New Chapter

Yes, YES!  It's been ages since I've written.  I know, I know.  It's actually the balloon festival this weekend. Awesome!  I'll try to post some pictures after this weekend.

So, I apologize it's been so long.  I can't believe it's been almost 2 months!  That's a long time, especially in baby months!  Isadora is growing like a weed.  She's definitely an eater and loves food.  She's on the verge of crawling...so close!  This week, she's started rolling all over the place and getting up on all fours and rocking.  We're waiting!  I made a bet with Kirk she'd be crawling by the time she was 9 months.  Looks like I lost that bet because she's 9 months today and not crawling yet.  YES...9 months!  She has her 2 bottom teeth and her 2 i-teeth are coming in; it looks like she has fangs.

Lincoln is, well, Lincoln.  :)  Same old Lincy.  He's a wild one and full of so much energy.  It's so strange now that we are actually having conversations with him.  And he tells us things are beautiful and he answers our questions with a full sentence.  It is amazing to me!  Now if I could only get him to use the potty all the time I'd be a happy mom!

Kirk and I recently made the decision for me to quit my job and become a stay at home mom.  I gave my work about 6 weeks notice.  It was hard - I won't lie about that.  Becoming a stay at home mom wasn't ever something I saw in my future before having kids.  Something happened, though, after I had Isadora: I felt like I wasn't giving anyone 100%.  Work was getting half of me and the kids were getting the other 50%.  I was making my poor husband miserable because I wasn't sleeping; I constantly was thinking about work.  My job, whether or not I liked it, had always been a part of who I was and the thought of quitting made me feel like I was losing a piece of myself.  Nonetheless, I was making everyone in my life miserable (including myself).

Yay!  So, here I am: a stay at home mom.  Exciting!

This was my first week not working.  I think it will take a little while to acclimated to this whole not working thing.  We were able to fit in a family day, a trip to the zoo and a play date with Sarah and her girls.  We made sure to pack as much into the first week as we could!

I am really, really looking forward to all of the changes.  I cannot wait to spend more time together as a family and with the kids.  Hopefully we get to see more of everyone AND maybe I'll even have more time to update the blog!  :)

Our Favorite Time of Year...

Hot air balloon time!

This balloon was so close to us we could almost touch it!  I didn't even have to zoom in when I took the picture...it was that close.

Lincoln was in heaven.  Can't wait for Balloon Festival this year!

Solids

We waited more than 6 months before we started Isadora on solids.  I really wanted to nurse the full 6 months and when 6 months did sneak up on us, we found we had just fallen into this routine of me nursing and getting out of that routine was difficult.  When we finally did start solids at about 6.5 months, we gave her rice cereal, skipped oatmeal and jumped to barley.  After only about a week of cereal, we started avocado.  Can't you see the love all over her face?

Since avocado, we've move onto bananas, sweet potatoes, pears, applesauce, and carrots.  She seems to be a pretty big fan of food.  She makes a disgusted face, but opens up her mouth for another bite.

I love making baby food.  I loved making Lincoln's food and I am so happy to be able to make Isadora's, too. I am looking forward to her eating new foods and creating new recipes.

Hopefully Isa enjoys eating in the future as much as she does now!

Isa = 6 Months

Crazy, right?  It's so hard to believe that Isadora is 6 months old!  Actually, she's almost 6.5 months now, but who is counting?

We brought her to the doctor this week for her check up and shots.  I always drag Kirk along with me because I cannot stand to see my baby's poor little skin getting poked. 

Her stats are:
Height: 25.5 inches (28th percentile)
Weight: 17 pounds 2 ounces (62nd percentile)
Head: 42.7 cm (28th percentile)

She checked out fine!  No problems, no issues.  She even did fine with her shots.  She cried during the shots, but she was fine afterwards. 

We don't have to go back until July!  Yay!

A Month in Review

I'm slacking on my updates!  It's getting so hard to keep up to date on the blog.  I think about it, but finding time to blog is getting so hard.  Must be the full time job, keeping up with everything around the house and, oh yeah, the two small kiddos.

We've been busy doing nothing and yet, I feel like we have reached so many milestones since I last wrote.

Isadora is now doing one of my favorite things of all time: playing with her feet.  I love it!  I seriously cannot get enough of the way babies fold them selves in half and play with their feet.  Adorable!  The ladies at day care said they leave her in her diaper so she can just play with her feet.  She loves it!

She also is on the verge of sitting up all on her own.  We had her sitting in the Boppy today.  She's so close to sitting up all on her own!

We're also happy to say, Isadora is now rolling over.  Adorable.  She's great at rolling from her back onto her tummy, but rolling from her tummy to her back is still hard for her.  Which seems weird since when I was trying to take pictures of her for Christmas cards, she wouldn't quit rolling over.

I had forgotten how exciting it is when babies reach a milestone!
We're working on potty-training with Lincoln. It's a work in progress...

This past weekend, I took the kids to an Easter egg hunt at their day care while Kirk was working.  Isa hung out with her day care teachers while Lincoln and I went on an Easter egg hunt.  Lincoln had so much fun looking for eggs, rather, picking them up off the playground.

Lincoln also got his face painted and, as a special treat, even got a cookie in the cookie walk.  Lucky kid.

He was mad at me because I wouldn't let him go in the 2 big bounce houses and made him stay in the small one.  You can tell by the look on his face how mad at me he was!

We're so excited the weather is warming up and we can get outside and play.being.  Lincoln keeps telling us he likes the beach.  Poor kid is as ready for summer as we are!

Sunday Junk Day

Last year on Superbowl Sunday, we went to Joelee and Jason's for what my sister has dubbed "Junk Day".  It's exactly what it sounds like: we all make junk and gorge ourselves on large quantities of yummy food with no nutritional value.  I remember Junk Day well last year: I was newly pregnant and had felt really well up to that day.  I made food I was so excited to eat and couldn't eat any of it.  This year was way different!  I'm still trying to work off the pounds I gained last Sunday!

We had a spread of dips and other appetizers, I made soup, Mom made cookies and it was all so very, very good.  Lincoln opted to eat Wheat Thins he dipped in ranch dressing and marinara sauce.  It was junk day, so I let it slide.  Could have been worse, I suppose!

Every time we get together, the kids all play together just a little more.  I love to see the kids playing and interacting.  It really is mad chaos when they all get together!  My parents got them all sunglasses, a book and a sucker for Valentine's Day.  They loved all the gifts, but I particularly liked watching them try get the sunglasses on straight.

A special thanks to Uncle Jason who was feeling like crud, but still played with the kiddos.

Isadora was her normal, tired self.  She was able to sneak a nap in, but everyone wanted their chance to hold her.  Quin is in love with Isa!  How cute it is to see her holding her and nuzzling her cheeks.  Adorable.

Lincoln surprised us with this little outfit.  He's got a thing for style, that son of mine.

Thanks for checking in with us.  We've been boring lately, but I have a feeling Isadora is on the verge of some pretty exciting milestones!!

4 Month Appointment

Earlier this week, we took Isa for her 4 month appointment.  4 months!  Oh my gosh how time flies by.  It seems like I just had her!

At her appointment, Isa's stats were:

Height: 25 inches (65th percentile)
Weight: 15 pounds 2 ounces (70th percentile)
Head circumference: 41 cm (39th percentile)

She did really well with her shots; well, I actually was told she did well.  I've never been able to watch or help with shots, that's why Kirk always goes with me!  I make him hold Lincoln or Isa while I sit back and cry or leave the room to set up the next appointment.  Their little skin is so sensitive!  I hate shot day.

We had no real concerns.  Our biggest concern is her sleeping; not because she's not sleeping, but because she sleeps so much!  We put Isadora down every night by 6:30.  Sometimes she'll wake up in the night, but she'll usually sleep until about 8:30.  I will feed her, she'll be up for another hour or hour and a half and then she goes back to sleep until about 1 pm.  It's amazing!  Then she'll be up for a bit and nap for about another hour before we get her ready for bed.  I like to think this is her way of repaying us for the first 6 weeks!

We go back at 6 months.  Can't wait to see what she's doing in 2 months!