4 Months Down...

Isabella had her four month appointment today. She weighed in at a whopping 13 pounds 6 ounces! She seems to be hitting all her big milestones and is officially ready to start solids. Her first adventure will be Organic Whole Grain Rice Cereal. I'm sure it will be an event.

Isabella got to spend Memorial weekend with her cousins - Jeremiah, Michael and Stephen - down at Table Rock/Branson. She played the role of quiet observer...this time... Here's a pic of her on our way home after a long weekend:

Isabella is still lovin daycare and Mondays with her Nana. She seems to learn something new every week! We're still practicing rolling over and hoping she'll go from back to tummy soon.

This weekend is our neighborhood block party, so Isabella is resting up tonight.

Our last week :(

Isabella and I are making the most of our last week at home together. And dare I say, I think she's going to roll over soon. I just hope I'll be there to see it... Next Wednesday, I'll be back at work fulltime, and Isabella will be at her daycare. I hope they hold her and give her lots of love. I know I'll be watching the clock everyday!

Bumbo Time

Isabella and I are taking advantage of our last couple weeks of maternity leave. For several weeks now, we've been following a schedule of eat - activity - sleep. She took to this schedule very quickly and it's made our days calm and predictable, which is good for both of us. It's been amazing to see our "activity" time evolve. Dare I say we now have several options to fill our time from tummy time to watching her lady bugs dance (crib mobile) to imitating mom's expressions to practicing our voice. It's truly amazing to see her discover something new every day.

Here are a few pics of her in her Bumbo seat - from this afternoon's "activity" time.

Our lil girl had her first of many photo shoots. Here are some cute ones - nothing fancy...

Thought this pic was one worth sharing. Our friends and Daria's sorority sister had their little man just three days before Isabella. We've been enjoying synchronized maternity leave over the last few weeks. This is a pic of Isabella and Abram. He was due 10 days before her, though he was born only 3 days earlier.To celebrate Daddy's birthday, we had some new pics taken of Isabella. She was a little supermodel. Well, for about 20 minutes anyway. I'll post those soon.

Say Cheese!

That's right. Isabella shared her first big smile today! And I promise this wasn't gas. We'll get lots of pics once she decides to do it again and again and again...

Our little girl is growing like a little weed. Well, the cute kind of weed that you decide to let grow. :) At our last doctor's appointment (5 weeks) she had gained 9 oz in one week, which is right on track with her pediatrician's expectations. She moved from the 10th to the 25th percentile in weight - now 8lbs 9oz. We're even expecting to move into the size 1 diapers within the next couple weeks.

We did have a little scare on her first big road trip. Grandma Tutu and mom took her down to Arkansas to see her Auntie and Cuz. We wound up spending an evening in the ER - thanks to her cautious mom, but we did find out that miss Isabella had her first virus. Since then, we've been taking it easy and giving her a little extra (if that's possible) TLC. But even a trip to the ER can be a good photo opp...

With maternity leave now half over, we're enjoying every moment together and looking forward to some warm weather days.

Here are a few more cute pics from Isabella's tummy time and all-time favorite bath time...

Introducing Isabella Vittoria

We were blessed by the arrival of our little Isabella Vittoria on February 3, 2009. She weighed in at a massive 6lbs 8oz and was 19 inches long. We were truly blessed with a "good" labor and delivery. Despite being induced, we were able to make reasonably quick progress and spend less than a half hour pushing before little Miss Isabella joined us at 6:29pm.

Here are a few pics after her birth.


We were able to bring Isabella home the following Thursday. Needless to say our world has changed completely since then.