:: isabelle + harper ::

we had a fun little saturday with the cousins - papa brought cooper, emme and harper to lawrence for the game so harper, iz and i were home during the game and i had so much fun watching them interact - you can tell isabelle was so interested in what harper was doing and harper just wanted to be the little helper and take care of iz... i just couldn't narrow down the pics any more than i already did, so enjoy, there are a lot :).

they played with isabelle's construction lego set for awhile...

i just love reggie in this pic, mid-lick..

harper 'helping' isabelle along.. too cute.

we definitely had a toy tornado - they had every toy pulled out and they were scattered all over the place.

i love this, she looked back at me like, 'yeeees?'..

just doing the china squat..

isabelle was so interested in paisley, it was pretty cute.

we all went to dinner after the game and poor izzy girl was so pooped, she fell asleep on the way home - not fun having to wake her up and get her ready for bed... we will definitely be avoiding putting her in those situations when it's so close or past her bed time!

a new daycare, like a new beginning...

so, we started at a new daycare on monday.  i realized i forgot to mention that our daycare lady decided not to renew her license as i was writing this post - she told us that february 3rd was going to be the last day she could watch iz, so we were a little frantic to find something (as most of you know, finding daycare isn't easy, especially in a couple weeks).  we got lucky with a center that is pretty close to us, that said they could work something out and take her (thank goodness)... i was actually really excited about it, i thought it would be so good for isabelle to be around a bunch of kids her age.

it was the best thing ever to pick her up and get this little 'look at me' paper about her day... it says what she ate, what time, what she liked doing, how long she napped.. all those good details i have been missing all this time!  i was so happy to get it and i just can't wait to ready it every day.  i love picking her up at the center too because i never know what she is going to be doing when i walk in and she gets the biggest grin and walks to me so fast with her arms out ready for a big hug - melts me every time!

izzy girl is so happy in the mornings on our way to daycare... jacob and i took her the first day and she didn't cry or even look back, it was almost harder on me than it was on her.

isabelle has been so tired from playing so much at daycare - she crashed in her crib with her arms behind her head a couple nights this week - laid back.

i am just so excited to see isabelle learn and develop from all the littles at daycare.  3 of her 5 papers this week said that she enjoyed singing and dancing which just made me smile... she has started dancing around in circles and shaking her head from side to side when we are listening to music in the car - so glad she already enjoys music :).  i was nervous to take isabelle to a new place where she didn't know anyone, but she has done so great, i couldn't be happier with the change.

i almost forgot to mention this.. isabelle got bit on her second day of daycare!  i walked in to pick her up and the girl was like, 'we had a little incident today' and showed me iz's arm and it was the kids' whole mouth, all the teeth marks on little mama's arm - she said isabelle didn't make a big deal about it, but they iced it and that they felt bad she got bit on her second day.. it was kind of funny, not funny, but you know what i mean.  i felt so bad for her and i was more worried that she would turn around and bite someone... she hasn't yet, so that's good!

my little munchkin...

I was so glad to wake up to another sunny Sunday morning so Isabelle and I could go for a run... I just love her Mickey Mouse sweater, she looked so cute with those ears sticking up...

Isabelle has been so into climbing and climbing into things - I left the room for a minute, came back and found her in this sink, like, 'yes mom?'... she just makes me laugh.

she also loves to take everything out and put it all back in.. several times.

and then she doesn't forget about it for the rest of the day - she got back in a few more times.

Isabelle wanted to put dad's shoes on... she still say's 'shoes' all the time.

So I have been really into making smoothies these days, we drink one almost every day and this is one of my new favs that I found via pinterest, but may have altered a bit each time I've made it.  I wish the glass would have been cleaner at the top for the picture, but I couldn't resist trying it right after I poured it...

It's kind of a protein smoothie, maybe for after a workout - or whenever you want because it's that delicious.  All it is:

scoop of blueberries

banana (fresh or frozen, yes best way to use your browning nanners!)

about 1T peanut butter

scoop of protein powder (I usually use about a half scoop of Juice Plus+ Complete)

and then I usually just add water, but you can use milk/soy milk if you want

then add ice cubes if it gets too liquidy or however you like it

Izzy girl also fancies the smoothies which I am so thankful for because it gets her to eat a lot of good fruits and veggies (I have been adding spinach to some and she loves them too, will share those recipes asap) that she might not eat in their whole form.  I think she likes them too because she knows we are drinking them together, she sees me drink mine and then she gives me a big grin, drinks her and says, 'ahhh', like, that was good!

just double fisting her smoothie with her milk..

 I just had to include this pic because I keep forgetting to mention that we are getting more teeth, the poor girl has been sucking on her whole hand and anything else she can chew on.  She does have a new tooth on the bottom, about middle of her mouth - not sure what it's called, but it's definitely a bigger tooth!

 she kind of splashed the straw on her face and got a bit of smoothie face.. reminded me of when she was first eating and would get so messy... I already miss those days.

I highly recommend the smoothie technique with your littles if you have trouble getting them to eat any fruits or veggies!  I will continue to share new recipes as we come up with them!

oh how i love friends.

Abbey came in town for the weekend so Izzy girl and I drove to KC right after work on Friday to meet up with friends and had a wonderful time...

We had appies and drinks at a delicious little place downtown called 'Extra Virgin'.

We just couldn't believe this guys' hair so Kel and I had to get a pic..

Kel & Lizzy

We had such a fun, late night - I can't tell you the last time I was up past 3 am!  I just can't do it anymore!  I was so tired Saturday, but still had a wonderful time with the littles and our friends.

Abbey with Annabelle.

Isabelle and Greyson just hanging together.

This was pretty funny trying to get Isabelle, Greyson and Annabelle to all sit together on the chair.. G is clapping :).

Iz trying to slide off.

We kind of made it happen super fast...

I had to add this pic from Sal, she got a pretty good close-up - but poor G is afraid he is getting cooties from the ladies ;).

Izzy girl was so sleepy 

Lunch at 'Spin', one of my favorite places to eat in KC- they have the best pizza!

Isabelle and her 'no' face.. apparently she was done with her banana.

We had such a good time hanging out and catching up with our friends... it's amazing how crazy life gets and how you almost have to make an effort to spend time with friends, but it's always such a refreshing feeling - we are so lucky to have such great friends.

We headed back home after Iz woke up from her nap and she was just enjoying her book most of the way.  I just love to watch her, yes I know, not safe while driving, but I can't help it!  I love how intently she is looking at the book.

Gram came to stay with us since dad was in Salina and we made a delicious + super simple avacado pasta for dinner that was found on none other than - pinterest - I definitely recommend:

1 medium sized ripe Avocado, pitted

1/2 lemon, juiced + lemon zest to garnish

2-3 garlic cloves, to taste

1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste

1/4 cup Fresh Basil (optional)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 servings/6 oz of your choice of pasta (we used some marziani which is a bigger spiral noodle)

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste 

*we added spinach to ours and I thought it was a good addition, would definitely add it when I make it again

*we also added some parmesan cheese - another awesome addition!

First, cook your pasta and while it's cooking....

Her recipe says to: make the sauce by placing the garlic cloves, lemon juice and olive oil into a food processor.  Process until smooth.  Add pitted avocado, basil and salt. Process until smooth and creamy. *We simmered the oil, garlic, lemon juice + zest in a sauce pan, then added the spinach right before we added it all to the pasta - it was nice to have it a little warm.  

Once the pasta is done and drained, add the parmesan to the pasta, then add the avocado mix and serve!  

It's not as good reheated because of the avocado, so just try to make enough pasta that you will eat.

sunday with Iz.

We woke up to a beautiful sunny Sunday so Izzy girl and I took advantage of it and went for a run - it was wonderful.  We have been so lucky with the weather this winter.. makes me a little nervous that there is going to be a crazy snow storm in April or something.

Gram brought the dogs home and they got to join us for a walk.. it's so much easier when someone else handles the dogs.  Isabelle really loves her wagon and I love being able to see her face while we're walking vs. looking at the top of her head in the stroller. 

I couldn't resist capturing Isabelle's wild hair!  I just loved it, I didn't even want to try and fix it because I thought it was so cute - poor girl ;).  She was double fisting with her fruit smoothie and milk.. we seem to do that often these days.

we had kind of a little front/side mohawk going..

Thank you Iz, for being so wonderful and constantly keeping me on my toes and entertained.. love you so much.