Isabella at 10 months

Another month flies by and I really though Issie would be walking ( I am not in any hurry, I just thought she might be a fast mover), but she is not there yet. She is on the move and cruises and stands alone but no real steps yet. She is still petite, but a bit bigger than Kadie was now, still short in the legs and round in the cheeks.

She is so curious, constantly staring at everything with a pretty stoic face most of the time. Her big blue eyes are the first thing everyone notices. She has certainly found her voice though and she loves to be loud and unfortunately loves to squeal, shriek and scream. It can make for a long trip down the hill at times. But they are always happy sounds. She also loves to click her tongue, do zerberts and kissy noises. She can really entertain herself.

Below is this week when she found the mirror in our bedroom, she was just mesmerized by that "other baby". She was so funny, just kept kissing herself over and over. I took about a zillion pictures but with the delay, I kept missing it. She just can not figure out the camera and gets so distracted by it that it is hard to catch her doing anything, she just stops what she is doing and stares at me.

Anyways, here are some recent snapshots of our sweet baby girl at 10 months old.

Issie and the mirror.Kissing the baby.

Making noises with her lips and climbing (her two favorite things).

Walking along the kitchen cabinets, such a big girl.

Eating the ball... she loves this ball and it must feel good on her gums because she will chew on it and carry it in her mouth. Maybe she has been watching Lucy too much. Anyways, it is funny and cute so I thought I would include it.

Time flies, it is nice to be able to share the ages and stages.

Portland City Fest

Our family spent the entire day on Friday at Waterfront Park in downtown Portland at City Fest. It was a perfect day. Not too hot, not to cloudy, lines just the right length and Issie napping in the stroller. Jack and Kadie had fun in the Fun Zone but the best part for them was the fountain. They said we are just going to get "a little wet, to cool off" but oops... and next thing we know they are soaked.

Still dry here.

Oops.

too late.
Soaked, no towels but fortunately still sunny enough to air dry.

Jack sporting his cool "disciple" tattoo. The tattoo line was way shorter (and cooler) than the face painting line so we all opted for tattoos. They stay on longer anyway.

Isabella and Daddy, hanging out on the blanket waiting for the concert to start.

Jack and Kadie dancing to Phil Stacey from American Idol. Our family (mostly me and Jack) love American Idol so it was a bonus to see a familiar face.

Brad took the girls home and Jack and I stayed for the late night concerts. Jack's first "real concert", he was so excited and the nice lady next to us let him stand on her cooler so he could really see. He totally loved the Kutless "rocker look" and sang along to all of the Chris Tomlin songs. It was so fun to watch him be so excited.

Chris Tomlin was awesome. But by the end of the day, my feet were aching and we were exhausted. Jack fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow at 11:30, almost his latest night ever. Praise God for such a great opportunity to spend with our family and our family in Christ in the middle of our city.

End days of Summer

Summer has been just flying by. I think this is my first year in a long time to really enjoy the summer as a family. No pregnancy, no building houses, no huge commitments, just summer fun. We have had a great time and all of a sudden it seems like it is almost over. We, like everyone else, now seem to be cramming every last thing in before school starts. Here are some of our highlights (at least the ones that made it to the camera).

Kadie "I am big enough, see" Really wanting to go on the bumper cars with Jack at Oaks Park for Brads company picnic. Not quite there yet.

Kadie's first official swimming lessons. She loved it but honestly learned more in the family swim after each lesson. It was fun each day to see her get a little braver.

And then, the day after swim lessons were over, she got it! She realized she could swim underwater. I put some goggles on her and once she could open her eyes, she was an instant swimmer. It is so exciting when they figure that piece out, it is a turning point in their childhood. Now she can swim! And she is fearless, doing flips and spins and swimming through our legs, it is so fun to see.

Issie first day with Cheerios! She loves real food. It is a bit messier and a lot longer at the table but she is just loving feeding herself. Such a big girl.

Jack in his newly organized room. I have been really letting go of my need to control his space, but everyone has a breaking point and the new school year seemed like a great a time to totally clean out the entire room and get a fresh start. It was an all day event but with great success in the end. Now with a little school shopping we will be ready for school to start.

Brad's new toy and a toy for the family. Brad has been wanting a pool table or ping pong table for a while. This summer he saved up and got the 3 in 1 (air hockey, pool and ping pong) and it is a hit. Jack and Kadie love the air hockey but it is fun for Jack to learn pool too.

Kadie starts soccer! I am not a pink person so the amount of pink that she wanted for soccer seemed a big obnoxious to me but looking at this picture, I see how sweet it is for her. She so loves being a girl but wants to be just like her brother. So here comes the fall, soccer, school and cooler weather.

The Olympics!!!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a total Olympic freak! I am so excited to watch the Olympics this year. We have had a countdown to opening day in our family. Maybe it is from being an athlete for so many years, maybe its from having friends who were Olympians, maybe it is my competitive nature, probably a combination. I just love the personal stories, the fight, the triumph, pushing yourself past what you ever thought was possible. It is exhilarating! Of course my favorite is the swimming, thank goodness they have those events first because it would drive me crazy to wait. I told Brad last night that I will have swimming and competition dreams for months following watching just a few races. I guess that competitive swimmer in me is still alive somewhere. I think the hardest part for me is that, with the time difference, we sometimes hear the results before I get to see the event. That just stinks, I like to feel like I am there, seeing it for the first time with everyone else. So I totally shelter myself for 2 weeks from the news or even looking at newspaper. PLEASE, do not tell me the results of ANYTHING until I get to watch for myself. Well off to watch the women's volleyball, waiting not so patiently for a glimpse of the upcoming swimming events.

Issie at 9 months

Our sweet little Isabella is already 9 months, it is totally blowing my mind how fast the baby years fly by. We often refer to her as Busy Issie. She needs to know what is happening at all times, her head is constantly whipping around to see what Jack is doing or where Lucy is or who was that talking. It is funny to watch. She is also getting around really well, she crawls at full speed and is on her feet at every chance, she uses the chair to stand, the wall or your leg. I keep thinking, "she's only 9 months it will be a while before she walks" but I have a feeling she is going to surprise us all. She is still little, only 17 lbs but a bit bigger than Kadie was. She has the cutest giggle and Kadie is the best at getting her to laugh. She is still very compliant, willing to go with the flow with everything ( we hope this will last a long long while). She just cut her top 2 teeth last week to give her 4 little cutie teeth when she smiles. She is still super attached to mommy and is starting to really know when I leave. She is a blessing and we all love her to pieces.

being silly in her car seat, such a happy girl

showing off the moves, she loves to be on her feet

Oopps! mom forgot the sunscreen at the beach, the ultimate confession. She looks pretty sad here but she survived, I think she was just making it look extra bad for the picture, already learning the drama.

Our pretty Issie, we love you so much.