foa-wer.

{= flower.}

Last weekend the weather was perfect, and you know what that means: lots of outside time!!  Isabelle and I meet up with our sweet friends Abby and Kristen at the Arboretum.  We had the best time and the girls played so much!  They had so much fun playing with bubbles, in the one of the fairytale castles, with the ball, swinging in circles and just running around!!  Abby brought some pop-pops (as Abby likes to call them!) and shared with Isabelle!  Isabelle was definitely a fan of the sweet-goodness!! 

It has been the best to have the girls grow up together.  Abby is just 1 week older than Isabelle!  Kristen is such a sweet friend; always so optimistic and she has such a precious spirit.  We always have the best time together!  (go here, here and here)

{The only thing missing was Erin and her littles!!}

 bubbles!

 pop-pops!

 Abby and her beautiful mama!!

 the girls and their lovies!

ring-around-the-rosies!

Sweet Willie.

water!

isabelle was helping her dad water the

sweet little flowers that he recently planted in the front yard.

and yes, the flowers are b-e-a-utiful.

..during all the watering hoopla she became so excited by the

stream of water coming out of the hose.  these pics don't depict it

well, as you can imagine, capturing that would be

all but impossible on a regular camera.

she got soaking wet. & it was adorable x1 million-gazillion.

(never mind her hair.  i know that you are either perplexed or laughing your

buns off.  there are several braids; the teachers at school

enjoy playing beauty shop.  whatev.)

(also that bunny, or "mon-ey", is a close 2nd to

the infamous lovey. thanks mr!)

sew-it-ain't-sew.

.. the sewing.

If you remember, soon after Isabelle made her big debut my mother and sister-in-law gave me a sewing machine for my birthday. I had HUGE plans, dreams and hopes for sewing machine projects.  I could make dresses, monogramed shirts, pillows, the list goes on. 

I know how to sew and I had a daughter.  Just imagine all the trouble I could get into!! 
Then, sadly, the sewing machine sat. and sat. and sat.
Thanks to a little help* I decided that I could redirect my focus back to the sewing machine (which hadn't even been out of the box!).  Once I got it out I had to make SOMETHING or else I would continue to put it off.

& wouldn't you know?! I made Isabelle a simple dress in the matter of a few hours!
(albeit a little form fitting and long.  I tried to create a pattern and she was sleeping so I couldn't test it on her to check the size.)

I had some yellow gingham, that my sweet grandma recently sent to me, and some left over pink fabic from pillows I made for Isabelle's room before she was born. Perfect little Easter-time dress!

Growing up my grandma sewed a lot.  Everything, from clothes to blankets.  She any my aunt Michelle even made Michelle's prom dress!!  I know, impressive.

I can not wait to make more things.  I hope to soon take a trip to the fabric store and load up!

Here she is in her sweet little dress:

i get it.  they are all of her sweet face.  honestly, the face is far

more precious than the dress ;)

*I'm obsessed with a little present from dyer. It helps me keep my sanity & most importantly, enjoy the things that I love (including my sweet isabelle, dyer and rowdy.  and blog and sewing and relaxing and reality show watching.)

play!

If you've ever been to Texas, read about Texas, known someone from Texas, heard about Texas, lived in Texas you know that the weather is often times less than desirable.

Lucky for Isabelle and I it was one of those rare weekends where the weather was Perfect.  Yes, with a capital 'P'. We had the best time! Dyer (sadly) was out of town living it up in Vegas ..at a conference. Our weekend included: the Arboretum, relaxing, the Arboretum and, wait-for-it dork alert: sewing!

The Arboretum was too much fun! We have a yearly pass + it is convenient to our house and it is the Dallas Blooms so it was the best time to go! Isabelle played and played! She even met a few new friends! We will def be spending lots of time there before dreaded summer hits!

 {p.s. I think that these last 2 pics represent how

impossible it is to get a nearly-2 year

old to look at the camera.  Despite any jumping, whistling,

and "look, elmo is on my head"isms.  It is just not going to happen.}

pinch.

there are times, many times, where i pinch myself.

not only do i have the most precious of families, the most precious of daughters, I have the most precious {sweet, thoughtful, loving, patient, adorable} of husbands.

[I know what you are thinking.. one of those silly posts about my husband this, my husband that, blah blah.]

but really, who can sleep about 1 hour a night

due to a pager,

a ringing phone, a crying baby,

a paaaager, a restless dog, or a coughing/ tv watching wife??

who can deal with sick patients and their

often times

challenging parents all.day&night.long.

then come home to

an equally challenging

child and wife and pager

and dog??

(ok, maybe not the "dog" part, since omgosh dyer and rowdy are bff.)

(who wouldn't be rowdy's bff, he is simply the best dog ever!)

& still be ultra sweet, et al?

the answer: my other half.

the same guy that can make anyone's heart smile.

a few tidbits about dyer you may or may not believe:

he loves white rice and tomato sauce. he loves noodles and tomato sauce. he is not a big breakfast eater.or lunch eater. he is a one meal/day type eater. his first car: an "amry" (or camry, it was missing the "c" where the name was printed), his second car: the red rust bucket (or a red'ish jeep wrangler), his third car: the beast (or a blue grand Cherokee). he cooks. growing up he always had labs, the last one was Beau.he is a huge fan of houston sports teams (astros, texans, rockets). since he was little-tiny he has always wanted to be a pediatrician. he is one of those people that kids gravitate towards. he is immensely patient. no really he is. he has to be to be married to me. he has a huge vocabulary. in fact he almost like triple majored, including English. he went to baylor univ. he knows everysinglequote from pretty women, seinfeld, friends, moonstruck and a million other movies. he loves man on fire or schindlers list. he lets me pick girl movies, think: mean girls or clueless. he hates, hates, hates the movie down with love. he knows what shows i like and he will dvr them without me asking. he likes simpsons, family guy, House, dexter and modern family. he knows random old shows, think herman's head. he knows random episodes from random old shows (that i also know), think cherry in the fridge on punky Brewster. he is paying for a cleaning lady (<--which has been the best thing ever). despite being busy he will not pay a lawn service. he is the BEST gift giver and so sneaky about gift secrets! he talks to his dad every sunday, no matter what. he can multitask like nobody's business. he is the most efficient errand-runner. he put crown molding in ICH's room and our guest room. he does not dwell. ever. he does not perseverate. ever. he hates to travel. he loves the warm climates (that is why CHOP was never in the running for fellowships). he likes the same style of furniture that i do. his family has bunches and bunches of antiques. his fav color is blue. he always goes to the same procuts, for years, but does not have the same stylist. ever. he hates coffee, or anything SBucks for that matter. his favorite group might be the counting crows. he picked the name isabelle claire for our first born. & he pretends to sleep while ibelle steps/sits on his head; for that she shares her lovey. i could go on and onnnnnnn

[pardon the iphone pics.]

a-town.

[oh-so delayed.]

Like I mentioned in a prior entry, Ibelle and I made a big trip to Austin a few weekends ago for baby Finley's shower.  Orrrr is it Kara's shower??  Either way.

Little did we know that we would have the best time ever {although I pretty much thought we would}!!  Not to mention the fun time at G'ma and Garner's on the way home!!

Kara, Erin's little sister, is {patiently} waiting for the newest arrival, Finley Sophia.  Fin is due to arrive late-April.  I urge you to go here and check out her cute belly.
.. Well I just looked annnnd no belly pic of Kara on there.  But I promise she has the cutest belly ever.

My bff, Erin, is a sweetheart & despite having a 1.5 month old {and 3 yr old!!} she didn't slow down for a second during our visit.  I def need to take some notes when it comes to baby #2 (and no I'm not pregnant).  Her family is ALWAYS so inviting and so very sweet.  Never for a minute did I worry that Isabelle was going to bother them or get in the way; it was just perfect.  We actually had an opportunity to relax A lot!

Like I mentioned before, Isabelle was not a fan of the car ride down.  At all.  Even with her Barney mo-bee going.  Luckily, that was the only bump in the road for the whole trip.  Isabelle even slept like a dream once we got there; which gave her fretting momma a break and an opportunity to enjoy the shower.  She had the best time with her bestie, Grace, and my guess is that Grace had a great time too! A huge plus, i got to snuggle with the sweetest little boy, Andrew!! Seriously he is perfect!! 

..i know you are wondering, where are pics of the mamas???  well, in true

erin&des style, we forgot to take

any.  mostly b/c it

is all about the littles these days! And actually I had to steal one of those pics up there from FB.

{p.s. thanks to a really good deal on blue bell ice cream at kroger i've been eating a bowl of the creamy-goodness every night.  note to self: get rid of ice cream.  asap.  b/c summer is only 3 months away and ibelle will want to go to the pool. ahh.}

lil' helper.

Isabelle is such a little helper these days.  Thankfully she is just young enough to think that helping is cool & when she is helping she feels like she is doing big people things!

Whether is be doing laundry (never mind that the clothes she is putting in the dryer are dirty):

or moving furniture,

while holding rowdy's leash:

she can do all things grown-up.

gandg.

A few weeks ago on our way back from Austin Isabelle and I stopped and Grandma and Uncle Garner's house.

It was the MOST fun!!  We had such a good time.  The best part was just relaxing, eating and hanging out!!  Isabelle was in a great mood {which always makes for a nice time!}.

my fav pic??  the first one.  with the finger + the nose.

everythinglittlebitty.

every now and then i like to think that isabelle is still a little nugget ..like she is NOT a big girl.
thennn i'm reminded, she is growing leaps and bounds daily.

today i told her, "isabelle, let's go"
she said, "ess-go"

today i told her, "sit on your bottom"
and she did just that, sat on her bottom

today, when giving rowdy his treat, i told her, "tell him to sit"
she said, "ss-it" then gave him his treat; well maybe said it and gave the treat all at the same time.  ;)

today in the car i gave her a sippy cup,
after she drank from it she put the sippy cup in the cup holder that is on her car seat
amazing, no??

today {and a million days before} she pushed the button on the iphone to turn on the screen
then, she ran her finger all over the screen ..just like mama!

today i told her, "say isabelle"
she said, "ksjdfkl-el"

so then i told her, "say izzy"
she said, "iss-ssy"
amazing/cute x2, no??

today i asked her where rowdy was, she went to our closet (where rowdy spends most of the day), no rowdy
she puts her hands in the air in the idontknow gesture.

i asked her if she was done with her milk
she hung on pointed to the refrigerator door, i opened it, and she put her drink in

today in the the rear view mirror i saw ibelle putting her finger in her nose
i told her, "isabelle, don't put your finger in your nose!"
guess what she did????
yep finger jammed up her nose.

ok.  enough on our friday evening.  she is def growing up.

(HUGE thanks to all for the sweet words.  the day care thing, we continue to work on it.  our most recent inquiry said that the waiting list was a couple of years.  luckily, she seems to be happier in her class and they have had an extra teacher in the class to help out.)

helping daddy plant flowers and picking up leaves.