Isabel got some exciting news today!

"Big..."

"Sister..."

"Who, me?!?!?!"

It's a little...boy?!?!?! GREAT, I love boys!

Wow, I am going to do such a good job as a big sister and Mommy's little helper!

A Ladybuggy Halloween - 2009

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Let me start off by saying I am happy to be able to title this post "A ladybuggy Halloween." I bought Isabel's adorable ladybug costume over a month ago, and for the past month, when I have occasionally asked her to put the costume on, she has very politely said "no." I think the bulkiness of the costume was freaking her out a little! But finally on the Wednesday before Halloween, right before her bath I was able to get her to try it on with no problems, and toddle around in it for awhile. Whew! What a relief especially because it was SO adorable as you will see from the photos. I do not think I could have chosen a cuter costume on our petite little girl!

So, Isabel the ladybug had a blast on Halloween this year! On Friday, she got to bring her costume to school where they had a Halloween parade in the morning, and a party in the afternoon (parents were invited so of course we went!) At the party, she got to make bubble bats, color and decorate a Halloween crown, and (this was the best part) frost and eat a Halloween sugar cookie. Well, to be more accurate, once Isabel figured out that the orange-and-black sprinkles and frosting were edible, she proceeded to eat those while Daddy ate the cookie that she had partially frosted!

Saturday we got her back in her costume and headed out trick-or-treating to a few houses in our neighborhood. The first house we went to was our good friends the Ryans, and we were welcomed by sidewalk chalk signs and drawings in their driveway and sidewalk that said "Ladybugs wanted!" (They are some of Isabel's biggest fans and she loves them too!) And after we visited their house and Isabel selected a few pieces of candy for her "puh-ple" pumpkin, we were pleasantly surprised to find ANOTHER little ladybug walking around our neighborhood (our other neighbors were out with their daughter Natalie who is 6 months younger than Isabel). The two ladybugs were a little shy of each other at first, but at the end, they warmed up to each other and were definitely invading each other's space (as you can see in the photos) and Isabel was pointing at Natalie's spots! How darling!

Then it was back home again to welcome all the other trick-or-treaters to our house. Of course, Isabel would always point out the "boys" that came to the door (she loves to say "boy" but will not say "girl" - hopefully this is not a sign of boy-craziness in the future - oh dear). Isabel got her first taste of candy, since she had, of course, done all the work of saying "teet-teet-teet" (translation = "trick or treat") at each door. So, I may shock you by saying that we, the sugar-averse parents, broke from our rules and gave her a piece of a Kit-Kat and a piece of a Reese's (both of which she was most fond of!)

So last year...the crawling Squirt the turtle, this year, the toddling ladybug...what will next year's Halloween bring? We shall see!

Apples, pumpkins, and more apples!

Two Sundays ago, we took our annual trip to Afton Apple, for the first time as a family of three (last year, just Mommy and Isabel went so there were not nearly as many good photo ops!)

Many of you might know that Isabel's favorite word of late is "apple." So, we thought it would be doubly as fun to take her apple picking this year! Despite the chilly October temps we have been having that caused us to have to don our winter coats, hats, and mittens for our trip there, we headed down after church on a sunny (but yes, chilly) morning, and the trip was definitely a success!

Notable activities of the day:

1) Isabel feeding a donkey out of her hand (we have no photo of this so you will just have to take our word for it. Mommy couldn't handle taking the photos AND making sure that Isabel held her hand flat so the gentle donkey wouldn't accidentally lop off one of her little fingers!)

2) Daddy taking her to the top of the big haypile.
3) Sticking her head in the little cutouts in the animals faces. We especially liked showing these photos to her on the computer at home, where she could see herself as a cow ("moo-moo-moo"), sheep ("baa-baa"), etc.

4) Getting to carry around, and eat, her VERY OWN apple that we picked off the tree just for her! That thing was glued to her hand from the moment we gave it to her until we ended our day at the orchard!

5) "Helping" Mommy and Daddy find the very perfect pumpkin to take home and (hopefully) carve. It will be interesting to see if she likes the feeling of pumpkin squishing through her hands, and if she tries to eat it (ew!)

"I think I found the one, guys!"

6) Opening the car door when we got home to find her sleeping HARD in her carseat, exhausted from her adventure (those of you who know Isabel well will know that this never happens, especially not to the point where we can take a photo without her waking up!)

There were too many cute photos to put on the blog, so I have posted a few here and you can find the rest at our Shutterfly site, http://www.lukeandkristy.shutterfly.com/.

Enjoy your autumn!

Smart girl starts preschool!

Well, our little girl has been off to "school" for a little over a month now. (I know, I know, you can all be mad at me for not updating the blog in FOREVER!) She started in a program for a half-day one day a week, called Children's Praise N Rainbows. I was a little apprehensive about how she would do in a new, larger group of kids, and being left there by Mommy (plus being picked up about an hour after she normally lays down for a nap), but she has been doing PHENOMENAL! She has not shed a single tear when being dropped off...not one! And when she gets home, yes, she is VERY tired, but she still has been taking a good (later) nap in the afternoon after school.

My favorite thing that she does, that is school-related, is that every time you ask her, "Isabel, do you have school today?", she responds "Uh-huh!" and then when you ask "What do you get to bring to school?" she says, without fail, "Bah-pah!" (backpack). How adorable is that?

Here are two photos of her before her second day. The first day she was being anti-photo, but I figured we would try again the next week, and she cooperated QUITE well!

I have learned this summer that I love....

Peaches...

Playing in the warm rain...

Pushing my stroller...

Riding on REAL ponies...

And high fives and hugs from good friends!

Ahhh, summer!

Isabel's day at the park

Jenna wrote a very amazing blog post about their day at the park today along with some pretty doggone cute photos so I thought I would link you to it here. Enjoy!

On another note - I am SO excited that tomorrow, Isabel will step foot for the first time into a gymnastics gym! We are going to open gym at IGM Gymnastics in Burnsville. Little girl, I hope you fall in love with the sport as much as your mommy loves it! If so, then meet your future! Look out, 2024 Olympics, here we come!

Haiku Tuesday - 4th edition

Bouncy balls are fun

So is sliding with Mommy

Laughing all the way!