Isabelle's 1st Birthday!

One! Already. As I write this I am sitting here watching Isabelle paint with water on the chalkboard easel. She has been an adventure, so determined, so fiery, so sweet. She definitely has a passionate personality. And she seems to be a bit of a comedian.

She wasn't incredibly thrilled at first...

but calmed down after that first taste of sweetness.

Isla's 4th Birthday

December - March around here is full of birthdays! My children and all of Isla's playmates were born during these months and I'm pretty sure we've averaged one birthday party every other weekend these past few months. (sidenote: this is a great and hilarious blog to read regarding bday party expectations these days - http://deadspin.com/down-with-big-birthday-1502731122) 

The most important of all these celebrations though were my sweet girl's of course ;)


So, Isla turned 4 on February 6th and I can scarcely see a hint of baby left in her.  It's as bittersweet as it is fun to watch her growing up. She is precocious and funny and imaginative and so sweet. 

We have a birthday breakfast tradition. She started her 4th birthday with pancakes & sprinkles.

She loves pirates and princesses and fairies, so we went with a pirate birthday party, treasure hunt included.

Treasure hunt in action. James did a great job leading the charge.

Opening presents with her cousins, Emmory, Riley & Helen.

For her birthday we bought her a "big girl bike" which she rides like a champ.

More Fun in the Snow

Snow Day in the South

Isla has been asking to play in the snow since watching all of the snow filled Christmas movies this past season. Yesterday, she was VERY excited her wish came true. Isabelle remained stoic on the subject.

Since taking these photos, we received a few more inches. And today, it is still piled up so I'm sure we will get our boots in the snow again.

Daddytime and Tunneltime

Story time with Daddy. I think Isabelle may have made it through the entire book without trying to escape. 

The tunnel has made a reappearance. I think I have this exact shot of Isla when she was this age. Isabelle loves the tunnel and Isla is really excited to show Isabelle how to navigate it.

Smiles

Update the Blog!!

Request granted.

It gets busy around here with a soon-to-be 4 year old who is always dancing, hopping, imagining, and chatting and a 8 month old who's on the move. Isabelle has been crawling for about a month now and forming a few words, "mama!", "i-ah!", "bye-bye" (accompanied with a wave) and "Da-Da!". I add exclamation points because she says all of these things loudly and full of expression. 

Isla is doing great. She finished her first block of dance class and is eager to start the next in January. She's enjoying preschool and is doing very well learning to write and recognize words. She loves to make up stories, dress up and put on puppet shows. It's been fun watching her grow, sometimes I can hardly believe how big she's getting.

Here are some photos from the days of Isla and Isabelle to get you up-to-date on what's been going on. 

Playing at our pumpkin carving party in October.

Excited for her first piece of candy on our trick-or-treating adventure.

"Oh, hi there!"

Which piece of candy should I have today?

Sister <3 td="">

Isla's drawing of robots.

Isabelle swinging for the first time. She loved it.

All dressed up and ready to go to... an aquatic tea party? 

Morning snuggles.

Isla's last dance class of the session. The parents were able to observe.