!

Iz was over at Caden and Avery's house on Mommy's last day of school.  Caden and Izzie were both in time out, he in his room and her in the hallway outside his room (with the door shut between them).  Out of nowhere, Emily hears them singing "Do you wanna build a snowman?" from Frozen back and forth through the door just like Ana and Elsa do in the movie.  Hahaha!

Daddy graduates!

We had a very exciting weekend this past week. Daddy graduated from UNL with a degree in Construction Management.  We are so proud of him and how hard he has worked.  And we are definitely proud of how well he did, especially considering he had some challenges most other students don't have to worry about--or at least not all at once!  (Like a mortgage, a job, a wife, a 2-year-old and a new human on the way...)  It's hard to believe that this time in our lives is over--we feel like we've been in the school mindset for so long--but it is finally done!

Isabel and I dropped Daddy off with his cap and gown at 8:30, and then we headed to meet Nana, Grandpa, Grammy, Popper, and Gigi and Grandpa Harms for breakfast.  The ceremony started at 9:30, but I figured we weren't in a rush to get there given the fact that I was going to force a 2-year-old to sit through something that most grown adults find to be a form of punishment.  We got there around 10 as the graduates were finishing filing in, so Mommy got a chance to cry at the graduation song (what is it about that song?!).  Luckily, T had staked out a whole row of seats for us--literally furthest at the back and highest point of the arena.  Though it was a trek for this pack mule of a momma to get there, they actually turned out to be perfect seats.  We had plenty of space for Caden, Isabel and Avery to run and  we didn't have to worry too much about our noise level.

The sweetest thing was Izzie sitting on that giant seat, 4 billion feet above the graduates, and pointing her little finger as she said, "There's my daddy!  You see my daddy?"  My darling girl made it through the first 2 hours of the ceremony without incident (thanks to snacks and a build-a-bug app on the iPad), but she was a bit of a wreck for the last half hour or so.  Luckily, Daddy was one of the last to walk across the stage...  So, although she was really excited to look for Daddy at the beginning, by the time he did his dance she was in a crumpled ball on the cement floor crying and asking to go home.  Not quite as charming and sweet as I pictured it in my head, but that's real life for you, right?  Haha.

"He's right there!'

Apparently you don't need sound for movies...

She was still tired, hungry, bored, etc. as we waited for Daddy to come out, so our family picture was also a little lacking in the cute department.  However, I joked with my husband 5 years ago when he started this journey that he would have a screaming 2-year-old and a pregnant wife in his graduation picture.  And here we are...

When Bellie got up from her nap that afternoon, she told Grammy that we were having a party for Daddy because "He went to school and worked hard and now he's done!"  So apparently she listens sometimes.  After sitting through a breakfast and (most of) a graduation ceremony, we then asked this child to sit at a restaurant for dinner.  But this time there was cake and other kids, so that helped.  Bitty girl was up until almost 9:30 partying hard for Daddy, and then gave Mommy the best Mother's Day present ever by sleeping in until 8:45 the next morning!


We are so happy Daddy is done with night classes and homework so we can have a more normal schedule.  And to add to the fun, in exactly one week Mommy will be done with school and is taking next year off--so we will have lots of family time to enjoy together soon.  We are so thankful for the way God has taken care of us through this and blessed us so much--mostly through our amazing families who have supported us and helped us through this whole journey, but also for giving Daddy the opportunity to start a job that he is really excited about and allows him time with us!