2011: it is an even better one.

more belly.

2012-01-30T18:32:00.000-08:00

a baby isabelle and a baby sister belly.
{sister caroline.}

isabelle is the sweetest.
{most of the time.}

tonight she was loving on baby sister & let us take pics of her.
{both of which are miracles. i only posted a few pics since the upclosebellyandflatbellybutton is def not a sight to see.}

these are for my one faithful reader that just keeps on reading despite the lack of posts!! :)

36 week belly!

2012-01-30T18:20:00.000-08:00

because it has been far too long, here is another little comparison of the tummy at 36 weeks!

clh

ich

And actually, I am thirtyseven (!!) weeks today!
what do you think???

bff.

2011-12-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

Nothing sweeter than watching your daughter play with her best friend.

A few weeks ago my bestie, Erin, and her precious family came for a visit. We had the best time; it was so nice and relaxing to have our friends here for a visit. Being in Dallas away from family and friends we cherish having visitors!

Isabelle and Grace playing with the pumpkins.

Isabelle trying to bit the pumpkin.

bff.

{I wonder if they will end up at Baylor together?!?}

All.BOY.Andrew with sister Grace and Isabelle

28 weeks (!!!!).

2011-11-28T19:48:00.000-08:00

Thought you would like to see what the belly is doing this time vs the last go around:
(nope, i aint scared to show my belly. no face shots though).

Left pic is Ibellebelly (& mama was about 5 pounds less)

Right pic is BG#2belly

Hween 2011.

2011-11-12T18:21:00.001-08:00

Isabelle the ballerina!

Dirty baby.

2011-11-12T18:19:00.001-08:00

Mini-mama! She is ready for babe #2!! She is cleaning "diaaarrhea" (she must hear that word at school??) off of her baby.

Fence building.

2011-11-12T18:14:00.001-08:00

Fence assistant:

Such a big girl; in jeggings + chewing gum!!

Helping papa!

monthsandmonths.

2011-10-08T18:36:00.000-07:00

Although not back on a regular basis I thought I would drop in to update the world on all things that have happened since 6ish months ago:
1) baby #2 is being created at this very moment. yep, preggers again and finally starting to feel significantly better (at week 20) and started to feel that little girl booger move around (16.5 weeks) (I include the weeks so I can reference this for future babies). And nope, no name in sight. And, nope Ibelle has no understanding that I am pregnant.

2) Ibelle is a big girl! She is def assertive and persistent. Or maybe she just knows her mom is a push over. Funny the other day dyer put her in time out; in an effort to keep-her-there he kept placing her back in time out. She said "no push" in the most serious way, it was really funny. She likes just about all fruit and most foods. Bribing works: "oh, if you want a straw you better eat your PB sandwich", "want to play outside? pick up your toys." She still sits on the potty at night before bath and generally goes. She even saw Rowdy potty outside (the gross kind) and she has since done that a time or two while playing with "aqua" naked. She started ballet, she is doing much better than she was in the beginning. I will have to add some pICHs in her ballet shoes. Also, she loves to sing - mostly twinkle, twinkle and no more monkeys jumping on the bed. She is not into shows, although some mornings I wish she were!

3) Dyer is just being the best hubby a pregger wife and stinker daughter could ask for. In fact he has the Pedi-boards on Monday. Thoughts and prayers welcome :)

4) I turned 30. I got a fancy pair of shoes, PERFECT for a 30th b-day!

5) I visited AZ. My bestie, Erin, and her hubby Chris met Dyer and I in AZ for a fun filled few days. We did lots of outdoor stuff. Horse back riding, hiking, kayaking, laying out by the pool, the gamete. It was definitely the best vacation ever. And what better people to spend it with?!?

6) I'm an aunt again! Michelle and Ross welcomed little nugget Michael William into the world on Sept 30.

7) Decluttered my worrying brain!

8) Garner graduated!

Twenty months.

2011-07-06T18:50:00.001-07:00

What does a 20 month look like:
(yes, I know, the blog wad to be done; I couldn't handle having these pics sitting on my phone without anyone looking at them. +ibelle is cute.)

(eat OG bread like there is no tomorrow.)

(loving on their rowdy.)

(get stain on their head from running into some boards that were being stained.)

(sitting pretty. Such a biggie girl.)

(eat Yogurt!!)

(throw July 4th fits.)
(that is her yogurt-eating-stool. She sits on it for yogurt time.)

(plays ring around the rosies with daddy and her friends.)

(eat cookies!!)

Adios.

2011-06-04T06:21:00.001-07:00

Life is busy at the moment
{I type that as if that is new, ha!!}

So long little blog, we will be parting.. When the days become longer than 24 hours we will meet again.

{I couldn't resist a little pICH sussy!}

{funny, my phone has now autocorrected to "pICH" on it's own.}

stickerwicker.

2011-05-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

Isabelle got some stickers with the egg coloring kit we bought*. She LOVES them. It was a whole sheet of teeny-tiny stickers! Think: the little PAAS brand charaters. She has had the stickers everwhere, on her arms, her forehead, her clothes, our clothes and stuck to the floor. Who knew they would be such a hit!

*Easter pt 3 post is pending me finding the pics of Ibelle and her dad coloring eggs, they are currently mia. boo.
(Erin: do you notice the night jammies and xmas bow??)

:)

2011-05-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

pay = play.

2011-05-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

Isabelle loves to pay (play!). The other day Dyer and his dad picked up some sidewalk chalk - she was all about it. Sort of. She played and colored but mostly she was more interested in opening the packages of chalk. Funny, I had used a stick to open the cellophane on the chalk and little-mini found the same tiny stick and tried to open the other chalk rows! Too cute!
One of her little friends was outside too; when we asked Isabelle to share her chalk she was less than willing! So funny to watch little ones interact!!

gymnastics and a b-day!

2011-05-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Isabelle went to a birthday party for her friend Kaitlyn (Happy 4th Birthday Kaitlyn!!!). The party was so fun! It was at a gymnastics place and the kids had a blast! There was an obstacle course and trampolines. Isabelle had such a good time (and I think that she secretly felt like she was part of the big kids group!). She was so thrilled for the trampoline; she went straight to the girl that was coaching the kids and held her hands while they 'jumped' together (really Isabelle is still a little too young to understand jumping, but she loved it!). There was a fun obstacle course with all foam pit at the end. Isabelle loved all the different challenges, except the foam pit! I think that it was too hard for her to walk around in, which got her a little scared.

After the games were over all the kiddos had pizza and Capri Suns! (You can take a guess how the Capri Sun went, and if you are thinking something about her squeezing the packet and juice squirting out you'd be right!).

her sweet little slightly-pigeoned-toed feet-sies.

pizza time!! her fav is "pissa"!!

food!

2011-05-21T19:04:00.000-07:00

eating now:

eating one year ago:

I can not believe this was my little bitty nugget just 12 short months ago!! My how she has grown!!
She is really not all that interested in food. Most nights we are lucky to get some turkey lunch meat and a cheese stick in her; or a Yo Baby and a piece of bread! For the most part she is always hungry (or really, Thirsty!!, she has her words confused!) and will drink milk really well! Often times she will continue to say thirsty any time she sees any one's cup and like to drink from an open cup (vs sippy cup). She calls all crackers/pretzels/nilla wafers "cookies" and she loves craisins!

She is such a big girl and I can't wait to see what the next year brings!!

pick.

2011-05-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

Do you need a pick me up??

She is so funny, most times
when I ask her to point to her nose she does like this:

Gosh, this girl is awesome

{if i haven't already stated that a million times}

the best part about her

{other than the way she snuggles and makes my heart huge}

is the way that she lights up my day!

{ignore the stickers on her forehead and dried fruit on her cheek and crazy bow on her head.}

Moms day!

2011-05-20T18:08:00.001-07:00

Happy Mothers Day!!

I had the best Mothers Day spent at the arboretum! Such a great tine with my 2 loves, they are the best and make me smile from ear to ear!!!

The weather was perfect - ibelle played and played and played!!!

{out takes}

Garage.

2011-05-13T18:05:00.001-07:00

Ibelle hanging out in the garage. Dinking before school:

Easter pt 2.

2011-05-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

After the family Dyer left came the family Desiree. We had the BEST time with Garner and my mom! It was the most wonderful weather!! Huge Thanks to the Easter Bunny (who took Ibelle's basket to Grandma's house!) for some very fun Easter goodies! Isabelle got some movies, playdoh, bubbles and lots of LOVE! Gma was so sweet to bring a stroller - which has been a BIG hit! (and thanks to G for going to TRU for 2 hours while Gma shopped!) We can't wait for a return visit!

her two favs going for a ride!

Quin: my CPK from when I was little.

sans clothes.

throwing the ball to G.
{or maybeee she is trying to do a fancy shot off of her head. you decide..}

hanging out with the boys.

she seriously love garners.
{this pICH reminds me of the sweetest, cutest of tom-boys. just look at that face!!}

chasing after the ball. with stroller in tow.
{side note: our grass will neverever look this green again until next yr. silly HOT weather!}

more soccer.

{and yes that is a isabelle being carried while her dad runs for the ball. it was his way of including her since she

was sortofkindof in the way during their game!}
{this pic just might be worth the extra 2 seconds to click on it to see her head. she looks like she may have experienced whip-lash! :( }

Easter treats!

playdoh and a bucket full of eggs! so fun!

Isabelle getting a hand from gma to open her bubbles.

{do you spy a lovie??}

Would you believe there is an Easter pt 3???

EBunny is watching!

2011-05-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

Whaaatttt I really wanted to say was, "the Easter Bunny is watching you!"

{yes that is the sweet, cute little misses throwing a temp. & that is her

sad little lovie laying all alone}

{we were playing having a good time, then meltdown ensued. if you've been around a

toddl-id you know about these random fits that come out of NOwhere!}

{all i'm saying is: Good thing she is cute.}

Easter pt 1.

2011-05-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

Easter was perfect!! For Good Friday we had some exciting visitors!! Gigi, Grammie and Aunt Wynne made the 5-hour trip! Isabelle had SUCH a great time getting lots of loving!! She also got to stay home from school and took full advantage!! She played, colored and did all things FUN.

We were thrilled to have a few extra hands to help out with Isabelle; Dyer and I even had an opportunity to go out for a date night Cheesecake Factory and Water for Elephants! As much as we adore Ibelle and love our time with her - it was a much needed time away! We are so glad you all came and we can't wait for another visit!!!!

{I thought that these 2 pics were adorable! I couldn't choose!}

{Ibelle getting some sweet sugar before the fam left. She even got gifts!! Including this cute butterfly dress.}

MIA!

2011-05-07T20:23:00.001-07:00

Keep meaning to include this little explanation for the lack of posts:

- ibelle has been staying up later until 7 or a little after
- working on some projects, including these:

{kara, i know what your thinking.. The pinwheel shirt got messed up when I was doing the finishing touches.}

{yes, the dress is laying on an undershirt, I was trying to get some contrast.}{working on another little secret sussy too.}{& no, not a babysussy.}

- cleaning up things like this:

&

- tired. unable to put enough thoughts together at the end of the day for a juicy blog post.
- so i don't forget. A blog entry to-do list:
Add pics to Willie post•Garner pre-prom pics•upload all those posts from blogger that are 99% complete•pics of ibelle and her cousins•More ibelle videos (!!)•easter!
- lastly, and totally unrelated, love this. When I saw the commercial I may have just about cried and vowed I'd do this next time around with future babe #2.

tylenol.

2011-05-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

... this is what happens when you are in day care and get sick/fever every few weeks; tylenol becomes a staple in the daily grind. We've been through at least 30 bottles of tylenol and motrin in the last 20 months (sad, right???!). not kidding.

I can honestly say that we never specifically told her what the medicine was called - she just started saying it earlier today when she saw the bottle. So smart & evidence that she is ALL EARS all the time!

{i get it the video is not all that impressive, you should hear her in real-life!}

twenty.

2011-05-04T18:11:00.000-07:00

Holy cow.
She is twenty months.
{yes, 20. months.}

Isabelle,
You are such a joy. Had someone told me pre-pregnancy how much I would love something I would have never believed them. You are perfect in every way. You are so affectionate, saying "hole-dee" (hold me) and giving hugsandkisses all the time.
You are beautiful with your blond hair and blue eyes. You smell so sweet and I could just lay with you all.day.long. When you are sick it is so so sad; but all the cuddling you share with your mama makes her the happiest person ever.

Your favorite things to do are to go "ou-siiiide" (outside) and "sweeng" (swing). Just the other day you went outside and you played and played and played. Your favorite outside activity is to throw mulch (yes it is not our favorite activity). You are testing your boundaries. Although you are good 99% of the time, every once in awhile you like to see what you can get away with.

You are your father's-daughter: You are picky'ish eater, but you love your milk! Your favorite foods are yogurt, spaghetti, chicken nuggets from CFA, cheese, strawberries, dried fruit (chocolate pudding!! which you could eat whenever!).

You have lots of little friends in your class - most of which have been in your class since you started as a little 3-month old!! You love your babies and love to put them "night-night" ..which means you place a blanket on them and put their backs. Like pat them hard; we have to work on that. You have used your little potty every night before bath time over the last 2.5 weeks (except twice). So very impressive. We aren't going to push any further and let you direct training.

You love your movies ("moo-bies", mosty just Barney) - we watch them on the way to school in the morning and it is mommy's only way to have some quiet. You love the Elmo Song (lalalalala..elmos song...) video. You will even do the "lala.." part! And say the word "gabby" at the end of the song. You LOVE to have your daddy run after you and tickle you!! Sometimes you like to "hide" under the table in the dinning room and while we look for you and say "where is Isabelle" you stay very.very.still until we find you!
You will repeat most words, even saying, "excuse me", "so big" and "all done". It is all very, very cute! You will also mimic my inflection in words to the T!!! (Like if I do a high-pitched "Hi" you will do it the exact.same.way.)

I love it!! That is why I call you my "mini-mama"!!

I can't wait to see where you are 20 months from now! and 20 years from ..nevermind, I can wait for that!! You are truly our little cutie pie and we love you like crazy!!

XOXO

StrollerRoller.

2011-04-28T20:43:00.001-07:00

A girl and her stroller.
Adorable.
Really it is!
{thanks gma for the perfect easier gift!!}

ibelle + dyer.

2011-04-18T19:02:00.000-07:00

isabelle is our life.
really she is.

defeat.

{isabelle likes to push us over. we act all-dramatic-like and fall onto the ground. she loves it so how could we not be-all-dramatic-like.}

huge craving.

2011-04-18T18:32:00.000-07:00

Dear Cupcake,
Come get in my belly asap. ibelle will appreciate some of your yummy goodness too.
{yes, the dietitian offers her daughter sugar. it is all about moderation.}

*day # 3 of pee in the potty before bathtime. i'm trying not to get cocky. & i guess if you leave anyone on the potty long enough they will eventually pee.

Gem.

2011-04-17T19:13:00.001-07:00

Such a cute little sassitude!!!

{she loves her necklaces on her arm!! prec.}

Paaay!

2011-04-17T19:07:00.001-07:00

or Play.

We had the best time this weekend:
The weather.
The at home husband/dad.
The siiide (slide).
The siiing (swing).
The new water table toy.
The play time with rowdy. (ibelle can now say rowdy!)
The weather.
All perfect.

{& she peed in the potty again tonight.}

Paw-tteee

2011-04-16T20:17:00.001-07:00

I know this is a little random:

But.. a little ibelle has been very interested in the paw-ttee (potty) the last few weeks. Even pointing to the front of her diaper and saying, "pooooop" or "pee".
(Not that her saying that actually correlates with annnything.)

I've talked about getting ibelle her very own potty and when we at the store today we picked one up!!

She was so interested in it and sat on it several times today; while looking at a sight book before her bath she Peed!!!!

I know this means Nothing!!! And it was simply an ironic occurrence of pee. And for real pooty training will likely happen a year from now..

But ohmygoodness it was still so exciting!!! Rather than make her feel any pressure or anxious about it I figured I'd leave it up to her to initiate sitting on it. :)

dirtee-thirtee.

2011-04-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

Someone is the big threezero.

Me and Ibelle love that thirteeeeee year old guy.

:)

jewelry.

2011-04-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

A {nineteenthmonthold} Isabelle enjoys her jewels.
Seriously. Loves them.

A {nineteenthmonthold} Isabelle will put a bunch of old necklaces on her arm.
Yes, a ton.

A {nineteenthmonthold} Isabelle will then walk around all over with them.
Adorable.

A {nineteenthmonthold} Isabelle is a girl after her mama's heart.
I love looking at jewelry. I think, "someday."

A {nineteenthmonthold} Isabelle warms my heart.
Every moment of every day; can not believe she is 19 months. well ok: almost 19.5 months.

A {nineteenthmonthold} Isabelle will pitch a fit.
At the drop of a hat.

A {nineteenthmonthold} Isabelle loves to eat "serrr-ral" (cereal) for dinner.
Every single night. Why? See above. fit.fit.fit.

A {nineteenthmonthold} Isabelle loves the swing.
She gets mad if you try to put her baby doll in the swing.

A {nineteenthmonthold} Isabelle is a mini-hntz.
Really. She looks just like dyer's fam.
A {nineteenthmonthold} Isabelle is the best thing ever. ever.
I love her x millionbazillion.

{yep, there is the nineteenthmonthold + her diaper playing in the backyard.}

threetwentytwo.

2011-04-01T18:58:00.000-07:00

do you ever wonder where the dh+dk started??? {i know, probably not.} but if you did consider going here.

& then that time where dh+dk became dh²?? here.

you know that part in between, where dh: the orig. asked me to be his WIFE??!?! the part that happened 4 years ago?? the part that i will never ever forget? well, here it be:

3/22/07, on our 4 yr anni. dyer treated me to dinner at Pappa's Steakhouse. if you know dyer, you can appreciate that this had to be a huge celebration to be eating somewhere so fancy!! like any and ALL girls, every significant occasion could be the one where the bf proposes. i thought for a moment, "maybe it will happen tonight." by that fact that we were eating at a nice restaurant should have clued me in! at one point during the meal dyer went to the bathroom (i know what you are thinking, and no he didn't have my ring brought out on a plate or with our dessert!) at which point i texted my aunt to say, "nothing" - to imply there was no ring.

anyways, once back at his apartment he told me that there was something he wanted to show me on the balcony. while we were sitting out there he brought out a scrapbook with a "..story of a prince and his princess."

(i will leave out the details of how the scrapbook came to be; but do know that dyer did make it himself! ..while he was suppose to be studying for Step 1, or was it Step 2??)

each page of the scrapbook included another 'chapter' to the story:

"once upon a time .."

"..in a far away land. there was a prince that met a girl.."

(we met at Baylor. that piece of paper was the original paper that i wrote my phone number on as we were both leaving Moody Library at Baylor, where I worked and he studied. the receipt was the first time we went to Jason's Deli. and the pic was our first pic together. it was at Dia Del Oso on dyer's birthday, 3 weeks after we started hanging out. the same b-day that i made him cookies. now i know he hates cookies.)

".. they went to beautiful plays and watched many events"

(those are ALL of the tickets from every.single.movie, play, concert and sporting event we ever went to. he had kept them all from the past 4 years.)

"..he searched far and wide .. even fighting off a dragon."

(that is him next to his step-dad's boat a few years ago. 'dragon', aka Rowdy. dyer playing tug-o-war with a Popsicle stick with the 'dragon' and skeet shooting.)

"the prince and the princess lived happily ever after."

(the red ribbon had the ring attached!! the very same ring that willie gave dyer.)

(& no I truly didn't think that he was going to pop the question until 3/4 of the way through the book. i initially thought he was just being really sweet!)

(of course there were many other pages, these were just a few.)

to this day i still love looking through the story. the proposal was perfect (nothing less that what i expected from dyer!). he is, and has always been, so thoughtful and completely selfless. the past EIGHT years have been amazing; heres to a millionbazillion years together! :-)

foa-wer.

2011-03-28T18:04:00.000-07:00

{= 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.

2011-03-22T20:20:00.001-07:00

water!

2011-03-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-03-17T18:44:00.000-07:00

.. 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!

2011-03-17T18:30:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-03-11T20:09:00.000-08:00

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.

2011-03-11T19:20:00.000-08:00

[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.

2011-03-11T18:35:00.000-08:00

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.

2011-03-11T18:02:00.000-08:00

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.

2011-03-11T17:49:00.000-08:00

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.

series.

2011-03-04T19:39:00.000-08:00

a series of random thoughts got me to thinking about the movie "Marley and me".
{don't ask me how my brain got to that specific movie. it was pretty involved sequence of thoughts.}

then i was reminded how the movie made me well up.
{garner & i went to see it.}

how parts of the movie were so sweet and parts were so sad.
{little did i know that i was PREGNANT with isabelle.}

honestly, until today i hadn't thought much about it.
{pregnant + well up. i think my subconscious knew i was with child.}

i found out i was pregnant just 3 days later.
{& no, i'm not pregnant now.}

i need to make a point to document all of these things for ibelle.
{i have these crazy thoughts that someday ibelle will cherish all the stuff i chronicle about our young family.}

behind?

2011-03-03T18:54:00.000-08:00

{18 months}

gosh, again i fall behind.
(insert a picture of i'm a little behind yard art here.)
(maybe you don't know what i'm referencing, i tried to find a google image to fit the bill. no such luck.)

Anyways, isabelle is getting bigger (25.5 pounds!!).
she moved into a new class at school*

she is wearing big kid shoes.
in fact she out-grew the precious keds, or maybe her foot grew wide (??).
her precious dad took her shopping today to Stride Rite and found the cutest little sneakers! dyer told me that she loved the shopping trip. i'm not surprised ;)

she is talking. a lot. but only to dyer and i. i promise she won't say a peep if anyone is around.

she made a funnerthanfun trip to austin for a baby shower. while we were there she got to hang out with her bestie, grace, and see the cutest of Fin-bumps. & i got to hang out with my bestie, erin. it was a win-win!! plus, we got to see grandma and uncle garner on the way back!

she LOVES puffed corn (think pirates booty).

she loves her moo-bees in the car. specifically Barney.

she loves bo-bules (bubbles) outside in the perfect weather or tasking with ba-bules (bottles), which she loves to put together, take apart, put together ..

she loves to give kisses and bother her brother (rowdy) and go for walks and look at books and eat dried fruit and say "no" to everything and hang out with her dad and color

she is sweet. if you pretend to cry, she will come over to comfort you, usually giving you a hug and kiss. perfectly cute!

she constantly makes my heart smile.

* woe is me school edition. initially i thought, gosh my little is getting bigger and bigger, i was excited about nap time
on a mat, sitting in big kid chairs for meals, more freedom to just play, going outside during the day, maybe even a littlelotta excited about the cheaperby10$rate
.. then the school decided to do work on the outdoor area, so no outside play time until mid-april. then the rate went back up, ironically, to the amount we were paying just prior to the class change. then i realized that isabelle's teachers can't remember kid's songs, isabelle's name (it is not esabella or isabella). then ibelle decided to cling to me, each.and.every.day. when it was time for me to leave her or say "bye-bye" or "no" when we pull up to the school. please pray that something works out.

tide.

2011-02-23T18:53:00.000-08:00

to tide you over:
Or is it, "to tie you over"? Anyways..

{UNTIL i can get some time to get some blog
posts done&done on the laptop.}
{mostly bc after seeing my iphone posts on a regular computer I am SO

disappointed by the picture quality.}

{agh.}

{the end.}

{enjoy with caution, b/c these 2 + Rowdy, will make your heart explode.}

*taken 2/20/10, what a dif a year makes.

.. a final thought, do the terrible twos really actually start at 1.5 yrs????!! I am thinking yes.

Yumm!

2011-02-16T19:45:00.001-08:00

oh these two. what gets me through the day is a dyer & ibelle (& rowdy!!) sandwich!

more of our perfect weather weekend!!!
& bc I love that darling hood dress (a gks orig.!)

Potato-pataatoe.

2011-02-16T19:38:00.001-08:00

in case you care, winner of biggest potato ever prize:

even rowdy looks a little fearful!
Yes, this represents the class of pics found on my iPhone.

Fraggle.

2011-02-16T18:53:00.001-08:00

I died laughing
& still do.
Maybe
ignore this if
you don't
watch AI.

If you do watch, you remember when the camera man asked this guy, "do people say you look like anyone?", the contestant said, "Seth Roggen," thennn the camera man said, "no, you look like Fraggle Rock*."

Funniest thing
ever.
No
contest!

* there isn't a YouTube video.

vday 2011.

2011-02-14T18:13:00.000-08:00

Perfect little valentine!

so maybe this picture isn't really from V-day 11, but rather a few weeks ago. i had hopes of posting today's picture ..unfortunetely, Isabelle's valentines day outfit got messed up (like, had an accident at school kind of messed up). So this picture will work.. +she is wearing red! here is a an

Ibellevdaybaby 2010:

&, just for good measure:

{6 months!}

Atv groupie.

2011-02-13T18:29:00.001-08:00

(likely this is one of those you had to be there stories. Use your imagination…)

today while dyer was washing the cars ibelle and I just played outside. Our neighbors down the street have an atv. The kids would drive up and down the street on the atv, even waving at ibelle at times. well after about 2 passes Isabelle was hooked, she was a groupie!! No lie, each and every time they would come down the street isabelle would scream with excitement and run towards the street!

It was so cute!!
maybe not the running toward the street part.

Sat/sun.

2011-02-13T13:16:00.001-08:00

Goodness. We have had the
best weekend.

You want to know why? Bc
it was warm, we had jdeli,
got chores done, mary
and smurf (cars) got washed,
ibelle played her little heart out
(and apparently her food
too; this morning I noticed
an unfortunate event took place, in her
crib, sometime last night. vomit!),
Rowdy did some major
snoozing, mostly
we just had fun in the great weather.
Evidence:

cou-ler!

2011-02-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

isabelle is a huge fan of crafts! specifically coloring (or, as isabelle says it, "cou-ler") and finger paints! both can keep her entertained just long enough (then she hits a point were the excitement is over, usually around the time she needs a nap, and all items end up being pushed all around her tray or on the floor in a big wet-painted mess or riped).

this was during the snowdaystwentyeleven, so excuse her i-just-woke-up-and-my-mom-threw-this-bow-in-my-hair and PJs look. she will generally start out with the crayons and move towards the paints, which like i mentioned before, she is very aware of their hiding spot in the cabinet. notice her monkey PJs, she loves to try and take off her "shoes" (aka monkey feet!).

sNOw other.

2011-02-12T19:22:00.000-08:00

Dallas experienced weather like sNTw other!

The week started out with ice on Tuesday, more ice Wednesday, snow Friday (6 inches!), everything thawed out Saturday, just in time for more ice with a little snow the following Wednesday. We/Dallas could not catch a break. I felt how people in Alaska or North Dakota must feel all. the. time. like there was no end in sight. With all the weather issues came school closures. Isabelle's school was closed a total of FIVE days. (A LOT of people have asked, do we now have a week of paid daycare in the future?, the answer is no...)

All-in-all this series of weather + no school events, ironically enough, came at just the right time. I speak for Ibelle and myself when I say that the 2 days together were much needed to refill our energy tanks! Normally our time at home is a whirlwind of cleaning, grocery shopping, play dates and chores at the house, it was so nice to have a whole bunch of uninterrupted, undistracted (ßif that is even a word!) time loving on my sweet girl.

The days off were not without stress; for 2 parents that both work in a hospital arranging childcare was a challenge. Luckily we both had management that was understanding of our situation and we were each able to take a few days off, then we had someone watch Isabelle one of the days. I am looking forward to a week of no weather issues!!

Isabelle is just old enough to realize that snow is not the norm and it is COLD! We had a lot of fun on Friday playing in the snow! I wish I had some pics of Rowdy; he LOVED it too!

At one point Dyer had Ibelle lay down to make a snow angel. She was so completely over the snow & cold by that point (yes, that is crying in the picture!)..
T

(huge thanks to Erin for lending Ibelle clothes. in the stash of clothes was a thick jacket and boots!! without those items i think we would have had a very, very cold little girl! .. even the pants were Grace's!)

pICH.

2011-02-11T17:51:00.001-08:00

Here she is being all adorable-like.
{clearly not
the best
quality
iphone
pICH, but
does demonstrate
the cuteness!}

{& no
her eyes
are not
brown.}

EverykissbeginswithK.

2011-02-11T17:40:00.001-08:00

big valentines day news:isabelle can give real kisses! yes the smoochie-smackie-wet kind of kisses! just tonight she gave us some sweet love!!

maybe ibelle's dad had this fun sweet v-day love waiting for me!!
(yes, I just had to blag!)

bath tonight.

2011-02-09T18:27:00.001-08:00

B/c I can't stand how cute she is* & I'm that mom:

BATH
&
bubbles

(*in fact, I just told dyer if ibelle wasn't human I would eat her.)
(weird, I know. The eating kid thing is a parent thing.)

Bg.

2011-02-09T18:00:00.001-08:00

{big girl}

•This was Pre-snowdaystwentyeleven.
•Love a little miss in a lumber jack shirt!

2nd yr.

2011-02-06T18:27:00.001-08:00

time left until 2nd year of fellowship:

can't wait!

(juuust turn your head sideways!)
(& for fun, go here: this happens to me all. the. time.) (thanks Ems for the funny!!)

Seventeen.

2011-02-06T17:55:00.001-08:00

Our almost 1.5 year old is amazing, for so many reasons:
• the way she smiles.
• the way she blows her nose on a tissue (or a little plastic football we have, which she then wipes the ball with the tissue. I know, eww).
• the way she LOVES dogs (I even recorded the Puppy Bowl for her!). Everything that remotely resembles a dog - is a dog, like a horse is a dog.
• all the new words she says, "no", "noe" (nose), "moe" (more), "mel-mo" (Elmo), "noo" (snow), "eye", "coul-or" (color), "pease" (please), "y-ion" (lion), "monn-ey" (monkey), "moo-bee" (movie), "maa-maw" (Grammie/ grandma).
• she can point to most body parts; my fav is toes and fingers, she will move her digits all around when you ask her where her toes/fingers are!
• how she says, "hiii" anytime she knows there is someone on the phone.
• she wants me to hold her hand and help her with kid games on the iPhone (really she does. she puts her hand in mine with her finger pointed, ready to push around the screen!).
• how she loves to clean!! If she spills milk and we tell her to clean it up, she will go get something to wipe it up with.
• when you tell her to put her hands in her pockets, she gets the concept, but searches for her pockets in the middle of her shirt/jacket!
• LOVES the bath!! Loves to have her teeth brushed (most times).
• wants to feed rowdy all the time, which he isn't all that fond of! I asked her today if she wanted a treat, instead she went over to Rowdy's treat area!
• she also wants to love on rowdy all the time, which he alsoooo isn't all that fond of!
• she likes to push her princess car around (& to her parents dismay, run it into things, the wall, the dresser..).
• loves to color, we have these crayola chunky crayons that she loves!! Also loves finger paints and knows exactly. where. they. are hid!
• loved the snow. loved eating the clean snow. we were outside earlier and she wanted "moe" snow!!!
• loves books; more specifically loves looking at books while sitting in your lap!
• she puts her drink in the specific-cup-indention on her high chair tray, or she'll put it on a coaster.
• likes cheese (spicy kind!), avocado, milk!, bread/crackers of any kind, pudding, yogurt, hotdogs, hot cereal, banana, pineapple, spaghetti, nutri-grain bar, drinking water from a straw.
• how much her mom and dad can love that little miss!!
{Isabelle, we love you x millionbilliontrillion!!}

{Isabelle attempting to sit on her anywhere chair/stool. Soo cute!!}

Oneteen year old.

2011-02-05T21:00:00.001-08:00

{yep, that is lipstick.}
{yep, she had it everywhere. this pICH is hardly representative. it even got wiped on the cabinet door.}
{yep, she is still adorable, even with those unintentional bangs, a crazy hair-don't.}

OGs.

2011-02-05T19:20:00.001-08:00

as you know we use cloth-type diapers with isabelle. They are cloth on the outside, which you wash, with a diaper-like insert that you throw out or flush (technically you can buy cloth inserts if you want).
Initially I was not a fan of gdiapers (<-- seriously, go there if your confused) but they grew on me. Not that we don't completely avoid regular diapers. B/c we don't, like for ibelle's school and those times when we know disposable is in our best interest!

All this leads me into what I came across today.. after a series of events that included me discovering that gdiaper had a Facebook page, I found this:

{crazy!! 40$ for a diaper cover??! after reading on the FB page i'm. not. surprised. those moms are obsessed with all thing gdiap. if fact it reminds me a little of the beanie baby craze of the 90s!!}

Deer!!

2011-02-05T08:10:00.001-08:00

a few weeks ago Isabelle & I headed to the arboretum. The weather was perfect and we had such a good time!!

Funny, Isabelle was trying to "feed" the deer sculptures! It was the best!! She tries to feed rowdy things all day long, so I guess the same goes for deer!!

mrs clean.

2011-02-02T18:45:00.001-08:00

baby girl is def her mother's daughter for so many reasons, especially cleaning {dyer would say that maybe she is a little dramatic like her mom}!!! i can't say that cleaning is my most favorite thing ever... but i do like things clean.

Enjoy the video too!! (here)

Bath time!! Excellent!!!

2011-02-02T17:56:00.001-08:00

:think bill/ted.
Wow! For a little one that did Not (insert: hated) bath time for a good 2 weeks, she sure is a huge fan!!!
She splished&splashed like there was no tomorrow!

{yep, that is her splashing around.}

{my baby girl is now big girl. tear.}

2010 things.

2011-01-26T18:09:00.001-08:00

{I get it, this is super outdated, I realized it was hanging out in my drafts.}

2010, taught me that:

1. little ones sure do learn & grow so fast, faster than I ever thought was possible

2. more babies were born to our family and friends than I ever thought was possible

3. i learned I had more patients than I ever thought was possible

4. i pumped more than I ever thought was possible (tmi. I stuck to it for far longer than I ever imagined!)

5. i reasoned more than I ever thought was possible

6. i loved my iPhone more than I ever thought was possible

7. i learned that my heart could grow more than I ever thought possible

8. i learned I can understand more than I ever thought was possible

9. sadly, spent more on childcare than I ever thought was possible (9,300$, in case you care)

10. loved my daughter, husband and family more than I ever thought was possible

Um kay. Now on to 2011!!

{bc I love this girl.}

Saturday funday!

2011-01-22T19:47:00.001-08:00

Today was perfect in so many ways. Mostly because it was Saturday & ibelle and I got to hang out! Then there was a super fun birthday party, ibelle + her dad time and ibelle + shoe time!

{love the red sparkly and pink plastic croc shoe??? Her choice!}

As I mentioned before, Isabelle loves shoes. All. the. time. she is stalking me to put on my shoes or to put shoes on her. It is the cutest thing of all time. (except when..*)

I love these moments!!!

{striking a pose while waiting to let rowdy in.}

*Funny, last weekend I wanted her to wear specific shoes, but they wouldn't fit with socks. I got an alternative pair but she wouldn't have it!! Turns out someone had a huge shoe meltdown!! I don't think anyone can appreciate that unless they dealt with a 16 month old with sass!!

Smile.

2011-01-20T19:32:00.001-08:00

Little girls dance their way into your heart, whirling on the tips of angel wings, scattering gold dust & kisses in our paths.
Author Unknown

{I love my little girl.}
{ich at 9 months.}

Line a day.

2011-01-17T20:06:00.001-08:00

I keep thinking about the new year & I keep thinking about something that I can {realistically} do that perfectly compiles a collection of all things 2011!
Initially I thought about a line a day memory book*, but I figured it would be far too much commitment. I mean everyday?
.. The next best thing, a line a week via the blog. Someday (in my next life!) I want to do a blog book and I'll have all these entries to look back on.

{I have a song in my head, sean hayes: it's powerful stuff, which reminds me of jack johnson: better together. iTunes them.}

Anyway, goodnight.

*know that just about every post will likely have to do with little miss. that is just the way it is.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Page.

2011-01-17T19:38:00.001-08:00

Funny, yet true story.

Isabelle loves to find very random "treasures" and carry them around.
Her most recent was a pager; she carried it around yelling "dada, dada". Preciously, perfect.
She knows her dad is attached to his pager (in fact, every other night). Some nights it may go off more than 20 times, no kidding.

(I wish I would have taken a pic!)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Lil' miss.

2011-01-17T18:51:00.001-08:00

Fyi: I have so many nicknames for isabelle.
{ibelle, isa-smell, sweet pea, peanut-weenut, cutie-patootie, sweetheart, chunky-monkey, lil' miss, &someothersicantthinkof.}

{Um, that's all. & know that i huge/huge/kiss/kiss her all day long. maybe I BEG for kiss/hugs all day long too.}

{Now, enjoy some pICHs of the peanut sorting through grocery bags. Do know, this was a way big to do for her. She was serious about her can sorting.}

{do you see rowdy hanging out at the bottom of that top picture.}

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Better.

2011-01-10T19:34:00.001-08:00

There is nothing better than to watch ibelle and her dad hang out together. Like I mentioned before, Isabelle loves her dogalog book. Seriously loovvees it. Here she is {again with the hibernation} with her dad reading her book. Rowdy was getting in in the warmth. :)

I include this pic (which is just like the other) only b/c I'm stumped by Rowdy's face.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Paint fav.

2011-01-10T19:22:00.001-08:00

Ibelle loves to paint, or do any crafts for that matter!! The other day at school her teacher, Laura, told me that any time they get the crayons or paints out ibelle is the first to squeal!! She loveeesss everything that has to do with art time and she brings home the best projects!!! Santa even brought her some paints and crayons in her stocking.

Yesterday, while spending some time hibernating (it was snowing outside!!), we had finger painting time making cards!! She had the best time!!! Love this girl!!

you see that sweet funny-duddy rowdy down there at the bottom??.. He never misses a potential-food-op. Ever.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cheer.

2011-01-10T19:06:00.001-08:00

Give me a "I"!!!

I think that ibelle looks just like a little cheerleader (wearing warm ups of course) in this little GAP fleece pants and hoodie with pony!!
Love it (thanks Grammie fir the cute outfit)!! Sad, I could Not get her to stand still, pics with a one yr old - this is what you get!!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

sombrero: uno año.

2011-01-08T19:31:00.001-08:00

The same precious pink hat made by my gma, worn about 13 months* apart:

*the reason I know the first pic was about 13 months ago is b/c it was the day dyer was putting up Xmas lights last holiday season.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

ibelle favorite snowman.

2011-01-08T18:46:00.000-08:00

2010

(15 months)

2009

(3 months)

(i know you are going crazy right now.. she is such a big girl.)

the nose knows.

2011-01-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

Isabelle is able to point to certain body parts. Her mouth, hair, belly, foot and I am sure there are a couple I am forgetting to include. Her favorite: her noush (nose)

xmas post {finally}.

2011-01-08T18:33:00.000-08:00

Christmas was a riot for so many reasons, namely this:

{she is my sweet little sugar and spice! love my little peanut!}

Honestly I knew that the Holidays would be a blast+ with a little one ..but what I didn't realize is how fun it really would be {and maybe how tiring it would be?}. Little Isabelle got a slew of toys, from fake food to a bug car to mega blocks to a car DVD player (mommy's #1 gift!!!). There is nothing like celebrating with a little one vs. with a bunch of older people! :)

The Holiday got started with a little mommy and me time on The Eve (yes I took the 24th off and relaxed with Ibelle and prepped all things for the fam's visit). My mom and Garner came to visit on Xmas day and stayed the weekend - we had Xmas dinner with all of the fixings! My mom gave Isabelle the Velveteen Rabbit book and movie (along with a copy I had when I was little). Everything was wonderful (minus the part where Dyer worked/ was on call ..but alas it the life of the MD folk, although he did get off at a very good time each day).

Dyer's mom, Grammie, and Gma, Gigi, came down the 26th after celebrating Christmas Day in Houston (we missed you Aunt Wynne!). What fun we had! Isabelle got plenty of Grammie and Gigi loving! They even let her hangout with them in their big bed! I'm sure Isabelle thought she was big girl stuff! Isabelle got the most precious presents from Dyer's family - a Christmas plate setting and matching tea set (they started the tradition last year with a plate setting). Once Isabelle is grown, I can't wait for her to have and treasure the dishes.
(caution: pic overload!)

{ibelle and I with the Velveteen Rabbit books, aka the most perfectly thoughtful gift. Thanks mom!}

{the family Htz.}
{if our shirts look familiar .. it is b/c we wear these same outfits every yr!}

{G, me and mom eating our yum feast!}

{g'ma and Isabelle!}

{Isabelle + uncle G + rowdy + her car. you can push her around the house a million times to beat an Ibelle bad-mood-bears.}

{princess ICH and her presents!}

{isabelle & gigi playing!}

{notice rowdy loving having people to lay with!}

{a gigi and grammie sandwich! they just love their girl!}

Love.

2011-01-04T18:26:00.001-08:00

Remember how I was just mentioning that ibelle is a huge dog lover?? Here she is with her dad looking through the Dogalog

She will carry around that book all over the place looking at each and every different kind of dog. Adorable? I think so!

Dancing.

2011-01-04T18:06:00.001-08:00

Isabelle loves to dance!! Here she is with her dad and her {new} silver dancing shoes. She is too fun! & she loves her lovey.

The best: She gets babies in on all the dancing by picking them up maybe just jumping them around, either way it is the best!! Want to see: dancing babies.

Mansbestfriend.

2011-01-02T15:02:00.001-08:00

Isabelle loves dogs.

Even today, at Petsmart, we went in and while dyer picked up a few things for rowdy, Isabelle was able to look at all the dogs (they were brought from a shelter) and she loved it!!

Here is a little glimpse into her favorite, playing, with rowdy. Which takes a lot of coaxing from us to get him to interact with her ;-)

This weekend a little dog escaped from our neighbors yard. Holy cow, ibelle had a bff. She kept saying goggie even after the sweet little dog went home. So precious!!

{yes @ the bottom.. that is her lovie.}

{newbie bffs.}

Ibelle+Skeege.

2011-01-02T08:53:00.001-08:00

(Skeege: aka ibelles gpa, dyers dad.)

Dyers dad came for a Christmas visit! He starts his new job in a couple of days so it was perfect timing. Isabelle had so much fun playing with her blocks!! She even got her gpa in on it!!! She would stack the blocks as-high-as-possible while gpa held them in place, it was too cute!!

(Take note of the cabbage patch doll, Reyna, never mind the doll is a spitting image of ibelle, check out her hair!!! Thanks aunt Mimi for the funnest of babies!)

Doghouse.

2011-01-02T08:28:00.001-08:00

this picture cracks me up x2.

1. mostly bc rowdy appears to be in a dog house.
&
2. ibelle is playing like mad with the fake food she got for Xmas. no lie, she loved it just as much as I thought she would (only bc I've seen her play with grace's fake food a time or two).

The end.
Time to relish the 20ish hours left of vacay. (although Isabelle has vacation until Tuesday. I know, lucky!!!)

Baby-A.

2010-12-29T17:57:00.001-08:00

Last week my bff, Erin, had the sweetest of little boys.
{Erin is Grace's mama.}

Andrew Christopher came in on 12/20 at 7 pounds 15 ounces & perfect!
{seriously, perfectly adorable.}

Can't wait to hold him and give him some kisses!!!
{I can't help but think of little Drew, Grace, their cousin Finley & Ibelle playing together!}

xmas 09.

2010-12-24T09:33:00.000-08:00

When wee-little-bitty was only a mere 4 months old:

ACS.

2010-12-21T08:07:00.000-08:00

Erin, Chris and big sister, Grace, welcome baby Andrew!

Andrew Christopher · December 20, 2010 · 7 lbs 15 oz

[many, many congrats to the sweetest and most precious of families.]

bags-o-fun.

2010-12-17T19:40:00.000-08:00

ICH organization goes a little like this*:

1. Everyday when Ibelle gets home from school she sits on the floor and gets all the bags together, including her school bag, my purse, my work bag, and our lunch bags.
All things bag convening at this one area.

& maybe this happens in the morning too, with an old makeup bag and plastic bin filled to-the-brim with everything bathroom related. everything. trust me, if it was you + baby + trying to get ready for work ..anything goes.

2. Then she empties everything out of each bag, only to then put the items back into the respective bags. No kidding, she really does this. Her fav items? Pens and paper.

3. Sometimes she will create her own bag of things that she has collected along the way, as seen here:

{in this case, a lunch bag with school craft projects and receipts. rowdy is nonetoexcited.

in all honesty it is the cutest thing ever!!}

{my favorite part, that is 3 pens and a lip liner that

were all lined up at the bottom of the bag,

& each of those are from different bags. oh yeah, and the balled up/riped candy cane craft.}

The worst part? When the organizing/playtime is ov-errr. She becomes a mess of tears and sass.

*sorry for the boring'iest and most detail'iest post ever. but this is a pseudobabybook and i don't want to forget these cute things.

kiss attack!

2010-12-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

{kiss attacks, b/c she loves her dad.}

o christmas tree,

2010-12-17T19:07:00.000-08:00

We had a family outing to get our tree.

We took a trip to

the tree farm

(aka Home Depot).

We had the best time choosing the best, fullest, greenest tree there.

I think that Ibelle had a

wonderful

time too. Honestly, the holidays

are the best with the wee one.

Our little family

got the sweetest of compliments:

Us + the fir on the roof of the car = "xmas card." (I'll take it!)

& only because everyone deserves a good laugh:

{take 10. i don't know which is funnier, my weird chin or ibelle w/ her finger down her throat??!}

d+i=♥

2010-12-15T19:33:00.001-08:00

{my l♥ves.}
these two are adorable, most especially adorable together.

santafanta.

2010-12-13T18:11:00.000-08:00

Dyer and I had talked about getting Ibelle's pic with Santa, buuuut with our limited time to get it done I figured it wasn't going to happen.
Well.. you should have seen my excitement when we were in the airport (headed to Lubbock) and Southwest was doing a promotion which included a pic with Santa!!

I was soo thrilled.
Isabelle not so thrilled. Either way we got the pic!

{perfect!}

{maybe. aside from santa's closed eyes and ibelle's lovey.}

'bock.

2010-12-10T19:16:00.000-08:00

This last weekend ibelle and I had a getaway to lubbock ..thanks to southwest (for the sweet deal, 27$ each way) & the fam (for the FUN time).
We got to lubbock on Saturday, once we got in the door ibelle headed to bed! She was beyond pooped from the big plane ride. We ate and off we were to Belly Couture (my aunt's store) to check it out & WOW! We were impressed. Holy cow love that place and everything in it! Not only is it decorated to perfection the clothes are awesome!
Sunday we hung out, which was so very needed after our big week of work/school/airplane, ibelle and I were in need for some down time (I think aunt Mimi and Jack were too!). Ibelle, cousin Jack and his friends played until there was no more playing was to be had. Ibelle loved Jack's train! Ibelle got to have pizza and I think that she LOVED it! The cutest thing, if Jack would cry Ibelle would also get upset, she would have the saddest of cries! Precious?: I think so. After nap time we were off to paint some ceramic pieces for Xmas and head over to the store for some pics. Ibelle and Jack went to feed the ducks, however, with the 1 million-below-zero weather the ducks were no coming for the bread.
Monday we did some relaxing and headed back to Dallas. We already miss the crew! Can't wait to make it back!

{ibelle in the airport on the way home.}

{ibelle playing in jack's ball pit.}

{ibelle, her friend, jesse and aunt mimi. jack's hanging in the background.}

{sadly i took very few pics. that is just how much fun we were having!}

fu manCHU.

2010-12-10T18:54:00.000-08:00

shoe [chh-ew*]:
1. an external covering for the human foot.
2. the cutest word ever spoken by ibelle**.
3. the thing that ibelle may love the most**. ibelle points out any & all shoes and pulls each & every one out of the basket they are in**.

*chhew: not to be confused with fu manCHU.
**no lie.

thanksgivingtwentyten.

2010-12-10T18:34:00.000-08:00

finally.
i'm getting around to posting about TG10. we had the best time, & I know that i am speaking on behalf of ibelle, but i'm certain she had a blast too. we went to dyer's hometown and got to see the fam + some extended fam. ibelle did so well despite being away from her bed. we had lots of yummy treats and lots of hugs-n-kisses!
{fyi: picture overload.}

1.25 year celebration.

2010-12-03T20:42:00.001-08:00

15 things to say about 15 months:

1. says "bubbles" and "ball". really she says most anything. of course, within reason (she is only 1.25 years old).
2. cute as they get.
3. she is funny!! & knows it!! .. just today she was walking in a circle, getting a little dizzy, then she would dramatically fall to the floor on her belly. thennnn she would move her arms & legs as if she was swimming!!! all the while just-a-laughin'! {she loves to do that little move up there in the pic.}
4. loves "nanas", but only if eaten straight from the peel.
5. sassy pants. terrible two's? already? or maybe it is those 3 teeth she is getting in??! (a total of 13!!).
6. airplane ride #2 to Lubbock!
7. Xmas: year 2.
8. Apple of her daddy's {& mommy's} eye.
9. loves to run around naked!! I've heard that before about kids, it is true!!
10. Stats: 24 lbs 2 oz, 31"
11. blows her nose!
12. loves to "clean" things! I can even show her something is dirty, with her towel (usually a Kleenex) she will clean it up!! so helpful when she throws her milk!
13. only drinks from a sippy cup (done & done when it comes to nursing, ok maybe she has been done for sometime now).
14. loves paper and pens!! she is all about "drawing"!
15. Perfect, perfect, perfect. we loves her to pieces!!

Just over.

2010-12-02T20:45:00.001-08:00

http://desireeanddyer.blogspot.com/2009/11/sassitude.html

: This is my most favorite series of pics ever. Everrrrrrr.

(thats Everrrrrrr not to be confused with "Everett", silly iPhone keeps defaulting to "Everett")

This was just over one year ago, Isabelle was just about 12 weeks old. Time quit flying.

15 monther.

2010-12-02T20:39:00.001-08:00

maybe this is my #1 favorite pic, well second to a pic of a just-born-ibelle.

maybe I looked through 1 million+ pICHtures of isabelle the other night. pics dating back 15 months ago.

maybe I got a little sad looking at all those pICHs. Isabelle is now big girl.

maybe i was reminded by something dyer once told me about isabelle getting older, "someday she'll say, 'I love you mommy'".
{..I know, that husband of mine is the best.}

Miss priss!

2010-11-30T17:39:00.001-08:00

Poor little miss.
Oh, this pic {the only one on my phone that I haven't posted}. She looks so sad & cute all wrapped up in one.

More tgiving updates soon.

happy tg!

2010-11-25T07:31:00.000-08:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
love, the cutest turkey around (aka ibelle)
check out TG v. 09

Ibelle play.

2010-11-21T18:11:00.001-08:00