7 and 8 Months Old

Zachary,

The past two months have been a blur.  You have grown so much.  At 7 months, you weighed 15 pounds and at 8 months, you weigh 15 pounds 12 ounces.  I think you are going to be my little muscle man - just like Pop and Luke.

You eat anything and everything I put in front of you. You don't have any teeth yet, but you can chew and chew with your gums. You love Cheerios, turkey, fruit. And yesterday, you and Alex ate the same breakfast of waffles and yogurt!  I can tell already you are going to want to be just like your big brother!

August was such a fun month for you!  Steph, Ryan, and Chase came all the way from Australia to stay with us.  They brought a bunch of New Jersey cousins too - Jenny, Amy, Joan and Dolores.  We had a cookout with the whole family.  Then we spent a week in Ocean City with the Beynons.  And then we headed to the Jersey Shore for some more cousin time! You discovered the sand for the first time. You were a mess!!

You are learning so much.  I love watching you and interacting with you. I am trying to memorize every little thing about you at this age!

• You are sometimes sleeping through the night.  And you usually take two naps a day. 
• You love bath time. 
• You clap hands and give kisses. 
• You love when I tickle you, and you make this high pitched noise that sounds just like you are saying, "tickle. tickle." 
• You are working on "So Big." You like to hold my hands and then I lift them up above your head.
• You can sit up by yourself.  And you can get down from a sitting position.
• You are learning to crawl.  You can get up on your hands and knees but haven't exactly mastered moving. Sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night and get up on your hands and knees and then cry for me, because you can't figure out how to get back down. 
• You have figured out how to turn the music in your crib on all by yourself. And sometimes I hear it playing in the middle of the night.
• You really love to play with (and chew on) your toys.  You like to knock down block towers and love anything that makes noise.  You love to hold my phone and the remote!

But most of all, the thing I want to remember best about you at this age, is how you want to be held.  Sure, you are a wiggle worm, but you want me to carry you around.  You love to be near me and people in general.  I love how you look at people expectantly, waiting for them to notice how cute you are!  It usually doesn't take long.  That smile of yours wins people over in an instant!



August 13, 2012 - 7 months





September 13, 2012 - 8 months



I love you Booba,

Mommy

First Day of Fours

On Friday, Isabella went to school to meet her teacher and to see her new classroom.  She wanted to take her new ladybug backpack. Here she is, walking up the sidewalk.

We had to stop and take a picture in front of the tree as we do on every first and last day of school.  (Her first picture in front of this tree was taken when she was a week old, and Alex was starting school here). Now she is my big four year old.

She walked right in told her teacher her name.  Then she picked up her name tag and said, "This one is mine.  It spells I-S-A-B-E-L-L-A." She sat right down and started to play.  The only time she got upset was when I told her we had to leave.  She wanted to stay all day!

Yesterday was her real first day of school.  Here she is in Ravens Purple holding up her sign.  (Look how tall she is, but still so tiny behind the sign).  She is ready to go!

We had to get a few more shots of Isabella with Daddy and her best friend Kaitlyn by the tree.

Here is my fearless, funny, fantastic four year old in her cubby.  She gave us a kiss and went right into her classroom without a fuss.  I just love how much she loves school.  

I couldn't wait until 12:30 to pick her up and hear all about it! Her favorite part of the day was playing with Kaitlyn on the playground. She was also so proud of herself, because she can swing with no one pushing her. My favorite part of the day was picking her up. I missed her and so did Zachary. It melted my heart to see how excited he was to see her. I am so proud of my girl! I know she is going to have a fabulous year!

Flowers For You

Happy Birthday, Grandma.  I can't believe it has been 10 months since you went to heaven.  I still miss you everyday.  I don't think that will never change.  Sometimes I forget you are gone. It seems so unreal. I catch myself thinking, "Grandma will get a kick out of this when I tell her" or "Grandma will love this." And then I remember...

Yesterday, Jay cut all of the fresh flowers out of the garden.  Isabella and I brought this beautiful bouquet to you at the cemetery.  When we pulled up, she asked why were leaving the flowers there.  She said, "Grandma Mela isn't here. She lives in heaven on a star." I explained that yes you do.  But since we can't go to heaven to leave you flowers, we bring them there so you can look down and see them.  She thought that was cool. I left her in the car and put the flowers at your grave, and just as it does every time I go there, seeing your headstone brought me to my knees.   I stayed there for only a minute or two, stood up and dried my tears before I walked away.  I didn't want you to look down and see me sad because you died, I wanted you to see me honoring the day of your birth. 

When I got back in the car Isabella said, Grandma is an angel, and she has wings just like a butterfly. She flies all around heaven.  Sometimes I think she is over our house." 
I hope she knows what she is talking about, because I love the idea that you are close by watching over us.  I believe that you are...

Happy Birthday! 

I love you,

Your Firstborn

Happy 4th Birthday Isabella

Dear Isabella,

Four years ago this minute, I was dressing you in a little tiny pink outfit and taking many pictures.  We were getting ready to come home from the hospital.  That evening you attended your first party.  We had the family over for pizza for Nana's birthday.  So I guess you can say you have been my "party girl" since the word go! 

I'm sorry this letter is a few days late, but we have been celebrating!  On Saturday, you turned four and your grandparents came to visit you.  That night we went to see fireworks at Hillendale.  It was the perfect way to spend your birthday!  Your face was priceless as you watched "your fireworks" with your cousins and friends. 

Sunday we celebrated your birthday by having an "Under the Sea" party.  You chose the theme, and of course I ran with it.  Aunt Barb made mermaid tails and "sea star" wands.  We had shark teeth and shell necklaces. You loved helping! We made up a cool sand art craft for the kids. We spent the week before making yummy desserts and decorating.  I also spent the week before watching the weather.  Last year we had an univited guest, Hurricane Irene, come to your party. This year Hurricane Issac was on his way!  I didn't want your party to get rained out two years in a row so I did a little (a lot) of praying and we set up an amazing mermaid lagoon outside hoping that the forecasters would be wrong.  I think you must have had a few angels listening on Sunday, because not a drop of rain fell until the last few minutes of the party. 

 Shari, the face painter, worked her magic and you donned your mermaid tails and danced like crazy! You had the best time!  And so did I!  I barely let you leave my sight the whole day, because I was enjoying watching the joy on your face! It was a perfect day!

So my sweet, wild, strong willed, beautiful girl, now you are four.  You tell me all the time that you are getting bigger. And I always say, "No, no no.  Don't say it!" The other day, you insisted on walking across the street to Samantha and Eva's house all by yourself!   Even though I do want you to stay my little girl, each stage of your life is so much fun.   You are my little sidekick.  We enjoy our girl time of shopping, picking out cute outfits to wear and pedicures. We love playing girly stuff like My Little Pony and dressing up your dolls. We like our "girl movies" like Beauty and the Beast and Annie. After you take your bubble baths, we cuddle up in your bed at night and read our Princess stories.  But do you know what else I absolutely LOVE about you?  You can hang with the boys! You love your brothers so much! You were excited to go see Diary of a Wimpy Kid with Alex and to run around in the yard and hide out in the fort!  You are such a big helper with Zachary.  You love to sing to him and take care of him.  You are so proud to be both a big and a little sister! And you are your daddy's girl. You love to help him work outside and you only want Daddy when you are hurt!

And you have a ton of friends - boys, girls, older, younger (hence the 40+ kids at your party).  Everyone wants to be around you because you are hilarious and fun and have an incredible imagination.  One of my favorite things to do is sit back and listen to you and your best friend, Kaitlyn, play. I can't believe the things you two come up with! I hope that all your life you continue to have these almost innate traits of being social and kind and thoughtful. 

I love you and your brothers with a fierceness that cannot be described.  I have no favorites.  Together you make up the pieces of my heart. But with that being said, you are my daughter, and the love I have for you is different. Not in a better way, but just a different way.  There is nothing in this world like having a son, but there is nothing in this world like having a daughter.  I thank God every single day for giving you to me to take care of and love.  Without you, my days would not be as full with laughter and silliness and all the fun pink girly things in life.   I want to be a role model for you.  I want to show you how to be strong and selfless and loving.  And I want to teach you by example to be confident in who you are as a person. But it is funny, because even at four years old,  I find that many times the tables are turned and you are reminding me how to be each of those things. 

 I can only imagine what great things the future holds for you my girl.  You have a picture in your room that says, "I am fairly certain that given a cape and a nice tiara, I could save the world."  I am completely certain that this is true!  And I can't wait to see it (and brag that I am your Mom)!

I love you,

Mommy