Today Isabella did a somersault by herself for the first time! Way to go!

I just saw some amazing family pictures in honor of the new addition to their lives, (thanks T!), and it got me thinking about doing a family photo shoot. Oh wait, we've tried that. Even my uncle who is a photographer can't get Isabella to sit still. I am at war within me. I really want those awesome white t-shirt and jeans pictures of the whole family in the woods, but I think those will have to wait until my kids are in school and can sit still for seconds in the double digits. For example, we just wanted a picture of each girl with this bear. Brooklyn had to be held the entire time, (yep I'm ducked down behind him and camoflauging my arms), and when we tried for the same pose with Isabella this was the best we could get. Do you notice her launching herself off the chair! This picture of Belle and the bear is the best one because all the others are her on the ground in some phase of a wrestling match with the darned animal. At least in this one you can see her face and not just her butt after she whupped him. I wonder if I can purchase a straight jacket. I'll tell them it's for my sanity, and it is, even though Belle will be wearing it.

Ofcourse as soon as I say out loud that I'm going to do something, there inevitably comes up something to keep me from doing so. This time around an awful head cold! I laid in bed all day yesterday doing nothing but feeding Brooklyn and sweating. No jokes. Nick would bring me her so she could eat and then take her away. It was not a fun day. But now I'm back, sorta. For today just pictures.

To all the women...who independant.....

Isabella hasn't gotten much time to play outside this winter. We still do not have any snow, (minus the freak snowstorm the day Brooklyn was born and some flurries), but it has been grey and cold and very windy for the last three months. Each day we do take a small walk around our crescent to pick up the mail. It's a short walk when I do it alone, but takes about 10 minutes with Isabella. Most days we go for the walk just after Brooklyn falls asleep in the afternoon so we can leave her snug in her bed and not push her into the cold. On this particular day we took her with us, so I probably walked a bit faster than usual and instead of stopping to play on our stoop I went right in with Brooklyn. Isabella still wanted to play outside so I sat in the living room able to see her on our stoop and let her play. She said hello to everyone and everything, chased her ball for a bit and sang some songs. She then sat on the raised wood beside our driveway and just watched for about five minutes. Then she got too cold and asked to come inside. She had such a content look on her face and sees stoop playing as a real treat now. We're still holding out hope for some snow so we can do fun things like build snowmen and go sledding. But seeing as it's already January and we have green grass and confused flowers that are blooming, I'm not sure if it will happen. Until then we'll continue our walks and let Belle play on the stoop, all by herself like the big girl she is.

For 2007 I resolve to write a post about these two adorable girls each week day. They definitely brighten each day here for us, and will do the same for you I'm sure.

Here's an endearing story about Isabella to start off the New Year right. The other morning Nick took Isabella downstairs while I slept in with Brooklyn. I fell in and out of sleep a few times then awakened noticing how quiet it was downstairs. I thought to myself 'I must run downstairs and see what magic Nick is doing to


keep her quiet, perhaps I can use his trick this week.'. I came downstairs to find Nick passed out on the couch and Isabella quietly unwrapping and devouring a bag of Hershey's Kisses. She ate half the bag. I don't think I'll use that trick.

Brooklyn isn't doing many mischievous things yet, but she has begun cooing and talking. She can wriggle all around her playmat. She rolls up on to each of her sides and has begun pulling herself into sitting positions while we have her on an angle. That girl is strong! She's begun to make 'eye contact', (I'm not sure what she sees yet, but she finds someone and waits for them to notice her), then she smiles hugely. Isabella causes her to smile all the time!

Tune in tomorrow for another great moment.

Just a little bit of Brooklyn. She is 7 weeks old in these pictures. I don't remember Isabella being as strong as Brooklyn this early. Brooklyn already pushes up on her feet when you hold her vertical. She already holds her head up when she's playing on her tummy or you have her on your shoulder. She is alert, constantly following my voice around the room. She also recognizes Nick and Isabella's voices. She seems to "watch" tv already, and focus' on whatever action is being performed around her. It's hard to remember that she's such a new member of our family. Feels like she's been here forever already!

At the beginning of December we went to "Christmas with the Angels", a day for the kids at the church. The other staff members were facilitating crafts and such. Brooklyn had kept Nick and I awake the night previous crying from 2:00am until just after we left the house for this event. We kept her in her car seat and placed her out of the way in the VERY noisy gym. Minutes later she was asleep and slept for many an hour.

Isabella wore herself out good with a lot of running around. There was a movie room which she tried out for a few minutes and cookies which she enjoyed. The crafts were probably a bit old for her, but I had dragged the family to the event so we were going to try them all.






First we decorated cookies. They had it all very well thought out. The cookies were huge angels. The icing was in small piping bags and there were small cups of sprinkles and such for decoration. Each kid got a set and went to town. Isabella ate more than she decorated. She would put a sprinkle on then clap her hands and say "horay" and eat a handful.















The finished product.













We moved on to the only other craft it seemed she could do. The door hanger advent calendars. There were huge diagrams on the wall and buckets of the pieces. All you had to do was choose a design, pick up the appropriate pieces and glue them on. All three of us worked on this one. Then Belle brought it home and promptly tore it apart. Along the bottom there was double sided tape and you took home a bag of angel confetti pieces. The idea was to put one on each day.

It's hard to find activities for a 20 month old to do I think. It seems that once she hits three her motor skills are supposed to jump to new heights. We'll keep trying though, I'm sure she enjoys it, at least I hope she does.

The Santa Claus Parade 2006

Isabella with her friend Madison snuggling in to enjoy the parade.

At the end of the parade my little hot chocolate stained babe was full of energy, but tired. Brooklyn slept through the whole thing all snuggly in her carseat.

This is a video of Belle enjoying the Santa Claus Parade. It was on November 12, but I guess it's better late than never to see these things. We went with Belle's older friend Madison. She's 6. It was a small town parade and Belle enjoyed it all. She didn't understand the big deal about Santa at the end or why it was over. She sang along to all the music and waved hello and good-bye to everyone!

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Usually we have conversation that goes something like this:

Me: "That's a puppy. What do puppies say?"

Isabella: blank stare.

Me: "Puppies say woof."

Isabella "Woof."

Today our conversation went like this:

Me: "That's a pupppy. What do puppies say?"

Isabella "Woof."

I have yet to pick up my jaw.

I think these two pictures best display how Isabella is doing with the adjustment to becoming a big sister. She absolutely adores Brooklyn and showers her in kisses and hugs, but there are many times when she sure wishes Brooklyn would go away so she could have mommy and daddy to herself again. Both girls are doing great and Isabella is definitely not a baby anymore. I sure wish she would sit still so I could cuddle her for a bit, but it's also fun to watch her play and explore. Her vocabulary is growing almost as fast as she is, but she hasn't entered the phase of conversation yet so my questions, (How was your nap?), are getting met with a lot of blank stares. I am very much looking forward to talking with my big girl instead of at her.
For now we'll just watch her clown around and continue to be amazed by how she grows everyday.

We've had a few rainy days here and Belle has been stuck in the house. Since it's become impossible for me to even think about touching my toes I'm not all that great at entertaining or keeping up with her anymore and so she has to find ways to entertain herself. She recently seems to have become addicted to Monsters Inc. She wont watch any of the Blues Clues we took on the road trip, I'm sure they are now worn out, but Monsters Inc is still her favorite. She bursts into laughter the first time Sully appears on the screen and actually sits completely still watching the first hour of it. Then she gets a little bored and starts pressing buttons inevitably ending up watching a portion in Spanish before I realize it doesn't sound quite right. It was adorable when she brought me the portable DVD player and then took a pillow to our recliner. I added the blanket to prop up the screen and then she snuggled in with her dolly and some Cheerios. I think this means we'll be skipping the "monster in my closet" stage!!

18 Months

Well folks, here we are at the 18th month update. I can hardly believe that Belle is already a year and a half old! It feels like just yesterday I was telling you all about her arrival. She has become quite the character in such a short time. In this picture she is wearing the grey shirt for the day and has taken the stripped one out of the laundry and is wearing it like a shrug. All of her own idea she just slipped it on that way. Earlier in the day she was wearing a strainer for a hat after eating all the grapes out of it. Such a munchkin.

For her 18 month check up today we took her into the doctor's office. We've been there a lot for my pre-natal appointments, but this time they called Belle's name and she walked in with confidence following the nurse. Then we stripped her down and she again followed the nurse with confidence to the scale where she proceeded to move the little weights, pretending she knew what she was doing. Then the doctor came in and they talked with each other, she just chatted in her jibberish a mile a minute as though expressing her health concerns. Then we got her all dressed again and she sat on Nick's lap for her needles. The first one went in and she didn't even flinch. Then the second one, which stings happened, and she didn't flinch until the plunger went down and then there was the howl, cuz it does hurt a bit. So Nick cuddled her up and the doctor said "Okay Belle you're doing great see you next week!" and she stopped crying immediately to say "Good-Bye. See ya later" and then went back to whimpering in Nick's arms for a few seconds. We then placed her on the floor and she led us out, getting a sticker from each nurse she passed on the way out. One of the nurses even told us Belle has become the highlight of her week! Such a great girl.

She is currently slightly above average in height and slightly below average in weight for her age. Growing to be a tall slim girl. Can't complain about that. She passed all the little tests they ask about. She can walk backwards, follows commands, and has at least 10-20 words. I was trying to write down all of her words this week for her scrapbook and she just adds new ones each day! She always says "hello" and her "good-bye" is always followed by "see ya later". You can understand every word she says even if her enunciation is not totally clear, like it's obvious she's saying squish, but not as clearly as I would. Very cool.

Then tonight we went to a BBQ for the church staff to introduce us formally to everyone Nick is working with. We were the youngest by at least 20 years thus making Belle 40 years the youngest. She captured everyone's heart. Even though it wasn't our home she said "good bye" to everyone at the door and gave everyone a hug goodbye. How adorable is that. She basically walked in a circle throughout the house and deck flutting from group to group. All through the night I heard little comments of "She's so cute" and "She's so good natured". Just the thing a mom wants to hear. At one point in the evening people started telling us we are doing a great job parenting and the women's pastor said I should start teaching parenting classes. And while that was flattering, I don't think I can take much credit, Belle is just a blessing- not only to us but to everyone she meets!

Well, Belle is continuing to grow, grow, grow. She hasn't gotten much taller or much bigger around, but she is growing so much intellectually and developmentally. She is now an avid climber and can do the stairs all by herself. She likes to help pour in the ingredients and mix together stuff when we're baking. She greets everyone on the street with a hearty "Hello" followed almost immediately by a "Bye Bye See ya!". She is mimcking back pretty much every single syllable word we say to her, and even trying some two syllable ones, (my favorite being kapeesh which she says a-peesh). She is learning to play with other kids, and I think we're going to have to work on sharing! She understands so many things we say to her, like when we say "It's time to go for a walk." she runs to the front hall closet and gets her shoes, then sits down so someone can put them on and proceeds right to the door. She gives kisses and hugs if you ask for them, she is learning to clap rhythyms and she is never far from a pencil and piece of paper a she loves to write. This week she learned to put her finger in front of her lips and say "Shh" which almost brought Nick to tears.

A few days ago we went for a walk and she started looking up. She noticed the clouds and the birds and trees that were right above her. She was talking in the language I have yet to understand, but was so excited she nearly toppled over backwards taking it all in. She's so easy going and everyone here adores her. We are so lucky to have such a social butterfly in our family. She already loves to party, staying up until 10:00 some nights-being polite and friendly the whole time, and we have to keep an eye on her as she already sees beer as free game if it's not in your hand!

I am very excited to see her begin to interact with her new brother or sister. She seems to really adore babies. Whenever a car seat is placed on the floor she'll run to it and crouch in front of it just staring and staring. And with all the new babies in our friends lives it's often the case that a picture is on the computer screen which leads to squeals of "oooooo, baby" in a soft cute voice.

This coming weekend we're making the move to a toddler bed, and I'm sure there will be many a nights of learning a new level of patience ahead of us, but we are both so very much enjoying our baby become a big girl!

Moving through the Eyes of Child.

While we were setting up Isabella's room we began unpacking clothes which I had to separate into the things she's outgrown and the things she is wearing now or will wear soon. In the top of the pile were some hats and Belle found this one. She successfully put it on her head herself and didn't take it off until she went to bed that night. Nick's first comment was "Oh my, she's trailer trash!" I guess because it was on her head a bit askew and it was a winter hat in the middle of a heatwave, but he soon came to the realization of the adorableness. Watching a child get excited about a new place to live and re-discovering the things they own is a very humbling experience. Reminding me to live one day at a time and to enjoy the little moments.

Another thing Belle learned while in the process of moving was how to lay down and get her hair wet all by herself in the bathtub. At the place we stayed the bath tub didn't have any type of anti slip on the bottom and Isabella accidently fell backwards once. After that accident she decided this was a fun activity and would fling herself backwards without any warning. Nick tried to catch her, but sometimes she was just too fast and for the next week or so she had really short baths to avoid any injuries. Finally I had the idea to tell her to lay down slowly, and she did! So now it's her favorite bath time activity, up and down she goes over and over.

First she psyches herself up for the drop down. It takes a few minutes.

Then she very slowly moves her arms back and out to the side while lowering her body. It's funny to watch knowing that one day she'll be able to do this quickly but for now it's quite the task for her to get her body horizontal.
She stays laid down until her hair is all wet, or rinsed out and then she quickly jets up out of the water and looks to who ever is bathing her for a clap and a "good job". Then it's just seconds until it all starts again, even after her hair is washed!
So much bath time fun!

Fun with Poppa.

I think the did this for about 45 minutes.

She's so big and yet so small. The first week we lived in Georgetown we stayed in a basement suite that friends of ours had just moved out of. They lived their with their son, (that's his nursery above), and the people who owned the house and lived upstairs go to Georgetown Alliance Church so they offered us to live there until the new tenants moved in August 1. We accepted and they did everything they could to make us comfortable. They provided a few toys for Belle and a few chairs for us, a tv an inflatable bed and even brought us dinner a few nights the week we stayed there. We were definitely grateful. Belle and I spent most of the week inside as it was a heat wave and we needed to adjust slowly. She adopted to favorite activities. One was rolling this ball around the entire place saying "Weeee" over and over and over. The other was going into the nursery, standing in the door way, saying "Bye Bye, See ya" and then closing the door only to open it again a few seconds later and repeat.

The first thing our move taught Isabella, how to climb. I was working and she was playing around the house. Things were a little too quite so I went to check on her. She had gotten up onto the ottoman and was clapping for herself. How great! She then proceeded to fall off as she thought she could get off the ottoman the way we do. I calmed her down and showed her how to turn around and climb down backwards, she's been unstoppable ever since!

We went to a wedding this weekend and this was Belle's get up. Isn't she cute? It's so fun to have her wear girlie clothes, and we rarely do that. Her hair still isn't long enough for ponytails or to hold barettes, but the hat is the perfect feminine touch and she actually leaves it on when she's outside! I think she had a good time at the wedding and I know she loves having her picture taken. It's so hard to believe she's already in her second "wedding season".

Some fun in the sunshine.