Some Grandparent lovin'

For both of the kids birthdays, the Chicago grandparents came into town to help us celebrate!  Of course both kids got so many cuddles and kiss from them!  Not to mention ice cream and hot dogs (thanks Costco!)

On the ferry, on our way to Ivar's in Seattle for some delicious clam chowda!

Grandpa totally entertaining Devon!

Grandma getting her face "massaged" by my lil lady!




Underneath the binky is a great big smile!




Ok, I know that this is not the best picture of Grandpa! To his credit, he was trying to calm both kids since they were about at the end of their rope and I HAD to keep taking pictures! So, I just chose the best one of Grandma!




This was our destination...Seattle!



After lunch, we went outside to feed the seagulls. Man, they came up close to you!








Devon was fine if he was held when we went to the outside of the ferry. But the moment we put him down...he was not at all happy!


All in all, the trip was great to Seattle!  And we got some really yummy fish to boot!

Isabelle Leelu is not ZERO anymore!

What a year it has been!  So many challenges followed right behind so many blessings.  My sweet Isabelle has turned one.  Three hundred and sixty five days of her life have passed.  And let me tell you, lots of cool things happened.  

Here is a small trip down memory lane...One short year ago, Miss Isabelle was here in this family picture, but we did not know if she was going to be an Isabelle or a Johnny???  This was the last picture of our little three member family.  Our world was going to be ROCKED in just a few short hours.

I must have looked at this exact photo about one hundred times.  I LOVE IT!  I love that this was right after the moment my doctor (Dr. Christen) announced "It's a girl"!  He carefully popped her over the curtain and I got to lay my eyes on her for the first time.  My heart skipped a beat.  She was so perfect!  So wonderful!  So much a girl!  I distinctly remember Scott at this moment.  I remember the love in his eyes and voice when he found out our beautiful daughter was ...well a daughter.  That still makes my heart swell just thinking about it.

Just one year ago...My little man met his little firecracker of a sister and his world has not been the same since!

This sweet and blissful little angel was really just faking it for this picture.  I love this soft picture of my little one, but it is such a lie!  She was not blissful!  She was  IS so much full of life.  She has so many opinions for being so young.

Ok, enough of that memory stuff.  I want real life!  As with Devon, Isabelle got a HUGE balloon shower the morning of her official birthday!  Cake hat and all!

She might have been a bit stunned with all the excitement?  But, she loved all of the balloons and celebration that early in the morning.

Of course, Devon needed to get down on the celebration!  So, they danced around in Isabelle's crib for a while.

And then, Devon wanted to give his favorite little sister a huge smooch!  (maybe a bit of motherly bribery was involved???)

Then it was off to breakfast!  No donuts for my little cherub.  We had a proper breakfast of scrambled eggs and waffles.  Who knew that scrambled eggs would melt the bottom of the candle?  She loved having a special song for her special day!

Then it was off to the birthday tree!  I have no idea why this paltry tree has deemed the birthday tree, but it has!  So, dressed in her ruffles and her #1 shirt, she proudly posed with her beautiful smile.

Devon got in on the action!

Well, Devon actually got his own mini photo shoot.  He got to wear Dad's letterman jacket!  It is going to be so great to see him grow into it over the years.

Of course, Isabelle got loads of hugs, songs and birthday wishes throughout the day.  It ended with her birthday cake after dinner.  She was a bit obsessed with daddy here!  

But, really enjoyed the delicious cake she got to munch on.  Devon was a bit confused...he thought the cake and song was for him!  

Cake covered hands!  LOVE IT!

This last year has really been challenging.  Having a one year old and a newborn was so much harder than I ever could have imagined.  But, the love that was found in the tiniest corners of my heart have made all of the challenges so worth it.  

I love my daughter beyond what I ever could have imagined.
I love how my daughter loves my son.
I love how sweet Dad is with our daughter.
I love the blessing I received having two kids so close in age.
I love the perspective I gained and how I was able to enjoy all of the stages (no matter how horrible) she went through this past year.  That perspective showed me how fleeting these moments really are.
I love how my daughter waves.
I love how my daughter is so fiercely independent.
I love how my son loves his sister.
I love how my daughter pulls at her hair.
I love my daughter's long and slender fingers.
I love how her eyes light up when the door opens in the morning.
I love how she walks around the house now.
I love how she eats. (usually more than Devon does)
I love how my daughter snorts her nose.
I just love her!  Every single part of her.  All of her yells!  All of her crys!  All of her quirks!
Just pure LOVE!

Happy Birthday sweet, sweet girl!  Thank you for really showing me what it was to be a mom!

This was just a beta test to see if I could post a picture on my blog directly from Facebook...and well.... I can!  Now I just need to figure out the size issue. 

I swear I am going to post pics of Izzy's birthday and tons more.  I just have so much work right now and can't seem to find the time.  But, just hold on to your shirt (a saying my dad would tell me) and I will get it going.  

Anyway, this is a picture of my family in 1980 or 1981?  I am the super cute one on the right in the halter top with ruffles!

Devon turns TWO

April 25th, 2008 at 4:00-ish my little Devon made his grand entrance into this world.    With arms spread wide, he welcomed his first breaths with his sleepy zeal.  Cut to two years later...my little man is so grown up.  It is really amazing to see what two years on a baby will bring you.

We started the day with a balloon wake up call! I think this must be a great way to wake up and start the day. He spent so much time giggling and playing with the balloons. It was so special!

My sleepy little man!

Isabelle even got a wake up call too! My sleepy little angel!

After many hugs and kisses and Happy Birthday proclamations, we moved on to breakfast.

I love the birthday donut. So did he! Well...sort of...


One little quirk of Devon's is he does not like his hands to be messy, especially not sticky. This causes a small problem when picking up a sticky chocolate frosted donut.

But he found a way to overcome this.

After his birthday donut, we made our way outside to the new swingset for some serious swinging with Grandpa and Grandma! Boy oh boy...fun! fun! fun!

We got to sing one more time (we sung at lunch too!) with the birthday cupcake! I think he might be forming an addiction to all the sweets and singing! He loved it!

Now for the fun comparison pictures!

C.E.L.E.B.R.A.T.E.!

Before their official birthdays, Devon and Isabelle were celebrated for having lived another year. (Well, in Isabelle's case...for having survived her first year!)  It was so wonderful to have a bunch of our close friends here to help us celebrate such a wonderful event.

Since Devon is obsessed with the Pixar movie Cars, that is how his cake was themed.

(Nothing like taking a Costco sheet cake and carving it into the shape that you want and then refrost it.)

I think the anticipation was killing him. Or, maybe it was not being able to touch his beloved cars. I put his four favorite cars on the cake...Lightning McQueen (duh), Doc Hudson, Mater and his all time favorite...the UPS Truck. Ole, our UPS truck driver gave this to Devon a while ago. He calls it the apple truck even though we correct him every single time. He loves it. Like, I am looking to buy a back up for him once the wheels fall off and can not be repaired.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Devon was soo much fun! I was fighting back tears the entire time. I just love this kid so much!

Isabelle on the other hand got a giant cupcake cake. It was so sweet...to match my little chunkalunka! Her Grandpa made the letters to put on the cake. It think it made such a wonderful addition.

I totally made sure both kids got their own Happy Birthday! I know that in life the lesson of sharing is really important, but I wanted them to both have their moment to bask in the glory of everyone's affection! Except, Izzy really did not realize that people were singing to her. She was competely focused on that flickering magical flame. Almost all of the picture of us singing to her have someone (mostly me) holding back her hand.

Not the "Covered in frosting you need a shovel to see your face" I was hoping for, but this will do just fine!