4 and 22!

I can't believe it has been 4 months since Tanner joined our little family! It seems like yesterday, but we have come a long way since then. We have finally settled into a nice routine and the three of us seem to be doing quite well (Noah is still working a lot). I'm officially back at work but I have Fridays off until school starts so we're still doing some play dates. We also found a play group for working moms that we are going to try to get to know in the afternoons and evenings.

Tanner is doing really well. He's growing faster than a weed and is getting ready to move into 6 month clothes! He's mainly wearing 3-6 now and size 2 diapers. He's transitioned to bottles and formula really well although he seems to be a little extra fussy sometimes. He sleeps amazingly well! He eats around 8:30pm and goes straight to bed and doesn't get up until 6:30am. I almost feel human again :) He's doing really well sitting up as long as he is propped against something and he can hold his head up with no problem. He rolls on his side but hasn't made it all the way over yet. When he is on his tummy he kicks and moves his arms like he is trying to crawl (but of course he can't yet)! He smiles all the time and has started to let out a few giggles. He always wakes up smiling and as soon as he hears us he starts smiling. He also follows his bottle with his eyes! He knows where the good stuff is. He's still pretty laid back and just likes to play and watch what everyone else is doing. He knows he'll get to do everything soon enough!!!

Doing what he does best!

So curious!

Izabel is a mess! We have hit the terrible twos already and we're still two months away from the big day! She's still incredibly sweet and well behaved though. She loves taking care of Tanner. She still burps him and now wants to hold his bottle. She gets me a clean diaper and puts the old one in the diaper genie for me. She also shows Tanner how to play with all his toys when he is in the entertainer. She's still wearing mostly 12 month clothes but is starting to transition into 18 months. She's wearing size 3 diapers and the pullups are way to big for her! She eats really well with a spoon and fork which is nice. She can still make quite a mess but she eats applesauce, yogurt and cereal with milk all by herself and usually gets most of it in her mouth! She can put her crocs on by herself and she leaves her hair alone after I do it! She loves to swim and play ball. Granddaddy will sit in the hallway and tell her to sit at the other end like him. She'll sit down and spread her legs facing away from him so she is sitting like Granddaddy! We can't convince her that she would still be sitting like Granddaddy even if she turned around to face him! It's so cute. She's been having a blast playing in the backyard and going on numerous play dates all around town. We've found so many fun and mostly inexpensive things for her to do! She's had a great summer and we've been able to still get out a lot even with a new baby brother at home! I can't believe Izzy is almost two and I'm already thinking about the big party! We won't be going on so many play dates now that I am back at work but we'll still be doing fun things to share :)

My little chef!

and she's an artist too!

Playing with RJ at the library. She looks like such a big girl!

Week in Richmond

I spent the past week in Richmond, VA for work. Every year all of the Virginia marketing teacher's get together for updates and professional development. This year we had our regular conference together with every other CTE organization in Virginia. This includes business, tech ed, and family and consumer science teachers.

I arrived Monday evening, checked into the hotel and headed straight to my Aunt Mary's house. I love going to see them but it is always hard to be there now that my Uncle Barry is gone. I talked to Aunt Mary for a while and then we picked up dinner. Amy came over with Nathan and Sydney to eat with us. They have gotten so big and it was so great to see them all. It was just too bad I didn't have Izzy with me to play! We had a nice evening and I even left with two bags of clothes for Izabel! I rushed back to the hotel to register for the conference by 8 but I was a few minutes too late. I headed upstairs and got to visit with Ryan for a while. Ryan is a friend and sorority sister from college who teaches marketing in Northern Virginia. She has a little boy who is almost one and it is always nice to catch up with her! It seems like we only get to do it at these conferences!

Tuesday we had to be up bright and early (earlier than I get up with Tanner) to head to the convention center for the joint conference day! We visited exhibitors to get some classroom/school store ideas and supplies and then listened to a guest speaker for a couple hours. We went to a couple workshops, lunch, more workshops and then dinner. Our meal speakers were Bob McDonald and Governor Kaine. Creigh Deeds was supposed to be there as well but he had something come up at the last minute. Since I haven't decided who I'm voting for yet, it was pretty cool to get to hear from Bob McDonald but it was too bad we didn't get to hear from both candidates. Governor Kaine did a good job with his speech and seemed to be pretty into CTE courses. I guess it's too bad he won't be our governor much longer!

Wednesday I finally got to do some fashion workshops and learned some things that I can really apply to my classroom. After we were done for the day I went to dinner with the teachers from my district at The Tobacco Company. It was fabulous but pretty pricey! Afterwards we visited The Jefferson Hotel which was beautiful and then walked back to our hotel.
Thursday we just had a couple workshops before we headed home. By Thursday morning I was so excited to get on the road and home to my kids! Izzy was so excited when I came in and I was so excited to see her and Tanner!

Now I have a three day weekend which is exciting but Noah is heading out of town today :( I hope everyone has a nice weekend I'll be back to tell you all of the fun things we did over the weekend on Monday!

Fishy Fun and Other Weekend Updates!

This weekend Noah was able to be home with us Friday and Saturday. We were very excited to have him here! Friday my sister Amy came over to give me a haircut and we hung out for a while. Then we had Aunt Ann and The Michaels (Joe, Sherri, Christopher, Jessica and her boyfriend James) over for dinner and a game night. We had steak, potatoes, deviled eggs, pasta salad, garden salad and brownies for dessert. Everything was very yummy. Then played the game Apples to Apples. I had never played before but I heard it was fun and we had a great time. It was nice to catch up with them because we really don't see them very often and they hadn't seen Tanner since Memorial Day weekend!

Jessica with Tanner

Daddy and IzzyEveryone hanging outPlaying Apples to Apples
Saturday we went to the aquarium after nap with Granddaddy and Uncle Matt. We bought a membership there so we'll be going back plenty! Izabel loved it last year and she loved it again. She looked at all the fish, sharks, turtles and tried to touch a ray and a horseshoe crab, but I think her favorite part was running up and down the stairs of the seating area in front of the shark tank! They didn't have many exhibits open because they haven't finished the construction but it should be done by the end of the summer and we'll be heading back to see all the new things! After the aquarium my Dad and Matt came home with us and my Mom and Grandma came over for pizza and some more games. This time we played Monopoly Deal which is a card game version of regular Monopoly. Noah got it for Father's day and we play a little almost every night! It's a lot of funny and we were excited to teach it to someone else!

Family Pic with the Fishies

Checking out the sea turtles

Trying to touch the rays

Those fish are almost as big as her!

Getting eaten by a shark! Uh Oh!Izzy Busy!

and of course the stairs that she climbed
over and over while I fed Tanner

Sunday Noah did have to go to work but I had tons to do to get ready for my upcoming work trip. I did all the laundry (including sheets and towels), did some cleaning and went to Kohls for a few work outfits.

Now I am getting ready to head out to Richmond for a conference for work. I'll be gone until Thursday night and I will miss Izzy and Tanner terribly but I think it will be nice to be around adults and sleep like a normal person! Hope everyone has a great week and I'll be back with updates next weekend!!!