Ice Ice Baby

This morning we woke up to a world of ice! It was supposed to start around 10, but at 10:45 when we went to bed the ice storm hadn't started yet. I woke up a couple times during the night because it was so loud. I was praying it was warm enough out that it was only rain, but no such luck. This morning we were under a level 2 emergency. All of the schools were closed and some businesses too. Jason made it to work safe and sound. He said the roads were really treacherous though.

We have a lot of tree branches down in our yard. The ice looks pretty, but it is so sad how many tree branches are down. I was outside a little bit ago and all you could hear were sirens and ice crashing down through the trees. I didn't venture off of our deck, but it looks like our crabapple and apple trees both got knocked over. There is a tree in the way but I think it looks like our pear tree made it. I can only wonder what the meadow looks like...I valued my life enough not to venture out there with all of the trees everywhere!

Its supposed to warm up enough today to hopefully melt the ice. When we woke up we couldn't see out of any of our front windows as they were coated in ice. Now the ice is melting and we can see somewhat out of some of them.

Anyway, here are some pics of our scenery today!

Potties, Pregnancy and Playtime

Potty training is still going really well! Isabelle has only been in panties (except naptime and bedtime we put a diaper on her) since, oh gosh.. whatever day that was last week..ehhh..maybe Thurs or Fri(??)and has only had 1 accident! The accident was a little anticipated as it was the first time we were with all of her friends. She stopped going though and told me she had to go potty and went the rest in the toilet. I was so proud of her! Then today she was playing with Adan and went in the potty twice without any accidents! She has really done awesome!

As for pooping in the potty..well, she isn't really a fan... she is, but she doesn't like to just sit there and wait to be all done...she's got things to do! Haha! I figured pooping in the potty would be harder to get, but she'll figure it out!

Baby #2 is doing good as well. I felt him/her move a couple of weeks ago and now I feel it all the time. We are really excited for our ultrasound appointment. We have been working hard on our names lists! I am 99.9% sure we have it narrowed down to one name for our boy name. As for girl names we still have a little list, but keep talking about the top 3. I am excited to find out the sex so then we only have to focus on one side! We are waiting until we know the sex and are for sure that is the name we are going with before we tell anyone our names. Hearing people's opinions of the names we were deciding on was one of the most annoying parts of our pregnancy with Isabelle so we are trying to avoid that at all costs. LOL! I have learned that once you are set in stone with a name and say, "the name of our child WILL BE blah blah blah" that people tend to keep their opinions to themselves...it's all about saying it with authority, at least I think. So we'll do a comparison study and see how my theory pans out.

In other news, here is a little video of Isabelle playing dolls with Daddy from this past weekend.. I think it is actually more like Daddy playing with dolls and Isabelle watching, but it is entertaining nonetheless. :o)

Hi, my name is Jennifer...

and I am a shopaholic. LOL! Seriously though I am in some major pain here! I promised myself I would not buy Isabelle anymore winter clothes.. I mean I would be in clothing heaven if I had as many clothes as this girl has and this year I have been really good compared to previous years.... but we still have stuff we haven't gotten to yet that still have tags on. Anyway, my point is that I am so in love with the new Janie and Jack line. I saw pics of it awhile ago and have avoided the website....until recently. Thank goodness the items I really really loved are sold out in Isabelle's size and our closest store is Indy...whew! But there are still plenty of other items sitting in my cart...waiting for me to use my coupon and free shipping.. just waiting....lucky for me I know I am just going to let them sit there until the sale is over or I forget about them (haha, yeah that's a funny one! ;o) ).. at least a girl can hope that is how it is going to play out. LOL!

Oh and don't even get me started on Gap. Ugh. They are coming out with their spring transition stuff now.. too bad it is freezing here till May sometimes! It is my goal to hold off getting anything for spring until late Feb. Last year I did pretty good..I think I made it to the end of January. LOL!

This is too much thinking for first thing on a Weds morning...this is why I usually don't get up until Isabelle wakes up because I just end up torturing myself. HAHA! Hopefully she will wake up soon and I will forget all about my newfound penguin love.....

Isabelle and her make-up table

I have been searching for my cord to connect my camcorder to the computer for what feels like forever. I had remembered that Isabelle had it and I took it from her...and then after that I drew a blank. I am usually one of those people that remembers where everything is...and then I get pregnant and completely lose any bit of intelligence I ever had. LOL! So I finally found it tonight and of course it was in the strangest of all places, but I found it and that is all that matters! Now I am working on uploading the video to the computer. Here is a little video from when Pap and Mel-Mel came to visit and Isabelle was playing with her new make-up table.

Is Isabelle on Santa's Naughty or Nice list??

Which list is Isabelle on??

She loves this video and has wanted to watch it like a million times since I showed it to her!

Potty Training Update

So I just have to share Isabelle's exciting news with everyone!! Yesterday morning when she woke up she said she wanted to wear panties. So we ditched the diaper for a pair of Ariel panties. I had already decided that I wanted to set her up to have an accident so that she would see how uncomfortable it is....that sounds really mean but Isabelle really learns by doing something and she hates to be uncomfortable or dirty so I knew she would really respond well to it. So she got up and I set the timer for 30 mins because she usually doesn't have to go until she has been up for 30 or 40 mins. So when the timer went off I had her come play in the kitchen where the floor is hard and in a few minutes she is freaking out that she peed on the floor and her beautiful Ariel panties are wet...meanwhile I am sitting in a corner totally "Mr. Burns"ing it with my "excellent". We talked about not going potty on the floor and yadda yadda yadda.

I went to go get ready for our playdate when Isabelle comes running into the bathroom screaming that she peed in the potty! She said, "come look Mommy!" She takes me to the bathroom and sure enough she went to the potty all by herself! It was so exciting! I was so proud of her and she was so excited and proud of herself too!!! She got to pick a surprise out..which of course she picked a pack of princess stickers!

Today we were at It's Playtime all morning so she wore a diaper..she wanted to wear panties but I wanted her to be able to play and not have to worry about having to go to the potty every 15 mins or being embarassed by having an accident. Yeah I am pretty laid back about the whole thing. Haha!

She is growing up so fast!!

I guess we are potty training!

Today is Isabelle's first day in "big girl princess panties"! She has done awesome so far! We had gymnastics this morning so she wore a diaper there. Then when we got home we put on a pair of sleeping beauty panties. She was SOOOO excited! She won't put pants on and keeps pulling her shirt up and looking at her panties. Then for naps she wore a diaper and when she got up she asked to wear panties again. So far no accidents!

A little bit of everything

Isabelle and I went to my 14 week appointment last week. I am used to going to the Dr's and experiencing a lot of waiting both in the waiting room and then in the room. Well this week we were at the Dr's office for a total of 15 minutes!!! This has never in 8 years happened before! I really wasn't quite sure how to react..and neither did Isabelle. We are at the Dr's so long that she knows exactly what toys she is going to play with in the waiting room and then also in the exam room. She was very distraught that we didn't even make it to the waiting room toys before we were ushered to our room and then we weren't in our room long enough for her to play with those toys either. So, I was very happy with the visit and Isabelle was not very happy. LOL!

Her unhappiness started the day before though. She always gets very excited to go to the Dr's to see how the baby is growing. I told her the day before that we would be going to the Dr's the next day and she got very upset. She said, "those ladies not touch your belly, Mommy"..she is my little protector. :o) I tried to talk to her about what they were doing and why they had to do it.. well one of the things I said must not have sounded the same to her because she thought I said they were going to punch my belly and Isabelle is very aware that you do not punch people and you definitely do not punch Mommy's belly. She was VERY upset about this.. of course nothing that I said made her feel any better or convinced her otherwise.

The next morning we get ourselves all ready for the Dr's appointment and she keeps telling me over and over "you not let those ladies touch you, Mommy". Oh and she told me I wasn't allowed to lay on the bed in the room either. LOL! She is very bossy. I told her that she could come up with me when the Doctor came in so that she could see everything that was going on and make sure everything was ok. Thank goodness that seemed to appease her and she was happy with our little arrangement.

We both hop up on the bed and the midwife measures and then lets us hear the baby's heartbeat. After like 15 seconds into hearing the heartbeat Isabelle must have decided that I was in good hands and that it was safe for her to go play now. LOL!

Her level of concern was so dear though! It really is quite funny to me though that she considers herself my protector. When it is cold out I will pick her up and we will run inside.. she always tells me "I hold you Mommy and keep you warm and safe" HAHA! Also, if I even think of mentioning that it is cold out she starts into her lecture that I need a hood and that she is going to get me a hood so I am warm! Such a little worrywart she can be!

But as far as the pregnancy everything is going great so far. My blood pressure is good and I am feeling great. We are into the 2nd trimester now so I am getting my energy back and starting to feel like my old self again. So far I have been really good about my diet..don't worry though if there is something not good that sounds heavenly I definitely eat it.. I am pregnant afterall and not looking to be miserable! ;o) hee hee! I am really proud of keeping up with my exercise routine. I think it has really helped in how I am feeling this pregnancy. I know statistically women have a harder time losing the weight after the 2nd pregnancy then they did with the first. I am hoping that keeping active and exercising is going to help the weight come off afterwards.

I felt the baby move last week! He/She felt like they were doing somersaults! I was really excited to start to feel the movements! With Isabelle, being pregnant was pretty much all I thought about for 9 months.. this time I am so distracted with Isabelle that most times I forget I am pregnant. I get more reminders though now that I am starting to feel the baby so I am really excited about that. Not thinking about it 24/7 though sure is making the pregnancy fly by so far! Oh, and one last thing.. we find out the sex on January 8th!! Super excited for that!!!! I can't believe it is almost already that time!!

And a quick update on Jason.. he is really busy at work this month. I am so glad about that! He hasn't really seen much of a change at work with how the economy is and we are so thankful for that. We weren't quite sure how December would go since it is historically such a huge month for him, but he is really busy!! It is such a stressor when your income is based on people buying things. I am so thankful though for how hard he works to provide for us and give me the opportunity to stay home and raise our kids! Ok, *GAG* sorry to get all mushy mushy..those darn hormones are acting up again!

Our Thanksgiving

Gammy, Pappy, Aunt Jess and Josh all came out to visit for Thanksgiving. It was really a great visit! Thursday Mom and Jeff cooked Thanksgiving dinner (very yummy, of course!!) and we just hung out at home all day. Isabelle really had a blast with all of the playing she got to do. The funniest was seeing her con Josh into playing dolls and playing with her make-up table. He is such a good sport! HAHA! Isabelle really enjoyed watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and got excited when a character she knew was on tv. I think though that she might have been a little more excited about the dog show on afterwards! She sure loves dogs!!!



Friday we went out with the rest of the crazies shopping. I really didn't think it was that busy. Jason had to work so he didn't get to go along. Isabelle did awesome! We probably got to the mall around 10:30 (no we aren't the crazy people that are up and at 'em at like 3AM) and got back home at 6:00.. it was quite a day! Since we aren't ones to monkey with tradition we had to eat lunch at the same place we eat every year.. Red Robin! I love Red Robin though so I am ok with this!! We were all exhausted after a day of shopping and Jason was tired from his day at work so we ordered dinner in and just hung out at home. Isabelle was very excited to get to experience Aunt Jess's first viewing of "The Little Mermaid" with her!

Saturday we ran around for a bit and got some more Christmas shopping done and then went to Steak and Shake...another tradition..haha! Every time they visit we HAVE to get shakes.. they are so good! Isabelle's favorite is strawberry... and boy can she suck that baby down! LOL! Then we headed back home. Jason got a new game for Wii so he and Josh were excited to try it out while Isabelle helped Aunt Jess sharpen her make-up skills!


They left really early Sunday morning and Isabelle was very sad that they had already left when she got up. We told her that we would be seeing them very soon for Christmas and that made her feel better. Now everyday I get to hear, "I am going to see Gammy very soon" LOL!


Now, is this or is this not the creepiest picture ever? HAHA!! What a weirdo!

Been MIA..I know, I know...

Just wanted to pop in and say that no we have not fallen off the face of the earth! HAHA! I know I haven't posted anything in a long time and I am so sorry about that! We have been busy with getting Christmas decorations up and getting ready for Thanksgiving! Well, and the main reason is that I have finally given in to all of the Twilight hype and am spending every moment of my time reading! There are only 4 books and I am almost finished book 2 so there is an end in sight! LOL!

So excited for tonight though.. I am going with some other obsessed friends to see the movie!! It is going to be so fun!! :o)

Our Weekend with Pap and Mel-Mel

My Dad and Mel came out for a visit this past weekend. Isabelle was so excited for them to come out! It was too short of a visit, but we had a great weekend..despite the cold weather and rain! We weren't too shocked though considering everytime they come to town it is bitter cold, so, hey, what's some rain thrown in?!?

They got to town Friday early evening. Isabelle and Mel kicked off the weekend with some serious coloring! Mel got a taste of coloring with Isabelle..basically you have about 10 seconds to color a picture before she turns the page! HAHA! We hung out for a bit and then went to dinner.

Saturday morning there was more playing and hanging out! Then we all got ready to head out for lunch. Jason had decided where we should go to lunch and we were all very excited..well, we got there and they don't serve lunch on Saturdays! Woops! So he came up with 2 more places to go and neither of them served lunch on Saturdays either! That kind of stuff happens to me and Jason all of the time, but it is usually on Sundays! HAHA! After lunch we went to the mall. Isabelle is in love with the Little Mermaid movie which is currently MIA so Daddy got her one of the other Ariel movies.. needless to say she was very excited! Then she was surprised by Pap when he got her the Princess Make-up table at the Disney Store! She had been drooling over it earlier when we were in there and when she realized that Pap was getting it she got really excited! She had the biggest smile on her face. It was so cute! She helped him carry the box to the car and wouldn't take her hand off of it. She helped Pap set it up when we got home and couldn't wait to try it out!











Then it was time for the moment Jason had been anticipating for months..it was time for the James Bond movie! Isabelle spent the evening hanging out with Karen and watching her new Ariel movie while we went to see the new Bond movie and go to dinner to Club Soda where the have "the" James Bond martini! I thought the movie was good..Jason, on the other hand, is still analyzing it! LOL! The night was a lot of fun! I am not going to lie.. I really missed my wine and espresso martini...oh, and not to forget my sashimi tuna (drool..)..and even whined about it a little..or a lot.. (hee hee!) but it was still a ton of fun!

Sunday morning we realized that the weekend had flown by so fast that we never took a family photo! So we took our picture with me, Jason and Isabelle in our pj's and Dad and Mel in their traveling clothes! LOL!



Sunday after they left for their journey home, Jason wanted to go to 2 furniture stores.. big surprise that they were closed on Sundays!!!

All the fun pregnant details and stuff!

So..pregnant again! Haha! Our goal was to have the birthdays close so we were really hoping to get pregnant in September. I couldn't believe it actually happened according to plan though! Actually it has taken quite a while for it to sink in and feel real... I think it is because we are so wrapped up in taking care of Isabelle that most days I forget I am even pregnant until I sit down to relax at the end of a day!

Right now I am 11 weeks.. very excited to be nearing the end of the 1st trimester. I have been so fortunate to not really have any symptoms or sickness at all. The only thing I have really experienced is being utterly and completely exhausted! It works out nicely though since Isabelle likes to sleep in, take long naps and go to bed early. I have just assumed the schedule of a 2 year old! LOL!

So far so good in the blood pressure department so I am happy about that. Hopefully it won't go up at the end again. Also doing good in the weight gain department! Eleven weeks in and haven't gained any weight yet (actually lost 2 lbs however that happened!) and also am not showing yet!

We've been to the Dr's at 5 weeks, 8 weeks and 10 weeks.. next time we go back is 14 weeks. I gotta tell you I am really enjoying the benefits of a 2nd pregnancy with the same Dr! So far I have gotten 2 free ultrasounds! Our insurance only pays for 1 ultrasound so with Isabelle we got the one at 20 weeks. With this one they gave me one at 6 weeks during my nurse's visit and then at our last appt at 10 weeks! I've been seeing the midwife at the office and I really love her! I wish she delivered at our hospital, but I really like my OB too so is fine too! Anyway, so she couldn't get a heartbeat on the doplar thing so she said she would just put me on the ultrasound machine quick so I wouldn't worry. First, it was amazing at the difference of 2 weeks! With the 8 week ultrasound it was pretty much just 2 balls and at the 10 week ultrasound the baby's arms and legs were moving around.. it was really cool! The second thing with the 10 week ultrasound was that we learned that the egg probably implanted on the back of my uterus because the placenta is all in front of the baby...making it difficult to get the heartbeat on the doplar thing.

Of course we can't forget Isabelle in a post!! Today we learned that she loves blue cheese.. odd, right? We went to Friday's for lunch and first our waitress was in shock that instead of the classic "chicken fingers and fries" that most kids eat (my child is odd and not a fan of fried food..or chocolate and candy but that is a whole other post!) Isabelle wanted broccoli and cheddar soup! HAHA! She is a soup fanatic! She loves anything from broccoli and cheddar to french onion to clam chowder! Then she pretty much devoured Jason's blue cheese on his cobb salad! I think she more developed palate then I had at 23! LOL!

This morning we went to brunch at our friend's house. Isabelle got to play with 2 of her best friends, Adan and Bobby. They are so cute together.. now they are getting to the age where there are lots of fights to settle but they still all play really well together! So she was excited to play with them and get to see baby Kate (Bobby is a new big brother!!) and we were excited to eat good food and spend some time with friends.

Well, I am off to enjoy some more family time and a nice warm fire! Oh, almost forgot I have to add the ultrasound pics.. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!


Here are pics from 8 week ultrasound.. Meet Baby Koons #2! Oh and looks like there is only 1 in there! Whew!

Family News!

Here is a video of Isabelle sharing some family news and talking about her surprise!



I'll try to get our 8 week ultrasound picture uploaded and posted this weekend!

Vote for Sunshine!

Isabelle and I hit the polls today after gymnastics. It is me and Jason's first time voting in the general election. It's probably best that we never did before considering we didn't know anything about any of the candidates and didn't really have much of an opinion on any issues. I am pretty sure everyone has an issue on this election, though! I am so not a political soapboxer, so have no fear, I will not be spouting off all of my opinions! I know this was everyone's concern since I am such an outwardly opinionated person! LOL!

Last night we had the news on...which I think it might be the first time in my life that I have watched the news as we never watch it..but we were watching it for election stuff. Isabelle kept asking who the people were on the tv so we told her about Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain (or "Mr Bobama" and "Mr CaCain" as Isabelle says!). Obviously, she is 2 so we didn't get into some in depth political debate with her, but we told her they both wanted to be the president and that tomorrow we were all going to vote for who we wanted to win. She listed some people and asked if they were going to vote and kept pointing at Mr. Obama and Mr McCain on the screen. So I asked her if she would vote for Mr. McCain or Mr. Obama. She didn't think long and replied, very enthusiastically I might add, with "Mr. Bobama"! LOL! I asked her if she would vote for him because she liked saying his name and she said, "yep". HAHA!


We waited in line to vote for a little under an hour. Jason was there at 6AM this morning and had to wait for 1 hr 45 mins. I was really hoping that long of a wait was not in our future! I brought lots of little toys and snacks to help keep her occupied. We vote at Animal Care and Control so luckily there were lots of animals for her to look at. She did great at the polls and one of the volunteers gave her a cookie for being such a good girl. She drew lots of pictures of trees for the people waiting. It seemed like she helped them pass the time too with her drawings and songs. She is definitely quite the performer! And she loved telling everyone about how Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama both wanted to be president and asking them if they were going to vote!


A lot of things that we talk to Isabelle about, for example the election, you never really quite know what she gets and what she just memorizes and is good at repeating in context. I was quite surprised though that when I went to get her up from her nap she greeted me with, "who won?"..."who won what?" I asked. To which she says, "Who won the race? Mr Obama or Mr McCain?" I think this little girl is never going to cease to amaze me!


Hope everyone gets out and votes today!

Princess Power!

One of our new favorite hobbies is to watch Isabelle play with her toys. Sometimes it is very hard to just watch and resist the temptation to not join her and dive head first into the little world she has created..a world so pure and so innocent.


A world where Princesses ride around on firetrucks and fight fires and then go to Cebolla's when they are hungry! LOL! I think we eat there too much!



It is such a treasure though to witness her imagination at work..the stories that get told and the songs that get made up. When she is in her world she is totally and completely lost in it all...she notices no distractions...



Except of course when I get caught taking pictures... woops! Pay no attention to the crazy lady with the big black camera pointed at you!



We noticed her imagination start to really take off around the time we went to Disney. We had gotten her the Princess figures to help entertain her during lines and anytime we had to wait while we were at Disney World. They have ended up being the best $10 I think I have ever spent! Now at least 3 or 4 princesses go with us everywhere..Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel and Belle. She also says good morning to them every morning when she comes downstairs. They used to be allowed to go to bed with her, but then we had some sleep issues so now the princesses have to stay downstairs and make sure Kashmir behaves! Most of the time they do a pretty good job!



Also, take notice to the dress..she is Sleeping Beauty. Dressing up has become a big thing around here. She loves dressing up in the princess dresses that she has! We haven't reached the day where she wants to wear one in public but I am sure the day is not far away!



I love the look on her face when she is playing.. she is so focused! I think she makes the same face as Jason when she is focused. I wish I could find one of him focused on something...I guess its not as much fun taking pictures of him when he's working on something. haha! Her bottom lip goes out the same way his does when he is focused intently on something. Its so cute!






I also love how she sits Indian style..or I guess the new politically correct way is to say "cross-legged".. either way I think its super cute.


When we moved we found a box labeled "Jason's firetrucks". First we looked them up to make sure they weren't worth millions.. you can imagine our surprise to f ind out that they aren't. So they became Isabelle's to play with... and, naturally, the primary mode of transportation for the fire-fighting princesses! I sure am glad we have princess power protecting our home!

What a beautiful sight!

I forgot to post some very important pictures!!

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween this year! I think I enjoyed Halloween this year as much as I did when I was a kid. Isabelle was so excited about her costume, going trick-or-treating and what all of the other kids were dressed up as. This year she was Alice from "Alice in Wonderland" and she looked super cute!

Last weekend we kicked off the Halloween week by going to the zoo for their trick-or-treating festivities. None of the animals were out but they had treat stations set up, a spooky train ride and carnival games. It was a bit chilly but Isabelle loved getting treats to put in her pumpkin bucket.

The bottom of the panda is a HUGE pumpkin that was grown at a farm in Ft Wayne! It was pretty impressive!

Isabelle with "Handy Mandy"

On Wednesday, we had a Halloween party with our moms group. We haven't been to very many events since the summer is such a busy time so Isabelle was very excited to see some kids she hasn't seen in a couple of months! She had a lot of fun playing and loved seeing everyone in their costumes!

Isabelle's friend, Daisy

"Alice" and "Diego"

Then on Halloween we went to spooky storytime at the library in the morning. We haven't been to storytime since spring so it was fun to be back! After storytime Isabelle played with her friends in the Early Learning Center.

After naps we got ready for the big event! Daddy even left work early so we could hit the streets at 6PM on the dot!





We live in a neighborhood with only 9 houses so we went down the street to another neighborhood to go trick-or-treating. We took the wagon so Isabelle wouldn't have to walk the whole time. Little legs get tired sometimes! I was impressed though because she ended up walking for the majority of the trick-or-treating!




The neighborhood we went through is really a big! We didn't even make it through half of the neighborhood before we headed home. Isabelle really had a lot of fun! She would go up to every door and say "trick-or-treat" and made sure to say "thank you" after she was given her treat. I was very proud of her! She would get very excited when she saw a Disney Princess! She went to the same house at the same time as Belle and was just beside herself with excitement! She told us that she was going to go trick-or-treating with her friend, Belle! LOL! Oh and heaven forbid someone think that she was Cinderella! She made sure to tell them, "I not Cinderella, I Alice"!