Doing the Potty Dance

Quite a few months ago Isabelle starting to show a lot of interest in the potty. Excited over the prospect of being diaper free, I ran out to Target and bought her a fancy pink throne that plays music when you "go".

Well she does love her throne, but has yet to "go". Our little angel loved having a dirty diaper. If she was all of a sudden really jubilant, you could be sure she had a super stinker waiting for you. Finally this past month she decided that having a dirty diaper really wasn't all that grand. She began to grab her diaper after she went and then started to tell us that her "foo foo" hurt. We are so close I can feel it! Yesterday she grabbed my hand and led me to her potty right after she had done the deed in her diaper. We've yet to do any kind of formal training with her, but I think when we get back from our Thanksgiving trip, we will try to.

It's an odd thing to be excited over pee & #2, but honestly each step your child takes is such a miracle and fascinating. So bittersweet to watch Isabelle move further into toddlerdom, but what a wonderful ride. Being a parent really does teach you that life truly is all about the ride and the little details.

How Did This Happen

Wow.. letting the blog slip again, okay peoples I will try to be better!

Turned 31 this month! Ack!!

We took our annual trip to Disneyland and a fabulous time. It was pretty busy, so we may have to slightly change the dates for 2010 in hopes of finding a less crowded time.

You would never ever know this country is having money issues!!

Somehow I did not take a solitary picture while in Disneyland.

I know, I know..

Part of it is I don't think we got into the park before 4pm most days (Isa's naps..)

And well Isa was either hiding her face or squealing with joy over "Toodles" aka Mikey Mouse..

Not too much ability to fiddle with a F-Stop while grasping a toddler, stroller, and some sanity..

**The picture featured is Isa with one my dearest, best friends Annalee.

Thank you so much for making the drive!! **

And I got sick on the last day.

Feel pretty fortunate it that it is just your run of the mill cold,

but now Isa, Daddy, and Grandma have it.

Sorry!

Blame SWA and their dirty recirculated airplane air!

***

As most of you know, we lost a baby last month.

Physically I'm still recovering. I always thought these were fast, but my body apparently wanted to be pregnant as much as my heart did.

Most days I'm back to normal, but then someone at the library that is unaware of the situation will ask how the "baby" is, and it takes me a minute to realize they mean Isa.. and then it takes me a couple more minutes to pull myself back together again.

Isabelle, the bright girlie she is, was well aware we were expecting a baby.

She would kiss my belly and tell the baby hello.

It still breaks my heart when she tries to and I have to explain that the baby is in heaven.

We are hoping for another bright pink line in 2010.

So keeps those prayers, good wishes, and baby dust our way.

It is much appreciated!

Real Quick

My Etsy businesses are on a level of insanity..

but here's a quick pic of Ms. 18 months old!!

Will blog & post to Flickr when I can come up for air..

Blessed!

While my goal is to blog weekly,

I had to brag about my little girl!!!

Last night I yanked her bottles from her cold turkey.

Thomas & I were tired of being lectured by the doc and we figured at almost 18months, it's time.

So she drank ALL her milk from a straw sippy cup.

Didn't fuss, didn't cry, didn't go looking for her ba ba's.

And she went to bed at 8pm...

tada..

didn't wake till 7:45..

People, that's the first night she's not waken up
(unless she was sick..)

Can I tell you how proud I am?!?

Love this little angel..

Hope you enjoy the picture of our artist.

And yes, she's already colored on: walls, clothes, self, mama..etc

Much Needed Vacation

This past week was a long one for Isabelle.

From going to the dentist to getting an upper GI (my personal worst morning ever!),

we all were in much need of a vacation!

Isa got her haircut a fabulous salon :o), we all ate sushi at local Japanese joint,

and headed out to watch the Salt Lake City Real Soccer game.

Isabelle just loved the roar of the crowd

and the yummy warm churro on the way out.

This was the last week we could go camping given our hectic schedule.

So we decided to leave Thursday for a family camp out,

and join our Parish for the Church camp out on Friday - Sunday.

What a wonderful weekend!

Isabelle truly loves camping.

From playing in the dirt, playing in the water, and playing in the tent!

Once we joined the rest of the Parrish up at Heber Valley,

Isabelle made lots of new friends!

I think every older Parishioner adopted her as their "granddaughter".

She had lots of admirers and friends to play with.

There was a big waffle breakfast up at the Chalet Saturday morning

and a family style steak BBQ that evening!

While we're happy to be clean & at home,

it is truly hard to come back to reality!

**And it turns out that Isabelle only has gastric reflux. Thank goodness for small favors!*

TONS more pics on Flickr!!

Live!

For those of you not on Facebook,this may be news..

I've been trying to upload daily video clips of Isa on both FB and Flickr.

Granted they are taken with my cell (much faster to upload!),

so they are not the best quality, but I hope they make you laugh!

Isabelle is doing awesome.

She *loved* her first camping trip.

Those pics are on a disposable, so it will take a little while to upload.

She came back dirtier than a pig, but she absolutely loved it!

We're so excited we can do more outdoor stuff with her.

We've gone fishing every week since the camping trip,

and actually have another camping trip planned later this month with our church.

We're coming down to AZ in September.

If you didn't receive the Evite, please let me know..

And go check out the videos!!

Rodriguez Visit

Thomas' big brother, Johnny, visited with his family last week.

To say that Isabelle and her cousins had a fun time would be an understatement.

I only wish Isa had some big brothers of her own!

Bailey & Brycen were so sweet with her - and of course she ate up the attention!

Here's to *free* babysitting :o)

**P.S. I've finally updated Flickr..**