Happy Birthday, Isabelle!

Ok Mom, this one is for you!!!  I keep being asked by my momma to post pics of Isabelle's third birthday.  Here they are!

Isabelle had been saying for a long time that she wanted a "pink" birthday party.  So we got a pink dress, and pink bounce house, pink balloons, and a pink pinata, and there ya go.  The weekend was super fun with my brother in law coming up from Austin with his family, so Isabelle got to have her party with her cousins!  It was really great.

Isabelle and her cousin Ella.  Isabelle hates, I repeat, HATES, things on her head.  But since Ella brought headbands with her, Isabelle all of a sudden was super into head bands.  Really cute.

Family pic in front of the pink bounce house.

I have so few pictures of me and my little buddy.  This was right before the party, and he was really cranky, so we put him down for a nap.  Slept through the entire thing! 

Snacks and drinks...then we had pizza later.

Enjoying snacks with some friends

Pinata time!!!!

Pull the right string and the treats will fall!  Maybe next year we'll be able to get real with it and have a baseball bat pinata.

Smarties!!!  Stickers!!!!!

Baby Kady was enjoying gnawing on her candy.

A rare pic of me and the husband.  We are always taking pics of the kids and not really many of us anymore.  Love him!

Friends for life...Michael, Jason, Todd, Brendan, and Don (thank you Don for taking one for the team and wearing pink to the pink party.)

Mmmm...pizza time

Cake time!  She was so excited for her rainbow cake from Costco.

Family pic...lots of Bartos in one picture!

Bouncy time!

I had to put this picture in, just to share that even during the party of a lifetime, Isabelle was still being her usual moody self.  Thanks, Isabelle, for giving me a pic where I can prove to you how stubborn you were at this age!  :-)

Opening her presents from Meme

Thanks, Julia, for my new Dora book!!!

Connor finally woke up after the party.  He seems to be in a great mood, too, just like his sister.  Haha

Nothing like a bounce house and some cake to put him in a better mood.

Opening up the large mystery present from the Lockwoods.  An easel!!!  Thank you!

On the morning of her birthday, she got to blow out a candle on her birthday donut.  This is her birthday shirt from her Barney party last year.  Still fits.

A favorite present, the Barbie Pool!  Thanks, Everett!

In her new Hello Kitty jammies, sweeping with her new broom from Mommy.  I know how to give a kid a fun gift, right?

It was a really fun weekend, and we are still having fun with all of the cool presents she got.  We are so blessed to have kind and generous friends who love our little girl just as much as we do.  Happy Birthday, Isabelle!

An Interview with Isabelle, Part 2

Last year, I asked Isabelle the following questions, interview style.  So cute.  Here are her answers for this year.  This was so much fun and gave us many, many laughs. Here you go:

What is your name? Isabelle

How old are you? 3

What is your favorite color? Pink

Who is your best friend? Everett, Douglas, and Madeline

What is your favorite animal?  Turtle

What do you want to be when you grow up?  A princess! (I use the exclamation point because of how excited she was when she gave this answer.)

What is your favorite movie?  Caillou and Barney (she considers tv shows and movies to be the same I guess)

What is your favorite book?   Caillou books

What makes you happy?  Mommy (haha, last year the answer was Daddy)

What makes you sad?  When I trip and fall

What is your favorite food?  Pancakes

What is your favorite song? You Are My Sunshine and Jesus Loves Me

What are you scared of?  Sirens (a tornado siren test was occurring during the interview, so I wonder what her answer would have been if that hadn't been going off!  She has never been afraid of sirens.)

We got this interview on video, and will treasure it forever.  Love you, Isabelle!

Dinosaur Walk

 I just started making my January-June 2012 photo book online and came across these pictures.  I had to blog about them because they are so sweet and special!  In January, Brendan and I took Isabelle to the Heard Museum in McKinney for a dinosaur walk with her buddy Douglas and his mommy and daddy.  They have since moved to Thailand for two years, and my heartstrings are pulled every time I see pics of my sweet friends who we miss SO much!  

If you've never been to the Heard Museum for Dinosaurs LIVE! then you must try it out this year.  Here is the link:  http://www.heardmuseum.org/attractions/exhibits/dinosaurs.asp

It's a nature preserve/old school science museum.  There are tons of trails to explore, and once a year they set up animatronic dinosaurs on a path.  Very cool!  Here was what we experienced:

Douglas had to take a ride on the mini dinosaur.  

They were pretty excited at this first one...too excited to be scared at this point.  The fear is coming.

Friends holding hands on the trail..tear, sob, cry, boo hoo for us missing Dougie

Hmmm...not so sure about this life-like long necked creature.

Don't let go of me Douglas!  This brontosaurus is crazy looking!!!

My sweet girl.  Love this face.

Again, no so sure what to think of the dinos. 

Fun times riding on this guy!

Just a few weeks before baby Reed was born.  T-Rex might chomp all their heads off if they don't watch out!

There is a small zoo with cute animals--monkeys, deer, etc.

Rock climbing at such a young age.  Watch out, you two!!!

Pictures like this just melt my heart!

One...two...three...jump!!!

Stopping for some snackin...

And some smoochin...

We have a walker!!!

Finally...finally...our sweet boy is walking!  He is almost 17 months old, so it's about time!  For the last couple of months he's just been generally angry, and other than teething I was sure he was getting frustrated that he couldn't just GET UP AND GO.  So here are a few pics of Connor taking those awesome never get to experience again steps.  Once this happened, the smile has not left his face.  His little arms held out to the side are so cute.  Love you buddy!!!