Feliz Cumpleanos Izzy, te amo Mamy!!

I still can’t believe Isabelle is 3 today. I am so shocked how another year has come and gone. This year has been amazing; Izzy has turned into a little girl right before our eyes. She really has grownup so much and has been a great joy to be
around. She has turned into a little chatter box and loves to ask WHY. She is extremely athletic and loves to be on the go all the time. She has endless energy and a lot of times Alex and I are seriously worn out trying to keep up with her. She is also very caring and when she sees another child hurt or crying she gets sad look in her face and is concerned. She is not at peace until she feels the child is okay. Her teacher has mentioned that to me over and over.

She loves school and we are told she is a little social butterfly. She even tries to talk to her friends during naptime, which we can totally see. She is not into the whole sleeping thing!!! But eventually she does fall asleep. The coolest thing is to see her observe and take in everything. When something catches her eyes she really focus and takes it all in and later on she is all about doing what she has learned. Whether it’s a dance, an art project, or a song, she wants to do that activity until she feels she has mastered it.

This year has been another amazing and fun year for all of us. Isabelle is the joy of our lives. She is whom we do everything for and we would not have it any other way. I am thankful for another year with my little girl and look forward to many more to come. Happy Birthday Izzy, may all your dreams come true and always know how much you are loved and cherished.

Happy Birthday letter from Daddy!!!

Isabelle (Izzy),
Today is such a bittersweet day for your Daddy. For 3 years now I have known you and I have tried to cherish and make the most of the time we have had together. But like all good things in life, time passes by too fast. Unfortunately for me, I cannot stop the stubborn and unrelenting ticking away of time, but that same force is also allowing me to see you grow into a wonderful little girl. Time is both bitter and sweet to me, but for you I know it cannot pass by quick enough. I see you absorbing and understanding more of the world each day and I am so happy just watching you grow.

During this 3rd year, I have seen you really use speech to communicate with me. I have seen you physically mature from a pudgy faced toddler to a preschool child thirsting to learn and meet new friends. I have seen you go from diapers to underpants and from a crib to a bed. These are milestones that will forever be captured in my mind, and even if you cannot remember them as you get older, I will never forget.

Thank you for being such a great daughter to me. Each time I hear you call my name, I feel warm inside and want to answer your every need. I hope you understand I have tried to always be there for you and I always will be. No matter what happens, your mommy and I will always be there for you like we have been for the past 3 years. We will probably still see you as a little girl when you are well past that age, but when you have children or as you get older you will understand our dilemma. Our life revolves around you and always will for the rest of our lives.

Well, what a year you have had, all these accomplishments and you are just getting started! I cannot wait to see what else happens in your 4th year and 5th and so on. Each year I will see you grow more and know I will be capturing these memories as imprints in my heart. What a great blessing for me to be the parent of Isabelle Bariso.

And you know what is fun? A baby brother or sister is on their way for you to be a big sister to, I know you will be excited and I wish you could understand when we tell you. But oh what a fourth year you are about to have!

Love always and forever,

Your Daddy

Izzy's soccer classes!!

So I had to wait until Izzy was 3 to make sure that she would enjoy and also pay attention to what would be taught in a class. I have to say it was worth the wait and she loved it. She loves the fact that she could shoot goals, dribble, and practice kicking against the walls. We all had fun and we all got to play soccer and have a SUPER great fun time. So we are looking forward to 6 more classes of making goals.

3 yr old portraits

Yes, I know I am 2 weeks early for these pictures, but I like to get portrait pictures done early to display them for Izzy's B-day party.
I have to say that we never have issues about taking pictures. Izzy is always ready to go and soo happy to be the center of attention. I think she is soo used to the camera because I've been taking a zillion pictures of her. Plus, now Izzy's new thing is to pose and do her own thing.

Cotton Eyed Joe

We went to a B-day party and there was fun and great music for Kids to dance to. So when Cotton Eyed Joe came on all the older kids started to dance to it and well Izzy was hooked. When we got home that is all she wanted to do. Here is Izzy's version of Cotton Eyed Joe.

Baby # 2 16 weeks

I can't believe it is 16 weeks already. Everyone was right this pregnancy will go by faster than Izzy's. Everything so far is going well and I am finding out that no
pregnancy is the same as another. I guess because now I have Izzy I haven't gotten back all of my energy. Thank God I have a husband who really helps me out as much as he can and lets me sleep in on the weekends. For anyone that knows me sleeping in is not my thing, but for now it will be.
Yesterday I had my 16 week appointment, everything went well. I got to hear the heartbeat, super strong and this time around my belly has popped out earlier. I can finally work out again, not like I used to, but walking and doing some weights to help me feel better.
We finally told Izzy since I am starting show, I am not sure she gets the whole concept yet. But, this I do know. She loves babies and wants to be around them. I know she is going to be a great big sis and a little
helper.
Well 4 more weeks to go to find out the gender of baby # 2. We get asked a lot..boy or girl??? and we always respond...Healthy baby.

Pumpkins and Halloween

This year October weather has not been so good, we had to wait and wait to go pumpkin picking, but luckily we finally had a rain free weekend.
We decided to go back to the same farm as last year. They have a lot to do and see: we saw the farm animals, ran in the corn maze, pumpkin picking, and finally a pony ride. It was a full fun day, and Izzy was into the whole thing.














Well this weekend was full on fun and endless Halloween Stuff.
It all started Friday with Izzy's Fall Festival @ her school. I went to volunteer and also to enjoy the fun times with Izzy. Seriously the teachers made everything so much fun and kept the kids entertained and really engages in all the activities they had prepared for them. For me, it was nice to help out and see that I can be there for these special moments for Izzy.

Izzy and Alexa

It had been soo long since Jamie and I were able to get our girls together for a play date. I was a little worried Izzy and Alexa would not remember each other, but boy was I wrong. We had a little shy moment, but once we got the girls into the bouncy house it was all about play time.
Alexa and Izzy has such a good time, they played soo nicely together. No tantrums no sharing issues and they really loved to follow each other led.
I can't wait to see them again and have more fun. To be honest, I don't know who had more fun. Izzy and Alexa or Jamie and I, either way it was a total blast!!

Big Girl Bed

A couple weeks ago we went to Babies R Us and bought Izzy a toddler bed. She is not one to take big changes well so we figured a toddler bed would be the easiest way to get her comfortable in a bed, rather than to convert her crib into a twin size bed.
So Alex put together her little cute bed and on Saturday morning we took down her crib. We let Izzy help take down her crib to let her see it was okay to put something away once we out grown them, she is really excited about it and was soo happy.
Once we put her toddler bed in place she was soo excited, she jumped right in it and told us she was ready for nap time @ 9 am. Well we are sooo happy that Izzy has been doing well and really has had no big issues. She really loves to be a BIG girl... or as she calls it Nina Grande!!!



Before nap and playdate


On her first nap in her toddler bed

Von Thun Farm Trip

I am so happy I work part time. It gives me the flexibility to give Izzy more us time and also to be free to go to important first-ever events in Izzy's life.
It was great to be a parent chaperon to Izzy's first field trip.
She got to ride on a REAL school bus, which she was so happy to do.
The farm had so much to do and to see.
We saw the farm animals, we got to ride some bikes, went on a corn maze, jumped on a bouncy house, took a hay ride, went pumpkin picking and had a nice picnic lunch. It was a full fun day and we had so much fun.