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December was full of Christmas activities. However... one thing that did NOT happen was baking. This was unusual for our household, but working and grading papers consumed free time... sleep time... consumed a lot of time! But - it's all right. (It took me awhile to not fret over it / be OK with all that did NOT get done.) This is not the "season" in our lives to bake.
In looking back, we did some things that were nice / we did some things that were new / and did some things that were important.
Here is our Christmas card photo... It's hard to spot Isabella behind flailing arms and a fluffy dog.
And a really nice photo of Mercer with Santa (look at those front teeth coming in!):
Visiting Santa was "interesting" again because Isabella is still afraid of the big guy. We tried a couple of different angles to get a nice shot, but to no avail. He is really patient and sweet - trying to give her a candy cane to calm her down, but she grabbed it and escaped!
The nature center where I worked had a "reindeer day" event for kids complete with crafts, nature exhibits, and reindeer! This is their 4th year hosting this event, but our first time to go. It was kind of cool!
(Then, of course, there was time spent climbing on things at the nature center.)
Isabella's "school" Christmas party.... we don't give her candy at home, but when she got her hands on some there - immediately it went into her mouth. She did actually decorate with some, but.... she got a taste of candy -- and -- she likes it!
Mercer's school Christmas party was pretty low-key compared to Isabella's "decorating" and candy-fest. A class parent read a book and the kids ate cupcakes then posed for a class photo.
Mercer wanted a picture with his teacher too.
We had an addition to our elf family this year! "Lizzie" joined in the fun with "Fred." (I think his name keeps changing year after year?) What a surprise we found one morning... let's see if she comes back for a visit next year too.
A "random" shot... after a basketball game -- we went to a birthday party... then we were headed to a neighborhood Christmas party afterwards. At the birthday party, Mercer was painted up as a "Christmas tiger" instead of a regular tiger to keep with the Christmas theme of the later event. We did not get photos at the neighborhood party because we were quite busy chasing the children. We did go on a caroling horse-drawn cart ride through the neighborhood, though!
The next weekend, we rented a minivan and headed up the east coast this year. (Somehow we put 10 less miles on the van this year -- 1950 instead of 1960.) Isabella was really really unhappy one leg of the trip (which meant that we were too). But overall, when we were at each destination - some very nice memories were made. Our first stop: visiting family in North Carolina. We continued up to New Jersey. Then headed back through North Carolina on our way home.
Here are some photos from both destinations:
Mercer got to decorate a gingerbread house with grandma.
We visited (great) grandma and (great) grandpa a couple of times while in town. We also, visited with Eddie, Rhonda, and Michael (who was home from college) - but did not snag a picture of that. Working around nap-time prohibited us from going too far from mom's house.
Christmas Eve bowling and
Christmas Eve conversations with brothers:
9 of the 10 grandkids were in New Jersey:
Tara, Ryan, Zach, Meagan, Sam, Nathaniel, Marley, Mercer, and Isabella. (Rory Jr is working on a fishing boat off the coast of Florida and was not able to make it home.)
Mercer wrestled with all of the boy cousins at one point or another... wearing each of them out!
Isabella was doted on by the girl cousins, especially Marley who carried her around everywhere.
Here's a typical shot -- Isabella pointing and demanding to be carried. "This way" was a common command.
And here are some other shots of the family. Thankfully a few people grabbed the camera and snapped some candids.
And a cool panoramic shot Jimmy captured (click to enlarge~):
One interesting thing... on Christmas morning, Santa left a note for Mercer and Isabella with a photo of two large items that he left for them back in Georgia: a "personal-size" trampoline for Isabella and an orange bicycle for Mercer!
There was a gap felt in North Carolina as this was our first Christmas not goofing off with Aunt Sandra. There was also thoughts of Todd's dad, Bob, shared (as Jimmy donned Bob's reindeer shirt as we spent the second "last" Christmas in the Mountain Lakes home.
As already mentioned, there were parts of the 10-day trip that were tough travel-wise.... but overall we made a lot of nice memories AND we spread around a lot of 2-year old and 6-year old "joy."
(Looked up quickly the first ode to baby girl.... March 2013)
Sitting with Isabella today... I have so much to do, but had to pen these words to hang on to the beautiful feeling that's in my heart:
Baby girl is not so much of a baby anymore. No longer tiny and curled up in my arms.
Now, as she sleeps - her head resting over my heart - she stretches out. Her feet dangling over the side of the rocking chair.
Back and forth. Back and forth. Softly slumbering. Softly snoring.
Those long eyelashes are tightly closed now. Down for a nap. Naps won't last much longer. Rocking baby girl to sleep... softly slumbering... softly snoring. Hold on to these days.
They will not last much longer.
Rocking baby girl to sleep. I must get up to clean. The housework is calling. Ringing in my head. But rocking baby girl to sleep is tugging at my heart. Hold on to these days... just a minute longer.
The past month has been a complete whirlwind - hence no posts in the past month!
After Isabella turned 2, we turned her car seat around to facing front. It was no big deal.... Mercer was so excited (at 1) to turn around, but we got no reaction from her. A couple of things about Isabella: she is really talking up a storm. She says SO much. It's not always clear, but we can usually understand what she wants / needs to communicate.
She LOVES to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and it's about the cutest darn thing I've ever heard!!
She's potty training (may have mentioned this already). She stopped for awhile, but now, she's into it again. I have to write this because I was not fast enough with the camera. She likes to strip down naked to sit on her little potty (sometimes she'll still have socks on). But - one day - she was running around the house with a pirate's eye patch on and went potty naked + patch. It was one of those "I wish I would've caught this on film" kinds of moments... you know - the type of photo you submit to her high school year book. Oh well. Opportunity missed~
We spent this Thanksgiving at home. It was just the 4 of us, which we've never done before. But- that meant that we carved out the type of day that we wanted to have: go to the Gobble Jog in the morning, cheer on the joggers at the top of the street, put Isabella down for a nap, then move into making food. Admittedly, we bought some tasty Thanksgiving food prepared from Harrys, but still managed to make a few dishes. We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner.... and are thankful for our two (not always perfect, but very loving) kids! Very thankful!
The next morning, we packed up leftovers, hiking gear, baby stuff went to a state park. Unicoi has these cabins that you can rent that are unique... barrel cabins. Sort of kitch-y / sort of rustic... definitely unique. Isabella's favorite thing about the cabin was - of course - the unobstructed stairs. She had free reign over those and made Todd / myself nervous quite a bit!
We went for a lot of hikes at the park including a night hike. We also went to the neighboring Anna Ruby falls for a paved, but still nice hike to the top. It was chilly, but pretty close to a perfect day weather-wise!
We played Ping-Pong. We letterboxed. We built a fire and cooked s'mores indoors! We also signed Mercer up for the Junior Ranger program and completed several of the activities. It was actually very nice to get away and go into the woods instead of into the malls~
My birthday came and went. Just another day. I actually made it to yoga / Todd picked up the kids... but that was the only "unique" thing that happened. Guess I'm officially old?
Isabella and I were sick for a few weeks / we couldn't kick our colds that we got around Thanksgiving. She and I both went to the doctor when the 3rd week hit. (At week two, the pediatrician said to give it another week & call back). They did not diagnose her with anything when she went. They just prescribed her an antibiotic. My doctor at least explained the few things that could happen when you have a cold for 3 weeks / ruled out anything serious and gave me an antibiotic as well to clear out my bronchitis.
Mercer has been playing basketball for the City league on Saturdays. It is a HUGE step up compared to the very recreational league he used to play in at a nearby church. He's one of the youngest kids on the team (6-8 year olds) but the coaches says he's got a lot of potential. He's got some natural athletic ability and is competitive. They say that by the time he's 8 and in this age bracket - he's going to be phenomenal. (We have some photos stuck on the camera -- just uploaded a week later. Photos showing Mercer watching the ball in play, rebounding, and actually taking a shot~)
Other than that - the only thing that's been happening is that Todd has been working a lot on a couple of deadlines and I've been working a lot on school papers / grading / wrapping up the semester of chemistry. One fun thing related to teaching... on the last day of school, I bought some dry ice and we did random experiments in class just to blow off some steam. Mercer benefitted from this - as I brought the leftovers home. :)
Todd and I BOTH survived - but we're pretty worn down through it all! Sorry the blog post is late (and short on photos), but.... here it is. A Christmas post will follow soon~
Her "official" stats from her 2 year doctor's appointment (she's such a little nugget compared to her big brother!!)
Her height is 33 1/2" (41%)
Her weight is 23 lbs, 14.4 oz (15%)
-- note -- she did expel a lot of food the morning of her doctor's appointment.... getting something bad out of her system. She's probably really at 24 lbs, but we'll log in the one the doc took.
Her head circumference is 19" (72%)
and.... on to the fun stuff:
She is feisty and fun.
She has the sweetest little voice when she says "Hi mommy." (The hi is upturned and upbeat the mommy is low and serious. Don't know why she says it like that, but it makes me smile every time.)
She is bossy. "Come. Sit." (she wants you to sit on the floor so she can back up and sit in your lap)
She is loving. She will randomly come and plant a kiss your cheek or head. Often, she will reach up with her little outstretched arms for a hug too.
She wants to be helpful (Mercer used to as well) and she is independent - wanting to do stuff on her own. "I help. I do it"
She gets excited when she sees you after a period of time where she has not. Todd walks in the door, "Daddy!" running and hugging him.
She is active and we are tired, but we are so grateful to have her in out lives!
Rose Marie came into town last week to hang out with us and the kids and to help ring in Isabella's 2nd year.
We took muffins and fruit to daycare on her birthday. Isabella got to try blowing out candles. She gets the idea of blowing, however, it was hard to direct (and project) it all the way to the candle. When the candle(s) did eventually go out - either with my help or occasionally on her own.... Isabella would immediately say "more." Relight the candles. Blow them out. "more." Relight. Blow them out. "more."
That night, we celebrated at home with some fancy cupcakes. This series captures the essence of her trying to blow out the candles... can you see the reason why she wasn't blowing them out too hard?? She was trying to do it through a smile! :)
Mercer wanted to get Isabella a dog. She loved it - but doesn't have the hang of walking it yet. She was mostly dragging it. We got her a doll that she can feed and it goes potty. Isabella likes the doll. Mercer likes changing it's diaper. Rose Marie got her a bouncy horse. We'll find a picture to add for that one. It's cute!
The celebration continued into the weekend. We made appetizers and dinner and had some friends over. The theme: hungry caterpillar (and butterflies). Isabella went through her candle-blowing "more" thing, but really enjoyed diving into the cupcake! (There are a couple of pics that are pretty funny aside from all of the icing on the hands and face shots - like the little girl Lorili who is super excited when Isabella is trying to blow out the candle and the one with Mercer's friend, Owen, cheering Isabella on with the barking dog birthday song card that Uncle Jim & Aunt Becki sent down! Glad it made it into the photo reel~)
Two. What a whirlwind it's been. How wonderful to have spent the last two years chasing this fantastic little girl around! The last series of photos is Isabella holding the doll that Mercer gave her when he first met her. Exploring the face: eyes. mouth. (love!)
Technically, she is no longer a baby - she informed me a couple of weeks ago "I not baby." ~oh - a dagger through the heart~
:)
