Isabella's 1st day of 2K!!

I CAN NOT believe that Isabella is old enough to go to school already!! I never thought that I would send her to a 2K program!! She was in daycare until the week before Elisabeth was born and still talks about her daycare friends!! She is happy to be able to be at home with us instead of daycare but we can tell that she misses her friends there, as well as the wonderful ladies that took care of her!! We have several friends that sent their children to 2K (also called pre-3K) last year, so Jason and I looked into it and decided that Isabella would go--but just two days a week! Selfishly, I am not ready for her to go any more than that!!

Waking her up for her 1st day of school!! We LOVE to wake her up in the mornings, she has absolutely no cal-lick and her hair usually all over her face, like a veil!! She is still so sweet in the mornings and LOVES to snuggle and be held when she first wakes up!



Her teacher came for a home visit a few weeks ago, last week we went for classroom orientation, and we have been counting down the days until school starts with her!!

I went and got her a new back-pack (that she sometimes calls a suitcase for some reason) that she loves and was so excited to take to school!!


Showing us how to put on a back-pack!!

A super nutritious breakfast of Corn Pops (her choice) and a banana!!


Elisabeth watching from her exer-saucer as we ate breakfast!

We could not get her to smile for this one--she was too busy telling us to hurry up, that she did NOT want to be late to school!!
And finally, in the car of the way to school!


Walking into the building, like such a big girl!!

We were so glad to go pick her up, the house was so quiet while she was gone!! As I was latching her car seat to come home she looked at me and said "Oh Mommy, thanks for coming to get me from my first day of school. I love you so much!!" Melt my heart and fill me eyes with tears right there--she is so sweet!!

Eating lunch with us and telling us all about her day!

After lunch we made a birthday cake for Jason's Dad, aka Papa and sometimes called Grandpa!!

The best part of being the baker, is licking the bowl and spatula once the cake is in the oven!

I don't get to say this often, but I think that she looks like me in this next one! She definitely loves chocolate icing, like I do--it is the best part of the cake!! :)

Sharing a piece with Papa--or rather eating his icing!

Birthday loves with Elisabeth!! She is so cuddly lately!!

I am so proud of Isabella and how great she did with her first week of school!!
I am so proud to be called her Mommy--being a Mommy to her and her sister is just the absolutely best thing ever!! I thank the Lord for them and the privilege of being their Mommy every single day!!

I am SO thankful!!

Jason had his gallbladder removed last Friday!! He had been having symptoms of a problem with it for a while but they got a lot worse last week!! After a visit to our family doctor, a gallbladder ultrasound, hida scan, and a visit to the surgeons office--it was removed Friday afternoon!!

As rotten as the long Labor Day weekend was, I am so thankful for so many things:
**I am so thankful that it was able to be done laparoscopically, and he was able to go home late Friday evening!!
**I am so thankful for my Mom and his Dad and all the help that they give us with the girls!!
**I am so thankful that Elisabeth doesn't scream when she is with my mom, like she does with everyone else besides Jason or myself!!
**I am so thankful that the girls handled it so well, very understanding that Daddy couldn't pick them up all week!
**I am so thankful for our friends that helped us by providing meals this week!!
**I am so thankful that the high (102) fever only lasted a few hours, even though it meant a night of antibiotics and fluids in the hospital!
**I am so thankful for our sweet friend Lori (and Drew-dawg too!!) who stayed with the girls until we came home from the hospital on Monday!!
**I am SO THANKFUL that we didn't catch any extra germs while we were at the hospital (those of you that know me well know that I am TOTALLY a germaphobic person--funny being a nurse, I know)!!

Last but not least, I am so thankful that Jason continues to feel better everyday!! Those of you that knew what was going on this week and prayed for him--I am so thankful for you and your prayers!!

CRAWLING--almost!!

As I mentioned, Elisabeth LOVES to watch Isabella! You can absolutely see on her face that she can not wait to be able to keep up with Isabella!! It is so amazing to watch Elisabeth hit her milestones sooner, because she watches and learns from Isabella! Isabella did not crawl until eight or nine months (I know that I should know that, but I can not remember) and Elisabeth will be crawling very soon! She thoroughly enjoys being on the floor and trying to scoot around on her tummy, so far she situates herself so that she can roll to whatever she wants to reach! She straightens her arms and can lift her tummy and upper legs off the ground, but not all at the same time just yet.


I know that her eyes are closed, but I love her smile in this one!

Never to miss an opportunity to have her picture taken, while I was taking these Isabella decided to climb into her toy box and have a seat!!

First time feeding Elisabeth cereal!

My girls have been different in so many ways!! One of the things is their appetites, Elisabeth was born hungry (probably why she was already 17 pounds at her 4 month well-baby) and we have pretty much always had to encourage Isabella to eat! Elisabeth nursed within the first hour of being born, and we had to work with and wake Isabella up for weeks to nurse! I have NEVER had to wake Elisabeth up to eat, she does NOT like to miss a meal!!



At her four month appointment her pediatrician and I talked about starting her on some cereal. He said that when babies are gaining weight so well and growing so much, they don't really need cereal at four months, but suggested that we start just trying at 5 months, and then getting real serious with it at around six months!!
Right around the five month mark we tried giving her infant cereal mixed with breast milk! By the third spoonful coming towards her mouth she was opening her mouth in anticipation! It is so much fun to watch her facial expressions!!



I have been trying to make some vegetables into baby food for her, for when we start that! So far I have made carrots, sweet potatoes and bananas! I am SO super excited for her to eat them soon, to know exactly what is in her baby food, to know that it was made with love, AND to save money!!! If anyone reading this makes or has made baby food, please pass along any suggestions or thoughts on the subject!!

Bath time fun!!

Isabella and Elisabeth will probably totally dislike that I posted these someday, but I had to document their first bath together!!
Isabella continues to be SO sweet toward Elisabeth--she wants to hold and play with her all the time, and even try to feed her!! Elisabeth continues to LOVE to watch Isabella do everything, she just stares at her in adoration!!! It frequently reminds me of how we should look at the Lord, with total and complete adoration and love!!
Isabella has been asking for weeks if Elisabeth can take a bath with her, so we decided to try it!

There she is looking at Isabella and below is what she was watching Isabella do!!

I just LOVE her hands in this one!!
It was a huge hit, and we will totally start doing this more often, especially as Elisabeth starts sitting up better!! Both girls just love to be in water of any kind--just like their parents (I wish that I liked to drink water as much as I like to play in it)!!

Sunflowers!!

There is a field of free Sunflowers near Florence, and we went and cut a bunch last Saturday! I love Sunflowers!



I am so not a florist, but this arrangement turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself!!
Now, a week later, I have pollen all over my table, but it was worth it!!

Catch up! A little update!

I thought that I would post some new pictures and updates from our life recently!

We have finally been able to catch some of Elisabeth's smiles and grins!


She doesn't look like it in this picture, but she usually loves her Jumper!!
She is so determined to roll over all the time that she is going to flip herself out of her bouncy seat soon!
She has also started to love to play in her exersaucer!
Sweet sisters!
She wants to be on the move so badly!! It will not be long before she crawls!
Elisabeth and Jack, future sweeties!
She looks like such an angel when she sleeps!!

Updated pictures of our garden, it has yielded tons of tomatoes!


Fun times playing in the pool!!





Jason decided to cut down a very ugly tree in our front yard! He told me to stay inside so that I did not worry to much!
Later in the week the city came by and got all the tree scrapes from the yard! Thank you City of Florence!!