Izzy's Photos

Here are the rest of the AMAZING pictures Jen took! I am beyond happy with how all the pictures came out. Jen is so very very talented. Now i just have to figure out how to frame and where to hang all of these amazing shots.

Photo Shoot Sneak Peek

I have a very very very talented friend. My friend Jen is one of the best photographers I have ever seen. She not only takes amazing pictures but her eye for editing is incredible. I asked Jen if she would take a couple of pictures of Izzy that i could use for our holiday card. So Izzy and I headed over to her house after school today to take some shots in her backyard.

I was a little worried because izzy was having a bit of an off day that is for sure. Cried at school like she did the first week and was even a little off at Jen's. Here is where I know Jen is pure magic, in less than I would say 20 mins she had taken a bunch of pictures of izzy that came out amazing! I had tons of fun shopping for clothes just for this occasion and could not be more pleased with how the colors and outfits showed in the pictures.

Here is a sneak peak of Jen's favorite shot. My baby looks so grown up I almost can't stand it!

Happy Halloween

Halloween 2010 is officially over. It was a good time this year although I would say Izzy was definately nervous and scared about going trick or treating. This year she has been terrified of any decorations that move or talk.

She spent all day playing with the girls next store so she was exhausted come dinner time. There was a part of me that wondered if she was even going to make it out trick or treating. We had some friends and family over so she did perk up right before we went out. She started out fine but after about 10-12 houses she started getting scared. I think it was the combination of a house that was playng music of scary sounds and our friend's 7 year old had on a scream mask that had a pump and blood would run through it. She was fine with the mask until the blood...so needless to say she was done at that point.

We came back home and she watched tv with my parents before going to bed at about 7:45. Poor kid was exhausted. I did enjoy taking her out trick or treating for the first time ever, normally I stay home to hand out candy...hubby offered to do it this year so I could take her. My dad came with us too.

Hopefully next year she will get more excited about it :) She looked cute as Tinkerbell even with the extra layers because it was FREEZING! We handed out candy on the driveway with the firepit which was a big hit. The kids trick or treating would say thank you for the fire we are freezing! I would do that again next year.

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween!

Izzy this fall

I have realized lately that I have not posted much about my little beauty lately and what she is up to. She has only been in school for this is the 3rd week but I think she is changing a little already. The last 5 or 6 days I swear she has been in the BEST mood. So happy and chatty and some of the things she says I can't help but crack up!

School Update

She has adjusted to school. She cried at drop off the first two weeks but ever since last week she said "i am not going to cry" and she didn't. This monday she even stayed an extra hour to have lunch with her friends. (which was a beautiful thing for mommy!) She still doesn't seem to have a favorite friend...there are only 7 kids in her class and she is still talking about a girl that was in it last year that is now in kindergarden. If i ask her who her favorite friend is she will say "there is no Alexis" Poor girl, i hope she finds a buddy soon. I have been impressed so far at the school adn all that they do in 2.5 hrs. They focus on a letter a week and do all kinds of things for that letter. She also swims in the zero entry pool every wednesday. I think she really likes it which makes me very happy

Potty Update

While she has finally stopped pooping in pull ups for a couple months now, we still CANNOT get her to poop anywhere but at home on the little potty. If we are away from home she will just hold it, will not go on a regular potty..even though she will pee no problem on a big potty! It is so frustrating! We are so sick of cleaning the little potty , that i want to put it away but i am afraid you will then stop pooping. Just in the last week we have gotten you to stop peeing on it and pee on the regular toilet but so far no luck on the pooping. Oh well baby steps i guess...it took her forever to stop doign it in teh pull up so hopefully soon she will feel comfortable on the regular potty. Speaking of regular we haven't had to use the miralax regularly for over a month, her body seems to be regulating on its own ( probably the fact that she isn't holding it helps)

Nap Update

I think she has finally given up her nap. For the last 4-5 months she would nap a couple times a week but not everyday..now she pretty much doesn't nap ever. She is handling it okay although there are times by 5-6 you can tell she is pretty tired and she falls asleep pretty quick by 8 everynight.

General Updates

She is VERY into puzzles right now and can do them quite well. She has moved past the babyish ones where it is just an object to fit into a space and can do up to 25 piece puzzles pretty well on her own. She needs a little help but does quite well. She is also into riding her bike now that she has mastered peddling. She loves to listen to "my music" meaning her music when in the car with me. Right now her favorite is the sound track from the movies Mulan and Lion King. She likes a few popular hits but for the most part will request her music. She is very excited for Halloween, she is goign to be Tinkerbell..although she is still pretty fearful of any decoration that moves or makes sounds...totally freaks her out. Good think she saw the witch that moved at walmart just before we left because she was totally spooked and asking to go home as soon as she saw it.

She has got to be the sweetest most affectiate girl around (yes i am biased) she more times than i can count in a day will tell me that she loves me, give me a kiss or a hug or the best is when she asks me if we are best friends!!! TOO SWEET!!!

I am the luckiest mommy in the whole world to have the sweet girl as my daughter! So very blessed.

Wisdom Teeth

I am happy to report that I finally conquered my fear of having my wisdom teeth removed! I had all 4 taken out last friday and it went very well. Better than I thought. I am still a bit stiff today and can't quite chew crunchy food yet but it is getting better..not really in any pain anymore so that is a bonus.

I had put it off for over a year and a half so I am very happy to check it off my list!!!

Izzy 1st Day of Preschool!

Well today was Izzy's first day of official preschool. She is going to the same place (our local YMCA) that she did "Fun Day Friday" last winter and spring but this time she is going for official preschool. She will go M, W, Fri 9:30-12 (or 1 if she wants to stay for lunch bunch). The regular preschool has a different teacher than the Fun Day Friday although she has seen her before because the teachers daughter used to go to Fun Day friday. Plus Izzy's favorite friend from Fridays is now in Kingergarten so she is no longer there.

She did pretty well. She was very nervous and as we were walking in kept saying how she was going to miss me and I kept telling her that I would be back etc. So when we got in the room the teacher showed her the cubbie for her backpack and then took her to the puzzle table to play. I gave her a kiss and a hug and she didn't cry but you could tell she was very nervous.

I then worked out, went grocery shopping and came back to pick her up. When she first saw me come in she got all teary eyed and started getting ready to cry. I asked her why she was crying and she told me because she missed me. I asked the teacher assistant how she did and she said that izzy had a few minutes of sadness off and on but for the most part did very well. Hopefully she will do well on Wednesday when she gets back. She has been pretty clingy the last month or 2...even not wanting sleepovers at her grandparents and sometimes crying at night at their house saying that she misses mommy and daddy. So i think she is going through a bit of a phase with it. I have no doubt she will do great and learn to love it. Wednesday they get to go swimming at school so I am sure she will enjoy that.

7 Year Anniversary!

Today DH and I celebrate our 7th year wedding anniversary! We went out last night to celebrate at our favorite local upscale resturant. They happened to be having a Wine tasting event which we didn't know orginally when we were planning on eating there. Little did I know that wasn't the only thing I didn't know last night.

So we got to the resturant, and were waiting for the wine tasting to start (you taste 5 wines paired with a little appetizer to compliment it). The waitress asked if we wanted to start with a cocktail...(they make the best Martini ever there, the Ruby Red Pama...so good) Well since the wine tasting was supposed to start shortly i decided not to order my martini because i wanted to be able to have time to drink it.

So the wine tasting starts and the lady is telling us about the winery, and the wines...the they handed out the first one...and at first they forgot us(you can choose to do the wine tasting or just have dinner there) but we eventually got the first one. Then as we were tasting the winery woman was walking around the tables talking and she stopped at our table. So I mentioned that it was ironic that she was talking about Napa and that is where we were on our second anniversary and that we were celebrating our 7th tomorrow.

Well then we get the next wine and they bring me mine and it has a curly pink ribbon tied to the stem...at first I think awww that is sweet ..that they put that on after finding out we were celebrating...the a few seconds go by and I am looking at the ribbon and see a ring in it...i honestly first thought...wow that is sweet...that is crazy that they had a fake ring to tie on for special occasions...then I look at it closer adn realize that it is a real ring and I say out loud..."That looks just like my ring" and then I freak out to realize that DH had bought me the matching anniversary band to my wedding band!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He had stopped at the resturant before coming home and gave them the ring and told them to tie it on my martini glass because he knew that I would order one..well we kinda screwed them up since i didn't order it since we did the wine tasting...hence why the ribbon came on the second glass. All the waitresses came over to look at it and wish me congrats. It was incredible

I was(and still am) TOTALLY shocked. We have been joking about it since we got my wedding band and the guy at the jewlery store said he "saved the mold" for an anniversary band....and DH all along has said maybe for 10 years.....so imagine my suprise that he had done this!!!! He had the new mold made a couple months ago when he took in my rings to have them reappraised since we changed insurance companies....I guess he picked it up 2 weeks ago and it has been in his desk. The funniest part is when my rings were at the jeweler my girlfriend said to me "I wonder if he is having the other one made" I was very quick to tell her that there was NO WAY that he would be doing that and even mentioned it to DH. (Little did i know that he called my friend shortly after and told her that indeed he was doing just that!)

It is beautiful and I LOVE it....but even more I love him! After 7 years of marriage he can still completely suprise me!!!!

I am a lucky girl!!!!

A Fantastic Article on Infertility!

I saw from a friends wall on FB today this amazing article on infertility..I had to share! A very well done article from someone on SELF magazine. The only thing that would have been better was to have a piece on adoption in there as well.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38311820/ns/health-womens_health/

Must get back on the wagon

Okay it is now August 3rd (which honestly I still can't believe) and it is time for me to get back on the heathy eating/excercise wagon! I have been so bad lately and I can tell. I think I am up about 5 lbs! But even more discourageing is I can tell in the way my clothes fit. I have worked too hard to get and keep this weight off I am not going to put it on again!!!

My biggest problem lately is my eating and even worse my drinking! I have been drinking way too many extra alcoholic calories. I need to get back to no weekday drinking. DH and I have gotten into the bad habit of having a drink (or two) in the evenings while we zone out and watch tv. NO MORE. I need to cut that out along with the snacks i have along with it!

So i am commiting today to no drinking Monday-Thursday (and probably most sunday's but not all) Although i know tomorrow night if i go to my book club party at the gals house with a boat and pool it will be hard to pass up. See this is the problem with summer! Way too many outdoor social activities where i partake in too many empty calories!

Also no more junk, i have been eating too much pizza, taco bell etc lately. I started my day today with a protein shake, and will be having a salad with grilled chicken for lunch with extra veggies.

I also need to get in a 3rd workout day a week at minimum, even if it is just walking. I have been decent at goign to my AOS workouts 2x a week and although they are awesome and I am building muscles and getting stronger, I need more cardio throughout the week to try to get a handle on burning off this extra 5 lbs. I may try to start swimming seeing that we are paying for teh Y membership and since DH is mostly off the wagon as well, no one is using it this summer...and i also never signed iz up for camp like i said i would. So we are spending $65 /month for nothing.......I like swimming and although i have not done it in forever i think it wil be good to balance out my sore knees versus if i try to jog. But i have to get goggles and a swim cap first i think....

I know i can do it, i have done it many times before, i just wish i didnt' have too! I hate getting older, metabolism slowing down (not that mine has ever been all that fast to begin with).

I have got to get this 5lbs off though so better start today!

The quilt is done!!!

Well Grandma finally finished Izzy's quilt. It is amazing! She did the design and of course all the sewing herself! It came out so cute. She even made it as a duvet cover so that in the winter we can put a comforter in it. It will truely be an heirloom forever in Izzy's family. She loves it to...

Izzy at 3 1/2!!!!!

I really cannot believe my child is officially 3 1/2. Seems so much older to me than 3 ....even though it is a mere 6 months. I have been so slacking in doing updates on my girl that I wanted to be sure to do one this week

Where to start miss Izzy! You have blossomed into such a special little girl and not just to us. I get endless comments from friends, neighobors and even strangers about what a sweet, beautiful little girl you are! (you save your most sassy, tantrum moments for the comfort of home and mommy and daddy, although for the most part you don't have many)

We have finally fully potty trained in teh last month or so. The pull ups are no longer needed for pooping and you finally go on the potty...although you still really only go at home on your little potty you refuse to go anywhere else...but hey it is serious progress!! You have also gotten really good at wiping yourself and washing your hands all by yourself.

This is a common theme we here lately ..."I do it all by myself"--You can get dressed all by yourself and even put on most of your shoes....you can get on the swing all by yourself..even the higher one...although you haven't chosen to figure out the pumping of your legs. You often help yourself to a cheese stick in the fridge all by yourself or your favorite dessert popcicles including going to get yoru own sisscors and cut it open yourself. You have also started "reading" all by yourself and it is so funny to hear you read your books to me (or the cat or a favorite stuffed animal) You have a fantastic memory and you can often recite the books almost word for word depending on teh book.

You have been doing a bit better at night time, you still go to bed great, after your stories and then mommy or daddy laying in your bed for just a few minutes...but you like to come down into our room in the middle of hte night. Lately you have been doing better and staying in your own bed until about 6am and then I put you in our bed and you snuggle up with me and fall back asleep. You are definately starting to take after me...you like to sleep in (as long as it is in our bed and I am with you)

You love to dress up, and you are very into ballerina's right now..I guess I should think about putting you in dance class. Yesterday you found a new dress up outfit i had bought for you about easter time but never gave you and you wore it almost all day long, even to a friends house for a play date. Sure enough this morning you had to put it back on to go to Nana's. Your other favorite hting is lip gloss. You LOVE lipgloss and insist on taking it with you most places.

I love listening to your perspective on things and espeically when you get really excited and animated telling a story and you flare your arms and roll your eyes. You remember everything to the point it is almost scary. The best is when we are just relaxing at home and you will come sit by me and say " Lets talk mommy" I will say what do you want to talk about, then you will say something like"Lets talk about bugs", Bugs dont' actually bite" Don't know where this is coming from but you love to use the word actually..another favorite lately is amazing...this mornign on teh way to nana's you were looking at the sun as it was coming up and behind clouds it looked like it was changing colors so you said "look at the sun, that is amazing!"

You love to play with the big girls next store much more so than the other kids your age. Last week you spend the entire day next store with the 9 year old and had the very best time playing anything from makeover to collecting grass and rocks pretending that they were items from teh grocery store. The 9 year old also exposed you to a few cartoons you don't normally get to watch like Spongebob and Pheineas and Ferb...

You are the sweetest most affectionate girl lately. You love to give hugs and kisses and tell us that you love us. Of course same goes for your grandparents who can't get enough.

We are so blessed to have you as our daughter and I love getting to be your mom and watch you grow up into such a special girl!

There is more I want to say but everytime i go to write these i forget all the cute thinks you have said or done that I want to add..so hopefully I will add more as I think of it.

Potty Update

I don' t have a long time to write but I wanted to be sure I documented that I think we have FINALLY conquered izzy pooping on the potty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She has been fully potty trained for i don' t know 8 months at least, sleeping in underwear, peeing on potty, no accidents...but she had still insisted in pooping in a pull up and refused to do it on the potty. She has had poop anxiety for a long time and we have had her on mirilax for close to a year to help her but she would not go on teh potty!

Well a couple weeks ago we were at home depot and she had not option of a pull up and had to poop and did it on the portable potty in my car! Ever since then i have refused to give her a pull up and she has been doing GREAT. I think she has gone 10 times in a row now. She is still a little nervous and prefers me to be in teh bathroom with her versus anyone else...but she is doing it!!!!! She no longer even asks for a pull up!!!!!!

We made a poop chart with stars and prizes and this seems to help although i think she was also just finally ready.

I am so PROUD!

Little Swimmer!

I will post pictures as soon as my friend sends them to me...my camera was dead so she took the photos but I am so happy to report my girl is a little swimmer! I guess the swimming lessons did pay off because on Sunday she was quite the independant swimmer with her life jacket or water wings on. She was a little fish both in the lake and in the pool! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that we don't have to hold her anymore! Granted we can't not be in teh water but at least she is comfortable and confident enough to swim solo!!! I am so proud of her and I am looking forward to a summer filled with swimming!!!

On mental overload

I don't know how much more my head can take. I am seriously on mental overload. I love my family but man can they stress a girl out!!!

My mini vacation get away last weekend really did not help near enough. How do I manage the drama in my family without letting it consume me. My parents maritial issues...not really my problem..but directly affects me. My moms health, my mom's law suit, my mom's hoarding......urgh!!! Working in my fathers business while trying to deal with all of the above...not easy.

Then last night my poor kiddo was puking and i am praying that she didn't catch teh nasty stomach bug from the neighbor girls who each had it for a week, throwing up a little and A LOT of diaherra...i really really really hope that is not what izzy has. She seemed better this morning, ate and drank fine.......but time will tell.

I know i am just exhausted and htat is part of why i feel this way today but, man am i just spent..mentally and physically today..........just done......and it has just begun!

Big Girl Room Phase 2

(talking on her cell phone hanging out in her room)

Well I am happy to report that Izzy's big girl room is just about done. We are just waiting on grandma to finish the quilt, what I have seen of it is super cute, flowers and butterflies along with traditional quilt blogs. It won't be quite as contempary as the one on your bed now (which i just love) but it will have more meaning and be more of an heirloom since it was all hand designed and hand made by grandma.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE how the room came out. The paint is super cute and bright and makes me happy. This weekend we found this cute cubicle shelf at target and even though it is pink, with the bins i think it is a cute addition to the room and it easily fits all her books and stuffed animals. She insisted on buying the monkey bin that while it doesn't exactly go with the flowers adn butterfly motif, it is super cute and the color is perfect. I still have some wallies flower decorations that I am going to decorate the shelving unit with as well as a few on the wall maybe, but I want to see the quilt finished first before I do it.

Izzy loves her new room and is very proud of it and enjoys showing it off to people when they come over.

I have been so busy that I haven't had much time to blog lately but hoping to get in a izzy update on things she is saying and into soon just so I will have it recorded for in the future.

Tell Me Again About the Night I was Born

We have been reading the book "Tell me Again about the night I was born" to Izzy the last week or so and I think it is really helping tell her adoption story. I was feeling like I wanted to start somewhere adn this book has really helped. I think she gets a littel confused and really thinks the actual book has her in it..dh said last night when they were reading it she kept saying "lets find me, where am I" ...tells me i really need to get off my duff and put together her adoption story scrapbook, something I have only been talking aboutdoing for 2 1/2 years...i think that will help tell her her exact story, but I must say I do love this book for explaining adoptions, it is actually quite humerous and the illustrations are adorable.

Anyone have any other good suggestions on kid friendly adoption books?

New Fav Picture

My mom took this picture with her phone on friday. First of all I can't believe she figured out how to take a photo with her phone let alone be able to send it to me via txt message. Very impressive!!!

I cropped it a little but other than that I didn't touch a thing. It has got to be on my top 10 of izzy pictures. I just love it.

I just love love love it.

Lunch Bunch

My girl is continuing to grow up WAY too fast and she proved it again this morning.

I have her in the "fun day friday" program at the local Y. It is part of their preschool program and it is just an extra "fun" day that they offer in addition to their m/w or tu/thurs preschool. I decided in January that she needed something small to start her on the path of some independence from us and get her interacting with peers/teachers but I wasnt ready to put her in preschool yet . So I put her in just the "fun day friday"

She has done SOOO well in this little program. I have been really pleasently pleased. Every week of the session they have a theme for that friday. Last week was swimming (they go to the indoor zero entry pool) and this week was fitness day. They also have gone to the library, sledding, etc. Well the program goes from 9:30-noon every friday. they have an optional "lunch bunch" from 12-1 which means you pack their lunch and they eat with their friends and you don't have to pick them up til 1. Well normally Grandma or nana pick her up at noon since i am at work...until today

This morning Izzy was very clear she wanted to pack her lunch! She kept saying.."I need to pack my lunch" so I asked her again..are you sure you don't want to eat with nana...she said YES! So we packed her a lunch for the first time.

I just talked to my mom who picked her up and apparently she had a great time eating lunch and even gave one of her "friends" a big hug when she left! My baby needs to slow down! I can't handle it!

So i guess iz and I better go shopping next week and get her her very own lunchbox for her "lunch bunch" because I have a feeling she will be making this request more often!

Big Girl Room Phase One

(Her new bed, gotta love our cat making herself at home)

Well we hit a big milestone over the weekend. Sunday we took apart izzy's toddler bed/crib and put up her twin! I am so excited yet so sad at the same time. It is really starting to set in that we are done with babies, the crib is now in pieces in the basement along with all of our other baby stuff. I know I need to get rid of most of it, as it is taking up so much space but I haven't been able to yet. I know that we are not going to adopt again (unless for some crazy circumstance the Bm came to us and said she was pg and wanted us to take it) so I know that we are 99.9% sure we are done..and I really do feel blessed adn mostly complete with izzy...it just does make me a little sad.

On a happy note her bed is so cute! We put the bedspread and sheets from our neice that she no longer uses and I must say I LOVE IT! So bright and fun. We still need to repaint the walls (purple and green) and replace the carpet eventually. Izzy's grandma (my mil) is actually working on a new quilt for the bed...she loves to quilt and I felt bad not letting her make one even though the pottery barn teen one on the bed now is so cute (it does have some stains that wont come out and it is super thin) So grandma is giong to make a custom one with flowers and butterflies..and regular quilt blogs. I don't know exactly what it will look like but I know it will be more traditional than the one on her bed now which is pretty modern but I know izzy will like whatever she makes. She is also going to make it as a duvet so I can put a down comforter in it.

Izzy has been goign to bed and sleeping just fine in her new bed, she even napped yesterday in it without much of a fight. We got her a new step stool to help her get in her bed since it is so tall. She loves climbing in and out herself and reading stories in it before we go to bed. She doesn't even ask to be rocked anymore since we read stories in her bed. Stories are done we kiss her and say goodnight!

My baby is growing up, I am so proud of her

Successful Trip

Well we survived our florida trip and I am happy to report that it went MUCH better than I could have hoped. Izzy was an excellent traveler..really she could not have been better! Even with missing our flight down there due to terrible road conditions/traffic on the way to the airport.

We had a great time with Stu and Wendy and Izzy warmed up to them pretty quickly. It was nice to see them interact with her especially Stu who I would say is not much of a little kid person but he was great with her. Certain things he did would bring back some childhood memories of mine like when he asked if he could brush her hair. He was always so gentle when he brushed my hair and it was very sweet to see Izzy let him brush her hair (and of course she sat way stiller than she ever does for me :) )

I am actually sad that we won't be seeing them again for at least a year. We hopefully will get oru Skype fixed and be able to see them that way. but it isn't the same...especially since izzy does not cooperate or at least hasn't in the past. Maybe now that she spent more time with them she will actually talk to them but I am not sure. She is not a fan of chatting on the phone much let alone over a computer

I really enjoyed talking with Wendy. We would stay up late every nigth and talk for hours while everyone else was asleep. I got to hear the full story of how her and stu got to emailing and eventually meeting and marrying..it was quite a story.

I am always amazed at different of a person Stu is now than who he was when I was a child. I am sure some of it has to do with that I am grown up so I look at things totally differently but not all of it. I am so happy that he found Wendy and for the first time ever in his life i would say is happy and has truely found his place in the world. I know he really struggled with this before.

We had decent weather, not super warm, not warm enough to swim outside but still plenty warm to soak up some sun and play outside which of course izzy just loved! I don't think I quite realized how much she missed being outside.

The weather is finally starting to get a little better here, we actually played outside a bit yesterday...spring can't come soon enough!!!

Snow Day Fun

Monday we had our second snow day this winter. This was the first one that fell on a day that I don't work so Izzy and I spent the day together at and around the house. Let me start by saying I was EXHAUSTED by the end of the day..between shoveling and keeping her busy (with no nap) i was pooped.

We at started the day by getting out her water table and bring teh snow inside for some fun before heading out to play in it. This was the first time I had done this and while she liked it and had fun with it, it didn't keep her as independantly entertained as I had hoped it would....(we struggle with this, she really doesn't play by herself..ever, always wants you to entertain her or sit with her etc..part of having an only child i guess)

Then we decided we would head out and enjoy the snow outside. We got buddled up and had a blast, I quickly gave up on teh shoveling, the snow was so heavy it was ridiculous. So we played and then went next store to see if her neighbor friend who is a year older thna her wanted to come out and play too. The neighbor prefered to stay in but asked izzy to join her. So we ended up spending majority of the day at their house while the dad (my friend K) and I tag team parented..worked otu well. He snow blowed, I watched the kids and then he let me run to my house to get laundry switched and a few things done while Iz stayed over there.

It was a fun day. We are so lucky to have such awesome neighbors that we love to hang out with both with kids and without. Here are some pictures.

A little nervous...

Well Izzy and I leave for Florida thursday morning. We are going to spend some time with my brother who lives there, and some of my other family that are all renting a 4 bedroom house.

I am starting to get very nervous for lots of reasons. Reason number 1, DH is NOT coming with us. He is goign to stay home and do some projects around the house(i hope!) because when we first booked this trip we didn't want to spend the extra money on the plane ticket plus he didn't want to take more time off work....so he isn't coming with us. So i am anxious about the flight solo, but I know we will be okay. My biggest concern is just being able to lug everything through the airport solo...and hoping izzy will ride in teh umberella stroller...I am going to go to the store today and buy a few new books/activites to keep izzy busy on the plane, that along with the dvd player we shoudl be okay.

Reason #2 I am anxious is there will be a little family tension. I have kind of a complicated family history, my parents divorced when i was 5...then my mom (and dad, lets call him Stu) both got remarried when I was 7. The amazing man my mom married Gerry, is who i call dad and who I work for and have a wonderful relationship with. My 1st dad Stuart, well that is where it gets complicated. He gave up his parental rights when I was 14 to both my brother and I because bascially he was sick of fighting my mom with child support amoungst other things....so he ended up moving to hawaii then austraila after meeting his 3rd and current wife....as you can imagine those events caused a bit of trouble/hurt feelings in my childhood(too put it mildly). I have since made peace with Stuart. We have discussed the events of the past and moved beyond them, however I would still not call the our relationship a father/daughter one, but he and his wife Wendy clearly love me and Izzy VERY much. My younger brother however has not made the same peace with Stu and is still angry, and resentful and chooses not to have any sort of relationship with him.

So now my grandparents (stu's parents (who my brother does have a relationship with) and Stu and Wendy decided to rent this 4 bedroom house for 2 weeks and it is located about 20 minutes from where my brother lives..... My brother has decided that he is willing to visit Stu and wendy but only out at a resturant not at the house (where izzy and i will be staying) So I am already stressed about trying to manage visiting enough with my brother and not making him or anyone too uncomfortable. That combined with knowing Izyz and I are staying with Stu and Wendy (and my grandparents ) for 4 straight nights with no DH as support or buffer I am getting stressed. At least I will have my own car so if we need to get away for a while we can...but I am just hoping it goes well and that not only cna i see my brother but that all that "bonding" time doesn't feel akward. I haven't seen stu and wendy in a year and even then we didnt' stay with them, we stayed at a hotel so we didn't seem them 24/7.....

Okay now that my blood pressure is high from typing and thinking about all that I need to take a deep breathe. It will be okay. It will work out. It is Thursday-Monday how bad can it be..and hopefully the weather will be decent, so far it doesn't look great for swimming weather but at least it will be a lot warmer than here.

Wish me luck!!!!

Valentines Day Fun

Yesterday was a "mommy day" for me and izzy and after her swim lesson I wanted to do something fun and different for valentines day. I am not really very creative and I don't do enough activities with Izzy so after seeing this craft idea on another blog i thought it woudl be a fun and easy one to do.
(finished craft, couldn't get the stuipd picture to move under the paragraph below)

So after swimming Izzy and I made sugar cookies (yes I cheated and used store bought dough that we rolled out and used the heart shaped cookie cutters). On as an aside on the store bought dough, Izzy totally called me out on it. She pointed to my kitchen aid mixer that sits on teh counter and said " You are suposed to make cookies in there, with eggs and sugar and flour"! Can you tell she makes lots cookies from scratch with Grandma?

We decorated them and then put them in baggies and took them to our neighbor friends. Izzy was very helpful at cutting out the cookies and then shaking large quantities of suger on them. Here is a picture of her sitting in front of the oven watching them while eating the piece of bologna i said she had to eat before she could have a cookie. I thought the finished cookies came out cute even though they didn't hold their heart shape all that well.


The finished cookies, each friend got a big one and a little one along with tinkerbell store bought valentines





Then later in teh afternoon after her non-nap. We made some handmade valentines for her two sets of grandparents and for daddy. This craft I saw on Journey to Josie, a while back and thought it was so cute, creative and most importantly easy. So I painted izzy's hands and then we made the prints in the shape of a heart. While I finished them with the writing, izzy painted pictures with the paints. I think they came out cute and she had a lot of fun doing it with me. I really need to make more of an effort to do more stuff like this.

3 year well check

I took Izzy to the pediatrician on Monday for her well child visit. I wanted to capture her "stats" before I forget them.

She weighed 30.2 lbs
and was 37" long

I would say her growth has slowed quite a bit from last year to this year. She used to be in the 70th percentile and now she is about 48 percentile. Doc said she is very proporationate and weighs just what she should so that is good news. She was very happy with izzy's progress.

She did say that she may have to be on teh Mirilax for a couple years even, that it won't hurt her. To just stay consistant with giving it to her, don't bug her too much about going poop on the potty and she will do it when she is ready.

She didn't need any shots, but did get her second H1N1 nasal mist. All in all it was a succesful trip to the doctor. Hopefully we won' t have to go back for a while, which would mean she stays nice and healthy!

The Binky Fairy

Well the time finally came when the binky fairy visited our house. We had been talking to izzy about this for a couple of months off and on and more often teh closer she got to 3 years old. Even though she only used it to sleep with and it never left her bed, I felt it was time for her to give it up, i didn't want it to ruin her teeth.

Well Friday she was with Grandma in the afternoon and they were resting on the couch (because ever since she turned 3 she decided she doens't nap anymore) and grandma went to give her a binky and Izzy said (i don't use binky's anymore, the binky fairy is coming) So upon hearing this I quick before I (adn izzy) got home picked up a binky fair present and wrapped it. (I was a little hesitate and almost chickened out but then decided, i should just do it)

The binky fairy got izzy a pair of dress up shoes like cinderella and a new toothbrush.

Later that night after grandma dropped her off, we told her the binky fairy came and left her a present on her pillow. She was pretty excited and quite liked the gift. I was a little nervous for bedtime but she did great. It was DH's turn to put her to bed so he read her stories like normal and then we rock with for a few minutes before we put her to bed. She asked one time where her binky was and DH told her the binky fairy took it to give to babies that didn't have any. And that was it. The only problem was when DH was leaving he shut her door (which is is TERRIFIED OF) so she freaked out and got very upset. I was worried she wasn't going to calm down without the binky but she did. After he left she wimpered to herself very briefly adn that was it. She did great again last night went to bed just fine. The only problem is she has been waking up in the middle of hte night and coming into our bed...who knows if it is the binky or if it would have happened regardless. Last night she snuck in so sneaky i didn't even wake up until DH wondered why i was sleeping so close to him and then asked me when i put izzy in our bed..it wasn't till then that i realized she was sleeping next to me and had brought down her own pillow from her bed!!!! Stinker. Tonight if she does it we will have to take her back to her bed.

Today she even took a two hour nap with no binky! First time the kid has taken a nap in a week!

Overall though the experience has been GREAT and much less tramatic than I thought...at least so far. She really doesn't seem to miss it all that much.

DH got great video of her yesterday morning, i hope it posts okay.

Izzy at 3

Well since Izzy is offically 3 I wanted to captured what she is doing these days and some highlights of her personality.



Izzy your such a joy to be around (most of the time anyway) You are a very happy kid and very loving to all those who love you. You will always say I love you to mommy and daddy when we put you to bed at night, and you often tell us and your grandparents "I missed you so much" when you haven't seen them for a little while.


You started "school" in january once a week and you are doing very well there. I swear I can see small changes in you even in the 3 weeks that you have been going.

You are almost fully potty trained, you wear underwear all day and at night. You can go potty all by yourself on yoru little potty or the potty seat if you have your step stool, and you have even started wiping yourself. Now if we could only get you to poop on the potty. You still completely refuse to do this, and you will ask for a pull up when you have to go and you almost always request to go downstairs to the basement to poop behind the couch. Daddy and I really which we could change this habit and get you to go on teh potty but I am sure you will do it when you are ready

You are trying to give up your naps I think. There is never a week these days where you don't skip at least one or two. This week you have yet to nap..I am hoping you will, but so far you are just hanging out in your room, i have put you back in bed twice....I guess you are pretty much ready to give them up, and most days you really are fine without it, you don't act much more crabby than normal. Mommy better get used to the idea of no naps...


You still are missing yoru two top 2 year molars, although the one has started to make a very slow apperance. Next step is to make you your first dentist appointment.


You are becoming quite the little conversationalist and I love now when I pick you up at nana's and we drive home that we carry on a full conversation about your day. Today you and I had a lunch date that was so precious to me to sit and talk with you and hear about the world thru your thoughts.


You have an incredible memory, and I swear you never forget anything. You can recall places you have been, things you have eaten, and things you have seen from so far back! Today when at lunch the news was on the tv in the bar area adn you said "look mom it is obama!" You don't miss a thing!

Some of your favorite things to do lately are color with your markers and do your stamps. You can draw lines and circles and even a smiley face pretty well. You also LOVE to help mommy in the kitchen, you pull over your little chair or the automan and are always right there trying to help. Your other favorite indoor activity is playdough. You love to play with playdough.

You started swimming lessons also this month and you are doing pretty well. You are the youngest and least experienced in the class but you are catching on at your own pace. I am hopefully that you will continue to do well and love the water as much as I did as a kid.

You are a joy in our lives everyday(even during your toddler tantrums) We love you much!

Izzy Turns 3!

My baby girl is officially 3 years old as of yesterday! She had a great birthday despite having a
little bit of a cold/cough. She had some little friends and family over for pizza and ice cream cone
cupcakes. I decorated the adults cones, but the kids had a blast doing their own. That was a big hit!


Here are some picture
highlights of the big day(they are in no special order because the editor won't let me move them around, very frustrating)

3 years ago today

3 years ago today I know just where I was and it was a day I will never forget. A day that has forever changed our lives. Today was the day we got the call from the agency that we had been picked! (and little did we know our baby girl would be born 2 short days later!) I will always remember that I was with my mom at her eye doctor appointment when I noticed I had missed a call from the agency and from DH. I of course rushed to call DH and think as soon as he picked up i say "WHATS GOING ON!?, I MISSED A CALL FROM THE AGENCY!, DID THEY CALL YOU?"

What an amazing journey that day and the next couple were for us. We received the overnight packet of information the next day, and couldn't believe our eyes, it was too good to be true, then the very next day our baby was born and we were booking flights to Texas!

AMAZING, I still get chills when I think about it. We are so very very blessed, we have the most beautiful daughter and are a family, something 3 years and 1 day ago I didn't know if or when that would happen.

I am lame

Izzy's birthday is Sunday. We have about 6 kids coming over(all neighbors) and their parents along with our families. I have no theme for the party, no activities planned, no goodie bags figured out...i am a lame mom!!

I keep asking Izzy what kind of party she wants and everytime it is a different answer...therefore I have done nothing. The only thing I know for sure is I am making cupcake cones for dessert! They are so cute. I am thinking about just frosting them to look like ice cream and then letting the kids put their own toppings on. (thinking sprinkles, m&m's, crushed oreo's etc) I tell my DH this adn you know what he says "who is going to be on clean up duty after that activitiy!" Seriously!!! Kids make messes, it is what they do ...BIG DEAL it is part of how they learn...way to suck out the little motivation/creativity I was feeling!

The party is from 12-2 and we are ordering pizza for lunch. I know I will pick up some balloons and some stuff for party favors but so far no good ideas. I am a total procrastinator and waiting till Friday when Izzy will be with Grandma to go shopping and get some supplies.

Urgh I hate being lame and uncreative...any ideas for me?

New Year, New Commitments

Well it is 2010 and instead of calling them resolutions (which i think never really happen) I wanted to write about some of the things I am going to commit to in 2010.

• Get Izzy in a swim class so that she can be more independant in the water and learn the very important skill of how to swim---she is enrolled and starts Thursday in her first official group swim lesson without me in the water
• Commit to more socialization and experiences for Izzy and pick a preschool for the fall--I am enrolling her in a Friday morning program through the Y's preschool that is called Funday friday ..mostly playbased but it is a start. Goes from 9:30-12.
• Workout a minimum of 3 days a week-I am still trying to figure out a regular schedule and get used to the much smaller more limited Y versus LT but I will get there
• Try new healthy recipes once a month on a minimum-I have done one so far this week and have another planned for Friday
• Pack my lunch at work at least 2 days a week so I can eat more healthy
• Better prioritize my time at work and hire another person to help me with the administrative stuff that bogs me down from doing more marketing which is what I enjoy more
• Spend more quality time at night with my hubby-we get too caught up in just vegging on teh couch at night and watching too much tv and not talking and interacting enough--i said this last year and didn't do it and this year I will
• Commit to actually doing some research and completing some sort of intervention with my parents to help them help themselves. My mom is very depressed and is a compulsive shopper/hoarder and she and my dad need help. I have a therapist name to call and my brother will plan on flying home to help me. It is long overdue
• Start telling Izzy her adoption story so that she can start to understand...i have no idea how to go about this but I know that when I grew up there was never a time I didnt know i was adopted and I think this was critical in me being happy and at peace with it. I don't ever want to hide it from izzy and she knows who her birthparents are by their pictures but she doesn't know they are her birthparents, she just knows their names....i think she is of an age where we can start explaining it and she will start to understand
• Have some girl time with no kids at least once a month and schedule a girls weekend sometime in 2010. I think the first half will be obtainable but I have always talked about a girls weekend but have yet to follow through. I will this year even if it is me and one other girl friend

That is my list for now. I am sure I will have more. Can't wait to see what this year has in store for me