Reduced to tears

Isla rolling around

aww, cutie!!

Isla and her buddy, Rooney

Isla sitting up!!

Isla getting ready to smile big!

Isla loves to grab faces!

got him!! this big head is my daddy...

lounging about.

my daddy before he takes me to daycare

Mommy, Daddy and Islee! 
Isla is five months old today - I was so happy and sad. She's growing up so fast and she won't be a tiny little baby anymore....

But that means she's rolling over, grabbing her feet and getting very, very excited when she sees us for the first time when we pick her up or see her after work! There is nothing in this world like being a momma. I wouldn't give it up for the entire world. 

I'm so proud of my little girl, she'll be a whole year old in 7 months! Get ready for a party!!!!

More Christmas

Isla at Christmas in Iowa, wearing Devan's hat. We took it and thought she's looking a bit too  "rasta", I'm afraid!! Funny girl...

She sure is Grandma's Cutie! Thank goodness for waterproof bibs!

Calista got a little teacher's set and was giving little Isla a lesson. I think she's a great student, or at least looks like one! Let's hope!!

When we were home alone for a few days the week after Christmas because my office was closed, Isla and I had a lot of time to just hang out. She loves to sit in the sun, makes her "happy as Larry" as her daddy would say :)

Caught by surprise! She loves her little jumperoo.

Blogging while Ross watches a show about the Autobahn, I can't even think of the things that have been going on for the last week. Besides making a resolution to blog at least once per week, I have a few more:

1) read to Isla every night

2) change careers for Ross and/or go back to school

3) watch more indie films

4) reconnect with old friends

5) start a rose garden

6) learn something new (pottery classes start feb. 3rd!)

AND of course,

7) work out 2x/week

I hope I can handle those. Not too tough, I've knocked out two of those already! ...Maybe three, I just learned that the autobahn road is safer than any highway in the US, amazing. Good luck to everyone in your resolutions, too!

Roly Poly baby

Drum-heroing it up. That's my neph. Trev singing (Eye of the Tiger in monotone, I think!), me on the drums, Ross on bass and my sis Teresa (and her bun in the oven) on gee-tar. 

The picture of comfort!!

Isla holding her bottle, amazing how the little things getcha.

Isla and Daddy...smiling sweet girl...

Roly poly, she sure is!! And she doesn't even have the excuse of eating three or four christmas dinners, haha! Doc says she sure looks like she isn't missing any meals, like she'd let me! She's still up in the 95th percentile of weight and height - 16 lbs and 26.5" long. Shoot, I wish I could grow 5.5 inches taller in almost five months!

We all had a great Christmas...Isla and I were home from xmas eve until the 5th (tomorrow) and we had a grand old time going to the doc and falling on our butts pushing a Target cart up on the curb in front of the store! I had Isla locked into the cart and was rushing to get her up on the curb in front of a car outside of Target and totally fell on my butt. I'm sure the folks in the car were very nearly horrified, but all was well! Amazing how Isla didn't even wake up...Oh how I wish I could do a week on, a week off at work! Or go back to my three-day weekends. Maybe next year... There's been so much happening since we last posted, where do I start??

We all went up to Iowa on xmas eve and it was a wonderful christmas. Ross got to watch his UFC match on Saturday night and Doug, Steph, Devan, Jordan and Chris, Melissa, Trevor and Calista all came down to see it too. Mom and I made more doggie diapers - Jaeger loves to pee on things around the house, naughty doggie! What else did we do? Ross, dad and I got to play a lot of guitar hero - I LOVE the drums on that. Ross got a whole mess of tools, I got an iPod and Isla got a ton of fun toys, like a crawling Pooh bear. It says, 'follow me'!

Isla made a lot of progress too - grandpa Marv taught her to blow bubbles and she found her feet! AND she's getting used to holding the bottle all by herself. It's so neat, the little girl next door, Megan, is about three months older than Isla and has two teeth already. I can't wait until they can play together a little bit!

All in all, I think we're off to a pretty good start for Oh-nine. I'm hoping to get some roses ordered so I really have spring to look forward to!! Ahh...I'll garden and Ross will work on finishing the basement, that would be an excellent way to spend the early summer. 

A Day in the Life

One of my favorite Beatles songs! And lots more pictures to report from a few days back...

Two more days of work left and then a week and a half off with Isla and the husband! So excited. 

Because Isla is changing so much everyday. She's on solid food a bit, rice cereal, and she's trying to roll over still. But from her back to her front. She's a funny little one! Here's some pics of her in a sweater from Gran Helen doing her rolly thing and laughing it up :) She's also learning to sit up, she can do it pretty steady but slowly sinks down to touch her toes, haha!

Oh! And there are some pics of Isla and daddy watching Mamma Mia! with mommy - GREAT movie! 

Six of one, half dozen of the other

It's CHRISTMASTIME!!! And Isla is just 4 months old, as of Friday. We all walked over to the neighbor's house and had a sweet little party, opened some gifts and had a lot of butterscotchy shots! 

To be honest, it's been really hard keeping up with posting on here, work is just crazy! Then when we're home, we only have 3 hours with little miss, it's kind of hard. And I'm a naughty mommy and bring Isla to bed sometimes, just to spend some more time with her. I'm so glad she's bigger now so I'm not so worried to roll over on her!

Five more days of work and then I have a week and a half off - paid! No, not vacation, the whole agency gets off that long, I am so excited!! So, you know what you can expect that week...hopefully a lot of fun pics and posts!

But for now, enjoy some pics of Isla sitting up in her Bumbo chair and holding a bottle all by herself - this was tonight!! And there's a pic of the beautiful stocking Ross' gran sent her, completely hand-knitted with a little knitted santa man in the chimney, it's so beautiful!! And of course, she loves, loves LOVES her jumperoo (thanks auntie Melissa and Teresa!!). It's not a very good nap spot but it'll do!

Whatta weekend

Grandma Carol and Grandpa Marvy came all the way down from NW Iowa to visit - and all in good fashion, they really helped us out! The AdFarm agency's christmas party was on Friday, so they came down Thursday night and babysat on Friday night. Isla went to bed at 8:30, amazing! And was a really good little girl. It helps that she likes her granny and gramps! 

What else happened this weekend? Well, we all went out to Target and got a bunch of stocking stuffers, then to Home Depot for a lot of insulation, which grandpa helped Ross put up in the basement. We're close to finishing it, if only we could get some help with the ceiling drywall! 

We got Isla a little baby Bumbo seat, which is a great makeshift highchair for right now. She had her first real meal of food on Saturday night (brown rice cereal) and slept that night for TWELVE hours. Not straight, she got up at 7pm, but then went back to bed til 9!

Last weekend we went up to Iowa and had a little shower to introduce little miss to our friends up there - and mom got to try on some of Isla's little presents, like a pink lion hat that grandma Carol gave her! And it snowed in Iowa that weekend, Isla was so excited to lean on the couch arm and look out the window! 

We've really been playing with that hair of hers, there's so much of it. It's fun to put little barrettes in it, but it's fun to get a hat on and control it sometimes. Here're some great pics of Isla with her hat from Auntie Diane!!

Holy Turkey!

It's been a long time since we've posted, but to be fair, I haven't been too near a computer. BUT I have been near the camera!! We have a whole new DVD to send to grandma Helen and grandpa Martin and a ton of pics, which you've probably already noticed.

Isla had a wonderful first thanksgiving. She cannot wait until next year when she can actually taste the actual meal. She got to see a soccer game before we went up there, and when we were there too! It was exciting. We had a tiny shower at the church, which was so great for Isla's momma to see her old friends - and for Isla to finally meet her wonderful Auntie Em!