April Was Awesome!

April has been a pretty good month! Isabelle went through a really rough patch for a couple of weeks--fussiness, fevers, runny nose, etc, and the doctor attributes it all to teething. But do I see any new teeth???? No! Just those two bottom boys are hanging out. She is still a content sitter of a baby. No attempts to crawl or move around, but loves to sit pretty and play with her toys. Great for me, since I can still go about my day while she sits in one spot. I know these days are numbered, though...

One cool development is her eating. She still gets 4 bottles a day and baby purees that I make, but she is eating more and more table food! Although, she still will not put food in her mouth herself so I have to do it for her. She has had grilled cheese, tortilla soup, 3 types of fish, meatballs, pasta, broccolli, steak, chicken, baked potatoes, sweet potato fries, pizza, cheese, refried beans, turkey, ham, oranges (she loves oranges!), and yes, ice cream. I have gone to Paciugo (Italian ice cream shop) with her twice, and have given her little tastes. I can tell she is going to love the treats!

Here are some pics from the month.

Isabelle is taking her first Kindermusik class with best buddy Luke. Here they are shaking their rice filled eggs together. Kindermusik has been such a blessing--we get to go once a week and sing songs and play with other mommies/babies. It's great!


Our neighborhood had an Easter festival, and the Big Bunny himself was there. Best of all, pics with him were FREE!!!! Hooray!

Isabelle has become enamored with Libby. Libby is a constant source of entertainment for her. She now pets her gently and laughs every time she sees her. Libby is now part of our night night routine. As Brendan rocks Isabelle singing Rock-A-Bye-Baby, I hold Libby like a baby and sing to her and Isabelle gets a big kick out of it.

We took her to the Dallas zoo (Brendan and I had never been) and here she is ready for her big adventure.

I found this horned toad bench outside the reptile exhibit and had to get a Go Frogs! pic in with Isabelle. If I ever get around to it I'll send it in to the TCU Alum magazine to annouce her birth (whoops, haven't done that yet!).

Easter was a fun day. We spent the day in Coriscana with Brendan's family, and Isabelle got to wear a fancy dress in her "signature color" lavendar.

Here she is with Brendan and Poppy. She loves loves loves his mustache!

Isabelle got to meet her cousin Kiera for the first time.

We went to a neighborhood brunch, and I finally got to put this polka dot dress on her! When I was just pregnant, I was visiting my mom in Chicago, and we saw this dress in Marshall's and fell in love with it. I didn't know what I was having yet, so I didn't get it. A couple of weeks later we found out it was a girl, and the first thing did was call my mom and say, "GO GET THE DRESS!!! WE'RE HAVING A GIRL!!!" They only had a 9 month size, so it took a while before she could fit in it.

If anyone was considering a stuffed animal as a gift for Isabelle, please hold off. :-) Sometimes I set out some of her animals while she is playing to see which ones she will go for first, and this day I decided to get them all out and set her in the middle. Her favorite??? The baby doll on the far right.

While visiting Brendan's parents, he put her on this little tricycle and wheeled her around, and she loved it. His mom sent it home with us as a "loaner," and both times we have put her on it, it has ended in disaster. Non-injury falls, but disasters none the less. As hard as we try to keep her on it, it just doesn't work. Yes, we are stupid for putting a 9 month old on a tricyle. We will now be returning it to grandma for use at a later time!

Isabelle began sleeping on her tummy this month. This is fine, but two things occur when she flips over and does not move for the next 12 hours. 1. The runny nose that will not go away becomes crusted ALL OVER her face and the bed sheet, and 2. She wakes up wet from her tummy to her chest because of her diaper leaking! So what does this mean? Bath time in the sink after breakfast! She loves it, and has so much fun splashing and playing in the water. (God, I can't wait to get this girl in a pool!)

Grandma Seal gave us this bath robe before she was born, and this was the first time we used it since bathtime at night involves wrangling her in a towel as she screams from being removed from the tub. I can't imagine putting a robe on her then! So, after our sink baths we get all cozy in the robe. And it sure is cute!!!

Isabelle loves her Dada. We talk about Dada ALL DAY long still! She had a week when she said Mama alot, but we are back to Dadadada. And Brendan is totally in love with her! He can make her laugh like no one else can.

She's not pulling up on anything yet, but when you stand her in front of something she holds on for a good 2 seconds and then falls. But this picture sure gives you the impression that she can stand. :-) This is at Luke's house, and he can book it across the room on this thing! I can't believe two babies that are 6 days apart are so different!

We can't wait to see what May brings! Swimming, maybe some more words and teeth, and even some crawling perhaps???

Isabelle's First Trip to the Zoo!

Last Friday, we took Isabelle for her first trip to the zoo. My dad was in town from Chicago, so we all piled in the car and drove to the Fort Worth Zoo. It is a beautiful zoo! I wasn't sure how Isabelle would react, but she loves to be outside so I knew she'd at least have fun being in the outdoors all day.

Here we are at the entrance.

The Meerkats were BY FAR Isabelle's favorite animal. I, too, am a huge fan of them. When we got to the Meerkat Mounds, there were none to be found. Then, one lone sweetie pie emerged from a hole in the ground and gave us quite a show at the glass window. Isabelle was squealing with delight at this little guy!

We ventured though Monkey Land (as I like to call it). I'm not sure if she really knew what she was looking at, but we all really enjoyed the show the primates put on for us. It was a beautiful day (sunny, 70 degrees), so all of the animals were out and about enjoying the day.

My little monkey (yes, she was attired in a monkey shirt to mark the occasion of course) is very tempermental when it comes to being in the stroller. She either loves it or hates it. Luckly for us, the first part of our zoo trip she loved it! Here are a couple of pics of her chillin' in the stroller.

This is her pacifier, by the way. She will only suck those two fingers on her right hand. It's pretty funny.

After we ventured out of Ape World, Brendan decided to put her in the carrier so she would have a better view of the animals. Smart Daddy! Once we did this, she really started noticing everything. The giraffes were spectacular! You can see them in the background here.

We ate lunch and then walked through the Texas Wild! exhibit. It has different sections that show all the various landscapes of Texas and the wildlife found there. This picture was taken right after I pushed Isabelle through the aquatic section. She was screaming her head off while in the stroller, so I obliged and cuddled her after several minutes of listening to her cry!

While exiting the Texas Wild exhibit, we came upon this wishing well. Brendan tossed a quarter in as Isabelle watched it drop to the bottom. Too cute!

We strolled through the zoo on our way back to the front. It is such a beautiful place!

When you get to the front of the zoo, there is a wonderful flamingo area. They were very fiesty that day! Isabelle was fascinated with them.

Here's a family photo. I was so glad my dad was able to visit and join us at the zoo.

On our way out we stopped at the gift shop--I really wanted a stuffed Meerkat for her to mark the occasion. You can see by the way she is holding on to it, that she loved him!

Within 5 minutes of being in the car, she was out for the count! Mr. Meerkat was happy to relax with her on the drive home. Our trip to the zoo was wonderful, one that we will always remember. It was so neat to experience it with my little girl. It was like see it for the first time all over again. I can't wait for all of the other adventures that lie ahead!

Isabelle Is Growing Up!

Our little girl is growing up!

Isabelle is now getting her two bottom teeth. It is causing her some pain, but she is handling it pretty well. Also, she is saying Da-Da all the time! We talk about Dada ALL DAY LONG while he is a work. We also get a Ma-Ma mixed in there, but we're on a 90/10 split of how often she says Dada vs. Mama. It's hard to come to grips that my once tiny baby is now old enough to actually say words!

She is on a pretty good schedule, gets up at 7 am, gets 4 big bottles of milk each day plus 3 solid meals of veggies/fruit/cereal, and two to three naps, and then is in bed by 7 pm. As for new foods: I've tried giving her yogurt but it makes her gag. :-) We will venture into meats next month I think. I have tried giving her cereal puffs, but there's a problem. I have born a baby that does not like to put things in her mouth. Does this even exist???? The only thing she puts in her mouth are her fingers/hands/feet. She refuses to hold her bottle or the sippy cup, does not mouth her toys, and certainly will not put cold teething rings in there! She also does not like to have her hands touched. This makes it problematic when I try to grab her hand to SHOW her how to put things in her mouth, like food! Also, if you try to put something in her mouth she doesn't want, she zips her lips so tight I don't think a wrench could open it. Oh, our little Isabelle sure is something!

She loves playing in her jumperoo, and has started to roll over from her back to her tummy--but only on her own terms! I know she can roll both ways (I've seen her do it), she just doesn't want to have anything to do with it. She can sit well, and holds on to furniture while standing if I put her that way. She is pretty far off from crawling and pulling up on things I think.

So here we go with some recent pictures:

I am finally able to get her in these pretty party dresses that have been hanging in her closet since I was PREGNANT! Even though we don't have many fancy things to go to, I've started putting her in dresses for regular occasions like visiting friends. Here are some shots of her "all dolled up!"

We recently went to Loew's for a few things, and decided to try putting her in the shopping cart for the first time. It lasted about 15 minutes, and then the back arching began. I think we need another month or so before she is really sturdy. But the shopping cart cover worked great, and she loved getting pushed around.

I get together every week with Amanda and Tori for mommy/baby playdates. Since the weather has been nicer, we are going on walks and taking the kids to the park. We are almost to the age where they will start playing together!

I recently made a big batch of blueberry puree for Isabelle. I mix them in with apples, mangos, and pears. She loves them! But, it is impossible for her to eat blueberries without getting what I call the "Blueberry Beard."

Every couple of weeks, I go through her closet and drawers to make sure we are wearing all of her outfits, as to not miss out on anything. I have been doing pretty good, but the other day found this precious pink dress with matching bonnet--in a 3 month size. Dang! Missed the boat on that one, but I put the bonnet on her anyway and got a very cute picture of her.

Here she is on her favorite couch spot, grabbing those sweet little feet!!!

Grandma's Visit

Here are some photos from late January/early February.

Such a wonderful present! Miss Isabelle!




We are at my Godson Douglas's baptism here at Robin and Kyle's house. With only the three of us at home, we rarely get a photo with all three of us in it!

She just started sitting up really well, so I had to snap a photo of her in this precious one piece lace outfit.

Oh, how Grandma Seal would make her laugh! Here, my mom is saying the word "Squeaking!" over and over again in a high voice. I tried and she just stared at me blankly.

Our big snowstorm! We have learned that Isabelle is not a fan of the snow. God I hope she is a pool girl like me in the summer!

My mom built this snowman. Hershey Kisses for eyes, and wooden spoons for arms. :-)

I had to wake Isabelle from her nap one day so that we could leave for church, so I took the chance to snap a pic of her sleeping. We are still working on her naps, some days are better than others, but she does love her crib and her little lavendar bear blankie that she is holding on to here.

Grandma's visit meant lots of new toys, and lots of playtime! Isabelle is not a big mover, she just sits in the corner of the couch and plays. This is good for me since I'm not having to chase after her yet!

Grandma took over meal duty while here. Isabelle loved it!

Here she is with her hero--aka Daddy!

I can't get enough pics of her sitting. I think it is so precious!

Valentine's Day Baby Party

On February 13th, I hosted a Valentine's Day baby party for my mommy friends! Many of us had gotten together for a pregnancy party last summer, and now it was time to celebrate with the babies. 9 ladies were able to attend, plus me, so that makes 11 babies! (Tori in the bottom right corner is the mommy of twins, which upped our baby count!) Here we are in a group photo. Landon was the oldest at 10 months, and Ryan was the youngest at 7 weeks.

I laid out a nice spread of food with the help of my mom who was visiting from Chicago. We had pinwheels, fruit, cream cheese spread, sausage balls, and cherry tomatoes filled with chicken salad and avocado. We also had some pink punch (not spiked though, darnit!).

Here are me and my mom in front of the beautiful Valentine's cake. It just wouldn't be a party without cake!

My friend Melissa is a baby photographer. She set up upstairs in the game room and did photo shoots with each of the babies. Here is Luke striking a pose!

I am very blessed to have wonderful friends. Becky (left) and Robin both asked me to be their baby's godmother. I was so honored and in the last few weeks was able to be at both of their baptisms. Here I am taking a pic with Annie and Douglas, my Christian children (as Robin likes to say!).

Here is my godson Douglas giving me a very serious look.

With so many babies in the house, it made me think of the Octomom and how CRAZY her house must be! A baby was always needing to be fed, changed, put down for a nap, etc. But each of these mommies has taken to motherhood so well! We all love our little bundles of joy and had fun talking about it for the afternoon. Here are me, Robin with Douglas, Christine with Chase (standing in back), and Jennifer with Everett and Jenna with Ryan (sitting).

I am so lucky to have a neighbor right down the street who also has a little one! Christine and I got to take lots of walks together when the weather was warmer, and are looking forward to starting again soon once this cold stuff moves out of here.

Annabelle and Isabelle are sure to be great friends as they grow up!!! Their daddies have been friends since kindergarden, and we are super excited to be raising kids at the same time.

Kate just couldn't take it anymore. She had to take a nap! Her twin sister Ellie was sleeping on the couch!

Another group shot: from left to right. Robin/Douglas, Rachel/Landon, Jennifer/Everett, and Becky/Annabelle. Lots of new friendships were made!

Here are Rachel and I with Landon and Isabelle. I met Rachel at Brendan's work holiday dinner. Our husbands both work in the same area at Texas Health Hospital in Dallas. We randomly sat next to each other and learned how much we had in common!

We got to spend alot of time just hanging out with the babies. It was alot of fun! There were no meltdowns or catastrophies to mention. Just babies and mommies having a great day!