The many faces of Belle

This all started with the first picture, where Isabelle was saying that we should name the baby "Abra-cadabra-poof!" Then the little ham-bone came out...


























Thanks to the Holders for Belle's first nightgown (ice cream theme of course), and to Kathy for one of her favorites, "Brinley Bear".

Happy Birthday Papa!

Papa's birthday isn't until tomorrow, but since I'll be away, we celebrated with a little ice cream cake last night. I had to set it out to thaw for a few minutes before we could cut it, and that was tormenting Belle. She sang Happy Birthday to Papa, and then got right to the point...see if you can understand what she says right after she cheers.

(By the way, her tone-deafness comes from her Papa, so this is a fitting serenade to him.)

2 year portraits

This week I took Belle for her 2 year portraits... not even in the same league as the "real" photographer we used last year, but these certainly capture our cheeky little monkey in all her glory! She was so wound up at the studio we had the whole place laughing!

We also went to her 2 year check-up today. All's well, and our well-proportioned little bug is still exactly 50th percentile for both height and weight: 26 pounds 15 ounces and 34 inches tall.

Happy Easter!

With hands still green from yesterday's egg dying adventures, Isabelle was up early this morning and ready to do some more!
























With a full bowl of eggs in hand, we headed out back to have a little hunt.


Waiting for Mama to hide the eggs is so hard!

Ready, set, find!




While we're out here... soccer time! Isabelle laughed hysterically for 20 minutes straight, with me chasing her chasing the ball. She might be more the goalie type, given that she uses her hands more than her feet.

Isabelle's Happy Birthday Party!

Isabelle had a lot of fun at her little party yesterday. Her buddies Chandler and Brighton, Estyn, and baby Simon all made it for the occasion, along with their parents and Isabelle's favorite family, our next-door neighbors the Nichols. The kids dyed some Easter eggs (thus Belle's green hands in half the pictures) and we all enjoyed some dinner and bunny cake. While I'm not going to win any awards for my cake decorating skills, I do have to say that this year's cake was quite an improvement over last's!

Happy 2nd Birthday Isabelle!!!

Isabelle had a great birthday yesterday. She awoke to a birthday bonanza of gifts, including a new swing for outside, a new tunnel for crawling, and tons of new books and clothes (she had to model a new pair of pjs and wore them all day long).















Then it was time to bake some birthday cupcakes! (Complete with scary rainbow chip and blue icing.)




































And today the festivities will continue with a little party this afternoon!

A beautiful morning at Duke Gardens

The Gardens are in full spring bloom, and though we didn't make it very far along the paths, we had a wonderful morning!