Sam and I have a habit...probably a bad habit but we love it. When he picks me up from work we either go get food or cook something quick like pizza and we eat it in bed (it is like 830 by the time we eat so we figured it is the perfect place to relax). Well, Isabella has gotten into the habit of joining us for these late night treats...as you can clearly see with her eating pizza in bed.
She knew this was something new and exciting for her and she loved every minute of it.

She even hammed it up for the camera!! Thanks daddy for your quick thinking in grabbing the camera...I would have hated to miss this photo opportunity!

This week's field trip was to Paradise Park...if you have never been it is definitely somewhere to take your children...or to go for an adult play day! They have SO much to do for little kids...and for adults they have go carts, rock climbing wall, games, bumper cars, and more. All us neighbors were saying we might go back without the kids next time!

We started out our day outside in their little playground they had. All the kids had a blast!

Hudson cheesing it up for the camera!

The kids are obsessed with sand and they had a huge "sandbox" for them to dig in.

Isabella discovered this little teepee..but did not stay in it very long.

They had a little play room for toddlers that had padded floors, padded "furniture" and toys that were perfect for their age!! I want one of these in our house...maybe I can convince Sam to create a padded area for Isabella whenever we finish our basement...Ya right :)

Isabella loves to crawl through any tunnel, and especially when she can "scare" people on the other side!

They had a water table room here as well, which was absolutely perfect for the kids. It was the perfect height and had tons of toys for them. The floor was even rubber so the kids could splash and we didn't have to worry about them slipping on the wet floor.

They had a market place set up with play food that the kids could place into baskets...this is Isabella's favorite game - you give her a bag or a basket and things to put in it and she could spend 10 minutes just taking stuff out and putting it back in! I think I have a little shopper on my hands already :).

They had a "pizza parlor" the kids could all play in...they fought over the fake jars of peppers, but when they realized there was enough for everyone, they all played very nicely together.

The ball pit was a HUGE hit...for everyone but Isabella. I thought she would love being in it...but she cried unless she was near me...Guess she isn't as brave as I thought...there ARE things that scare her.

Owen had a BLAST in the ball pit...he kept throwing the balls and almost made them into a really small target - this kid is going to be a pro baseball player!

Hudson loved the ball pit...and if you can see in the background, Rowan (Christina's son) joined us as well for some fun at Paradise Park! He was really getting around good in the pit!

Here is Hudson and Kristen....love this picture!

Isabella isn't really smiling in this picture...but at least she isn't screaming!! I love when I get a good picture of us two!

The kids even loved the bathroom at this place! They had a kid sized sink for them to wash their hands. They were having a blast playing in the water. The things that keeps my daughter entertained!

After a long day of playing, we went back into the toddler room, where Isabella decided to relax and read herself a book...she looks pretty comfy I might add!

Tuesday Isabella and I went with Nana and her Cousins Jake and Devon to see the Chronicles of Narnia exhibit at Union Station...it was neat but not worth the money. But any time Isabella gets to spend time with her Cousins and Nana she is in heaven!

You couldn't take pictures inside so this is about the only picture of the exhibit I was able to take.

The kids were posing! Aren't they all so sweet! (for this picture at least)

I love this picture...looks like Isabella has her body guards keeping an eye on her...make sure you don't mess with Izzy or your might have to deal with J and D! :)

Isabella loved watching the "choo choo" as she called it on the tracks!! She loves trains and cars and anything that moves.

Isabella kept trying to go for Devon's ice cream...and here she finally got a lick! I just love how much these boys get along with Isabella cause she adores them! I am having such a GREAT summer! I think having a child to enjoy it with makes it even better! She is growing up fast...but at least I have pictures and memories to look back on!

Wonderscope

This week's field trip with the neighbors was a place called Wonderscope. It was actually really neat. When we drove up to it the outside looked like an old school, so I wasn't too sure how the inside was going to be but I was actually impressed. The classrooms all were converted into different themes. All the kids had an absolute blast and I will definitely be going back!

There was a room that had a sandbox in it. I figured Isabella would care less about the sand box but by the end of it Isabella had sand on all parts of her body...you would have sworn we had just come from the beach.

All the kids found toys that they enjoyed playing with in the sandbox. They all did really well with sharing...and ripping toys out of each other's hands...good thing they all were good sports and were able to find something better to play with.

Hudson and Owen loved using the scoops to throw the sand around...but they both did really well in keeping the sand in the box...Isabella was just trying to fill up her bowls with sand.

After I showed her that filling the top of this toy with sand would make it go down and spin the wheels, she tried to do it herself...and succeeded a few time!

They had a lego room which was a little too grown up for the kids, but they all enjoyed sitting in the lego "submarine" and going down the slide.

I think the biggest hit was the water table room. They all got to wear these really cute aprons...it made me want to go out and buy her one just so I could get lots more pictures of her (like I need an excuse).

They all loved splashing the water...the boys loved splashing the water out onto the ground and Isabella loved watching them and getting splashed! In this room I learned Isabella knew how to say a new word - they had small fish tanks and in one they had a turtle...she pointed to it without me prompting her and said "turtle"...Nana must have worked with her on that one!

They had a toddler room which had climbing areas which all the kids loved. It reminded me a lot of Gymboree. All the kids are getting so good at getting around now!

In one of the rooms they had little baby dolls which Isabella loved to carry around...here she is admiring the baby doll...but she really lost interest in about 3 minutes.

She found this contraption to be quite interesting. This held her attention for about 30 seconds (I swear my child has such a short attention span!)

In one room they had ramps that the kids could push golf balls down, but they all seemed more interested in climbing the stairs! I was just waiting for a bump or bruise on Izzy but she actually did really well.

Isabella loved when she would find a window that she could smile down on and impress me with her amazing climbing skills...I was impressed.

All the kids play so nicely together and it really is SOOO nice to have people to hang with this summer...not only does Isabella get to play with her good friends but mommy gets some adult girl time too!! Can't beat that combination.

After we got home, Isabella napped for about an hour and a half...even after her nap she enjoyed laying down with her daddy...excuse the mess in the background...before this picture was taken Isabella ransacked the living room and threw all her toys on the ground! I couldn't pass up taking this adorable picture of daddy and his little girl!! Love these times!

Growing Every Day

I was thinking today how fast time flies...it feels like just yesterday I was in the hospital having Isabella...and now she is a little person!! She has such personality it totally amazes me! I think Isabella is telling Sam and I we need to have another one soon because now she carries around her "baby" teddy and treats him like her own. She tried to put him in a diaper yesterday and today she gave him a "bath". She is starting to use her baby stroller she got for her birthday (thanks Aunt Stephanie and cousin Jake and Dev), and pushes him around.

I am just waiting for some more bumps and bruises...Isabella thinks she is a monkey as well as a mommy cause she climbs on EVERYTHING!! I will leave her for two seconds and she is up on a chair...the next minute she is up on the couch and the next she is on the rocker! Busy girl...you would think how much I run after her I would be 10 pounds lighter!

I am loving being a mom and I can't wait to add more to our family!! I just pray that it happens sooner rather than later! I know God has a plan for us but I am starting to get anxious!

As I learn more about this blogging thing...here is Isabella doing her animal noises I was talking about last time...She could care less about doing it as you can see as she plays with her blocks :)

We had our second annual fourth of July bar b que at our house with family and friends. It was a really good time! We all got a little carried away with the fireworks but nobody got hurt and there were only a few craters left over in yards :).

Thanks to all family and friends who made the party a great one! Hopefully we will be able to do it again next year!

Here is Isabella admiring her "baby" Mason...she is in love with this boy!!

We had gates set up in the front yard to pen in the kids...it only lasted about 10 minutes before they were all begging to be let out with the big kids....

We had lots of fireworks to shoot off. Here is my nephew Devon imitating his "uncle" Dustin....We better watch out for him!

On Wednesday, Jennifer, Kristen, and I took the kids to Legends and we ate at T-Rex - the kids loved it!! Isabella wasn't a big fan of when the volcano would erupt....

Kristen and Hudson....this boy is not afraid of anything!!

Jennifer and Owen
We took the kids to the digging area of the T-Rex restaurant where all the kids had a great time digging in the dirt with their brushes! For $2 it was cheap entertainment!

Isabella going through a tunnel they had at the restaurant!

Best picture we could get of all the kids together - it is near impossible to get all the kids in one spot looking at the camera at the same time!

Here is an update on Isabella's ever expanding vocabulary! It is amazing what a few weeks will do to adding to her list of words!

Some of the basics include mama, dada, ball, kitty, duck, dog, hi, this, that, more, nana, poppa, bubble, baby, nighty night, light, Spongebob (you think she watches too much TV?), peeyew, and a new one is Poopoo (is that a sign she might be ready to start potty training...don't think so), and has just started saying "thank you"...

When asked what a dog says she goes "woofwoof", a kitty says "Mow", a cow goes "moo", a lion goes "rar", and a baby says "waa".

Her favorite new thing is to say "huh" to absolutely everything...Izzy where are you going? "Huh"? What are you doing? "Huh"? Are you hungry? "Huh"? Don't touch that! "Huh?"

Some of her favorite people she has names for too...she calls Hudson "Udson" and Owen is "Own"...my mom's dog is even "Ugar"! Man my child is a genius! :)

Family Reunion and Crown Center

This last week has been kind of hectic! On Saturday June 27th, my in-laws had their family reunion at Stocksdale Park. I finally met some of Sam's family I had never met before...and there is still plenty I still have not met!! This is a picture of just maybe 1% of the people who were there!!

Sara surprised us all (except Bruce and Candice) and flew in early and brought Mason. Isabella was SOOO excited to see her baby cousin!! She couldn't get enough of him!!

She just kept watching him and if his pacifier would fall out of his mouth she would try to put it back in. I REALLY hope she keeps this excitement up about babies for whenever Sam and I have another little one!!

It was SOO hot out there that they had a pool for all the kids to swim in. All the other kids had their bathing suits...but my daughter was the only one in her diaper only!! Oh boy...am I white trash or what?? She had a great time in the pool though!!

She was showing all the boys her muscles in this one...they really didn't care too much to see them though haha. They were just jealous that her muscles were so big!If you didn't think I was white trash before...here is the BIGGEST WT picture out there - but OH MY GOSH she was so stinkin' cute!! Playing in only her diaper with a hose!!! Got to love her!It was so hot outside that we took the little ones into the AC of the truck!! They loved it. Isabella loves to be in the front seat of cars any ways...Hopefully she keeps that mindset when she is 16!!When we got home she wanted to check all her vital signs to make sure she did not get overheated...Nope she's good :)
Yesterday Izzy and I went with the neighbors to go see the play U Bug Me! It was a play with humans dressed up as bugs and they would sing. They lasted almost a whole hour!! Isabella was fussy at first...but than the "cockroaches" were singing La Cocaracha (however you spell it) and she started to dance and clap. She did well until she fell off a step and started crying...at that point all the kids were pretty much done with sitting in a dark theater so we left a little early.

Here is the cutest expression on Owen's face!! He is adorable! Don't those blue eyes just pop?

Isabella loved playing with Hudson and Owen in the glass windows!! They would run up to the glass partitions and scare each other and run off...it was really funny! It is so neat how much they interact with each other now.


Well folks, that is all for now!!

Isabella says "Come back and see me soon!!"