6 weeks already?!

My tiny baby is already 6 weeks!!! I can't believe how fast it goes. He is still so little! This outfit is a newborn outfit, and still big on him . I think he just finally hit the 8 pound mark (just a rough estimate on my scale at home). He's starting to get some rolls and fill out a bit, but he's still little. Overall, he's a really good baby. He's starting to smile regularly and we're getting a few little coos out of him. He sleeps 6-7 hours at night, eats and goes right back to sleep for 3 more hours, and then takes great naps during the day. He's starting to act like he doesn't like to be swaddled anymore, but I'm scared to mess with what's working. :) Isabelle loved to be swaddled and so I did it until she was 6 months old! We'll see.

He really likes to play on the floor and reach/swat at toys. Isabelle loves to sit close and supervise his floor time, which means I am also always close to supervise. He has been rolling over since he was 2 weeks old. He really likes to arch his back and neck which make him roll over. The very first time I ever laid him down on his tummy he rolled over. I thought it was a fluke, so I did it again. That first day he did it 4 times in a row. Over the next 2 weeks, I did it every day and every time he rolled himself right over. He's starting to tolerate his tummy so he either doesn't roll over every time, or it's after a few minutes now. He loves his bouncy seat, but doesn't care much for the swing yet. It scares him. He also loves to watch Isabelle, even when she is REALLY in his face. These kids are so much fun and there's never a dull moment! Christmas post yet to come.

No crying = Not hurt

Since Michael rolls over, I don't lay him on things anymore. I was putting away laundry and laid him on the floor outside Isabelle's closet. When I turned around like 45 seconds later, I found this....


Actually first I saw an empty floor and freaked out for a second! I asked Isabelle where Michael was and she showed me. There he was all snuggled in Isabelle's bed, covers to his chin, complete with Abby and Sarah (those are the dolls that aren't much smaller than he is). It was so cute!!! I didn't hear a peep, so apparently she didn't hurt him. I asked her why she moved him and she replied, "Michael SUPER tired mom! Michael cold." Isn't she so considerate?

Isabelle loves this little guy. She is still really good with him for the most part. We have had to create two ground rules with baby Michael. She's not supposed to touch him if he's in his car seat or his eyes are closed. She is obsessed with putting the paci in whether he needs it or not. He'll be out cold and there she is trying to shove in a pacifier in his mouth. Also when getting ready to go, I often put him in his seat and finish getting stuff together and once again, she just mauls him. He can't defend himself strapped in and completely helpless. Michael is starting to smile and coo a tiny bit and he loves to watch Isabelle.

My Little Pink Marshmallow

We've had some good snow over the last week or so. We went out to shovel the driveway and Isabelle got all suited up. I think kids look like marshmallows in snow suits. Isabelle is no exception. She loved playing in the snow and eating it mostly. I asked her what the snow tasted like and she said "Ice." She refused to wear gloves and so periodically she would ask Mike to warm up her hands. "Cold hands, Daddy. Warm up!" She would say. It was cute. She didn't want to come in when we were done.



Yep, we start em young in this house. Gotta earn your keep around here! She loved pushing the broom and using a dust pan as her shovel. Time to invest in a smaller snow shovel. :) She LOVES the snow. She must be Mike's kid!

Gingerbread House

One of my family traditions growing up was gingerbread houses!!! We didn't do the lame graham cracker ones either. While my mom was here, I learned all the nitty gritty that I didn't ever have to do growing up so I can do it with my family. Matthew and Casey and Jill and Tommy came over and we each made a family gingerbread house. We had a fun evening. Isabelle sat in her high chair and just ate all the candy.

"Mismas Tree"

We decorated our Christmas tree. It was quite a funny experience. What was supposed to be a time of family togetherness, turned into family irritation. However, after the initial 30 minutes, things settled down and we had a great time. Michael was snoozing on the couch, Mike was the photographer and I handed out ornaments while Isabelle went nuts decorating. She loved putting all the ornaments on the tree. She did a decent job spreading them out. Since then, she hardly touches the tree, and hasn't touched the presents underneath! Once again, SHOCKED! Last Christmas she never touched the tree either, even after helping decorate. My mom helped me decorate the rest of my house and it definitely looks better than in years past.

(Yes, Isabelle and I match. It seems to happen alot, and I don't even do it on purpose. Apparently that day I was in a brown mood.)

The Whole Family FINALLY

We finally got a picture of the whole family. We haven't even gotten a snapshot of the family, until now. Pretty pathetic. Anyway, we blessed Michael last Sunday with just a few family members and we actually got a nice picture of all of us.



The proud big sister. She still thinks she has a new doll. Just yesterday was the first time she tried to carry him though! We made it over 2 whole weeks! I was shocked it took so long. She even got her arm under his arm and she wasn't just carrying him by his head.



I had to add this cause I thought it was cute.

Week 1 of two kids

The first week went really well. Granted, most of the time, I've had lots of help, but overall it's gone well. The times I've been alone have been very problem free so far.

Here he is coming home from the hospital. You never know how big they're going to to be and the outfit I took obviously is GINORMOUS!


Mike and Michael enjoyed some Saturday afternoon football.


Isabelle thinks the world of her little brother. She always says, "Morning Michael!" every time he wakes up, and then asks, "Sleep good?" She brings him toys and showers him with kisses. I love the "trying to hold, but really choke-hold" help.


She is so helpful and hasn't tried to carry him anywhere YET! She loves to hold him and help with diapers. She also loves to help with lotion after baths. Jake has actually had a harder time with the new addition than Isabelle. He's been extra whiny and trying to fight for a little attention. I think he's sad we brought another tormentor into the home.


My little handsome man at 4 days old.

Introducing.....

Our little boy, Michael! He was 6 lbs. and 15 oz. and 20.5 inches long. He was two weeks early! Both of my kids were born during the 38th week, and I'm not going to complain about that! :) But I'm afraid it's set in my head that's as long as pregnancies are supposed to be. I could be severely disappointed on the next one.

Everything went really smoothly with the delivery and recovery. I had been having lots of contractions for 2 days and they got more consistent and stronger. By time I got checked into the hospital, I was already at a 6. After pushing for just 10 minutes (quite different from my 3 1/2 hours with Isabelle), he came into the world showing off his great set of lungs. We're both doing great.

It was great being able to hold him after he was born. It's amazing how much you can love someone so soon!





His hair actually isn't red, although it sure looks like it in this picture. He's got dark brown just like everyone else in our family.


Here we are hanging out at the hospital. I have really felt good after this one. With all the swine flu stuff, kids under 14 can't come visit. I was really disappointed Isabelle couldn't come visit. I know it's for the best, but Mike and I have missed her terribly. I'm ready for the family to be together. I can't wait to see how Isabelle "meets" him.

Halloween Recap

Isabelle now only does cheesy smile. I can't get her to smile normally anymore. Oh well, here she is all ready to go for trick-or-treating. She had a great time and came home with some loot. Mike's parents came out to our house. We had some great Chinese take-out and watched Transformers 2. Mike's uncle and his wife came over too. I stayed home to pass out candy, but Isabelle had 5 adult escorts to go trick or treating. She didn't last long because it was cold, but she keeps asking to go get candy at houses now.


We have some great neighbors that we hang out with alot. It just so happens they have girls too all close in age. Avery is exactly 1 year younger than Isabelle, and Georgia and Eden are 7month old twins. Georgia and Eden's parents had a little get together on Friday that we celebrated the birthdays and Halloween. Really it was just a good excuse to get together for dinner and show off our kids costumes. We HAD to get a group shot....35 pictures later, this was as good as I got.


Avery the lady bug, Isabelle the pumpkin fairy, Eden the hare, and Georgia the tortoise. It was funny watching them all figure each other out in their costumes.


Here's the birthday girls. Isabelle asks to play with these friends almost daily. She loves her neighborhood girls.


We had a great Halloween and all the festivities leading up to it. Now for the rest of the holiday season!!!!!

Intuitive Kid in Boots

Last week, I was on the computer and Isabelle was playing by herself. She randomly came up to me and pointed to my stomach and said, "Baby Michael coming soon." I then asked her when he was coming. She responded, "On Friday." What?! I was shocked first of all she knew any days of the week, and then that she had any idea the baby is coming in the next few weeks. She didn't let me know which Friday, but I'm curious to see if he actually comes on a Friday or not. We don't really talk about the baby coming at all, just that there is a baby in my tummy. It was interesting.

Mike's mom just got back from our land of clothes. Mike's sister has a little girl a little bit older than Isabelle and has let us use lots of her girl clothes. Every time his mom goes to visit Jeannie, she always comes home with a new wardrobe for Isabelle. This has not only been a HUGE blessing financially, but also so much fun because she has ADORABLE clothes! This last trip Mike's mom came home with "THE" boots. Isabelle loves them! She's been running around the house, "Cute Boots!" She loves to hear the noise they make on the hard floor. It's pretty fun to watch.

It was all me....

People keep asking what Isabelle did to her hair. She actually didn't do anything, her hair fell out. She doesn't have any patches gone, but all her long stuff has completely fallen out. It was looking worse and worse and all she had left was a funky little rat tail and a few little in her face bangs, it was weird. So I decided to take the clippers to make it all the same length. I took the 8 on the clippers and it didn't quite do the trick, so then I used the 7 and she now looks like a recovering cancer patient. So I'm actually the one that did something to her hair...no mishaps playing with scissors, just mom trying to help.

This was the day I cut her hair. After just a week, it is already looking better. I have had many more comments about my cute little boy this last week, but oh well. She has really been liking wearing headbands, so that's been helping, I just need to make some bigger bows. All her bows are like 6 month size, not 2 year old size. She's been a good sport about the event, but she does say her hair fell out and she got it cut like daddy. It's a good thing hair grows back and she's only 2 and not a lot older.

How about that fake cheesy smile!

My Baby is 2!!!!

I can't believe Isabelle is already 2. Where does the time go?! Isabelle had a fun little birthday mostly. She'd had a fever on Sunday and Monday night, so I didn't want her to have contact with anyone else. Mike had a late night at work, so it was mostly just Isabelle and I for the day. Lots of people called to sing her happy birthday, which she just LOVED! She loved helping make the cake and wanted to eat it all day long. I made her wait until dad got home. When she woke up in the morning, I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday and she said, "Watch Poppins, Eat CAKE!!!!" I figured that was easy enough.

She loved her cake and getting to blow out the candles.


Mike's parents got her a wagon which she really got in July and has been enjoying all summer. My mom made her a diaper bag full of goodies for her babies, Abby and Sarah. It's adorable! We called my mom on the web cam so she could see her open it and play with it a little bit.

We got her this little rocking chair. Our goal is to get her as many of her own "mommy things" before the baby comes. She now has her own diaper bag complete with bibs, burp cloths, bottles, diapers, wipes, paci's, blankets...the list goes on and rocking chair, stroller, high chair, etc. This should help tremendously with interferences with baby brother soon and her desire to "help."


She's had a fun time with her new toys. She is so much fun to have in our family. She's got so much personality and there is never a dull moment with her around. We love our little Isabelle!

Boo at the Zoo

Hogle Zoo does this Boo at the Zoo thing. Kids dress up in their Halloween costumes and get to trick-or-treat throughout the zoo from lots of businesses AND see the animals! What a treat! We went with Mike's sister's family and had a great time. Isabelle was adorable in her little pumpkin fairy costume and the top even covers up her hair (my next post). Isabelle was a pro at the "Trick-or-treat" once she realized they gave her candy for saying it and she even said thank you most of the time.



One business was Meadow Gold and had egg nog samples. Isabelle had an awesome milk mustache and the canvas in the back was too cute to pass up. As we were passing at the end, they were giving away 1/2 gallons so they could go home. Mike was happy to get some eggnog.


I never did get a picture with everyone in it. This was as close as we got.


It did rain while we were there. We bundled up and stayed warm and mostly dry. Isabelle had been talking about the zoo for about 2 weeks now. There were lots of babies born this summer and she wanted to see them all again. We made sure to get the animals in too.


We have a pass with Mike's family, so we've gotten to go to the zoo a lot this year. It's been a really fun thing and we've loved getting to go often. Mike has never been able to go, until this trip. The zoo with Mike is a much different experience. Instead of coming home talking about the mommies and babies, Isabelle's talking about monkey poop...gotta love dads!

Cute, Moogers, and Jesus

Isabelle is getting funnier and funnier the more she can talk. Today was no exception.

So this morning getting ready for church, Isabelle wanted to wear a bow. Over the last few months her hair has really fallen out and she doesn't have enough to even try. She found one of her infant headband things. I put a bow on it and called it good. She looked ridiculous, but whatever. She walked into nursery, pointed to her head and said, "Cute!" with some attitude and marched for the dolls. She kept talking about it and that she was cute the whole 2 hours randomly.

After church and naps, she was being disobedient and had a time out. I always give her a hug and kiss at the end of time out. At the end, I said, "What do you need to give mom?" She stuck her finger in her nose and said, "A Mooger!" (Translation - booger) She removed the booger and wiped it on my shirt.

Cleaning up dinner tonight, she was just in a diaper and t-shirt. She came up to me "Yucky, Mommy." I looked down and she had poop on her fingers. I asked, "Where did this poop come from?" She responded, "JESUS!"

This kids cracks me up

So for Easter, Isabelle got this hat, purse, gloves, sunglasses, and tea set. She wasn't very interested in it at all until just a few weeks ago. Now we are seen all over the place with the hat and purse. She puts her baby bottles or cards in her purse to carry around. She can't go to her friends houses without her hat. She gets her shoes, socks, jacket, and hat on to go places. I love it on her. It's so dang cute, "tute" as she calls it. She kinda looks like an old lady, especially when she has the gloves on too, but I love it.

This was the conversation I had with her dressed like this when she was being ridiculously funny.
"You are being so silly. You're a silly silly goose."
"No, Duck."
"You're being a silly duck?"
"Yep, QUACK, QUACK."

Since then she will just honk or quack at me randomly for me to tell her she's a silly goose or duck. What a nut! She definitely keeps us laughing around here.

The Grandpa Date

Mike's dad loves to take the grandkids to the dollar store and let them pick ANY one item in the whole store. The kids think this is a hoot. I call it the grandpa date. Isabelle got to go on her first grandpa date this week and this was the toy of choice, a random baton-ish type toy. So far she hasn't been too vicious with it. He also splurged and got her a box of cookies all for herself. She walks around with her new toy saying, "new toy from grandpa." I love this little tradition and the kids just love grandpa for it.

FREEZING!!!!!!!!!

Isabelle loves to take showers or baths. Every morning when I'm in the shower, she is either in the shower with me, or screaming to be in the shower with me. Either way, it's not a peaceful experience. However, after she gets out, wrapped up in her towel she starts yelling, "FREEZING!!!! TOVERS!!!!" Translation: "freezing, covers." Ever since she was little, when she took a bath, I would put a diaper on her and put her in bed with Mike to snuggle up and get warm for a few minutes. Now even though Mike isn't usually home during bath time, she still loves to snuggle on Mike's pillow for a few minutes to warm up.

Cousin visit

These pictures are out of order, but I don't feel like fixing them, so here they are. My brother and his wife and 3 kids came for a quick weekend visit last week. They have a little girl, Sydney, 6 months older than Izzy and they had a blast. They finally actually played together, instead of just playing next to each other or fighting for 3 days straight. The best part of cousins coming is all the new "tricks" that get passed. Isabelle is now a pro at exiting the house via dog door, throwing very heavy objects down the stairs, and chalking on the house. I'm sure Sydney also has some fun new tricks she's been showing off at home.

The girls took a bath in my great big tub one night and didn't want to get out even well after pruny time. Afterward, they snuggled up with their milk and blankies to some good old "Mary Poppins."



We spent a morning at Thanksgiving Point Farm Country in hopes all 4 children would love it. Isabelle and Sydney, did but Kali was a little grumpy and Nick was oblivious, but happy.

Here is Isabelle trying to give Kali a kiss to make her feel better. It obviously did a lot of good.



Izzy spent most of the time trying to push either Kali or Nick's stroller. Isn't she so helpful?!



Izzy and Sydney liked pushing the same stroller together. SO cute!



The trip is not complete without a pony ride and a cheesy smiley picture.


The three hooligans, Sydney, Danny, and Isabelle, behind bars!



She kept calling this baby horse, Jake. Yes, her dog is actually bigger than this small horse, however our dog is black, so I'm not sure what she was thinking, other than little horses are really dogs.


We had a great time staying up too late and hanging out. Isabelle had a great time with all 3 cousins. Taking toys and kisses to Kali, trying to pick up Nick, who she called, "Nock," and getting to play kitchen with Sydney. They also brought their golden retriever, so Jake was in heaven with a playmate. We always love when they come to visit.