Santa

We went to see Santa at the mall this week. Travis was SO excited and couldn’t get to the front of the line fast enough. Isabella was excited, too, until she realized that I was going to try to put her on his lap. She clung to me like a koala bear. SO, we compromised and she sat on my knee in front of them with her dress covering my leg. Thank goodness for digital photography and the ability to crop! :)

When we asked Travis what he was going to tell Santa he wanted for Christmas, his response was, "A GUN!!" When I asked him why he wanted a gun, he said, "So I can shoot you! But just for pretend, Mommy." Phew. So there are 2 guns wrapped in my closet because you can't have a shootout with just one gun! I foresee a lot of gun fights in my future.

First Day of Preschool

Travis started Preschool. I could end the post right now and sit here and bawl. He's growing up SO fast. When he was a little baby, Lindsay used to tease me, "Soon he'll be starting school and walking around with a little Jansport backpack!" It's all her fault! She was right... he's growing up.

He started Aug. 26th, and he is absolutely LOVING it. That Tuesday was his first day, so we all went to drop him off. He was sooo excited! He couldn't wait to take his backpack! We had gotten him one back in the winter, but he hadn't really used it for anything, so to make it special for school, I appliqued a baseball on the front of it and embroidered his name. He LOVED it. Anything baseball these days is a huge hit with him, no pun intended!

He was a little apprehensive when we got there, and kind of hung around Kevin & I instead of going and playing with the other kids, but by the time we left him, he was very busy playing at the train table. I was a little sad that he had found his way and didn't need me anymore, but just as I turned to leave, he came running over and gave me a huge hug! He made my day. Then, when I went to pick him up, he again was gushing over his baseball on his backpack and said, "You're the BEST Mommy in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!" Again, he knows how to make Mommy feel better :) It's only 2 days a week this year, so I think I'll be able to handle it.

While he was at school, I had some much needed one-on-one time with Isabella. She totally ate it up. We rolled around together on the floor and I was tickling her, and she was having so much fun getting all the attention.

Here are a few first day pics... The rest can be viewed by clicking HERE.

Isabella's First Year video

Here is a video I had created for Isabella's first birthday. I compiled all our favorite pics and put them to music, burned it to DVD and had it repeatedly playing on the tv in the living room during her birthday party. It was really fun to do, and now to have all her first year photo memories in one video is priceless. It's very sentimental for us to watch and makes me tear up each time! I hope to include more "live movie" footage and sound in subsequent videos. Just thought I'd share for those who were interested!

4 Yr & 15 Month Stats

Travis & Isabella had their 4 year and 15 month checkups the other day. They both are very healthy & very active children! Here are their stats:

Travis

• Height: 43" (95th percentile)
  


• Weight: 38.5 lbs. (75th percentile)

Isabella

• Height: 31" (70th percentile - slowed down some)



• Weight: 21 lbs. 3 oz. (25th percentile)



• Head circum.: 18 (50th percentile)

Vacation 2008

Our summer was off to a great start as the kids and I flew out to PA to stay with my parents for a few days before we all headed down the shore. Kevin wasn't able to get the entire time off from work, so he flew out a few days later and met us at the beach. My whole family (us, my parents, my sisters and family) stayed in a house right on the beach. It was great as the kids were able to play out in the sand in front of the house while we were still in the house getting ready for the day or staying with sleeping babies. There were 5 kiddos ages 4 and under, with 2 true toddlers, so it was not the most relaxing trip at times, but definitely worth it! We all had so much fun, and Travis had a blast with his cousins. Below are a few select photos, but you can view more by clicking on these two links: PA Pics and Ocean City.

4 yrs old!

On June 15th, my little boy turned 4 years old. How the time has flown. He's definitely no longer a little toddler but is now a young boy who loves to play baseball, ride his bike, play with Daddy & his friends, and, thankfully, still snuggle with Mommy. He's such a sweet little boy with a great smile! I wish I could keep him this age forever. I'm treasuring this summer as I know as he goes to Preschool in the Fall and then organized sports next Summer that things will start to get hectic and there won't be as much time together. Ok, enough sentimental-ness!

His birthday party was a lot of fun. Since his most favorite thing in all the world is to play baseball, we naturally had a baseball themed party. For the invitations, I made "tickets" that resembled a ticket to a real baseball game. I then got ambitious and made a cake decorated as the field, and then I put a huge baseball-shaped cake on top. It took entirely WAY too long to decorate! Next year I'll buy one :o)

We thought the day was going to be a wash-out, since it rained a TON Thursday, Friday, and into Saturday morning, (so much that the creek in our backyard spilled over into the bottom part by the swing set & treehouse) but it dried up and was a beautiful evening. He had a blast playing with all of his friends! There are a few more photos here.

Today we (Kevin) decided that it was time to change Travis's toddler bed into a "big boy" bed (full size). Travis was at his cousin's birthday party all day, so we went out and got everything we needed and had it put together by time he got home. He had gotten some baseball accessories for his birthday, so again, the theme is baseball! It helps that Mommy & Daddy love baseball as much as he does!! He was very surprised when he walked into his room and saw the huge bed!

We have bets as to whether or not he'll still come into "my" room in the middle of the night and sneak into bed with "me." To clarify for those who are wondering ... I say "my" and "me" because Kevin works 3rd shift, so I get the whole king-size bed to myself, until Travis sneaks in ... but I never know he's there until the morning! He has learned the art of getting in quietly and laying very still, so I don't mind. Again, he just keeps getting older and soon he won't want to anymore, so I cherish his "little-ness" while it lasts!

Happy Birthday, Travis!

Walking!!!

I'm a little behind in my posts, but Isabella started walking on April 28th - just over 13 months old!! Here are a few videos of her trying out her new skills the first few days...

April 28th

April 28th, take 2!

May 5th - getting better!

She also likes to hang out in the sink while I'm doing my hair & makeup in the morning. She likes to try to put on the makeup, too :o)

While Isabella's been busy learning to walk, Travis has been learning to climb trees, specifically the one in our front yard. Here is a shot of him hanging out in the tree. He's such a BOY!!!

First Baseball Game

We took Travis to his first professional baseball game about a month ago. There's a minor league team here in Columbus - the Columbus Clippers - currently the Triple-A team for the Washington Nationals. He LOVED it. He sat there and watched and asked all kinds of questions. His favorite part of the game was when someone hit a home run. I can't remember which team it was, but it didn't matter... the fact that the guy hit the ball over the fence was AWESOME to him.

Travis got $5 in the mail from his great grandmother a few days before we went, so we let him take it and spend it however he wanted. He chose to get his very own great big PEPSI! He was so proud sitting there drinking it!

Travis's ambitions

Apparently Travis has been thinking about what he wants to do when he grows up. The other day, he went with me when I took Isabella to the doctor for her one year checkup, and he was so impressed with our Pediatrician that he decided he wanted to be a doctor when he was older. During the visit, Isabella had to have her one year shots, so of course I held and comforted her. On the way home, Travis was thinking hard and finally said to me, "Mommy, I want to be a 'Mommy' when I'm bigger." I asked him why, and his response was, "So that I can hold and kiss and hug and cuddle with the baby." I explained to him that he would be the Daddy, and that Daddy's can do those things as well.

A couple of nights later, he again told me he wanted to be a doctor when he was "big like Daddy," but then he had a very concerned look on his face and said, "But I want to be a Daddy, too!" not understanding that he could be both. It was really cute! It's so funny how kids process all the information that we take for granted that is common to us!

By the way, we're still holding out hope for him to become a Major League Baseball player :o)

Isabella's 1st birthday!

This past year has absolutely flown. It's so hard for me to believe that my little girl is already ONE! We celebrated Isabella's first birthday with friends and family on her actual birthday, since it happened to fall on a Saturday. Here is a picture of her at her party.

It was wonderful to have my parents out here for her party. They were such a big help, and of course it was fun to spend time with them. Travis especially loved having them here and keeps asking to go see them! My mom was given the task of decorating all 3 cakes, and she did a great job. The main cake was a huge cupcake-shaped cake. Then we also had a butterfly-shaped pull-apart cake for the kids. And lastly, we created a 3-tiered mini cake for Isabella's "smash" cake.

We did the cake last in the evening, and she was already worn out from all of her birthday fun, so she didn't make a huge mess with the icing like I was hoping for - for picture's sake! Kevin put her hands in it, and she played in it just a little. But then it was back to thumb sucking and hair twirling - yes, with the icing ending up in her hair. Still not the all-out, icing-all-over-the-face picture I was hoping for, but cute none-the-less.

We ended up spoon-feeding her some cake and ice cream, a decision that haunted us that night. Since she is not used to sugar, she was up ALL night. We only got 2-3 hrs of sleep, and of course the next morning was Easter! We all look a little tired in our family Easter photo.

Here's Grammy & PopPop with the kiddos.

Isabella's One Year Stats
Weight: 19 lbs, 8 oz. (25th percentile) She's only gained 10 lbs, 7 ounces since birth (9 lbs, 1 oz)!!

Height: 30 1/4" tall (83%)

Head circumference: 17 3/4 (50%)

7 teeth

Words: MaMa, DaDa, WOW!, Ut-oh, Thank You

She took her first official step at her party (not on purpose) when another kid took the toy she was leaning on from her, but she is not walking yet, and that's just FINE with me!

I took a ton more pictures at the party, and you can view them all here.

Snow much fun!

A few weekends ago, we had 20 inches of snow! It was so pretty (looking at it through the window)! I was glad I didn't have to go to work in it, although Kevin did. Everything was closed, and even church was cancelled. Travis had a blast shoveling the snow from the grass back onto the driveway that Kevin cleared. I got to go out with Travis for a few minutes while Isabella was sleeping. It was great packing snow, so Travis & Kevin built a snowman a day or two later, and we all had a snowball fight. Unfortunately, the snowman melted pretty quickly! It was definitely the best snow we've had in a long time!

Everyday Life

It seems life doesn't ever slow down. I keep thinking to myself, "after such-and-such is over, I'll have some time to do 'whatever.'" But it never seems to work out that way. I keep thinking, man, I really need to do my blog... well I guess tonight's as good a time as any to start. I also think, well there's really nothing overly exciting to blog about... but as I look back over the past year, SO much has happened, from the birth of Isabella, to the little everyday things like her learning to wave and give sweet kisses... things that I never want to forget. So here I am, wishing I had started and kept up with this long ago.

I'll give you a run-down on where we are right now. Isabella is crawling ALL over, and has been for quite a while. She will walk if you hold her hands, but is still unsteady and doesn't quite have enough strength. Travis started taking steps a few days before his first birthday, but that is only 2 1/2 weeks away for her, so I think it will be a little after that. But that's ok... I'm in no hurry for her to be running away from me quite yet :o) She and Travis are best of friends. He loves her so much, a little TOO much sometimes, and wants to hold her and pick her up and play with her all the time. She gets a little tired of being pulled and yanked though!

Travis is so funny. He's figuring out how to try to be funny on purpose, too! Like when we're in the car, he used to fall asleep from time to time, and we'd lament over the fact that he'd never get to sleep that night. So now he pretends to have fallen asleep, and he's really good at it! Then he'll start giggling his little giggle and get one of his huge smiles on his face. Cute.

I got an embroidery machine for Christmas from Kevin, so we set up a "play" area for me in the basement with an L-shaped desk (that used to be in our office when it was upstairs), so I've been spending a few "free" moments down there playing. I've had fun making some cute holiday-themed pants for Isabella, and have sold a few on eBay. Just a side hobby.

Kevin spends most of his free time these days playing "wrestlin'-basketball" with Travis. It's kinda like tackle-basketball in the basement. Travis is relentless, constantly asking him to play that or hockey. It's fun to watch...Travis says that Daddy is his best friend. Once the weather warms up, we'll all be back outside to watch Travis hit the ball over the fence. He went out by himself the other day when it was 68 degrees here and was hitting the ball off the tee. First one - over the fence. We need a bigger yard!

Kevin is also starting "Phase 2" of the kitchen, so he tries to work on that - when Travis allows! We're just adding some cabinetry above the fridge to hide the junk that always ends up there, like the bread, extra juice bottles, etc. He's also making another "display cabinet" for above the pantry. AND if I'm a really good girl, he might even make some wasted space between 2 cabinets into an area where I can put my baking sheets and long/tall items like that. We'll see :o)

WELL, that's enough for now. If I don't start posting regularly, please prod me to do so! Life goes by way too fast, and I don't want to forget a moment.

"Trust me friend, 100 years goes faster than you think, so don't blink."