This week's swim lessons

What fun we had this week! Thanks to Peter, we got pictures of Isabella's first swim lessons with her friends, Wade, Brock, and her new friend Luke. She was the only girl. She had great success with swimming. We used ping pong balls, cushy water balls, mini surf boards, hoola hoops, water rings/sticks, and a slide. She took off today kicking really well. At first she'd just let me float her around on her belly with her legs just laying there, but now she's kicking them great. She's learned to turn around and grab the side of the pool and pull her little body up out of the water (with my help). Stephanie Finch did a great job teaching all these sweet babies. Here's a few pictures from this week.

After a long hard day at the pool, she was exhaused! Love the lady-like legs. :) At least she's being modest with the blanket.

To the Zoo again!

What a beautiful day! This morning was perfect for a stroll in the zoo so me, Isabella, Amanda, and Tessa got up and headed that way. I met my friend Shannon and her little boy Brock out there and my stepmom Kathy and my nephews Logan and Evan met us too. As the day went on it got hot, hot, hot! I know Amanda was about to fall over being pregnant and pushing Tessa around in her stroller. We ended up leaving around 1:30, way past the girls naptime. I thought Isabella would get home and konk out, but she played in her bed for an hour (I usually get her up way before an hour goes by, but she sounded like she was having so much fun I didn't) so I got her back up and she played some more until 4:00! I guess since she's getting older the naps aren't that big of a deal anymore. I am not looking forward to the 1 nap a day. I am still trying to enjoy her 2 naps a day at this point. Long enough for me to jump in the shower and get cleaned up in the morning and clean house in the afternoon. It's been great! Here's some pictures from the day......

Happy Father's Day

This was Peter's 1st father's day. Since it was I wanted to something special for him. We usually don't do much on holidays like this, but I had to this time. After visiting the T-Mobile office more times than I wanted to, I finally got him a new cell phone. He hated his that he had and I got to hear about more than I really cared to :) so I decided that would be a good gift. He loved it! I also got him this cool "My Hero" american flag frame. Of all people who would appreciate that it was him. If you don't know my husband he is a HUGE history/war enthusiast. He loves it so much we have boxes and boxes of Civil War books and things under our steps and everywhere in the bonus room. That was "his" room I let him decorate. Anyway, I think he'll remember this day for a long time. Unfortunately as you can see in the picture he was in his oh so lovely work shirt which meant off to the zoo he goes. They definetly keep him busy. Thanks Peter for being a great dad. It means the world to me and Isabella. Love you!

Today's Thoughts

Well, I finally added a playlist to my blog. I love David Cook and Brooke White from this season's American Idol. They were my favorites. I can't tell you how happy I am that he won and not the other David! Sorry for you Archuletta fans, but Cook was definetly the right choice. Although I'm not Catholic, I love Brooke's "Let It Be" rendition. It's so beautiful to listen to. Peter's got a huge cd collection and one of my favorites of his is Lionel Richie cd. So I had to add him to my list. And Martina's song "In My Daughter's Eyes" is a tear-jerker for sure. I love the song, but I can't listen to all of it without crying so I usually just stop it halfway before the tears come. She is an all-time favorite too.

On another note, I never knew the cartoon Bob the Builder was so cute. I just happen to have it on when I gave Isabella her bottle and I caught her smiling through her drinking it. She loved that show! She started laughing at some of the characters. I've never seen an episode in my life until yesterday. I must say it's really a cute cartoon. She was having a lot of fun the other day playing with Wade's monster truck next door. And she plays with Tessa's cars and trucks. Future tom boy? I'm sticking to future gymnast or swimmer. She's still doing the splits everywhere, especially in the bathtub.

Here's a shot or two of her 11 month picture for her scrapbook. She's constantly got her hands in her mouth. More teeth? She mostly plays with her tongue. She tries to pull it out. I guess she's just exploring that body part for now. She's had her thumb in her ear for a few weeks now too. At least it's not in the nose I guess. She's also pulling locks of hair out of her head when she drinks her bottle. I found a clump in her hand yesterday. Freaked me out! I guess I'll save that for her scrapbook too. :)

Uh-oh at Bath-time

I was giving Isabella a bath the other night and she kept talking away, so I got my camera out and caught her in action. Here's a peak at what she's saying these days. Instead of uh-oh, it's more like uhuhuhuh-oh. That's the latest word she's said, other than mama, dada, bubu, and just babbling. Bath-time has become quite and adventure. She wants to constantly stand up in it all the time! I cannot get her to sit down. Finally I decided to get her a bath mat so she won't slip and just let her do what she wants. It makes bath-time much more enjoyable for both of us. Since she's standing up, she's figured out she can pick her foot up and splash all over the place. She's very good at it. I'm usually soaked by the time it's all over with. I never used a seat when I first put her in there, so no going back now. :)

Little Swimmer

I'm kind of nervous and excited to take Isabella to swim lessons soon. I've already been on youtube watching other babies learn to swim. It's a little scarey to watch them, but they do so great. Casey Dycus (Gunnels) mom Stephanie is teaching them at her house the week of June 23rd. I got a "Mommy/Baby" class together for that week. I'm going to practice some water activities at mom's the next couple of weeks to get her ready for them. She seems to really love the water right now, but she doesn't like being in floats. She stayed in this hippo one for a little bit. But she wines when I start to put her in one. I usually let her walk around in mom's baby pool holding her hands. She seems to love that the best. Here are a few pictures from today at the pool. We usually only make it about an hour in a half to two hours before the heat gets to her. She's been asleep for almost two hours now from all the fun in the sun. (Which is how I'm getting to post this blog :)

Here are some pictures from the zoo. Amanda and Tessa went with us last week. It was so hot! The girls had a great time. Peter was working that day as usual. He is so good. He got us dippin' dots, lunch, and whatever we asked of him. He was there for us. It was Tessa's first time to visit the zoo so was excited to see the animals, especially the alligators. You can't even tell Amanda is 6 months pregnant!

Abbie and Lillie turned 4 on May 28th. We celebrated their birthday this past Saturday. They had a princess birthday party. It was a lot of fun. They are so pretty and so tall! Their favorite present was the princess costumes they got from their mom and dad and they love the fishing poles Peter and I got them. They had a pinata and when the candy fell on the floor Isabella ran for it! Not literally of course, but she wriggled herself out of my arms to get to it. She hopped down in the middle of all the candy and started sweeping it up in her lap. It was halarious. She may be little, but she can run with the best of them. I remember them when the girls were Isabella's age. I was their nanny when they were 6 weeks old until about 2 off and on. They are such sweet little girls.

Dinner, Ponies, and Cows

The other day the whole family went out to dinner except Peter. As you may guess, he was working. It was me, Isabella, Mom, Arles, Amanda, Greg, and Tessa. We all went to eat at Calhouns. Arles was playing peekaboo with Isabella and she just laughed and laughed. Her and Tessa squeal together everywhere they go. One gets the other wound up and there it goes. High pitched little girl squeals that'll turn heads for sure. We had a good time. It had been a while since we all went out to eat together. After eating, I rode with Mom and Arles, Isabella and Tessa. Amanda and Greg went shopping for a little bit so we decided to stop by the farm and take a look at the ponies and cows. Arles tried so hard to catch the baby pony so the girls could pet it, but was unsuccessful. He sure was funny trying to catch that little thing. The cows were a different story. They surrounded the fence so we got to get close up pictures of them. Not as pretty as the ponies, and much smellier than the ponies. But it was fun for the girls to see them.