Mobile toddler + no naps + small plane = not so much fun

Ryan, Isla and I got to go to Bellingham this weekend and on our trip we discovered how traveling with a mobile toddler can really take it out of you.  Our child does not like to take naps on the plane anymore, nor does she like to be held.  Thank goodness we were flying Horizon and took advantage of their free beer and wine.  We got some interesting stares as we took turns downing our drinks while the other one was trying hard to entertain Isla, but I could have cared less.  I'm dreading the plane ride down to Mexico on Christmas day.  GrandmaGiGi - I hope you're ready for this!

The good news is that we got to see Grandpa and GrandmaGiGi and Isla had so much fun playing with them.  She showed Grandpa all her new moves and told him all her new words.  She even got to play with her cousins Ilea, Chloe and Maia.  It was really good to see everyone and it made the plane ride worth it to see how happy Isla made her Grandpa and GrandmaGiGi.

Hanging out with Grandpa:

Eating the doughnut that Grandpa got her:

We got to go and check on Grandpa and GrandmaGiGi's new house.  There has been a lot of progress since the last time we saw it and it looks great.  I can't wait for it to be finished in February.  I took pictures of the house, but they didn't turn out well as it was a pretty dark and dreary day when we were there.  There were only a couple that I thought were good enough to post:

Isla got to play with her cousin Ilea as well:

Happy Halloween!

Just wanted to post a couple of pictures of our cute (yet not so little) bumble bee.  Isla got to celebrate her Halloween at the Hamilton's with the all the kiddos.  I think fun was had by all:

After we took Isla home for bed Ryan and I went and walked to Harrison Blvd to see all the Halloween madness (Ryan's mom was in town so we didn't leave Isla home alone!)!  For those of you who don't know, Harrison Blvd is where all the kids (big and little) go trick-or-treating and the majority of the houses along the street get into the festivities as well.  The street is packed with people and it is absolutely nuts!  Ryan and I usually avoid the Harrison Halloween craziness, but this year we heard about a house that I just had to see.  For Halloween night the owners of this house built a stage on their front lawn and put a huge projection screen behind the stage.  All night they played the Thriller video on the screen and when the zombie scene would start about 20 dancers in full costume and make-up would come on the stage and re-enact the dance scene on the screen behind them.  It was quite the show.  I enjoyed it so much that I went back later with Connie so she could see it as well. 

Lazy Sunday

What did Miss Isla do on a lazy Sunday afternoon?  She watched her Dad rake up some leaves:

She helped by crawling around and picking up the leaves Dad didn't get:

Most of the leaves ended up here:

She thought she was pretty sneaky:

She also helped Mom and Dad carve pumpkins.  Mom tried to carve her pumpkin to look like Isla as she is no longer our toothless wonder and she is a pretty happy baby . . . most of the time:

Fall

It is officially fall here in Idaho and the foliage is spectacular:

This time of year is one of my favorites (what is there not to love – college football, leaves turning color, cooler nights!) so in celebration I have been doing fall-ish type things over the past two weeks. Last weekend I made pumpkin squares (they were oh so yummy):

And I also made some white chili which Isla absolutely loved. This past weekend Grandma GiGi and Aunt Anna came to town and we continued our fall celebration by taking Isla to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins. The weather was absolutely perfect (about 70 degrees) and Isla really enjoyed herself. I’m so excited to start these family traditions as Isla gets older.

The pumpkin patch had a petting zoo and in that zoo was a baby camel – totally random, but very, very cute. Isla wasn’t too sure about him:

They also had sheep and baby goats that Isla was enthralled with:

We finally set out on the hayride to pick out our pumpkins. The entire ride Isla was saying “Weeeee”. It was too cute.

Isla checking out her pumpkins:

For those of you who are wondering if we still have a dog, we do - and he got to go fishing with his Dad this weekend - lucky dog:

Happy fall from our house to yours!

Hi!

“Dada”, “Mama”, “kitty”, “uh-oh”, “shoes” are a few of the words that Isla has been saying over the last couple of months. Ryan and I have not really counted any of these as her “first” word due to the fact that she doesn’t use them consistently or in the right context (although she is getting close!). We are also very thankful that Isla’s daycare has taught her to say “more” and “please” in sign language. This new found communication has been so much fun!

This past week Ryan and I were pleasantly surprised when Isla started to say “hi”. We were even more surprised when she started using it consistently and in the right context (i.e. when someone comes through the front door, when we get her up from her nap). My heart melts every time she says it and I got a little choked up when I walked in the front door yesterday and she looked at me with the biggest smile and said “Hi!” Ryan and I have officially decided that “hi” is Isla’s first word. “Kitty” comes in as a close second though.

Here are some recent pictures of Isla over the last couple of weeks. We have discovered that she loves puzzles and her car seat. Whenever her car seat is in the house she plays with it for hours (hours in toddler land equals about 20 minutes):

Looking happy at the BSU tailgate last weekend:

First Birthday!

I can't believe that my baby is one year old!  I really can't believe that I'm a mother of a one year old.  Oh what a year it has been.  There were days when I didn't think we were going to make it, but then there were days that I never wanted to end.  Being a mom is one of the toughest, yet most rewarding jobs out there and I love it!

An occasion as special as this required a whole weekend of celebrating.  Both sets of grandparents and her aunt Anna came into town and we had a nice quiet dinner at home on Friday (Isla's birthday eve) talking about the day our Miss Isla arrived.  I think all of us ended up in happy tears that night.  Although I'm not sure if Ryan's tears were from BSU almost losing to Fresno State or his daughter turning one!

On Saturday (her actual birthday) we celebrated with a party at the park.  Isla had a lot of family and friends come and wish her a happy birthday.  She was so excited for her party that she didn't even take a nap the entire day!  That made for a very interesting party, but we all survived.  We want to thank everyone that came to the party and also thank everyone who wasn't able to come for their birthday wishes.  Isla is so lucky to have great friends and family.  We love you so much Miss Isla!

Her day started off with a doughnut from Grandpa - yummy:

Then it was time to get ready for the party.  Aunt Anna got Isla a special outfit to wear to her party:

It's her party and she'll cry if she wants too - especially because she didn't nap all day:

The swings at the park made her happy though:

Isla's cake that I made just for her:

Cake time:

What's with the face? 

Time to open presents:

She loved the ribbons:

And her presents too:

After the party we went home and watched the Huskies upset USC!  Can't think of a better way to top off the lovely day.  I think the Huskies won because of our good luck charm:

Unfortunately Isla woke up sick on Sunday morning (too much partying!) and we had to go to the doctor.  Our poor baby has croup, but she is getting better.  Thank goodness she decided to wait until Sunday to really feel sick.  Thanks again to all of our family and friends for making Isla's birthday so special!

BSU vs. UO

Sorry I'm a little behind on my blog posts!  I really have no good excuse why I haven't been updating my blog other than I've been running around trying to keep up with Isla. 

The Thursday before labor day weekend the BSU football season kicked off with a home game against Oregon.  We were lucky to score some tickets to the game for myself, my Dad, and my cousin Krista.  Krista is actually a Duck, which isn't the coolest, but since she is family we still love her!  Ryan was actually fortunate enough to be on the sidelines for the game.  We started the evening tailgating:

Isla got to go to her second BSU tailgate:

Hanging out with cousin Krista:

Isla really knows how to tailgate:

Ryan's view from the sidelines:

BSU did us proud and beat the ducks!  Go Broncos!

Later on this week when I have enough time I will post all the pictures from Miss Isla's first birthday party/weekend.