Holiday Fun

Isabelle has loved this Holiday Season. Everything that has to do with Christmas she calls "Christmas." She is especially fond of big Christmas trees. She gets so excited and dances all around while screaming "Christmas." She hasn't quite gotten the idea of Santa yet, she thinks he is a "snowman," but I am totally okay with that.

After lots of crazy Christmas shopping on Black Friday, Isabelle, Erin and I headed over to my Dad's house in Melbourne. We had a wonderful visit with him and Deana. On Saturday morning we went to the Brevard Zoo. Isabelle loved it of course.

Isabelle and Erin being silly!

Isabelle checking out one of the animals before brushing it in the petting zoo.

We brought a wagon to pull Isabelle around, but she preferred to pull the wagon herself.

Isabelle loved all the birds.

Watch out Erin!

Dad and Erin

Isa and Erin hanging out at Grandpa's house.

When we got back from my dad's house we headed out to pick out our Christmas tree. Usually I always get it the day after Thanksgiving, but since we were at my dad's we didn't get it till Saturday. Isabelle was a big help on picking out the tree.

Isabelle with her Nana.

We spent a day in Lakeland with Erin. Isabelle loved this Christmas tree! She couldn't get enough of it!

All decorated!

Last weekend my Dad and Deana came over from Melbourne. We had dinner and then went to see the lights at UCF. Of course the first thing Isabelle spotted when we got there was the carousel. She absolutely loves carousels so we had to take her on it. After waiting in line for almost a half hour just to buy a ticket for the carousel, Isabelle finally got to go for a ride.

Looking at the lights with Grandpa!

What a great Holiday Season it has been. It has been sad not having Charles here with us to enjoy it, but we are definitely looking forward to him coming home tomorrow and sharing a lot more holiday cheer.

It's party time! Isabelle is 2!

Isabelle turned 2 on Thursday and it was quite the day! She has been waiting for her birthday for a long time! With my birthday in August and then Charles' in September, she kept asking me when it was going to be "Isabelle's birthday." So the countdown has been on for a while and boy was she ready for it to be her day. We were sad that Charles wasn't here with us to celebrate this special day. But we did get to talk to him on Skype several times, so hopefully he felt like he didn't completely miss out on the celebration. Charles had me pick up some roses just for Isabelle. Of course she loved them.

Originally I wanted to take Isabelle to Disney for her birthday. She absolutely loves Disney, I will post about our recent visits there soon. But, I didn't think I would be up to taking her there by myself with only 6 weeks left of my pregnancy. So I decided to have a little birthday party for her with her friends instead. Initially we planned to have the party at my house because the weather forecast called for rain. But when I checked the forecast two days before the party and it said clear skies, I decided to change the location and have the party at the park in my mom's neighborhood. That way there was more for the kids to do and less for me to clean up! I am so glad I changed it to the park, it made life a lot easier and the kids had a ball. We ended up with 11 kids there plus all the moms. It was a great turn out.

Isabelle loves the swing!

Isabelle and Addi thought it was so funny that they both could be in the swing at the same time.

Isabelle's best friend Kayla and Ruth

Roland stopped in and entertained the kids with juggling and some "dancing" or at least that is what he calls it. Isabelle thought he was so funny.

Isabelle is absolutely obsessed with all the Disney Princesses and Tinkerbell. So I decided to narrow it down and picked Tinkerbell as a theme for the party. It is amazing how well they market everything for kids. Disney sure knows what kids like.

Isabelle and Kayla, patiently waiting for food.

Me and my birthday girl!

Isabelle loves Chick-Fil-A, so we got a tray of nuggets from there and had some grapes, carrots, string cheese and Capri Suns for lunch.

After lunch it was cake time! Isabelle had been patiently waiting for her Tinkerbell birthday cake.

Having been to a lot of birthdays lately, Isabelle knew exactly what to do when the "Happy Birthday" song was over. She climbed right up and blew out the candle. It was like she had been practicing.

"Yummy, birthday cake!"

"Do you think this whole thing can fit in my mouth?"

Isabelle loved her Tinkerbell balloons.

After a little more playing on the playground it came time to open presents. Isabelle was absolutely spoiled with presents. She got lots and lots of princess stuff, which of course made her so happy, some clothes, a game and pretty hair bows. She loved it all. Thank you everyone!

Trying on some of her new Princess Aurora shoes (she calls them Aurora since they are pink of course).

Testing out her new Princess sleeping bag.

Princess Tea Set

New hair bows.

Isabelle loves to play dress ups. In fact, if we are home she rarely has normal clothes on, she always wants to be dressed up as one of the princesses or Tinkerbell. So Charles and I got her a new Aurora dress. Of course she wanted to put it on right away.

Reading her new Beauty and the Beast book!

The party was a hit. Isabelle had a great time and still talks about it everyday. Thank you to everyone who helped make it a special day for our darling girl. Happy Birthday Isabelle!

Cake Time

I decided to explore my domestic side and make a Tinkerbell cake for Isabelle's birthday. Since I had no idea where to start I called up my very talented friend Tanessa for help. She came and spent the entire afternoon with me, helping me create this magical Tinkerbell cake. Charles didn't believe that I could really make a cake, so I had to take pictures along the way documenting the event.

First I baked 4 cakes, two small round and two large round. I spread a layer of strawberry jam in between the layers.

We made our own frosting and Tanessa covered the cakes.

Then came time for the decorating. We made lots of leaves and flowers all along the cake. With that done, we put Tinkerbell on top and the cake was done. It sounds pretty simple, but the decorating took almost 5 hours alone. Now I know why they charge what they do for cakes at the store. In fact, I almost think they are under priced. But, there is nothing like the sense of accomplishment in creating your own masterpiece. Thanks Tanessa for teaching me!

The final masterpiece! Pretty good, if I may say so myself.

Here is a little video of the kids singing "Happy Birthday." Isabelle likes to watch this video over and over on our computer. Every time the end of the song comes she climbs up on the desk and tries to blow out the candle again. It is too cute!

Family Get-away to France

Last month we found out that Charles had to go work in India for 6 weeks, starting November 1st all the way through December 15th (only two weeks before my due date!). Since we were going to be apart for several weeks we decided to take a family vacation so we could spend a little time together before the separation. We had been wanting to go to France to see Charles' family for a while. Since Charles had to fly through France anyways and Isabelle is still under 2, we would only have to pay for my ticket. So we made some last minute plans and booked a trip to France. Right before we were supposed to leave Charles found out his Indian work Visa hadn't been processed yet. It was a very stressful situation. We found out the day before we were supposed to leave that it had finally been processed and mailed out that day. Unfortunately it didn't get to us in time for Charles to fly with Isabelle and me, but he was able to join us two days later. So I got to fly, 7 months pregnant, with Isabelle on my lap the whole way there. It was especially tight considering we had a big guy right next to us. When we tried to pull down the tray, it would squish Isabelle in the belly. Poor thing! But we made it through and she was quite the trooper. We spent the first 5 days in Valence at Charles' parents house. My sisters Laila and Mikenzie are staying with his parents for the semester, so it was an extra bonus to be able to spend time with them. We have really missed them a lot. Some of Charles' aunts and uncles came to visit as well, which was wonderful. After a few days in Valence we took the train up to Paris. Charles, Isabelle and I got a hotel there for two nights. It was pretty close to the Champs. We got an awesome deal on the hotel room. We found it online on one of the websites where you name the area you want to be and how many stars. We got it for 80 Euros a night. When we got there to check in, it was absolutely gorgeous, we were very pleased. Then we were even more pleased when we saw the sign that said the cheapest room started at 540 Euros a night. I guess you could say we got a good deal! Then they proceeded to upgrade us to bigger room which was wonderful. We had a view of the Eiffel tower out to the left and the Arch de Triumph out to the right. We couldn't have asked for more!

We spent a day just walking around Paris. We walked and walked and walked. I eventually took off my boots and put on my flip flops, which were much more comfortable. Isabelle is obsessed with castles, so she was in heaven! She thought every old building there was a castle. It was fun to see her so excited.

Every Saturday Charles makes crepes at home for breakfast. Isabelle absolutely loves them, she truly is a little french girl! When we started walking that morning in Paris we told Isabelle we were going to go get some crepes. Well apparently we weren't in the right area for crepes, because we couldn't find them anywhere. Isabelle kept asking for them and we kept looking. Eventually she fell asleep while we were walking. But the first thing she said when she woke up was "mange crepes" (or eat crepes). Finally we found a little vendor on the side of the street and she devoured it.

Isabelle also loved eating baguettes in France. There were many meals where that was all she would eat.

Notre Dame

This was in our bathroom in our hotel. Isabelle thought it was a sink just her size. We just let her enjoy it as we laughed.

The Eiffel Tower had a new light show that they did every night. It was quite the show!

Once Isabelle spotted the carousel in front of the Eiffel tower, that was all she wanted to do. She was such a trooper all day, we were happy to do something fun for her. We followed it up with a big bag of popcorn, just for her (of course we snuck a few pieces too).

If you look close you can see the Eiffel tower lit up right behind the carousel.

The Chateau of Chantilly

Isabelle loves flowers! Anytime she seems them she has to pick them and smell them. I guess she is like her Mama!

Isabelle was thrilled when Charles finally arrived! I was too of course!

Outside an old cathedral in Valence.

Ready to go for a walk!

Isabelle and Laila

Since Charles won't be here for Isabelle's birthday we decided to have a little birthday celebration for Isabelle while we were in France. Charles' mom got two beautiful and delicious cakes. We definitely can't find anything like them in the states. Isabelle was in heaven!

One of the highlights of the trip was that Isabelle finally got to meet all of Charles' family. Prior to the trip she had only met his parents and one of his sisters. She got to meet Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and two great-grandmas. She loved playing with everyone. One huge bonus was we were able to be there for our niece Louise's baptism. What a treat that was! After the baptism we headed up to Crepy, north of Paris I think, and spent some time with more family there.

Isabelle with her great-grandmas.

Isabelle really enjoyed playing with her cousins for the first time.

Charles and his sister Adeline.

We had a lot of late nights playing games with the family at Didier's house.

Isabelle loved playing on the playground out back behind Mamy and Papy's house.

Laila and Mikenzie at one of the many castles we visited.

Posing!

Beautiful day in France!

Kenzie and me

Isabelle with her aunts

All in all we had a wonderful trip. We got to visit with all the family and visit lots of beautiful places. Isabelle was such a trooper the entire trip and was so well behaved. I couldn't have asked for a better trip. Now we are back home, counting down the days till Charles gets to come home. 1 more month! For anyone interested Charles has set up a blog for his trip to India.

Built in GPS

Who needs a GPS when you have Isabelle around!  Isabelle has always been very observant. Whenever I am driving she is always leaning to the side so she can see where I am going.  A while back she started pointing out our home whenever we would come up to the light at the corner.  I thought that was pretty normal considering that is where we always come in and out of every day.  Then last month we were driving to the YMCA and we passed the light where I would turn to go to my mom's.  Isabelle started crying and I was like "what's wrong?" then she said "Nana!!!"  I was shocked that she knew that is where I turn to go to my mom's.  It isn't even her neighborhood, just a light and there really isn't much of a landmark there.  I turned around and went back to the light and Isabelle was happy.  I guess Isabelle had a different agenda than me.  Now every time we pass that light Isabelle says "Hi Nana!" 

Whenever we take the toll road heading downtown Orlando Isabelle looks out the front window and as soon as the city's skyline is in sight she says "Papa's work!"  Typically I take the toll road to get to Charles' work when we meet him for lunch or sometimes dinner during the dreaded busy season, but the other day I decided to take the back roads and save a little money. Isabelle knew that we were going to Papa's work, but when I turned left out of our neighborhood instead of right she was all concerned.  She thought I changed the plans and was going somewhere else.  I had to keep assuring her that we were going to see Papa, just going a different way.  As soon as we were in view of the tall buildings, even though it was a different direction we were coming from, Isabelle was relieved and pointed to the buildings and said "Papa's work."  

The other day I was driving and Isabelle asked me for a cookie, I told her I didn't have any.  We got to the corner with Publix (a grocery store, where she always gets a cookie) and she said "Mama, Publix, cookie, please."  How can you say no to that?  Every morning Isabelle and I go to the YMCA.  On our way there Isabelle assures me that we are heading in the right direction with every turn I make.  And as soon as she can see the Y, she makes sure I see it too.  A couple weeks ago we were visiting with a lady from church and then we were going to Coleman's house (one of Isabelle's friends).  Well our house happened to be on the way to Coleman's house and when Isabelle saw us approaching the light for our neighborhood she started crying "Coleman, Coleman."  She was relieved when I continued past our street.  

Isabelle always wants to know where we are going.  Her new thing is I will ask her where we are going and she will start listing all the places where we are not going first and then say where we are going.  For example, Isabelle will say "Publix, noooo...Costco, noooo... Nana's, noooo...church, noooo, the Y, Yessss!!!"  Last weekend we were leaving a church activity and we were going out for ice cream.  As we passed our house Isabelle said "home, noooo... ice cream, yessss!"  It makes me laugh.  

So back to my original statement, I don't need a GPS, I have Isabelle.  She can get me to Papa's work, Nana's house, church, Aunt Jenny's house, the YMCA, Publix, Costco, Wet 'n Wild, Kayla's house, Coleman's house, our home and plenty more places that I probably haven't discovered yet.