A Family of Four!

Wow, if I thought I didn't have time to do a photo blog before I had Connor, I really don't think I have the time now!!! I could never have imagined the immense joy I would get from bringing another baby into this world. While life has never been more hectic, it also has never been more wonderful and blessed, and fun!!!

Brendan was home with me for a couple of weeks, then my mom was here for a couple of weeks, and in between I have had friends helping me out. I can't say thank you enough for everyone's support with meals, phone calls, visits, babysitting of Isabelle, etc. We are truly in the grace's of God among our wonderful friends and family. So I have really only been on my own with the two babies for a couple of days, and it has gone pretty smoothly (I think I can count only a couple of times I have slightly lost my temper, both having to do with Isabelle waking up the baby by poking him after I worked so hard for him to take a nap!)

Connor was hospitalized for one night with RSV, a serious illness in the lower lungs that can be fatal in newborns. He was wheezing, coughing, and congested, all thanks to his big sister! :-) We were blessed with many prayers from friends and family, and at Connor's follow up appointment at the pediatrician, she said she has never seen such a resilient little boy. His turn around was unlike anything they had ever seen, and for this we are so thankful.

Isabelle is the best big sister anyone could ask for. She loves "baby" so much. I keep trying to get her to say Connor, but it comes out as some strange alien language, so she refers to him as "baby." She has to know where baby is at all times, and MUST kiss him and hug him every chance she gets. While we have only endured one act of sibling violence (haha), she has never once seemed jealous or bothered by the amount of time he spends nursing in my arms, leaving me unavailable to her. Yesterday she was standing in front of him in his swing, and he was smiling at her. And then later she picked up a book and opened it in his lap and started "reading" to him. If things keep going in this direction, I think these two are going to be best buddies in no time. She is growing up before my eyes, and every day seems more and more "kid-like" and less baby. New words emerge daily, she walks up and down the steps (holding my hand of course!), eats at the table instead of the high chair, and LOVES the iTouch and iPad. She can navigate these devices just as easily as an adult. Grandma Seal brought her iPad for her visit, and needless to say we are ready to buy one as soon as we can get our mitts on iPad2 that was just released!

So here is the long line of pics I want to share. I hope you enjoy the sweetness of my family of four as much as I do!!!

Much Love,
Corrie

What A Fun Fall!

Hello everyone!!! In true Corrie fashion, it has taken me another couple of months to get on the ball and post another blog. Sorry for the enormous # of photos in this one. If I was more efficient with this, I would have category specific posts that include just a few shots. But because I can only force myself to do this every few months, I will be bombarding you with many pictures! Here is some recent information about sweet Isabelle.

She started walking a little bit after her 14 month birthday. It was so amazing to see the progression. First legs spread apart with the arms out to the side. Then the legs got closer, but the knees were still locked and the arms were out in front of her (very Frankenstein-ish!). Then the arms gradually came down, and now the legs and arms move like jello. I love this stage, even though she is in to everything! We have so much fun playing chase and climbing things. She loves playing in the backyard, too. The unfortunate part of this is that I have now assumed the job of picking up the dog poop (Brendan always used to do it) because we are out there all the time and she seems to be drawn to it like a magnet!

We are "practicing" for the arrival of baby brother in just 3 more months. I got her a pretend bottle, and we "feed" her baby doll and rock her. She also is learning to throw things in the trash when I ask her to, and pretty much understands everything I say to her so I think she will be mildly helpful to me once he arrives! :-)

For about a month now, she has been saying, "Bye!" at every chance she gets. First it was "bah bah" while waving, then Ba-ah, and now it's Bye-eee! Bye-eee! Bye-eee! every five seconds. I love it. I could listen to her say it all day. Wait...I do listen to it all day. But it never gets old.

She is a very picky eater, although I like to classify it as "knowing exactly what she wants." No veggies will make it in her mouth, but she loves fruit and drinking water and milk, so I figure she's getting the nourishment she needs from that. Give her a grilled cheese sandwich or a bowl of spagettio's and she's a happy camper. We are starting to learn how to use the spoon, but she needs just a bit more movement in her wrists to be better at it.

Finally, after 14 months of listening to wail after wail at nap time, she actually is enjoying going down for naps! We have a nice little routine. At 11 am while playing upstairs I say, "Want to go have a snack and watch Sesame Street?" She hops up, runs to the steps and we head down to eat a banana and cheerios in our high chair while watching The Street. Then around 11:20 I say, "Want to go upstairs and read a story?" She smiles and runs back to the steps and we head up to her room. We look through a photo album filled with pictures of her, and then I put her in the crib, she looks up at me, says "Bye-eee!", lays down to snuggle with her blankie and goes to sleep. She is still an excellent night sleeper; she goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 and I get her out of her crib at 8 in the morning. I know, I am kind of spoiled here but am hoping with having the same genes her brother will be very similar to her in this aspect!

Here are some pics from the last couple of months.

Playing around in the crib. This was the first time she realized she could stand up in it!!! But since I put her in a sleep sack for naps and at night, she rarely stands up in the crib.



Playing at the park with Meme in Corsicana.

Going for a ride in the baby doll stroller with her cousin Ella, 5.

Brendan's brother Jason and his family and us with Great-Grandmother Barto.


Tori and I showing off our baby bumps.

Some of those precious first steps!


Going for a "jog!"


In the ball pit at Annie's 1st birthday party!


First time walking with Daddy holding hands. So sweet!


Our little pearl sitting in the clamshell at the Heard Nature Museum.


Here she is throwing out her diaper. Big helper!


Feeding the goats at the pumpkin farm.



Halloween fun with cousin Ella. Go FROGS!!!!


Posing with the birthday girls, Ellie and Kate.




She's a big fan of the ring stacking toys!


Isabelle had a sleepover with her buddy Douglas. Here they are reading a story before bed.


Family photo at Douglas' Halloween themed birthday bash!


Isabelle wore her Halloween party dress and posed with her birthday buddy who was a Scottish Golfer.


Right before we took her trick or treating. She actually had a lot of fun being pulled in a wagon with her friend Chase. By the fifth house, she knew to take a piece of candy from the big bowl and put it in her pail. Other than a bite of a rice crispie treat and a 3 musketeers bar, Mommy consumed all the candy she collected. :-)

Isabelle's Birthday Party

Disclaimer:

Forgive my laziness on blogging! After much badgering by friends, I am finally updating this thing. The last few months have been interesting to say the least...I found out that I was pregnant at the end of May, and soon after began the downward spiral of misery that was my first trimester. I could barely transfer pictures onto my computer from my camera, let alone post on a blog! When Isabelle took a nap, I collapsed into bed. When Isabelle went to bed each night at 7, I went to bed too! Then, I felt better around the end of July. And at this point, my sweet baby girl realized I felt better and decided to start moving. She must have known I needed her to be a contented sitting baby during the first trimester, but once that was over she was ready to roll! So the last month and a half, I have been adjusting to the never ending cycle of chasing her around as she cruises on anything and everything. I am still trying to figure out how to get anything productive done while she is awake! Naptime is filled with showering, eating lunch or a snack, folding laundry, etc. So, once I figure that out I could possibly blog more during the day (but once she is in bed at night...mama is done for the day other than watching tv!) But then again, by that point I will probably have a newborn in the house, so let's shoot for 4 postings a year. I think that's fair! Haha!

Onto the big party. My friend Melissa took beautiful photographs that I will share here. You can see more of her work at http://www.houseofimagesphotography.com/.

I made this photo collage to show her growth over the first year.

Favors: Wooden blocks and a purple rubber ducky.

She started off as a very unhappy baby! But once she warmed up to everything, she had a great time.

We had about 35 guests. 9 of these guests were babies under the age of 1! It was so much fun to see them all together.

Libby was a great addition to the gathering.

My favorite pic from the party!!!

My mom and I had this outfit custom made for the party off of etsy.com (a great website of handmade stuff!)
Classic Isabelle yawn!

Everyone was clapping once we sang happy birthday, including Isabelle.

Birthday girl bloomers!


The following pics are of cake time. She was indifferent about the whole thing. I opted to let her be nimble with it rather than smashing it to pieces for her so that I could have extra leftovers of the cake! :-)

Oh how a year flies by! It's hard to imagine having a new member of the family at her party next summer. The party was crazy, but lots of fun. It was so special to be surrounded by friends and family, all of whom love little Isabelle.