Happy Halloween!

Here is my first official pumpkin carving. I decided early on during this project that discarding of Mr. Pumpkin's guts is not my favorite thing to do, so Griff did a fabulous job with that task (and also demanded that he get credit for doing so). So, Griff cut the top and gutted him, but I did everything else. That's one thing off my 30 by 30 list....only 29 to go!

And this is Griff's creation. He likes to call him Blue Moon. Blue Moon came to life at a recent party that Griff's boss hosted. Lesson for the evening: drinks + work friends + stupid bets = smashed pumpkin + sore fist for Griff. I leave the room for 5 seconds, and this is what happens! Do you see what I'm dealing with here???

Izzy's First Pumpkin Patch

We ventured out to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch a few weeks ago. It was really cold and muddy, so we only stayed long enough to get a few pictures of our little pumpkin, but it was a really neat place for kids. They had bounce houses, mazes, hayrides, a little train, face painting, etc. We’ll definitely make the trip to the pumpkin patch a family tradition.

Weekend Fun

Griff’s best friend from college, A.J., and his wife, Heather, were in town from Colorado a few weekends ago to visit family, and they stayed at Hotel Babb. They were our first overnight guests since Izzy has been home, so I didn’t really know what to expect from her, but Miss Isabelle was on her very best behavior for our guests.

Thursday night, we met up with A.J. and Heather and the rest of A.J.’s family in Arlington. A.J.’s 6-month-old nephew, Wes, was there and it was super cute to see him and Izzy together. They just kept staring at each other like, “Finally, someone my size!” So adorable!!!

Friday, we were off to the State Fair (Izzy’s Nana came over to babysit her while we were gone). The fair was okay. I guess I’m just not much of a fair person. It’s just a lot of fried food, expensive games, and highly questionable rides. Griff and I did try fried peaches and cream, and I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. It wasn’t bad, I was just expecting more since it was this year's winner. I wanted to try the fried butter as well, but the line was way too long, and the more I thought about it, the grosser it started to sound. So, I escaped the fair with only a small amount of grease in my arteries.

We ended up on the patio at Uncle Julio’s (my favorite!) for lunch on Saturday. We had a cookout at our house with many of our friends that evening. Izzy was spending the night with Papa and Meme, and we had every intention of going out after dinner. Somewhere around 10pm, it became clear to all of us thirty-somethings and almost-thirty-somethings that we aren’t in college anymore, and we gave up on going out. So, to conclude, we are officially old, but that’s okay…we still had fun!


A few pics from the weekend...

Our weekend guests, A.J. and Heather

These three were roommates back in the day....many, many hairs uh, I mean years ago. ;-)

Go Tech!

Daddy's little Red ( or in this case, pink) Raider

Adorable!!!

I made a quick trip to The Children’s Place to get some tights for Isabelle’s Halloween costume today, and I stumbled upon this cute little hat that found its way home with me. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Anywho…I had no idea how absolutely adorable this hat would look on Izzy. I mean seriously, have you seen anything cuter??? It’s just impossible to not smile when you look at her. I held her up in front of the mirror, and she thought she was pretty cute, too!

8 Months!

8 months old

Izzy is now 8 months old! She is just fantastic, and we’re having so much fun with her. She really loves to eat, and it certainly shows. Her dietician came by today, and my baby girl now weighs 15 pounds 11 ounces! She eats cereal twice a day, gets a fruit or veggie once a day, and drinks four 6-oz bottles a day. We’ll soon increase her food and slowly decrease the bottles. She has tried carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peaches, pears, apples, bananas, and whatever else her Papa has dipped her pacifier in, and she hasn’t turned anything down yet.

In the past week, she has really mastered rolling from her back to belly, and she performs this trick ALL day now! She’s been working so hard on back-to-belly that she has forgotten how to roll from belly-to-back, so she’ll flip to her belly, get tired of it after a few minutes, and start fussing. It’s oh so fun! Let’s see…what else? She can now “stand” only holding onto our hands, and she gets the cutest little smile every time she stands up. She’s also working on sitting up by herself. She’s made a lot of progress in the past week. She still continues to amaze us with each new day, and I’m just blown away at how “normal” she is after all she has been through. The doctor who looked us in the eye and guaranteed us a 100% chance of Izzy having something wrong with her must have something wrong with him!

BTW - I totally missed posting her 7 month picture, so I’m posting it with this entry.

7 months old

Like Mother, Like Daughter

My mom gave me this dress I wore as a baby a few weeks ago and asked for a picture of Izzy in the same dress. Here ya go, Mom! Izzy wasn't super cooperative (imagine that) so we didn't exactly get the pose we were trying to recreate. This is closest we got out of the many pictures we took. I was surprised at how super red my hair looks in this picture becasue it was very blonde through most of elementary school. Izzy's hair is darker like her daddy's...well, like the hair her daddy used to have. ;-) I promise she really does have hair, but for some reason, she looks as bald as a cue ball in this picture. I'm sure it's just the lighting. Hey Griff, maybe you can use that one, too!

Me, 3.5 months old

Isabelle, 8 months old

Happy Friday!

I've been slacking on the blog lately. I'd like to tell you that I've been busy crossing things off of my 30 by 30 list, but that would be a lie. Well, a half-lie. I did start my first sewing project. A sewing machine was not involved, but I did cut out a pattern. And a pumpkin has been purchased...just purchased, not carved yet. Do we see a theme, people??? More to come on that later. For now, enjoy these adorable pictures, and I'll work on getting around to a real blog post soon. ;-)