The One Girl Tornado...

My daughter, Isabelle Faith, can completely destroy any room in about 3o seconds flat! We find ourselves calling her tornado quite often. Her little hands start grabbing stuff and things start flying all over. Sometimes we're both trying to get ready to go somewhere at the same time and Isabelle will completely be destroying our room without us realizing it! Other times when I'm trying to cook or wash dishes I let her play in a cabinet to keep her busy, and again another mess is made. Not to mention, she loves pushing the kitchen chairs all around the kitchen too. I've always been one to like things to be neat and in order, but I've learned to let go of that some since having a toddler. Every night I go around and clean up all the messes she made, just for her to do it all over again the next day! Why do I bother?? Oh well, I wouldn't have it any other way : )

Mother's Day 2010

Me, Isabelle and Karli at brunch

Sisters and their kids outside the restaurant

Mother's Day brunch with family

Thank you Izzy for making me a mommy :)

Mother's Day '09

I had such a wonderful mother's day this year. The day started with gifts and cards from my amazing husband and sweet baby girl. Isabelle and Jeremy got me a gift certificate to get my nails done with a pedicure. They also got me an awesome book by Dr. James Dobson, Bringing up Girls. I'm looking forward to reading it and learning a godly perspective on raising my daughter. We went to church then came back home for Isabelle to have a nap. After her nap we headed to Jeremy's restaurant, New York Prime, for a special Mother's Day brunch they were having. We went with my sister, her husband and two kids, and her husband's mother and grandmother. Jeremy's brother also came since his wife was working. The food was awesome and we had a really great time. With full bellies, we came home and relaxed the rest of the evening. I absolutely love being a mother. I love my daughter so much and can't imagine life without her. It was a great day, Jeremy and Isabelle made me feel so appreciated and loved.

18 months old!

I can't believe our baby girl is officially closer to 2 than 1...sniff sniff! In these past few months, I've really seen her turn into the vibrant little toddler that she is. Three months ago she was barely walking, but now she is running all over the place, climbing on furniture, and she just recently mastered walking on her tippy toes. She loves to play constantly, especially outside. She enjoys playing with her baby dolls, she loves books and balls, she's really into animals lately especially dogs (or dogdog as she says!). She also loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Special Agent Oso.

Her vocabulary has really been flourishing recently. She has about 15 words she uses regularly, but is trying new words every day. She can point to pretty much all of her body parts correctly and recognizes many other things. She likes to point out things in books as I say them.

Isabelle's eating habits vary from day to day. Some days she eats decent and others she eats hardly anything. At her 18 month appointment she was 20lbs 2oz and 31 1/4 inches tall. The doctor said she's still tiny, but she's staying on her same curve she's been on. We continue to give her a Pediasure everyday for the extra calories. At her doctor's appointment we also discussed the issues she's having with eczema on her face. We've tried many creams that didn't really work. The doctor was concerned that it wasn't getting better and that it was so bad during this season, when it's typically worse in the winter. She gave us a prescription cream that's working really well. However, she still is referring Isabelle to an allergist to make sure it's not caused by a certain allergen.

Isabelle's sleeping habits are great. She takes one nap a day after lunch. She'll usually sleep around 2 to 2 1/2 hours, sometimes 3. She goes to bed around 7:30 at night and will sleep till about 7 or 7:30 in the morning. When she's teething, she doesn't sleep as well. As of right now she has 10 teeth and I think she's cutting her bottom two molars.

These days, Isabelle's tantrums and meltdowns are becoming more frequent. We realize the terrible twos actually start around 18 months! We've been discussing lately that we think Isabelle is ready for the timeout method...we'll see how it goes! All in all, we are having so much fun with Isabelle. She's so playful and so funny, we are laughing constantly. She has such a personality. We love our sweet baby Isabelle so much and thank God daily for her. Above are some of my favorite pics from the last few months.