A Lovely April

Some of the things we've been up to lately...

Isabel loves to chew on her fists. She jams them into her mouth as far as she can get them. We think she is trying for her thumb, and sometimes she succeeds, but she get so excited about it that she balls her fists back up and the thumb disappears. So most of the time she is happy with her fists.

She continues to be laid back about most things (aside from the mid-bottle burp which we require and she deems completely unnecessary). She has taken a liking to pulling her shirt up to her face and chewing on it. Or perhaps she just likes showing off her fine Isa-belly as we call it.

The most precious face.

Izzie is really starting to notice things around her. She watches us more and more, and it seems she has finally noticed that we have dogs. Here, her and Maya were having a staring competition. I think Maya was mad her cuddle spot was taken, and Izzie was amazed that Maya existed.

I was folding laundry and had Iz sitting on the bed. She was sleepy and entered this trance like state--staring into space with a sort of half smile, sitting so nicely with her hands in her lap. We thought it was hilarious.

Great-Grandpa Daniel's 85th birthday!

"Raise your hand if you want Mommy to change your diaper." Bryan thought he was so clever and funny, and she was so cute that I took a picture and obliged.

This is her "freshly hatched chick" look. Fuzzy hair. High eyebrows. Big eyes. Pouty lips. Looks like she's just peeking out of her shell for the first time.

Munchie loves laying on her play mat and staring at the mirror on the top of it. She flirts and gooes and smiles at herself nonstop. She just can't get enough of that gorgeous girl in the mirror. And neither can we.

Isabel is so very smiley now. We love it. Nothing better than getting a smile just for walking in the room. (And thanks for the Grover sleeper, Shel. We love it!)

2 Months Old

We're a tad behind. Forgive me. Izzie was 2 months old on Easter. At her doctor's appointment the next day, she weighed 12 lbs, 9 oz (90th percentile) and was 23 1/4 inches long (80th percentile). As Auntie Leslie so eloquently put it, she is Babezilla. And she now sleeps 9 or 10 hours a night pretty regularly (9pm-ish to 7am-ish). No need to remind me we're spoiled (or for you mothers to send hate emails). We are aware.


Here are some pics from our latest adventures...


This was pretty funny. Izzie got a new giraffe from Grammy. And Maya was convinced it should be hers. She begged for it as I took the tag off. She followed me frantically to the living room, and I felt her disappointment as I set it in Izzie's swing. She stared at that thing for Izzie's entire nap, just in case it fell off...


She thinks Mommy is pretty funny. But so are ceiling fans, books, her bow board, and certain sections of blank wall.


Easter morning. You gotta do a poufy dress (thanks Nana!) and ruffle socks. It is required. She got an Easter basket from Mommy and Daddy with ladybug spinner and bug book (and some candy...which we obligingly ate for her). Grammy gave her an Easter basket full of goodies as well, and Auntie gave her some adorable dresses. Grandpa gave her a Raggedy Ann, which was special because he got me one when I was born, too. And it is officially her most favorite toy now.





After her 2 month appointment. She got two shots and basically slept the rest of the day. This was between naps...clearly...


Bryan and I help out with middle school youth group, and last Wednesday was Twin Night. I brought Isabel to meet the kids, and figured we should participate. She is just delicious in anything, but we love the tennies and headbands.


So, if you are in the market for one of these, I would suggest you consider our model. She is extremely efficient and runs very smoothly. She only gets noisy when she's running low on fuel. Her exterior is gorgeous with no dents or dings. And her value only increases with age and number of miles. (A word of caution: These are very hard to resell. People prefer them new. So once you get one, expect to have it for a lifetime. And put your order in quickly, because there's a bit of a waiting period.) Did I mention her compact size and that she fits anywhere?

I Got Your Back

So Miss Iz is one lucky chick. She is blessed with three awesome cousins who are so good to her. They all love on her bunches and are so sweet to her. But Izzie and Caden have had several funny moments in the past few weeks that I thought I would share.

This one's a favorite, even though the picture isn't great. Em and Caden were at our house, and I had gone in the other room to grab something while Em was changing Caden's diaper. I heard Caden yelling, "Hettie me, baby!" (Help me, baby!) and Emily laughing. I went in to find Caden sprawled across the couch, reaching for Izzie in her swing. He was begging for rescue from the diaper change as Em held onto his ankles. And Iz was staring at him as if to say, "Does it look like I'll be able to help you?" It was pretty hilarious.


Caden loves holding Isabel. He usually can't wait to get his hands on her. In fact, if she's in her car seat when he sees her, he all but crawls inside of it to get to her. This was Easter Sunday. We took quite a few pictures of the two of them together. He was pretty excited to have her in his lap, and she seemed pretty comfy there.

This picture is a pretty big deal. Isabel was at Em's house for the day. Caden got up in the morning and saw her in the swing. He went over to his toy box, "Hmm...wet's see...". He got Woody out and said, "Here baby, you hold Woody" and put it on her. He never shares Woody, Buzz, or Jessie willingly. Auntie said that this makes it official that Izzie is his favorite because no one else gets offered these toys. Ever.

Em said Caden continued to give Isabel the play-by-play the rest of the day. "We go getty moo down sterrs" as they went downstairs to pick out a movie. Then, when they got back upstairs, it was, "We getty Nemo, baby! You likey Nemo?" as she is still passed out in the swing. He even held the movie right up to her (sleeping) eyes so she could see. Then, he had to stop the swing several times to kiss her. "You kay, baby? Me checky you. Aw, baby--you nigh-night?" He is just too precious.

Even though she can't say it yet, buddy, just know that Izzie's got your back.

Izzie's New Schedule

Well, I headed back to work this week (boo!). I love my job and I missed my kids at school, but as you can imagine it was pretty hard to leave my Munchie. However, we are beyond blessed to have amazing family members and friends who have stepped up to the plate to take care of her for the next few weeks until I'm on summer break! Here is a summary of her first week sans Momma...

MONDAY and WEDNESDAY

Isabel spent these two days with Auntie Em and Caden. She had so much fun watching Caden play all day, and he was really good about sharing his toys with her. He was a little frustrated that she couldn't hold cars, and she didn't participate much when it was time for Play-Doh, but other than that things went well.

Emily had made a big deal to Caden about the fact that baby can only drink milk because she didn't want him trying to share other things with her. Well, Izzie got cranky and wanted a bottle. Em put her in her swing and went to make the bottle. When she came back, Caden had his sippie straw shoved in Izzie's mouth. He smiled at Em and said "Milkie, Momma!" Turns out we need to be more specific about what kind of milk...

Hanging in the peanut shell. She loves that thing.

Zoning out in her swing.

Watching Caden with his toys.

Getting a hug from the big guy. She really does like him, regardless of the look of terror on her face!

TUESDAY

A day at Grammy's house! When I went to pick her up at the end of the day, Grammy informed me that she had only slept about 45 minutes the whole day! This chick is usually a crazy good sleeper, I guess she was just really excited to be at Grammy's and really enjoying their alone time. She didn't get cranky--she just had a lot to do!

She loved Grammy's bouncer

Snuggling with Grammy in her room (my old bedroom!)

THURSDAY

Miss Iz was at Auntie Brittany's house today. She got to hang out with Uncle Kevin, Callie and Carter, too! Brittany said she was a great girl, and it's clear from the pics that she got lots of love!

Miss Callie and her baby cousin

Carter getting some baby time!

Love time with Auntie Brittany

Snuggling with Uncle Kevin

Izzie Smiles

I set out this morning to capture my girl's good morning smile. It's the best thing in the world. I crawl out of bed grumpy and groggy. I stumble to Munch's bedroom and peek into her crib. She smiles. Suddenly I'm not so grumpy or groggy. She doesn't even care that I have on a baggy t-shirt, mascara smeared under my eyes, and hair that looks like small animals nested in it over night. She still smiles (maybe she's laughing at me). Regardless, it's hard to not have a good day after that.

The first one is her in her crib. I couldn't get the picture to rotate, so you'll have to turn your head. After that, she was not impressed by the camera in my arms instead of her so that was the only shot. The next few are the phases of her smiles as we have a morning chat on her changer. She's the best.

Six Weeks Already!

Miss Isabel is 6 weeks old this week. She still "talks" up a storm when she's in the mood, and is still a great sleeper. In fact, this week she has done a couple of 8 hour stretches at night.

Izzie is starting to exert an opinion on some things, which cracks us up. She was hanging in her crib at my mom's house, staring at a mobile. My mom went to pick her up, and some VERY angry screams came out of that little chica. The second my mom laid her back down she stopped and happily stared at the mobile again.

Also, just in the last 24 hours she has started smiling at us intentionally. Bryan was singing a made up song about monkeys last night (I'm sure you're sorry you missed it) and she was smiling so big! Then, when I went to get her out of her crib this morning, she spotted me and started smiling a bunch. Sweet girl is growing up fast!


And in this corner, weighing in at 10 lbs 8 oz, the two-time bottle-chugging champion...THE IZ!


Her first time wearing a dress! We love this warm weather!


Auntie Leslie came to visit us from Texas. She's an auntie by heart, not blood, but we love her all the same! She nicknamed this little one Princess Peach due to her soft, fuzzy, round, pink and delicious appearance!


Most people aren't aware that these infant play gyms are actually made for two! Caden came over to see us, and curled up next to Izzie on the mat. He kissed her and hugged her and helped her get her binkie in her mouth. And he said over and over to her, "Me here, baby. Me here." :) We love that boy!


In case you thought we forgot about the other ladies in our lives, here's what Maya has been up to. She is also a BIG fan of spring and warm weather and mud. Pixie prefers to stay out of bathtub so she avoids the mud.

Warm Weather!

What do you do when it's 80 degrees and you're 5 weeks old? See below for Izzie-approved suggestions...

Hang in the shaded pack 'n play while Mom works in the yard

Meet some peeps at the park. No, my child is not being injected with growth hormones...that's a friend in the swing I'm pushing. Izzie is in the stroller in the back.

Chill on a blanket under a tree. DO NOT forget the shades.

Take a nap. Roll your shirt up if you get hot. You'll love it.