Live~Laugh~Love

FIrst Day of School

2011-08-22T09:28:00.003-04:00

Today is the first day of school! Just dropped the kids off...ahhh peace and quiet! I was able to sneak out of the room while Sky was playing so no tears! I'm sure he got upset once he realized I wasn't there anymore but fingers crossed he didn't!

This is Isabelle's last year of preschool. She could have gone to kindergarten this year but since her birthday is a late birthday we were able to have a choice. I don't take very many decisions lightly.. I am so indecisive and I over think everything and I need to have more confidence in my decision when I actually finally make it.

I was told in March that I needed to register Isabelle for kindergarten. I really didn't want to do it. Nothing about it felt right. Jason and I went back and forth about full day vs half day. I spoke with teachers at the school, I spoke with her preschool teachers, I spoke with friends. It wasn't until the last day of registration that I actually pushed myself kicking and screaming into the building to register her. Then I got back in my car and just cried because I wasn't ready for this and I didn't truly feel like she was either.

Don't get me wrong Isabelle is very intelligent. Very. And not just books smart intelligent she is so smart in so many different areas. But she has the attention span of a fly and no focus. She still gets very tired in the afternoons and after school last year of a 9-1:30 MWF schedule was pure torture. Thinking about everyday 9-3 made me want to just run away from home at the start of the school year.

I thought about her friends that would not be starting kindergarten until next year..all of which have summer birthdays or September and October birthdays and she seemed just like them but the kids that turned 5 during the winter last year that she would be going with seemed so much older.

I was really sick with stress over it all. I couldn't sleep at night and during the day I just wanted to cry. I would just tell myself over and over, "this is what you are supposed to do", but it offered me no comfort at all. Then I ran into a friend at Target who had decided to wait another year with her daughter and suddenly it was like the weight was lifted and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I didn't even really know at that time it was an option..well, let me rephrase.. I knew it was an option but I didn't realize it could be an option for us. I had heard of kids having birthdays June-August waiting but Isabelle's was May. We had already planned to wait a year with Sky and his is a mere 7 days after hers.

I gave myself some time to digest all of this new info and really go over it (and over it and over it) in my mind. I finally brought it up to Jason and he was right on board with me. We got Isabelle registered back in preschool and had to rearrange Sky's schedule.

I didn't really share my decision with very many people. I knew there were people who would not support it but I really didn't realize how great that number would be. Uh yeah... a lot. I was truly shocked. I mean this is my kid, right? We are the parents and get to make the decisions, right? Apparently not. I was met with a lot of oppression which some days would make me feel like I was doing the wrong thing and other days it would make me feel the exact opposite. I really didn't get why all of these people had such a vested interest in Isabelle's schooling. Oddly enough we met a lot of strangers this summer..most of the ones I remember were in public restrooms.. strange, right? They would start talking to the kids and ask how old they were. Isabelle would say she was 5 which then resulted with "so you start kindergarten this year." To which Isabelle would say "No I am going to start kindergarten when I'm 6" so they would look at me for an explanation and every single one of them only said they thought I was doing a wonderful thing. Oh I wanted to hug them...and take down their number for when the other people were not so positive I could have them call the stranger and hear how awesome I truly was. ;o)

Most people backed off come the middle of the summer or I would just change the subject when school came up. Orientation was Friday and it was like the beginning of the summer all over again with me in tears in the afternoon wondering "what in the world am I doing?" all because of some look that a mom gave me when Isabelle said she was already 5 and that her birthday was in May. A sympathetic look that said "oh you poor thing you have a stupid daughter". While I appreciate your concern and sympathy no my daughter is not stupid. I have a feeling sympathetic mom and I are not going to end up besties. Darn. Moms are so mean. Ugh.

My question is how in the world am I supposed to teach Isabelle to be confident in her decisions when I obviously really suck in this department?

a boy and his dog

2011-07-04T12:53:00.007-04:00

This boy loves his dog.

He talks nonstop all day to Kashmir, about Kashmir, "where is Kashy?"..nonstop.all.day.

The feeling is mutual though but I'm fairly certain the only reason Kashmir allows Schuyler to do whatever he wants to her is because she is a smart girl and knows you do not bite the hand that feeds you. And Schuyler makes sure that Kashmir never goes hungry.

Which has resulted in Kashmir having a weight problem....again. They are a match made in heaven due to their shared love of food and eating. So, naturally, Schuyler makes sure to share all of his food with Kashmir. Have I mentioned he eats nonstop all day?

We are trying our hardest to fix this problem before it results in another knee surgery. The fact that she has already had knee surgery and is getting up there in age makes the weight problem this go around feel much more serious.

He isn't exactly the best listener though...that or he just doesn't care what we say. Probably a little bit of both. We constantly tell him she can't have people food and he gives us that smile as he hands her another bite. Little stinker.

You can try hard to get frustrated with him but its something about that smile..its impossible. Trust me I have tried very hard these past 2 years. It is virtually impossible to stay mad at that boy for more than 2 seconds before he smiles or does something to make you burst into laughter.

Hopefully that quality will take him far in life. But, for now, it leaves me in a life filled with moments of frustration that last for only a second before I'm left smiling and shaking my head wondering where I went wrong.

But we do have one very happy dog!

xxJen

Is this thing on?

2011-07-01T22:04:00.005-04:00

Wow almost one year exactly since my last post. It has been quite a year..lots of soul searching and finding myself I guess. I have had a year of being very frustrated with my camera and feeling like I couldn't find the words I was looking for to write which resulted in locking both the camera and the blog in a closet for the past year. Not literally, I have taken photos of my kids but none of them were meeting my approval. You are your hardest critic, I guess. It was very frustrating not feeling capable of expressing myself creatively at all.

I also found out I have one of the thyroid issues..I can't keep them straight which is which. When I remember to take my medication everything is great..my hair doesn't fall out, I am happy, I lose weight, I have energy...I really need to be better about taking that medication! I am so glad I went to the Dr's and got it tested. I really thought I was losing my mind. I have never felt depressed before and it really sucked. I know, who really goes around enjoying depression. Man though it sucked. I was convinced it was my thyroid after talking to a friend... at first my Dr just wanted to write me an Rx for some anti-depressants and call me an angry housewife. Glad I fought for that test!

Then I was excommunicated from my sorority friends. No it isn't a real sorority but it very well could be. I'm not even sure really what happened..at this point I don't even care anymore honestly. At the time it was all happening I wasn't really sure of how I was feeling..I went through a lot of emotions..anger..hurt..resentment...sad...relief. I always ended up feeling relieved. Now that it has been some time I can say 100% that it is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I took the experience and everything I learned from it to grow and change and figure out who it is that I want to be.

I guess it was a year of a lot of falling down but every time I picked myself back up and moved forward.

I have missed using the blog as an outlet and journal since I am a terrible scrapbooker and baby book filler-inner. I hope to be around more..if anyone even still remembers this exists and if no one does that is ok because I am perfectly happy talking to myself like I do all day every day.

And here are the kids! Yes they always love each other that much and are always that happy..always. No fighting or whining in our house...at least not in my imaginary world I choose to visit..often.

Well, that's all for now.

xxJen

Our Little Dancer

2010-07-06T20:51:00.001-04:00

The first song they danced to "Come and Get Your Love". Of course Isabelle danced beautifully. Pure perfection. Well maybe not perfection but she sure did look cute up there.

They did this adorable little move during this number where they kind of hugged themselves and then shimmied down. I definitely just completely butchered whatever the move was and made it sound so not cute. It really was though. Just take my word.

The second dance was to the song, "Fireflies". Its a current song on the radio. Of course I spend my days listening to Laurie Berkner so I had never even heard the song before. Now I can't get the song out of my head and I think it comes on in every store and restaurant we are in.

Every time I hear it I picture Isabelle doing her dance and skipping around the stage and it makes me smile. That would be the performance from the competition we did because she decided not to do the dance for the recital.

Nope, instead she did her own thing. Most of it was spent looking like this. I may not be a dancer but I am fairly certain this is not a dance move she was taught. Hands on hip, chin up in the air, lips pursed.

Nope, this is not a dance move this is the "I don't care what you want me to do I am not going to do it" move. Now that move she has perfected.

"Sing us a song you're the piano man"

2010-06-21T14:00:00.004-04:00

"sing us a song tonight
well we're all in the mood for a melody
and you got us all feeling alright"

Sweet Dreams

2010-06-18T20:37:00.003-04:00

Many nights Isabelle will show up in our room in the middle of the night saying she had a bad dream. When we try to ask her what it was about she says she would just rather not talk about it. I never really knew if she really meant that or if she was just saying she had a bad dream hoping we would let her sleep with us.

This morning while we were eating breakfast she told me she had a scary dream last night. She said that her Sleeping Beauty Doll (her most prized doll) was in her laptop and she had really scary teeth. Then I did something that made her come to life from out of the laptop (she didn't have scary teeth anymore) and Sleeping Beauty was holding her tight and wouldn't let her go.

All day she thought about her dream. She kept asking me when she would forget about it. I wanted so badly to reach into her mind and erase it. At naptime I asked her if she wanted Sleeping Beauty in bed with her. She asked me why I would ask her that. Of course she wanted Sleeping Beauty. I just tried to brush it off..Silly Mommy, what was I thinking. We read stories and she says to me she knows why I asked her if she wanted Sleeping Beauty in bed. She says I asked because of her dream and she assures me she will be ok. "Don't worry Mommy", she says to me. It is becoming virtually impossible to get anything past that girl.

Tonight after she went to bed I told Jason about her dream. He told me 2 days ago she wanted to watch Taylor Swift videos on his iPad. When he searched for them this was the first video that came up

No wonder she had a bad dream! Eek! She just came out of her room now and said she is still thinking about it and had another dream. I think its going to be a long night. Hopefully she only has sweet dreams tonight.

To the moon

2010-04-27T21:54:00.003-04:00

Tonight at dinner Isabelle leans over to Schuyler and whispers, "I love you so much, Buddy. I love you the whole way to the moon and back". And my heart was happy.

Smartypants

2010-04-10T10:44:00.003-04:00

Sky has gotten to the point where he refuses to eat baby food...

Unless Isabelle is feeding it to him.

And I am very ok with this.

(Pay no attention to Isabelle and her Don Juan pajamas.. she has an issue with zippers being close to her neck. I have no clue.)

Miss Independent

2010-04-10T09:21:00.003-04:00

This girl is about to turn 4 soon... and I really can hardly believe it. Every year around this time she starts to change. Its usually when we butt heads the most as she seems to start to try out her new skin and push for a little more independence. She is a master negotiator though. I mean WOW!

Some of the things she says are just hilarious. Last night we were watching tv and a car commercial or something came on. Well, of course, cool car = Jason wants it. So he says something like, "Oh wow I want that" or something to that effect. Isabelle replies back with, "You can't have everything Daddy. You need to be thankful for what you have." Jason was speechless (which doesn't happen often!).

She has also come with nicknames that only she calls Schuyler. Like Mr. Buddy....we have no clue where she came up with that! She also calls him Mr. Sky, (not sure what's up with all of the "Mr.'s"..she is very proper, I guess!) Skybaby, Skybuddy, Skysilly and a million other things that she just attaches to Sky. Of course he loves any name she calls him.

Gosh, I wish I could remember some other things she has said lately. Just hilarious. The weather was nice enough a week ago that we were able to go for a bike ride. I really missed that last year with Sky being so young and unable to ride in the trailer. Isabelle loved having him back there with her. I am excited for the bike rides that are in our future this summer!

Today we are going playset shopping. We found one online that we really like so we are going to go around to some local places. We're planning to get one that we can assemble ourselves, but if the deal is good enough for someone else to do it I am sure we will bite. We are capable though and you can get more for your money when not having to pay out the wazoo for labor so we'll see. Also, this week we had a quite a big delivery! I will have to upload the pics from my camera to share what it is!!!

Smiley Happy Baby

2010-04-07T21:01:00.004-04:00

Wow so its been a little while, huh? We are all still alive..nothing too major has been happening. In the beginning of February Jason and I started doing P90X. It's a pretty intense workout program. We went from spending our evenings after kids went bed watching TV and surfing the net to working out. With P90X we are working out 6 days a week with Thursday nights being our day off. By the time we get done working out I am feeling pretty spent and blogging is the last thing I want to do. Then during the day it's busy busy with the usual kids and keeping up with the house type of stuff. Lately with the nice weather we've been spending a lot of days outside riding bikes. So I guess that's about it for my excuses.. I know, none of them are good excuses!

This little boy is growing up way too fast...but he is still my little baby. And, oh, is he a mama's boy! I do love it though I'm not going to lie. He does love his Daddy too though. When Jason gets home from work Schuyler just goes crazy. He crawls over to him as fast as his little knees will move and then climbs up his legs. Jason speaks and Sky just watches him with awe.

And of course you know he is crazy for his big sister. She is really enjoying him getting older and being able to play with him. He is so easy going and just goes along with whatever crazy thing she has him doing. I tell her it won't last long and he will develop an opinion about what he wants to do. I don't think she believes me though. She looks at me with this look on her face like, "yeah, ok, whatever you say Mom". Maybe she knows better than me that he won't have an opinion. That would be ok with me.. we have enough opinionated people in this house!
And smiley!! He is so smiley! So smiley and happy! Isabelle was a pretty happy baby as well so I know how fortunate we are to have 2 happy babies! He loves people and is soooo nosey! It is virtually impossible for him to fall asleep in public if there is something else going on. He needs to see everything that is going on and smile at everyone that comes within a 25 ft radius of him. He really does smile at everyone.. they don't even have to be looking at them he is just smiling away and so completely taken by them. It is my favorite though to watch people's reactions when they catch his eye and he is smiling at them. The first thing they do is smile back at him.. then they usually look around to make sure he isn't smiling and laughing at someone behind them making cooky faces or something..then they go back to smiling and waving and playing peek-a-boo. I'm a dork, I know.. watching my baby make people smile..it's probably a pretty weird thing to do..maybe a little self-indulgent, I don't know, but I guess this is my blog so that already makes me at least a little self-indulgent?? Anyway, some of those people though might have had the worst day ever or maybe they don't have anything in their lives to smile about and then in comes perma-smile Sky making them feel good about themselves. Yeah ok, I just read that all back through..I am a super dork. Smiley, happy baby.. you get the point I'm sure.
He totally thinks he is bigger then he really is. He seems to think he can stand by himself.. now mind you, he really can't. But he can't help but to pull himself up to standing and then let go of whatever he is holding onto. He should bend his little knees and sort of plop down.. does he do that? Nope. He pretty much just falls right on his head. The kid is bound and determined though to stand on his own. I think he still has a little while till he will be able to do it. I just pray he doesn't injure his brain in the process!

This is what he does when he gets tired. He will also rub this spot on my back near my shoulder or claw my neck. Love the clawing of the neck...its usually a reminder I need to trim his nails!
He may be getting big but he is still pretty tiny! I forget what he was at his 9 month appt but when I got home I checked Isabelle's 9 month stats and they were right the same. She was 25th percentile for height and weight and he is 5th percentile for both! I thought it was pretty crazy that for the same measurements there was that much difference in percentiles between boys and girls! I have so much to update on Isabelle too.. I promise it won't be forever until I post again!

My baby sister

2010-01-27T23:17:00.000-05:00

now has a baby of her own..

Sometimes its still hard for me to believe that he is actually hers..

And she is now responsible for keeping another human being alive
which is kind of frightening to think about.. (just kidding ;o) )
She is doing so good..she has always been so good with Isabelle and Schuyler so I just knew she would be a good mom...and she is.
It's been so fun watching her as a mom, but so crazy all at once. I mean, remember her being born.. it makes me feel all mushy gushy and old all at once. ;o)
She is so young and has so many things going against her but she isn't letting any of them bring her down.. I am so proud of her for how hard good she is doing..
Now my little baby sister has a beautiful little family of her own... so CRAZY!!!

Sweet, Sweet Baby

2010-01-25T15:51:00.003-05:00

Meet my new little nephew, Jaxton Mitchell

Seriously, he is so stinkin' sweet...so sweet! And what a good baby (so far ;o) ). He never cries. Never. No exaggeration. Happiest little newborn baby, ever. Of course he could be happy because in a house full of people there is always someone ready to cuddle with him.

And he smiles all the time.. they say its gas, but I know its because he loves his Auntie Jen.. afterall I am pretty much the most awesome Aunt ever! ;o)

And those sweet baby lips...

And look at all that strawberry blonde hair!

And those tiny, wrinkly feet. Do they get any cuter??

Don't let me fool you though, he has a stubborn streak. For example, have you ever heard of a newborn that does not like to be curled up in a ball...at all?? You try to curl him up (like most newborns absolutely love and prefer to be) and immediately out goes his little right leg and I get a pang of pain in my ribs knowing that little foot probably kicked the heck out of my little sister's ribs. Then out goes the left leg..all sprawled out just the way he likes it! I had all of these ideas for photos I wanted to take and he wouldn't cooperate at all. I'd curl him up in a little ball and position him and he would start grunting and then out would go the legs and then the arms. Jeesh. He's lucky he's cute.

See the resemblence??

2010-01-15T21:07:00.003-05:00

Our Christmas

2010-01-15T10:17:00.002-05:00

There were so many pictures from Christmas that I just couldn't pick a few so I did a slideshow of them all.

Christmas Eve we continued our tradition of going to Chops for dinner. When we reminded Isabelle where we were going to eat she said, "Oh Pap LOVES Chops!" LOL! Apparently he was really raving about it at Thanksgiving! She doesn't miss a beat, that's for sure! We had a great dinner and then headed home to unwrap our Christmas Eve jammies, sprinkle reindeer food on the front yard and get cookies ready for Santa. We also had to say goodbye to Chester our elf as he was going to be hitching a ride on Santa's sleigh back to the North Pole. Isabelle was completely taken in by the magic of Christmas. She was a little difficult to get settled down and into bed, but a reminder that Santa wouldn't come until we were all in bed settled her down pretty quick. ;o)

Isabelle woke up at her normal time between 7:30 and 8:00.. not sure when we will start getting woken up at the crack of dawn to open presents so we treasured still being able to "sleep in". Opening presents was so much fun...even Schuyler got into it! He was a natural at present opening! He loved getting some new boy toys but I think was a bigger fan of crinkling the wrapping paper. Isabelle opened each present and then took it out of the box and played with it for awhile before moving onto the next. She wouldn't even sneak a peek to see what a present was until all of the wrapping paper was off of the box. We would say to her, "ooooh what did you get?" and she would say, "I don't know.. we will have to see!". She just had a big ol' pile of gifts and when she was done playing with what she had opened then she would open another.

Isabelle must have been a very good girl because Santa brought her everything she asked for - the bitty twins, their stroller and the sweet lily castle. She had been such a good girl that Chester had suggested a gift for Isabelle for Santa to give her from him that he just knew she would love...and she sure did!

Christmas evening, Brad, Nicole, Adam, Mindy, Adan and Blair all came over. Isabelle was very excited to get to play with Adan on Christmas and show him all of her presents! And as always Sky was excited to get to see his buddy, Blair!

What happens when Jason and Isabelle are left alone for too long...

2010-01-05T21:51:00.001-05:00

Sky at 6 months on his 7 month birthday

2010-01-03T11:49:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Schuyler discovered he was the one in charge of moving his feet and toes. It was rather funny to watch. He bent over to eat his foot (naturally, because why not?) and it moved away from him.

He shot back up and just stared at his foot with his shocked look on his face. He sports this face a lot. I am not quite sure what that says about his personality yet. What I do know though is that I am really glad he isn't a female who will one day enter the world of eyebrow waxing and plucking only to end up with that shocked look plastered on his face forever. Whew..you dodged that bullet buddy!

Anyway, he just started at this foot that he has been chewing on for months now as if he was seeing it for the first time. Then he arched it back and seriously gasped when it moved. He just kept moving it back and forth, back and forth. All the while never taking his eyes off his foot (probably for fear that it was going to jump up and attack him..you really never know what those feet are going to do, you know.).

Then he started moving his toes. This was all just too much for him to handle (not to mention he had been sitting still for entirely too long) so he started doing the "Schuyler squeal" (which closely resembles that of the sound we imagine a pterodactyl would make) and resuming his normal, constantly squirming self while continuing to stare at these feet that he can now move.

Along with his newfound love for moving his tiny toes, he has also discovered the joy of tossing toys from the highchair and watching Mommy, Daddy and Izzy take turns picking them up.
The game's getting old Buddy, real old.

Still no teeth have broken through but that doesn't mean he is working on them. I was a little skeptical with how the teething experience was going to go because he seemed to be taking the same route as Isabelle (very whiney..not sleeping..just flat out AWFUL!!!) but a detour seems to have been made. At least for the time being. Boy are those gums swollen. I am wondering if we will have a gummy baby for much longer.
He sure is a happy little guy and boy oh boy does he love his sissy and Daddy! He goes nuts when Jason is in his line of sight and he will twist himself every which way when he hears his voice. It is so dear though. He loves when Isabelle sings and plays with him. She has been so great at including him in her little make believe world. I am sure that will all change when he develops an opinion or doesn't do exactly what she wants him to do or sit where she wants him to sit. But for now we are enjoying how they get along.

Sleep is going well too. Hallelujah! It's about time. We've had some rough goes with sleep for what feels like a really long time. Either he was up at night or she was up at night or one of them wouldn't nap well in the afternoon. It was a tired time in the Koons' house but Isabelle has been sleeping until 7:30-8:00 and so has Sky. He finally has his naps figured out as well. We turned the corner at around 6 months with some sleep normalcy and I hope we can continue forward without looking back. We'll see.. I shudder when I remember the run of sleepless nights we endured.

I don't remember his 6 month stats from his appointment...I would have to look at the paper and I am not sure where that is. I do remember he was still 25% for both height and weight and developing right in line with where he should be. We go back Weds for his second seasonal flu shot so I am going to have him weighed then. Hopefully I will remember that number. We'll see.

Will post pics from Christmas soon. I have to upload them all from the computer..maybe today.. we'll see.

The Queen of Questions

2010-01-03T11:10:00.002-05:00

Isabelle has always been a talker. She started talking early and she hasn't stopped since. She falls asleep talking...she wakes up talking. I have become one of those people that sometimes doesn't even hear my own kid talking. You know, the ones where you are in public and the kid is saying, "Mom....Mom...Mom...MOM" over and over and you just want to say, "OMG LADY ANSWER YOUR KID". Yep, that's me. I now understand those those people though. When you hear a sound 24/7 for 3 years sometimes it becomes white noise. Lately, I have had the inability to tune out this constant babbling. Most of the time it was her singing or talking with her dolls and didn't require me to constantly be listening. Now it is questions...a lot of them.. most of them I am not even sure what the answer is supposed to be.

Why is my doll going to bed?
Can I watch a movie?
Can I have a drink?
Why did Santa send an elf to our house?
Why do my pajama's have pockets?
When can I watch a movie?
Why is Schuyler sleeping?
Why does Schuyler look like a statue when he is sleeping?
Why are you standing up?
Why are there Little Ponies in with the Snap and Style dolls?
Why did Daddy let me watch Scooby Dooby Doo?
Why is it cold out?
Why did Grandma Sipe want me to wear a bib?
Can we go on vacation with Gammy and Papoo?
Can we talk about when I can watch a movie?
Did Aunt Courtney get a new house?
What is Emily's brother's name again?
Where is Aunt Jess's baby?
Where are we going?
Why are we getting dressed?
Why are you putting my clothes away?
What is this?
What is making that "squeak" sound?
Can you tell me about the doorknocker in the Christmas Carol again?
Can I play with Schuyler?
Can you ask Mel-Mel if we can have a playdate at her house with Jack?

*Beating head against wall* AHHHHHHHH!!! I could go on and on.. most of these questions were just asked within the past half hour. The more tired she is the more questions she starts asking. I should have asked for ear plugs for Christmas!!

I don't even like being asked or answering questions...too many questions gives me anxiety. It was one of the (many) things that drove me crazy in the working world..all of the questions that would be asked....most of them questions that didn't need to be asked...the worst kind in m book. The past 3 years have been nice being away from the constant asking of questions but now I like with the Queen of Questions. She is lucky she is cute.

First Snow

2009-12-28T08:47:00.002-05:00

The day everyone back East was getting pounded with snow we got some snow of our own.. maybe not 14 inches like they ended up with but enough for playing and snowman building!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T21:58:00.002-05:00

My 3 Favorite People

2009-12-23T21:40:00.003-05:00

Sure they are all in their pj's (I have no clue why Isabelle is wearing bottoms from one set and a top from another!), but I just love this photo. Its nothing special, but they had no clue I was taking it and for some reason it just speaks to me. It makes me feel happy. :)
And this goofball, I am convinced, is dead set on giving herself the most chapped lips ever. I have no clue why but winter arrived and she's always got that tongue of hers out licking her lips.

My favorite part of the day is going to check on the kids before going to bed. I especially love it now that Sky rolls to his side or belly. He just looks so cute all curled up sleeping there like a little person. Isabelle is always on her back totally sprawled out. Sometimes at the bottom of the bed, but always on her back, legs spread, arms by her side. That's how she slept as a baby too. She never rolled onto her belly to sleep and she didn't fancy sleeping on her side...on her back, sprawled out and at that time her arms were both up beside her head. I wonder if Sky will be a belly sleeper like his Mama or a side sleeper like his Daddy...or maybe he'll end up sprawled out back sleeper like his big sissy.

How we roll

2009-12-19T10:15:00.002-05:00

Last tractor ride of the season...not sure who was sadder about that, Isabelle or Jason! Yes, they are trying to run me over with the tractor...evidence in case something ever happens to me. ;o)

2009-12-19T09:53:00.003-05:00

During the remodel of the kids' bathroom, Schuyler's make-shift bathtub has become the kitchen sink. He has been loving getting baths in the sink and I like it too because it forces me stay on top of the dishes!

Jason is working on the bathroom this morning before he goes to help Adam and Mindy move into their new house. Of course it hasn't snowed yet this season and it snowed last night. Looks like its still coming down too. I am not sure how much we are supposed to end up with. I hope it stops for the move..then it can start back up again!

Tonight we have a sitter for Sky and we are taking Isabelle to the Holiday Pops concert. She and I went and saw the Nutcracker ballet a few weeks ago. She was in awe the entire time. I wasn't sure if she would get the story since there aren't any words but she caught everything. I was amazed and it was so fun to watch her be taken by the story. Everytime a song from the nutcracker is played on tv or the radio she will point it out. Since she has been so into the musical part we thought we would take her to the Holiday Pops concert tonight. I think she is most excited about dressing up. I thought she would be excited that it is just her, mommy and daddy but she keeps asking why Schuyler isn't coming along and worrying about if his feelings will be hurt. How sweet.

Since I have figured out that I can email pics from my phone...here is one of her at the Nutcracker. I think she will be wearing the same dress tonight. I had a different one planned but she informed me last night that this was the dress she wanted to wear.

Christmas Countdown

2009-12-17T21:51:00.003-05:00

Isabelle and Jason made a countdown to Christmas paper chain together. Every night when they do jammies and storytime they also tear off a link. One night they forgot and at about 10:30 we hear her screaming. She was crying because they had forgotten to do a link that night. Poor kid.. she definitely gets that honest from me. I generally wake up once a night in a panic remembering something I forgot to do the day before. The sad part is that I forget about it the next day and so he cycle of remembering in the middle of the night goes on for a few days. Its a sick, sick cycle.. I am starting to think I have actually developed ADD the past few years!

Honey Buns

2009-12-17T20:01:00.002-05:00

How Isabelle is happiest...

Why in the world can't I get this girl to keep her pants on!?! Thank goodness she does at school.. well at least so far!
Besides the cute little hiney you can also see the back of Isabelle's hair. She got her hair cut a few weeks ago and got quite a few inches cut off the back. She also got some layers and it frames her face really nicely. I was a little sad cutting so much off but it was just so long and got tangled so easily. We are both really loving it this length!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-10T20:45:00.000-05:00

Baking Pie with Mel-Mel

Pumpkin Martini's.. yum!

Jason mashing the potatoes in our super cool green plastic bowl.

Sweet potatoes... yum!

Mel cooking

Mushrooms and shallots sauteing for best green beans ever! Oh so good!

The result of a big delicious meal

Coloring with Mel-Mel

Sky's first Thanksgiving

October visit to PA

2009-12-02T15:47:00.003-05:00

In October, he kids and I loaded up the jeep and headed east for Jessie's baby shower and to visit family. Meanwhile Jason went to Vegas with Shawn to celebrate their 30th birthdays. The kids and I were there for a little over a week and it was a really great trip. Since we were there for longer then usual we had a chance to really get to visit with a lot of people that we don't usually get to see often. The kids did great for both car rides.. I actually think our 10 hour drive was more uneventful then Jason's drive to and from Indy. ;)

There are a ton of pics from the trip so I just put them all together on a slideshow for your viewing pleasure! :o)

2009-12-01T21:54:00.003-05:00

I had a new experience this month..well I guess last month since its now December. Mindy asked me to photograph her family. To say I was nervous was an understatement. It was my first experience with taking pictures of people other then my own kids and it really is a completely different experience. I was really honored that Mindy had enough faith in me...well I don't know if it was faith or the fact that I insisted on working for free. ;o) It was fun challenging myself to do something new. I really learned a lot about what areas I need to improve in and things I would do differently if I could do it over again. Anyway, I just wanted to share some of the moments I captured from that day. :o)

Cereal Time!

2009-12-01T21:31:00.004-05:00

We started Sky on cereal this week. I can't believe its time for starting food. Wow. That is just so crazy. Where has the time gone?? Anyway, he has been very into our food and watching us eat so it was like he knew just what to do. He took about 3 or 4 spoonfuls and then he was finished. He was also very interested in playing with the spoon. Tonight he ate his whole bowlful and wanted some more. Tonight was also his first time using a sippy cup and he did a great job. I was impressed how he seemed to know exactly what to do. I guess from watching his big sissy..hmm, wonder what other things he is learning by watching her? Yikes. ;o)

Tomorrow we have Schuyler's 6 month appt. It just doesn't seem possible! I can't believe he is 6 months already. Holy cow it has seriously flown by.

Back to Remodeling

2009-11-04T15:00:00.005-05:00

We started remodeling the kids' bathroom after we got back from vacation. This past weekend we installed the new tub! Our house now has one less colored toilet, bathtub and shell sink! LOL! Jason got to try his hand at plumbing and did an awesome job! There were definitely a lot of opportunities for leaks and he didn't have any! I must say I was impressed!

Before:

Vanity and tile removed

Bye-Bye popcorn ceiling!

Bye-Bye wallpapered shelves!

Jason modifying our pipes

LOL.. Getting ready to take apart the old tub. It was fiberglass so he had to protect himself so he didn't get the particles all over his skin.

Bye bye old and stinky toilet!

Last night we did the last test on the tub to make sure none of the pipes leak. I forget what step is next. I think maybe hanging the cement board and fixing all of the drywall we had to tear down. Oh yeah and we moved the exhaust fan so we have to finish that up. Jason has to work Saturday so hopefully we will have a chance to get some stuff done on Sunday.

2009-11-03T21:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight we were in the car heading home from the grocery store. Schuyler was crying and Isabelle asked if he was crying because he was hungry. I said no that he was probably crying because he wanted out of his carseat. She leans over and says, "Schuyler honey, we will be home soon and then Mommy will get you out of your carseat. I know you don't like your carseat but if we would have left it at Scott's then you wouldn't be safe and would have fallen and broke and we don't want you to break" Some of the things that this girl says! LOL!

First Day of School

2009-11-02T21:33:00.003-05:00

I don't think I ever posted the photos from Isabelle's first day of preschool. Yeah it was almost 2 months ago but she was just too darn cute to not share! :) School is going great for her. She absolutely loves it and looks forward to it every week. Last Tuesday was Daddy's Day so Jason got to go to school with her. Sounds like they really had a great time. Thursday is our first parent/teacher conference!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T21:00:00.005-05:00

We celebrated Halloween with a Sparkly Pink Fairy and a Dragon. Isabelle was so excited about her costume. She decided she wanted to be a sparkly pink fairy months ago..I think around her 3rd birthday. When she spotted the costume she gasped and declared that it was "the" costume and she just had to have it! I really wanted them to coordinate and tried long and hard to talk her into being Dorothy...we watched the movie and everything. She now loves the Wizard of Oz, but would only agree to be Dorothy in addition to being a sparkly pink fairy. Yeah, I definitely wasn't buying 2 costumes! Maybe next year! It was really challenging then coming up with a costume for Schuyler that went with Isabelle's. I was so excited when I saw the dragon costume and knew we had our theme..mythical creatures. LOL! Anyway, how stinkin' cute are they?

Isabelle was very excited to get to go trick-or-treating with Adan..errr...I mean Spiderman! The Dad's took the kids trick-or-treating while Mindy and I hung out with the babies in the nice warm house!
Of course Halloween would not be complete without a halloween outfit and matching skeleton pj's. Isabelle was a tad jealous that Sky's shirt glowed in the dark, but she got over it pretty quickly once she saw she got to wear a tutu.

Here's our big boy sitting up! Ugh he is growing up too fast...way too fast! :(
The pj's glow in the dark and our new excitement for a Friday night is to turn off all of the lights and have Isabelle dance around with her bones glowing. It is seriously hilarious and very entertaining!

Here's all of the photos from Halloween.. Isabelle is really getting into posing if you can't tell. LOL! I think it put some song at the bottom of the slideshow and I can't figure out how to get rid of it.

Rest of Vacation

2009-10-04T11:26:00.000-04:00

Monday we chanced the weather forecast and headed to the beach and I am so glad we did. The weather ended up being perfect! I think it started to rain just as we were leaving.

Jason and I got to have a date night that night. We went to Broadway at the Beach and ate and Landry's. It was really nice to get away just the 2 of us without the kids. It doesn't get to happen all that often so when it does we really enjoy it!

Our last day of vacation we went to Southport so we could eat at one of our favorite restaurants, "Fishy Fishy". It didn't disappoint! Love that place! Oh gosh though I totally forgot about the events before going to Southport! The night before Isabelle was torturing their cat, Gilbert, when he must have decided he'd had enough and bit her ear and the side of her head. The next morning her ear was really swollen and the bite just looked not good. We got to spend the morning in Urgent Care. I thought Jason was going to lose it because the front desk girls just did not care about doing their jobs and getting us in and out as quickly as possible. I experience the same emotions when having to go to a place like that as I do when we go to the BMV. Fun times all around! Dr Rocky perscribed Isabelle some antibiotics and off to Southport we went. We ate at Fishy Fishy and walked around town a little bit. Then we just headed back to the house to just relax and start packing.

2009-10-03T21:41:00.010-04:00

So those vacation pictures I've been promising..gosh I can't believe its already been a month. The day we left for vacation Schuyler turned 3 months...today he turned 4 months. Yikes. Time is just going too fast. Honestly, it freaks me out. Its just so crazy...too crazy. But anyway that's not the point. The point is to share our photos from vacation and so here we go...

We flew out of Indy September 3rd headed to Wilmington, NC. The kids both did awesome on the flights. Isabelle has always been an awesome traveler and Sky LOVES being held so of course he was awesome the entire trip. After we got to Grandma and Papoo's house we headed over to the beach because Isabelle was dying to see the ocean. We hung out there for a little bit then headed over to this pizza place for dinner. Oh the pizza there was so good. So good. We were all exhausted that night.

Isabelle loved playing with Grandma's sea shells. She loves the conch shell because you could hear the ocean in it. Her mind was just blown by this fact and she was constantly putting them all up to her ear to make sure she could hear it in there.

Grandma and Papoo had to work Friday so we packed up the car and the 4 of us headed over to the beach. Schuyler pretty much spent the whole day in the tent napping and Isabelle had a blast playing in the sand and swimming in the ocean.

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On Saturday we all got up and got ready to go to Brookgreen Gardens and then we were heading over to Freestyle Music Park..formerly Hard Rock Park. The gardens were really cool. Isabelle absolutely loved smelling all of the flowers and watching all of the butterflies. There is also a little zoo-like section of the gardens. We were all into it until we saw seriously the freakiest looking spiders (oh and not to mention HUGE!!!) and they were EVERYWHERE. Yeah, you be the judge.
I know you can't really tell the size but trust me they were huge. And they were everywhere. Ick. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. Yuck.

Afterwards we headed to Freestyle Park. Izzie was so excited about going to the music park! Daddy had a very proud moment too.. he got to ride Isabelle's first real roller coaster with her..Hang Ten He was beyond thrilled when we got home and he found the coaster on the roller coaster database website. OMG though it was so stinkin cute watching Isabelle on this ride. She was so excited and absolutely loved it. First she went with her Daddy and, oh my goodness, the look on her face when they were coming down the hill...pure joy. It was such a great feeling just watching her. Then she rode it with Papoo and she even put her arms in the air like a true enthusiast! I also got to ride it with her. It was seriously my favorite ride of the park..the whole experience is one of my favorite memories ever. Oh before I post the pics I should say that the reason everyone has their hand over her lap is because the bar didn't go the whole way down onto her lap and we were all a bit paranoid that she was going to go flying out. Haha!

It took us a while to convince her that there were other rides to ride and to get her to move on from the roller coaster. Well, the next ride was the train. Yeah, check out how thrilled she is to be on this ride. Oh this one just cracks me up!
The bouncing cars offered a little more excitement for her and our little daredevil was putting her arms in the air when the ride did the big bounce.

The whirlygig ride she was not very happy that she couldn't reach the pedals. Little miss independent!

Then, somehow, she and her Daddy ended up back on Hang Ten AGAIN and this time they were front row!

We ended up finally making it over to the "big kid" roller coaster after we grabbed some dinner. Isabelle was so upset that she wasn't tall enough to ride it. Daddy tried to get her mind off of it by getting her a butterfly wand that lit up....it also sings some song that we are pretty sure is in Japanese. It is seriously the most annoying song ever. The saddest part is that somehow she has it memorized!
We got home pretty late that night and spent Sunday just hanging around the house relaxing. I'm pretty sure we had shrimp burgers for dinner that night too. Yummy!!!

Well, the bed is calling my name so I need to get to sleep. I promise that it won't take me a month to share the rest of our pics. Hopefully I will get them up tomorrow while Jason is scraping the ceiling in the kids' bathroom.

2009-09-17T23:10:00.002-04:00

I have so much to write about and so many pictures to share but I am feeling like I have a bit of writer's block..maybe that is the wrong word..maybe it is just plain motivation that I am lacking right now. This week was pretty crazy. Isabelle started preschool and I got the bright idea that the same week would be a good time to start back doing scripts. HA! Not one of my finest ideas that's for sure! I will be happy when I have the extra money though but for now I am going to whine about it. :o) Some days were challenging to find the time when I was pregnant (ok, who am I kidding..some of those days just getting out of bed was a challenge! LOL!) so now with trying to figure out our new routine and coordinating naptimes so I can get the scripts done while they sleep...its just been a challenge...we'll figure it out but for now I am just exhausted.. not to mention I have been out of coffee and coke all week. Jason picked up Taco Bell one night on his way home and I asked him to order me a coke. I have never been so excited for a coke. Wouldn't you know they give me a stinkin' root beer. Gag. I wanted to cry.

Ok enough about that. Isabelle has really been getting good at drawing and has been drawing with sidewalk chalk a lot. Just wanted to share some of her recent work :o)

smiley face

a flower

a sad face

She was very proud of her work! She loves drawing and coloring and has really made a lot of progress with both things this summer. It's been fun to watch her grow in those areas. She's almost a better at coloring then I am...almost. ;o)

Tiny Dancer

2009-09-01T22:37:00.002-04:00

Isabelle had her first dance class on Monday afternoon. The class she is taking is a combination of ballet, tap and jazz. We were all super excited about dance although I am not sure who was the most excited me or Izzie! We had a lot of fun shopping for leotards! We could only find tights in size 4 so we have to get a pair of them in her size. The ones we got are huge.. as you can see. She got her ballet and tap shoes at the first class so we didn't have shoes yet when these were taken...goodness though are they so stinkin' dear!

We got to class and Isabelle went right in. I was so proud of her! She didn't even look back or anything. They have 2 areas that you can see into the room and it was so fun watching all of the little girls. So so cute! The only issue we had was that the shoe company gave us tan shoes and we have to have black ones so Isabelle didn't get to wear her tap shoes during class. She was bummed about that as she was really excited to make some noise with her feet. They'll be in by next class so that's good!

She doesn't have class next Monday due to labor day (and we'll be on vacation anyway) so next class is the Monday after that. (and the next day after that is the first day of preschool! yikes!)

2009-08-23T21:39:00.002-04:00

Last weekend we took Isabelle for her first haircut. A few weeks ago we tried and failed because we got there too close to naptime. She does not like people other then me messing with her hair so we weren't quite sure how it was going to go. At first I thought it was just going to be another lost cause and she was going to go the rest of her life and never have a haircut. Thank goodness we got a good lady who happened to have some princess spray that smelled good. Isabelle was very hesitent to trust this lady until the lady broke out the princess spray and sprayed some in her hand. She got a huge smile on her face when she smelled it. She still wanted to sit on my lap and wanted absolutely nothing to do with the black cape, but we were successful with getting a trim! I figure next time we will work on getting a style of some sort but for now I was just happy to get the dead ends cut off and have it closer to being one length!

Here is her before

During... the lady was telling Isabelle how Belle had just come in this week for a haircut and she had used the same princess spray on her too. Who knew Belle lived in Fort Wayne too!?!?!

After.. you can't really tell too much but she took about 2 inches off the back

2009-08-20T17:55:00.002-04:00

I'm having lots of fun taking video with my camera. Here's one of our little baby boy! He loves the bouncy seat just like Izzie did!

2009-08-19T16:23:00.004-04:00

I get my hair done Friday afternoon and I seriously can not wait! I haven't had it colored since before Schuyler was born which seems like yesterday but a quick glance in the mirror at my roots and I am reminded he is 11 weeks now. Wow..11 weeks...I think 2 completely different thoughts at the same time regarding that statement --- "Holy cow the past 11 weeks have flown by!" and "Really? That's it? 11 weeks? Feels like a lot longer!" Not quite sure how it is possible to feel both of those things at once, but yet I do. Maybe I am a confused individual. So, I haven't colored my hair in 11 weeks.. another thing I have failed to do is paint my toenails. I have gone the entire summer with the same polish on that I got 3 days before he was born...well some toes still have the color on. haha! Right now I feel like if you looked in the dictionary under "frumpy" my picture would be there...it really is quite frustrating and I am having a bit of an issue with it lately. But that is all about to change.. well I mean I guess I could still be rather frumpy with new hair, but hopefully not. Hopefully this will be the start of me rediscovering myself....hopefully I won't forget to start..or get sidetracked.. hmm.. thinking I might be a lost cause right now. Oh well, I am still going to try. I am marching in there Friday and just letting her do whatever she wants.. well within reason and of course I reserve the right to ultimately have the final decision. So I suppose we'll see what happens.

Right now our new heat pump and furnace is getting installed. Yeah so get this.. Monday afternoon our a/c decided to just stop working. So I guess the quick fix of 500.00 that we paid, oh, 2 weeks ago, was really just a quick fix! Thank goodness we went ahead and were proactive with just getting a whole new system. It would have been totally something we would have put off but thank goodness we didn't! Monday night was dreadful though... oh it was soooo hot! Tuesday morning they showed up at 9am to start the install. The house got insanely hot so we got our behinds out of there and went to play at It's Playtime. I was so thankful their air conditioning was working! We had to come home for naps though (nevermind the fact that no one ended up taking their nap) and boy was the house steamy! Jason had won tickets to a Tincaps game so then last night we went to that. We all totally thought since installation was a 2 day process that last night was going to be another hot night. The guys were still working when we left for the ballgame. Well, when we got home our house was nice and COLD..very cold actually! It was such a nice surprise! We all slept very well last night! Then this morning we were woken up at 8:45 by the HVAC guys coming to finish the install. Woops. Haha! The installation process is a very loud one though so today was another day of not good naps. Isabelle didn't sleep at all and Sky slept fitfully. I'm thinking early bedtimes tonight. ;o)

We were planning to go to the grocery store after naptime but now I just don't know. Can you believe this will only be the third grocery outing in 11 weeks!!?? Good gracious how awful is that!?!? Somehow we still have food and have managed to survive! I wish that means I have saved a lot of money but unfortunately we have been having too much takeout! That's all going to stop too. Along with unfrumpifying myself I am also taking back my kitchen. I even made a meal plan! I haven't cooked in...hmmm... yeah can't remember. Jason has been doing all of the cooking or it's been gross frozen dinners or dinners from a box or takeout...I am rather excited about cooking again and taking back my kitchen...ok I am lying I am not excited at all but I am trying to tell myself that in an effort to convince myself otherwise. Really I am just feeling guilty from getting the call from Jason every night asking if he should pick something up or the look when he asks what's for dinner and I try and muster up my most excited smile and say "tuna helper"! After 11 weeks of Tuna helper it's a little hard to get excited about it. I had an easier time making the list of meals we were not going to have next week then I did trying to remember what exactly I used to cook! ooops.

I just uploaded photos from my camera...I have lots of fun ones to share! I'll get busy on that!

Where did all of these bees come from?

2009-08-14T22:11:00.003-04:00

Watch out American Idol!

2009-08-14T17:52:00.006-04:00

2 month check-up and a sick mommy

2009-08-13T16:20:00.003-04:00

I think this one is going to be a little snuggler.. he loves being swaddled and sleeps best when he is smack up against something else (me usually!)...

and this one..well I think she is trouble! hee hee just kidding! She is a cutie though! (and also quite the cuddler ;o)

Today was Schuyler's 2 month check up. Yeah, so its like a week and 2 days late. It was originally supposed to be July 31st (HA! 4 days EARLY) but well it has become against my nature to do anything early or on time anymore so we had to reschedule it. Actually we had to make an impromptu trip to PA over that time but more on that another day.

The Doctor said our baby boy is doing awesome. He is now 10lbs 14 oz and 22 inches. He's in the 25th percentile for both height and weight and in the 10th for head size just like his big sissy was! Hey, this lady does not complain about babies with small heads ;o) the only problem is there are 0 hats out there to fit them. Isabelle can still wear 18-24 month hats! Schuyler did great during the physical exam. Izzie has always had a bit of dramatic flair to her and would scream through the entire thing. Sky was checking out the room and giving the Dr lots of smiles. He was scheduled to get quite a few vaccinations today. He was a big fan of the rotavirus vaccine that they give orally, but not so much about the shots. While Isabelle has always taken shots like a champ, Sky was still recovering from them when we got back to the car....it made me feel a little bad for Schuyler that he may have gotten his Daddy's pain tolerance and not his Mommy's. ;o)

I shouldn't poke fun though as my pain tolerance was put to the test the past two days. I was lucky enough to go to battle with Mastitis and a few times I wasn't quite sure I was going to come out victorious. Yeah, it was pretty awful and I have a pretty high tolerance for pain and sickness. I can remember the last time I felt like that.. I was a kid and had strep throat and spent the entire day at my Nana's..which is where I spent almost every sick day as a kid..I kid not, she is the best home nurse ever.. OJ with crushed ice and a bed made on the couch complete with a fitted sheet and anything else that was requested was given..it was the best place to be when sick and even now anytime I am sick I wish I could go back 20 years (oh good God now I sound old..20 years, seriously?? wow.) to the days of being pampered at Nana's house. I don't even like OJ..unless I am sick and it is chilled with crushed ice..oh that she crushed herself, mind you.. this was back before there were fancy refrigerators with ice crushers in them. Ok, yeah, now I really am sounding old and I am going off on a tangent. sorry. Anyway, I was so sick and had been fighting an awful fever all day. I had actually moved from the couch to the spare bedroom I was so sick. My mom came to pick me up and I couldn't even move to go home I was so sick. I don't have a ton of really clear childhood memories but for some reason that one is clear as day. Yeah so that is how sick I felt..oh and it came on like a ton of bricks. so awful. For those of you that don't know what in the world Mastitis is, well it is an infected milk duct...just sounds painful, right? Looking back I now know that I had a clogged duct... but thanks to my high pain tolerance I didn't listen to my body and address the tenderness I felt or the extreme exhaustion of my body telling me to just SLOW DOWN for a minute..nope I just kept right on chugging along...till I got stopped dead in my tracks at about 2:30 PM on Tuesday afternoon. I started to just get a wave come over me and the HVAC guy wouldn't stop calling me to close the deal (I hate sales people..oh wait I am married to one I guess I'm not allowed to say that, huh? ;o) ) so I get the kids' down for naps and I make myself some lunch. I thought maybe I was just feeling sick since I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. I start feeling the chills and the tenderness feeling that I was feeling all of a sudden becomes a little more painful. Yeah this is the first time I thought, "oh gosh, maybe I have a clogged milk duct" DUH JEN! So I google it and see the symptoms...tenderness-check... flu-like feeling-check... fever-not that I know of yet, but starting to feel a little feverish..heaven forbid I actually take my temperature though.. :rollseyes: Quick call or maybe it was a text to my friend that I remember mentioning that she had a clogged duct when she was nursing and she recommends I call my Dr because it can go from bad to worse if its infected. Well in about 5 minutes I went from bad to worse.. I finally took my fever and it was 101...then it was 102.3...then after that it was 103.1. I called the Dr after I confirmed the fever of 101 and she gave me my directions..bed rest, lots of fluids and nursing and antibiotics. I was useless the rest of the day. I actually had to call Jason and he came home to take care of the kids the rest of the day. I forgot what the flu and a fever feels like and add a migraine on top of it. I was totally out of it all day yesterday as well. Yesterday is when the nursing pains set in.. good God I just sat and cried during feedings. Thank goodness it has only been one side.

Today I am feeling much better...still feeling warn down and tired but not nearly as weak and fluey as I was. Nursing isn't as bad either. Holy crap though I was quite a ride. I don't think Jason's ever seen me quite that sick and dependent before. I think it took him a little while before he realized I really was not capable of anything. He said that between the post-pardem hemorrhaging and now this he thinks he might be done with babies.

2009-08-07T21:06:00.003-04:00

1. Tomorrow will be Jason's first day alone with 2 kids..I think I am more excited about that than I am the fact that it means I will be having a day away if you can believe that! It is kind of cute that he seems a little nervous. I know everything will go fine but regardless I know I will come home to many stories... although I am most excited to hear Isabelle's version of the stories!

2. This poor little guy... he loves his big sister so much that he has no idea that she has stuck a huge Tinker Bell sticker to his chest and stuck Sleeping Beauty next to him. He really does love her.. it is so wonderful to see.. probably one of my favorite things in the world right now. Tonight they had their first bath together. She was talking to him while I was getting his bath ready and anytime she would walk away or turn away he would frantically start looking for her and crying. Then she would come back and he would start smiling and giggling at her. She was thoroughly enjoying the fact that he would cry when she would walk away and then smile when she came back! Isabelle was tickled when I asked if she wanted to get in the bath with him. She made sure he had plenty of bubbles in his bath and helped me rinse him with water.

3. I am sure you are all sitting on the edge of your seats wondering where exactly I am going tomorrow for my day away. I aim to please so I will answer the big question now... get ready for it...its pretty exciting... Mindy is having a girls' day at the lake! Hopefully the weather will be nice but I think I'll be ok even if its not though! It should be a lot of fun... I am excited to get away for a little bit!

How sweet is that? I mean good gracious..I just love it. This picture makes my heart feel all warm and fuzzy. I wish it was more in focus but-oh-I just love those 2 little hands...they are just so perfect! Love Love Love!

2009-08-07T16:02:00.011-04:00

Whew! Wow it has been chaotic here! I feel like I haven't had a chance to breathe since the beginning part of July..and now its August..still no time to breathe! haha!

So..gosh..what has been going on.. well, let's see..in July Grandma and Grandpa Sipe came to visit and got to meet Schuyler! We had a great time! Friday they took Isabelle to the park so Mommy and Daddy could have some alone time at the eye doctor's.... oh la la! hee hee! Isabelle had a great time at the park..much more fun then she would have had at the eye dr's with us that's for sure.

On Saturday we all went downtown for the Three River's Festival. They have a section with rides and yummy fair food so that's where we went. Isabelle fell asleep on the way there so she took a little bit to warm up to the rides. Once she did though she really loved them! I was surprised at just how many rides they had for the little kids.

Then, Daddy got to have a very proud moment...Isabelle didn't just ride her first roller coaster.. no, she absolutely LOVED it and she put her arms in the air! It made him very excited for the future!!

Jason and his mom also got to have a little fun!!!! This thing looked like quite a ride! I am glad my feet remained on the ground. I got some pics but Ron managed to capture the best moment on his video camera which was Sue trying to climb into the seat because it was so far off of the ground..I hate to laugh but it really was funny. I think I remember that Jason had to lift her out of the seat at the end. Oh I wish we had a copy of that video ;o)

We really had a good weekend and Isabelle really enjoyed getting to spend some time with her Grandma and Grandpa Sipe!

My Sweet Peas

2009-07-22T21:49:00.005-04:00

I absolutely love these shirts and I was so excited for Schuyler to grow into his so I could take some photos of them. Isabelle started off not very excited about cooperating, but I bribed her with 6 smarties. Hee hee! Although I think I am smart, but she's the one then that got 6 smarties to eat at 9:00 in the morning....

6 weeks old

2009-07-22T21:30:00.003-04:00

I know he is now 7 weeks but goodness the weeks really get away from me now!! He's really starting to be awake for longer stretches at a time and is becoming more interactive which I love. He couldn't go in childwatch at the Y until he was 6 weeks so today was his first time there. I was so nervous...I am not even sure why. Isabelle has been going there since she was 6 weeks and she was born the same time of year so I don't know what my deal was. haha! I told her she needed to keep an eye on him...that seemed to make her feel important and made me feel a little more at ease for whatever reason! He did really well and he wasn't crying when I went back in to pick them up. I think he missed me though because when he saw me he started smiling and cooing and his little arms and legs started going every which way. It was so cute and my heart just melted.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Sky is now in his own crib in his own room. I don't know why but I was a bit sad (ok a lot sad) when we made the change. It made it a bit easier that I had moved him to the other side of our room for like a week or 2 before moving him to his own bed. He had been right beside my side of the bed but his nighttime noises started getting increasingly louder and louder and so I was getting less and less sleep. He actually sleeps really well in his crib...not gonna lie I was quite impressed by that. Jason is really glad he's in his crib now.. he doesn't hear him at all..must be nice. ;o)

Anyway, here are some photos I took of him at 6 weeks old

2009-07-22T15:01:00.002-04:00

Boy does this little guy love sleeping on our bed! This is during day..he fell asleep while I was in the bathroom getting ready. But just a little side note about him loving our bed..we just started putting him in his crib at night and every morning after he eats (this is like at 5:30/6:30AM) I will put him back in his crib and he will just whine and grunt and make a whole slew of sounds. Well one morning he woke Isabelle up and that is like waking a sleeping dragon..you just don't want to do that. So now I am paranoid he is going to wake her up so I will grab him before he gets too loud and just stick him in bed with me. I think that I am being played again though because I find it a little odd that once he is in our bed there is no whining, crying or grunting and he instantly falls into a deep sleep. ;o) Oh well..I get sleep, he gets sleep and Isabelle gets sleep so for now I am just going with it!

So sorry for the icky picture quality and orange glow... He was rootching around (and out comes the Pennsylvania Dutch..haha!) so I just grabbed my camera and didn't change any settings. In these situations I need to grab my point and shoot and just keep it set on Auto! Maybe one of these days I will learn!

2009-07-22T14:39:00.003-04:00

I absolutely love that my little girly girl loves to put on her tool belt
(or in this case tool apron ;o) ) and hammer some stuff!

2009-07-14T21:49:00.002-04:00

I had these photos on the desktop to share for like 2 weeks so he already looks totally different. I just can't keep up! haha!
Sky is doing well....growing like a weed! I am not sure if I shared this last week or not..if I did please forgive me for repeating myself. Last week I went to the nursing mother's meeting at the hospital so I could weigh Schuyler. Since he's our 2nd child, he doesn't have a well baby visit until 2 months...I guess they think we are now capable or something. Well I was nervous that he wasn't gaining enough weight and I didn't want to wait until he was 2 months to find it out. So we went to the meeting to weigh him. Well he was 6lbs 6 oz at birth and last Tuesday he weighed 8 lbs 14 oz. He had a full diaper so I am sure its more like 8lbs 10oz. I called the Dr's office to make sure that was a good amount for him to gain his first month and they said it was great. So yay! Isabelle has always been a lot like me in that she doesn't really care much about food and eating so her eating has always been a source of stress. Thank goodness Sky likes his food! LOL! It has been so nice not having to watch the clock and set alarms to make sure he is eating often enough....the boy sure lets me know when he is hungry and it is awesome!
He's also smiling all of the time now.. its the sweetest smile. You just pick him up and he gives you the biggest smile. I just love it.
He always has that little forehead wrinkled...its so cute..
He sleeps really well too. He usually goes about 5 hours his first stretch..so from 10 to 3.. and then 3 hours his second stretch ( 3-6) and then 2 hours his third stretch (6-8). He's a great napper too!
And then there's Kashmir. She is so protective of him just like she was of Isabelle. She likes to be right where he is, but she knows she needs to stay back if we have him on the floor. She also knows she isn't allowed to lick him.. that is really hard for her to restrain herself from doing! Kashmir is definitely a licker!

Ok well gotta go feed Sky and then its off to bed for us!

Love these 2 little people :o)

2009-07-14T21:45:00.000-04:00

2009-07-14T21:27:00.002-04:00

I think the weather has been awesome this summer...well, when it hasn't been raining and cold.. but other then the raining and cool weather it's been perfect..in my opinion at least. I guess the good part about having some cool and rainy days is that when it is nice out we want to be outside all day! I guess I really don't have much to say considering I just wrote multiple sentences about the weather. I must be getting old ;o)

Anyway, not quite sure where I was planning to go with all of that but the end result was here are some recent pictures of Isabelle. I still need to do her 3 year pictures. Every night I say that the next morning we will go outside to take advantage of the early morning light and get them done...but then the next morning gets here and staying in our pj's a little longer sounds more appealing. One day though..I promise.

One bonus to the cooler weather is that we are getting much use out of our zoo pass this summer so far! Usually we are there a lot April to June but then it gets mega hot and we don't go very much in July and August. So far this July though we have been there many times and have already paid for our membership in trips. My favorite part about having a membership is that we will usually just do the farm (Isabelle's favorite part), then one other section and end up at the frog pond because what fun is it to leave the zoo when you are 3 if you aren't soaking wet? Here are some photos from our recent trips to the zoo.

2009-07-14T21:01:00.005-04:00

This past Saturday Adam and Mindy invited us up to their lake cottage. It was such a perfect day and so nice to get away for a day! Early in the morning we had thunderstorms and then just as Sandy Thompson predicted the skies cleared and it was gorgeous. Tom and Eva came up too so Isabelle, Adan and Daisy all had a blast playing together all day.

I added all of the photos to the summer folder on the photo gallery website but here are some of my favorites!

The kiddos

Sky missed most of the lake since he spent the better part of the day sleeping as always! ;o)

But he was up a little bit to hang out with his future BFF, Blair!

I've been waiting for this moment...

2009-07-14T20:56:00.002-04:00

for about 5 weeks!

Shirley - after I talked to you on the phone the other day and said Isabelle hadn't done this yet she did it! LOL!

Isabelle feeding her baby..I'll for sure be putting this one in her baby book! hee hee!

What a goof!

2009-07-08T15:19:00.000-04:00

2009-07-08T15:01:00.004-04:00

Schuyler's umbilical cord took three weeks to fall off so we had quite a run of sponge baths! I thought I was going to be applying alcohol to his belly button forever! So I was very excited when it finally fell off and we got to give him a real bath! He was really not a fan of sponge baths and quite honestly I can't blame him. He likes his real baths until it is time to wash his head...then he's not a fan of them anymore! So obviously that part is saved until the end! Here are some pics of Sky's first real bath. Of course big sister Isabelle had to be in one too! ;o)

And here are 2 of Isabelle outside riding her tricycle.

2009-07-06T22:42:00.004-04:00

The kids on Father's Day...I have one of Jason with them but the white balance is all funky so I have to edit it in photoshop and I don't have time to do that right now... maybe one day. haha!

Silly Little Girl

2009-07-06T15:38:00.006-04:00

So I think I am safe to say now that I think our sweet little Isabelle has returned (once again) to us....THANK HEAVENS!! Wow, it was quite a ride dealing with her alter-ego (Claire as I call her.. hee hee!)!
I wasn't sure if it was another adjustment period or if this was just going to be the hand we were dealt for the 3's...I was really hoping it was just her adjusting. It was pretty much the same stuff we went through the first few days home from the hospital...she was just flat out mean..never to Schuyler though thankfully.
Then she went back to normal and all was good.....and then Claire came back again once Sky hit 3 weeks. I guess that was when he woke up a little more and found his voice so he required a little more attention. Oh, and he hit the 3 week growth spurt so he was eating all of the time. seriously. no exaggeration. all of the time. So I guess (hope) it was a mix of that and the weather had been so nice that we had been going outside after dinner to play or swim or whatever so she was getting to bed later..and well, heaven forbid she actually sleep in to account for staying up. Nope..she just isn't wired that way I guess!
She's been back now for a week. At first I was fearful every morning as to "who" was going to be crawling in bed with me in the morning, but now I am back to looking forward to my smiley, giggly cuddle bug busting through the bedroom door for some snuggle time! I guess its about time for her to throw us for another loop, huh? Hope not.
The backpack that she has on here was made for her by Great Grandma Humer. This girl is all about bags and things that have her name on it (as he bag does) so it was quite a hit. It now goes with us everywhere..which is great because she keeps some toys in it so I don't have to dig through my bag to find them now when at restaurants or in the grocery store or wherever we are that Isabelle needs a little distracting!
I swear I had this exact same outfit when I was 3. At first I was like there is no way I am buying her a romper. Then they started looking cuter and so I thought I would just get it and try it on her and if I hated it (like I expected to) then we would just return it. Well, it was just the cutest thing so of course instead of returning it I had to go get a couple more. True Jen style! hee hee! ;o)
And those bubble wands are seriously awesome. I think this one came from Aunt Jess. Anyway, you should see some of the bubbles that come out of this thing. Its pretty impressive. I'll admit I had my doubts at its true awesomeness, but it really is pretty cool and very entertaining.
Graham crackers..Isabelle's new favorite snack. I think she would eat a whole box in one sitting if I let her.. that's actually saying a lot considering this girl really doesn't eat very much!
I have no clue what she's doing on the trampoline.. looks like some sort of trampoline dancing.. who knows.. maybe it will be the next big thing and she will become famous.
I don't know the specifics of trampoline dancing, but I gotta say I am pretty impressed. LOL! Speaking of dancing, we are signing Izzie up for dance lessons starting this fall. She loooovveess to dance so she is so excited. She asks all of the time when dance will start. Guess I need to get on the ball with figuring out where she is going to go so we don't miss sign ups!
Let me just say what a big helper this little girl is! She helps so much with helping us to take care of Schuyler. If he spits up she will go get a burp rag and clean it up... when he cries she likes to announce why he is crying..the crazy part is that she is usually right. I guess its not that hard when he pretty much only cries when he is hungry or tired, but whatever its still impressive! She loves picking out what he is going to wear and I'll admit that I am really not all that excited about that. I'm not allowed to really pick out her clothes anymore so I was excited to get to dress a kid again...nope...apparently not. Gosh she is so bossy and opinionated. If I come down with an outfit for him and its not what she would have picked she'll say, "Mommy, Schuyler does not want to wear that outfit". I told her that when Schuyler can talk then he is allowed to have an opinion, but until then he gets to have my opinion.
Oooh and she's really started helping out around the house. She is now in charge of putting away the utensils and cooking spoons and spatulas and stuff after I put away any sharp things. She also helps with the laundry by sorting the socks. Now if only I could get her to pick up her toys regularly...

Well the little one has woken up and *SURPRISE* he needs to eat and typing with one hand is not too fun. Cross your fingers that Claire doesn't return any time soon! ;o)

Baby Love

2009-07-01T21:31:00.004-04:00

I took these like 3 weeks ago when Sky was only a week old, but I wanted to play around with them in photoshop. In my former life I did that in the evening after Isabelle went to bed, but with her current bedtime of 9:30 and mine of 10:00 that really isn't happening!

2009-06-23T17:49:00.005-04:00

I can't believe Schuyler is 3 weeks! Wow, it has really flown by! I think just realizing it has been 3 weeks makes me feel insanely exhausted. Its a lot easier to take the sleep deprivation day by day then to realize its been 3 weeks of it so far. I really need to make it a goal to figure out how to get more sleep...maybe I should put that on my to-do list!
We call this little Sky's pensive look... I think he's going to be a thinker..he always has a finger on his head (I've even caught that finger being his middle finger! *GASP* Shame, Shame! LOL!) and he always looks to be really examining things and taking them in when he looks at them. Its so cute..I think he is wise beyond his years..or weeks I guess, huh?
See there he goes with that finger again! Anyway, other things that need to go on my to-do list... remembering to think about dinner. It always seems to creep up on me like it isn't something that happens everyday. Actually just remembering to eat in general should probably go on there too! Haha! For example, yesterday I just remembered at dinner time that I forgot to eat lunch. Woops. It really saddens me that my appetite seemed to stay at the hospital and not come home with me. I mean I am breastfeeding so that is a pretty good excuse to continue with pregnancy eating and yet I am not hungry. Very frustrating. Oh, another thing to add is finding time to shower. Yesterday I actually completely forgot to shower (grosse, I know) but it was just so chaotic that I didn't even have 10 minutes to remember! Don't worry, I did at least brush my teeth and first thing this morning I showered so don't fret, I am clean now. ;o)
I can really tell that he is growing. Isabelle is still attached at the hip to me but I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. I took her into the child watch at the Y for the first time since Sky was born so I could workout and it was like she had never been there before..now mind you the girl has been going to childwatch since she was 6 weeks old! Thank goodness the one lady that Isabelle adores was there and so she came over and got her to finally go in with her. We were meeting Adan and Bobby to play at the play area. I got done my workout early and Schuyler was sleeping so I just went and sat on a chair and enjoyed some alone time. It was grand. I am thinking we will be jumping back into our Y routine rather quickly now!
Oh boy does he love his fingers! And boy does he absolutely hate having his arms swaddled down. The thing about that really stinks about that is he gets startled by anything and everything.. simply falling asleep is enough to send his arms flying into the air. But we try and swaddle his arms down so he doesn't startle himself awake and it just really makes him mad. So he goes through this cycle of fall asleep and startle awake and I just feel so bad for him. Like seriously dude, the 1 thing that you hate is the thing that will save you! haha! Mindy is lending us this special swaddling blanket so we'll try that out tonight..we'll see.
Oh gosh and those yummy baby toes and feet! Love them! He loves when Izzie does "this little piggy on them". But I mean he loves anything that she does!
LOL..this just cracks me up that they both have the same expression on their faces.
Oooh fingers!! yum, yum, yum, yum! This is what he does when he is ready to eat..so yes, mean mommy taking pictures of my child signaling that he is ready to eat instead of feeding him! ;o) But I just love how he wrinkles his little forhead all up
I think this is one of my favorite pictures ever...I know many of you don't know this and probably would be happy to never know this but I have a slight butt obsession so I am sure Jason would say that is why I love it. But seriously that little squishy diapered hiney is just begging for some free spanks. hee hee!
He loves him some tummy time!! There he goes with wrinkling his forehead again..I think he is going to have worry lines before he's 1!
Sorry for just blabbering on but I am trying to avoid laying down and passing out because little baby Sky is going to be waking up and starting to gnawl on that fist of his any moment now. I am aware I said absolutely nothing of substance here, but at least there were some photos to look at, right? Ooh one of my favorite people just stopped by..the UPS man! Wooo hooo!! I'll tell you I like him much better then the Fed Ex guy and here's why. Our UPS man knows that it is naptime during the time he delivers here so he taps 3 times on the glass window beside the door and then props the package up so it can be seen from inside whereas the Fed Ex guy sits it at the garage.. like seriously? That is so not fun. Anyway, off to see what's arrived! :o)

Poor guy

2009-06-23T17:26:00.002-04:00

has no clue what he's in for. Just a mere 3 weeks ago he was living the cozy life up in the womb and now he's being forced to play with mermaid finger puppets! Maybe we should book our Dr Phil appointment now! ;o)

First Campfire of the Summer!

2009-06-16T10:17:00.001-04:00

Saturday night we made a fire in the fire pit, roasted marshmallows and ate s'mores! Isabelle was so excited for it! Since she doesn't like chocolate her s'mores consisted of graham cracker and marshmallow. I think she only ate 1 s'more and then moved onto just eating marshmallows out of the bag.

We're in love...

2009-06-15T14:38:00.002-04:00

This little guy has captured all of our hearts...

2009-06-15T14:24:00.005-04:00

Schuyler got to meet his Pappy and Aunt Jess this weekend when they came to pick up Gammy! He was quite enamored with his Pappy!

2009-06-14T13:16:00.006-04:00

First time alone with two kiddos! Well, they were both only awake for about 5 mins before Isabelle went to bed for her nap. hee hee! My family left this morning..boooo! :o( Isabelle was really upset, but we are going to go to the splash park after naptime so I think that will help!

Schuyler had his 1 week check-up on Tuesday. They were very pleased that he was already back to his birth weight! He is 25th percentile for height and I think it was 15th for weight. And just like his sissy his head is in the 10th percentile. You won't see me complaining about that though! Since we are 2nd time parents and I guess expected to not be so neurotic we don't have to go back until he is 2 months old. I guess we have proved ourselves trustworthy! LOL!

Isabelle is doing wonderful as a big sister! The first few days home....like Saturday until Tuesday we had her alter-ego living with us who I affectionately call "Claire". Claire normally makes appearances every once in a while...generally when Isabelle isn't getting enough sleep or having a bad day but for those days we didn't really see too much of Isabelle..it was mostly all Claire. And boy was it exhausting! She and I had a talk about how we are both big sisters and I became a big sister when I was her age so I know how hard of a job it is and how she is feeling and all of that good stuff. Isabelle has always responded well to empathy so thank goodness the talk seemed to work and our sweet Isabelle came back to us! I'm sure we aren't out of the woods as far as adjusting goes but it is good now so we are just enjoying our time of calm!

She is very helpful and loves performing her big sister duties. Every morning after they eat breakfast she will ask for him to lay on the couch with her and watch cartoons and he ends up falling asleep. It really is so precious and just makes my heart warm and fuzzy.

I had to go and get blood taken on Monday to test my hemoglobin level to see if I needed to take iron to get my blood supply back up. I never got a call from the Dr's office so I am assuming everything looks good. They said I would probably feel pretty crappy for awhile from the loss of blood, but I am feeling pretty good so maybe it replenished itself rather rapidly or something. Who knows, but on to a different subject because just talking about blood makes me a little queasy...

Today is our 6 year anniversary! We went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Chops, on Thursday night to celebrate while Schuyler and Isabelle stayed home and hung out with Gammy. It was nice to get out alone with Jason and have a glass of wine and some normal conversation without constant interruptions for a little chatterbox 3 year old! ;o)

On Wednesday night Schuyler stayed home with Gammy while me and Jason took Isabelle to Chuck E Cheese. She was really excited about getting some one-on-one time with Mommy and Daddy and we all had so much fun. Originally we had planned that it would just be a Daddy and Isabelle event but when it was mentioned again Isabelle asked me if I could go so we decided it probably wasn't a bad idea for the 3 of us to get out alone.

Jason took off of work Monday and Tuesday so Wednesday will be my first day "back to work". I am sure we won't even make it out of our pj's between me trying to keep both of their belly's full, taking Isabelle potty and changing Schuyler's diaper! LOL! I definitely hope Jason doesn't expect dinner to be on the table when he gets home from work that night! Haha!

Well I think that is everything that I needed to update everyone on although I am sure I will think of something else! Both kids are asleep and Jason is at Menards so I think I am just going to sit on the couch and enjoy the silence! :o)

2009-06-13T11:39:00.003-04:00

We have 2 ponds in our neighborhood that are stocked with fish. A pasttime of Isabelle and Gammy's has been to take bread down and feed the fish (on the rare days that it hasn't been raining!). Isabelle has loved doing this so I am sure we will be taking many walks to the pond to feed the fish this summer! Mommy and Schuyler were lucky enough to get to go along on this time so of course Mommy had to snap some pictures!

Afterwards we came back home and Isabelle played outside with bubbles and her trampoline.

Fun time ended with a fit from our little drama queen. ;o)

2009-06-13T11:31:00.002-04:00

Isabelle got a new pool from Grandpa and Grandma Sipe for her birthday and was very excited to try it out. Its been so cool and rainy lately that we have only had one day so far that we've been able to get it out. Hopefully summer weather will get here soon!!

2009-06-13T11:14:00.002-04:00

We took Isabelle on her first mini-golf (or putt-putt as it is called here) outing a few weeks ago. The mini-golf courses here are nothing like the ones at the beach or in PA..they are pretty lame, but it was still fun. They put a bunch of bricks on the course and call that an obstacle.. no moving windmills or pirate ships! LOL!

Isabelle had her own style of hitting the ball and she actually did really well.

Of course she had to take time to stop and smell the flowers!

We were really impressed with her putting skills.. she was good at getting it in the hole from a pretty good distance away! Look out Annika Sorenstam!

The sign of a fun day out! :o)

Isabelle's Birthday Party

2009-06-13T10:37:00.006-04:00

On Saturday, May 31st we had a birthday party for Isabelle. We did a princesses and princes theme (the theme is a big surprise, huh?). She was so excited to get to celebrate her birthday with all of her friends. One of the things I love most about this age is that she was excited for all of her friends to come over and play with her and eat cake for her birthday and she didn't realize there would be presents involved....naturally once the presents started arriving she was quite excited about getting to open them!
Isabelle did her guest list all by herself and she was so excited that everyone she invited was able to come to celebrate with us. She also helped with the invitations that I thought turned out really cute. I would upload the picture of them but my computer is currently broken and that's where the file is. Anyway, in attendance to her royal celebration was Prince Adan, Princess Daisy, Prince Preston, Prince Bobby, and Princess Meredith...of course their kings and queens were invited too! ;o) She also got to celebrate with Brad and Nicole, Gammy and Pappy, and Karen!
We had the girls decorate tiara's and magic wands and the boys decorated crowns and shields. Of course the kids wouldn't all wear their crowns and tiaras at the same time...who do these kids think they are having an opinion!?!? hee hee! ;o)
We also had a pinata for the kids. Thanks to Heidi we learned that they were supposed to pull the strings from the bottom of it to release the candy. We still let them smack the thing around with a stick first...surprisingly no kids were injured! Whew! Another amazing thing about this age is there was still candy left from the pinata on the grass after the kids all took what they wanted. I think everyone was pretty shocked about that one! LOL!
Then it was cake time! Isabelle had picked out the cake that she wanted from Scott's all by herself. Thank goodness she stuck with the theme and went with a princess cake! She was very excited about cake time...even though she won't eat the cake..just the icing!
Finally it was present time! She let each of her friends help her open her presents...I was so proud of her. She deemed Adan her card opener and he was in charge of opening all of the cards for her. She would wait for him to open the card, then I would read it and then she would open the present. Her friends know her well and they all got perfect presents for her. She loved everything!
She is still talking about all of the fun she had with her friends at her birthday party. I knew it was risky having it so close to my due date but I am so glad everything worked out and Jason and I were able to be there too!

Click here to see all the pics from the party

Isabelle Turns 3!

2009-06-10T16:04:00.005-04:00

There's so much I need to update about from before Schuyler was even born! I still can't believe it's already been a week that he's been with us! Feels like it has been so much longer and not that long all at once! I'm already forgetting what life was like with just one kid.. how did I ever think I was busy!?!? LOL!

So...gosh...where to begin!? Well, we will start with the most exciting news...Isabelle turned 3!
Her birthday was on Wednesday, May 27th. She started the day off by getting to pick one present to open and she chose the gift from her cousins, Emily and Owen. It was the playdoh ice cream maker and it was quite a hit. Isabelle would make pretend ice cream cones out of pretty much everything so she was very excited about that!

I had asked her if she wanted me to get her a birthday shirt or if she wanted to wear a dress and of course she chose picking out a dress. We got her a button and tiara so everyone would know she was the birthday girl. For her birthday during the day she said she wanted to go to It's Playtime with Adan. We picked up some special birthday cookies at Scott's for the kids (and me and Mindy of course!) to enjoy.

Daddy left work a little early to meet us at Isabelle's birthday dinner choice...Chick Fil A. Now that might seem like a normal 3 year old choice (Jason was rather disappointed that she didn't say Chuck E Cheese!) except that Isabelle doesn't like fried food so she doesn't even eat there. I get the one salad and so she will pick out the cheese, carrots and anything else that looks appealing to her. Oh and of course croutons! She loves the play area though and that kids get free ice cream. It happened to be kid's night so there were lots of kids for her to play with in the play area.

After dinner we headed back home for presents. She was so funny with opening them. She wouldn't look to see what the present was until ever last piece of tape and paper was off of it. It was so cute. Jason and I would keep asking her what it was and she would say "I don't know. We'll have to see!" There was lots of princess themed presents so of course Isabelle was a happy girl!

Isabelle had a great third birthday. She had me sing "Happy Birthday" to her probably 20 times. She would say, "Mommy you sing Happy Birthday to me please". When we put her to bed for the night she asked if her birthday was over and if she could have another one again soon. It really was a fun day with her being at a age where she enjoyed every little aspect of her birthday so much. Two was a really fun year with her personality and sense of humor really coming out... I am hopeful that three will be even more fun!

click here to see pictures from her birthday

Welcome Schuyler James Koons

2009-06-08T18:17:00.003-04:00

Schuyler James was born on June 3rd at 5:55 PM. He was 6lbs 6oz and 19 1/2 inches long. Isabelle is a very proud big sister. She loves giving him lots of hugs and kisses and is very helpful!

I'll write more when I can type with both hands. Check out some pics of our little guy here.

2009-05-29T14:22:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to take a break from getting ready for Isabelle's party and post a quick little update. I had my 39 week appointment yesterday and it was a lot like my 39 week appointment when I was pregnant with Isabelle. Basically my body just LOVES being pregnant and my kids like hanging out in my uterus. LOL! I know you are all dying to know the status of my cervix so I won't keep you in suspense anymore! My OB said that she thinks my cervix was meant to carry twins...awesome if I was carrying twins not so exciting considering 1. I am not and 2. I have a baby that is supposed to be born in a week. LOL! So there's not much progress being made. There wasn't with Isabelle either so I really wasn't surprised. I think she expected me to be shocked about it, but I wasn't! HAHA!

I go back to the Dr's on Tuesday to see how things are moving along and she scheduled an induction for Wednesday at 6AM! I am relieved that I am not on the verge of going naturally because I really want to be here tomorrow for Isabelle's party and I have a pedicure scheduled for Monday morning. Hee hee!

I realized that I hadn't taken a belly pic in a few weeks so I took one this morning before we left for the gym. I'll try and import it and post it...its not pretty though! Consider yourself warned! ;o) Ok, gotta get back to my laundry list of things that need to get done. Ooh and I just remembered we got some oreos at the store...definitely going to have one of them!

Happy 3rd Birthday Isabelle!!

2009-05-27T14:44:00.005-04:00

Wow...3 years old...that is just so crazy...or 3 days old as you say!

I can't believe the fragile little baby that was placed in my arms 3 years ago is the same sweet and charismatic little girl that wakes me up every morning... always with the biggest smile on your face...

I love how excited you get about the little things in life...

I love how much you love flowers...even if I do have a house full of dandelions...

I love how you can find something nice to say about everyone and watching their face light up after hearing your truly genuine compliment...

My eyes love to see your beautiful smile and my ears love to hear your sweet laugh...

I love how literally you take everything we say and will think long and hard before replying...

I love when you ask me if we can sit on the couch and hug...

I love that you still say "hold you" when you want held and I hope that never goes away..

I love how inquisitive you are about everything and how you will think about your next question before you ask it...

You are my favorite shopping partner and I love how you love shopping even more than I do..

I love how much you love fancy dresses, accessories and princesses..

I love when you make my hair look like princess hair...

My favorite time of the day is after storytime when you ask if we can all just cuddle together in your bed...

I love when it is windy and you ask me to hold your hand so you don't blow away...

I love how you ask if you can share my food with me...

I am so excited to see you fall into the role of big sister and I know you are going to be the best big sister ever...

I love how well-mannered and polite you are..

I love how you say "bless you" when someone coughs..

I love watching you play guitar with your Daddy...

I love hearing you sing..everything from your "ABC's" to "Once Upon a Dream" to "I Want to Hold Your Hand"

I love how good at negotiating you are and am constantly shocked by how often I fall victim to your cunning negotiation skills....

I love how you want your husband to give you a Sleeping Beauty ring when you get married... and when we told you that you couldn't get married until you were 35 you tried negotiating...

I love how often you use the word "actually"...

I love listening to you and Daddy talk when you don't know I'm listening and watch you play when you don't know I'm watching...

I often think about how much I love you at this age and how I just want to keep you this way forever...

But yet at the same time I love watching you grow and change..

There are so many more things that I love about you...most are everyday little things that I just take for granted... I find new ones every day but I love how each of them makes up who you are and each will play a part in who you become. I am so honored that I have been chosen to be your Mommy and I thank God every day that I have been given you.

Happy Birthday my sweet sweet princess!

2009-05-21T22:13:00.002-04:00

This morning we are getting ready to leave and Isabelle tells her Sleeping Beauty doll that she has to go in time out. I asked her what Sleeping Beauty did that landed her in time out and Isabelle replied with "nothing". Then I asked her if she gets put in time out for doing "nothing" thinking she would at least come up a crime that Sleeping Beauty had committed but instead she thinks for a moment and then says, "yeah". HAHA! What a crazy girl!

I added some recent pictures to the playing outside folder just click here!

2009-05-21T22:04:00.002-04:00

The things poor Kashmir puts up with! Isabelle absolutely hates it when Kash takes a nap and doesn't have a blanket or a stuffed animal. She may be a royal pain in the butt at times but it is amazing to me how wrapped around Isabelle's finger she has been since day 1! She just puts up with it all and never seems bothered. Most days Kashmir is dressed to the nines (much like Isabelle!) in a tiara, headband and a blanket draped over her back for her dress. I can't help but wonder what the UPS man thinks when he drops off packages and the 3 of us show up at the door..... maybe that's why he's stopped ringing the doorbell and just leaves them on the front porch. Hmmm...

Let's Go Fly A Kite

2009-05-21T21:54:00.004-04:00

We were in Target one Sunday afternoon when all of a sudden Jason says he wants to get a kite...I think he was hoping for something a little more manly then the kite Isabelle picked out. She picked the Barbie kite. He tried talking her into at least the Tigger and Pooh one, but she wouldn't budge. I have no clue where she gets here stubborness from... ;o)

These were taken in April which is why there aren't any leaves on the trees...don't want anyone thinking we are stuck in winter out here! HAHA! Oh, and yes, that is Isabelle's flower girl dress that she is wearing...I'm really not lying when I say that if we are at home she is dressed up! Flower girl dress...princess dress..she doesn't discriminate.. if it looks fancy she's wearing it!

Enjoy the rest of the pics! Let's Go Fly A Kite

2009-05-13T18:02:00.002-04:00

So today we are officially considered "full term"! How crazy is that?!?! This pregnancy has seriously flown by. I can't even believe it. Tomorrow we have an OB appointment so we'll see if any more progress has been made and hopefully they will tell me if he has moved from being posterior.

Also, my new lens arrived today! So I have my new lens and we are full term. he's welcome to come any time (of course my bag isn't packed yet..details, details!)! LOL!

Sorry this is so short but I just got off the treadmill so I need to get dinner on and jump in the shower! Full term! WOW!

2009-05-11T21:45:00.003-04:00

Just a little correction... I guess this is a pretty important space mission so they were super limited on what they could take with them so Isabelle and Boo are still on the ground. The astronauts did all sign the picture so that's still pretty cool.

Isabelle is working on her 3 year molars...hopefully teething will go a little better then it did when she was a baby! She seems to be feeling a lot better too. She woke up sick on Saturday..congested and just acting sick..whiney, lazy, sleepy... and then Sunday was even worse. Never any fever or body aches or anything..thank goodness. She would go through spurts where she would get some energy and play and act like her normal self, but for the most part she just lazed around. Oh, funny story though, she asked me if she was turning into a little piggie because of the swine flu. LOL..I thought that was funny. This morning though I called the Dr to talk to a nurse. I didn't know with how young she is and me being pregnant if they would want to see her or not..and basically I just wanted to set my own mind at ease. I'll admit I'm the crazy lady that calls the Dr (or Shirley! LOL!) about everything..you can judge, it's ok. ;o) Anyway, I could practically hear the nurse roll her eyes as she told me it was just a seasonal cold, but I am ok with that so I will continue to call all of the time. hee hee! Today she took a super long nap and woke up really looking like she was feeling better. Of course then she comes into the kitchen while I am making dinner and says her mouth hurts..now on to the teething! Hopefully the teeth will pop through and the cold will go away all before the baby comes!

The good news is though that we are all ready for the baby! Well, I still have to pack the hospital bag, but we live like a mile from the hospital so I'm really not all that concerned about it. If I forget something Jason can run home and get it or my mom can just bring it in...I don't think it will be the end of the world. LOL! I still have a giant list of stuff to do but none of it is important..I mean it contains items like "replace lightbulbs" and "clean refrigerator" LOL! Oh well..I am having a blast nesting..I swear it is one of my favorite things about pregnancy. The whole house is decluttered..it is wonderful!

Isabelle and Boo are going to space!!!

2009-05-11T10:09:00.002-04:00

I am holding a sick little girl and typing 1 handed so this will be short. One of Jason's really good clients works for NASA. He contacted Jason awhile ago to see if he had something he wanted sent into space. Jason had a picture of Isabelle and Boo on his desk so he sent him that. Today the picture will launch on the shuttle Atlantis!! We're dvr'ing it so we can all watch Isabelle and Boo take off!!
You can read about the launch here.
Shuttle Atlantis
After it launches I will look on youtube and post a clip of it launching!

2009-05-07T17:05:00.005-04:00

It has been brought to my attention that I haven't posted any belly pics in awhile.. woops! This one I actually had on the list to post when I last updated and somehow totally missed it. Well, I think I did anyway. This is from 32 weeks.. if you have already seen it, I apologize. I was under the impression black was supposed to be slimming..I think I was given the wrong impression and if this is the slimmed down version..eeek!
This is from today so 36 weeks. Yikes. Haha! I know I appear to have gained a lot, but I really haven't! From 32 to 34 weeks I didn't gain anything and from 34 to 36 weeks I gained 2lbs so looks can be deceiving I guess! Oh and sorry the picture is a little out of focus..woops.

And here I am displaying my belly for all the world to see..why I don't know, but what the heck, right!?!

So today I had my 36 week appointment. She said my cervix is very soft and I am 1 cm.. some people sit at 3 cm's for a month so I am not holding my breath or anything. Besides I am totally 100% ok with him hanging out for a few more weeks..well, that and we are so not ready! LOL! Since he was sideways (I forget the fancy schmancy word..), she put me on the ultrasound machine so we could make sure he's in position. It's confirmed that he is now in position so we are all good to go in that dept. He's supposed to be facing my back, but he's currently facing front (the fancy word for that is posterior in case you were wondering...). So he needs to do a little roll I guess. She said spending time on my hands and knees will help encourage him to flip. Guess that will be my new watching tv position! LOL!

We finally got nursery furniture and this past weekend set up the crib..now I just have to wash the mattress cover and sheets. He'll be sleeping in the co-sleeper for the first few weeks because there is no way I am treking up the steps the whole way to the other side of the house a million times a night.. yeah no thanks. All of the exercise might help me lose the weight faster, but its just not that important to me! haha! We also made a list and ordered or went out and got all the fun stuff we needed. Yesterday was a fun delivery day.. my nursing cover, baby carrier, car seat and sit & stand stroller all arrived! Isabelle thinks the stroller is the coolest thing ever! LOL! I think though that she thought I was a little wacko when I used her baby doll to try out the baby k'tan! Hee hee! I need to wash all of the clothes and stuff though. I do love the smell of Dreft though so I am very excited about that! :o) Also have to pre-0rder announcement envelopes and get planning on Isabelle's party. I know noone really cares about my to-do list..I am writing all of this stuff more for myself to sort out all of my scatterbrained thoughts.

Oh you want to hear about scatterbrained.. I showed up for my 9:30 appointment at 10:30.. woops! We'll just blame that one on baby brain! ;o)

In other news, Isabelle and I have been trying to take advantage of as many biking days as possible before the baby comes. It has been so nice to get off the treadmill and back on my bike. There's a park right near our house so after our rides we've been stopping there after our ride so she can play for a bit. I'm sure there is much entertainment to be had in seeing a 9 month pregnant lady on a bike pulling a trailer. LOL! And I think I will leave you with that lovely image! ;o)

PS..just a little teaser.. I have to cutest pictures I need to go through to post..oh and a hint..they aren't of me! HAHA!

2009-04-29T20:56:00.006-04:00

Go here to see some random pictures of Isabelle playing outside in the wonderful weather we were having!!

2009-04-29T20:32:00.009-04:00

When I posted the updated pictures of Isabelle's room I meant to keep going with adding posts but, well, obviously that didn't happen! I forget what happened that distracted me, but I am sure it was something VERY important! LOL!

Anyway, I realize this is almost a month late (can you believe it is almost MAY!?!?!) but I wanted to share some pictures from Easter. We did a lot of painting on Easter..walls, ceiling, eggs! hee hee! Isabelle has become obsessed with putting things in the closet beside the front door so that is where we hid her basket this year. It was the 2nd place she looked. The 1st was behind the couch.. which actually was the first place we thought of putting it but then remembered we have a dog and she would probably eat everything in the basket the minute we walked out of the room!

The Easter Basket..she picked out the basket of course it is pink and purple!

Dyeing eggs with Daddy

Showing off her bowl full of Princess eggs!

We got the Disney Princess egg decorating set this year. She was very specific which stickers and princesses went with which colored eggs. Jason was the first one to eat one of the eggs and I thought it was going to give her a heart attack. She said, "Daddy, why are you breaking my eggs!?!?!" HAHA!

2009-04-26T07:36:00.009-04:00

Gosh I have so much to update about... I think I'll start with Isabelle's room.

These pictures are from what feels like forever ago, but it is after all of the moulding was in and I think it was painted at this point too.

As I have said before, Isabelle said that she wanted pink and purple walls for her room. We decided to do her closet purple and her room pink. She has been so excited to start painting her room. She had asked almost every day since we started her room if that was the day we were painting. She didn't want to help paint the closet purple so I started there and told her I would come get her when it was time for her to paint the pink. I planned to get most of the pink done before having her paint, but after I had 2 walls done she decided to come up and check on the progress. She didn't know that I had started the pink and when she walked in the room she just gasped and got the biggest smile on her face and said "oh Mommy I LOVE it!" It was the cutest thing ever! So then of course she had to help paint! She started off with the roller and a little bit on her fingers and toes and then decided to ditch the roller and just use her hands. That ended up in quite a mess but, oh well, its her room and she had fun!

Jason drew a castle on the wall and he and Isabelle painted it purple. She told him that she wanted flags off of the tallest towers and then she said she wanted stars around the castle. We still have to do some stars but the castle and flags are done now. I'm going to do the stars this morning.

And here is the room (minus the stars) ready for furniture!!! The chandellier doesn't really photograph well but it looks really good in the room. Isabelle is really excited and loves it!

Yesterday we moved in her furniture and so last night was her first night sleeping in her princess room! We still have some stuff to do until it is finished so you'll have to wait a little longer for the finished pics. The room is really coming together and we think it looks really cute. Isabelle came in after her new bedding was on the bed and she said a whole bunch of super cute things about how much she loved it...it has been so fun redoing her room with how involved and appreciative and excited she has been! I can't wait to share pics of the final product!!!

Spring has Sprung..

2009-04-08T15:09:00.003-04:00

or so we thought! We were getting spoiled by our 60 degree sunny days and lots of blooming flowers...

only to be woken up Monday morning by a giddy little girl exclaiming "IT'S SNOWING! IT'S SNOWING". Blech! Obviously she hasn't learned yet that snow in April is neither good nor exciting! Guess I better step up my game and get on teaching that lesson! LOL! It did lay and everything was white and just awful looking, but the good news is that by the time we got home from the Y it had all melted. Therefore I didn't get a picture to share its awfulness with you all. Hopefully that is it for the snow.. today is back to mid 50's and sunny so I have my fingers (and toes) crossed!

THE Princess Room update

2009-04-08T14:53:00.005-04:00

Right now Isabelle has 2 rooms..the room she is sleeping in and her real room. Well she seemed to be getting a little too comfortable in her new room that we were kind of nervous about what would happen when she moved back in to her old room hence her room now being dubbed "the princess room". Hey whatever works, right?!?! She loves it and is super excited so that's all that matters.

All of the construction remodeling work is done so now we are just doing all finishing work. We hung the crown moulding last weekend and today I started painting the left over stained woodwork white...which is why there are so many posts today as I am putting off doing the 2nd coat for as long as possible. hee hee! Our plan is to be moving Isabelle back into the room by the end of the weekend. Her bedding arrived on Monday and she just loves it! We went with the "Elizabeth" set from Pottery Barn Kids. It has castles and carriages and princess things all over it with the bonus of butterflies and stars..definitely the perfect bedding for Isabelle! She really loves it!
As I may or may not have mentioned Isabelle wants pink and purple walls. Well Jason really wanted to do green walls with the bedding and set out to negotiate with Isabelle.... needless to say, Isabelle won! Good thing his clients aren't as cute as Isabelle (or at least he can't see them if they are! LOL!) or else we would be in the poor house!

I just uploaded the pics from doing the crown and I forgot about this one.. Isabelle and her new tool belt! She was so excited to have a tool belt for helping out!

I just took some pictures today of the crown all hung and the room ready to be painted but they are still on the camera. I'll post them when I upload the pics from the camera.

2009-04-08T14:42:00.002-04:00

Just a few random pics from recently of our ALMOST 3 year old little princess (yikes!)

She thinks that if she ignores me I will go away.. you would think she would have learned by now that's just not the way it works!

Love her little baseball cap. Poor kid though cursed with the super small head from both Mom and Dad! LOL!

She saw a guy with his hat on backwards a couple of weeks ago and just thought it was the funniest thing!

And one of poor Kashmir who doesn't get enough representation on the blog. Look at those sad puppy dog eyes! She does love performing for the camera!!

31 weeks

2009-04-08T14:30:00.002-04:00

See I do wear real clothes! ;o) But I definitely don't enjoy it! LOL! The options for wardrobe being a sahm mom are much better then working clothes. hee hee! Love my yoga pants for sure! Speaking of, Sunday was my 3 year anniversary of not having a job...I can't believe its already been 3 years..that is just so crazy!

The baby was breech at my 19 week ultrasound so they stuck me on the machine at my 30 week appointment. The midwife must not have had anything else to do for the day so we just sat there and watched him for like 20 mins. I swear that ultrasound was longer then the official one! It was so neat to see him so developed and filled out...and not so skeleton-like! She printed out a picture for us too which I was really excited about. I didn't get one so far along with Isabelle so it was a really cool experience. It was also crazy to see him move on the screen and also feel it. Isabelle was excited to get to see her baby brother too although she says she gets to see him a lot when she looks through my belly button. I would try it out but unfortunately I just don't bend that way anymore! ;o)

Welcome Spring!!!

2009-03-30T17:20:00.005-04:00

Some random pics of Isabelle playing outside with Kashmir and throwing sticks in the creek

2009-03-30T17:17:00.003-04:00

Last weekend Jason scraped the popcorn texture off of Isabelle's ceiling and sprayed up the knockdown. I think we finally figured out the right water to powder mix this time. Hopefully we won't forget it by the next room! It was slow going and very frustrating for him at first because the sprayer was having all kinds of issues. Once he got it all figured out it went pretty quickly.

2009-03-30T16:55:00.003-04:00

This past weekend Mom, Jeff, Jess and Josh came for a visit. It was a very relaxing visit.. well at least for me considering I got to take a nap every day with Isabelle. Hee hee!

How convenient to have an expert handyman in the house during remodeling!??!! LOL! Of course we couldn't get through the weekend without putting Jeff to work! ;o) Jeff, Jason and Josh installed the baseboard, casing and window sill in Isabelle's room. Jason and I were amazed at how quickly it was all installed considering what is a weekend project for us only took a few hours with Jeff here! We really learned a lot and had a lot of questions for Jeff. I think it was good we had already completed a room on our own so we knew what questions to ask. We also learned a lot of time saving tips which is always nice!!

The guest expert hard at work! LOL!

Jason and Josh trying to figure out what all those lines are on a measuring tape! ;o)

It just dawned on me that I forgot to take a picture of it all finished. I'll have to remember to go do that!

I had taken Isabelle to It's Playtime on Wednesday and she picked up a bug that must be going around. She had a low grade fever from Thursday to Saturday evening. Every one of those days she asked if we could go to the mall, but I told her that we couldn't go until her fever was better. Well Sunday she woke up without a fever and didn't have one all morning so she was determined that we were going to the mall! It really is one of her favorite places to go. She tells me all of the time that she loves the mall. Of course we had to oblige and head to the mall! I am pretty sure everyone was ok with it though because that meant lunch at our family favorite, Red Robin!

Our weekends have been so packed and busy that it was so rejuvenating to have a relaxed weekend with lots of quality time together! I don't know about anyone else, but I know me and Isabelle both had a great weekend! Oh yeah and I know Kashmir did too! LOL!
This morning was really hard for Isabelle when they left. Seeing her little eyes fill with tears just broke my heart. :o( I am pretty sure Kashmir shed a tear or 2 when her buddy, Josh, left too!

Disney on Ice

2009-03-30T16:25:00.006-04:00

We took Isabelle to see a Disney on Ice show..I forget the exact name of it.. Mickey and Minnie's something. It was almost a month ago so you can see why my brain is a little foggy on the details! LOL! She LOVED the show! It was a really good show and they did a lot of movies that Isabelle knew. The only one she didn't know and neither Jason or I have seen it either is Lilo and Stitch. The other movies were Lion King, Little Mermaid and Peter Pan.

You probably can't see it here but Daisy's shoes were pink. Well, Daisy does not wear pink shoes on the show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Isabelle was very distraught about this error. It was the first thing she noticed when the characters came out for the first time. She got this weird look on her face and said, "Mommy why is Daisy wearing pink shoes? Her shoes are purple." HAHA! Jason and I just looked at each other.. you can't get anything past this girl! I'm not kidding!

The Peter Pan part was really neat when he was trying to catch his shadow. It really did look like that was what he was trying to do!

We all had a really good time! I am so glad that we went. Isabelle sat still the entire time and was completely entranced with the show. Of course it left all of us really wanting to go back to Disney again soon!!!

SOOOOO EXCITED!!

2009-03-22T09:36:00.002-04:00

I am pretty sure I have posted that I was participating in a best brands consignment sale this weekend to start getting rid of Isabelle's old clothes. Well the sale was Friday and Saturday and I just looked at the totals this morning... I sold 472.00 worth of stuff! I feel so rich! LOL!

I didn't know what to expect so I didn't send up that much stuff. Well you better believe that today is going to be spent trying to get through as many bins in the attic as possible! LOL! :o)

Science is cool!

2009-03-20T16:04:00.005-04:00

Ahh.. how sad is it that children these days are growing up without the teachings from Bill Nye the Science Guy? Thank goodness for youtube I guess! Yes, I was a dork.. I liked that show! LOL! Anyway, Isabelle and I had some science fun a couple of weeks ago we went to Science Central.

We hadn't been to Science Central since Isabelle turned 2 so it was rather amazing how many things she remembered. The first one being the hot air balloon. Last time we were there she just liked watching it go up and down but this time she enjoyed being the one to push the button (all by herself of course!) and watch the balloon rise.

There is also this room that they have that is tilted. Isabelle loves it.. me not so much. It really thrown off my equilibrium and makes me feel dizzy. Of course she wanted to go in it like a million times!

Then we headed to the preschool area which has lots of activities (and a SLIDE! LOL!) that she really enjoys. She loves the water table.

OCD you think? LOL! She definitely has her same and different's down!

Reunited

2009-03-18T17:07:00.003-04:00

Look who's been found!!! I am pretty sure I posted that Boo had been missing since January and that I had been randomly tearing the house apart trying to find him. Well the search is over!

I was on the computer during naptime when all of a sudden a thought came in my head that I should check the bins of Christmas decorations in the attic. Our ceiling in the garage is really high and I have been known to be a clumsy person so I am generally not allowed in the attic unsupervised. LOL! I climb up the ladder that is falling apart and get myself into the attic only to find that the light has burned out. So back down the ladder and into the house to find a flashlight. Flashlight in hand I head back into the attic. Jason has the attic really organized so all of the Christmas stuff is all together. I got through each bin looking for Boo. I get through all of the bins with no luck. So then I am looking at the section of the attic with all of Isabelle's baby stuff and seeing what we are going to have to be pulling down soon. I spot a box sitting all by itself with red fabric coming out of it and it looks familiar like its a Christmas box. So I open it up and on top is our santa bag. I lift it out and there is obviously things in it. Inside were all of Isabelle's Christmas themed stuffed animals and..... BOO!!!!!!!!!

Let me just say that I am really glad that I did not pass out and fall through the hole! Isabelle was so happy to see him. She held him and giggled for like 10 minutes straight. It was the cutest thing.

I am excited to finally get a sound sleep tonight without the constant thought of "where is Boo" running through my mind. I have insomnia around 4am and have been laying in bed during that time thinking of all of the places Boo could possibly be. Tonight I will have nothing to think about so hopefully I won't have insomnia and if I do wake up then I won't have anything to keep my mind busy and I will fall back asleep. My fingers are crossed!

Needless to say it has been a very exciting afternoon in our house!!!

Words some of you thought you would never hear...

2009-03-16T16:37:00.002-04:00

guess who is a working woman!??!!? MEEE!!! can you believe it? its ok.. i know there were many of you that said no and i am ok with that because quite honestly i think jason and i are still both in shock too! and wait till you hear this.. i have not only 1 job but TWO! ok..i use the term "job" loosely. lol

so my first job is a question answerer.. how cool is that? on one of my moms boards a lady posted about how she works for this company called ChaCha and that they were looking for new guides. she doesn't have a schedule and can work whenever she wants to and has some extra time. the words "doesn't have a schedule" and "work whenever she WANTS to" were pure music to my ears..i am so not good with schedules..they make me feel tied down and overwhelmed. so i checked it out and applied. i had to take some tests and the final test i had to wait 2 days to see if i passed..it was quite nerve wracking! i did pass though! so now at night when we are watching tv i am also making some extra money for myself! oh, so the service is free...basically you can text a question to ChaCha and then guides are logged into the site on the computer and we look up the questions and answer them. some people are really fast and make decent money.. i am still a little slow, but i am working on my speed. so if you ever have a question just text it to ChaCha (242242) and maybe i will be the one to answer it! i get excited when i see a question from ft wayne or a neighboring town and i have even gotten a few from lancaster!

oh and my 2nd job! this one pays better so i am excited about that. lol! this one i have thanks to my dad who told me about it! i work for a marketing company that does online video listings for houses that are for sale. i am one of the writers for the company and i write scripts for the videos. i haven't started doing it yet, but i think it is going to be fun.

obviously the thing i am most excited about is having a little extra cash on the side that is just mine to do with what i want..i am sure 9 times out of 10 it will be spent on the kids, but now if there is something that i want for me then i can save up and get it on my own. anyway i am really excited! and i have started selling off isabelle's old clothes. i am participating in a best brands consignment sale on march 28th. i just sent off 2 boxes of clothes to that and i have a bunch of stuff to start listing on ebay. if you can't tell i am very excited about all of my money making opportunities that i have right now!

Who doesn't love a newborn!?!

2009-03-16T16:21:00.002-04:00

yesterday Isabelle's best friend, Adan, became a big brother! his little sister, Blair Marie, was born at 6:57PM. she was 7 lbs 12 oz and 20.5 inches.

isabelle and i went to go meet her this morning and OMG she is the most precious little thing! i was so thankful a baby had already taken up residence in my uterus because she made my ovaries ache! lol! too much information, i know! ;o) she reminded me so much of isabelle as a baby. she is 1 oz bigger and .5 inches smaller then isabelle was at birth so it was crazy to think isabelle was at one time almost exactly that size! oh and she smelled so good. i wish i could bottle up the smell of a newborn. she is so perfect and i think she resembles her big brother so much. i can't wait to see her and hold her again. i was so completely engulfed with looking at her and smelling her that i forgot to take a picture! well, good thing i know i will be seeing more of her soon! :o)

for the past 7 months i have been waiting with mindy for her to have her baby.. it really seemed like it was never going to get here, but now it has come and gone and now i am left yearning for sushi and wine all by myself..woe is me..lol..ok focus jen back to the point.. and now next is my turn! yay! oh but this is how strange i am.. on sunday when mindy was texting me updates throughout the day i was so wishing i was in labor getting ready to have a baby..and not because i am sick of being pregnant or anything.. just because it sounded like fun. yeah, i need help..i think that is pretty clear now.