15 Month Well Check

Yesterday we took Izabel to see Dr. Scott for her 15 month appointment. Noah is working a route this week so he was able to get off early enough to come with us which was nice. I was nervous because the last couple of times we went to the doctor Izabel has screamed practically the whole time and it is really draining but yesterday she was basically perfect. She played in the waiting room and probably could have stayed occupied there for quite a while but they called us right back. She weighs 20 lbs 8 oz and is 30 and 5/8 inches long. She is in the 50th percentile for her height but has dropped to the 20th for her weight. She is still very little for her age but Dr. Scott wasn't concerned since she was so sick last month and she is so active. He was very impressed with her language skills and how well she is moving around. She babbled the whole time we were in there. She can point out body parts and she has almost 12 teeth. She has been completely off the bottle for a while now which he was happy to hear and he is completely satisfied and impressed with her progress. We talked about the upcoming arrival of Tanner for a while and Dr. Scott was happy to hear that so far everything is going well. We will probably do Izabel's 18 month appointment closer to 19 months since Tanner will be born right around the 18 month point but Dr. Scott will be by to visit us in the hospital and then we can bring Tanner and Izabel to see him together until Tanner starts moving around. Izabel got 4 shots which she of course was not happy about but after a few minutes of love she was fine.

We got home and had a great dinner and played and then put Izabel to bed. We decided to try going without the pacifiers. We had talked about it before but with Tanner coming so soon I didn't want to take them away just to pull them out again for him and her want them back. We went to sleep fine and made it through the night so we'll see what happens tonight. I think nap time will be harder to deal with but hopefully if we stick to it she'll get right back into her good sleeping habits and maybe sleep better. I'll be sure to keep you updated!

A Long Weekend!

This past weekend was pretty slow around our house. On Friday I stayed in and took it easy while Noah went out to play bingo at midnight with his friend Ryan. That meant that Saturday he was too tired to get up with Izabel so I got up with her and we had breakfast together. We played and then by 11 I decided it was time for Noah to get up. I don't think he was pleased with my decision but I wasn't pleased with his so I guess all is fair. He finally got up so we could go run some errands after we all had lunch. Of course by the time we finally got in the car it was nap time so Izabel was out before we left the neighborhood. This meant that I got to jump in and out of the car to do the things we needed to do and we skipped the stores that required us to both get out. When we got home we cleaned up some and got ready for the hockey game. The Admiral's hosted a Pink in the Rink event to benefit Susan G. Komen which is still very close to my heart. The ice was pink and they had lots of items to auction off to raise money. We had a great time! Check out the pic of the pink ice courtesy of www.norfolkadmirals.com!

Sunday morning we both got up with Izabel but that was only because Noah had to leave to go play football. He finally got the boxes of baby stuff out of the attic for me but the Christmas lights are still up outside! My parents stopped by while he was gone and played with Izabel for a while. Then Noah came home long enough to change and go back out to watch football at a friends house. Around dinner time Rebecca and RJ met us at McDonald's for dinner and then we went back to our house to have the great clothing swap! RJ is going to have a little sister so it was a perfect arrangement except for the fact that RJ had A LOT more clothes than Izabel. I felt bad for taking so much when I didn't have as much to give but Rebecca was happy to have it out of her house and to take what she got. I've been slowly going through the 7 boxes of clothes, shoes, hats, etc... and there is a lot of cute stuff. Hopefully this arrangement will benefit both of us and continue as the kids get older!

Monday I got to stay home in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. My mom came over to babysit so Noah and I could go see a movie. I guess a lot of people had the same idea because the movies were packed. We saw Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood and it was really good. It started out a little slow but picked up and was a really great story. It has a lot of racism, language and violence so it's not for kids but a great grown-up movie! On the way home we stopped by and Home Depot and finally got the paint for Tanner's room. The room is already a light blue called Morning Breeze but we got a darker blue called Ocean Tropic (fitting for the under water theme) for the bottom half. The room has still not been cleared out so it is no where near ready to be painted but buying the paint was progress! Hopefully my husband will feel a little more productive this coming weekend!

Tuesday I ended up staying home again because of all of the "snow" that we had. Turns out the school systems relied a little too heavily on the forecast instead of looking out the window because there was no snow or ice but we stayed home. It was the biggest waste of a snow day I can remember but it was nice to be able to stay home and watch Obama's inauguration. It truly was a historic day and this fact was not lost on me while I watched it all happen. No matter your political beliefs or your feelings on Obama as a person you have to realize that yesterday changed the history of this country forever. Obama has a lot of work to do and he is going to need the prayers and support of everyone. Hopefully you got to see it but if not I'm sure you caught clips on the news! We spent the whole day at home and, shock, Noah was gone most of the day. After he got home from work he had to go back for a meeting where they had food and beer so he hung out there until it was time for poker. I know, we probably had a little too much family time this weekend! I hope everyone had a great weekend and stayed warm! Enjoy the rest of your week!

Thanks Dana!

At Kim's baby shower I made a comment that I didn't have time to scrapbook like I would really like to but I do keep up with the blog so I would just print all of the blog pages to keep for the future. Dana said that there was a website where I could turn my blog into a scrapbook and have it printed. I did some searching and at www.scrapbookblogger.com I can do just that. It's very exciting! It's going to take some time to do all of the editing and get the book just right. Plus I have to decide which posts are going to stay and which won't make the cut because it can get a little expensive but I am excited! It'll take a lot less time than a scrapbook and I can have a nice bound book for each year that I do the blog. It's a perfect solution to my problem and I'm very thankful for Dana's suggestion! Now I'll just have to get her over here to do family pictures once Tanner is born!

Kim's Baby Shower and other Weekend Happenings

This weekend was pretty busy for us. Friday night I was exhausted from a long week so I went to bed pretty early. Noah had my brother over to play video games so it was a pretty quiet night in my house. I had to get up early on Saturday morning to go take my Praxis II test so I needed the extra sleep anyway. I got up nice and early on Saturday and headed out to ODU. I took the Praxis II in Family and Consumer Science to try and add the endorsement to my teaching license. This means that if they can't fill a schedule for me with marketing classes for next year, then maybe I could teach and FACS class and still have a job! I won't find out until February if I passed or not and I have no idea either way! I knew a lot of the material but I didn't go to school for it so a lot of the topics were pretty foreign. Then I headed home to get ready for Kim's baby shower! I rested for a little bit and then it was back out the door again. Izabel and I headed over to Michelle's house to celebrate the upcoming birth of Trevor Francis Chapman! We are so excited to meet him and we are also excited to have another little boy that will be so close to Tanner's age.

Kim opening presents - she got a lot of great stuff!

There was a gift bag big enough for Izabel to stand in!

Taking a break from opening to play with some toys!

Izabel playing with Mackenzie! I think she had a good time playing with someone older!

On Saturday night Noah's Aunt came over to babysit and Noah and I finally made it out to dinner and a movie. Aunt Ann gave us a gift certificate for dinner and a movie and offered her babysitting services as our Christmas present and it was the perfect gift! It was so nice to sit in a restaurant and not be picking cherrios off the floor or worrying about Izzy making too much noise while waiting for her food! Then we went to see the movie Seven Pounds. It was interesting and a little emotional. We both liked it and we had a great time being able to get out of the house for a little while! Thank you again Aunt Ann!

On Sunday we finally got the rest of the Christmas stuff put away! I know it's a little late but I've been understandably lazy lately so I don't feel that bad! Noah went to play football while Izzy and I hung out. Aunt Ann came over and Theresa loaded up to move over the dorms at ODU. I know she's excited to be back to real college life again! Now we have to move furniture and paint to get Tanner's room ready! Then Mark, Jessica, Olivia and little Victoria came by to visit. It was the first time we have been able to meet Victoria (shame on all of us for not visiting sooner!) The girls had a great time playing and we had so much fun watching Victoria. She is so happy! (Jessica, if you want any of these pics just send me your email address!)

Victoria was happy the whole time!

Izabel and Olivia playing together

Tug of war with the wagon in the hallway!

Izabel sharing with Victoria
(she didn't do this too many times so I'm surprised I got a picture!)

Olivia playing hide and seek with Noah

After our visit we made a trip to the grocery store and spent the rest of the evening hanging out. Tanner was up and moving about all day so I was pretty exhausted by the time I went to bed. Now it's another busy week at school! Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

15 Months!

Where does the time go? I feel like it was just yesterday that I as writing about Izabel being 14 months old and now it's been yet another month. It's really amazing to watch her discover new things. She knows all of her main body parts. She can point out all the parts of her face, her hands, her feet and her tummy! She even knows where to find baby Tanner but she thinks she needs to lift up my shirt to say hi or give him kisses! She got mega blocks and foam blocks for Christmas that she is really good at playing with. She also loves the part where she gets to knock it over, especially if someone else set it up! Her appetite is finally back so she is eating pretty much everything again. She talks non-stop. We don't always know what she is saying but she is always running her mouth! She's pretty much down to one nap a day which is okay with me for now but I think I'm going to wish she still took that second nap once Tanner is here! She's very loving and is always giving hugs and kisses. Walking in the door in the afternoon and seeing her light up is really the highlight of my day! I hope everyone gets to experience that feeling at some point in their lives!

Weekend Fun

Friday was my last day home with Izabel before having to return to normal life today! We hung out at home and I started cleaning out her closet. This was one of the many projects I wanted to accomplish on my two weeks off so at least I got some of it done on my last day! I cleaned out all the clothes that are out of season or do not fit. It is funny that some of the summer clothes would still fit if it was still warm enough to get away with wearing them! She still can't get into her sweaters so her closet is a little bare right now. I packed up all of the clothes in space bags and as Noah and I started talking we decided we would try to sell the clothes. I've been saving them all so carefully as I knew we would have another baby and I would have all of these beautiful clothes to put her in (plus new purchases I'm sure) but now that we know we are having a boy it seems like an awful big waste of space. I'm not 100% convinced this will be our last baby but if we do have another one and it happens to be a girl it will still be quite a few years down the road and I'm sure I'll want to buy new stuff by then! So if you or anyone you know is going to need little girl clothes of all sizes up to 12 months let me know!

After cleaning out the closet Izabel and I headed to TGI Fridays to meet Noah for lunch. We ordered Izabel a kids cheeseburger and she went about eating almost all of it and a whole bowl of mandarin oranges and cheerios. She really has gotten her appetite back! Friday night we had Ann, Laurie and Richard over for game night which consisted of a long game of Monopoly. Izabel stayed up late and we all had a good time.

A bunch of Izabel's 6-9 month clothes!

Saturday we were pretty lazy all day. Noah made french toast for breakfast and then spent most of the day in the bedroom watching movies (must be nice!) I don't think we left the house all day!

On Sunday Izabel and I headed up to Richmond with my Mom, Dad, Aunt Phyllis and Aunt Judy to visit my Aunt Mary and a bunch of my cousins. We got there right at lunch time and had a great meal. Then we played. Izabel has a cousin that is only three months older than her (Sydney) and one that is 3 years old (Nathan) so they had a great time playing together. Sydney got a princess tent for Christmas and even the older cousins (teenagers) had fun playing in it with the kids. Izabel got the cutest little purse that sings and talks and has all kinds of things in it that you would normally find in a purse. She thinks it is great and has been enjoying carrying it around just like Mommy does with her purse! We got home and Noah made dinner for us and Aunt Ann who was over visiting. Then we tried to make it an early night since I had to go back to work today but Izabel wasn't going to let that happen. Izabel went to bed just like normal but for some reason she started crying. We went in once and put her back down to sleep but it didn't do any good. She screamed for at least an hour. We finally had to close our door and wait for her to give up! It's heart breaking but she finally fell asleep and stayed asleep all night! I guess that was better than her getting up a few times at night and me listening to her until she gets herself back to sleep. All in all we had a good weekend and now it is back to normal daily life with Mommy and Daddy both at work and Grandma here during the day!

Izabel and Sydney
Lots of Loves!Playing in the Princess Tent
Nathan with his Uncle Wayne (My Dad)

New Year's Eve

Last night we had our annual New Year's Eve party at our house. Izabel went and had a sleep over with my mom and we had about a total of 30 people in and out throughout the night. We had a really nice time. There was lots of food and drinks. We played beer pong in the garage and several of the boys (my husband included) had way too much way too early but it was fun and it is always a great way to ring in the New Year! We're very excited for all of the exciting things coming this year and we hope you and your family are very blessed in 2009!

Izabel is all ready to go to Grandma's House!

At least one of us got to have a few drinks!

Me and Kim

Brian and Elizabeth

Andy, Ann and Humaira

Noah and Ryan playing beer pong!