Our Izzy Mae

Izzy is all fairy tale. First thing when she wakes up in the morning -she has to put on her dress-up clothes for breakfast & when we get home in the evenings, the first thing she does is strip down to put on dress-up...sometimes adding some 'flair' -bracelets / necklaces / headbands / a purse / various kiddo bling. She prances about - all priss - calls her daddy 'Prince', proclaims that she isn't 'Izzy' - she's 'Cinderella' or 'Princess Dora Izzy' or any number of other fancy names. She wants to dance all the time :) ~ & she particularly likes to dance w/Mike - usually starting with a proper bow to 'Prince Daddy.' If you've ever read the 'Fancy Nancy' books - that's our girl. She simply MUST wear tights & a dress each day. If God-forbid, Mommy hasn't had a chance to finish the laundry & she has to wear pants, such a face of disappointment - and a sure bet for a fit follows the news. When she wants her adorably curly-Q hair up, she asks for at least 3 different hair bands - all with a different color & girly thing on them - a flower / a butterfly / a heart / whathaveyou. I'm continually amused & a little shocked at how much of a girly girl our sweet first born is. I remember liking pink & purple as a kiddo, but they were usually paired with red or some other bright color - I was almost always a mis-matched kid in my choice of clothes - and almost never wanted to wear a skirt because I hated the feel of tights. Not our Isabelle. - Sorry, 'PRINCESS Isabelle'.
I get quite a kick out of her little sister too - while she is usually up for doing just about anything Iz asks of her, she has had her fill of dress-up. & there is heck-fire to pay if Izzy tries to say Maddy's a princess too. -'I'm NOT a princess - I'm Maddy!' - She'll be a cat or the prince all day long, but don't ask her to put on that Tinkerbell outfit again! -fake make-up / necklaces / purses / babies - all good stuff, but she wants her pants & hoody fleece sweatshirt...that girl is all comfort. :)
Last night was fabulous. We had the whole fam dancing in the living room - Izzy decked out like Cinderella, dancing w/'Daddy Prince' - singing at the top of her lungs like a girly rock star, Maddy spinning all over - singing with the happiest, brightest smile - spilling life & energy all over the room. Recently, Izzy has decided her favorite song is no longer a Veggie Tales number - or Little People - or a song from the CD that came w/her baby Bible...her fave is currently Taylor Swift's 'You Belong With Me'. She calls it 'the I do song' & it'll bring her out of almost any fit. She was crying dramatically for a good 15 minutes on the way to Penny's yesterday because she had fallen & hurt her knee before we left. Smarty pants Mommy had the delayed 'duh' thought to turn on the song...within the first few bars, Izzy excitedly says 'Mommy, this song makes my knee feel better!! - Will you turn it up please??' -Mike didn't understand why I bought the CD until he saw them singing last night...best ten bucks I've spent all year! - They certainly keep us smiling/laughing - so proud of our princess & our firecracker - in such awe at how wonderful two little ones can be...how much joy a few minutes of a day can bring. :) :) :) Love, love, LOVE those girls!!!!

Sweena-na the trouble maker

Mike & I got quite a chuckle last night - well, a few chuckles to be exact. We've been thinking lately that Maddy is probably on track to stop taking naps...so for the last few weeks, sometimes we'll let her take one, sometimes we'll stretch her. ~Not really pushing the issue...but last night was one of those nights that made us think it's time to cut them out. She was up - wide awake up - until just about 11pm! She was happy to stay in her crib, which was a good thing. She was a busy bee...reading several books to all of her babies & stuffed friends. Singing them songs, changing their diapers, carrying on conversations, laughing...overall livin' it up. Hilarious to listen over the baby monitor to her fabulous imagination - giving each baby a character in the books they were reading, asking sweet questions, then saying 'OH! uh huh' & a number of other adorable things I wish I had written down as we were laughing. Of course, every time we went to her room to say it was time for her to go to sleep, she would cheese it up - those beautiful smiles she flashes (I swear that girl lights up the room every time she smiles...so bright & warm...even when she has that big ol' hint of mischief at the same time...I melt -that's all there is to it). She blamed her baby 'Sweena-na' (her Cabbage Patch Kid, 'Selina') for keeping her up at one point - 'Sweena-na won't go to sleep - she needs to sit in time out and calm down...uh huh.' Each time we tucked her back in, we thought she would finally settle down, but after about 3 minutes, she'd be talking again...laughing, etc. Finally around 10:50, we heard a sweet yawn, 'I'm reawwy tired' and out she went. What I would give for a camera in there to have watched those couple of hours.

Time...Wow - Really?

My niece, Alana, turned 9 years old last week. NINE.
I still remember getting SO excited every time I got to see her - hold her - my sweet baby niece. How our previous identities of 'Mike & Kate' were replaced by 'Uncle Mike & Aunt Katy' - and my brother & sister-in-law changed from 'JB & Brie' to 'Mommy & Daddy'...How excited Mike & I got to learn the new Alana saying - 'OKay suura' (while emphatically nodding her head) / 'Make goofy faces w/Unca Mike' (whenever she saw me w/my camera...she & Mike would pose over & over together) / 'Hey - whattayou doin' ova dare?' / 'Ya wanna go jellyfishin' with me?' - Oh, the list could go on...such warm little memories I have tucked away in my noggin. And now she's almost a decade old.
And we have our own babies.
And our siblings are learning our kiddos' sayings. :)
Uncle Paul (Mike's younger brother) got married over the weekend - to a God-send of a sister-in-law. Thoughtful, kind, funny, and so in love w/our Paul. We're all thrilled they found each other. The girls are crazy about their new Aunt Marsha. & due to this happy weekend nuptual, we've been fortunate enough to have the Ross folks & Nana Maytum (from Canada) in town w/us for the last week. -Extra reasons for Paul & Marsha to make the trek from Shelbyville for dinner the last couple nights. :) ~ While sitting around the table last night, I got the warmest of fuzzies listening to them talk about all the times they quote our girls sayings & facial expressions...brought back all the happy /funny times Mike & I quoted Alana...how special all these times are. How fast time is flying.
Alana is NINE. Izzy & Tucker will be FOUR in January & Maddy is TWO. Still looking for the pause button. :)