Soap Pony

Isabel has had a vocabulary explosion lately. She is at the point where she is putting together multiple words and coming up with her own phrases. One of them being Soap Pony. What is Soap Pony you ask? My Little Pony Toothpaste...of course. Apparently it looks like soap and of course...the pony. It's so funny. We use Soap Pony with our Hello Kitty toothbrush. We are on a mission to motivate Isabel to allow us to brush her teeth. So far Soap Pony and Hello Kitty worked really well for a couple days, but the magic is wearing off. Let's hope I can find some other varieties of Soap Pony at the grocery store.


Here is a video during our Soap Pony craze...right before bath time. Ignore Ben as he talks on the phone while filming...

Here we go again!

Almost exactly two years ago we were planning the first addition to our family...and here we are with baby #2 in the works. We found out we were blessed with baby #2 just before Christmas...so Isabel and I made stockings to share the good news. Ben was shocked and excited. Both sets of our parents also had fun reactions to our "method" of sharing the news. We caught them all on tape. The funniest reaction we caught on tape was Ben telling Isabel she was going to be a big sister...and then she proceeded to hit herself on the head! I'll have to see if I can get Ben to shorten that video clip to share...too funny.

We had an ultrasound last week...I was officially 18 weeks and 6 days. The doctor burned all of our baby photos to a cd and tada...funky monkey #2:

The baby's face...you can see the skull and eye sockets really clearly...kind of alien-ish though! The cute little baby's profile.The baby stretching out "its" legs. No...we didn't find out the gender! It's a surprise!Trying to get its thumb into its mouth. The spine, butt and knees. Full body shot from the back.

Chop Chop

As you can see, Isabel was finally ready for her first haircut. Her hair was CRAZY...always in her face...party in front and party in back. So we attempted the first haircut with the girl that also cuts my hair. Lucky thing that she was so patient with me and Isabel...

Clearly the cape idea is not going over well!" Ewww, it tickles."

"You are going to pay for this...just wait."

"You are lucky you brought me a milk shake. I'm still not happy."

"What the heck did you do to me? "Oh...it's not that bad...I kind of like it. Now give me my shake back!"Complete day at the salon for the girls...Isabel even left with a ring pop...such fun! My grown up baby girl..."Oh wow, I can see the tv so clearly...my hair isn't in the way anymore!"

Go Birds

A couple weeks ago (yes, you read that correctly, we are definitely catching up) we went to an ISU basketball game with Grandma and Grandpa! Isabel had a great time and she was an awesome baby throughout the whole game! She took turns sitting on Grandma and Grandpa's lap and hearing all about the game. It was a little close to her bed time, so she was definitely tired, which probably worked to our advantage! Unfortunately Isabel wasn't the good luck charm that the Redbirds needed to win a conference game.

Go Redbirds

Grandpa is explaining the rules of the game...or kindly trying to explain what an idiot the ref is! What do you think?

Isabel and Grandma hoping for a W!

Loads of Celebrations

We had a full couple of weeks of celebrating Christmas. Luckily all of our travels were nearby and overall Isabel was a pleasant little peach!

Visiting Santa Claus at the Castillo's house. Yep, still not a fan.

"Who are you lady? You can bribe me with food, but I'm still not so sure!"

Our little reindeer.
Getting creative with "toys" at Oma's house.

"Giddy up Lady Bug"

Grandma, Isabel and Great Grandpa

Helping Meema put my ornament on her pretty tree.

The Funk Family 2010

Keeping Busy

Winter with a 15 month old is tricky. I'd love to take her out in the snow, but she just isn't quite ready for it so far. All of these pictures are from December, so this was only a start to how to keep busy inside the house.

We read books/pull them off the shelf one-by-one.

Say cheese!

We tried eating Oreos...and then styling her hair with Oreo crumbs.

We pretend it's warm!

We empty out cabinets and climb in them.

We find all sorts of uses for boxes! She has chairs for her table, but why would you use those when you have this cool box? Isabel loves her Little People house...ironically her favorite noise is the toilet flush. Who thinks of these toys?!

Sticky Fun

Remember the days when you used to get a sucker when going through the drive-thru at the bank? I remember the kids I babysat long ago being excited if they were going to the bank during errands that day! Don't know what I'm talking about? Well...let me tell you a little secret, the bank has a stash of suckers (and sometimes dog treats) for their drive-thru customers. So lately I pick one up for Isabel and stash it away for some kind of bribery. One sucker can usually get me at least half-way through grocery shopping! Just remember to be prepared with baby wipes.

Sucker experience #1

"Wait, what does the stick taste like?"

"Oh yes, this side definitely tastes better."

"And you call these things suckers huh? I'm going to remember this!"