Where have the past 8 months gone?

Looking back 8 months and a day ago today, I was milling around the house after walking with my friend Caryn wondering if this was going to be the day? The doctor told me that he should see me in the hospital that week and boom, sure enough, Isabelle arrived at 12:35 in the morning, 8 months ago today.

Our once helpless little girl is now crawling (army and on all fours as of this past Monday), pulling herself up on EVERYTHING, squawking/aka: talking, into EVERYTHING, playing with toys and figuring out cause and effect, knowing her "ah's" and "eh's" mean "hi, I am here" and knowing it gets our attention, clapping and so much more! And to think, there are more milestones still yet to be reached!

By the way, can you tell that Michael was with her today? Love the hair and outfit! LOL! I love you honey...you are a wonderful Dad and husband, always making us laugh and smile :)

Happy Turkey Day!

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, relaxing, food coma Thanksgiving holiday!
We are spending it at Grandmama and Grandpa Ilich's house with Nana, Tia Tara and our friends Mikee and Kristen who we have "adopted" for the holiday :) Who knows, we may even get brave enough to hit a few stores on Black Friday...wait, for a second there I forgot that I am married to Michael, the most impatient shopper around! Who are we kidding?! I may have to brave the mall by myself or drag a friend or two along....any takers? :)
Safe travels to all!

Orlando and The Cold

Last weekend we had yet another travel conference/trade show in Florida but this time it was in Orlando, the home of you know who...Mickey Mouse!

Grandmama, Isabelle and I flew out Friday morning (leaving at the crack of dawn so we wouldn't get stuck in the nasty LA traffic and miss our flight). Thinking that we had a little time, with pre-boarding and everything, we stopped at the Crown Room to feed Isabelle and ourselves and although it was there, Mom and I resisted the temptation of a mimosa or two before the flight-LOL! However when we go to the gate we found out that Delta does not pre-board any more! What kind of "you know what" is that, we thought!?!? So that posed a bit of a problem since we did not check in any luggage and had 2 small roller suitcases, the stroller plus the infant carrier, a computer bag, Grandmama's carry on and a diaper bag...a strategy had to immediately be put in the making. With the diaper bag on (its a backpack, thank goodness), my computer bag slung over one shoulder while pushing Isabelle in the stroller/infant seat and Grandmama pulling both suitcases along with her carry on, we got to the bottom of the jet way. As quick as a wink, Grandmama grabbed the infant seat, her carry on and Isabelle while I collapsed the stroller (which is haphazardly thrown in the belly of the plane-GRRR) and with my other two bags in tow, grabbed the two suitcases and as carefully as we could, headed down the aisle of the plane to our seats. Now Grandmama was smart, she bought a row of three seats in coach and we plopped Isabelle down in her carrier right between the two of us. After we finally got all settled in, the flight was a breeze! At least when we go to Michigan for Christmas, we will have to check in our luggage!!

The conference was at Disney's Contemporary Hotel which was VERY contmeporary. Lots of clean lines and bold colors and completly unuseful bathroom sinks. You may wonder why I would say this well, if you try bathing a 15lb little one in a huge, flat, square sink that has a 3" lip all around so it cannot be filled, you would agree that it was completely unuseful...as well as what your spit does or doesnt do after brushing your teeth, YUCK! I am sure you get my point. While Grandpa Ilich/Dad/the Boss :) and I were schmoozing, Grandmama and Isabelle spent most of their late mornings/early afternoons out by the pool chasing down ducks until we called. On Saturday night we had no plans with the conference so we decided to visit one of the parks (since we did have free hopper passes). We chose Epcot Center and thought we should save Walt Disney World to share with Papa since he LOVES Mickey. We had a great time strolling through China and Norway, eating dinner at a cafe in St. Marc's Square and ending the evening with buying Isabelle an ornament at the gift shop. My camera was on the fritz so we didn't get any pics at Epcot :( But it has been decided that for Isabelle's fifth birthday, Walt Disney World is where we are heading. Now for the cold...our little one caught her first cold and is still somewhat fighting it off. She was a little congested in Florida but on the plane ride home (which we mastered the boarding and unboarding like pros) she was sniffling and then came a nasty cough. With the recalls of the children's cold medicines, we did not want to take our chances on giving her anything so Michael got an appt on Tuesday, the day we returned, with Isabelle's pediatrician. And let me tell you, he wasn't that helpful. He told us again, that she is underweight for her size and age and needs to "fatten up" and that her cold just has to run its course and go away on its own. That night we got a humidifier (thanks Grandmama and Grandpa Ilich) and some Baby Vicks and let it "run its course" however, for the past 4 mornings, I have woken up to our little one coughing up a storm ! It usually subsides and is gone midway through her day but it is so annoying for her to still have it. If this cough of hers is not gone by this weekend, back to the doctor's we go. Do you hear that, GERMS!!! We are coming to get you if you don't leave on your own. Lets see if that works :)

Are you kidding me?

First of all we have to send out a belated congratulations to Isabelle's godparents, April and Jason Price, on the arrival of their daughters Jasmine Aston and Roxanne Amelia. They were born last Wednesday, November 7 at 10:50pm. Jazzy weighed in at (sounds Ike a boxer-hehe) 4 lbs. 12 oz and 17" long and Roxy at 5 lbs. 6 oz. and 18" long. Everyone is home now and doing great :) So now for the "are you kidding me" part of this blog entry. As we have mentioned before, Isabelle truly loves to stand more than anything in the world. If you give her your fingers, she will pull herself up to stand. If you start to walk with her holding your fingers, she marches along right with you. Well, this morning Michael put Isabelle in her crib while he went to shower and low and behold when he got out and went in the nursery to check on her, there she was...standing holding onto the crib rail with one hand and batting at her mobile with the other! He asked her what she was doing and proudly, Isabelle responded with a "Uh!" and smiled from ear to ear. Micheal called me at work right after that and all I could say was..."are you kidding me?" I guess its time to move the crib down a notch!

Since Isabelle has been able to crawl (she is army crawling still but with her chest up more and faster than the speed of light!) she has kept to the carpet in the living room. The other week, she had decided that when I was working on the computer in the guest room (which door is adjacent to the living room) to pay me a visit. All I heard was a little laugh and there she was, scooting her way into the room I was in, smiling the entire way. We laughed and were okay with this since she was still on the carpet and we kept things that she shouldn't have out of reach and outlets covers all around. Like we said, we were okay with this...until today. Today little Miss Nosey has decided to venture off to hardwood floor land, as Michael would say, "her own little hockey rink" :), BUT on that adventure, she found Bear's food and water bowls and decided to investigate by knocking over the water bowl and taking handfuls of dog food out of her food bowl. Thank goodness I was at work (hehe). It looks like we are going to have to make a run to Babies R Us this weekend for some baby gate purchases, since now she is not afraid of going on the hardwood floor and is pulling herself up on everything.

Look out world, here she comes...whether you are ready or not!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations to our friends Tony, Laura and Nathan Tooma!! They are pregnant once again and due next July. Who knows, Nathan and the new little one may share the same birthday! We love you guys!

Oh, Noisy One

Well this should come as no surprise to you guys but our little Isabelle is becoming more and more vocal day with each passing day. She has sounds with constants like "ga", "da", "ca" and "ba" but, she has not put a animate or inanimate object to a sound. She is quite the little babbler though and we love every minute of it...for now :)

Isabelle has completely fallen in love with Bear and Sam (my parent's dog). When either of us are holding her, even if its first thing in the morning, and we ask her "where is your dog?", she looks down and all around for Bear and when she sees her, she smiles and usually lets out a "uh".

Her newest "antic" is what we like to call squishy face. She will start laughing or just smiling at you and scrunch up her nose and make little noisy blasts of air come out of her nose as her little lips scrunch up and show off her two bottom teeth. Its hilarious! She does this at least 5-6 times a day and we think she knows it makes us laugh :)

Another "trick" we are seeing if she get is when we say "I am soooo big" as she throws both of her hands up in the air. She usually starts to laugh and most of the time will throw her hands in the air again. Is it luck? We like to think not :) hehe!

We are also working on waving "hi" and "bye". Every time we see someone, we take one of her hands and wave at that person saying "hi" or "bye". And every once in awhile she does without our help. We like to think we are getting a wave on command but again, we think its just luck :) But, we will keep on trying. As they say, if there is a will, there is a way!