Author: Carey

Conversation With Isabel

Tonight as we sat down for dinner, I began to tell Isabel that if she ate all her dinner; she would get a very special treat (leftovers – from her birthday celebration). So after dinner, as I was getting the very special treat dished up, I ask Gino…

Me: Are you going to have a C-U-P (spelling) C-A-K-E?

Isabel: I want a C-R-P (spelling)!

Later, as we were eating our very special treat, Gino and Isabel share this conversation…

Gino: Does Lula like cupcakes?

Isabel: No, she doesn’t have any teeth!

Gino: So what does she eat?

Isabel: Grapes!

It’s here

…Isabel’s BIG GIRL bed!

Her big girl bed is almost ready…we need sheets!

Who needs sheets – Isabel’s just excited to get her new bed!

Luckily I was able to find some old sheets that I had when I was kid.
(I loved these sheets!)
The quilt is from my very good friend, Sarah, who is an amazing seamstress! It works perfectly with Isabel’s room…butterfly’s! Thank you Sarah!

However, we realized that having a toddler in a bed wasn’t going to work with only one set of sheets so over the next few days, we went looking around for sheets and a larger comforter. We also had to get her some steps to get in and out of bed, otherwise she couldn’t get in and she practically fell out when trying to get out! That’s not good…

We found this adorable set, which included the sheets and comforter at Target!
Now I need to find a pretty dust ruffle and a couple more coordinating sheets
and she’s good to go!

***UPDATE***
She’s been in the bed now for almost 2 months and she’s done an amazing job! I was worried that she’d get up and play during the night but she hasn’t (yet) and I’ve been worried about her opening her door and falling down the stairs (I did this all the time when I was little!); when she gets in bed at night she stays in bed until I enter her room the next day! What a blessing! I’m a worry wort for nothing!

Happy Birthday Isabel

Today is the celebration of Isabel’s birth! She’s 3! Wahoo! So much in store for her as she heads in to this new year of her life…board games, toys with small parts (well almost), Play-Doh and the biggest thing…school this fall!

We are so excited for you and so thankful that you are healthy and happy. We thank God for giving you to us and are honored to be called your parents. Every day is a new adventure! We pray that as you grow, you understand the wonder, hope, and abundant love of Jesus. You are a true blessing from above…God bless you Isabel – We Love You!

Isabel counting out how old she is!
Tonight will be the last night she sleeps in her baby crib…
tomorrow she gets a BIG GIRL bed!

Every month on the day of her birth, I measure her height and weight
just to see how much, if at all, she’s grown!

On this day she’s 36 1/2 inches tall and weighs 28 1/2 pounds!

For breakfast we went to Denny’s for “alien” pancakes!
She loves pancakes – just like me when I was little!

Blowing out her candles!

After cupcakes, it’s time to open her gifts…which weren’t to many
since she received so many at her “almost 3” party.
A stroller for her new baby from Nana, some Play-Doh and accessories
and a hippo that blows bubbles.

Weekend Den Remodel Part 3

The two day weekend projected turned into three days…because we decided to paint at the last minute. Enjoy!

All prepped and ready to go!
The paint color is called “Promenade”.

Isabel painting…she did a really good job for it being her first time (large scale)!

Reaching up high!
Not to much paint on her either…she’s a cleaner painter then I am!

The finished wall.
I haven’t taken any finished photos yet…I’ll have to do that…

Weekend Den Remodel Part 2

On day 2, all that’s left of the floor work is the closet area and doorway.
We chose Hand Scraped Hickory and it looks awesome!

Isabel fell in love with this “shaker” hammer.

Later she wanted to help out…

Almost done…just the closet.

All finished…well mostly! The door piece was finished a few days later.

All that’s left is painting (which we decided to do after the floor), trim work,
shelving installation, blind installation, new lighting, etc…

Weekend Den Remodel Part 1

This morning we awoke to begin our first home improvement project of the year; a weekend den remodel. With Gino working from home now, we decided it would be better if the den was actually a office space. So we began with a little dirty demolition…

Before picture looking north/west.

Before picture looking at closet.

Before picture looking west.

After all the carpet was pulled out; what a mess! So much dirt under the carpet!
Now we need to pull up the staples from the pad and then it’s onto floor installation.

Little Miss Salon tent

While we were in Utah Isabel received a “Little Miss Salon” tent for her birthday from Uncle Daniel, Aunt Marci, Bryson and Kaylie. So today, I decided to get it out and see what it looked like. Very cool!

The front of the “Little Miss Salon”.
The salon is now open!

The tent itself is made with normal tent material but
the sides have a thick pink plastic on them.

There was so much static electricity inside the tent
that it made Isabel’s hair stand up on end!

Happy Almost-3 Birthday Party

While we were in Utah, even though it wasn’t her actual birthday…we had a PARTY! We purchased a deli platter and had subs with all the fixings, potato salad, macaroni salad, fruit, chips, and dessert, of course! It was a wonderful day to spend with family just before we returned back home the following day. Enjoy!

Isabel – the Almost 3 Birthday girl!
Her shirt states it perfectly for this day…”Happy Birthday to me!”

The funnest toy for Isabel was this little microwave from Grma and Grmpa!
It actually makes a microwave sound and has a real working turntable inside!
She plays with this toy almost every day!

The coolest toy for Mommy…I mean Isabel,
was this cloth Noah’s ark from Nana and Pompo!
It came with animals but Nana stuffed it full of Beanie Babies!

The dress up crown, earrings, and shoes came from Uncle Jerry, Aunt Angie and family.
The earrings pinch her ears so she doesn’t wear them often but the crown she wears.

Since Uncle Daniel was unable to come because he was sick and Aunt Marci didn’t get to come either because she had to work – Bryson and Kaylie came! They gave Isabel a “Little Miss Salon” tent and backpack! It’s a tent that you set up and then “Little Miss Salon” can do your hair; it’s very cute! I didn’t set it up while we were in Utah but did so after we got home (I’ll post photos later)…
the backpack holds the tent, sleeping bag, and hair supplies.
Isabel loves it and enjoys playing inside the tent and she’s even done my hair!

After the opening of her gifts, we decided to have cake and ice cream.
It was a white cake with strawberry filling and strawberry ice cream…
Isabel’s favorite flavor. “Happy 3rd Isabel”

Blowing out her candle!

Later after cake and ice cream, we stepped outside to get some photos before the sun went down or behind the clouds that were moving in for the following days of rain showers.

The only group photo that we got!

We want to say THANK YOU to everyone!
It was Isabel’s third birthday but was her first party
and everyone made it a very special day!