My Buddies...

Isabelle is sure lucky to have two of the best friends she could ask for, Luke ("Guke") and Douglas ("Dougie"). We play with them very frequently. Playdates with them started right after they were born. At first us Mommies would get to watch tv while they laid on the floor, rocked in the swing, or slept. Now our playdates are full of activity, and pretty soon Luke and Douglas with both have a sibling, too!!! We try to get out and do fun things, so here are a few pics from the last couple of weeks.

Here we are at Luke's neighborhood pool.


Enjoying a snack break!



Ready to head home in the fun red wagon! We love our buddy Luke so much!


Dougie and Isabelle got to go to the park a couple of weeks ago when it was only in the 90's for one day! It felt so good to get out of the house to play outside, and we are really looking forward to the fall when we can go to park each and every day.

Could these smiles be any cuter? These two have so much fun!

Riding the grasshopper together...


Swinging time usually only lasts a couple of minutes. I wish it lasted longer, but who wants to swing when you could run around like a crazy person on the playground?


Here is a pic from playtime at our house the other day. The kids (that's our friend Madeline) hopped on the couch to watch Barney, and it did not take long for Isabelle and Dougie to start hugging and wrestling!


We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends. Not only are the kids blessed to have each other, us as parents are so grateful to have one another to experience parenthood together! More to come soon!

Isabelle "Snowcone" Barto

Isabelle has a new love, and its name is the Scallywag's Pirate Boat Shaved Ice Stand. This boat is parked near our house, and she talks about it non-stop!!! Today we took her for a treat (well, we take her at least two times a week...) The owners know us now, this is how much we go! It really is a neat snow cone place, and she already has her favorite--yellow (banana) and red (strawberry) swirled together. She calls it ice cream cone, even though I try to correct her and say snow cone.

Here is Brendan holding Isabelle. Today we couldn't get too close because bees have taken over and are swarming the outside.


Here she is pointing at the lady on the boat. At first from a distance she thought it was Jesus, as she does slightly resemble him on the cross from far away. :-)

ds


Mmmmm....whether slurping from a straw, being fed by Daddy, or eating with a spoon, it is always delicious!!!!!!!!!

And now for some other photos of the family.


Gosh, could he be any cuter? He definitely is a Daddy's boy and always smiles and laughs with him.
Pretzels and nutella (a fave snack instituted by Grandma) is such a fun thing to eat, and wonderfully messy!

"Yes, I am 6 months old and can drink from a straw cup!"


Sweet boy growing so fast!
This is a photo of "snack picnic," an activity I recently created. She thinks it is so much fun to eat on her blanket, and I must agree!

6 months old and some summer fun...

Wow, how 6 months has gone by fast! My sweet Connor is precious as can be, and Isabelle is officially 2 years old. We'll leave it at that! Haha!

Connor is 13 lbs 14 oz which puts him in the 3rd percentile. Tiny! But he drinks 5 bottles a day and gets 3 small meals of cereal and fruit/veggies, so he'll be big and strong before we know it. He is taking two long naps and sleeping from 7 pm to 6 am. He can roll from his back to his tummy, and is learning how to sit. He thinks Isabelle is the funniest thing ever, which just melts my heart. Here are some pics of him.

Posing on the bed during our Mommy and Me time early in the morning while Isabelle is still in bed.

I had put his bowl of cereal on the tray, looked away for a moment, and when I turned back he had pulled the bowl over, and had cereal all over his face with the spoon in his mouth. Hungry boy!


Here he is sitting for a split second. They start looking so grown up when this happens!

I tell my mom that Isabelle is sweet as sugar 90% of the time, and unbearable for the other 10%. Living with a toddler is definitely challenging, but so much fun! She makes us laugh so hard one second and then is sitting in time out the next second. Each day is different, but we just take it one day at a time. :-) She has started giving kisses and hugs all the time and says Love you when prompted. This summer we have spent a lot of time at the pool.


Digging in the sand with Dougie, our buddy!!!


Here she is with her play kitchen that she got for her birthday. She really loves it!!!

I'll close with some portraits we got taken at JCPenney. Pretty soon I should be able to get Isabelle to stand still long enough to get a portrait of them together!