tea party . . . in the bathroom!

today i went into one of the bathrooms upstairs and happened to walk in on a tea party that emma had set up. it was so funny and cute . . . she had set up several of her animals and had given them all a "treat" as emma explained to me. (the treat was a stacking cup from the bath filled with some of her hair bows!) and, i'm not sure if you can tell or not, but several of the animals have some of her headbands on . . . she got them all dressed up for the tea party. it was adorable!

two steps . . .

isabella walked yesterday! she took her first steps on her own. i almost missed it as i was fixing emma's hair for school. i happened to look up and realized that isabella had let go of the coffee table and was taking a few steps on her own! i tried to get her to do it again last night so i could get a picture, but she hasn't tried again yet. i know we'll have lots of pictures soon though, so stay tuned!

dance recital

emma has been taking ballet and tap this year. and yesterday was her dance recital. the girls were so cute. here are a few pictures of her in her "princess dress" and at the recital.

Baby Dedication

we recently had isabella dedicated at our church's baby dedication, which is where we as parents share that we will raise her to know God. we had participated in baby dedication with emma as well. the church had changed the service from what it had been when we went through it with emma, including some homework and messages we had to listen to before attending the dedication. tom and i discussed five values we want to instill in isabella and two habits we would institute in order to instill those values in her. we got to share the values with our friends and family who joined us for the dedication. there was also a message, which basically reminded us to cherish these years with our little ones as it goes so fast . . . yes, fast is true. i still can't believe that isabella is one already! anyways, it was a fun and very meaningful celebration.

Feeling sad . . .

feeling a little sad today. happened upon these in my quiet time today . . . they fit my feelings and i just thought i'd share . . .

I went about mourning as though for my friend or brother. I bowed my head in grief as though weeping for my mother. Psalm 35:14

But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. Psalm 10:14

One year!

yes, isabella celebrated her one-year birthday this past weekend. how did one year pass by so quickly?! i had heard that the more kids you have the faster it goes, but i just didnt' think that could be true until now! here are 12 fun things about isabella . . . and some fun pictures from her birthday celebration. (big sister emma picked out all the decorations, party hats, etc. i think she has a future in party planning!)

oh, when i asked emma what was her favorite thing about isabella now that she's one . . . emma responded . . . "cake."



12 fun things about isabella . . .
1. her laugh - she loves laughing, and if you've ever heard her laugh, you know what i'm talking about . . . a deep, very funny, from the belly laugh
2. her kisses . . . when she kisses you, she gives a full mouth, sloppy kiss, but when she hears you make a kiss sound, she'll pucker up and smack her lips making a kiss sound back
3. she crawls really fast, and when she really gets going, she'll look where she wants to go, put her head down (very aerodynamic) and start crawling
4. the way she is always saying, "tickle, tickle" . . . it kind of sounds like "ditka, ditka"
5. she can say woof, woof . . . she kind of grunts!
6. her rhythm . . . she hears music and she starts rocking and dancing
7. when she gets excited, her legs and feet and arms and hands start shaking like crazy
8. she is pulling up on everything and walking around all the furniture . . . i'm sure walking on her own is coming soon, especially now that she has all the walking toys from her birthday
9. she loves to look out the windows . . . she especially loves watching out the front windows and seeing the cars and trucks go by
10.she is full of giggles when we take the girls up for bed and she sees emma following behind
11. she loves looking at books and will help turn the pages when we read . . . her favorite books are the ones that have real pictures in them, not the animated graphics
12. the way she scrunches up her face and breathes in and out through her nose

Staying Home

yes, i've made the decision to stay at home and be a full-time mom. at the end of may, i will be staying home full time . . . not working anymore! wow, it's a huge change. i'm looking forward to having some more time with both of the girls, and to having some alone time with isabella that i haven't been able to have. i'm also hoping to feel a little less overwhelmed. i, admittedly, am a little nervous about finances, but we've been taking steps that will hopefully help as we make this transition. mostly, i'm excited to step into this new chapter in our lives!

any other moms out there who left work to stay home full time with any tips or thoughts? would love to hear from you!