Ballerina Girl

Well I have been trying to get Olivia into a ballet class for like the last 6 months and couldn't get my act together or find the time to make it happen, but I made it my goal for 2013!! So after I told her I signed her up, she started crying saying she didn't want to go and that she "hated" ballet!! Really? that's funny, as far as I know, you have never even tried it!!! I told her a little mommy "fib," that I would be joining her out there and that seemed to make everything better :-) Funny how that after we went to buy her a new leotard with a tutu and got to the class, that she literally ran in the door and somehow she now magically "loves" ballet. After her second class, she also got bumped up to the next level and is doing great. She asks everyday if it's a ballet day. Her class is on Thursday mornings from 10-11 and they do 30 minutes of tap and 30 minutes of ballet. She asked Daddy to come last week and he snapped some pictures of her.

Isabella

Apparently she loves rice?!?

She was sick with a fever the day before but we had to
head out to Target for some food, so here she is hanging out. Poor baby.

Sisters sucking thumbs. 

Cutie patootie 

Fast asleep. She now has 5 teeth at 10 months!!

Being silly as we shopped at Costco

A visit from the Eric, Michelle and Blake

The Ward family flew up to visit us over the MLK weekend and we had a great visit with them. They flew up Saturday morning just in time for Cole's basketball practice/game so we got to watch him play, then headed back home for lunch and nap time for the little ones. On Sunday we took them out to one of our favorite breakfast places "High hand" and they treated us to a yummy brunch (Thanks again you guys!).  Sunday night we were joined by my mom and Mike and had a nice dinner all together. It was really fun seeing Blake and Izzy hanging out together. She is just about two months older than him but he is pretty much her same size, and maybe even a little taller. They enjoyed looking at each other and eating their meals together. Cole and Olivia loved every second of having Uncle Eric and Aunt Michelle around and were very sad when they left. We've pretty much had visitors on and off for the past few months and now we currently have no one "scheduled" in the near future. They are very sad about this. Olivia asked me, "so who's coming next?"

Anyways, thank you guys so much for making the trip. I know how busy your lives are but we always enjoy hanging out with you. It was great getting to spend some more time with Blake as well. We sure have one very cute nephew/cousin.

Here are some photos from the weekend.

The crew watching Cole's basketball game

The "Milk" bar. 

Happy Baby

Time for some lunch

Cole and Blake

Trying to get a good picture of all 4 proved to be impossible!

Ya, not happening. But they still look cute :-)

The best one we got!

Eating again

Grandma with Blake and Izzy. Her first time having both of them
together. Kind of like feeding twins!

Isabella at 9 months

Last week I took Miss Bella in for her 9 month checkup. Hard to believe she will be 1 in just 3 short months.  She weighed in at 17 pounds 9 ounces (25%) and was 27 inches (28%) long. What she lacks in height and weight, she makes up for in head circumference at a whopping 46 cm (87%). Must be the German in her, her Nanna says.

At 9 months, she is crawling all over the place and pulling herself up on anything she can find. I think there is a good chance we may have a walker on our hands before she turns 1.  She was sleeping through the night for awhile, but not anymore. She usually wakes up once and I feed her and then she goes back to sleep in our bed. I could probably make her cry it out, but it really doesn't bother me. She eats and goes right back down.  She still loves sucking her thumb, just like her sister does.  She sucks it when she is tired or hurt and to go to sleep every night. I'm sure we will pay the price later in orthodontic bills, but it's quite worth it now.

She's starting to eat all kinds of table food as well- cheerios, pasta, rice, fruit etc...She drinks water from a sippy cup and loves to wave "hi" and "bye". She has three teeth - two on the bottom and her top right. Won't be long until that gummy smile is all gone and replaced with a mouthful of teeth :-(

She loves to "talk" and says Da Da Da Da all day long. No Ma Ma yet :-(  She is still a super easy going and mellow baby and we love you to pieces Miss Izzy!!

Visit from the Morlett and Herrington Families

My sister and her family came up to visit us for a few days after Christmas. She drove up here on the 27th with Alec and Liam and then Enrique flew up two days later and joined our crazy crew. The kids had a fun time playing with each other and there was never a dull moment around here. We had a 6 yr, 5 yr, 4yr, 2 yr and a 9 month old = Chaos :-) Thank goodness for coffee and wine. We took the kids to fairytale town one day, to the park, they played in the jacuzzi and rode bikes around the neighborhood. It was so fun seeing them and thank you guys for making the trip!!

The kids at Fairytale town.

My mom and Mike joined us on New Year's Eve and we celebrated our Christmas with them since we didn't get to see them on Christmas Day. We made a yummy dinner - Jim BBq'd steal on his new BBQ and we opened presents and rang in the new year. We also celebrated my sister's birthday (which is actually on January 9th) and I made her a cake and she opened her presents from mom and I. Talk about packing it all into one night - Christmas, New Year's and a birthday party!

My mom with 5 of her 6 grandchildren

My sister, Kristen, my mom and me. Love these girls!!

The table all set and ready for dinner

Dinner time - Cole led the prayer :-)

Opening presents - a lego set for Alec from C & O

A new wig for Olivia to go with her Tangled dress

A new suitcase for Isabella from Grandma and Grandpa Mike

Cole toasting in 2013!

 A new lego set for Cole!

 A unicorn Dream Lite for Olivia

Kristen opening up some of her birthday presents

Kristen blowing out the candles on her cake. Happy 38th Birthday Kristen!

Time to celebrate New Year's Eve with the New Yorkers!

The kids counting down to the New Year!

Sisters! Happy New Year's!!

Daddy and Cole working on putting together The Black Pearl lego set from 

Grandma and Grandpa Mike

Olivia also got her first lego set for Christmas from us (ironically called "Olivia's House) and this was the first set I had ever worked on as well. While Jim and Cole worked on his, Olivia and I built this doll house. We both had so much fun and it is so adorable.