I did it!

I did it! I finally posted all the Christmas pictures and other pictures from last week. You can view all the Christmas photos at Christmas 2008. I also finally finished all the cold cuts and have done an amazing number on the cherry pie and even the birthday cake. Jeff is doing his part with the French silk pie and we both are still enjoying lots of Christmas goodies. The tree is down, the outside lights are down. It was a very, very good Christmas.

Isabella's First Birthday

We celebrated Isabella's first birthday with family on her actual birthday, Dec 24th. She had a lot of fun opening her gifts. She received some really neat things - thank you so much to everyone! Before she could dig into her cake, she got a little tired, so we decided to try to lay her down for a nap first. She took a short one, but woke up cranky. We got out the cake any and she really enjoyed eating the frosting. She could have gone on for long, but we figured we'd better not let her eat too much.






We've posted all the pictures from her special day in Flickr set called First Birthday.

Due to the bad weather...

Isabella has had a super busy, exciting week. First Grandma Groves came into town on Friday 12/19. Isabella's daycare closed down that day (due to the bad weather), but Grandma's flight still came in on time and we were able to go get her and she was able to watch Isabella while Robin worked from home. That weekend we did some Christmas shopping and baked, baked, and baked Christmas goodies.

On Monday, Aunt Nancy and Cousin Gus arrived, but they were about 4 hours late (due to the bad weather). On Tues, Grandma Linda and Grandpa Jack were supposed to drive in from Ohio, but they ended up having to spend the night in Crawfordsville, Indiana (due to the bad weather). They persevered the next day and made it into town on Wed, Isabella's birthday. Grandpa Groves drove up for her birthday. On Christmas, Grandpa Groves drove up again as well.

On Friday, we went to get Isabella's 1 year pictures taken. She cried and was miserable throughout the whole thing, we think mainly because she was getting 2 new teeth. Then we swung by Uncle John and Aunt Kristy's house for a visit and then that night we all went out to Three Samurai for dinner. Aunt Nancy and Cousin Gus were supposed to head back to NYC that morning, but their flight got cancelled 3 times before they ended up being rescheduled to fly out on Sunday instead (guess what? that was due to the bad weather!)

On Sat. Gus and Isabella took their first trip to the Iowa Children's Museum. On Sunday, Nancy and Gus made it home to New York. On Monday, Grandma Groves is hoping to head back to Florida, and we are hoping that doesn't get changed due to weather.

About halfway through the week, Isabella started to get really cranky and refused to take naps. We don't know if it was due to the overexcitement of what was going on, or due to teething or maybe it was just due to the bad weather...

Merry Christmas!

Isabella would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Birthday Isabella!!!

1 year old!


Our little girl had the biggest cake all to herself. She loved the frosting, hardly touched the cake. Thanks to Diane for the cakes. They were delicious and beautiful!




More on the whole weeks activities later!

My Labor and Delivery Story

Hello all,

I wrote this post on 2/1/08 and for some reason never posted it. I was thinking about it again today since it marks the 1 year anniversary of when I went into labor, so I decided to post it now, 1 year later. Here goes.....

This could turn into a long drawn-out post, but I had been meaning to document the details of my labor and delivery mostly just so I don't forget. Might be a little boring for anyone else, but here goes...

All throughout my pregnancy I was told I'd probably go late because I was having a girl and it was my first (I was told this by other people, not my doctor). Since I was showing small for dates and still getting around pretty easily, wasn't having any false labor or Braxton-Hicks contractions and was only 1 cm dialated at my 12/21 appointment, I wasn't expecting to go into labor any time soon. On 12/23, Jeff and I were getting ready to do some last minute Christmas shopping. At around 5:45pm I felt something just sort of like cramping that I hadn't felt before. I told Jeff it was possible that I just had a contraction, but wasn't sure because I didn't know what one felt like. We headed out to the mall and 45 minutes later I felt another one. I wasn't too concerned. Then later I felt another one and asked Jeff was time it was. It was exactly 45 minutes later! Then around 8 pm we were back at home and they started happening more often, like every 15 minutes. We got out the books and were comparing the differences between real labor and false labor. Jeff kept asking me if I felt pain radiating from my back around to my front. I wasn't sure! We decided to call Mercy On-Call just to tell them what was happening to see if they thought it seemed like real labor. I remember breaking down while we were waiting for the doctor to call us back and telling Jeff I wasn't ready yet. When the doctor called back, she told me it did sound like false labor and just to lay down. I felt so relieved and tried to relax and go to bed. From 12-2 in the morning I continued to have contractions every 15 minutes and I think I somewhat slept in between them. From 2am on it started to get worse, it felt better if I walked around during the contractions and I was wondering how long false labor goes on. Shouldn't it have been over by then?! The contractions started getting closer together, but some weren't as intense as others, which was sign of false labor again. Finally around 5am Jeff decided to call up to Labor and Delivery at the hospital to get their opinion. The nurse there said it sounded like early labor and we'd better come in, but there was no need to rush. So Jeff and I panicked! The next day was Christmas Eve which Jeff had off and he was going to do a bunch of cleaning and other things around the house since we were having guests in the next few days. I was planning on working from home and had a few things I really wanted to get done. (As a side note, throughout the weekend I kept thinking about the couple of things at work I wanted to get done and thought, I really should log in and do them, just in case, but of course I never got around to it) So around 6am before heading to the hospital, Jeff was running around the house like a madman and I was trying to get some work done. Unable to completely think clearly I ended up having to email my co-worker Rich with details about what I was trying to do. I think I said something in the email about how I was going to the hospital, but I didn't think I was in labor. So, around 7am Jeff and I were heading to the hospital and I was having contractions about every 5 minutes and they were pretty painful!

When we got to the hospital they hooked me up to a machine that monitors contractions. The nurse confirmed I was actually having contractions and the baby was coming that day! Jeff and I breathed a huge sigh of relief, I hadn't wanted to end up at the hospital if I wasn't actually in labor. (So, as another side note, I had been concerned throughout my pregnancy about how I would actually know if I was in labor and people told me "You'll know". but I didn't know!) I made it clear to the nurse I didn't want to feel anything, I wanted as many drugs as they could give and as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the doctors rotate on-call at 8 in the morning, so they were going to wait until the next doctor came on to page anyone and I had to see the doctor before I could be given anything. So, sometime after 8, the doctor came in and checked me out. She said it looked like I'd probably have the baby before noon and she would page the anesthesiologist so I could get my epidural. I couldn't wait! But I did, I had to wait and wait and wait. Jeff and I just sort of watched the monitors, he'd compare the number of the contraction (the higher the number the bigger the contraction) to the pained look on my face. I think he agreed they corresponded correctly. I made Jeff go bug the nurses about what was taking so long for the epidural - I was in pain! Turns out the roads were bad and the anesthesiologist lived a little ways out of town (outside Solon) and it was taking her a little while to get to the hospital. The nurse came in an gave me Nubain to relax me a little. I think it helped. Then the anesthesiologist got there and got my epidural going. She was very nice and it took a little while for it to take, but it did and when Jeff said "that was a big contraction - did you feel it?" and I didn't - I was pretty happy. The only uncomfortable part now was that my right leg was really bothering me because I couldn't feel it at all. It doesn't really make sense, but it seemed like it was asleep and I felt like I needed to wake it up, which I couldn't. I kept making Jeff reposition my leg because I couldn't feel it, but it was uncomfortable. I think around this time the nurses forced Jeff to go get something to eat, but otherwise, Jeff and I were basically just hanging out in the delivery room by ourselves. Unfortunately, the epidural slowed down my progress and so then I had to be given pitocin to speed it back up. At one point the doctors and nurses came running in. I didn't realize it but the baby's heartrate had fallen below 70. It happened when they turned me on my left side, so they rolled me back on to my right side and everything was okay again. When they tried later to roll me on to my left, the same thing happened.

At some point, I think around noon, the doctor came in and said "Ok, I think we are ready to push" This surprised me, it seemed pretty uneventful, I had sort of assumed I would know when it was time to push and we would have to run and get the doctor. Jeff and the nurses did a really good job of coaching me, because I couldn't feel anything, I felt like I wasn't really doing anything. For those who don't know, you wait for a contraction and then push 3 times. Then you take a break and wait for the next contraction. I mention this, because somehow I didn't know that was how it worked (and believe me, I read a lot of books). I don't think I was doing a very good job of pushing because they ended up have to suction Isabella out. At 1:05 pm, she was born and Jeff and I were elated! My labor and delivery was over and it had gone very very smoothly!

Something new every day!

Today I actually saw Isabella put the rings back on to the holder, rather than just taking them off. I've noticed she's also been putting her blocks and legos back into their container rather than just taking them out. It always amazes me when she does something brand new!

Isabella's First Visit with Santa Claus

Last Thurs. we took Isabella to the Children's Christmas party at PAETEC (the company Robin works for). We knew Santa would be there so we thought at least it would be an opportunity for Isabella to meet Santa if we decide not to fight the crowds at the mall. It went as expected - Isabella was not too thrilled to be sitting on a stranger's lap.



Overall the party was nice. She was too young to play any of the games or do any crafts, but it was nice to show her to Robin's co-workers and see their little kids as well.

Aunt Nancy sent this link talking about kids you are scared of Santa. This was because Gus was scared of Mickey Mouse at Disney World (more on that trip later).

http://us.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/12/scared.of.santa/index.html

We thought the pictures were so funny, so we found this link of other kids being frightened by Santa.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-scared-santa-sm-081202-pg,0,52957.photogallery

First steps

We've gotten behind on our blogging lately since we've been busy with our trip to Florida for Thanksgiving.

We wanted to mention that Isabella has officially taken her first steps! It was actually back before Thanksgiving, on the day of her surgery. Since then, she's kind of regressed. She's doing a lot more falling straight on her back and hitting her head and we are not very comfortable with that. Jeff refers to it as her "Crystal Light plunge".

The surgery went well

We are home from the hospital and Isabella is doing well. The surgery started a little after 7am and the doctor was telling us everything went as planned around 7:40. Isabella returned to the room maybe a 1/2 hour later once she woke up. She was hungry and they kept her IV attached until she was done eating. They thought she'd probably go back to sleep after that, but she just sort of hung out, sort of dazed, sort of playing peek-a-boo. We were home a little before 10 and she slept until 11:30. She still seems a little out of it, a little fussy, but overall everything went very very well.

One of the tougher parts was keeping her entertained from 5:45am until surgery time since she was hungry, but not able to eat. Since she likes to people watch, we kept letting her peek out into the hallway at all the busy people working. It was a little awkward, however as there was someone waiting for his surgery in his gown a couple rooms over and for some reason no one was shutting his door or closing his curtain. We hope he didn't mind the little baby peeking down the hallway at him!

We, of course, went through many people referring to Isabella as "he" since they didn't offer a pink gown for her to wear. I think the very younger male nurse who checked her in thought I said her name was Bubba because he kept saying something that sounded like that and then saying "he" until another nurse came in and corrected him.

And yes, you had to assume we'd snap a pic of her in her hospital gown and footies.

Goodbye Adenoids, Hello Tubes

Isabella has been battling her 6th (or 7th? we've lost count) ear infection and the antibiotics don't seem to be doing the trick for her (besides making her have many dirty diapers a day!) She had an appointment to see the Ear, Nose and Throat specialist this morning. He recommended she get ear tubes and get her adenoids removed and.... he said he could do it tomorrow (Friday)! Very short notice, we are kind of shocked, but our little girl undergoes surgery in the morning. We are supposed to get to the hospital at 5:45 am and her surgery is scheduled for 7am. This seems to be a common procedure these days (Mr. Aiden just had it done 2 weeks ago), but I'm not sure how prepared we are for it.

Be thinking of our Lil Isabella!

Little Drummer Girl

Sign this girl up as a drummer in the marching band.....

Tiger costume lives on and on

Grandma Linda sent up pictures of Jeff and his brother and sister in the tiger costume. Turns out the costume is 37 years old!!

John 1971

Jeff 1976

Jillian 1984

Isabella 2008

Night walker

Isabella really likes to walk behind her little push toy and practice her walking. We planned to take her to the park after work on a Monday as it was unseasonably warm. Daylight savings time had just gone into effect, but little did we realize it would be getting dark at 5:15! That is the explanation behind the following video. She wasn't being taken to the park at all hours of the night, forced to hone her walking skills... it was actually around 5:30 that the video was taken.

Isabella's First Halloween

Isabella had fun this Halloween season. We met the Davis's at a pumpkin patch the week before last and got some pictures of the kids with some pumpkins.

A few days before Halloween we carved pumpkins. We carved one for Isabella that had the same teeth as she does - 4 on the top and 3 on the bottom.






She was a little unsure about it and Daddy decided to scare her even more, as shown in this video - poor thing.




On Halloween at daycare Isabella wore her pumpkin outfit. They actually took all the kids out to the nearby businesses to trick-or-treat. Isabella came home with a pretty big bag of candy and the poor girl is too young to eat any of it. (Mom and Dad didn't have a problem helping her out)



On Halloween night, Isabella got dressed up as a little tiger. She wore the same costume that her Daddy and Aunt Jillian wore when they were her age. Isabella was in good spirits that night. The weather was so unbelievably warm. We were able to hang out outside for a bit. Uncle John and Aunt Kristy came over. We were headed to a Halloween party at Abe and Brandee's so they were watching Isabella. We had lots of fun at Abe and Brandee's and we appreciate that we were able to get out while John and Kristy watched Isabella.

Below is a video of the tiger in action.

Happy Halloween

Isabella would like to wish everyone a Happy Halloween in her own special way.

Butternut Squash

The last time Grandpa came to visit he brought some pumpkins and some butternut squash from his garden. We fixed up the squash and I thought Isabella might like it, but I was wrong. I think the texture was different from the baby food she is used to and that was the main reason. Still, I decided to have her try it again and get it on video because her reactions get pretty funny. We also carved pumpkins last night, two from Grandpa's garden (thanks Grandpa!) and one from the pumpkin patch. More pictures to come.

Baby Multitasking

I can increase my playtime productivity if I play with multiple toys at the same time......

Happy 10th Month B-day to our little girl!

Awwww, she looks miserable.....

.... not exactly something you want to her from the check-out lady at Walgreens, but she said it about our little darling. Isabella's latest ailment is pacifier rash. She doesn't even really use a pacifier all that much, but over the last few weeks a little rash on her face has really flared up and started spreading. At her ear infection checkup, the doctor told us to put some hydrocortisone cream on it and then keep putting on the Aquaphor and Vaseline. If it gets any worse, she might write her a prescription for it, but let's hope it doesn't go that far. I think if we just step it up a notch and are really diligent about keep her face dry and her pacifiers clean it might help. We are assuming it doesn't really bother her.... it just makes her look miserable.

Here's a pic with her buddy, Aiden. You can see a little of the rash.

Isabella's current favorite past time

Check out these videos of Isabella practicing her ball handling skills

New tooth and I'm pulling myself up on everything!

During Isabella's rough week we noticed that she has a new lower tooth. We have been watching her two upper teeth as they are coming in, in fact one of them may have started breaking through today. The biggest change in the last few days is that Isabella is pulling herself up on just about all of the furniture in the house. She started off about a week ago pulling herself up on a big block, and that has transformed to pulling herself up on the first step of the stairs. She is getting one of her knees up on the stair, but can't pull herself up to this point (which we are happy about). She has started standing up in the tub and once in her crib. We are going to have to continue babyproofing the house as she is making progress on becoming a real terror.

Rough Week

Antibiotics from her ear infection and a horrible diaper rash had us calling the doctor's office Sunday, Tues and Thurs. Note to self: always determine whether your daughter's antibiotic needs to be refrigerated or not. We missed that detail on the bottle a week ago on Wed. By Sunday, when I went to give her a dose, I noticed the color looked yellowish/off-white, rather than white. Realizing our mistake, I called the pharmacist to figure out what to do. We had to get a new prescription and due to insurance we had to give her more of a lower dosage. By Tues, daycare was calling about a bad diaper rash that had formed. So, off we went to the doctor on Tues night. She recommended a medicated ointment called Resinol, so it was back to Walgreens. Wednesday we hoped things would start looking better. No such luck. By Thurs daycare was calling to say the diaper rash was bleeding. So, back to the doctor she went. This time the doctor gave Jeff a recipe to make Magic Butt Paste (as soon as Jeff told me about it, I kicked myself knowing that Amanda's friend Erica had sent me the recipe a while back and I totally forgot about it) Poor little Isabella has just not been herself. I feel like she kind of gave up the fight after a while when we changed her diaper, no squirming, just crying, it broke our hearts. She finished the antibiotic Friday night and her diaper rash looks a little better. To add to the misery for Isabella the Hawkeyes lost on Saturday and the White Sox have not started out so well in the playoffs(Isabella has a $1 bet per game with Grandma Groves).

Celebrating Nine Months with another ear infection

Isabella had her 9 month appointment today on her 9 month Birthday. Isabella has not been feeling well as of late and was sent home early from Daycare yesterday because she vomited. Dad and Isabella had a lot of fun as Isabella appeared to be feeling much better. At today's appointment we found out she had another ear infection and will be on antibiotics again. She seems to be doing well with this ear infection and recovering from her cold. Isabella weighed in at 20 lbs. (70%), 28 inches tall (75%), and her head measured 17 1/8 inches (40%).
She has been changing a lot the last few days even. Isabella started clapping, dancing, pulling herself up to her knees, and sitting from a standing position. She has really taken off with crawling, she motors herself around the kitchen and living room to different toys. She has a little game where she'll throw stuff out in front of her and crawl after that, she can entertain herself doing that for quite a while. It is really amazing how much she can change in day.

Lil Farmer Isabella

We had a fun busy day on Sat. First, we did the Alzheimer's walk. It was right during Isabella's morning naptime, so she had no problem taking a nap in her stroller. It was a beautiful morning for a walk. Thanks to all of you who contributed to the cause!

Next we headed home, fed Isabella and watched the 1st half of the Hawks/Pitt game. At halftime we headed to the PAETEC company picnic at Bloomsbury Farm. I had never been there before, but it was a really nice place to have a company picnic. Isabella enjoyed herself sitting on a horse for the very first time (Aunt Jillian will love that!!), watching pig races, going on a hayrack ride through a cornfield, and looking at the animals in the petting zoo, and actually walking through a haunted house (we tested it first to see if it would be ok).

We are a little hesitant towards animals right now (a trip to PetCO really frightened Isabella the other weekend), but all in all she did ok. I would totally recommend Bloomsbury Farm for anyone with kids. This video shows Mom being a little more jumpy with the animals than Isabella.

Happy Birthday Gus!

Isabella would like to wish her cousin Gus a very Happy 2nd Birthday!



Here come the terrific twos!

We love you and miss you!!!

Isabella is on the MOVE to end Alzheimer's

This Sat. we are all participating in the Alzheimer's walk with the Pathways team. If you'd like to contribute online you can do so. https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=266678&lis=0&kntae266678=1F36FBD6B8D7426E8E414C7783205E06&supId=232523804

Today an estimated 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s. And with 78 million baby boomers approaching the age of greatest risk for this fatal disease, the need to find a cure is more urgent than ever.

This year, to support individuals and families living with the disease – as well as those who may be affected in the future – we are participating in the Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk® to raise funds and awareness for Alzheimer’s disease.

The Alzheimer's Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research, and funds we raise will go directly toward supporting their efforts.

Although Isabella is getting pretty fast with her crawling, she'll probably get to relax in her stroller during the 1-3 mile walk in Coralville.

Aunt Nancy and Cousin Gus come for a visit!

As we mentioned earlier, a few weeks ago Aunt Nancy and Cousin Gus visited from NYC. It was a spur of the moment visit and we had a great time. They flew in on Wed and stayed at Grandma's in Cedar Falls before she closed on her house in Friday. It was an interesting stay since Grandma had sold everything from her house and the movers came that Thurs. (more on Grandma's move later) So everyone camped out on the floor and had a fun time. Robin went up to visit Thurs night to see the house one last time. Grandpa took Nancy and Gus to the Iowa State Fair on Friday. It sounds like they had a good time. They spent Friday night in Cedar Falls with Grandpa. Since Grandma had closed on her house, she came to stay with us Friday night. On Sat. Grandpa brought Nancy and Gus to our place.



We had lunch and then we went to the Ped Mall in Iowa City to let Gus play on the playground and run through the fountains.


As a side note, there was a news cameraman in the Ped Mall and every time we looked over it felt like this huge camera was pointed in our direction. Jeff happened to have taped a Bears Pre-season football game and the news was on after that and we were on it. The story was actually about an assualt that had occurred there the night before. So, as they were showing Gus playing in the fountain, they were reporting about an assualt - it was kind of funny. Gus took a break from all the action and decided he needed something from George's Gyro stand and went over to make friends. It made us laugh because George's is most popular with the after-bar crowd in the ped mall. We think it maybe means that Gus will end up coming to the University of Iowa - hooray!



After the fountain we ate outside at the Atlas. It was very yummy. The waitress told us she'd bring us an infant plate while we waited for our food. So she brought it out and sat it in front of Isabella. It had apples and strawberries . Too bad she's not quite eating apples yet with her 3 teeth. Luckily Gus was able to enjoy the "infant plate".

The next morning we hung out at home and Gus helped Jeff make pancakes.


Then we went to Coralville pool. All weekend long Isabella enjoyed watching Gus play. She also would let Gus take toys from her and she wouldn't complain. If we try to do that, she'll get a little angry sometimes. Gus was cute the way he would say her name - "Bella". He also always made sure to offer a little of what he was eating to Bella.

On Monday Grandpa came to take Nancy and Gus to the aiport and Grandma left for Florida. It was a really good weekend and Isabella is really glad Aunt Nancy and Cousin Gus could come for a visit.

Here a pic showing kisses from Gus

Happy Grandparent's Day!

Isabella would like to wish all of her grandparents and great-grandparents a wonderful day. Grandpa Groves came to visit and helped our landscaping (filling in the hole where our dead tree was) We've decided not to plant a new tree in its place just yet. Then Grandpa took us to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings and Isabella was thrilled with the amount of "magic boxes" (televisions) there and all the action going on.

Isabella can't wait to see Grandma and Grandpa Kellbach who are making the trip to visit her this Thurs or Friday. Happy First Grandparents Day to them.

Grandma Groves is on an Alaskan cruise right now, so Isabella is hoping she'll get to send her love through this blog. They have internet access on cruise ships... right???!!

Isabella Crawls!

Check out this little cutie on the crawl. If she really needs to get somewhere, she'll resort back to scootin', but this getting up on all fours is pretty fun for her. We can tell she gets pretty proud of herself!

Isabella's Baptism

Isabella was baptized on Aug. 10th. We were really glad that it worked out for both sets of grandparents to be there that day. Grandma and Grandpa Kellbach were able to drive from Ohio on Friday and stay with us. On Saturday we did some powershopping at the outlet mall. Isabella was on her best behavior and really seemed to enjoy all the shopping. The next day we had Isabella's baptism at the 10:30 service at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in downtown Iowa City. She wore the same baptismal gown that her Grandma Groves wore when she got baptized. She was good during the service and didn't cry or anything during the baptism. Afterward we went to Blackstone for Brunch. The food was fabulous, but Isabella missed it, she slept through the entire thing, I'm pretty sure she didn't even know we went out to eat.



Afterward, we hung out at our house. As usual, Grandpa Groves got put to work. He helped Jeff take apart our old kitchen table (we now have the dining room table from Robin's mom). Isabella was really curious as to what was going on and scooted over to check it out. We think she really wanted to help! Grandpa also installed the very first baby gate that day. Isabella hasn't been too interested in the stairs yet, but you never know!

In a nutshell

We've had a busy last couple of weekends. Grandma and Grandpa Kellbach came to town for Isabella's baptism and then the next weekend Aunt Nancy and Cousin Gus came for a visit. Hopefully we find time to write a little more details about each of the weekends. For now, here's a taste of Cousin Gus's visit: Grandma, Gus and Isabella dancing. I couldn't decide which video I liked better so I'm posting both. In the first one, I like how Gus starts kicking toys out of the way to make more room to dance. In the second, I swear Gus is just about ready to break out some Michael Jackson moves! I wish I had a better angle on how big Isabella was smiling and I actually wish I had taped longer!

Playdate with Elliot

Jesse and Eric drove from the Quad Cities and brought Elliot over for a playdate with Isabella a little over a week ago. It had been way too long since we had seen him, probably over a year which is horribly too long in toddler years! (Elliot was the little boy Jeff got to babysit last summer) Lots of things make me smile about that evening. Isabella laughed and laughed as she watched Elliot play with the little basketball hoop. Eric pointed out that she laughed even harder when he would miss the hoop. At one point Isabella was chewing on one of her books and Elliot got very serious and told her, "Bella! Not in your mouth!" It was way too cute. It was such a fun evening and we really have to do it more often, we only live about an hour apart!

Two Teeth

As promised, a picture of Isabella's two teeth, probably not too interesting to anyone but us! (Click on the picture for a close up view)

My Friend, Cookie Monster

Hey - Cookie Monster has a tag.... I KNEW I liked this guy...

Bedhead

The other morning before I woke up Isabella, I decided to take her picture to document that we had just lowered her crib mattress (our little girl is growing up) Jeff came in to say 'good morning', looked at her and screamed 'oh my God'. He grabbed her and said her head was completely smashed up against the crib rail. I knew it was up against it, but I didn't think it was smashed. Jeff claims her head had a dent in it from it, and I guess I could sort of see it. Luckily, the girls at daycare said it happens all the time and not to worry about. I guess when I look at this picture I can see the her head is kind of smashed up against it. Poor girl! If it was really bothering her though, she would have let us know.

First Trip to the Pool

We took Isabella to the Coralville pool last weekend. She's been less than thrilled with her baths lately, so we weren't sure how she'd react to the pool, but she liked it! Hopefully we can make a few more trips to the pool this summer.



Afterward we went over to Uncle John and Aunt Kristy's for ribs and chicken - yummy! Isabella seems a little afraid of their cat, Bob. But I'm sure she will start warming up to him soon enough.