Goodbye Army Crawler. Hello Baby Proofing.

Well she is done.  Done army crawling on her belly and pulling herself around the house.  Yes, Isabelle is now a full out crawler.  Knees up.  Arms up.  Belly high in the air.  She has been practicing this from time to time for the past couple weeks and would get herself up to rock back and forth.  Then slowly she would move one or two steps crawling.  Yesterday she amazed us and got up when we were playing outside on her blanket and just started crawling.  I love the look on her face when she does this, she seems so proud of herself and likes to look up at us as if to make sure we are watching her newest achievement.  Which of course we are! 

Crawling around the basement

I couldn't get her to look at the camera...she must have been on a mission!

After all that crawling it was time for a much needed rest.  A ride on the bouncing zebra was fun!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

3.....4......5

Isabelle is on her way from 3 to 4 to 5 new teeth!  She had three for a couple of weeks but the past several days we have noticed one more that is about to come through.  However, today, a different tooth broke through the gums!  She is quickly going from three to five teeth in a matter of days!!  During the day you wouldn't be able to even tell she is teething, but since it is more uncomfortable for her at nights, she is getting some needed cuddle time which seems to make it all better.  Her once gummy smile is quickly becoming an adorable smile with a mouth full of teeth!

I realize you can't see her teeth here but this was too cute to not post :)

Playtime Is Such Fun

Playtime is such fun...this is a quote in one of Isabelles favorite books and fitting for this post! I thought I would just post some pictures of her playing from the past couple days.  She loves all her toys and really loves crawling all over the place after new things!

Taking a break from crawling!

Already has her own laptop!

Very interested in the ball

Trying to put it in her mouth as she does with everything :)

Making a very important phone call

Picking out a new toy to play with

My little Isabelle....I love playing with you and watching you explore and try new things.  I can't imagine a better day then spending it doing the simple things with you. 

And on a side note...its a good thing her crib has been lowered!  When she wakes up from her naps we now, find her standing up, smiling in her crib!

A Change in Seats

A change in seats indeed!  Isabelle has now grown out of her infant car seat and has moved on to a big girl car seat!  We could tell that she was getting a little crowded in her infant seat as her feet were hanging over the edge and she was becoming more restless when riding in it.  So after much research and suggestions we purchased the Sunshine Radian XTSL as it had the top ratings for safety and comfort!  It has only been one day but Isabelle seemed to really enjoy the first ride in it!

Isabelles last ride in her infant car seat

First ride in the big girl car seat...she seems to be checking it out for her approval!

Must have passed her approval!  Enjoying the "memory foam" the car seat has!

While this car seat change may seem small...it is another reminder to us of how fast she is growing up.  I remember driving around for weeks (okay more like months) before she was born with her infant seat in the back of the car waiting for her arrival.  She seemed so tiny driving home from the hospital in it.  And now that seat sits in the basement to small for my little girl.  It truly is amazing how fast children grow up. 

Wedding Weekend

We had a busy past weekend as my longest and closest friend got married.  Erin and I have known each other since we were 4 years old and have remained best friends throughout the years.  She got married in Ames on Sunday at Reiman Gardens and the wedding was beautiful! Hot...but beautiful :).  I spent Saturday up in Ames for the afternoon wedding rehearsal, bridal shower, and rehearsal dinner.  Which meant Isabelle had a whole Daddy Day on Saturday!  I definitely missed her as I had never been away from her for that long but I knew she would have a fun time with Kevin!  Needless to say, I may have picked her up sleeping from her crib when I got home Saturday night, as I needed some cuddle time with my little girl!

The Rehearsal

High School friends: Kristi, Stacey, Shannon, Erin, Molly, Me

The shower at Erin's parents house

Opening her gifts....Mrs. Del Val

Best Buddies: Me and Erin

Isabelle on Daddy Day...with her spiky hairdo courtesy of her sunhat! So cute!

Sunday all three of us drove up to Ames for the wedding and dinner afterwards.  Isabelle did so good!  Since the wedding was outside we were lucky there was a shaded area where Kevin could sit with Isabelle during the ceremony to keep her out of the sun.  When the ceremony was over it was time for Isabelle's nap so Kevin drove her around in the car while she got her much needed sleep.  After the nap she was ready to eat at the reception and enjoyed her food we had brought her, as well as her first taste of mashed potatoes from our plate! Isabelle LOVED walking around the whole reception and smiling at those she walked by.  She was such a good little girl and enjoyed meeting many new friends. 

The beautiful bride

Love the yellow shoes

Part of the wedding party

Isabelle at the reception

Congratulations Erin! I wish you a lifetime of happiness!

And just for fun......a close up of Isabelle's bottom teeth!  During lunch!

Shopping and Sleeping

The older Isabelle gets, the more fun it is to take her shopping!  She loves looking around at everything and everyone and taking in all the sights and sounds.  Her favorite place to shop? Target! No surprise there, considering it is practically my second home.  I really think a person could get everything they ever needed at Target....if its not in the store its online.  And with three weddings, three bridal showers, three birthday parties, and a baby shower this summer we have definitely been making our share of trips to Target!

By the way...the shopping cart cover that Isabelle is in is the absolute best! It is extremely comfortable, easy to use and wash, and fold ups into a little bag when you are done!  You can use it as a highchair cover as well.  This may be one of my favorite baby items of hers, especially considering how much of a germ-a-phobe I am!

All that shopping makes for one sleepy little girl at the end of the day.

Happy Friday!

Updates Galore...

Second day of the blog and already a second post! I think I am starting to get the hang of this.
I thought before I start doing regular blogging posts I would start with an update of what has been going on with our little family to get everyone up to speed.

Isabelle has been growing and changing so much! She is definitely seeming more and more like a little girl and less and less like a little baby.  Although she will always be our little baby, she is definitely growing up.  What has Isabelle been up to these days? 

• Walking, Walking, Walking.   She LOVES walking! While she is too young to walk on her own she will walk all day holding on to our hands.  She loves walking around the house, in the grass, and lately up the stairs! She has even figured out to lift her foot up to get up the stairs and climb them! Baby genius? I think so!

• Crawling.  Isabelle loves to army crawl all around the house.  She can now get anywhere she wants in a matter of seconds, which means we never take our eye off of her!  Her favorites to crawl too? The ottoman in which she will now pull herself up to stand, her Disney Princess car (where she pulls herself up to stand also), her Little People amusement park, a stack of soft blocks, and cell phones.  We definitely have a strong, active little girl.

• Swinging and swimming.  As long as the weather is cooperating you can find us most days in the backyard swinging on her new swing set or swimming in her shaded pool.  Both of which she loves. (Below she is sleeping in her swing while cousins Ava and Isaiah came to play last week)

• Sleeping.  Isabelle definitely loves her sleep.  She takes 3 naps a day totaling about 4 hours and sleeps about 11 straight hours at night.  Her favorite sleeping position? On her tummy, arms at her side, knees tucked in with her bottom high in the air.  It is unbelievably adorable. (Picture below is before she rolled to her tummy)

• Laughing.  She LOVES to laugh, which comes as no surprise considering she has always been so smiley.  Her laugh melts our hearts.

• Teeth.  Her beautiful smile now shows 3 cute white teeth.

• Favorite Toy?  Her Disney Princess Car.  She LOVES standing up holding on to this and loves going for rides around the house on it! Pretty fitting for her considering how much Kevin and I love Disney World.  She is on the road to loving it herself!

Other then Isabelle updates we have been doing lots of updates to our house as well.  Since Isabelle was born we have finished the basement into a big family room, painted the kitchen (thanks to my Dad), hallway, living room, main level bathroom and guest bedroom.  We have also re tiled the bathroom floor, re carpeted the living room, hallway and stairs, completed landscaping to now go around the sides of our house, built Isabelle a little "playground" and most recently had a wood fence installed in the backyard.  I definitely have to thank Kevin for letting me run with all the ideas I have for decorating and updating our house!

If you made it this far in the blog....thanks for reading! I will try to keep the others short and sweet, but I do love to write so that could be a challenge. 

First Times a Charm......

Well here we go....my very first blog. I have toggled back and forth for a while now with the idea of starting a blog. Who would read it? Is it safe? Will I have enough to write? Will I have any followers? Will I keep up with it? And so on. I have several friends who blog and I am faithful followers of theirs and always enjoy reading the updates and seeing pictures. So after much consideration (and encouragement from my husband) I have decided to start a blog. I can't promise this first post will be very exciting but its a start in what I hope will be a great insight to our lives.

So where do I start? A summary of my life now I suppose. I am a 28 year old stay-at-home mom and couldn't be happier. I am married to my best friend in the world Kevin and we have a PERFECT little daughter Isabelle Ann. She is truly the love of my life and continues to amaze us everyday. It is so hard to believe that she is already 8 1/2 months...where does the time go? As I write this I am now realizing this blog will mainly be about our adventures with Isabelle...which is probably what most people are interested in anyways. :)

I will end this first post with a couple pictures of our little munchkin...and Happy Birthday to Kevin!