February 2011

This is Izzy reading to her little lamb.

Playing in the front yard after school one day. Izzy loves the neighbor's dog and that is what she is so focused on.

Mommy bought Izzy a new had for hanging around the pool this summer. Had to get a picture of it. She looks thrilled huh?

My little model.

This is Izzy saying "Cheeese."

This is Izzy in her Valentine's Day outfit. She is tuckered out from a big party at school. We ordered in Chinese and ate Valentine's dinner at home together.

                                                                         Izzy's little red outfit.


February has been a pretty uneventful month. Izzy had her 18 month check up (a little late) and everything is great. She now weighs 25 lbs. and is 33 inches long. My baby is growing so fast. She's actually not a baby anymore, but a full blown toddler. Her hair is thickening up and growing longer, though she is still often called a little boy. I try to keep bows in as much as possible.

In the middle of February, I had a conference in KC and Mark came with me. We had a great time seeing the girls from St. Louis. Izzy stayed with Gamma and they had a good time. Time out was only used once or twice. Time out gets used quite often in our house for standing on the couch, hitting, and doing the complete opposite of what mommy asks her to do.

Izzy's vocabulary is growing everyday. It is amazing at all the things she knows. I have been starting to work on her ABC's but she doesn't quite get it yet. A she calls an "O"  and she can say B, but for some reason they just don't stick. Oh well, it will come in due time.

We are back on the potty again. She took a number 2 and then suddenly got scared of the potty and wouldn't sit on it anymore. She is starting to warm up to the idea again. I hope to have her potty trained shortly after her 2nd birthday. Everyone tells me she will do it when she is ready so we won't push the issue too much.

Hope everyone is doing well and we'll talk soon.

Ari

january 2011

New Year's Eve drinks at Chevy's in Elkhorn.

Kris and I on New Years.

Izzy's first New Year's Eve party at the Darling's.

Our Cletus. Look at the grey beard.

Best buddies.

Play time with her leggo truck.

Izzy and Mark sledding in the driveway.

Izzy would hold on tight and down the driveway she would go to me at the other end.

Izzy in Mommy's "Barbie" shoes.

Izzy at the Children's Museum.

Izzy at the water table. She stood back and watched the other kids for a long time before she started playing in the water.

Izzy at the giant light up wall piano.

She loved the giant sized light piano.

Mark and I started off the new year with some great friends of ours. We went to a quaint Italian restaurant in Elkhorn called Bella Vita. We then went to our friends', the Darlings, house to finish out the new year. Izzy got to stay at the Darlings and play with their two girls, Lily and Charlotte, and the Hoys' kids, Coleson and Brynna. Fun was had by all.

Also in January came lots of snow. Izzy loves the sled and often fights us when it is time to go inside and warm up. She would stay out until her rosy cheeks froze off. We also went to the children's museum when it was too cold to be outdoors. Izzy loved it, but it totally wore mommy out carrying the diaper bag, camera, and trying to keep track of where Izzy went.

Izzy has also discovered mommy's shoes. She digs and digs until she finds my "Barbie" shoes. I don't know what it is about these shoes, but she always picks the same ones every time. She actually gets into them and walks around pretty good.

I'm sure there is alot more to come in 2011 and I am truly looking forward to it. Hope everyone else has a great 2011.

Hopefully we are back

Our two babies worn out after a great Christmas weekend whirlwind.

Izzy's new vacuum.

A new use for Christmas tissue.

Family photo at the Kalkowski Christmas.

Izzy and her doll that sings songs.

Cheese!

Izzy and Daddy at Darling's.

This is at our friends' Christmas open house.

Well it sure has been a long time. I'm trying to get back into this because Izzy is so busy and we have lots to tell you. I have been trying to upload pictures with no success....so here it goes.

Izzy has been up to so much these days. For example, she is tearing out everything she can get her hands on in the bottom kitchen cabinet. She definately keeps me on my toes. She is 19 months and already saying two word sentences such as, "No, no Mama...Cleda...Dada. She is talking so much.

This year she loved Christmas. Well, I should say most of it. She wasn't a big fan of Santa up close and personal. Pictures were fine, but the real guy was terrifying. She loved opening her gifts and trying them out right away.

She also got to experience sledding this winter. She went with our friends' daughters Lily and Charlotte and I couldn't get her off that thing. So for Christmas my aunt and uncle got her a purple one and she loves it. She may be completely frozen but by golly she is going to sled.

Our new adventure is potty training. We bought her her own little pink potty. She sits and wipes but hasn't figured out the peeing part. Everyone keeps telling me it will come in due time.

Hope you are well and hopefully we can keep you updated. TTFN Ariann

Halloween

A poodle on a mission.

What a poser. Has Mommy taken a few photos?

Love this pure delight.

The costume only stays on so long.

Daddy and Izzy.

These are our pumpkins from Pooley's Pumpkin Patch.

Our photo shoot in the front yard.

Pure innocence.

Now that I know we can post on Blogger again I will go backwards a little bit.

Izzy had a great Halloween. She was the cutest pink poodle ever. She even got to eat some candy from her Halloween bag and loved every bite of it. Leading up to that day Izzy had an outfit for everyday. She has a Gamma that spoils her.

That day we went to our friends' house the Mulligans. After we ate chili and did a little photo shoot with the girls we went back to our house to hand out candy. There were lots of cute little kids and some very creative costumes.

Hope you are all doing well and hopefully we can keep the updates coming.

50 weeks

Izzy with her new present from Mari. She got early practice for the big b-day!

Izzy learning to open presents. Sorry I didn't rotate this before I posted and now it's stuck that way.

Oh my gosh, look at this big present!

Well we went to the ENT and tubes are in our future. July 2nd is tube day. I am sad she has to go under anesthesia, but if it makes her healthier, I'm all for it.

This weekend Mark and I spent our 5 year anniversary in Lincoln for the Wistrom Foundation golf tourney. Friday night our friends, the Kreifels, took Izzy so Mark and I could enjoy the evening. Then Sat. morning Mark golfed and Izzy and I went to visit my friend Shannon and her three kids. It was really good to see them. Shannon hadn't even met Izzy yet, that's how long it had been. Shannon had her oldest daughter when we were in college and I can't believe how grown up she is now. Time goes by sooo fast!

Then we went to our friend Sarah and Poppy's house and played with the toys and the kittys. I think Izzy may have a little feline allergy, but who knows. I'm always trying to figure out what is wrong with her. I need to quit guessing.

Sarah, Poppy, Izzy, and I loaded up and went to the golf course to meet up with the daddy's. Sarah was taking some pictures of the two girls and Poppy just laid Izzy out. It made her mad. Oh did the tears flow.

Izzy has really gotten into mimicking what we do. She chews when we say "chew" and move our mouth, she shakes her head "no" when we do, puts up the "number 1" with her finger when we do, and the latest.....made me laugh. I was trying to get her ready for school and she wouldn't sit still and was crawling everywhere. I was sitting on the floor and firmly pointed my finger into the carpet and said, "Izzy come here right now." She sat her bottom down from a crawling position and started pointing her finger into the carpet. That little stinker! Gotta love her.

Talk soon!

49 weeks (June 3-June9)

Izzy at her favorite activity table.

Our best buddy, Cletus!

playing in the back yard.

Lovin' some water from the water bottle. Also watering my clothes.

This weekend we went to a friends house for a BBQ. They had the most beautiful back yard. It would be a great place to take pictures. Izzy did a good job eating macaroni and cheese and Daddy gave her her first strawberry. Mom freaked out naturally but she did just fine.

The rest of the week we just bummed around and Izzy is changing all the time. She is pulling up and walking around things. Kind of learning to walk with her push toy and just happy all the time despite her congestion and the fluid on her ears. Next up visit with ENT. Pray!

48 weeks! Counting Down! (May 27th - June 2)

Daddy and Izzy playing airplane.

Izzy loves taking her socks off.

The paper says 48 weeks, but she will never tell you how old she is. She'd rather eat it and hide the evidence.

This week we had Izzy's one year pictures with Amanda Fish. I think they are going to turn out so cute. We had to do it a little early to match schedules, but it is close enough. I had brought a cupcake with a number one candle to take pictures with. Izzy was kind of hesitant at first. She picked the candle off first and put the frosting end in her mouth. After that it was a frosting fest. She would just grab handfuls and Mark finally said it was enough.

Izzy's cold symptoms seem to be getting a little better. She went back to the doctor a couple of days after her Rocephin shot and her ears were still not completely cleared so she got another shot and we have to follow-up with ENT on June 10th. Cross your fingers. I just want my poor baby healthy.

Have a good week!