Birthday Surprises

My birthday was on Monday and it was a simply great day. Well turning 28 made me feel old, but other than that it was fantastic! Art surprised me in so many ways. He got the cutest picture of Izzy framed for us to hang up in the nursery. He also got me a new piano book full of Billy Joel songs. He likes it when I play songs he knows instead of classical all the time! We went on a great bike ride around town in the morning and then went out to eat at Bonefish Grill for dinner. Sneaky guy surprises me by pulling another present out of the trunk when we got there. It was a new digital camera, and it's pink! Throughout dinner I noticed he was kind of looking off out the windows. I thought maybe he was looking at the sky because it was stormy and there was a rainbow. When we went to leave, we walked out the doors of the restaurant and there's a limo outside. The driver was holding a sign with Jill Aldrich written on it. The stinker got me a limo ride for the rest of the evening. Oh gosh, it was great. We brought Izzy with, which was really fun. I think she was all confused because she was in a car, but not in her car seat. We drove all around the area. It was a beautiful night out. It was so romantic. Izzy went to sleep eventually, so we got to enjoy some time by ourselves too. It was such a great birthday with my new little family!

New Noises

Here is as little video of Izzy and the new sounds she makes. This was during her tummy time. You can see in the video how high she's holding up her head now too.

Bath Time

Izzy has really grown to love her bath time. She's starting to try to splash in the water or she just lays there and looks completely relaxed. She always looks so adorable after she's done and she's all wrapped up in her little hooded towl. Those things were a great invention by someone! Izzy is just getting to be more fun each day. She's discovering new sounds to make. She squeals a lot now when she's happy. She also rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time yesterday. When she lays on her tummy, she can hold her head up really straight and she leans up on her elbows now. I just can't get over the fact that she's 3 1/2 months old. I know I say that in every post, but it's so true. The time is flying by.

Blast From the Past

It's been a lot of fun finding some of my old outfits from when I was a baby and trying them on Isabella. My parents found an old picture of me in a little blue dress that I had. So naturally we had to try to replicate the picture. Here are the results...

July 4th Celebration

Well, Izzy's first 4th of July has come and gone. She loved it! When it was time for the fireworks to go off, she was just staring at the sky like she was waiting with great anticipation.

Ok, maybe not that in depth, but she was definitely looking up at them. She didn't get scared at all. We had her nice and bundled up because it got pretty chilly during the fireworks after all the rain we had that day. We watched the fireworks on Cattail Golf Course where Art's grandparents now live. It was fun to spend the day with his side of the family. Then the day after, we went to my folks house for a bbq. Izzy is so loved, she had 2 different 4th of July dresses. It was nice having the holiday spread over 2 days, that way she got to wear both dresses! When we were at my parents house, my mom also found some of my old bonnets that we tried out on Izzy (and on me too). They were a bit big on her, but she still looked cute! I got all teary eyed about it being her first 4th of July. She's already getting so big and some of her firsts have already passed. It's just amazing that she's 3 months old already!

Video of Izzy "Talking"

Izzy has been doing new things everyday lately. She has been smiling all the time and cooing a lot more. This little video (Izzy is 10 weeks old there) is my attempt to capture her "talking." It turned out a little bit different than I thought it would :) Babies have a mind of their own. I assure you that I was sitting right there with her the whole time. It was just too cute and funny, couldn't help laughing!

Our New House

Last weekend we painted the entire exterior of our house. Well when I say we, I mean Brian, David (my brothers), and Art. They worked all weekend, including on Father's Day. Brian came down on Thursday from Colorado Springs to start the job. For those of you that don't know, he works for College Pro Painting and offered to paint our house for us. We didn't realize how much the house needed it until the job was finished. It looks amazing. We thought some rainy weather was going to get in our way, and it did a bit, but in the end it all got finished. Thanks Brian and David for your hard work and for dedicating your weekend to our home. And thank you to my loving husband for pitching in, especially on your first Father's Day.
Before...

This was when we first bought our house. You'll also notice the horrible shape that our yard was in. Art has worked so hard the last 3 years to get our grass in good shape. You can actually walk on it now!

After...
Our house is now a great grey color. The peaks and the front door are a bit darker shade than the body. We loved the yellow that we had, but unfortunately that is not a choice through our home owners association anymore. We love the new look!