Izzy Lately...

Playing with her friend Annorah at the Children's Museum

Loving the new Clifford exhibit!

Really loves hanging out with her cousins

Mommy and Izzy sick with the flu :( It was a rough week, but we made it through!

Here we go Steelers!! They're loyal fans even though they lost!!

Our precious Isabelle changes every day. She's getting so smart and talks constantly. She's counting to 10 and almost has 10 to 20 down pat too. She can say all her ABC's and identifies about half of the letters. We're working on shapes and she's doing well with her colors too. When sickness and teething comes around her sleeping habits change. However, for the most part, she naps everyday after lunch from about 12:30/1:00 to about 3:00. She goes to bed for the night between 7:30 and 8:00 and sleeps until about 7:30/8:00 in the morning. Her eating habits change quite often. Some days she'll eat everything in sight, other days she hardly will eat anything at all. She still eats a good variety of food, so I'm thankful for that. I know it's normal toddler behavior but it drives me crazy when she won't eat!! She's doing great with her potty training. She wears her panties for most of the day and we're taking her out in her panties as well. She has the occasional accident and right now she refuses to poop in her potty, but we're definitely making progress! Our next step is to start the toddler bed. We really would like to have her potty trained, in a toddler bed and off the paci before the new baby comes, that may be wishful thinking, but we sure will try! She's such a love bug lately. She randomly comes up to us and gives us hugs and kisses and says "love u." Today she came up to me and kissed me and said Love You Mama. Then she went to Jeremy, hugged and kissed him, and said Love you Dada. She then looked at us both and said "love you guys!" lol We were cracking up. We love our precious Isabelle and know she's going to make a great big sister.

14 weeks!

I know this picture has nothing to do with my pregnancy, it's just cute!

I've entered the second trimester, and I think it's safe to say the sickness is gone!!! Praise the Lord!!! Just in the last few days I've felt pretty much completely back to normal. Since day one of week six I've been sick as a dog, nausea and vomiting day in and day out. It lasted almost 8 weeks and I was definitely at the end of my rope. It wrapped up with a couple days of a stomach virus (and more vomiting!) but after I recovered from that it was all over. The Lord knew I couldn't take much more! My energy is returning as well and I'm ready to enjoy the rest of my pregnancy. I had a doctor's appointment a few days ago and the baby had a great heartbeat of 176 beats. I have another appointment in three weeks. I won't be having my big anatomy ultrasound at that time, but the doctor said we could probably take a quick peek to see if we can tell the sex of the baby. I can't wait to find out what we're having! Miss Isabelle is doing great these days. She is learning more and more everyday and definitely keeps us laughing. Please keep our little baby in your prayers as he/she continues to grow and develop.

Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve night. I had to work until seven. Jeremy's mom, brother and sister-in-law were over and they had a good time just making dinner and hanging out together. After I got home, we let Isabelle stay up a little later so we could make cookies for santa and get them all set out for him. After she went to sleep we all got busy wrapping some last minute presents. Jeremy and his brother put together Izzy's kitchen and set it up for her.

Christmas morning, still sleepy but excited to see that Santa came!

She loved her vacuum and is such a good little helper

She was very intent when opening her gifts. She took her time opening them and wanted to play with each of them right then as soon as she opened them!

I know, I know, umbrella open in the house!! It's ok though, she loved it and had to try it out.

After all the gifts were opened, Izzy stumbled upon a large item covered in a sheet. She pulled it off and was soo excited to see her new kitchen. She started cooking stuff right away!

After all the gifts were opened, we all got ready and headed to my sister's house. She had a wonderful meal set up for us. We really enjoyed spending the rest of the afternoon there playing with all the new toys, and setting up some toys, and just spending time together.

Isabelle and Karli always have a blast together. Izzy just thinks everything Karli does is hilarious!

The Cousins!

The day after Christmas. Gotta love it, Izzy in her panties, new bunny slippers and pj shirt playing with her new kitchen of course!

We really had a wonderful, memorable Christmas this year. Isabelle still doesn't completely understand the whole Santa thing, but she got the jist of it. We also tried to explain the story of the birth of Jesus as well....hopefully it will all come together for her in the next couple years! In any case, having a young child at Christmas really brings a lot of magic to the holiday. This was Isabelle's last Christmas as an only child, but little does she know, I'm sure they will only get better as our family grows. Jeremy's mom, brother and sister-in-law were all here Christmas morning to watch Izzy open her gifts. Later that day we went to my sister's house and had a great time there. We really missed my parents, brother and his family on this day, but all in all it was a very special Christmas.

Christmas with Mamaw and Papaw

Look at all of those presents, and it's not even Christmas yet! What a lucky little girl :)

Izzy is so into Christmas this year, she got so excited about all of her gifts!

My parents came into town the week before Christmas. Since they wouldn't be here Christmas Day, we had Christmas early with Mamaw and Papaw. They got all of us TONS of great stuff, we had a really nice time. We also went and saw Christmas on Ice. Isabelle loved it, she just sat there and watched in awe the whole time. We loved having them here and miss them already!

Getting Ready for Christmas!!

Izzy helping daddy put ornaments on, she didn't really understand how to put the hooks on the branches...but she sure tried!

Sweet girl :)

We got Isabelle her very own lavendar tree for her room, she loves "Izzy's tree"

She always wants the lights on and loves to sit by her tree

I'm PREGNANT!!

I know it doesn't look like much here, but I have noticed my belly pushing out and my pants getting tight much faster this time around!

I'm sure most of you who are reading this right now, this is not new news! However, I will definitely be tracking this pregnancy on my blog, so I knew this was a good place to start. I've also been extremely sick, so I haven't had much motivation to do much more than the basics. In any case, as Isabelle's second birthday was nearing, Jeremy and I decided it was time to start trying to have a second child. We had been talking about it for several months and kept thinking we didn't have enough room, money, time etc. We then realized that if we waited for the perfect conditions they would never come! So, we put our trust in God, and had faith that it would all work out fine. I got pregnant in October and found out on Friday, November 12th that I was pregnant!! I had a feeling earlier that week that maybe I was pregnant, but wanted to wait until the weekend to take the test. However, Friday night, I started to get really anxious and wanted to know. So, with Isabelle by my side I took the test and it was positive!! My heart started beating out of my chest, it was the same feeling when I found out I was pregnant with Isabelle. I was so excited, I kept telling Izzy she was going to be a big sister but she just stared at me, haha. Jeremy was at work when I took the test, so I left the positive test on the bathroom sink. When he got home, I was awake in bed and we had small talk a few minutes then he went into the bathroom. Two seconds later he came out with a big smile on his face and said "you're pregnant?!" We were both soo excited.

We had a first appointment at 7 weeks and everything looked good. We have a due date of July 21, 2011. As with my first pregnancy, nausea/vomiting have been a major issue this first trimester. It seems to be worse this time. Every day is different, sometimes just sick in the morning, sometimes at night, and sometimes all day long. Typically, I throw up at least once everyday. Recently, my doctor prescribed me some medicine that seems to be helping. I'm thankful for those good hormones though and just keep reminding myself that the baby is growing and developing. We are so thankful for this precious miracle from God and ask for you all to pray as he or she grows in this critical time.

Casey and Chuck's wedding reception

At the end of October, Jeremy and I took a trip up to Charlotte to celebrate my good friend Casey's wedding reception. Casey and her new husband Chuck were married in a private ceremony in Savannah, GA over the summer. They had a reception for all their friends and family and it was awesome! First, we had a very nice dinner at a downtown restaurant. Next, we had dessert and entertainment on a rooftop of a hotel. There was a really cool band playing 80's rock music and of course Casey joined them for a few songs! Casey and I have been friends for over 20 years. No matter how much time passes until we get to talk again, it's always like no time has passed at all. She is my dear friend and always will be. I was SOO sad to learn that all the pictures I took of the event were not on my camera!! I don't know what happened, but Casey sent me this one picture she had of the two of us from that night.