the stuph of life

Little momma...she sure loves her little brother

2012-01-12T18:51:00.001-07:00

Siblings

2012-01-09T18:54:00.001-07:00

Sweet big sister loving on her baby brother. We hope it stays this cordial but are realistic enough to know that might not always be the case.

Big sister! :-)

2012-01-09T17:54:00.001-07:00

Heading home from the hospital!

2012-01-09T08:58:00.001-07:00

First morning with 2 kiddos...

2012-01-09T08:57:00.001-07:00

Waking up!

2012-01-07T08:01:00.001-07:00

Little Christian slept a lot through his first night. Had to wake him to try & feed him.

Christian Clark Reeves is here!

2012-01-06T21:46:00.001-07:00

7 lbs 15 Oz, 20 inches and arrived at 7:39 pm!

Ok this time for real!

2012-01-06T14:55:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday we were kicked out of the hospital after 8 hours and labor stalled. This time it HAS to happen as the water has broken and things are progressing right along.

Here we go!

2012-01-02T00:03:00.001-07:00

Baby Reeves #2 on the way. This little guy is taking his time. Mommy doesn't feel very good.

new pics

2010-06-03T08:23:00.004-06:00

Here are a few pictures our friend Lisa took at a picnic we had with our church group.

And here are a few that we took recently.

Fun pics & Birthday Party 11/21/09

2009-11-22T13:44:00.012-07:00

As you know, we had a scare the weekend after her birthday when her original birthday party was supposed to be (11/14/09). Thankfully she was back to her old self by Monday after we got home from the hospital on Sunday. Here are some pics the week after her birthday and of her rescheduled party that we had on 11/21/09. Enjoy!

This was the last night Mimi was in town (Tuesday, 11/17/09) and Lee, Monique & Connor came for dinner. After dinner, Isabella decided to put on Connor's shoes. Too cute!

Princess Isabella in her dress up clothes with Lee & Monique.

Isabella decided to put a show on for me the morning of her birthday party! Enjoy!

Isabella in her Princess dress before everyone arrived. She didn't want to stay in this long as everyone wanted to head down to the park not soon after arriving. Thankfully it was a beautiful day. We enjoyed pizza at the park down the street. Here are all of our friends that came to celebrate.

A friend let me borrow this tier to put the cupcakes on. Yes, that is a Cinderella candle on the very top. :-) Nothing but the best for our little princess. :-)

Waiting patiently for everyone to come in the kitchen to sing happy birthday!

She blew it out all by herself.

She did enjoy her cupcake!!

She really made out with all the birthday presents from everyone!!! She is definitely loved!! Thank you all for celebrating in Isabella's 2nd birthday with us!!

Actual day of her birthday...

2009-11-22T12:46:00.007-07:00

As most of you know, our little princess turned 2 years old on November 12, 2009. Here are some fun pictures and videos of her special day. She was able to celebrate with her Mimi this year. :-)

Her Mimi gave her a Raggedy Ann doll that is as tall as her.

Here she is opening a present from mommy and daddy - it was books.

She's opening her present from her Aunt Adella - a talking backpack from Dora - she loves it!

Here we all are at Red Robin for a celebration dinner. Unfortunately it's not the best picture but we took what we could get from the server. ;-)

Sharing some birthday ice cream with daddy. The staff at Red Robin also sang to her. It was birthday night on the 12th as we were sitting in a section with 3 other little girls who were their celebrating their birthday's as well. :-)

Here a couple of fun videos we took that morning as well:

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2009-11-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

Yeah we are going home!
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2009-11-14T06:20:00.000-07:00

Sleeping soundly right now. First visit to the hospital. Will keep everyone posted. Thanks for the prayers!
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Happy Halloween!!

2009-10-31T22:06:00.001-06:00

Isabella had a couple of fun filled days for Halloween this year. On Friday, we a party with our mom's group. Here she is playing after lunch. She also won her age group in a costume contest.

On Saturday, our community hosted an indoor Trick-or-Treat Street with local vendors. Here is Isabella with her neighbor friends before heading to. We were joined by some other neighbor friends.

After walking through the "street" we were able to pick out a pumpkin. This is the one that Isabella picked out.

Here we are starting to carve our first pumpkin together. We all got into it. :-)

Didn't daddy do a good job? :o

Isabella and Daddy went trick-or-treating with our neighbors while Mommy stayed home and gave out candy. Here they are on their way out.

Wow, what goodies did I get. :-)

Halloween should be fun!

2009-10-29T11:32:00.002-06:00

She likes to do flips off the couch.

This weekend it'll be back in the 60s. Saturday (Halloween) night, it should be in the upper 40s or lower 50s, but there's no way this will all be melted off by then.

Dinner time!

2009-10-28T17:33:00.000-06:00

She likes to "help" Winston eat.

Pumpkin Festival

2009-10-21T21:00:00.002-06:00

Photos courtesy of Lisa Cipolla and Cipolla Photography.

Our little princess is turning 2...

2009-10-08T15:25:00.002-06:00

In just over a month Isabella will be turning 2. Where have these last 2 years gone?!?! We do wish we could celebrate with all of our friends and family!! We will be having a little get together with all of our new friends here in Colorado. For those of you that can't be here and would like to get her a little something, you'll notice we have made her a wish list and it's on the right side of the page/blog. You do not have to get her anything as she is definitely a blessed child with things we've gotten from our neighbors but I know many of you (family) do ask. :-) Also, you don't have to stay directly with the items on the list as they are just ideas. Anything with Disney Princesses or Dora the Explorer will be truly cherished by Isabella as those are her favorites these days. :-)

Hugs and kisses to everyone!!

Bedtime fun!

2009-10-05T12:56:00.002-06:00

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?

Breakfast Time!

2009-10-03T18:24:00.000-06:00

Golden Grahams and cuddling with the Princess makes for the best breakfast EVER!

Oatmeal fueled

2009-09-29T12:50:00.002-06:00

Isabella woke up at 5 am this morning ready to go. She had breakfast with mommy and then climbed back up into her crib on her own and the following video clip is a sampling of what went on for a while.

I guess there's more sugar in Quaker Oats than originally thought...

She bumped her head on the railing at the end of the video but she was fine. She fell asleep on the couch about 2 hours later. MUCH earlier than her usual nap time, but this kind of stuff can wear ya out! :-)

WHEEEE!!!

2009-09-08T15:09:00.002-06:00

The first time she did this on her own, she almost gave her Daddy a heart attack. She'll fly down the hill and into the street. She has no fear and loves speed just like her Daddy!

And a little family self portrait with camera on the phone.

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2009-08-01T21:42:00.000-06:00

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Playing with neighbor

2009-08-01T21:41:00.000-06:00

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2009-07-15T12:25:00.000-06:00

Playing with friends @ park!
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Our growing girl...

2009-07-14T13:53:00.013-06:00

I'm sorry we have been so behind on posting pics and videos. So that being said, hope you are ready to view a lot of them. :-) These are some pics and videos taken over the last couple of months. Enjoy!!

Our mornings on the couch

Such a big girl going down the slide by herself. She's a pro at it now.

Playing with some friends at the Children's Museum

Playing with the neighborhood kids...yes we are playing in the street :-)

Sitting on her potty...she's not quite mastered it yet but she's close

She likes the choo choo. This is at a local park and they have a little train you can ride for $1. It's her favorite thing to do now. This was her first time.

Later in the week we meet some friends and went riding on the choo choo again. :-)

My little sun beauty :-)

This are from the 4th. We are at our first parade.

With our friends from church.

More playing with friends. :-)

Cuddle time with daddy!!

Doesn't she look like a movie star!?!?

Hanging out with Cousin Alexis!

She loves playing in the water in her "poolsuit" as she calls it. :-)

Yummy watermelon!!!

Here we are at a local place where they have all these blow up play areas. We went one day with daddy. Here are Isabella and Daddy about to come down the big slide.

WEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

And here's daddy!!! :-)

Enjoying a snack together....

In our cow jerseys to get free Chick-Fil-A

Play time after breakfast at Chick-Fil-A

My sweet girl!!

And my not so sweet girl. :-) He was enjoying the rough house too. This is our friend Greg from church. :-) He is a couple months younger than Isabella.

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2009-07-14T10:20:00.000-06:00

Good morning smiles 7/14/09
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Pensacola trip

2009-06-14T18:06:00.000-06:00

Here's a Pensacola Beach sunset.

Mother's Day, random pics & fun videos...

2009-05-12T15:32:00.010-06:00

Eating breakfast on the couch watching Baby Einstein...

My little Carolina girl...

Easter

2009-04-15T21:05:00.004-06:00

Our good friends the Ferguson's are visiting us this week from Louisiana. They decided to come spend their spring break with us. We are having an awesome week so far. They were able to spend Easter with us and here a few pics of Saturday and Easter Sunday.

Dying Easter eggs. Isabella is just observing this year.

Brianna, Freddy, Sophia and Alexis are doing such a good job.

Easter morning watching an Easter video from Aunt Amy.

Beautiful girls ready for church. It was cold and rainy Easter morning so unfortunately we had to dress accordingly. This is Brianna and Sophia with Isabella.

Cousin Alexis with Mommy and Isabella

This is our Easter egg hunt indoors because of the yucky weather.

Having fun with friends....

2009-04-09T14:39:00.009-06:00

This past Sunday, our friend the Barnes' came to hang out with us. It was a cold snowy day so we stayed in playing Wii all day. :-) We had a lot of fun and Isabella was at rare form, as you will see in the attached videos. Hope you enjoy the pics and videos.

She was saying "cheese" when I took the pic. This face looks a little scary. :-)

This is one of her favorite things to do. She pulls her toys out of her box and climbs in.

Our all girl band & ready for swimsuit season...

2009-04-01T16:37:00.006-06:00

Alexis had a friend visiting for a few days and we borrowed our neighbors' Rock Band for the Wii game system on Monday of this week. As we were getting set up, Isabella grabbed the microphone and was ready to start her solo...

I recently got Isabella a swimsuit so we can join our mom's group for some indoor swimming. I tried it on and she started posing and prancing around. Too cute...

Kissy face...

The back view...

She likes to give out kisses more freely these days...

Spring Blizzard...

2009-04-01T16:00:00.007-06:00

On March 26th most of Denver got hit with a spring blizzard. Most of the areas got around 1 to 2 feet of snow and our little area of Highlands Ranch was not bypassed. Here are few pics and a video we took on Friday, the 27th when Ben and I got back from our little getaway. As you can see everyone seemed to enjoy the spring snow. :-)

Our little pink marshmellow before heading out...

Ben and Alexis having some snow ball fight fun with the other kids in the neighborhood and each other...I think there was snow put down pants, shirts....Too fun!!!

Isabella wanted to join in the fun...

Alexis' masterpiece...she said she wanted to represent Florida by building a snow(woman) with a bikini. It lasted a couple of days before melting away.

Our 15th Year Wedding Anniversary...

2009-04-01T15:40:00.003-06:00

I know most of our posts are about Isabella but thought I would post a few pics from our little anniversary getaway. Since our 19 y/o niece is living with us now, she graciously agreed to watch Isabella for a couple nights so we could celebrate our 15th year. It was the first time mommy was going to be away from Isabella and was a little anxious at first. But once we got away and on our own, it was so nice. We left on Wednesday, March 25 and drove about 2 hours into the mountains to Estes Park. We stayed 2 nights at the Stanley Hotel. We definitely missed our little girl but we also enjoyed the non-responsibility and no schedule for a couple days. Here are some pics.

Our first night there. As you can see no snow....

This is what we woke up to Thursday morning (our actual anniversary). Denver was hit with a spring blizzard on the 26th and 27th of March. Here we are driving through the Rocky Mountain National Forest.

Here are some elk huddled together trying to stay warm.

We decided to go for a hike on one of the trails. We should have rented snowshoes but were able to make it in hiking boots. It was absolutely beautiful!

Here are some elk laying beside the road by our hotel.

Our hotel.

The evening of our anniversary. We found this really neat place on the main strip in Estes called Wine & Cheese. We actually came here Wednesday and Thursday night. The atmosphere was awesome. We will definitely go back.

Around the house and out and about....

2009-03-22T13:42:00.003-06:00

Starting early.... :-)

I love my cousin Alexis....

Visiting Family in NC...

2009-03-22T13:09:00.004-06:00

On February 25th, Isabella and I went to NC for a week to visit family and for me to have some sister time. It was well overdue and thanks to Aunt Amy, we were able to make an unexpected trip. Unfortunately, Ben couldn't join us this trip. We enjoyed our time but missed him terribly!! Here are few pics from our trip with family and friends.

Hanging out with Aunt Amy

With Miss Riley (we had fun with them that day)

With the Reece-man (he obliged us with a picture :-)

Just the start of something big (maybe) :-)

She wasn't too thrilled the first time she got in the Jeep with them....

But then I couldn't get her out :-)

Cheesing...I'm glad I got a pic of her in this chair because I know there are pics of me in this chair

Playing with Aunt Abby

After pigtails hair....

With Cousin Sarah at Uncle Phillip's birthday party

With Cousin Matt (Unc Matt :-)

Enjoying time with Aunt Hannah

Pigtails, new tricycle and I love Daddy....

2009-02-24T10:44:00.007-07:00

Daddy thought Isabella's hair was long enough for pigtails so we tried it. She looked so cute...

Our neighbors down the street gave Isabella this tricycle that they had outgrown. She's still a little small for it but that didn't stop her. Check out the videos of her and daddy riding. ;-)

Isabella sure loves her daddy!

Isabella's Photo Shoot

2009-02-21T10:58:00.005-07:00

Here is a link to view some pics of Isabella on Shutterfly.com. There are too many too choose from to put my favorites on the blog.

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=4552c31ad4950c9f&sid=0AcMWbNm0aNWTjg

A friend of ours from church is getting into a photograpy business and used Isabella as a model for her portfolio and we get to enjoy the pictures. There are a lot to look at but hope you enjoy them.

Our Happy Girl....

2009-02-20T15:51:00.008-07:00

Here are some pics and a couple of videos of our fun little one. Enjoy!!

Just another day around the house...

This is before bedtime the other night. She loves laying on her teddy bears.

I have to point out the 2 bears on the right (as you are looking at the picture); the white one is made from my mom's wedding dress and the blue one is made of clothes from my dad. My sister, Amy had these made for Isabella and I for her 1st birthday. So that is her Grandma Zarra and Grandpa Rusty bears.

These next three videos were taken the same night as the ones with her playing with her bears. She was in rare form this night. :-) Enjoy!!!

She wanted to try on Daddy's KC Trail Nerds skull cap. It's a little big. :-)

These two pics are of Isabella's first tea party. We went to a play date this past Monday and it was a tea party theme. She had a lot of fun!!

Around the house and skiing...

2009-02-08T15:10:00.009-07:00

This was our first full week with our niece Alexis living with us. It has been great and we feel like she has settled in fairly well. She has set up her bedroom in our basement and it looks nice and cozy.

These first few pics are from dinner the other night. We were eating stew beef and rice and Isabella seemed to be enjoying the rice a little too much. :-)

Yesterday, we went to Keystone so Alexis could go skiing. Ben, Isabella and I just enjoyed being outdoors and tried to get a glimpse of her skiing. The weather was nice yesterday and not too cold. Here are a few pics of our little girl enjoying the snow and being outside.

Our little snow bunny with daddy!

Ben wanted to get closer to see Alexis and get some pics and of course Isabella wanted to go with him. He let her walk around in the snow and she loved it. It was pretty funny watching them as I was a little ways away and she looked so tiny out there.

Here we are having a late lunch while waiting for Alexis.

Here is our snow bunny! She said she had a great time. She will definitely get to do it more now that she's here with us. :-)

This was on the way home. She was pooped.

I couldn't resist taking a pic of her little toes. She had pulled her socks off before falling asleep. I just wanted to eat them . ;-)

Here are a couple of fun videos. The first one is of her enjoying breakfast and the second one is of bath time. Enjoy!!

While Ben was away...

2009-02-08T13:53:00.004-07:00

First of all, I apologize for not posting anything sooner. We have had a crazy couple of weeks.

Ben had to go out of town for work from 1/26 until 1/29. So Isabella and I kept busy that week. Mainly for mommy's sanity. :-) Here she is on Monday with her friends Ava and Marin. Their mom, Megan and I are good friends and we went over for a play date the Monday that Ben left. We stayed busy the rest of the week and had a really good week while Ben was gone. We both missed him terribly but we survived.

On Friday of that week, Ben was on his way to Las Vegas to pick up our new roommate, our niece Alexis. So Isabella and I went to small group (with our church) without him. Here are few pics of Isabella and the other children. We really enjoy our small group and it's pretty neat that all the children are around the same age. They are all just a few months apart from each other. Isabella is the oldest.

Isabella with a mouth full of cookies.

Cutie pie!!!

Her playmates, Liam, Greg and Sylvia.

Here is a video I took of her playing. It's pretty funny to see the static in her hair...

Enjoying our little girl...

2009-01-24T11:07:00.005-07:00

Here a few pics and a video taken this week. The first couple of pics was when she wasn't feeling too well but she still managed to give me a smile in one of them. The other pics and video are of her enjoying some yogurt.

Some fun pics and visiting family...

2009-01-12T20:39:00.007-07:00

After nap hair...

Family self portrait after nap :-)

On Wednesday, the 7th we headed down to Pensacola for a quick, unexpected visit. A friend of ours was retiring from the Navy and we were able to get crazy cheap tickets so we couldn't pass it up. In this pic, Isabella is playing with her cousin Lindsay.

Hanging out with daddy while he was cooking steaks at Mimi's

Isabella digging into daddy's cake with Gigi looking on...

She really enjoyed Mimi's red velvet cake :-)

Playing the piano with Mimi

Here are few videos from our trip to Pensacola playing with cousins. The first video doesn't have any picture. I was just trying to capture some Isabella talk. :-) Enjoy

Christmas Day!!

2008-12-29T16:56:00.008-07:00

Present from Aunt Amy and Aunt Hannah and Uncle Brandon

Winston got a new toy from Aunt Amy too!

Christmas evening we hosted a dinner with our neighbors and friends from church. We all chipped in with the food and had a major feast. It was a lot of fun and so nice to spend Christmas with "family" away from family".

Here are couple of videos from Christmas morning...

Our silly girl....

2008-12-29T16:34:00.005-07:00

Here are some fun pics and videos of our little comedian. She definitely keeps us laughing.

Here she is with her very own bowl of mashed potatoes. As you can see she enjoyed them.

These are some silly ones I got of her one day after changing her diaper. She scooted up so fast I didn't have a chance to zip her back up and she was off.

Meeting Family ....

2008-12-29T15:32:00.007-07:00

The Friday before Christmas we had some visitors. Allison's cousin Jonny and his wife Chelsea were in town from Australia. It was our first time meeting Chelsea and it had been a while since we had seen Jonny. We had such a nice visit and were able to spend a lot of time with them. Here are some pics from the visit and a short little video.

growing so fast

2008-12-16T14:29:00.006-07:00

Here's Isabella playing with her Lego set. Right before we turned the camera on her, she was talking like crazy. Once the camera came on, she clammed up. She starts jabbering a little toward the end of this clip.

Sorry this video is so dark. You should still be able to make out where she's walking a little now. Each day, she's taking more steps on her own. Obviously mommy and daddy are having fun with her.

One day, she discovered that she enjoys helping mommy in the kitchen.

Over at a friend's house, she discovered a new toy. This was an inflatable bus that she really enjoyed.

Against my better judgment, we introduced her to Santa Claus at a Christmas party we went to on Saturday. She wasn't too thrilled.

And finally, she loves Winston!

Thanksgiving and Snow Fun!!

2008-12-01T20:52:00.008-07:00

We hope everyone had a very nice Thanksgiving. We sure missed being with family but our Colorado family welcomed us with open arms. Our neighbors, the Patel's invited to their house for dinner Thanksgiving evening. We had a very nice time and Charlotte outdid herself as always. I've posted a few pics of after dinner. We had to work it off somehow. :-)

On our way to Thanksgiving dinner

Here is Nicolas & Selena playing a little Wii; Xander is waiting his turn.

Isabella having some fun with Nick

Just chilling....

Friday and yesterday, Sunday, we got a lot of snow. We wanted to see what Isabella thought of the snow. I've attached a few pics and a video. The snow suit was given to us and this is the first time she has worn it. She looks like the little boy from The Christmas Story. :-) Enjoy!!

Enjoying the nice weather...

2008-11-26T17:14:00.005-07:00

We have been enjoying some really nice weather this past week. We are trying to enjoy as much as we can before going into hibernation for winter.

This past Saturday, Isabella and Daddy went for a little ride. Our friends and neighbors, the Patels loaned us their bicycle trailer. She looks ready to go. Safety first!!

They're off.....

This was a Sunday ride we did with Lee, Monique and Connor Barnes. It was a little colder but she was nice and toasty.

Today (Wednesday), we went to the park.

No humidity plus plastic slide equals static charged hair

She wanted to do it herself....

Wheeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She likes swinging with Mommy!!

12 month checkup...

2008-11-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday, we took Isabella to her 12 month checkup. Her doctor said she is doing great and growing like she should. She is still low on the weight side but her doctor was not concerned and said it was normal as she is more active at this age. She weighed in at 17 lbs 9 ozs and her height is 28 3/4". The only down side about yesterday is she had to get 4 shots. I sure hate when she gets those. :-(

I have attached a few pics that I took this morning. Our friends, Lee, Monique and Connor Barnes gave her this Lego set and table. Connor said she could have it as he doesn't play with it that much anymore. Lee & Monique said they got it for Connor when he turned 1 and he loved it. As you can see from the pics, so does she!! Thanks again to the Barnes' for letting us have this.

Videos of birthday....

2008-11-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

Day of Birthday - 11/12/07

Playing with present from Aunt Dea & Uncle Phil

More playing with present from Aunt Dea & Uncle Phil

Going down the stairs and crawling to the basement to play with the other kids

Singing Happy Birthday and eating first cupcake at party on Saturday

Enjoying first cupcake...

More of eating cupcake...

1st Birthday Party....

2008-11-17T10:38:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Isabella's birthday on Saturday, 11/15/07. We were able to celebrate with some new and old friends and Aunt Amy and Aunt Hannah. It was really special to have them all here to celebrate her 1st birthday. We did miss having family here but it was nice having our "new family" from Colorado here.

I did cupcakes instead of a cake.

Her spread before everyone got there.

Enjoying her first cupcake.

She wouldn't share. :-)

Present time. The tutu she is wearing was a present from one of our neighbors that makes them. She was so cute crawling around in it. :-)

More presents. Yeah!!!

Thanks again to all of you that were able to be with us to celebrate her 1st birthday. It really meant a lot to Ben and I.

Family time and some pics with presents....

2008-11-17T10:31:00.001-07:00

Aunt Dea and Uncle Phil sent some money for Isabella's birthday present. Aunt Amy and I picked this out and she just loved it. Thanks Aunt Dea and Uncle Phil!!!

Cousin Sarah sent this cool blocks set. However, I think she liked the wrapping it came in just a little better. :-) Thanks Cousin Sarah!!

Aunt Amy and Aunt Hannah came to celebrate Isabella's birthday and have some fun time. Here is Aunt Amy playing Mario Cart on the Wii system (Our early Christmas present to each other).

Here is Aunt Hannah and Ben playing one of the sports games on Wii. Not sure if it's Baseball or Tennis. They had a lot of fun.

Thanks Aunt Amy and Aunt Hannah for coming to celebrate Isabella's birthday and to spend time together. We missed you Uncle Brandon. :-)

Day of Birthday - 11/12/07

2008-11-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

1st Birthday Princess Shirt.

Her first ice cream cake.

Aunt Amy had just gotten in from the airport and was able to celebrate part of her actual birthday with us.

Eating her first ice cream cake. We decided not to let her dig into this one.

Our small group from church were able to celebrate with us as well. Here are the little ones playing after dinner and ice cream cake.

Some fun videos....

2008-11-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

Here a few videos we recently took. The first one is a little dark but hopefully you can make out her standing up. She loves doing this over and over. The second video is of her playing with her first birthday present from her Auntie Adella. The other two are of bath time. She really enjoys her bath time. :-)

Just some pics....

2008-11-09T09:50:00.001-07:00

Here are few pics taken over the last week. Enjoy!!

Having a snack before church...

My first birthday present a little earlier. Can't believe she will be a year on Wednesday. This is from her Auntie Adella. She said it was okay to go ahead and put it together. :-)

Helping mommy....

Yeah, what fun....

Taken this morning. Just love that hair!!! :-)

Halloween pics

2008-11-01T12:23:00.001-06:00

Look at me! I'm a monster from the deep checking out the pumpkin patch.

Baby octopus in the hay maze. This cool costume was a fun gift from cousins Jeremiah and Genetta.

Check out my cool Halloween slippers! Thanks Aunt Ruth!

And finally, a happy family photo in the airport coffee shop.

helping mommy

2008-10-26T14:20:00.000-06:00

Pics from Florida....

2008-10-22T21:06:00.001-06:00

Well, I think we are finally starting to recuperate from our trip to Florida. We were there from 10/5 until 10/18. We had a great time visiting friends in Orlando the first week and really enjoyed spending time with family the second week. Isabella was such a trooper and adjusted so well. Here are few pics from our trip.

In Orlando:

With her new friend Ansley Barnes

Good friends, Mandy, Meigan & Diego Rivera. We were at Outback celebrating Meigan's birthday!

Here we are with the Barnes & Rivera's at Outback

With our good friends Dan & Carol Warner

Isabella even met a new friend at the hotel during our week in Orlando. This is Giovanna. She is 10 days older than Isabella. We had breakfast with her and her mom several days at the hotel.

Bath time with some new pals. These belong to my friend Seliena. She was my old boss when we used to work together. :-)

Here is Isabella with Seliena's youngest, Colby. He is 6 months old.

Here we are with my good friends Seliena and Lisa, former co-workers. We all had lunch together on Friday the 10th before heading to Pensacola for a week.

In Pensacola:

Having lunch with Cousins Jonathan & Alexis and Granddaddy Reeves and Cathy.

Giving Gigi big smiles!

Loving on Gigi!

Giving Mimi sweet hugs as well!

With Aunt Ruth and Cousin Lindsay

Swinging with Cousin Alexis

In Daddy's old rocking chair with Cousin Lindsay

"He's down"! Having a little fun with Cousin Jonathan.

Just hanging with the cousins. :-) Isabella really enjoyed being with Jonathan and Lindsay for a week. They seemed to enjoy playing with her as well.

With Aunt Carol and Cousins, Gideon, Noah, Jonathan and Lindsay

Isabella's first time at the beach. She was really fascinated with the sand. I couldn't get her to look up at me when I was taking her picture.

First Tooth...

2008-10-03T21:12:00.001-06:00

Well, Isabella's first tooth has finally decided to make an appearance. It has been trying to poke it's little white head up for about a month now. Hope you enjoy the pics that she so graciously let me take of her little mouth. :-)

You can't see her tooth in these last 2 pics but she was giving me such a great smile, I just had to add them.

Just wanted to let you all know it may be a couple of weeks until the next post. We will be heading to Florida on Sunday for two weeks. Ben has to go to Orlando for work and Isabella and I are going to join him. We will be staying with him in Orlando for the first week and showing off Isabella to all our old friends there. The second week, Isabella and I will be in Pensacola spending time with Ben's family. We are really looking forward to going to Florida and seeing friends and family. We will have tons of pictures to post when we get back.

Our Fall colors...

2008-09-28T21:17:00.000-06:00

We went on the most beautiful drive today. The aspens up in higher elevations are at peak right now so we decided to go check them out. We meet up with our friends Lee, Monique and Connor Barnes and drove on one of the oldest Scenic Byways just outside of Denver. It is called the Peak to Peak Byway and was established in 1918. It was absolutely gorgeous and the pictures just do not do the colors justice but we wanted to share anyway. We stopped in one of the little towns off the byway and had lunch and then went for a little hike. Hope you enjoy the pictures. You will all definitely have to make a trip out here one September to see them for yourself.

Our first play group...

2008-09-24T10:35:00.000-06:00

So now that Isabella is 10 months old, I figured it was about time for us to get out and meet some other moms for me and children for her to play with. There are so many to choose from here in Highlands Ranch that I had a hard time picking. I went on a "groups" website and found 2 that I thought would be great. We meet with the first one on Monday and we both really enjoyed ourselves. We went to a place called "Little Monkey Bizness". It is all indoors and they had a little area closed off for children 2 years and under. Here are some pics of Isabella enjoying herself.

She climbed in here all by herself. Also, this little boy thought she was just the cutest and actually gave her a kiss. I didn't think Daddy would be very happy about her getting her first kiss already. :-) He was sharing his football with her. :-)

On Tuesday, we meet with another group and we really enjoyed them as well. So now we have a ton of things to choose from to get us both out of the house and for both of us to make some new friends. We will probably host a few play groups here at the house as well. Ben has already said he will go into the office on those days. :-)

I also had to add this last picture that I took this morning. Isabella has been fighting naps these days and usually I have to bounce her on our stability ball to get her to fall asleep and then I can lay her in her crib. Well, this morning she not only didn't feel good from teething but really fought the morning nap. So we played and took a warm bath to calm her down. While she was eating her breakfast, she just couldn't keep her eyes open any longer...

Visit from fellow KC Trail Nerds...

2008-09-20T20:45:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, our good friends Ben (Bad Ben) and Vicky Holmes from Kansas paid us a visit. We had a very nice time with them and they got to meet and spend some time with Isabella. Here a few pics from their trip.

Early morning pic of the family. :-)

This is one of our favorite breakfast places in the mountains. We are waiting for a table. Anyone who comes to visit will probably go there with us. :-)

Here we are after breakfast!!

Thanks Ben and Vicky for coming to visit. :-)

Our little climber...

2008-09-16T10:41:00.000-06:00

We took this yesterday. Enjoy!!!

Yes, I did say November 15th but meant September 15th. :-)

Our Big Girl...

2008-09-08T10:37:00.000-06:00

Here are few videos for you to enjoy of our growing girl. As you can see she has definitely changed. All of these were taken just over the last couple of weeks. I can't believe she will be 10 months on Friday. Enjoy!

Visit from Aunt Amy...

2008-08-26T20:23:00.000-06:00

We recently had a short but very nice visit with my sister Amy!! She came in on Thursday and left today. Here are a few pics from her visit.

This is at the Keystone Jazz & Wine Festival on Saturday. We kept having to find shelter due to rain coming and going throughout the afternoon.

On Sunday we took a little hike at the trails close to our house.

Here's Isabella in her favorite carrier for hikes. She really was happy. :-)

We couldn't resist trying on this Halloween outfit of a flower at the mall last night. We were there to celebrate our birthday at the Cheesecake Factory and had some time to stroll the mall. Isabella was a good sport. :-)

Some sweet pics with Aunt Amy!!

Another special visitor....

2008-08-17T22:06:00.000-06:00

Today, we had a very special visit from Ms. Judy Barnes. Judy is the mother of our friend Lee who lives here in CO with his family, Monique and Connor. As you know from our previous posts, we hang out with them a lot. :-) We enjoyed a nice afternoon with them and also had a pre-birthday celebration for Connor while his Granny was in town. Isabella really took to Judy as you can see by the pics.

Here is a fun one with Connor and Isabella!! Connor was excited for his Granny to meet Isabella.

Isabella had just woken up from a nap here with Monique.

Friends from NC...

2008-08-17T21:36:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday our friends, the Butler's (Sean, Kelly, Riley & Reece), from NC flew in for a week. We had such a great time with them. We tried to show them as much as possible in the 7 days they were here. One day we drove through Rocky Mountain National Forest and stopped in Estes Park on the way home. Another day, we went to the Nature & Science Museum. The day we took Isabella to her 9 month check up they went exploring on their own to one of our favorite places, Deer Creek Canyon. Here they are on the hike.

On Thursday, Ben and Sean went to Georgetown to climb a 14,000 foot mountain, Mt. Bierstadt. They actually ended up doing 2 mountains that were connected together. To find out more about their hike, check out Ben's blog. Kelly and the kids and I all went to Georgetown as well to explore. We took a train called the Georgetown Loop and explored an old silver mine. We had a lot of fun.

We decided to sit in an open car as the weather looked like it was going to cooperate. It was a little chilly on Thursday and even a little more chilly at the higher altitude. However, once we started going, the rain decided to come along with some hail. Here I am trying to cover up Isabella as best I could.

They eventually stopped the train so we could all get in an enclosed car to get out of the rain. Here she is all snug and ready for a nap as we are on our way to tour the silver mine.

Here are Reece and Riley all ready for the tour in their hard hats. Unfortunately, the hats were a little big and Reece's kept falling off.

Isabella slept through most of the tour; however, she woke up at the end of the tour just in time to get her picture taken. :-)

The weather was much nicer after the tour so we were able to enjoy the open car again.

This is the historic city of Georgetown. We walked up and down the little main street while we waited for Ben and Sean to finish up their hike.

By the end of the week, these three were stuck together like glue.

Our 9 month old....

2008-08-17T21:23:00.001-06:00

My how time is just flying by. In just 3 months, Isabella will be a toddler. It still baffles us how much she changes each and every day. She is not crawling yet but she has started getting up on her knees and trying to scoot. She still rolls everywhere she wants to go and pushes off with her feet on her stomach to scoot some. She is very strong and wants to stand up all the time. She can hold onto the couch briefly but does really well when held in the standing position. She is eating very well now. Still has milk 3 times a day and is now eating more solids, 3 times a day with some snacks. She loves trying new foods as well. On her 9 month birthday (Tuesday, 8/12), we got a couple of pics of her sucking on a pickle, her new favorite food.

On Wednesday, she went in for her 9 month checkup and again came out with flying colors. She is still really petite on the height and weight. She only had to get one shot this time and cried very briefly after the prick. Unfortunately, she also had to get a prick in her little finger to test her blood to make sure she is getting enough iron, which she is. Here are her current measurements.

Height - 26 5/8" (20th percentile)
Weight - 16.9 lbs (12th percentile)
Head Circumference - 18" (90th percentile) - so that brain is just a growing. :-)

The doctor said she is doing great and growing like she should. So he said we must be doing something right. :-)

I just had to add this pic as well to show our sleeping beauty.

Play time....

2008-08-05T14:47:00.000-06:00

We were enjoying some play time last night and took some cute pics. Hope you enjoy them...

Enjoying the great outdoors...

2008-08-01T21:03:00.000-06:00

I'm a little past due in posting this but I do have my hands busy with a 8 1/2 month old. :-) Last Saturday we went and checked out Lee & Monique's campground just outside of Georgetown and then went for a short little hike near Mt. Bierstadt. Here are a few pics. (BTW, if you look at Ben's blog, you've probably seen these. :-)

Isabella checking out Connor.

I'm trying to show Connor how to roast marshmallows. He had never done that before.

My big strong lumberjack.

Our happy girl. She just loves being outside and she does so well in the backpack. As you can see, she is wearing Daddy's t-shirt. It was actually quite chilly and we had come ill prepared. Doesn't she look like a "Whosville" with that hair. :-) Daddy has dubbed her "Miss Crazy Hair".

Our happy family.

Our great friends, Lee, Monique & Connor

Ben and Allison's night out....

2008-07-23T20:59:00.000-06:00

I know this is Isabella's blog but we have to brag about our night out. Ben and I joined our friends Lee and Monique last night to a concert to see the Police. Yes, that is right we got to see Sting. :-) The concert was also in one of the most amazing places ever, the Red Rocks Amphitheater. Our neighbors were able to watch Isabella (which she did great) and we were able to enjoy a night out. Enjoy the pics.