Santa dropped off an early present...

Santa Claus arrived a bit early at our house (i.e. my Dad sent it) bringing with him a new PB stuffed chair. Izzy was slow to make the change from the rocking chair; however, she has discovered she can do lots of sliding down this one (whereas the rocker was a bit dangerous and even left her with a bruiser last week). The new green giant is much safer and is quickly becoming her new reading chair. Thanks Dad, I mean Santa!

Baby it's cold outside...so let's stay in!!!

Izzy found cups in the cabinet...which turned into hours of stacking fun (for both Izzy and Mike)!

Impromptu sink bath after a bad blow-out

I couldn't resist...

This weekend was coooold in Indy. So we decided to stay in. Nearly ALL weekend. Friday night Mike's step-mom, Laura, drove down so Mike and I could have a night out with his team from work. It wasn't a very tough babysitting job for Laura, as Izzy fell asleep in the car ride home from school and went right to her crib. She slept through the night until the next morning - in the prior day's school clothes! Laura spent the evening baking holiday cookies and continuously checking in on Iz zonked out in her crib! Too funny.


Saturday morning Laura let us sleep in and then she was on her way back home. Indy got some significant snow that day, as on her way back, she said the highway was closed in one direction as there were 8 accidents in the span of 10 miles. Awful. Yet another reason we opted to stay in...


We DID venture out for a few hours to our friends' house (the Schroerings) for some Trivia Pursuit (and Mike had some business to do - that was the real reason for us getting out). Sunday we literally hunkered down inside all day. We played in cabinets (see pic of Iz and Mike playing with cups), explored the stairs (up and down and up and down), had several dance parties, and read countless books.


This weekend Izzy started using her third sign: all done. She is very excited about her newfound signing skill...as she is constantly asking to "eat", for "more", and telling us she is "all done." Impressive, yes. But tiresome. Girl is always asking to eat. How many oyster crackers can the she eat (or feed to the dogs)? This might explain the impromptu sink bath!!!


And finally, Izzy has finally learned to nod her head YES. For any of you that remember the "No, no, no" video from this summer...she was a big fan of shaking her head no. Whenever anyone said the word, she'd start shaking back and forth. My mom kept on trying to teach Izzy to say yes on her last visit, to no avail. Now she's a big fan of the YES nod. She even bobbs her head yes to the beat of music...it's priceless.

Trimming the tree...

Daddy decorating...Baxter and Izzy "helping"Izzy found it fun to climb on the tubsWaking up Sunday morning to SNOW!!! This weekend we pulled out all the holiday decor from storage and trimmed the whole house - Christmas style. Our 9 foot tree is lit with over 1,000 lights and there are 4 other trees around the house, one being in Izzy Lou's room (thank you Jenny!!!). Izzy hasn't shown much interest in the tree or its ornaments, which surprises us as last year she spent a lot of time UNDER the tree looking up at the lights. Mike was also able to get her to stop fussing last year by showing her all the ornaments and lights on the tree. This year her stacking boxes and books overrule all things Christmas. This may be her last Christmas where she shows no interest...once she realizes what those packages are under the tree - it'll all be over. Happy Holidays!

Izzy learning to stand up on her ownShe kept on doing it over and over...she had a captive audience!

Mike and his father love to taunt Baxter. Poor Bully.

Sweet cheeks

This Thanksgiving holiday was a brief one for the three of us. We drove up to Ft. Wayne to visit Mike's dad on Wednesday afternoon and returned back to Carmel on Thursday evening. The meal was delicious and I made a recipe of Laura's (Mike's step mom) for a sweet potato casserole that I loved! Izzy wasn't so interested in food the last 4 days or so (is this normal...growth spurt?), so she didn't eat turkey or stuffing.

Izzy had an eventful Turkey Day: she learned how to stand UP on her own. Starting in the tri-pod and then up to standing. It was so much fun to witness her learning this new skill and keep practicing it over and over. She has been doing this ever since we got home. And today she even took a few steps on her own! She'll be walking by Christmas, we predict! Late bloomer, yes. But we're not worried. (Sorry the video below is sideways...I turned my camera to video her...guess I shouldn't do that anymore!)

Another Izzy first - she started using her very first sign: MORE. We have been teaching her signs and using them for many months at home. But just in the last 1.5 months since she started at Goddard School she has been exposed to many more signs. They sing and converse in sign and send home reports each day as to what signs they learned (and even the words and signs to songs they sing!). We try to incorporate the new signs she learns. However, her first sign she does on her own is the very first sign we taught her: MORE. She uses this sign when she wants more crackers or food, when she is hungry, and also when she wants us to read her more books. It's too cute. And encouraging to us to keep using the signs with her on a daily basis.

This year I'm thanful for my family, my friends, my husband, my miracle daughter and my health. What are you thankful for?

Izzy Rocks!!!!

Izzy girl LOVES her rocking chair...She plays peek-a-boo...
And climbs up and down it all day long

All bundled up and ready to run errands!!

Today Izzy and I had a play date with Jaime and Luke. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I was able to catch of the two peanuts, as we were busy the entire time!!! Jaime and I had hopes of crafting and baking....however, the baking took up most of the date! In between trying to make Buckeyes (YUMMY!) we were chasing crawling and walking babies, feeding snacks, picking up said snacks, getting Izzy down from standing on the rocking chair, making sure Katie dog wasn't peeing on Luke again, keeping Izzy out of the dog bowl AND trying to have some girl talk. Phew...it was a busy day, but SO MUCH FUN. I love me some Jaime and Luke. I'll let you know when we get those crafts done...

Reading time...

Isabelle LOVES reading..both on her own and on our laps. One of Izzy's favorite things to do is to pull her out her books (which we keep in the wooden box) and either hand them to us to read or sit alone and read out loud to herself. This is a nightly routine that she does just prior bedtime...her winding down. This evening while Izzy was doing the typical sorting and reading, she realized that once the books are out of the box - she could get IN the box. She was so happy with herself, she kept on climbing in and out, in and out. Mike got up and pulled her around the living room, which she thought was too fun. But she soon climbed out and retrieved her books and got back in. She read in there for a while...clapping at herself and thinking she was so funny. Which she was. I just love that she enjoys books and reading so much. She will read them in a box and with a fox and in a house and with a mouse. She will read them here and there. She will read them anywhere!

Early Thanksgiving Celebration...

Aunt Sharla, Uncle Scott and Aunt AndreaGrandma BergerUncle Scott reading to Izzy...which she loved!!! Trying out her first pickle...
And trying her first apple...which she LOVED (see carcass below)
Yesterday we drove up to Ft. Wayne to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with Mike's mom and step dad's family. The food was delicious and simply being with family was so much fun. We played cards until late hours and stayed up chatting even longer! Izzy experienced some new foods: mashed potatoes (which she did not care for-must be the texture), pickles (another one she didn't like), mandarin oranges (she devoured and we have seen remnants ALL DAY) and apples. Izzy loved the apple and would scream if you took it away from her. She also said a new word today: APPLE. I cried.