My Precious Cargo

We had an awesome visitor a couple weeks ago...my friend Katie came over to take the most charming pictures of my baby girl! I keep looking at all the pictures she took and I'm absolutely in love with my little Bug-A-Boo...not to mention Katie's photography talent. We are blessed to have such a wonderful little girl, a home to raise her in and incredible friends and family surrounding us!

Sitting in my Grandfathers antique suitcase playing peak-a-boo with Daddy!

Isabel sandwich

Are those dimples I see?

"Hey, what are you doing with that thing?"

The typical inquisitive look from Isabel

I think she takes after her fathers butt...

Isabel meets grass!

So Big!

And if I haven't given you enough...here is a link to the whole album of pictures that Katie took!

Good Morning

I'm far from a morning person, but this little angel makes my morning (assuming morning is after 6 am...preferably 7 am). She is so precious and smiley in the mornings. We usually find her cooing and playing in her crib in the mornings and the second she hears the door open we get the biggest smiles. I want to take the video camera with me one of these days...it's heartwarming!

Here are a couple of our morning photos

Six

Oh my goodness...I woke up and I have a six month old baby! I feel like it was just yesterday we brought her home from the hospital...I remember sitting in the backseat of the car with her and just crying with overwhelming happiness.

Isabel has changed so much over the past month. She reaches for everything...toys, plates, hair, noses, wine glasses, etc. She has a toy hanging on the bar of her car seat and she finally achieved pulling on the toy (repeatedly) to get it to make noise and vibrate. Outside of her car seat, she has really perfected the ability to sit up. She will sit up and play with toys or watch TV (don't judge me). If she can't reach a toy, she will roll to her tummy and try to scoot or roll to her destination. This month she even learned to turn her crib soother on all by herself. I was floored one morning when I checked the monitor and found the soother ON! In her jumperoo, she no longer requires the pillow to make her tall enough and she can "catch" the hanging toys! In the exersaucer, she can spin around and pick up all of her toys and put them in her mouth. In her world, she rates toys by how well they fit in her mouth. She spent the majority of this month working on her teeth (still)...but more news to come on that front soon.

At Isabel's six month check up, she weighed 15 lbs 7 oz (50%). She was 26 inches tall (55%)...and her head circumference was 16.5 inches (40%). Why do they measure the head circumference anyways? Overall she is growing just right! We had a couple of "sick days" this past month. Isabel got her first cold in February. Nothing bad, just a little congestion. I rushed out to Wal-Mart with a shopping list of recommendations from my mom friends. Isabel was feeling better in no time at all! A couple weeks later Miss Izzy had another rough couple of days. She woke up with a temperature 3 days straight...no stuffy nose, no cough...just a temp. So the doctor checked her out and said all was well and sent us home. The poor thing was so poopy and lethargic on her half birthday:(

As I look back at our pictures from this month, it's hard to pick just a couple to share. She is such a cutie pie. Lots of smiles...absolutely priceless! Her smile definitely resembles me as a baby. I'll have to find some baby pictures of myself to share how she finally resembles yours truly! Here is a link to all of the pictures from Isabel's sixth month!

Fun times in the bath tub!

Rolling all over the place with her cutie baby leggs!

This is my darling daughter captivated by the television...yes taking after her father. It's like "Yeah I can hear you, but I just can't take my eyes. off. of. the. tv."

I love this picture because it captures the expression that Isabel wears so frequently. She is always so serious and investigating everything and everyone!

My crazy little teether! This toy is awesome. I bought it one day in desperation mode while at Schnucks. At any store, I always wander down the baby aisle to check out inventory/prices and scan the toys. This star is chewy/rubbery, but it vibrates when she bites down on it. She loves it...and amazingly she got it to work right away all by herself.

I love all her expressions...so cute! And the big blue eyes...ahh.

Outtake number 403 for the six month photo. Notice the crinkled up paper...she really wanted to eat the sign!

The Greatest Invention

There are so many luxuries that children have these days that our parents didn't have when we were growing up. Ben was under the mindset that we didn't need to register for any baby stuff. Instead of a high chair, he thought we would just tie the baby to a chair with a scarf. Instead of baby toys, he thought we would just let the baby play with household accessories. Instead of a stroller, he would just carry the baby everywhere. HA (said like Harry Caray).

Since those days, he still won't admit that we need any of the fancy baby stuff we have at our house, but he does use it all the time. I have so many favorite or "must have" baby registry items...but the video baby monitor is HANDS DOWN the most incredible invention. I love watching our baby girl sleep (or not). It's the sweetest thing I have ever seen. What will they think of next?

Sleeping Beauty

Spring Fever

We have Spring Fever at our house! Isabel was such a little baby all through the winter that I never minded the miserable weather. We were blessed to be able to stay inside on all the nasty days. But now I am done with that phase! We want to go outside!

Isabel tends to have a "fussy" period in the afternoons, so this past weekend we took a quick stroll around the block. She seemed to love it...the fresh air totally calmed her down. Well, she loved it once the stroller started moving...the pictures don't look the most convincing. Come on summer...we can't wait!

"Hey Mom...Are you sure I have to wear this hat?"

"For real, put the camera down and push me down the street!"