Growing up Giraldo

Christmas 2012

2013-03-31T12:26:00.001-07:00

I have lots of pics to combine into one post. I'm so glad that I captured pictures during this time even though things around me were falling apart. Isabella and I had a wonderful Christmas season regardless with a beautiful and unexpected white Christmas. I really tried to take in the blessings during this time even though emotionally I trying to hold it together. By doing that, I was able to take in all the time I had with Isabella from school events, decorating, making cookies, Santa, and of course, celebrating Christmas eve and day. I'll let the pics do the talking.

Off to her school Christmas show.

Shabby chic tree sans tree skirt

White Tree

Dining Room

Christmas Artwork

Off to her Christmas pj party at school

Making cookies

Making cookies, the mixer is loud!

Making cookies

Making cookies w/ Granny

Granny's Barbie tree

New tricycle

Christmas eve story w/ Uncle Joey

Christmas morning

Christmas morning. New dress up shoes!

Christmas morning. Future Doctor!

Christmas eve we put on reindeer food. They ate it!

Santa!

Our stockings

Santa's goodies

He liked them!

Trying out her new toys!

Snow!

Christmas bath w/ new toys.

Cosmo approves the new baby furniture.

We're back!

2013-03-31T12:08:00.000-07:00

I'm back to blogging!! Yay!! I've had to step away for personal and legal reasons and I'm back now and feeling good! It's been the fall/winter from he#*! So glad it's over and that it's spring time!!! It's been a very hard few months but, we are adjusting to our new life as 2. It's a house of all girls (well and Cosmo). We are taking in the girl power! It was a rough transition at first, but, we have our new groove now and it's actually better than ever. As hard as this has been, it has been such a blessing. Our life is stable now and the energy we are surrounded with is so positive and full of love. We have such an amazing support system who love us so much during a time that has not been fun. We are so very lucky!

Not sure about changing the blog name...I'm on the fence. Right now though, it works. Any ideas for a new name?! In the meantime, here's a list of postings from after Thanksgiving - present.

1. Christmas
2. Isabella is 2.25!
3. Concerts!
4. St. Patty's Playdate
5. Easter

Gone but, will be back.

2013-01-27T16:36:00.002-08:00

Hi everyone. Please don't think that I've given up on blogging. I haven't. I'm just at a period in life right now where I have to keep my/Isabella's life private. (Hence, why most of the posts are down, too.) I will be back soon. I'm still writing in the meantime and hopefully sooner rather than later, I will be back on here updating as normal.

In summary, Andres and I are in the process of a divorce. It's very, very hard but, more so, very sad. However, I have some AMAZING friends and an extremely supportive family who have been here to lift me up and keep me going. Plus, I have the best little girl who keeps me laughing and on my toes daily. Regardless, though, it's hard. I wish I could say more but, right now, I can't. I have to let it all play out in God's plan and keep my faith strong in knowing that he will take care of us.

I've never asked for prayers but, I do right now. Please pray for us. We are okay just needing strength right now to get us through the transition and I'm needing help in healing the pain.

Isabella is 2.25 years old!

2013-01-07T20:18:00.000-08:00

Here's all about Isabella:

Height:

Weight: still chilling at 29 lbs.

Size: 3T for shirts and 2T or 3T for pants

Shoe: 7

-Since her Birthday, her language has exploded. I can have little conversations with her now...and if I don't understand what she's saying and don't respond with the right thing, she will say "no" and say what she's trying to say over and over again. It's so cute.

-She is amazing at knowing her colors. She still is grasping brown, gray, white and red but, is great with the others. I love saying what color is this? And she will reply without hesitation the color that it is. Her favorite colors seem to be blue and pink.

-She loves to chasse and does it all over the house. Sometimes we chase each other doing it. It's so fun. She loves this one dance sequence that she does in class. She will do it all over the house, too. It's like, "this is your left hand, this is your right hand, open and shut them and do a little wave..."

-She has really gotten into Barbie dolls, Trains and Legos lately. She likes to stack the Legos up really high and gets very frustrated if the tower breaks. Frustrated has been our feeling of the month.

-On the feelings note, she grasps the feelings of sad, mad and happy really well. I love it when she tells me, "Happy!" Especially if I haven't seen her in a few hours.

-When she draws, she tries to draw people now. Some times it looks like a person (with eyes, nose, mouth, neck and hair typically) and sometimes it looks like a sea of dots. For some reason, Grandpa is always a sea of dots and Granny has two added circles under her neck (lol).

-She is still really into books. She loves to read books on her own and express moments she remembers from that page. Reading books with her is a moment I cherish every day. It's the BEST moment of my day. We read before nap and bed.

-Her favorite TV shows lately have been Thomas the Train, Sponge Bob (Don't get me started....), and Curious George (still). Doc McStuffins in a close 4th and Sesame Street is probably 5th. She loves the music from Yo Gabba Gabba and will watch it on my iPad occasionally but, on the TV she never wants it. Other shows she's kinda into is Bubble Guppies and Little Einsteins. We typically just watch TV in the morning after she wakes and cuddle and then we watch after nap. Now, with my new job, we have to be out the door earlier some days so cuddling gets cut short. I'm not big on her watching a lot of TV. Over the Christmas break we were a bit lazy but, during our normal routine, I hate having the TV on.

-She sleeps with a sea of dolls at night now, they include: 2 Curious George dolls, 1 Muno doll, 1 Brobee doll, 1 DJ Lance Doll, 1 Cookie Monster Doll (aka: Gaga) and 1 Doc McStuffins doll. When I get her from the crib each morning, she likes to name each one, tell me who gave them to her and hand them to me. She also likes to have 3 blankets on her each night and enjoys counting 1, 2, 3 as I put them on her. She also must have socks "sockies".

-She is rocking a 6PM bed time (I know, crazy). If she doesn't nap that day, she's out quick but if she does, she will typically hang out and sometimes not fall asleep until 8. I know, I'm lucky. She sleeps until 7ish most days.

-She is really, really loving school. Today, she went back after the break and was literally running in the door. I love seeing how much she loves school. Her teachers are so amazing with her, too.

-When she plays now with friends, it's more cooperative instead of just parallel play. It's really fun to watch her throw a ball with a friend, etc. So cute!

-She is still an eating monster.

Isabella's 2 year photo shoot

2012-12-04T19:59:00.004-08:00

On a mid-November morning, Isabella and I went to get her 2 year photos made. October was crazy for us so, I wanted to schedule something in November and throw in our Christmas card photos, too. Unfortunately, though, Andres wasn't in town (even after intense begging by me for him to come home just for a day to do these) and this year we are without a family photo. I'm not going to lie, I was disappointed (and shed a few tears over it) but, the real event was Isabella's pictures and they turned out great.

Her ice cream outfit was given to her by my BFF, Whitney LAST Christmas! I knew when I saw it that I wanted it for her 2 year photos. So, it's been patiently waiting in her closet for this day. It looked so cute. Mud Pie has the cutest picture outfits. Isabella also wore a Santa outfit. I can't remember where I got it. Maybe Zulily? She also had a petti romper, pearls and cowboy boots planned but, after 2 outfits, she was over it. Plus, it was a chilly morning so, she wouldn't have been comfy anyway. So....it will be saved for another shoot!

It took me a while to find a new photographer (our old one is focusing on Weddings/Engagements now). Love, Me Photography is who I went with and she did a fabulous job!!! I love them! I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Thanksgiving

2012-11-28T19:05:00.000-08:00

Last week, Isabella had the week off from school and her activities so, it was a very chill week for us. We worked on her potty training and we were organizing fools. I (along with her help) organized the pantry, laundry room, my scrapbooking stuff, the master closet and the guest closet. It was awesome. When we weren't organizing or playing, we were lazy. Our allergies were really bad (which I think was partly due to my cleaning frenzy) so, we stayed indoors more than normal and watched some movies and her obsession with the show, "Doc McStuffins" went to a whole new level. They have only released one DVD of the show with 5 episodes and Disney doesn't play the show much (and when they do it's the same ones we have) so, I'm stuck with those 5 episodes most of the time and a few recorded on the DVR. I have memorized those episodes by heart now. Isabella just loves it though and can't get enough. Plus, I figured one bad week of TV watching wouldn't kill us. :-)

On Thanksgiving Day though, Isabella and I ventured out to my parents to celebrate. Andres still wasn't home yet so, we were on our own but, it was still fun regardless of him being there or not. We ate, played and watched football. Isabella wasn't feeling the Thanksgiving food so she didn't eat much but, whatever she didn't eat, I made up for it! It was yummy and lucky for me, I didn't have to cook much. I love homecooked meals that I don't have to cook!

Overall, it was a great week. I was ready for her to go to school on Monday though so I could get a break. But, of course, after dropping her off, an hour later I was already missing her. She was SUPER excited to go back to school though. Plus, Andres came home yesterday so, she was in heaven. She has GREATLY missed her Daddy.

Isabella and Granny

Me and my baby!

Having a styrofoam party

She was loving it.

Granny was getting her toes with the vacuum.

Loving on Grandpa aka: "Bumpa"

October/November Recap

2012-11-20T19:26:00.004-08:00

I've been a bad blogger this month. In all honesty, I'm exhausted. We haven't seen Andres for almost a month now and he hasn't been home for more than 24 hours in 6 weeks (and have yet to hear about a return date). I'm over it to say the least but, life goes on and here's what's happened the past month beyond our normal day-to-day routine.

Mid-October:

We visited Michigan! Andres managed to show up, too. Even though, he worked most of the time, at least he got to spend some moments with us. It's hard to believe that was the last time we saw him. (Okay, I promise, no more pity party.)

Traveling with a toddler is no joke, people! If you have a little baby, travel with them NOW! It was much easier last year when Isabella was one vs. this year. She is full of energy and defiantly knows what is going on around here so, it's hard to get her to sleep in a new place and keep her on her routine. But, I loved seeing family and getting to experience a real autumn but, it was a lot of work and I didn't get to see/do half the things I wanted to. With the little time we did have though, we tried to put it to good use.

1. We went to a corn maze.
This was our first experience at one. It was a great experience but, not my kind of fun (lost in a field is not fun for me). Isabella wasn't feeling it either. We did the kiddy maze and called it a day. I'm glad we did it though, it was one of those things that I can always say that I did.

They are ready to go!

Giant pumpkins w/ my little pumpkin

Gaga came too!

Loving on Daddy

We did it!

She got a sucker as her prize for finishing the maze.

2. We went to an Apple Orchard

Granny, Isabella and Grandpa

A 30 lb pumpkin!!

3. We went to the largest Christmas store in the world - Bronner's
I didn't get any pics inside the store but, I got some around the town (Frankenmuth) afterwards. It was such a cute little town!

4. We saw family!
I didn't get any good pics of family. I went to my cousins shower and Isabella was super fussy and I didn't take any pics. I'm so bummed. I'm hoping (wink, wink) that others will share theirs with me. :-) I did get a few pics of Isabella with my Grandma's dog, Kado.

5. We enjoyed the Fall weather.
I think I could live in the mid-west every Fall. It's gorgeous. Mild weather. Big, beautiful, colorful trees. Giant pumpkins. Corn fields. I love it. I think I will retire in the mid-west.

Yay for leaves!

Late October:

Halloween was next. Isabella and I co-hosted a Halloween party with our BFFs, Daelyn and Nicole at their house. It was a lot of fun! I went as Sandra Dee (from Grease) and Andres was supposed to be Danny. Isabella was our little 50's offspring.

She was loving the glasses.

Isabella and Grayson

My good friend, Nicole.

The party co-hosts

Playing a game with Grandpa

Isabella and I weren't feeling well the day before Halloween and she was even running a fever on Halloween (so she missed her Mother's Day Out Halloween party which meant she missed out on wearing one of the Halloween outfits I had for her - booooo). Around 3 PM though, her fever went away and my headache was gone! It was a Halloween miracle (and people say Halloween is the devil's holiday!). So, we went trick or treating briefly before the rush of kids came and came back home and passed out candy to the trick-or-treaters. It was a bit hot on this night (almost 90!) so, instead of keeping her in costume, she changed to some light PJs (because even her Halloween PJs were too heavy!).

She got to stay up late and really enjoyed getting to see the big kids in costume. Isabella went as a duck this year. Everyone seemed to think she was Big Bird. He seems to have been on everyone's minds....I promise I wasn't making any political statements with my costume choice. ;-)

Ahh!!!

Off to Mother's Day Out on Monday

Post a bag of fun size M&Ms.

Off to trick-or-treat

Her costume: a duck.

She loved passing out candy.

Early November:

After Halloween, we decorated for Thanksgiving. Yes, remember that holiday between Halloween and Christmas? I just started getting Thanksgiving decor this year so it's a work in progress but, I'm really loving where it's heading and can't wait to add on for years to come (sorry, no pics).

The country also elected a new president. I must say I have greatly enjoyed hearing everyone's political rants on Facebook (NOT). If you have something to say, put in in a blog. Don't force me to see it when I open my Facebook, please. Consequently, a lot of people were de-friended recently or I unsubscribed from your posts. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs but, I just don't want to be forced to listen to them without a choice. (Sorry!) I asked Isabella if she voted. This is what she said....

I think Obama was her favorite based on that it sounded similar to Mama. :-)

We also had the mandatory time change. As an adult, it always takes a few days to adjust but, for a toddler, it's rough. No matter what I've tried, Isabella is STILL waking at 5:45/6am everyday now. So, since the time she goes to bed doesn't matter to what time she wakes, she's in bed at 6. So, I guess I can't complain much, but, that 5:45 wake up cry is not fun. I am just not a morning person no matter what time I go to bed!

Isabella also got a haircut. It turned out much shorter than I wanted but, it's really growing out nicely and it's so easy to manage. So, we are both loving it!

Pre Hair-cut (and in Mama's boots)

Post Hair-Cut

Isabella's language really has picked up, too. She is talking like crazy now. We go to the store and she loves to point out all the things that she knows (Mickey, Milk, Snacks, Ball, Cheerios, etc.). It's really quite fun now to take her because, she squeals with excitement when she sees something she knows. She seems to repeat the last word of every sentence I say so, it's like I have a little parrot around with me all day. I love it.

One day, when we went to dance, I noticed on the TV screen that she was really participating and actually knew what she was doing! It was a great day for me. I didn't have my camera that day but, brought it the next week and captured this. It's not the best but still makes me proud. I also got her dancing on camera at home to some of her favorite songs. She loves to dance in a shirt and diaper. I promise she's not dressed like that much. :-) I'm actually glad I got her in a diaper here b/c it was her last day to be a in a diaper during the day.

Mid-November:

Isabella started showing interest in the potty for about a month now and we would randomly sit on it. She had a few successful times here and there but, the past 2 weeks she has really gotten excited about using the potty and has directed herself in potty training. At this point, she's almost 100% (day) potty trained. It's pretty remarkable. I'm not sure that I was totally ready for this accomplishment. It makes me sad that she's lost one of her last baby things. Plus, with Andres being gone, he's really missed this accomplishment and I wish he could have seen this.

We have also been hanging out with our friends Sara, Grayson and baby Lucas a lot. We have enjoyed dinner times together and Isabella and I even got to watch Lucas for a few hours one night. :-) We were in heaven!

Now, we are gearing up for Thanksgiving and getting out the Christmas decor! I've added a lot to my Christmas decor so far this year so, I'm excited to see it all up!

Off to celebrate Thanksgiving at school last week.

Isabella is 2 years old!

2012-10-25T18:41:00.002-07:00

-Height: 36.5 in (95th percentile)....It's predicted that she will be 5'9" when she's an adult!
-Weight: 29.2 lbs (95th percentile)
-Clothing Size: 2T in pants, 3T in tops
-Shoe Size: 7

Here's all about Isabella:

-No news on the 2 year molars.

-This is the first month that she has said more words than I could count or remember. She was having a slew of nights where we was waking up in the middle of the night. I forget the official psychological name for this but, basically the theory is that kids do this before a big developmental milestone. So, I was hoping and praying it meant that she would start talking more. I'm not going to lie, I was getting worried. Then, suddenly, one day she woke and when I would say, "say ___", she would say it! Now, she is a talking fool. Granted it's still not very clear but, she's talking!!! I'd say in the past month she has doubled if not tripled her vocabulary. Some of my favorite new words/sayings are, "what's this?", grandpa "bumpa", "stinky", "it's me!". I also love that she puts together these little sentences now, like "it's a baby!"

-She can point out all her colors to me and she can say, "black", "pink" and "blue".

-She can point out most of her shapes. She's picked this up from school b/c I haven't really pushed this at all at home. She's playing a game on the iPad for a while but, I've never really made an attempt to teach them. So, it's remarkable to me that she's picked this up in about a month. I've heard her say "circle" a few times and I think she's said some others but, I can't remember off hand what they were.
-She has a big interest in potty training. I'm not pushing it at all (I'm in no rush!) and she's the one leading it all (...and a little fast for me! Diapers are much easier than running to a potty.) She probably uses the potty successfully once/day (typically around bath time). If she sees someone else going potty, she will try and go, too. I told her teacher's this week and they are going to work with her at school, too. I anticipate that it will be a done deal soon. She even says, "popo" now, too. I think the only part she is struggling with is realizing she has to go when she's engrossed in playing. We bought big girl panties a few weeks ago b/c the Doctor said I should start offering if she wants to wear those and Isabella was super excited. Probably in the next few weeks, I will plan to stay home for a few days and let her just wear the panties around and see what happens.

-She is extremely attached to her Cookie Monster doll that she refers to as, "baby Gaga" or just "Gaga". I've mentioned this before but, I have no idea where she got "Gaga" from but, it's stuck. I try to say Cookie to say the proper word but, Gaga is just so darn cute. She takes Gaga EVERYWHERE with her (school, dance, swim, soccer, when we run errands, etc). If we forget him, she asks about him a million times. One day, Gaga was left in the car and Daddy took the car to get a haircut. I put Isabella down for a nap and realized that we didn't have him and tried to explain that he went to get a haircut with Daddy and she lost it. She refused to even try to lay down in her crib. I had to call Daddy to come back. (Poor Daddy.) I've noticed that when Andres is gone that she is even more attached to Gaga so I think he reminds her of Daddy.

-Her fear of men seems to have faded! (Thank the Lord!) I can leave her with a "strange" woman no problem (like in a new class, etc) but, I think if I ever left her with a "strange" man, she would probably still lose it. However, when we are out and about, she doesn't duck her head when she sees a man now! So, it's major progress!!

-She still really loves to count but, her clarity of her numbers is hard to understand except for eight and nine still. Three is pretty clear now but, everything else is mushy. But, she could still count all day!

-She can recognize most of her letters. It's not as strong as her colors, shapes or counting but, she can tell me the letters they have worked on in school (A-H). Other letters she can recognize but doesn't say. She has a game where it asks to press different letters and I watched her play it yesterday and she found letters that I had no idea she knew! It makes me think that she knows much more than I even realize!!!

-I think I've mentioned this in previous months but, Isabella loves to help. She jumps at any opportunity to help Mama do chores. She helps me with watering the flowers, moving clothes from the washer/dryer, organizing, sweeping, etc. I get so excited when she helps that sometimes I praise her probably too much so, I'm trying to keep calm so that she learns to help for her own feeling of accomplishment (and not to help to get the praise). But, Mama really does love it!!

-For a 2 year old, Isabella is a really good listener in regards to listening to directions. In saying that, she is really awesome in a classroom setting. Her teachers always love her because she is a model student. Daddy jokes that she defiantly doesn't get that from him....I'd say she probably got it from Mama. :-) But, she really thrives in her classes. She's the youngest in almost all of them but, keeps up just as well as the older twos.

-She's all about baby dolls, clothes, cooking, makeup, dance and being just like Mommy. But...she still loves her crazy play time with Daddy too, including, basketball and soccer.

-She really is into anything and everything now. It's really hard for me to get anything done. Running errands with her is more of a hassle then a help sometimes and traveling with her can be pure torture (more about that on my Michigan post). It's not b/c she's high maintenance or fussy, it's simply just because she's 2. She still is good in the car but, long trips are not pleasant. She used to sleep but, now she rarely if ever sleeps in the car. (If you have a baby, enjoy them now!)

-She is extremely content sleeping in her crib and I don't foresee changing it into a toddler bed for a while. She's happy so we are happy! However, she loves her crib so much that sleeping anywhere else is not happening. She doesn't sleep at school during nap time and when we travel, getting her to sleep in our bed (like she used to do) is exhausting. A pack and play is a joke.

-She is on a pretty consistent schedule (and has been for a while). I love our schedule but, when we get off, it's painful. People who don't have kids or who don't remember this age, don't understand but, it's rough. I'm not even super uptight about our schedule either, but, having a routine makes life easier and Isabella thrives off the consistency.

Side note: This will be my last monthly developmental post. I'm going to move to doing quarterly! My baby is defiantly not a baby anymore and I feel like the toddler stage is flying by far too quickly! She is such a big girl, now. :-/

Soccer Tots

2012-10-25T17:43:00.006-07:00

Isabella started Soccer Tots in Southlake a few weeks ago. She has been having a blast! I've been super impressed with the class. The instructor is awesome. This was an activity that Andres really wanted to try with her. I made him promise that he would be home enough to take her to this. It's still a promise that's a work in progress but, weeks he's gone, I step in and enjoy it more than I thought. Even though, it's mostly Dads, there are still a few Moms around too. Here's some pics and videos from some recent classes.

Leaving for the first day of class.

She thought we were going to play basketball.

Warming up with Daddy @ her 2nd class.

Stretching

Working on dribbling.

Listening to directions.

Balancing a soccer ball on a cone.

Mommy stepped in mid-class for kisses.

Playing w/ a noodle.

Scoring a goal!

Goooaalllll!!!

Getting stamps and doing their cheer.

She got a stamp on her tummy!

Happy 2nd BEEday, Grayson!

2012-10-14T19:55:00.002-07:00

One of Isabella's BFFs turned 2 last week! (Isabella and him are only 5 days apart!) His Mama, Sara thought of the super cute theme of BEES!!! She acted like she didn't have it together (she has a 2 month old, too!!) but, she did!! It was awesome. We had a blast. I will let the pics do the talking.

Super cute goodie bags with suckers Sara made!!!

Beehive Pinata

The cake!

Banner love. Another one of my pride and joys!

My little Bumble Bee.

Sitting pretty.

One of my other fav. bumble bees!


A Birthday Bee!!!!

She loved the balloons.

OMG. A REAL baby!!


Birthday Boy!

Yummy!


Happy boy!

Two hungry bees.

Silly girls.

Baby Lucas Bee!

Brown eyes beauty.

Daelyn giving Lucas love.

As the night went on, they were still fascinated with baby Lucas.

Giving Baby Lucas kisses.

Love that little bee!!! SO cute!

This little bee kept trying to sting me with the baby bug.

G and his Mama! Love this pic!

Two little cake lovers

CAKE!

One of the cutest families!!!!

Presents. A choo-choo!

Pinata time!

Daelyn trying it out.

Get it, Grayson!


Pinata goodies!

Whew! What a great party!

Isabella's 2nd Birthday: Down on the Farm

2012-10-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Our Party Barn!

Isabella turned 2 last week! I'm writing this post for party lovers out there like me who love seeing how a party is created and help any others out there who may want to do a farm animal theme since like I said, there wasn't much online. Also, of course, for Isabella to remember all the details of her 2nd Birthday bash. Before I start, I want to shout out to my BFF and Andres for helping me put this all together. Thank you for your ideas and help!!!

We celebrated with a farm animal themed party. I came up with this theme when we visited the Fort Worth Stock Show in January (yes, 9 months ago!) and after having so much fun at the petting zoo there , I thought that it would be cool to have one at her birthday. Little did I realize that it would be the perfect fall themed party but, it really is!

So, as the months past, I started researching farm animal themed parties here and there and had to dig! Pinterest didn't have much but, I found some great sites that gave me some inspiration (ie: Oriental Trading, Shindigz Party Supplies, general Google searches, and Etsy).

I knew I wanted to do in at home (last year, having it offsite was crazy) and thought that the garage may be a great place to have it since the animals would be outside and our backyard is kind of small. I didn't want to have to decorate various rooms in the house too. I thought the garage idea may be a little trashy but, my friends reassured me that it would be great. So, I started researching again and found some paper that looked like wood. What a great find! This really helped me transform the plain white garage into a room that felt and looked more like a barn. It was inexpensive, too. My staple gun was my best-friend for hanging it and since it was the garage, I didn't care about the damage it could be doing to the walls. It was a little tricky to work over things like the sprinkler unit, the water heater, etc but, we made it work. The hay on the ground (that I got at our farmers market) helped transform the floor.

I knew we would serve BBQ so needed tables and chairs and went to Ducky Bob's to see what they had. Sure enough, they had chairs that fit the barn feel and tables that worked perfectly for our space. I found the table linens on my own and saw a video about adding the rope to the sides. I had to hot glue the rope to the table skirt. What was great is that it didn't matter it is looked perfect (plus, some of the rope was really tightly curled so it was difficult to loosen it up) however, it was time consuming! It took me about 2 hours to do all the tables. The linens were just plastic. I wanted something easy and they worked great. I think by adding the table skirt, it adds a lot to a table, especially a plastic table cloth. I hate seeing table legs and these are perfect to cover them.

Working hard the night before to put it all together (I'm that blue blob on the move.)

The centerpieces I came up with by just seeing the lanterns, straw type flowers and pumpkins around town/online. I didn't know how it would come together until the tables came on Friday! I purchased the bandanas months ago and as I was setting up on Friday, didn't know what to do with them when it struck me to put them in front of each chair. I wish I had planned this b/c I would have added name cards and probably a note on top of the bandanas with a thanks for coming type message. In front of the older kids chairs, I did add a name card and placed an empty pail (for the pinata goodies) with a cowboy hat.

Kid's Table

One of the adult/big kid tables


The Other Adult/Big Kids Table


Center Piece Close-Up


Another table shot.

The food was super easy. I knew I wanted to get the cake/cupcakes from my favorite bakery, Sweet Treat Boutique which is conveniently located just up the street from us. I was able to find some images of what I wanted for the toppers/cake on Pinterest and she has actually done it before! She did an amazing job and they were tasty, as always. We also served "Terrible Twos" ice cream that Andres and I created online from ECreamery (which we found from the show, Shark Tank). It was really good!

Blowing out her candle!

The BBQ I got catered from Big Barn BBQ just down the street from us, too. We are so close that they actually delivered it to us without charging a fee! The owner delivered it to us and when she walked in, said, "OMG, I have never seen anything like this." and then laughed b/c she realized it was all for a 2nd Birthday. (Yes, yes, I know I'm crazy....it's my drug, people.) They delivered the food before the party started (3:30) so, I got heaters to keep the food warm (as they suggested). Well, big mistake. First off, I didn't think through that I was providing FIRE to my garage aka: barn full of hay (I made a mental effort everywhere else to avoid anything flammable) and they didn't think to tell me that they wrapped the containers in plastic. After about 15 minutes, you could smell a burning smell. Luckily, we were able to unwrap the containers and nothing bad happened however, the mac and cheese did taste awfully smoked and I think the heaters were too hot all around and the food probably didn't even need anything b/c it was wrapped so well. I failed to get a pic of all the food out but, here's a before shot. Along with a shot of what the food place cards looked like.

Food table

Food Place Cards

In regards to games, I focused on the guests of honors, the 2 year olds. Even though, we had some older kiddos coming, it was really about Isabella and her friends. So, they were all structured for them. I kept with the Pinata theme from last year and got a 2 shaped one this year (last year, we had a 1 shaped one). The Pinata lady offered a pull string option this year which is perfect for this age. I also got Pin the Tail on the Donkey (from Party City) and in essence, the petting zoo was the other game. The petting zoo was awesome! Last year, we did relays and stuff that were kind of silly and I should have done those again but, didn't think about it!

Pin the Tail on the Donkey

The Pinata Post-Pull

Pony Fun.

Feeding a Goat.

In regards to the other decor, I made the birthday banner with my Cricut. The confetti type streamers I got on Etsy (and hung with the staple gun) and the paper lanterns I got at Target and Hobby Lobby (and hung with fishing line). The balloons I got mostly at Party City but, ordered the cow print, Horse and Pig balloons online at various places. I also did a growth banner type wall by putting a pic from each month and spray painted a wood frame and added a month sign and rope to hang it.

Confetti Streamers

Birthday Banner

Games Sign Made with Rope and the Staple Gun

Balloons with Drinks (in the wheelbarrow)

Love Fall Mums and Pumpkins!

Growth wall

Close shot.

For party bags, I got burlap sacks and gingham ribbon. I hot glued the ribbon around the center and added an animal with my Cricut. Inside I put all farm themed goodies: farm animal shaped crayons, cow tail candy, farm animal tattoos, farm animal stickers and a farm animal sucker.

Goodie Bags

Goodie Bag Insides.

For invites and thank yous, I ordered them online. I could have made them but, small images with my Cricut still intimidate me and it's a lot of work! They were so cheap online, it was easier to go that route. Plus, the ladies did an awesome job! (Mine would not have been so great.)

Invites

Thank you Notes

Now, the people!! I didn't get a lot of structured shots with everyone (bad, Mama!). I'm a bit bummed about this but, hopefully I got enough shots for her to realize who all was there. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us!

Little Cowboy! Isabella's other BFF.

Isabella's Beautiful Cousin.

Isabella's BFF. Love this cutie!!!

Isabella and Nini

Family Shot. Got our shirts through antique stores. Got Isabella's dress and headband on Etsy


My Birthday Girl!!!

Isabella is 23 Months Old!

2012-09-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

-Height:35 in (home measurement)
-Weight: 28 lbs (home measurement). She lost a pound from being sick. She's started to look longer and leaner. Any baby fat is going away! :-(
-Clothing Size: Officially into 2T and some 3T
-Shoe Size: 6.5/7

Here's all about Isabella:

-Still teething for those 2 year molars....longest teething process yet!

-She can point out a variety of colors to me. Her favorite seems to be green because she chooses it to color with a lot and always gets excited to point out that color to me. She's also really into the book, "Pinkalicious" so, I think pink is probably a close second.

-New words: "nut", "yuck", "stuck", "duck", "shoe", "backpack", "Bobby" (for Rocky), "water", "hat", "me", "juice"

-She now nods her head and says "uh huh" for yes. Before I would just get a "no" for no and a blank stare for yes.

-She refers to herself as "me" now. She saw a picture of herself with Mama and Dada and point to Dada and says "Dada", points to Mama and says "Mama" and then points to herself and exclaimed, "ME!". It was so cute.

-Since being sick and visiting the doctor twice in one week, she has a new interest in doctors. We started watching, "Doc McStuffins" while she was sick too and she loves it. I just happened to get her a doctor set a few weeks prior and she loves to play doctor on her baby dolls.

Playing Doctor

-She is less sensitive to getting stuff on her hands. She prefers to have a napkin on her high chair though for when she does want to clean her hands/face. It's so funny to watch her clean her face especially when she does it between every bite. Also, she saw that her Granny had something on her face while eating and offered her her napkin. Lol.

-She understands that when we take Daddy to the airport that he flies on an airplane and that he isn't home (or at least I think so). I think this because, after we do this, she doesn't really ask about him. She will hand me the phone and say Daddy. If she knows that Daddy is home, then she asks about him 24/7. This trip though, she was asleep when we dropped him off so, she has been asking about him more than a normal trip. I have to keep reminding her that Daddy took a trip on an airplane. Since we talk about this a lot, she likes to watch airplanes when we go on walks, etc and she says, "Dada"! It's so cute.

-She is really getting into counting. She can now say "eight" (along with "nine").

-At home, we work on some dance songs that tell us to point/flex, etc. She has gotten really good at one that goes through stretches. She even points her toes perfectly and in her pike stretch, sher nose touches her knees like it's nothing! I really want to get it on videotape but, I need a third party to tape so that I can do it with her. I've tried to get Daddy to do it but, when Daddy is home, she is more concerned at playing with him than dancing w/ me.

Daddy's Birthday!

2012-09-19T20:18:00.001-07:00

Andres turned the big 2-9 last week. Man, is he old! :-) I can't believe that it's his last birthday in his twenties!! Andres and I have spent our twenties together and while it feels like so long ago that we were in college, it feels like yesterday too. Even though, we've been together for what seems like forever, I can't say I've ever gotten bored! Even through the ups and downs, I have loved being by his side and getting to share in special days like his birthday with him.

Andres' Mom (Nini) and her dog, Rocky came in town for the week (Nini had to work in the Dallas office of her company). Andres was in heaven to have Rocky around. I guess you could say it's technically Andres dog since he was the one that came home with him randomly one night in college. Rocky has never lived with us though so, he's turned into his Mom's dog in time. Andres still misses him like crazy and was happy to take care of him for the week. Isabella adores Rocky too. She apparently thinks that his name is "Bobby" or should have been "Bobby" because that's what she calls him. She wanted to sleep with him and play with him 24/7. Even now, after he's gone, I will pull up to the house and she will exclaim, "Bobby" and I have to explain that Bobby went home with Nini and isn't here anymore. :-( She misses him!

Andres' birthday fell on a Thursday this year. He was out of town 2.5 weeks prior to his birthday and my plan was to get his birthday stuff together then. Well, Isabella got sick and we were stuck at home 2 weeks and I was mentally and physically drained from it all and nothing got accomplished. So, I had to make a mad rush to get it all together but, I was shocked at how easy it all worked out. I wanted to give Andres a great but, small birthday since it was his last one in his twenties (next year, we will have a big party!).

When Isabella and I went shopping for his gifts, I walked in with very little plan and we were done within an hour and I didn't feel like I even had to think that hard! I was proud of myself and told myself that I could shop for him in my sleep (because I practically was when I was shopping). You can't go wrong with anything at Nordstroms for him so, we started there. We got him at Nordstroms a Clarisonic (I knew he'd love this and I can't wait to get one for myself) and a Brookstone we got him a neck pillow (to travel with), a keyboard for his iPhone (since he's on it 24/7), and a watch winder (he's been asking for this for a while). I hoped he would like his gifts b/c he can be a little picky (I can't complain since I am too) but, he was stoked. Isabella and I make a great Daddy shopping team! The entire time we were shopping, she would point at things and say, "Daddy?" and I would give a yay or nay. It was so cute. Here's some pics of his Birthday celebration at home on his actual Birthday.

Watching "Yo Gabba Gabba" on Daddy's BD!

Our presents for Daddy!

His Birthday banner, made by Mommy

Birthday cupcakes!

Yummy!

The weekend prior to his birthday, I just happened to look on Groupon and saw they were offering a Great Wolf Lodge deal. It reminded me that we planned to go back to Great Wolf this summer and just completely forgot about it! The Groupon was already sold out but, I asked Andres if he wanted to do that for his Birthday so that we could do something as a family and get out of the house. He said yes so, I booked it for Friday night. Here's some pics....

Checking in.

Longest hallway ever. Isabella loved running down it though.

She's excited!

Hungry like a wolf! (That song is still stuck in my head.)

Storytime. "Gaga" came too!

Awkward hug.

Posing for a picture. She's got the posing thing down!

Painting a magnet for the fridge.

Playing games @ the arcade. It was all about the tickets.

We checked in around 6PM Friday night. We ate dinner and then played in the water a bit but, it was SO cold. I was miserable. They heat the pools but, I'm used to like 90+ degree water. I just wasn't fun for me and Isabella was cold too, so after an hour we were off to get ready for story time and then called it a night. Isabella was super excited to sleep with us and she loved having her "Gaga" around to experience it all with her. The next morning, we ate breakfast, played in the arcade and went to the Kids area and made a magnet then checked out to get a good nap in before Daelyn's birthday party (Daelyn and Andres share the same birthday!). So, we didn't spend as much time in the water as we probably should have but, it was just nice to get out of the house and have a "trip" where we didn't have to travel.

When we went to Great Wolf Lodge in June, we had a blast and I really enjoyed it. Even though, it's a mostly indoor water park, to me, it just feels weird swimming when it's not hot out. I just have to have my water hot! Plus, the clientele this time around was a little different. I'll just leave it at that. So, I'm not sure if we will go back. Maybe when she's older and we can do more. Still though, it was a fun birthday and we hope Daddy knows just how much we love him! HAPPY 29TH BIRTHDAY, DADDY!!!

Daelyn's 2nd Birthday Party: Minnie's Clubhouse!

2012-09-18T19:55:00.003-07:00

Daelyn and her Mama! LOVE this picture!!

Last Saturday, we celebrated Daelyn's 2nd Birthday! Her Mama had been working hard to get it all ready and it was a fabulous event! Since her Mama, Nicole and I are scrapbook buddies and we appreciate the process of putting together the decor, I have to document her decor too!! If you don't make these things, you don't realize the amount of time and effort it takes to make something as small as a banner. Nicole did such a great job! I will let the pictures do the talking....

Playing on Daelyn's "park"

Playing w/ Danielle

Divas!

Daelyn's BD banner! Great job Mommy!!!

Another shot.

She's TWO!!!

The Birthday Girl!

My favorite banner of all of them!

Loved this idea!

Goodie bags

Her cake!

Happy Birthday, Daelyn!

Work it, girl!

BFF hugs.

I loved Isabella's outfit! Her bow I bought a while ago (before I knew the party theme) and it worked perfectly.

Family shot. I love how Andres looks like a creeper in this pic.

Virus From Hell

2012-09-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

Last week, Isabella got what I call the virus from hell. The technical name is "Enterovirus" and we didn't know until the end what it was because this virus starts with cold symptoms. So, it seemed as if she got two illnesses back to back (a cold then a virus) but, in reality, it was one really long one illness (2 weeks!!). These symptoms started on a Saturday night and it didn't end until 2 weeks later!!! Andres left the Thursday prior to the Saturday this started to go to London for a week, then the Caribbean for Labor Day weekend and then Kansas for probably at least a week. So, I anticipated a 3 week trip and knew it would be hard but, we would get through it. I certainly didn't anticipate an illness thrown into the mix of an already crappy, long trip without Daddy around. Here's how it all went down....

We went to my parents on Saturday and ended up spending the night because I had an even that went longer than her bedtime. She went to bed without a problem at Granny and Grandpa's so, I decided to stay the night. Around what I think was 2 am, she woke and I brought her from the crib into bed with me and for the rest of the night, she was tossing and turning and every time I woke, Isabella was up. She started getting congested around 6am and I didn't have any medicine on hand and figured to just wait until my parents got up so I could run to Walgreens (b/c before 8, Walgreens isn't open so, I would have had to go to Walmart). I thought it was allergies because my allergies started acting up too. I got some Tylenol just in case but, gave her some allergy medicine and hoped it would get better. A fever started later that night so, I moved into Tylenol and thought it might be teething. After 2 days of this low grade fever and a constant runny nose, I took her to the doctor said it looked like a cold and she got a minor ear infection in her right ear from the drainage. They prescribed Amoxicillion, told us to come back in a few weeks (to ensure that her ear healed) and sent us on our way. The next day was her first day of school but, since she wasn't 100% and possibly contagious, I kept her home. Plus, it was her first time on an antibiotic and I didn't know how she was going to react to it. I was disappointed that she wasn't going to be their on her first, first day of school but, knew I had to keep her home.

After a few days of the antibiotic, she seemed to be feeling better. No fever and less drainage. We stayed home on Wednesday and we skipped out on swim class Thursday and stayed home (again). Since she was fever free for over 24 hours and seemed to be feeling better, we went to gymnastics on Friday and her first dance class on Saturday. After dance, we went to my parents so I could scrapbook and Isabella stayed with them. My Mom said she felt a bit warm and didn't seem like she felt great but, Isabella was in good spirits. We all came back to my house to sleep and the next morning, we woke up and went on a walk. My Mom and I both felt Isabella's forehead and it was hot. Sure enough, when we got home, her temp was 99. I thought that it was teething possibly and didn't worry too much about it. She stayed home and she went to bed well, but then woke, with a temp over 100. She didn't really have any other symptoms other than a temperature and was still in good spirits for the next 24 hours. Since it was Labor Day weekend, I couldn't take her to our pediatrician but, told myself that if it stayed high, I would take her Tuesday. Sure enough, her temperature stayed and we were off to the Doctor Tuesday. On the way there, Isabella's fever broke and she started developing a rash all over her body. It wasn't prominent yet but, it was still weird looking for a little one with pristine skin. Luckily, with that rash, the Doctor was able to tell me that she has a virus that by the end of the virus, had a rash. I breathed a sigh of relief because I thought that it was going to just stay that light and that the end was near. Man, was I wrong!

The next morning, she woke up and she was covered in bright, red spots all over her body. I wasn't anticipating it but, it wasn't too scary since I knew she was diagnosed already and looked online and saw that the rash looked similar to the pics. Although, the Doctor said that when the rash develops, it means that she's no longer contagious, I knew I could not take her out looking like this nor did I want to because I didn't want her out with her immune system not at 100%. My Mom agreed to come over even though I had my reservations because I didn't want to risk her catching it and she replied with, "You think I haven't probably had this crap? Honey, we didn't have vaccinations for half the things they do now." and came on over so that I could go to the grocery store and get a break. When my Mom saw her, she freaked a bit and just couldn't believe how scary the rash looked because to her, it looked like measles. My Mom came and went within a few hours and it was just me and Isabella again. We watched so much TV during these weeks, it made me sick but, although, she wasn't too fussy, she wasn't up to doing much of anything else. Plus, I was starting to get tired of caring for a sick little one and going crazy inside. Plus, I think I caught a mild form of it (they said online that most adults are immune by adulthood even without ever having it because we build immunity to it) so, I was tired and achy with a headache. I thought that this was the worst it was gonna get. Again, I was wrong.

Woke up w/ this rash!

Her Rash, Day 2

That night I gave her an oatmeal bath (the Doctor didn't initiate this my Mom and I just figured it would help) and then she started to itch her rash. I called the Doctor and they said that I could give her "a little" Benadryl. I wasn't too focused on the itcyness by the time they called back b/c it seemed to subside but, focused more on ensuring that what Isabella was going through was normal for the virus. They said it was all normal for the virus and we hung out for a few more hours and then, she was itchy again and we ran to CVS for Benadryl (because it was getting late and I didn't want an emergency situation where I would have to go in the middle of the night to Walmart with her). I literally ran into CVS and left her in the car because I didn't want her going in. I was waiting for someone of a cop to run in and yell at me for it but, I felt in the moment, leaving her in the car (running on auto start), reading a book was the best choice. I'm not gonna lie, I was panicking a bit because in moments like that, it's hard not to have someone there with you to rely on that you should be able to rely on without feeling bad (ie: Daddy). I didn't realize that Children's Benadryl was only for ages 6+ so, I just looked at the 6 year old dose and gave her 1/3 (since age 2 is a 1/3 of age 6 and the nurse said just give her a "little"). Big mistake. It wasn't enough and she was up, miserable. After that dose wore off, I gave her 2/3 the dose. Still not enough......she slept a bit but, she was still up. By now, it was morning and neither of us had slept more than a few hours (probably 2-3 hours!).

Taking an oatmeal bath

Her poor little eyes were swollen.

Up most of the night. Watched TV, played iPad, tossed/turned and cried.

I was about to lose my sh*@! I was exhausted and this illness was not getting better, it was getting worse!! My child was miserable and I was over dealing with this by myself. I called Andres and begged him to come home. He was in Kansas at this point and the trip was nearly over. I knew he was working hard for our family but, I felt like I was dying and needed him. I barely get sick and I've been fortunate to have a healthy baby so, this was a lot for me to take on, especially after almost 2 weeks. He had clients in town and agreed to see if he could get out of it but, by then, I didn't want to hear it. I just wanted him there. I just had to text my Mom, "Last night did not go well" to get a phone call and when I told her I barely slept, she said, that's it, I'm coming over and packed her bags to stay to help me. All I can say, is Thank God that my Mom just left HP otherwise, I wouldn't have had her to help me. She was a life saver.

Rash, day 3

Week of Firsts

2012-09-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

First Day of Mother's Day Out

Last week, Isabella had a week of a lot of firsts. Here's how it went down...

Monday - First Day of Mother's Day Out. Her first day should have been two weeks prior but, due to the virus from hell, she was a little late getting started. I still wasn't sure if she was 100% (even though she had been fever free for days and rash free) and ready to go but, that night she slept like a champ and woke up in a great mood. Over breakfast, I talked about going to school and she was receptive. So, we got ready and off we went! She was SOOOO excited. When we got into the room, we found her cubby and where she puts all her things and got to see her teachers again (who she has been naturally comfortable with). They had puzzles out so, we started playing with that. After a few minutes, I told her I was going to leave and to give me a kiss. She did and didn't shed a tear! She was ready to spend time with people other than Mama!

Funny story....walking into her classroom, she insisted on wearing her backpack and I had so many things in my hands, I couldn't hold her hand. She tripped and her backpack went up over her head and her water cup came flying out. She was completely sprawled out across the floor with her things all over the place. She, of course cried but, I was trying so hard not to laugh b/c on her very first day of school, walking into the door, she has an "embarrassing" moment.

Her teachers said, she didn't shed a tear the entire day and said they were very impressed with how well she listens. During nap time, she didn't want to nap though (I figured this would happen). They said she tried to talk but, once they told her to be quiet, she just laid there and sucked her thumb. I got a super huge hug when I picked her up and I had a surprise for her too! Daddy flew in while she was in school and she got to see him after 2 1/2 weeks! She gave him a big hug, too. I hoped that she would nap when we got home but, she was so excited from her day and Daddy, it didn't happen.

Loving her backpack and lunch box.

Ready for school!

Her backpack

Her water cup

Playing with puzzles in the classroom

Tuesday - First Day of Dance. Technically, her first day of dance was about a week prior in a Saturday class. I realized that Saturday was not going to work for us and we switched to Tuesday. Since Tuesday is her class moving forward, I consider her first Tuesday class to be her official first. So, the day before the class, I got a call from the studio's manager telling me that the cut off birth date was in April. Since, Isabella isn't even 2 yet, she obviously didn't make the cut off (by about 6 months). I had no idea of this policy and nobody brought it to my attention during registration so, I blame them but, I was still a bit embarrassed because I thought, "OMG, Here I am some crazy dance Mom pushing my daughter before she is ready." They told me that they were just going to watch her in class and make a decision if she was ready since it was technically their fault for not catching this. I was a nervous wreck that night. I have never witnessed or taught a 2 year old class other than the one she had the week prior (with a substitute) so, I had no idea what they expected or how they structured a 2 year old class. Plus, her teacher is one of the owners so, the pressure was really on.

Although, I was nervous that they would tell me that she wasn't ready and I would look silly, I just didn't want Isabella to hate her experience (I know, I know...like she will ever remember it). Luckily, Isabella did great. She was really quiet and observant so, she was taking it all in more so, than participating in everything but, she did participate and did a great job! She came out of class and we got the green light to continue on! I called my Mom after and told her the story and she said, "Well of course, she is ready! She has been going to dance class since she was in the womb!" Sometimes I forgot those things! It seems like so long ago that I balanced teaching and motherhood. Oh and by the way, I totally don't feel like a crazy dance mom now b/c one of the girls in her class comes 3xs a week! (Yes, she is two!)

On another note, I have been really impressed with the studio regardless of them not telling me the cut off date. The teacher is awesome and the communication since has been exceptional. The studio alone is physically gorgeous. It just feels so great being in a dance studio again even if it feels a bit weird to be sitting there as a dance mom! I've crossed over to the dark side (lol).

Ready for class!

Checking out the mirrors.

Mama watching from the lobby.

Thursday - First Day of "Big Girl" Swim Class I knew that this may be a little hard for Isabella since we have been doing the Mom/Baby class for the past year and she has memorized the entire class routine. I talked about how she would be going into the pool without me but when, we got to the pool and she went in, she looked at me like, "What the heck!?" The little boy in her class wasn't a fan of the class either so, he was fussy which played into her fussiness. Her fussiness was all about how she didn't understand the routine. She enjoyed getting an M&M after going under water though (something we didn't get in the Mom/Me class). So, by the end of class, she was cool with it. I anticipate that it will take a few weeks for her to get in the groove of her new class.

Off to swim class!

Sunday - First Day of Soccer Tots. So, this event did not happen. By some grace of God, Isabella slept in until 8:45 (she typically wakes between 7:30 and 8). Class is at 9 in Southlake (about 30 min away) so, there was no way we could've made it. This is a Daddy/daughter event so, Daddy is in charge. I set an alarm always just in case for school/dance, etc but, I let Daddy handle this one. I can't say that even if we did set an alarm that I would go in and wake her. We had a crazy week and she needed her sleep. So, this Sunday, will be her first class and Daddy is out of town so, Mommy will get to take her. Andres and Isabella love playing soccer together and soccer to Daddy is like dance to Mommy. It's really their thing together so, hopefully, Mommy will do okay this Sunday. :-)

Overall, we have a busy semester planned. Here's how it goes...

Monday - School
Tuesday- Dance
Wednesday - School
Thursday - Swim
Friday - Gymnastics
Saturday -
Sunday - Soccer Tots

It's a lot, I know! I'm gonna see how it goes and adjust as needed. Swim and school is a definite and probably dance too. Gymnastics I've been on the fence about but, she seems to really like it so, I have to grin and bear it even though it's a major workout for Mama.

Extra curricular activities are a big deal to me. I think they teach a lot more than most people see value in and that it takes times to get over a hump from being hard to natural. I watched so many kids give up on dance when they were just at the brink of getting over the hump and many times, saw them start when it was too late and they were too self conscious to look awkward at it. I want to expose Isabella to as much as I can early on so that she can really ensure that she moves forward with what she truly love and she is confident enough that she doesn't feel awkward. I want to expose her to these things early on so that by mid-elementary, she can narrow it down and really focus on the activities she loves and get to a point where she will be successful in pursuing these passions (should she want to). Her little brain just absorbs so much, it's amazing! Hope my plan works!

Granny Camp

2012-09-16T17:44:00.002-07:00

Andres and I went on a long weekend trip to Mexico in early August. My Mom graciously accepted to watch Isabella for the weekend and Granny named their weekend together as, "Granny Camp". I'm working on a post about our trip. However, this post is dedicated simply to Isabella's weekend with her Granny.

I got an email each night from Granny talking about what they did and how it went. Isabella did great and Granny said she had fun too! Here's how it went and what they did....

Giving Grandpa stickers

Thursday - Andres and I left in the morning and Granny came over. She blew us lots of kisses and gave us lots of waves in the window when we left. She didn't shed a tear. She was excited to see Granny. They ran some errands and watched some TV before nap time. We were all worried how nap time would go since with Granny, Isabella doesn't want to nap but, she went down great and woke after an hour fussing and so Granny held her in her arms for another hour or so and she slept in her arms. After nap, since it was so hot (107!) they went to the mall and walked around and played. Then, they went to dinner and did the bed time routine. She knew just what to do and so did Granny and it went great. Granny said she asked for Mama a few times and Granny had to prove that Dada wasn't in the study! But, so far, so good!

Playing at the park with Granny and her doll.

Friday - Isabella was up at 7 and Granny said she would have slept longer but, Granny was ready to get up and get moving so baby got up too. They got up ate, played, watched TV and then went to gymnastics. They got their early so they just played around and Isabella went through Granny's purse until it was time for class. I warned Granny that gymnastics is a bit of a workout for her too and she agreed! Hopefully, Granny didn't sweat too much! Mama always does. Granny said Isabella loved jumping in the pit of foam blocks and by the end of class, they got the hang of it and were having fun. After gym, they went to lunch where Isabella apparently didn't like the table of men that sat by them and Isabella gave them a mean glare. Nap time didn't go as well and she cried when Granny put her down and Granny couldn't handle the tears and they just hung out in the afternoon by watching Elmo, coloring, reading and having a dance party. She was out by 6:45 that night without any fussiness.

Helping Granny water her flowers @ her house.

Saturday - Baby and Granny got up at 7:15 and watched TV/ate breakfast. Granny said she ate it all...scrambled eggs, sausages, strawberries and some Cheerios. After breakfast, they got dressed and drove to Allen to Granny's house. There, Granny watered her plants, saw her kitties, etc. Isabella loved playing and seeing Grandpa. Around nap time, they left and Isabella slept in the car. Grandpa followed them back to our house and they went out to dinner at Chilis and came home and did the bedtime routine. Granny said it was the easiest night yet without any tears at night.

Going through Granny's bag

Sunday - Andres and I came back in the evening so, Granny and Isabella just played and hung out to tie up the weekend. Granny said she could tell that Isabella started missing us. She said when she turned on the dance party music that Isabella started looking around like she missed her Mama. Andres and I didn't get home until she was in bed. She was super excited to see us the next day with Granny, too!! Mommy and Daddy missed her very much but, it was so nice to get away for a few days too. Granny said she enjoyed her weekend too! Isabella's first weekend without us was a success!

Friday Night Fun with Daelyn

2012-09-02T20:21:00.003-07:00

Last Friday, we met Daelyn and Nicole for some fun in Grapevine. First, we stopped at Danielle's family farm and got to feed their horses, donkey and duck. Isabella was in heaven. She even got to ride a horse! Afterward, we went to a nearby splash park that neither of us had been to. It wasn't the best and the girls weren't feeling it. So, we quickly changed them back into normal clothes and took them to the park within walking distance. They had a blast. The park was really neat because it was mostly ramps which meant that they could run everywhere. It was still pretty hot out so we didn't get to stay too long but, they had a ton of fun. Here's a video of them having fun:

We ended the night getting dinner. Isabella chomped down on the chips and salsa. Surprisingly, she loves salsa. I know it's because of the Hispanic in her. :) Both the girls took their turn fighting to stay in the high chair but, for most of the meal, they sat still, colored and chatted. It was a great Friday night of fun!

Day with Grayson

2012-08-27T18:28:00.001-07:00

Baby Lucas!

A few weeks ago, my friend, Sara had her second baby, Lucas. She's a transplant from California so, she doesn't have any family here. Lucky for me, that meant that I got to watch her 1st born, Grayson while she was in labor!!! She was induced but, there was a scare (for me at least b/c I really wanted to watch him) that she would go into labor when I was in Mexico (and our other friend, Nicole was in California). Thank goodness she didn't! It was SO much fun getting to watch Grayson. I hope I get to do it again soon (hint, hint Sara!).

We started the day picking up Grayson at his house and taking his Grandma (aka: Yaya) to the hospital so that she could be with Sara and her husband, John during the birth. Sara actually had the same doctor I had while I was at TCU so, it was neat to drive over there again and pass by some old "landmarks". Both Isabella and Grayson did really well in the car. Isabella liked taddling on him when he took his glasses off by saying "UT OH, UT OH!" which sent me into a panic for a second. She's so dramatic! I meant to get a pic of them in the car and didn't - darn it!

Playing away!

When we got home, it was snack time and they both ran to the playroom and didn't stop from there. I got them both to somehow eat a banana each but, they were both engrossed in playing. Grayson went straight for the few cars that Isabella has and Isabella went straight for the art table. They crossed paths a few times but, really just played side by side for most of the day. I got them both to eat a little lunch (which was much easier than I anticipated considering I needed to help 2 kiddos) and then it was time for a nap! Luckily, Grayson and Isabella's schedules are similar so, it was easy to get them to eat and sleep around the same times. I setup Grayson's pack and play in the master and put Isabella in her crib (in her room) for a nap. Neither one of them really fussed at all and sure enough, I fell asleep on the couch and woke up 2 hours later to Isabella crying because she was awake. I heard Grayson in our room just talking away and that's what I heard when he fell asleep so, I had no idea if he slept at all! I was shocked to see that I was out for 2 hours too! I can't tell you when the last time I got to have a 2 hour nap.

First, Grayson got in the box.

Then, Isabella had to try!

The afternoon was full of more playing and then for dinner, I made fresh green beans, mac and cheese, and some ground beef and also offered them a yogurt. They weren't feeling any of it (even the mac and cheese) so, I could've just gone with a meal for me! Good thing I was hungry....

Bath Time!

At bath time, Grayson heard the water running and ran for the hills. I had to chase him down and he wanted nothing to do with bath time. His parents said he likes bath time at home so, I think he just didn't want to be that close to Isabella! The thing I love most about Grayson and Isabella's relationship is that Isabella loves to try and hug and kiss him and Grayson wants nothing to do with her! One time, Isabella tried to kiss him and he got this look of disgust on his face. It was hilarious. Most times, he tries tries to run from her. So, again, I think he just didn't want to be near her and you can see from the pic above, she was excited! Lol.

Bed time, I wanted to put them both in the same room because I wanted a monitor on them both. I didn't know how it would go. They both were not happy campers at first. Isabella cried for a bit but then laid down and just sucked her thumb with a look in her eyes like, please make this crying stop! I knew Grayson might cry for a bit as I'm sure Isabella would if the rolls were reversed. After 30 min of off and on crying, I got the approval from his parents to give him some pain releaver (he's been badly teething!) and sure enough, he was out a few minutes later.

Bed time!

Oh! I forgot to mention that Andres was gone this day because he made a day trip to Houston to do a car switch. So, I was all by myself but, again, it all went really smooth and I actually felt like I did less than on a normal day because Grayson and Isabella were so engrossed in playing that I just sat there watching them play most of the day. Isabella played with toys she hadn't played with in months all because Grayson was there to show her just how cool they were!

Grayson woke about 3am crying and I quickly ran in, grabbed Isabella and gave him some more meds and put her in our bed. Grayson cried a bit longer and then was out again. Isabella just stared at the monitor with big eyes and a sad face while Grayson cried alone in the room like she had left her little buddy all alone. After he stopped, she fell asleep with us and they both slept in!

When Grayson got up in the morning, Andres was home and he grabbed a car and went straight for Andres' lap. Grayson had never met Andres but, he loves men and always goes right for them. Andres and Grayson got to play with the car and I could see just a little glimmer in his eye that my boy baby fever was catching onto him. ;-)

After breakfast, I sent Isabella with Andres for gymnastics and got Grayson packed up and we headed to Target to get some gifts for his new baby brother. We ended up getting more for him than his brother! I just couldn't help myself getting cars and a music set that he loved at our house. I also couldn't resist buying some cute boys clothes. Sigh, I have boy baby fever BAD! Plus, Grayson is just so darn cute! Who could resist!?

Then, I got him to the hospital safe and sound and was a bit sad to see him go! The day went by so fast! But, I did get to hold his new baby brother and ooohhhh is he SOOOOO cute! Grayson was glad to see his Mama, Dada and Yaya and didn't really pay much attention to his new brother.

Although, Isabella and Grayson get together often, it was so much fun to get to see more of Grayson's personality and skills! He and Isabella are such opposites! Like, with the baby stroller, Isabella is all about putting the baby in the stroller and pretending she's a Mommy, whereas Grayson looks at the wheels and parts of the stroller and tries to figure out how it works. When we were watching TV, Isabella is always drawn to music whereas Grayson runs to the TV when they talk about letters or numbers. Grayson's speech is amazing too. He speaks so clearly and I actually felt like I knew that what I was saying was being heard. The best was at lunch, I kept saying, "Pizza, Pizza" and then he goes, "Pizza, Pizza". He would also walk around the house and say things like "clock" (and point to a clock), "door" (and point to a door), and he can count to 10 and then count backward from 5 too. Plus, he knows so many letters! Isabella is definitely not there yet but, when it comes to her body awareness, hand/eye coordination and understanding emotions, she is rockin'. It's just so interesting to see how they are just 5 days apart and yet so different in their preferences. I sat there for days after having him just thinking of how different they were and how amazing it is to see that in such a young age. They gravitate toward such different things without a lot of instruction telling them to.

Thanks again Sara for letting me watch him!!! Congrats to your family and welcome sweet baby, Lucas!

Isabella's First Dance Experience

2012-08-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today was (supposed to be) Isabella's first dance class. I just happened to come across this studio online on Monday and saw that their classes started this week and that they started at age 2. I thought their website wasn't the best but, they claimed to turn out professional ballerinas and said they were the NE Tarrant County's only professional dance studio and were celebrating their 20th year. I had never heard of them but, my knowledge of ballet focused studio's isn't so great (I am much more aware of the more "commercial" studios). Plus, my knowledge of Tarrant county studios as a whole isn't as great as Collin or Dallas counties so, I have really struggled with where to start Isabella's training because I would prefer to take her to Dallas but know that it's just silly to drive my 2 year old 45 minutes away for dance.

On top of that, I've gone back and forth on if she's ready at age 2 (because most studios start at age 3) but, the other day, I was doing the dishes and she turned on the "Stop and Go" song on the iPad and I watched her to the entire song by herself perfectly without her even knowing that I was watching. I was in shock and knew that we should at least try.

So, as I said, I just found this studio through an online Google search and talked briefly to the Director on the phone (of course not mentioning a thing about my background) and he told me the only open 2 year old class was at their remote Bedford location (their studio is in Keller). I was shocked that that was the only open class (and they don't post their schedule online so who knows how many classes they started with) and jumped at signing her up. After hanging up, I started thinking it through that I hadn't been to the location or met the teacher or really gotten a feel of what they were about so, I contacted the Director again asking a few more questions and still trying to play it cool that I wasn't one of "those" Moms (ie: a crazy Dance Mom) but, still felt some anxiety over the whole thing.

Anything else Isabella has done I've gone into with an open mind and not a lot of expectations. Dance though is a different story and not necessarily because I want her to be a dancer but, more so, that I expect quality and if she should love dance that she gets the best education she can so that should she want to pursue it, she will have the skills to do it. Plus, I want her to have a strong Ballet background so, I knew I needed to go out of my comfort zone (studio wise) and explore more Ballet focused studios. I thought that this studio could have been a great one!

Before our class of course, we needed dance attire so, yesterday, we made a special trip to my favorite dance studio in DFW - Spotlight (in Lewisville). It's far for us and there are several other dance stores near us but, this one has special meaning to me. I got her sized for her first Ballet shoes and purchased a dance bag, some leos, tights, leg warmers (I couldn't resist) and a bun holder (again, couldn't resist).

All the gear!

This studio only allows black leos so, I was disappointed we couldn't get some of the cute pink ones but, of course, Spotlight had cute black ones too - so it was still hard to choose. Isabella had a blast at the store. In fact, a little too much fun with the tutus and she started throwing them everywhere. I knew I had to pick fast and get her out of there. Shopping in that store for her was really a surreal moment for me. Just 4 years ago, I sat in Spotlight's parking lot having just accepted the job to take over a then failing studio and rushed in to buy some needed dance attire for myself since I was now going to be a FT dance teacher/Director. A year later, I sat in that parking lot having just taken ownership of that business and bringing them my dress code for their records. Then subsequently sat in that parking lot as I had to let it all go. Now, to walk into that store with my almost 2 year old daughter is just unbelievable to think about my life then vs. now. I would have never thought I would be walking in there someday with my daughter.

Getting her foot measured

Waiting for her shoes! She didn't know what to think about the tights tied on her feet.

How do they feel?

I am just so excited for Isabella to start dance that I couldn't sleep well last night. I keep telling myself that I can't push my dreams onto her but, I just can't help but hope that she will love it. I really had to hold back the tears yesterday at Spotlight. Then, today, seeing her all dressed up was just too much. She knew how excited I was and just pranced around like she was a true princess.

Such a cute pic! So sad it's blurry!

Loving her outfit!

She insisted on carrying her dance bag herself.

Unfortunately, our dance experience went downhill from there. I planned our entire day around this class. I kept our morning quiet and got her down for an (unsuccessful) nap early to try to ensure that she was rested. I got her dressed and Daddy even planned his calls around class so he could go. To say this was a big moment for us (particularly me) would be an understatement. I guess you could say it was HUGE. We were all SO excited. We got to the location and I had my doubts. We walked in and I looked around with more doubts (a room with an old wood floor, no mirrors, no viewing window and junk everywhere - for the price that's MORE than the norm - hmmm...). Plus, it was then 3:15 and no teacher. I wasn't happy because, I expect my child's teacher to be there, especially on the first day, ready to go at least 15 minutes before class. 3:20 -no teacher. 3:30 (the start of class) - no teacher. 3:35, I call the studio and they seem flabbergasted at no teacher and promised to call me back. In my eyes, they should have an office person there as well not just the teacher (esp. on the first day). 3:45 no call, no teacher and we left. The others stayed but, I was done.

Where is my teacher?

Still waiting....

No dance!? What!!???

Isabella was having so much fun just dancing in the halls with the other dancers that she threw a fit when I said we were leaving but, I was fuming. Not only was a teacher late but, it was the first day of class and their was NO communication to the parents or building staff. I got a voicemail 2 hours later stating the teacher had car trouble and arrived around 4pm but that I had left (umm, the class ended at 4:15) and that of course they would be scheduling a make up for me. I honestly don't even know how to reply. I could go off in my disgust at the unprofessional-ism but, instead, I will just take this as a blessing and am thankful that I know firsthand how they do business and will take my child some place else. Really I was done when I walked in because the teacher should have been there to greet us and show us a fully prepared room to dance in and the location just wasn't what I expected. I expect mirrors with a sprung floor with a viewing window and an educated/professional/timely teacher (at least that's the norm for a Dallas area studio). That wasn't met from the start so, the no show part just made it even easier to say goodbye.

There's another studio I've been eying in Southlake that offers 2 year old classes so, we will tour their school tomorrow and I hope they are ready for my 20 questions! Oh god, I truly am one of "those" parents now! Ugh, I guess I should just accept it and hope to god these teachers can handle me!

Isabella is 22 months old!!!

2012-08-23T20:04:00.000-07:00

-Height:- 34.5 in (home measurement)
-Weight: 29 lbs (home measurement)
-Clothing Size: Officially into 2T and some 3T
-Shoe Size: 6.5/7

Here's all about Isabella:

-Still teething for those 2 year molars....c-mon teeth!!!!!

-She can point out a variety of colors to me. Her favorite seems to be green because she chooses it to color with a lot and always gets excited to point out that color to me. She's also really into the book, "Pinkalicious" so, I think pink is probably a close second.

-New words: "mommy, "baby" (that's been her favorite word this month), "mine", more aka: "mo", George for Curious George aka: "Gorree", "Kiki" for her doll and tonight I asked her if she wanted to wear the unicorn or mermaid PJs and she goes "mermaid" and I was shocked! This is not a word in our daily vocab so, I wasn't expecting it to come out of her mouth. She talks A LOT but, it's still mostly hard to understand. I'm seeing a lot of language progress but still not that moment of an explosion of language. She defiantly knows a lot but, her desire to say things isn't quite there yet.

-She knows mostly all her animal sounds. I think she knows them all but, has trouble with a few sounds like, "neigh" and making an elephant sound. Her favorite lately has been an owl. I think it's b/c she loves saying "whooo, whooo". She even chose an owl for her lunch box this week (over a dog too!!).

-She loves to open books and read to herself in her own language and I even caught her reading to her dog doll last week. Here's the video:

-She has graduated from her Waterbabies class to Super Waterbabies which means no more Mama in class! It's a bittersweet moment for me. I'm so proud of her though and how much she loves the water. This past year in swim has been such a fun experience to share with her. We probably sing our swim songs at least once a day.

-She is OBSESSED with coloring. Some days the second she gets out of bed in the morning, she runs to her desk and just colors. She probably colors at least an hour to two hours a day!

-She is all about her baby doll, Kiki. I named her doll this so that she could easily say it and sure enough, she picked it up and now says it. She loves this doll. She has a few others but, this one is by far her favorite. She loves to change her clothes, give her baths, feed her and push her around in a stroller. Today, a bed arrived for Kiki and tonight, Isabella and Kiki are having their first sleepover.

-She likes to refer to herself as "baby".

-We are all signed up for Mother's Day Out starting next week. She will be going on Mondays/Wednesdays from 9am-2pm at a local church. I am SO excited but also sad. She's officially in a real school now! We're finishing up getting her lunchbox, backpack and nap mat ready for her first day. We met her teachers on Monday and they are so sweet and knowledgeable. Isabella took right to them and made herself at home in their classroom. I know she's going to love it. With all my new free time, Pinterest and I will get to know each other again and I will get to go to Pure Barre consistently!

-She is really into pretend play. She likes to dress up in this chef outfit I got her and play in her kitchen a lot. The other day, the timer in the (real) kitchen was going off and I wasn't quick to get up but, she sure was and ran to the oven and tried to open the drawer with the oven mits. It's amazing how much she knows without me specifically teaching her. In fact, we were at dinner out the other night and we asked her to show us everything on the table (ie: Where is the ketchup?) and she pointed out everything without hesitation. I looked at Andres and said, "OMG, she knows more than we think!" I think we both panicked a bit knowing that we have to really watch what we say!

-She is still telling me most times when she goes potty in her diaper but has no desire to sit on the potty.

-Her stranger danger to men is getting really bad. If we are out, she will sometimes throw herself on the ground to avoid looking at any men who are looking at her. I'm trying to push through it without being to harsh or too easy so most times, I just recognize the issue, tell her it's okay and that we are moving on. The other day we had to go to Best Buy for an errand and the amount of men in there was just too much I suppose because she threw herself down at least 5 times. Mommy certainly was losing her patience.

-She's very sensitive to getting stuff on her body, particularly her hands. I've realized that I wipe my hands a lot when I'm eating so I think she picks that up from me but, we are trying to not feed into her anxiety from it and show her that it's okay. My brother said it so poignantly to her this weekend by saying, "For someone who poops herself, you sure seem bothered by a little food on your hands." Lol!

-She's starting to catch on to the alphabet. I caught her one night playing on the iPad and it said "A" and she goes "B" and then it said "C" and she does "D". She likes it when I sing it to her but other times, she will quickly tell me "NO". She seems more into numbers lately and loves to count to ten. It's so funny though because she just says "nine" over and over again but says it 10 times.

-Her favorite game is hide and seek. She loves to cover her eyes (she likes to cheat though) and count to 5 (ie: saying 9, 5 times) and then screams and runs to try to find Mommy or Daddy. When she finds the hider, she just screams and screams with excitement. (She loves to scream!)

-She has developed a deeper love lately for Cookie Monster ("Gaga") and Curious George ("gooree"). Her old loves, Elmo and Yo Gabba Gabba haven't been in the rotation much.

-Favorite books: "Pinkalicious", anything with Curious George, Clifford books, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear", "Green Eggs and Ham", "Go Dog Go".

-I haven't pushed anything really girly on her at all. I've tried to keep her things pretty gender neutral and yet she has really taken to dolls, princess things and pink. It's amazing to me despite my desire to keep her princess free. At Hobby Lobby the other day, she even pointed out the Disney princess stickers and I was shocked. It looks like we have a princess lover in the house!

Video Update

2012-07-23T18:14:00.001-07:00

I finally got my booty in gear and uploaded Isabella's videos to YouTube. I have been meaning to do this for a while and finally sat down and started doing it. It's been a pain uploading videos to our blog with the new camera that I got at Christmas because, I can't view these videos on our computer to edit and most of the time, they aren't uploading to the blog. I'm hoping by uploading to YouTube, it will make it much easier to link into our blog. Plus, it's so nice to take a video on my phone or iPad and then just hit upload to YouTube. I have definatly been out of the loop on this and should have been doing it all along!!

Our channel isn't very organized nor is everything uploaded but, here's some videos from recent events that I wanted to share.

Isabella playing with Grayson's dog, Baxter. She is in heaven!! I'm trying to convince Andres to get a dog. I want one so bad and moments like this make me want one even more!

Isabella doing a puzzle on the iPad. She was getting a little frustrated! This was only her 2nd time to do this particular one. She's a pro at it now. She LOVES puzzles!

This video is from our trip to San Antonio in April. It was when the mariachis sang to us and she got SUPER embarrassed!

Father's Day/BBQ at Daelyn's

2012-07-23T17:51:00.002-07:00

I'm backtracking a bit but, I wanted to document Father's Day before it left my mind. On the actual Father's Day holiday, Andres was out of town so, Nicole (Daelyn's Mama) was gracious enough to invite Isabella and me to their house to BBQ so that we wouldn't spend the day alone (my Dad was in Austin helping my brother move so, Isabella and I were officially both fatherless on Father's Day). As always, Isabella had a blast with her BFF, Daelyn. Since, Nicole and I are avid scrapbookers/picture takers, we got lots of pictures from the day.

Beep, beep!

Time to play in the water!!

Isabella and her gracious chauffeur.

Isabella loves Daelyn's big slide!

Daelyn is patiently waiting to catch her!

Dinner time, take 1

Dinner time, take 2

Dinner time, take 3. Ut oh!!! Bye, bye corn!

Enjoying a post bath cupcake!

Andres returned from his trip a few days after Father's Day, so, Isabella and I were ready to celebrate as soon as he arrived! Andres did an amazing job with Mother's Day which meant that I had to ensure Father's Day was just as good! We got him a new swimsuit, a gift card to a men's spa/hair place, and some SMU cufflinks. We also made him a 10 things we love about Daddy book and Isabella picked out a card (it was an animated dog mowing the grass...no surprise that she chose a dog card).

Our gifts were patiently waiting for Daddy to arrive!

Reading his 10 things we love about Daddy book.

Isabella and I picked out all the pictures for the book. :-)

She loved pointing to each picture and saying Daddy.

Yay! Daddy is home!

Day at Granny & Grandpa's

2012-07-23T17:24:00.000-07:00

When Andres travels, it's typically a given that Isabella and I make a trip to Allen on Saturday to see my parents. It gets us out of the house and forgetting that we are missing Daddy AND we get spoiled at Granny and Grandpa's house in that I get a to do stuff on her own and Isabella gets to do things Mama wouldn't let her do. Plus, it's a nice scenery change! :-) Since Andres has been gone most of this month, we've spent probably every Saturday there. There was one Saturday in particular that was extra fun so, I wanted to ensure I documented it for the "record book". :-)

Isabella and I went to visit Granny & Grandpa and arrived in the late morning. After lunch, we went to a splash pad at Celebration Park in Allen. Isabella wore a swim suit that I purchased in the spring but, I hadn't found the occasion yet to pull this one out because I knew it was over the top cute. Well, today was the day! I knew Granny would eat up the cuteness as much as I would so, at least I could have someone to gush to when I wanted to swoon over how cute she looked. It was even cuter on than I imagined! Too bad she wasn't feeling the swim cap but, regardless, she still looked adorable.

She had a lot of fun at the splash park. It was our first time visiting one this season and we had never been to this one. It is really neat! It was kind of crowded and it looked as if Isabella was the youngest there. Some of the pre-school age girls came up and asked us if Isabella could play with them and tried to hold her hand to get her to follow them. It was so cute! She was just content on doing her own thing though. To see her in action, here's a video and some pictures.

After the splash park, Granny treated Isabella to her first Sonic slush (Powerade flavor). She was in heaven but, got frustrated when the straw wouldn't pick up anything. I had to teach her about the "Granny shake" (aka: where you shake your drink to loosen up the ice so that it flows in your straw). We went to dinner and Isabella insisted on not sitting in her high chair but, instead BETWEEN Granny and Grandpa. I guess she knew the spot at the table where she would get the most love. :-)

It was a fun day in Allen! We are excited for Granny to be free from HP after August so that we can visit on weekdays too!

Isabella is 21 months old!

2012-07-19T20:05:00.003-07:00

-Height:
-Weight:
-Clothing Size: 24 months easing out of for the most part into 2T
-Shoe Size: 6.5 (I'm so sad that I hadn't been keeping up with this before on the blog because she's gone from barely a 5 in January to a 6.5 in July!)

Here's all about Isabella:

-Still teething for those 2 year molars. The right bottom should break through any day now and the left bottom will be right behind it.

-She officially knows all her body parts, even the little ones now!

-New words: kitty "itty", I don't know "I don kno", there you are "thr you are" hot "ot", mama has come back into the rotation after at least a 3 month hiatus and she uses it to her advantage by saying my name a million times until I respond :), bye which sounds like "die" - lol, nini "nana", granny "gra", cookie "gaga" (not sure where this comes from) and LOTS of words I have no idea what she is saying. She is talking a lot but, getting to where I understand her is still challenging. It wasn't until my Mom pointed out one day that Isabella was saying "there you are" when playing peek a boo did I start to really tune into her on a different wavelength and then realized all that she was saying!

-She is a pro in her swim classes. Knows every song and does the appropriate action without my help. Goes under for 10 seconds without hesitation. Jumps off the wall without my help. Climbs out of the pool with little help. She is defiantly ready for the "Super Waterbabies" class in the Fall without Mama!! Yay!!

-She's starting to (try) to color in the lines.

-We are starting to get some tantrums. Probably about 1 a day over a power struggle with something. Hellloooo terrible 2s!

-She is really getting into airplanes, cars and trains. She has some toys and a puzzle that makes the sounds and now when we see/hear one in real life, she gets really excited and signs "more". Her favorite by far, is airplanes. Which I think is because we talk about Daddy riding on one all the time and when we drop him off at the airport, she gets to see the planes up close. Somehow that's distracted her enough during our drop offs, that she doesn't cry at all when he leaves and still offers lots of kisses.

-I've noticed when she picks up books we've read frequently, she acts out certain parts. The best is when she reads the "My name is not Isabella" book and in the story, the little girl says her name is not Isabella (but instead says other names of historical woman). Then, on the last page, her mother asks who she is tucking into bed and the little girl says, "It's me, Isabella! The strongest, kindest..." and when Isabella reads that page, she points to herself. <B<B<B

-She is starting to tell me when she goes potty and says "ut oh" and points to her diaper and then when I say "oh, you went potty!? can you get mommy a diaper please?" and she runs to her room and grabs a diaper and wipes.

-She is such a great helper around the house. She helps me feed the kitties, helps me clean (wiping things down and sweeping are her favorites), water the flowers, move the clothes from the washer to the dryer and always lends a helping hand even when I don't ask. The best is when I'm moving furniture and she tries to help hold it and grunts.

-She's a kissing monster. She loves to give kisses. Every night, we walk around and give the kitties kisses and then Daddy a kiss (when he's home). If Daddy isn't home, he calls and we give him a kiss on the phone. Then, I lie her in her crib and we started a ritual where I kiss her toes, her hands, her nose and her tummy. Tonight, she asked for her elbows too, so I guess that's a new one to add. She has started telling me "no" when she doesn't want kisses from me though. :-/ I must admit though, that I probably try and kiss her at least 100 times a day so, if I get at least 50 in, I won't die! Plus, this nighttime ritual we have now, melts my heart to pieces.