July 2011

Our friend Lily Darling holding her friend the frog.

Izzy enjoying yogurt during the 4th of July weekend.

We might be getting older, but we can still rock the bikini. Well...Mandi and Kris can.

Our friend Nate kissing the toad hoping he finds a prince for his daughters.

My hillbilly husband.

Izzy loving the lake.

The girls just chillin.'

Izzy's new set of wheels.

Interest was short lived...we found a bug!

Mark and Izzy at the pool. Izzy loved it.

Our friend Bradley Shafer, Jr. Isn't he just a doll?

Izzy learning to drive a remote control truck with PopPop. She only knew how to move forward. There was no such thing as reverse.

Mark and his classmates at his class reunion.

 Mom just doing a photoshoot with Izzy. She can be such a great image to capture.

Bathtime!

 New baby Brown at 12 weeks.

 A close up at 20 weeks.

This was a great Fourth of July. For not really having anything planned, we ended up doing something every night. On the 2nd the Hoys had us out to Lake Shores for a fun day at the lake. I wish we had a house on a lake. I would never go on vacation. I would dig my toes in the sand and watch my little girl and husband fish to their hearts content. On the 3rd we went to our old neighborhood block party. It was fun to see everyone we hadn't seen in a while. It was a great time. On the 4th we had a bbq with friends and watched fireworks. Izzy loved fireworks if they were far away but otherwise they were not a favorite. Mark even tried with smoke bombs and that was still a no go. At the bbq on the 4th she finally warmed up to the snaps. FINALLY!

Our friend Gary Hart had a birthday party at their house. They have a pool in the back yard and Izzy loved it. We couldn't keep her away from it. I'm glad we don't have a pool anymore, I would be constantly watching her. The following week our friends, the Shafers, came to town. They were actually coming to celebrate their marriage with a reception in Lincoln (They live in NC). We were unable to go to the reception because it was Mark's 20th (yes I said 20th), class reunion. So Brad, Brenda, and Bradley came to stay with us and go to dinner. Izzy loved every bit of Bradley being there. I think she's going to make a good big sister.

This month Izzy also moved up in rooms at daycare. She is now a birdie and they have bike day on Tuesdays. Izzy did not have a bike so off to the store we went. Helmet and all. She looked pretty darn cute on the bike but there is a lot for her to learn. Mommy's back can't take the bending over. I knew I should have gotten one with the extended handle. Oh, well, it will all come with time.

I can't believe summer is almost over. How time flew by. Oh, by the way, IT'S A GIRL! Izzy is going to have a new best friend. I can't wait to give this gift to her. I always wished I had a brother or a sister. The pregnancy is going well and my belly is growing slowly but surely. Talk soon.   Ariann

June 2011

Grandma D. came to stay with us for a few days while Mark was out of town. She helped Mommy so she could run errands and get things done. We had a good girls' weekend.

This is me and my friend Ella Mulligan splashing in my new princess pool. Mommy gave me the choice of many different pools and this is the one I wanted.

Cheese!

More Cheese!

This is a picture of Mommy 3 months pregnant with "Baby Berta" as Daddy and I so lovingly call her.

Daddy is teaching me early to keep my things nice and clean.

Mommy and Daddy celebrated their 6th wedding anniversary. They went out to dinner at Bone Fish.

This is a picture of me in my birthday outfit. I turned two this month. I had a Mickey Mouse themed birthday part with my friends and family. After the sun went down, we watched fireworks. I don' t mind fireworks as long as they are far away.

Smile!

My Mickey birthday cake.

My friend Ella and her mommy, Heather, came to my birthday party early to help mommy set up. It's great to have good friends like that.

Me blowing out my #2 birthday candle. I loved my cake. Gamma even let me put my finger in it early before anyone else got a piece.

Instead of slipping and sliding down the SlipNSlide. I used it as a drinking fountain instead.

At the beginning of June, Heather and Ella Mulligan came over and we enjoyed a day in Izzy's Princess pool. I wasn't sure how she would like it.....she loved it. They jumped in over and over, dunked their faces, and laughed the whole time.

The pregnancy has been going well. At about 14 weeks the nausea passed but headaches set in. I told one of my nurses at work that I had been getting a lot of headaches and I wasn't a headache person. The end of that week I went in for my check up and the first thing the nurse practitioner asked was if I was having headaches. She said that this was the time in your pregnancy that you would have headaches. I never had them with Izzy. She also asked if I had started to feel the baby. I didn't think I really had (thought it was gas :)) because I thought it was too early. She said that around 16 weeks with the second child you will start to feel movement. Shortly after that I was unmistakingly feeling the baby move. I love that feeling.

At the end of this month our little girl turned TWO! I can't believe how fast two years has gone. We had family and friends over for a barbeque and fireworks. The kids swam in the pools and ran through the sprinklers. It was a lot of fun.

The rest of our summer is pretty uneventful. It's been too stinking hot to really do too much outside unless you are around a pool. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and I'll write about July soon.

Ariann