Isabella is 15 months old and officially walking + we had MORE snow and ice!

She's been on the verge of walking for over a month, but this past week - she's given up crawling 99% of the time and travels primarily on 2 feet now.  She has even been spotted RUNNING from Mercer for the first time too!  Won't be the last, I'm sure~

Isabella was 15 months old on the 13th.  Here are some photos of her with the little doll that Mercer gave to Isabella on the day we brought her home.  She loves dolls... squeezes them and smiles.  (Same thing with little stuffed animals too.)

She seems to instinctively nurture and take care of them.  

But, she also likes Mercer's cars and bulldozer!  Hmmm.   Wonder if she'll be a girly-girl or a tom-boy?!

Here's a cute close-up shot of her eating a heart-shaped cookie that Mercer and I made during one of our many cooking adventures this past week.  









Isabella is going through a very clingy stage right now.  She wants to be held and because of that - it's hard to get her photo right now. Unfortunately there aren't the giant beaming smiles in this 15 month old series because of it.  

Here are some "professional" 15 month old shots of her.  There was a diaper picture of Mercer that I love where he's grabbing his toes.  I wanted to get a similar picture of Isabella, but I may have waited too late.  She's a bit older now than Mercer was when that shot was taken.  She would not do the cute "grabbing for her toes" shot that he did, so we dressed her up with some extra accessories:  an adorable knit hat and booties.  

(We won these accessories because of YOUR votes in an online contest that we participated in.  The one where Todd had photoshopped Mercer into a scene chasing a gazelle.  Remember that photo?  Thank you for your votes... these adorable diaper shots of Isabella are the voters "reward!")

The photo studio was also running a Valentine's Day special... so of course, we had to get some Valentine shots too while there.  This photo reminds me of a famous Einstein photo.  (No pressure, Isabella!)  

 Look.... 4 teeth.

Here is a clingy "I can't believe you dressed me up & are not going to hold me" shot!













Valentine's day came, but was overshadowed by the snow.  We were stuck inside for 4 MORE DAYS!  School was cancelled again and so was the kids' valentine's party.  (9 days missed so far this year.)  

Here are some shots of Mercer looking outside his window to the back yard. There's a difference here:  the ice and snow that's on the tree.  It was predicted that there would be major power outages because of the ice on the trees.  Happy to say that there weren't as many wide-spread power outages as predicted + we were spared an outage at our house.  whew!  He did a little bit of stuff outside, but this was a different kind of snow.  (Little ice pellets mostly with a layer of snow on top.)  Once it was possible to finally go outside to play, it started to melt.  We found some more kids + a new sledding hill that was still frozen enough to go down over and over again.  He got in a little bit of snow play in.  

Mostly, it was 4 days straight of indoor activities (including watching the Olympics, episodes of Jake & the Neverland Pirates, UNO card games, "climbing the walls," and fort-building.)

Mercer has graced us with at least 2 dozen pieces of paper valentine's cards.  He's also transforming other things like broken down cardboard boxes into artwork.  

















He has "crafted" more this past week than I think he's ever done in 2013. He and I also baked or cooked something together each day. 













He's even been taking some photos himself - including this up close shot of a jam-covered heart and his snake cookie.  

Many of our cooking adventures start out with "I have a good idea.  We should make... (insert baked good here)"  He pulls a recipe + photograph out of one of his kid's magazines.  He's been using a head lamp to read at night and this is when he finds the next day's activities.  

We also had time to work on a volunteer Science Fair project for his school.  We did an experiment on melting snow.  





















It's been a lot of work juggling Mercer, Isabella, and looking for a job.... but I really have enjoyed the artwork / cooking / experimenting with M.  

I'm glad I've had the opportunity to do so many of these things with him lately.



We celebrated Valentine's Day with Isabella's former daycare teacher. (She asked us to come... such a sweet lady & although it's only been a few weeks since Isabella's been there, Ms. Angela misses her dearly and just hugged on her the whole time we were there.  

She tried to get as many hugs from Mercer as she could too b/c she watched him for about a year when he was 3 months old to almost 1 1/2 years old.  Mercer played hard to get.  Ms. Angela is always commenting on how big he's grown.  

She also gave both kids candy and begged me to let Isabella try it;  she knows we don't give candy to Isabella & that we rarely let Mercer have any either.  So - here it is:  Isabella trying a few licks of a lollipop.  (She loved it by the way)

We celebrated Valentine's Day as a family on the 15th.  Todd made an elaborate dinner which was followed by fondue + fruit for dipping.  The kids enjoyed going through the cards that they received from their grandparents. Mercer and Isabella enjoyed her new hair clip!




























Mercer and his classmates will celebrate Valentine's day in a couple of weeks - at the end of February, so the celebration of love and caring will continue on for awhile longer~

May the season linger in your homes and hearts as well.  From our family to yours~