A once in a lifetime birthday!

Isabelle turned 2 years old on Easter Sunday. We know that Easter will not be on the 23rd of March again for more than an hundred years, so most likely Belle will never share her birthday with the holiday again!



She woke up to a new kitchen and gasped when she saw it! We have already enjoyed many meals prepared by our new chef!





She enjoyed opening many presents...lots of them from out of town family! (Thank you again to everyone for being so thoughtful!) This was the first time she really understood the process and we had fun watching her open each gift and shout what was inside.



Besides all of the birthday fun she was able to enjoy Easter traditions too! We had a little egg hunt in the backyard and she loved pulling her new wagon around and screamed everytime she found an egg!


I think this is going to be a great year for little Jelly!

What's in a name?

I was tagged by my dear friend Deirdre to explain how we chose the name Isabelle. I am feeling a bit sentimental this night anyways since our sweet baby will be 2 years old in roughly 5 hours. Where does the time go?

Isabelle was the name of my Great Grandmother on my mother's side. We mostly called her Grandma Chris, after her last name, but she liked to call herself "Queen Isabelle." She lived to be 101 years old and unfortunately passed away just two months before the second "Queen Isabelle" was born. She knew that her name would be carried on however, and spent her last several days here on earth telling everyone! She was a wonderful grandma!

My Isabelle has big high heels to fill and so far she is doing an excellent job!

Okay Jaimie, TAG, you're it!

Happy Birthday To You...

Isabelle will be 2 years old next week, on Easter Sunday. We decided to celebrate all week long and began with an Elmo party at the park with her favorite friends! It was a beautiful day, nearly 89 degrees, and she had so much fun playing on the playground and in the sand with all of her buddies. She was excited to share the goodie bags that she worked on all week with each of her guests and was even more surprised when each of them brought her special presents to unwrap! She definately lived up to her namesake, happily wearing her crown all day! (Grandma would be proud!) She didn't actually eat the cupcake, but she did give it one lick! Wouldn't it be fun to be turning 2?!

Home

When Isabelle was just weeks old Ben would sing Michael Buble songs to her whenever she was fussy or tired. It seemed her favorite song was Home on Buble's "It's Time" album, and her Daddy would sing it at the top of his lungs and dance and sway until she was settled and/or asleep.

You often wonder if small children can remember their earliest days and I am convinced that atleast some things stick. Whenever we hear the song Home on the radio or play the CD, Isabelle always stops and listens and says "I want to go home too!" Today we heard it while driving and she and I both sang loudly and happily! I wish you could hear her sing the "h..o..m..e.." chorus line. She sounds just like her Daddy!

There goes my baby

Today Isabelle is 23 months old which means that next month on this day she will be 2 years old! She is so smart and sweet and learning so quickly. I cannot believe I will soon no longer have a baby...I will have a toddler!

This is a picture of her new tricyle from Grandpa Elmo for a Valentines Day present. She thinks it looks just like Elmo's on Sesame Street and she is very eager to ride it. I am glad she could visit with her "Papa" and "Grammie" last week and bring them some much needed comic relief! (Notice also her pretty braided hair, thanks to Grandma. She has so much more hair than I did when I was her age!)

Bienvenidos a Miami

Isabelle and I had a great time in Miami last week visiting Aunt Tara. (Especially since Grammie met us there.) From the time our wheels hit the ground on Friday until our wings again began to soar on Tuesday we went from one place to the next as fast as possible. We were able to shop at 4 different shopping malls, met Clifford at the park for a story, saw the Children's Theatre production of The Wizard of Oz, spent the day on South Beach and even had time to jog in the morning over the 1 mile bridge from Miami to the Florida Keys! Isabelle was a great traveler once again and loved spending some time with her Aunt and Grandma.