Learning to drive

Isabella's been learning to drive at Publix. Sometimes she gets in trouble for parking in the middle of an aisle, but she's actually a fairly good driver.

Gulf Shores

This was a more successful trip than the previous two. I sat in the back seat with Isabella and entertained her. We also packed a little less, so at the last minute we made the call and allowed Rocky to make the trip with us. He was very happy to get to come along and John enjoyed having someone join him in the front of the car. Isabella and I had a great time on the way to the beach. We didn't even have to stop! Way to go Isabella!

Ready to go!

My sister, Lauren, her husband, Cody, and my dad all came as well. My dad was staying at the Grand Hotel in Fairhope, so we went to eat lunch out there. While John, Cody, and dad played golf, Lauren, Isabella, and I enjoyed the pool. It was beautiful. I guess I should say that Lauren and I enjoyed the pool, because as you can see from the pictures Isabella didn't like it so much. I tried to put her ankle deep in the pool and let her play with the fountain and she wasn't happy with me. She liked the pool a little better as long as I was holding her, but it was a little too cold to have much fun.

the Grand Hotel


Isabella checking out the sand

Isabella's not too sure about this

And she really doesn't like it

The beach itself ended up being overcast and windy, so we never actually made it down there. Instead we enjoyed the indoor pool at the condo. Isabella appreciated the warm water and seemed to have a lot more fun with John and Aunt Lauren playing with her. Afterwards, we met up with Sally and Hannah Cate at the outlet mall. Sally and Hannah Cate came back to the condo with us and the girls enjoyed playing together. I love watching Isabella making friends. Her and Hannah Cate were so cute together. We ended the day with a dinner out at Lulu's with Cody and Lauren and then a movie to relax.

Playing in her duck float

Isabella and daddy

Aunt Lauren and Isabella playing in the pool

drying off

Isabella and Hannah Cate having a snack

dinner at Lulu's

We REALLY enjoyed the trip. It was nice to have some time with John before finals start and he has to start the serious studying. When we got home we had a surprise visit from John's mom and Aunt Donna.

Isabella and Aunt Donna

Bath time

Since Isabella doesn't eat baby food anymore and instead she likes to eat with her hands to feed herself, it goes without saying that she makes a HUGE mess. Thankfully, Isabella loves bathtime. Here are a few shots of her playing in the bath and playing with daddy afterwards.

my escapee

Isabella looking guilty because she was told "no" when reaching for daddy's shampoo.


Isabella playing with her one of her favorite toys since mommy and daddy don't let her play with their cell phones.

John's been teaching Isabella all about golf, and she already loves the sport so much that she wants his new Master's hat.

Happy Easter!

Isabella's had an ear infection and virus and she hasn't been the happiest baby to be around this week (to put it mildly.) She's started throwing her head back and crying at the top of her lungs just to let us know how unhappy she is. It's kind of funny, if I weren't so worried about what might be wrong. You'd think she was dying by how dramatic it is. Here are a few Easter pictures. I tried to get as many as possible before she started crying again.

Isabella

Here's a good representation of our last few days.

me and Isabella

Four generations

Little angel?

The little rascal you see here, yeah, the one that looks like such a sweet angel, well, she's become an independent woman already. She has let me and John know that she can feed herself and she doesn't want baby food anymore. She will purse her little lips together, turn her head away, and, for good measure, wave her arms in front of her face if a spoon so much as comes close to her mouth. Let me tell you what a terrifying day this is for me. Now, I'm frantically searching the house for things that are soft enough for her little gums to "chew" up, as well as nutritious enough for her growing body. Don't get me wrong, as a parent, I realize that my job is to help her become more independent. I obviously don't want her to rely on me to feed her for the rest of her life. It's just very hard to find the perfect finger foods to meet her needs. When I think I've found just the thing, I go to the store, cook or heat it up, cut it into small pieces and proudly place it in front of her, all the time thinking this is just the perfect thing for her... only to find her pushing it across her tray with this cute little scrunched up face clearly letting me know that she doesn't want it. It's extremely frustrating. And daycare isn't making my job any easier. Nope, she's eating cinnamon toast (yes, with sugar added), hot dogs (choking hazard? not to mention the non-nutritious factor), and fish sticks (loving the fried foods.) I mean, who wants mashed green beans when you eat pizza for lunch?! So, I'm just venting a little, just letting you in on my current frustration. Who knew I'd get so excited when she'd willingly finish a jar of apple/apricot baby food? And yes, I did yell across the house to John that she ate a jar of fruit without crying. So, just be thankful all you parents (Sally and Matt) when your sweet little angel finishes all her food without a fuss. I can't help but be envious.

9 months

Isabella is officially 9 months old, but she's been a part of my life for twice as long. She weighs 17 lbs. 10 oz. and seems to be growing so fast. She's learned so much in the last month. She's taking steps with mine or John's help. She walks on her tip toes, and is so proud of herself when she gets to her destination. Her grin is so huge and she bounces with such joy at her accomplishment. Of course, we're really proud of her too! She's still working on crawling. She's almost mastered going backwards, but forward motion is still alluding her. She gets so frustrated when she's reaching for some object and ends up pushing herself further away, but it's so funny. John had a glass of water on the floor and I told him that Isabella was reaching for it. He looked at her and said, "she won't get there," because he knew she'd end up moving away from it instead. We've recently moved her mattress to a lower level so that she can't surprise us by standing in her bed (and possibly falling over the side.) It's just more difficult putting her down in her crib now. I have reach so low, but she doesn't seem to mind.

She's regularly and more purposefully calling me "mama" now, which is so sweet. My heart melts whenver she says it. John starts saying "dada" to her whenever she does it, in an attempt to get her to call him instead. She's also learned wave bye whenever someone says the word, and she can nod yes also. She nods so hard that I think it has to hurt her head, and her expression is so serious that it's funny!

It's been a very fun, exciting month, which might explain why I've neglected this blog so badly. Isabella's keeping me so busy that I've barely had time to even think about getting online.

Isabella after an exhausting day

Snow Day

I don't keep up with the weather, but John did mention that there was a possiblity of snow flurries last night. We both laughed, of course. It's safe to say that 99% of the time, predictions of snow are brief to non-existent in Birmingham. So, when we awoke to the beautiful white landscape outside, it was quite a surprise. It was truly the perfect snowy day too. The power stayed on (a huge plus) and it was on a weekend (no worries about heading to work!) We got up and made pancakes and bacon and enjoyed a relaxing morning watching the snow fall. Then we dressed Isabella in some warm clothes and headed out to let her get a good look at her first snowy day. She wasn't overly impressed. It was pretty windy and cold, and a snowflake hit her eyelashes and she wasn't happy. But we got some cute pictures and video! Here are a few:

John and Isabella

Me and Isabella

Mimi, Dad, and Isabella