Inaugural Gathering of the Funsters...

Izzy with her (sorority) Grandma!
Molly & Maggie
Clay & Mike
Izzy & Kel
Big girl in her Bumbo!

Last night we had dinner at Clay & Maggie Bowden's house for the first gathering of the Funsters 2008. This is a group of 4 couples that plan 4 outings throughout the year. Maggie got this idea from her parents that have been doing this for years and years...doing many fun things and making a lifetime of memories. We are excited the planning is underway for the year...there are talks of tobogganing, weekend trips to IU and Cincinnati, and camping to name a few. Can't wait to get this started!

Also, Kelly's sorority mom, Brandi Keyton Allen, from IU Delta Zeta is a part of the Funsters (I haven't seen her in almost 10 years!). Crazy what a small world it is! She noticed right away that Izzy was decked out in DZ colors...love it.

Go COLTS and IU today...big day for us here in Indy!

One Non-blonde...

Gone are the days of my blonde hair. I have been wanting to do this for a while now...I've been shopping around with hair dressers and each time I ask to go dark. Each time I leave with blonde hair. But THIS time I fell in love with my new stylist. THIS time I didn't leave with blonde hair and "low lights." THIS time the girl was excited as I was and we talked "color" for over 30 minutes. As I sat in the chair (in front of the mirror, as when you go dark, you no longer need to sit under the old ladies' head-heater) staring at my sopping hair change from blonde, to red, to brown...I panicked as the colors changed. Then the wash and long wait for the cut and style...my stylist made me wait until she was complete until the big reveal. She turned me around, and I LOVED IT! It's quite dark, darker than my true light brown/dark blonde color. But I love it.

Mike keeps giving me double takes. I keep stopping when I walk by a mirror to do a double take. But Izzy, that girl doesn't know a thing has changed. First glance at me...and she gave me her huge smile that told me she knew who I was. That was all I needed to realize that nothing had really changed...girl still loves her mommy, brown hair and all.

Babies Galore!

The McCullochs
Jaime, Molly & Izzy
Luke Duke
Cooper
Bryant

Izzalicious

Last night we went to the Feller's house to celebrate Jaime's 30th birthday and Jeremy's 31st birthday. There was YUMMY food, fun friends, and lots of babies! In total, there were 4 babies in attendance, all of which were born in October 2007! It was fun to see how different each baby was in size (the oldest was the smallest and the youngest was the biggest-14 pounds!!!). The boys enjoyed playing Jeremy's new Wii and the girls gossiped, of course. Happy Birthday Fellers and and thanks for a FUN night!

More pics...

Self portrait with new camera...
Such a chunk...
Snug time with Grand Roo...
Aunt Kimmy...
I LOVE THESE CHEEKS!!!

We got a new camera for Christmas (thanks Dad & Anna)....so I've been playing around with it and having a fun time taking MORE pics of Izzy girl. She's growing leaps and bounds: sitting up in her Bumbo, holding her head HIGH during tummy time (so what if it's to watch the t.v.!?), taking all her naps in her crib, and she's even started to sleep for 9-10 hour stretches at night! GO IZZY!

New Years Eve 2007

Mikey & Kelly
Kelly, Jaime, Katie & Sandi
Mikey, Jason, Jeremy & Ricky
Katie & Rick
Jaime & Jeremy

Jason & Sandi

We rang in the New Year last night with 6 of our closest friends in Carmel at the Oak Hill Mansion. There were several hundred people in attendance, of which our group was the youngest by far! Next year we are going to have a bigger group and represent the 30-something age group. The Mansion served a delicious meal and had a 6 piece band. The girls did a lot of dancing, while the couples on the dance floor shot us dirty looks. Everyone else was dancing with their dates...while we girls were singing and dancing out loud, disrupting their dance space. Guess that was an age gap issue.

We had a blast and hope to be back next year! Happy New Year to all!

Celebrating with the Keel Clan

Family Photo
Izzy's patent leather shoes were tough to keep on!
Grandpa Keel snuggling
Izzy's great Aunt Celeste is an old pro at this baby thing...
Great Nana & Grandfather Keel

To round out our holiday travel we made a day trip to Michigan to visit with the Keel Clan. Mike, Izzy, my mom and I ventured up to meet my sister and her kids at my dad's house. My grandparents and aunt/uncle joined us in the celebration...this was their first meeting of Izzalicious! Izzy girl showed off by sitting up and holding her head up...something we have been practicing in her Bumbo for a while (and lots of tummy time)! It was great fun to visit and catch up, and we were sad it was such a quick visit.

On the drive home we had to make what we thought would be a quick stop to nurse and change a diaper. Turns out Izzy had a blowout and we had to do a diaper change/outfit change/cleanup in the backseat of the Hummer with a SHORTAGE of butt wipes. All of this was happening in our Hummer while my sister was in her car parked next to us while pumping up the volume to her music-dancing and singing "Oohaah Oohaah" that you hear in the clubs. It was all TOO funny.

My mom and sister/kids are visiting us in Indianapolis for the next few days (which means we have a babysitter for New Years!!!). We are going to celebrate NYE at Oak Hill Mansion in Carmel with 6 of our closest friends. Stay tuned for pictures!

The Inagural Run of the Jogger

Izzy in her new jogger and new bunting!

Last night Mike and I took our new jogging stroller out for a stroll. We didn't run with it...YET. Our training for the Mini Marathon starts in February...we just wanted to test run the new wheels. Izzy LOVED the ride...her eyes were wide awake and looking at the blue sky and trees the entire time. Thanks to Uncle Jimmy & Aunt Jesse for the new, warm bunting, Izzy stayed snug as a bug the entire time. We will be spending many hours on the Monon in the jogger this Spring, so we are glad she enjoyed the ride!

Christmas in Ft. Wayne

Santa filled Izzy's 1st Stocking...in the middle of the twins' stockings
Meeting Great Grandma Betty was scarrrry...
Izzy LOVES Uncle Steve and can't wait to see him again for the Mini Marathon in May
The McCulloch Family...bright and early in the morning!
Grandpa Bob had the magic touch...
Snuggling with Aunt Aimee
Where Izzy spent Christmas Eve...she LOVES being under the tree!
Katie Monster also spent some time under the tree!

We spent several days in Ft. Wayne at Mike's dad's house, where we visited with lots of family. The Jennings came down from Wisconsin...Izzy got to meet her Great Grandma Betty (who wanted us to name our daughter BETTY!), and aunts/uncles/cousins galore!

Christmas Eve brought the Roys to town, where the twins were anxiously waiting for Santa to visit the house. Grandpa Bob (Mike's dad) was supposed to be on lookout in the middle of the night so the boys didn't find "Santa" filling their stockings and delivering presents. Grandpa Bob fell asleep and the midnight church-goers came home to find the twins running around the house. Good thing Santa had already made his stop! Too funny. Izzy was showered with presents...thanks to all for your generosity. Next Christmas will be a lot of fun...when Izzy can open her own gifts!

Christmas in Columbia City

Snug time with mommy

Family picture (Izzy loved the fan above her)
Aunt Andrea spoiled Izzy...
Watching the Colts win with Aunt Sharla
Grandma Berger

We spent the Eve of Christmas Eve with Mike's mom and step-dad's family in Columbia City (i.e. the lake). Izzy had a great time....she did a lot of sleeping and missed out on most of the gift-opening! We discovered her love of laying under the Christmas tree (she loves it more than playing on her play gym) and staring at the lights and ornaments. It was too cute!

Chicago Girls in town...

This past weekend my girlfriends (Mary, Jenny & Erin) from Chicago drove down to meet their new girlfriend, Izzy! We had a great time visiting, as usual. We ordered take-out, had craft time (this seems to always happen when we get together-from iron on shirts to painting) and simply gossiped and caught up. Izzy was welcomed with open arms to our girls' club...they were excited to have the new addition! PS-Mary wanted to get Izzy's ears pierced & Jenny wanted to give her a makeover (with BENEFIT makeup, of course)! Izzy is so lucky to have so many people love on her...we have such great friends!

Izzy & Luke sittin' in a tree...

Jaime & Luke, Mike & Izzy
Izzy's first kiss...
Jaime & Luke

Last week our good friends Jaime & Jeremy Feller had us over for dinner (Jaime cooked baked potato soup!!!). We all enjoyed a delicious bottle of wine and compared baby stories. There was a forced first kiss between Luke & Izzy...it was too cute. We're all about arranged marriages :) Jaime and I have been leaning on each other a lot through the first weeks & months of motherhood. I don't know how I would have gotten through these last 9 weeks without her!

How big is Izzy? SO BIG!!!

Isabelle turned 8 weeks old yesterday...and she has reached several important milestones that we wanted to share (b/c we are so very excited to see all the changes in her)!

-Izzy moves her eyes and her head to listen to us talk and watch us enter/leaving rooms

-She can hold her head up while on her tummy and sitting up

-She has discovered her hands and constantly has a fist in her mouth (we are trying to get her thumb in there)

-Lots of kicking and arm movements...that are purposefull and not reflexes

-The smiling has ensued and has not stopped...she loves to mimic our smiles

-Izzy has been in size 1 diapers for several weeks now, as she weighs in at 11 pounds now!!

-Finally, girl is now wearing her 3-6 month clothes...the 0-3 month size was getting very tight

It's so much fun watching her grow and develop...she surprises us with something new each day!

Lazy weekend...

Izzy enjoying playtime...

Tummy Time!

Snuggling with Dad...

This past week has been non-eventful in the McCulloch house. Izzy has been struggling a bit with nursing...so we went to the Pediatrician to learn that she has acid reflux. She now gets liquid Zantac and she is back to her normal nursing self! No more spitting up, no more screaming when she burped...our sweet girl is back. But now her sleeping patterns have changed. All my girlfriends have told me that JUST when you get used to a routine, the little boogers will switch it up on you. And that is the truth with Izzy! At one time we had 6 hour stretches of sleep at night...now we're back to 3 hour stretches. Mike and I are READY for some longer sleep at night. We are finding the past two weeks to be more difficult than the first two at home!


We spent all day Saturday in our jammies...watching movies and playing with Izzy. She is staying awake MUCH more these days, with lots of smiling and watching everything that is around her. She loves to stare at her xmas tree! We're now watching the Colts game...Mike is at the game and we are (once again) lazing around in our jammers!