:: mornings ::

Our Monday.. we went to the park, Iz played in the sand and started throwing it up in the air.. it was in her hair and everywhere!  She went down both slides by herself {a first!} and had one face plant {sorry munchkin!}, she had sand in her mouth, all over her face.. it was just a sandy morning!

 Wednesday morning, ready with shades and so excited for the day!

 Saying, 'CHEESE'!

I love our mornings :).

:: chi town ::

We had a fun girls trip to Chicago 2 weeks ago and it was awesome!  It was so nice to have a weekend with the girls in a fun city with good food, shopping + good food ;).

Thursday night, after Abbey picked us up from the airport. 

We had an amazing breakfast on the patio at 'Longman & Eagle'.

I had this amazing french toast and I couldn't resist taking a picture of Abbey's fried chicken + waffles... yep, you read that right!

 Yummy margs, tacos + guac at 'Big Star' for lunch.

 Dinner Friday night was at 'Tavernita' and it was so delicious... it is kind of tapas style, so we got a bunch of different dishes to share- I think my favorite was the 'coca de setas' {flatbread, mushrooms, caramelized onions, fresh chevre, herb salad}.

We had a fun night out on the town!

A little piano bar... 'Call Me Maybe'...

Oh man, we had the most delicious breakfast Saturday morning {yes, better than Friday morning} at 'Southport Grocery', our lattes were so pretty {mine got a little messed up} and my bread pudding pancake was UNREAL {w/ vanilla anglaise}, I couldn't stop eating it, it's amazing that I even stopped to take a picture of it. Oh and I highly recommend the grilled coffee cake and spinach omelet, also ahhmazing!

Some pizza for lunch at 'Cooper's'... highly recommend the artichoke dip for an appetizer.

Our last night :(, after eating at 'Lula Cafe'.. it was also very delicious, quaint little place, loved the ambiance.

Thank you friends for a wonderful trip and Abbey for being a fabulous hostess and meal planner ;)!

Izzy girl and dad had some great hang out time and this was the best picture I got from him... apparently Iz likes Wacky Packs from Sonic now!  We never go to Sonic and she had it 3 times while I was gone! Her cream slursh {slush, we call them slurshies} made her pass out in the car!

They had to go to Lawrence and Iz wanted to lay in her bassinet.. look how big she is in there now!

Oh, dad had to share round 3 of Iz enjoying her cream slurshie...

As much fun as it was to be in Chicago, it was so awesome to get home and hear Isabelle's little feet running through the dining room after she heard me walk in the kitchen, yelling, 'mommy!'.  She was so happy, gave me the biggest hug and then was running around crazy and giggling, it was the funniest thing to watch!  I missed my little and my husband so much, but it's always nice to get away to come home refreshed.  

I just loved this picture of Iz wearing my flips {she loves to put my shoes on!} and the sun beams setting behind her.

Isabelle has taken a liking to bees {thank you Sue Sue!} so this outfit was so great when we took it out of the clothes from Jami, she loves it!  When we put the skirt on, Iz said, "pretty"... so cute.  

This isn't the best picture of her, but had to show you the shirt.

 She was doing some twirls... so happy!

 Look how she fell asleep... looking so cozy!

"i did it!"

Izzy girl loves to do things and say, "I did it!" so excitedly... so I just had to share some pics from when she has said it...

and a little video..

It was the only day that it was cloudy and not terribly hot, so we got to go on an afternoon walk.. Isabelle had to bring all her bags {or lunch boxes}.

It just made me laugh, I couldn't even see her face... of course they didn't last long on her lap ;).

She is a total goof ball!

:: 20 months ::

Aaaghh!  I can't believe our little girl is over the 1 1/2 mark :(!  I still say she is 20 months when people ask, it sounds younger than 1 1/2 and almost 2.

~diapers: size 3, but I bought size 4's for when we run out.. movin' on up!

~shoes: 5

~clothes: 18-24 month and some smaller 2T shirts + dresses

~at your 18/19 month doc appt:

weight: 25 lbs :: 50%

height: 32 in :: 40%

head circ.: 18.75 :: 60%

~you absolutely love books and I love that you do!

~you love to play outside, go to the park, take walks, watch Elmo

~you have really started liking to color {yay!} and you like to pick out the crayon + the page for mom to color

~you really like to clean or "help", you love to have a wipe and walk around "cleaning" things with it"

~you say, 'what's this?' while pointing to things a lot

~you ask 'why?' all the time ;)

~you repeat almost every word we say now, your vocabulary amazes me every day

~we ask you what color something is and you always say 'blue' for some reason, you can say the other colors, but everything is blue right now

~you have started to say 'oh gosh' or just 'gosh' a lot and it's the funnies/cutest thing

~you can jump and get both of your feet off the ground now

~you walk up and down stairs {the shorter ones} by yourself, sad that you don't need my hand anymore :(

~you can put your shoes on by yourself too.. guess you don't need us anymore ;)

~you have really become more independent and want to do things on your own and say, "I did it!" all the time when you do

~you have been going to bed a little later lately, but it's still usually around 7:30... you are so tired and will be close to passing out, get a second wind and play in your crib for 30 minutes or so... I think you love playing in your bed.

~you love to sleep with all your stuffed animals and blankets in your crib, it's almost like you pick a new animal to join the party every day!

~I sneak in every night before we go to bed and check on you, cover you if you feel cold, move your animals away from your head and just make sure you look comfortable... it makes me feel better when I go to sleep :)

~we think you could be potty trained soon, you are so interested in the potty and telling us when you have gone 'poop' or 'pee'... we have started sitting you on the 'big girl potty' when you say you have to potty, but you have yet to actually use it {sorry if that's TMI!}

~some nicknames you have these days: turkey {I know, weird}, monkey, boogie, munchkin, little, mama, love bug and of course, Izzy girl, Iz... one of dad's names for you is pumpkin and I love that.

~you are such a big helper, you love to water!

You are such an amazing little girl.  I love to just stare at + watch you and think about what you are going to be like, look like, talk like as you get older and how crazy it is that you are such a little person/girl now.  We can't believe how fast you are growing, but you are still my little baby. always.  One of our favorite things is when you run towards us with a hug and a kiss before we leave or when we pick you up.. it's the best!  We love you more than you will ever know Izzy girl!

xoxo mom + dad

a little bit of vintage...

I had been needing to get Isabelle into my gram's dress from when she was little before it gets too small and we finally did it while Sue Sue was in town {you will have to ignore the wrinkles, I'm afraid it will fall apart if I iron it}.  Sue Sue also brought this adorable rocking chair to Iz, which was her friend Kim's when she was little.. she loves it!  She was so excited when she saw it and sat on it immediately.  She doesn't really have a chair, so this is perfect!

Then for her photo shoot in her dress... she wasn't really into it, but we tried!

There was some water on the slide that we didn't see until after it was on her dress :(.

I. love. this picture.

Oh this wall- it's my fault that she loves to walk on it and we go back and forth several times, but there was a wall that I always walked on during walks with my mom, so I just had to put her on there and now she's addicted.  It's a fun memory for me, holding her hand as she happily walks along the wall :).

 See ya mom!

 Checking out her shadow...

 I walked into the sun room to find Iz on the coffee table coloring.. I know she probably shouldn't sit on the coffee table, but I just thought it was too cute to disrupt... she does so well playing by herself.

 Just to go with the picture above, I loved when I walked in and saw Iz and Lucy... Iz was just reading a mag ;).

I love my little!!