Blankets of Belief

First off let me start by saying that I don't believe in this war. Never have, never will.
I have no respect for W and don't think I ever will. And I am happily voting Demo this year.

With that said (and hopefully people will stop send me anti-demo emails..growl), I fully support our troops. And I try to do what I can to help them.

I've been a part of Soldiers' Angels for the past couple years and this year we are throwing a blanket drive.

Even if you don't sew, please consider joining us (you can always do the fleece tied blankets!)
Here is the info: Blankets of Belief

Even if you don't support the war, LIKE ME, consider sending some home spun love to our men and women that are not able to return home to their families.

Oh and do them some more good and vote OBAMA!

((stepping off soapbox))

*This message was endorsed and support by the one and only Isabelle

So behind!

Ack! I'm so behind. I have the same excuse, lovin' life with the darling Isabelle!

We had a fabulous first Father's Day with my folks. We went to Gardner Village for Pioneer Days, Thomas cooked a roast in the ground (and it was good!), and we watched Lonesome Dove. My hubby's father always watched it on Father's Day and my cowboy wanted to keep with tradition. So Isabelle bought him Lonesome Dove, the spaghetti Western collection, and I bought him golf lessons. Thomas so rarely gets to do something that isn't work or Isabelle related! And I told him that when Isabelle starts her golf lessons, I will too!

Isabelle and I made my father a Shutterfly photobook. He loved it! That will be our annual gift for Poppy!!

Let's see.. Isabelle turned 3 months! I can't believe it. I've had to put away a number of clothes - some she never had the chance to wear :( She can flip on her side and from her side flip to her tummy, but not all at once. Isabelle is also sleeping in her crib! She outgrew her bassinet and papasan. I can't believe how fast this is all going..

We took her to Park City this past week. She slept through it all, but it was SO nice to do something as a family. Most weekends Thomas and I take turns getting errands and chores done, so this was a well deserved treat!

And last but not least, Isabelle and I went to the Zoo today with some other mommies. It was hot as blue blazes and she slept through it all, but I had a chance for some mommy chat and take photos.

And this blog is empty of photos because I've been uploading all morning to Flickr and seriously can't upload one more photo..

alright you lucky ducks, since this is SO flippin' cute, I added it.. Want to see more?? Go to Flickr!

Alright I'll be better about blogging.. lots of love - J&I

Isabelle's First Real Laugh

I knew my girl had some personality, but this takes the cake! Thomas and I have been eagerly waiting for those baby chuckles to develop into a full laugh.. and tonight we're both there to share in this special first!

Isabelle has been kinda cranky today, no surprise given her busy weekend. I was holding her trying to shush away her blues. Teasingly I joked with her about her "I want to eat, no I don't want to eat" ways, when she belted it out. A full with squeals and all..

A laugh inspired about driving her mommy slowly crazy :o) Like I said, I knew my girl had some spunk.

What a super, special night...!!

And yes after having a good laugh spell, she went back to crying for the bottle as she swats it away..

Milk Maid

and the breastfeeding saga continues.. amazingly I made more milk than ever while we were on our trip in Arizona (lots of pumping in the car..). I've accepted that I'll never make enough to meet all of Isabelle's feedings, but so far I can do about 3/4ths.. I also read that with subsequent children, it is possible that your body will produce even more milk. I have hope that maybe I can breastfeed in the future.

I recently bought a pumping bra: http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Expression-Hands-Bustier-Nursing/dp/B000MFVOGW/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&qid=1213047964&sr=8-1

It is awesome! Granted you're still hogtied to the pump, but I can knit, email or play with Isabelle. Considering I'm pumping every 3 hours for at least a 1/2 hour.. this is HUGE in my life. I can't believe it took me almost 3 months to buy it. If you're pumping - go buy it!!

And if you can believe it, someone in our family was rattling off a story about some other woman's breast feeding issues and their similar lack of patience?! Um it took all I had to not fall over in disbelief. In this day and age I would hope that our fellow women would support each other. And if you think I don't have patience and that's what killed the whole breastfeeding thing - see note above about how many hours of my life are dedicated to being a milk maid. *sigh*

Our Trip To Arizona

It was SO much fun catching up with everyone! We drove to Kingman on the first day. Isabelle had a chance to chat with her Grandpa Dan and meet her cousins, Bailey and Brycen. Bailey was completely enchanted with her. It was pretty cute to watch. Granted neither boy thought having to wash their hands so they could play with her was fun (what is it with handwashing and kids.. you'd think it was painful..lol)

Thursday we drive down to Phoenix and had dinner with my two closest friends, Karen and Annalee. I can't believe these girls! Annalee flew out from CA for the night just to spend time with us, and Karen drove up from Tucson with her baby boy Quinn. Sometimes I'm just in awe of how great our friends are!


Karen with Isabelle

Isabelle and Annalee

The Quinn Man

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Friday we had lunch with Pete, Amy, and lil' Peter. I think Peter was a tad jealous of Isabelle, but that didn't stop him from hamming it up! And before we left we had a chance to catch up with Nicole and baby Anthony. What a kicker!! Nicole is going to be very busy with that active boy!

And later that night of course we had our pool party. Can I tell you how easy it is to have a party at a hotel - I think I will only have parties at hotels now :-) Oh.. and I didn't get any pictures, but Isabelle and I had a fun time in the hot tub - she is such a water baby! There were SO many babies..Paige is such a sweetie pie and Addison is getting SO strong!! I'll be posting the pics on Flickr. I didn't get a ton - I was pretty paranoid about all the splashing near the camera..

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Saturday we packed up and headed to Chino Valley to visit with Thomas' mom. Isabelle of course enjoyed the break from being in her car seat and loved the poncho that Nana crocheted for her.

Sunday we journeyed home! All in all Isabelle did really well considering the amount of time she spent in her warm car seat. Aside from a few crying sessions and not wanting to sleep, we all survived. I think it will be awhile before we take her on another road trip though..

The Craft Blog

Okay so I finished laying out my crafty blog: All Things Belle

CC is welcome!!

Again, this new blog will just be about my businesses and general craftiness...

Wrong Day To Be Walking

Isabelle and I have taken to strolls around the neighborhood. With a SLC library super close and so many parks around, there is tons to amuse little Isabelle. I met with another mommy from one of my SLC mommy boards today to do some stroller walking. It was really nice to get out of the house in this fabulous weather and have a mommy chat. Mary Anna, the other mommy, has a little girl just a few months older than Isabelle. Lucky me - I get to see what fun awaits me!!

Turns out though today was the wrong day to be walking! A cougar was spotted and caught just a couple blocks away!!!! Just a tad scary. It won't keep us from what is becoming a morning tradition, but maybe I should be packing some heat :-/ Just kidding.. kind of..

Happy to report that my Wii Mii is skinny! I've lost enough weight to make WiiFit happy... I am still hoping to lose 10-20 more, but at least I look great on Wii!!

Isabelle is SO excited about her big AZ debut!! She's busy today picking out her most stylish hot weather outfits :-)

Lots of slobbery kisses,
J&I