SWEET boy!

We made the drive yesterday to my sister's to see my new nephew, he is the sweetest! We also went to celebrate my niece's third birthday. I can't believe my sister put on a party just FIVE days after giving birth. Five days after I gave birth I was still in the hospital, swollen from head to toe, bawling my eyes out, practically incoherant . . . but I digress. Yesterday was wonderful, the new family of four is great, and adjusting good. And Isabella is IN LOVE with her new little cousin. All she wanted to do was hold him, then she would pat and kiss him. Oh how she would love a little sibling . . . and I'm hopeful that she will get one sometime.



Isabella and I are heading back to my sister's sometime this week to stay for a few days, and help out, it should be a lot of fun!

Transitions

A couple months after Isabella turned two, we converted her crib into a toddler bed. About a week ago we decided it was time once again for another bed transition. She's quite tall for her age, and was looking like she was close to running out of room in her toddler bed. We really hyped up the transition, and it went SO smooth. Even the very first night, I put her in there, we said prayers, read a book, I left, and she went right to sleep like she did in her toddler bed. I think it really helped that she got to pick out her own sheets. She picked Tigger and Pooh sheets, and was/ is so excited about them! My mom got the comforter last year on clearance for her, and it matches everything in her room so well. And in keeping with her tradition of never getting out of her crib or toddler bed, she absolutely will not get out of her big girl bed once she gets in! Whenever she wakes up in the morning or from her nap, she still waits for one of us to come get her, silly girl.

Taggy Blankets

I am a huge fan of blankies for kids. Yesterday, during Isabella's nap, I whipped up this taggy blanky for my newest nephew. There are instructions all over the internet, I used this one at Melisssa Sews that Lenetta linked to. I love how it turned out.

And what would a post about blankies be without a picture of Isabella's pride and joy! She insisted her blanky needed his picture taken as well. If you have spent ANY amount of time around this girl, you know how much she loves her blanky!

Legwarmers!

Are these not the cutest things EVER! My friend, Lenetta, makes adorable legwarmers, she is so crafty. Isabella got these in the mail from her yesterday. I am super excited about them for two reasons, 1) Isabella is the coldest person I've ever seen, really. She wears layers upon layers during the winter. These will be so nice to wear under her pants this winter. And 2) Could they BE any cuter!

She sells them, so check them out here, and contact her blog if you are interested.

Thank you, Lenetta, for brightening our day!

A Week Away

Last week Isabella and I traveled to see my long time friend, Meredith. It was wonderful to get to see her! We had some late nights of chatting, what gal doesn't like to do that!? :) She showed us around her beautiful town, our kids played, we went for walks, it was an awesome time! And look at these two boys of hers, aren't they the cutest?! And she's expecting #3 in October, who is bound to be just as cute!

Isabella took a liking to her (who wouldn't!).
AND . . . not only did I get to see Meredith, but I got to see my ENTIRE family that week. We stopped at my brother's the first day, and stayed overnight, so we didn't have to do all the driving in one day. I don't have any pictures from then, but Isabella had a blast playing with her cousins, and my grandma even came over for supper. Then, on our way home from Meredith's, we stopped at my parents for the night. My niece was staying there, since my sister was not doing well in her last stage of pregnancy. Those girls LOVE each other, they pretty much disappear to another room, and go play together. I love eavesdropping on their conversations. . . so cute! The next day I brought Rachel back to my sister's and stayed there for the day, before heading home that evening. I drove 16 + hours last week, just Isabella and I, and she did great in the car! As usual, she didn't sleep much in the car, sigh, but I can handle that as long as she is happy. She pretty much listened to music the entire time.

She loved Rachel's new cat, Butterscotch. She calls him, "Scott".

Sweet Baby Boy

I am so excited to announce that my sister had a sweet baby BOY last night!! He joins 3 year old sister (she turns three tomorrow) Rachel. My sister was shocked, as she was SURE she was having another girl. I was very surprised also. My brother-in-law called about midnight last night to report the good news, he was such a proud daddy! Of course Isabella and I had to do a little shopping today for the little guy, and I got some material for a blanky for him. I haven't met him, but I love him already, and am SO antsy to get there. We'll hopefully be making the trip this weekend, and then Isabella and I will stay for a while to help my sister. Whenever my mom leaves, that is, although she informed me she's not leaving anytime soon. :) For those of you who know my family, and want to know the stats, here they are:

Jared Joseph
6 pounds 15 ounces
18 and a half inches long

What a wonderful blessing!

I'm still here

I guess I haven't had much of a desire to blog lately. Life has been busy. Isabella and I had a great week away last week, which I will blog about soon, but it also feels good to be home again. Monte was so glad to have us home, he took Isabella and I out for a special day yesterday - the zoo, out to eat, a little shopping, it was a great day! In my spare time, I've been cleaning/organizing like CRAZY. It's such a good feeling to know that my curtains, rugs, etc. are all washed, which means there's less dust around, even though I'm sure nobody else would notice. I don't know what's gotten over me, but I'm thinking it has something to do with the book I'm reading, I haven't gotten very far into it, but it's full of all sorts of great information. I haven't been this ambitious about cleaning in a LONG time.

Today Isabella and I went for a long walk around town, which included a visit to Church, the Post Office, the park, and the grocery store. We came home for a quick bite to eat and then headed to the library for a while. What are we going to do when the weather turns cold?! I hope Isabella won't get too bored. It seems like there's always something to do, or somewhere to go in the summer. Although, I am a little bit ready for less busyness, I'm a homebody. We are also waiting for my newest niece or nephew to arrive. My sister went in to the hospital about midnight last night, but things slowed down, so they were considering sending her home today. I hope he or she arrives soon, because my sister has been miserable. The baby has been on her sciatic nerve for the last few weeks, and she hasn't even been able to walk, she's had to rely on friends and family to care for her almost three year old, which is taking a toll on my little niece, who just wants to be with her mom and dad.

And by the way, there were TWENTY cups of sugar in my batch of chokecherry jelly! :)