Merry Christmas!!

Izzy is two years old!!

We've got fun plans for Izzy today! Click here to see more pics of her from the past two years.

Famous dish

This morning John and I got to go on a date and tried out "Toast on Market". They were highly recommended on urban spoon. I was excited to try the Lemon Souffle Pancakes with Blueberry Compote, and I can assure you they were scrumptious. We also wanted to try the hash brown casserole. Not as fancy sounding, but definitely rated well by reviewers.

Our food arrived and after a photo, we dug in. A bite of the hash brown casserole and I started to laugh. "My family used to make this every Thanksgiving and Christmas!!" Except we call it heart attack potatoes in my house since we know what's in the recipe. Who knew that my family harbored an award winning recipe. Maybe my grandma should open up a cafe!!

Halloween

Abby was so excited for Halloween this year. She was Sleeping Beauty - a costume that she asks to put on almost every day. This time it was extra special, though, because she got to wear a sparkly crown, too.

I was hoping that Izzy could wear this super cute kangaroo costume. Abby wore it when she was tiny. Izzy is growing so quickly!! My fast kangaroo stretched the suit to its limits.

We did a quick switcharoo and Izzy went as princess Tiana instead. (Princess and the frog) It was funny - I got quite a few comments about my fair skinned, blue eyed curly girl being the african american southern belle.

Definition of true happiness for a 4 year old:

Disneyland Trip

Last week we spent a day at Disneyland. Top on Abby's list was to go see the princesses and have them sign her autograph book. She was so glad that Belle was there since they were wearing matching dresses.




































Izzy loved the day out too. She often exclaimed loudly at things she saw! The highlight for her was the baby roller coaster - aka It's a small world.

Sisters

It was so fun to visit family in Washington this summer! One of the highlights was definitely spending time with these lovely ladies and their kiddos. I love my sisters!!

Well, I don't know who is checking this blog anymore after such a long absence, but for the sake of faithful grandmas, great grandmas, aunties and cousins I thought I'd post. :) I think that moving houses twice, vacation, and just an all around super busy summer have superceded the priority of posting to my blog, but definitely hasn't stopped us from enjoying our girls (or taking their pictures!)

Abby is so excited to be 4! She is well aware that she gets to go to school when she is 5. Several times when I've popped into her room she's packed up a couple of bags of clothes, shoes and toys so that she's "ready to go to school". She's also been pretty motivated at learning her letters - upper and lower case, and the sounds - because she needs to know them for school.

Izzy is a bouyant baby. Energetic, laughing, and happy. She doesn't have a huge vocabulary, but in sunny southern cal she's already got down, "it's hot" and "swim suit". :)

A couple of very different photos - Abby showing off her balancing skills, and Izzy goofing off with Mommy.

The girls pics - taken this weekend

Kids are so cute how they copy what you say, but get it mixed up. Today Abby and I were talking about a coloring project she was doing. I think she got tired of the conversation because she lifted her hands & shrugged and said, "forever mommy" (instead of whatever).






She is so sweet when someone else gets hurt. Many times I've seen her go up to someone whose fallen down on the playground and hold their hand, help them up, or just sat with them while they were sad. Not only friends - but kids she's never met.



Abby also wants to meet everybody. When we go on walks, she wants to stop and meet every kid & dog that we pass. She saw kids playing on a trampoline in another person's backyard and asked if we could play too. I responded, "well, we don't know them." Her quick remedy was, "well, maybe we can go meet them!"



Izzy is the most enthusiastic baby. When we go in to get her in the morning or from a nap, she screams with delight and bounces really high in her crib. She loves to be held upside down, swung around, she just shrieks with laughter. We call her our thrill-seeking baby.



She is also so so sensitive it's pretty funny. You can tell her no in the nicest way - like "Izzy sweetie, please don't open the dishwasher and take out the knives" - and the lower lip goes out and she's SO sad and starts crying because she was told no. Kind of like this, but a lot more . . .



BUT she's also super fun. She has an infectious laugh, and laughs often!! She loves playing games, chase, peek a boo, she is desperately trying to ride Abby's tricycle all by herself but her legs are still a little too short.

Easter

The girls loved finding eggs outside on Easter. There were little candies hidden inside.
Izzy has also started talking a lot more - last week she said Abby, please, excuse me, okay, & up.

A bit of catch up

I think I forgot about my blog since it's been over a month since the last post! So what are the girls up to? Well . . . .

Abby is 3 1/2 and loves to be a helper. She follows me around, folding the laundry, stirring food on the stove, she LOVES to make cookies - and when we roll them she says she's making them into basketballs. She lines up her toys to keep them organized, likes to go out on errands, and loves library story time. We go (almost) every week. At night she likes to have a story book - kinda long ones!! And she always asks "what did we do yesterday" meaning, "please talk through todays events with me".

She's also super affectionate. Today at church she gave two of her friends hugs and kisses when we left. She's great about giving Izzy hugs and kisses too, especially if Izzy is sad. She often mentions friends and family and asks if they'll be wherever we're going. Sometimes she mixes up names and it's kinda funny! She asked the other day if Mr. Jim and Mrs Cathie would be at Disneyland. And often when I ask her, "guess who's coming over tomorrow?" She'll say, "Charis!"

New stuff on Izzy? Hmmm . . . I think the last post still covers it. Except now she'll often point to things and have you say the word, then she repeats it after you.

Izzy Fun Facts

This post is especially for all our out of town family who don't get to see the girls much! So what's Izzy up to?

• Her current words are: Mom, Dad, Yeah, and she signs please and all done.
• Favorite food: scrambled eggs. Oh wait, chocolate chips.
• She's good at walking (and running) now.
• Nicknames: twinkie (she's light!) and baby-zilla. The second one is because she can flatten a polly pocket village in seconds.
• She ADORES abby. If Izzy is sad, a hug from sissy will usually cheer her up.
• Izzy is really adventurous. It's not uncommon to find her hiding in a bathroom cupboard. She also has great dexterity. She completely disassembled her mobile - not by destroying it, but by unscrewing all of it. I thought it was a fluke till she did it twice.
• Baby stats: She's long and thin.
• She likes to dance - mainly by bouncing up and down.
• She LOVES to be chased - and growled at as you do it.
  

Izzy's Birthday

A couple of days before Christmas, Izzy turned one. She was sick on her birthday, but she still had a great day. The highlight was having cake together. She liked the cake, and loved the dum dums on it. Abby helped me make it - she loves to cook. I'm not much into box mixes, and figured as long as I was making a cake, it should be homemade yellow cake with chocolate ganache. Yum Yum!!

I'm so thankful for my baby - busy little Izzy!





























Off to the tub with you!!