A few Christmas pictures

Here are just a few pictures. I got a new camera for Christmas and I have some on that one too so when I get another minute, I'll get the ones off that one too. Now let me remind you, I didn't get alot of GOOD pictures because Isabella was sick and I was holding her alot. I picked these three because if you'll notice she's in three different outfits. These are only in the span of about an hour. She kept throwing up so I had to keep changing clothes. Poor thing! She did manage to play a little bit.

Just a quickie!

This is just a quick note to say that I went to Frankfort today and registered Isabella's birth and got her official Kentucky birth certificate. The workers loved her! They took her in the back and played with her while another worker finished the paperwork. The child knows how to work a room! Anyway, I dare say that I'm DONE with adoption paperwork! Now I can organize it and file it away. Yea! Pictures soon, I promise.

I need to vent about Christmas (kinda long)

First, let me say that I'm not angry, just very disappointed. I had all these expectations of what Isabella's first Christmas was going to be like. It was anything but that! It all started Christmas eve. We went to my Mom's house and Isabella was kinda fussy but I thought it was because there was SO much going on that it was overwhelming her. We wanted to be back in town to go to church at 7:30 because they were having a great show that we had really been looking forward to. Mom and Dad decided to go with us since they had never been to our church. We find a seat and Isabella is sitting on my Dad's lap very quietly. I just thought she was tired or else being very good. About 1/2 hour into the show she pukes! I don't mean a little, I mean PROJECTILE puke. Totally without warning. It was everywhere. I take her to the bathroom and change her clothes and take off my sweater. Dad goes and tries to get the puke off of him. We go back in and try to enjoy the show smelling like puke. A few minutes later, same thing. Luckily we were ready this time. We decided to leave if she puked again. We really wanted to see the show. She dry heaved some more so we had to go. It was so embarrassing to leave because we were sitting in the middle of the PACKED church. We packed up all the pucked stained stuff and went home. She pucked more when we got home and spent most of the night on my shoulder in the rocking chair. Hunter was a big help in setting everything up for "Santa". Christmas morning she woke up about 6:00. Still puking. I had imagined taking video and pictures of her opening up her first Christmas gifts and playing with toys from Santa. Instead I was constantly doing laundry because she kept puking on everything and she could care less about toys. By this time she had a pretty good fever and was attached to my shoulder. We decided to still try to go to Allen's parent's house. We did and she slept on my shoulder in the recliner. We came home and she still was puny but not throwing up. She wouldn't eat or drink anything. I gave her Tylenol and put drops in her ears since she kept digging at them. That seemed to help enough where I could sit her down for a little bit. She took a little bit of a bottle and slept until 6:00 this morning. She took another bottle and went back to sleep until 9:30. I decided to take her to the doctor because she still wasn't eating very much and she was still fussy. Well, she has an ear infection. Poor thing--stomach virus and ear infection. Could it get any worse?! The antibiotic they put her on is supposed to make her poop red! I'm glad they told me that or we'd be off to the ER. Shane called me this morning from his Dad's saying he had been puking. Hunter is puking his guts out as I type this. I don't do puke. For me it's contagious like yawning. Just seeing it or hearing someone do it makes me sick.

So that was my Christmas. Mostly spent in a rocking chair. But you know, I wouldn't trade it for anything! Because Isabella was with her family for Christmas even though she was sick. And it was her MOMMY that got to take care of her and hold her, and try to make her feel better. That's all that matters--she was with us, in HER home for Christmas.

P.S. Say a prayer that NO ONE else gets sick. I'm disinfecting everything tomorrow!
P.S.S Shane's birthday was the 22nd so I'll do a post about him next!

Happy Birthday Hunter!

Hunter is 14 years old today. I have no idea where those years went. I was hugging him today and realized that he is taller than me. Not by a little bit but a few inches. Why have I not noticed that!? Hunter is in the 8th grade and is doing good in school. He's in the Beta Club this year. He's a good kid and you can tell he's a "Smith". Which means he likes to talk-loudly and to anyone who will listen, has a big heart, loves farm life--even though we have no livestock, and loves his family. He genuinly cares about others and has taken an active role in taking care of Isabella. He likes to cook and is pretty darned good at it. He's been self-sufficent in that aspect since he was about 8 years old. Even though he's a boy, he likes to sew. He's gonna kill me when he reads this. He had sewn a project for school here at home and the teacher made me write a note saying he did all the work. Please! When do I have time to sew?! He also has a good head on his shoulders with a good imagination too. He got asked to have a poem published in a book called "Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans". He was part of a handful of kids from all over the US. Here is his poem

I'm from open rolling farmland, 4x4 trucks in the mud,
Grandma's cherry pie and chocolate cake
with homemade carmel icing.
I'm from bacon and tomato sandwiches
on a hot summer day,
vegetable soup in the winter.

I'm from the smell of pink diesel fuel
going into a Case 1210 in the winter,
Little Farmall 100 plowing our garden,
Chevrolet trucks loaded wiith wood.
I'm from 12-guage shotguns booming in the distance,
.45 pistol shooting at an old deer sign.
I'm from gravel driveways and wood stoves and barns.
My name is Hunter Smith and this is where I'm from.

Pretty good I think. I just wanted to share why we think Hunter is such a wonderful young man and a joy to have in this family. We Love You Hunter!!

P.S. The blog wouldn't let me upload a pic of Hunter. Stupid blog!

I Hopped on the Bandwagon

I enjoyed seeing everyone's jazzed up blogs so I had to get Nikki to do mine too! I'm happy with it. I got her to put the family portrait pics on there that I couldn't get to load. I don't know how she did it but now the kids look like themselves. Yeah!

Isabella is still teething I guess even though it looks like her upper teeth are in half way. She's chewing on everything and still waking up once during the night. This is killing me. I feel like a zombie. This is not the child I brought home that slept 12 hours a night and took 2 long naps. Let me clarify that she's really NOT fussy any moment of the day. She smiles ALL the time. Seriously! It's just that darn waking up in the night. I've tried letting her cry--doesn't work. That's the only time she cries--honestly. She's such an angel and if that's the only thing I have to complain about, I'll take it.

She knows who we are even if she can't say the kids names. I think she says Mamma and Dadda. Also Hi and Bye. I wish you could see how excited she gets when I walk into the babysitter's house to get her. Nothing else matters but that moment. I'll try to post more pictures soon.

nothing new

I've deleted all the pictures on the side because I've decided my kids don't look like that anymore. Shane's hair is MUCH longer and curlier. Hunter got his braces off. Alex looks much better with DRY hair. And Isabella has changed so much since that picture was taken after we brought her home. I really wanted to put our family portrait pictures on the side but I still can't get them to load for some reason. I'm not very technical so I've tried everything I know to try. I don't know how that 1 picture loaded of Isabella. I'm gonna try to take everyones picture by the Christmas tree and put those on the side to update what everyone looks like. So check back for new pictures.

A Little Christmas Cheer!!

It's a Santa hat on her head in case you couldn't tell.

I put this one on the blog even though her nose is running and she's rubbed snot all over her face. You can see her dimples and top teeth.

Isabella loves to put things on her head. Right before this she had Shane's baseball hat on. It all started with a game where me or Allen would put something over our face and say "Where's Mommy/Daddy?". She'd pull it off our face and laugh. Then she'd put it over HER face and we'd say "Where's Isabella?" and she'd pull it off and laugh. This is never ending and she does it with everything--blankets, diapers, clothes, etc. It keeps her happy so in turn it keeps us happy even though we do it a hundred times a day. We went to Hunter's basketball game today and she totally worked the gym. Three people asked to hold her and she was fine with it. She has ZERO stranger anxiety. She was a perfect little angel even though she had not had a nap and it was 3:00. We then went out to eat and try to do a little Christmas shopping. Again, with only a nap on the way to Lexington she was perfect. She's no problem to take anywhere. She just takes it all in and smiles at everyone. She is such a joy! I'm sorry it's been so long between posts but I'm trying to spend all my extra time shopping. Not only do I have Christmas but Shane's b-day is on the 22nd and Hunter's is on the 20th. Then Isabella's is on Jan 11th. Thank God Alex's is in July!

I got 1 to load

Ok, this is really making me mad. I know I e-mailed the pictures to most people that read this blog but this is still annoying. I've tried uploading the pictures from my computer and from the disc they gave me and so far this one is the only one that loaded. I'll try again tomorrow. I also wanted to change the pictures on the side to the new ones we had made but that won't work either. If anyone has any ideas on how to do it let me know.



Isabella has settled into going to the sitter's. She started eating her baby food and taking a nap with everyone else. She also is sleeping better at night. I don't know if it's because I started turning off her night light or because her teeth finally came through. I've looked at Isabella for almost 3 months now with just 2 teeth. It's going to be weird to see her with 4 more on top. It will change her looks so much.



Everyone here is doing good. I'm just trying to find the time to go Christmas shopping.

Family Portraits

Happy Birthday to Allen

Today is Allen's birthday and he spent a few hours at the courthouse getting the best birthday present. He went before the judge and it's official.......our baby's name is now ISABELLA CORINNE SMITH! I couldn't go because I used all my vacation days staying home with her. It's okay though. It was just a formality for us. She was already Isabella to us.

We also went to get our pictures taken yesterday at Portrait Innovations. They are wonderful and you get your prints in about 15 minutes. If you haven't gone there, I highly suggest it. I will post the pictures later. I gotta go watch Heroes on TV. If you haven't watched it, you don't know what your missing!

Happy be-lated Thanksgiving!

Isabella taking a Thanksgiving morning bath

Beautiful rainbow on Thanksgiving

I know I'm late with the Thanksgiving wishes but what can I say?! Isabella can still fit in the kitchen sink for her bath so that saves my back. I don't have to lean over the tub. She loves water so bath time is great. All the grandparents came over to eat. Isabella's first Thanksgiving meal was mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green beans. She was ready for a nap after all that. There was a cold front (I think) coming through on Thanksgiving so the sky was dark on one side of the house and sunny on the other. That produced this wonderful rainbow which ended at the trees in front of our house. It was a whole one but I'm just showing you part of it. Back in August we had one that ended in our front yard and that was really amazing. I'll post that picture later. On Friday, Me, Mary, and Hunter went shopping. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I did get quite a bit done. Today, it's so cold that I stayed home and put up the Christmas tree. We put it in the kitchen this year so Isabella couldn't get to it. She LOVES paper so the presents would be torn up if she got to them. We have the kitchen blocked off so the tree and presents are safe. That's about it around here. Hope every ones Thanksgiving was wonderful!

Thanksgiving at my Brother's house

My Aunt Fran

My Uncle Henry

Dad and Shane. This a really good one of my Dad. Shane's letting his hair grow out. It's really curly so it looks like a fro!

The blogger wouldn't let me upload the picture of my brother, Pat, so I'll have to try later. Anyway, my brother and his family used to live in Wilmington, NC for about 10 years. He changed jobs to be closer to family and now lives about 15 miles north of Cincinnati. This is their first holiday here so they had us up for Thanksgiving. My Uncle and Aunt live near Dayton so they drove down too. I don't get to see them very much so it's such a treat when I do. I was named after my uncle. We both have the same middle name, Alden. This is also a rare time when ALL of my family is together. Shane didn't have to work today so we were all there as a family. It was nice. Isabella didn't have a nap and literally fell asleep the exit before Pat's exit. Not much of a nap. She took it all in stride though and of course was the highlight. This is the first time my brother had seen her. She's still teething. Her "fangs" have broken through and the front ones are almost ready. Poor girl. She's chewing on everything! She only has 2 days at the babysitter next week so hopefully they will be uneventful and she will eat her baby food.

My first day back at work :(

I made it through my first day back at work. Nothing had changed after 10 weeks. I only called the babysitter once. I think I did pretty good. Everyone wanted to see pictures and I was so proud to show them off. Anyway, Isabella did OK at the sitter's. I need some advice though. Isabella eats really good for me. She WILL NOT eat baby food for Tammy. She will only drink a bottle. When Tammy tries to feed her, she clamps her mouth shut and shakes her head. I don't know if she used to ME feeding her for 10 weeks or what. I tried to have Shane feed her tonight and she ate a couple of bites but then she started shaking her head. Allen tried, same thing. I got her to finish the jar. She's not spoiled is she?! She went on to eat graham crackers and cheerios with no problem. How do I break her of only wanting me to feed her? I don't want her living on bottles at 10 months old. It's just frustrating. Other than that, she does great at the sitter's.

I have the SWEETEST kids in the whole world

I don't know what she laughing at but it's funny!

Ok, there's a story with this one. I didn't tell Alex to do this. I had made Isabella a bottle and Allen and Hunter called to see if I needed anything else from the store. Hunter was asking about ingredients for recipes and I was on the phone about 5 minutes. When I got off the phone, I found this on the couch. It was so sweet the way he was holding her and looking at her. He just took it upon himself to give Isabella the bottle since I was busy. He then carried her to her bed for a nap. (I put her in the crib).

This one is sweet because this is what Isabella and Hunter do--they climb on one another. They are both smiling and don't Hunter's teeth look GOOD ! He's very proud of them.

Again, no pictures of Shane. Sorry. If I could keep him home...........

Isabella's new toy

My mom got this for Isabella and she LOVES it. She can push it or sit down and play with it and it makes noise. Sometimes she gets going too fast and falls but she just gets back up and goes again. The thing that is funny about this picture is the background. There was no way to crop it out so I have to explain it. Her walker is between a couch and end table. I put it there so she won't crawl under the end table and escape. Well, she figured out how to crawl under and through the walker to get through the end table. So I had to put pillows there to block her from going under the walker. If she gets really determined she pulls the pillows out. She's such a smart girl! What you don't see is the other side of the room where I have a kitchen chair blocking between the other end table and coffee table we had to move. She figured out how to crawl through the rungs of the chair so I had to wrap the rungs with a blanket to keep her in. It's kinda funny. I know you are saying "just get a gate", but we are having trouble finding one that fits because of the baseboards. If the bottom fits the baseboard, then the top won't fit against the wall. This is just for the area going down the hallway. The area going from the living room to the kitchen is huge and very busy so I hate to put a gate there but I guess I'll have to. It will have to be one that we can open and walk through but that will also be a pain with how many times we walk through there. I wanted to post more pictures but the blog is not cooperating. I'll try again tomorrow.

Isabella's first movie

I forgot to mention in the last post about her first movie! On Tuesday the kids were out of school and Shane and Hunter were off doing their own thing. Alex wanted to go see a movie so we went to see "The Bee Movie". It wasn't very good in my opinion so I don't recommend it. Anyway, I put Isabella in her stroller and she watched the whole thing. She's such a good girl. I fed her some cheerios so that might have helped but I was proud of her. Alex wants to see "Fred Claus" so that may be her next one. Not much else going on. I have to post at least one picture so this one is from the other day.

Pictures of the Zoo

Me, Mary, Hunter, Alex, and Isabella went to the Cincinnati zoo over the kids' fall break. It was a little chilly but we had fun. It's a little different than the Louisville zoo. We couldn't get up close and personal with the animals so I didn't get a lot of good pictures. So i'll post some of the kids without animals in them.

Isabella went to the doctor for a check-up and shots on Monday. She did great and she grew 1 inch and gained 2 lbs in 6 weeks. I thought her clothes were fitting her better! Now if those top teeth would just pop through. They are sooooo close. Her "fangs" look like they'll come in first. She'll be my little vampire.

I'm counting down the days. I go back to work next wednesday and I'm dreading it. I know Isabella will be fine with the babysitter (Hi Ms. Tammy!). She's been going a few days for a few hours to get used to it. She's been fine with it so that makes going back easier.

My little Pumpkin

I actually have a picture of Shane. He's gone so much it's hard to take pictures of him.

Mocha giving Isabella a kiss

My little Pumpkin. It's a little big but who cares!

Me, Isabella, and Alex the Ninja

Isabella, Allen, and Alex

The ninja

We all had fun on Isabella's first Halloween. We went to our church where they were having "Trunk or Treat". People decorated their cars and the kids went around and got candy. Much easier and safer than walking around a neighborhood. Hunter had already left with a friend to help decorate so I don't have a picture of him. Isabella just strolled around and looked cute.

More pics with a little update thrown in

I LOVE her in this color. I never get tired of taking her picture.

How cute is this. Her smile melts me. She's like this ALL the time!

I love this color too. There really isn't a color that looks bad on her.

Isabella is feeling better from her cold. She still has a little stuffy nose but she's doing much better. Alex lost a tooth at school last week. Glad it was at school because I can't pull teeth. It grosses me out! Halloween is tomorrow so I'll be posting pics of costumes. I really do have 4 kids--honest. I'll try to give them equal picture time from now on. Right now the blogger is not being cooperative. Not much else going on. I go tomorrow to the lawyer to start the re-adoption process (Ky law). I think it's just a way for people to make more money. Stupid law! Then off to the social security office and vital statistics to get a foreign birth certificate. As if I haven't done enough paperwork already. Hopefully my next post will have EVERYONE in it!

MY adoption story

In the back: Me (the oldest), Sonya (middle one), Joyelle (Sonya's daughter she gave up for adoption), Judi (my birth mother)
In front: Mitzi (the youngest), Shannon (the next oldest), and Kim (family friend).


This is my adoption story. Most of you that read this blog know I was adopted. For those of you that didn't know that info, it's one reason adoption is near and dear to my heart. So here goes............My Mom decided to adopt a child after 2 miscarriages and a still born baby. They adopted me through the state when I was 4 months old. I have always known I was adopted but didn't really feel any differently. My mom went on to have my 2 more children of their own. To look at us, you wouldn't think I was adopted. Most of my friends never believed me until I got mom to verify it. I was very secure and never felt an "emptiness". The thought of finding my birth family never crossed my mind until I had my first child. I had a very tearful conversation with my Mom and the thought of hurting her really upset me. She said she would support me in whatever I decided to do. I didn't look at that time. I guess God felt like it wasn't the right time. I would have thoughts about it when Oprah would do a show on adoptees or something but that drive was never really there. One day in early 2002, something clicked and I wanted to look for my birth family. I wanted to know who I looked like and if I had any siblings. I had no desire to bad-mouth my birth mother. Heck, I didn't know if she was alive or if she wanted me to find her. Maybe I was a deep dark secret no one knew about. I felt strongly though that I needed to tell her that I wasn't mad at her, that I was OK, and that I had an amazing upbringing. I felt bad for my birth mother, wondering if she thought about me all the time and how I turned out. It was more for her sake that I looked. To make a short story even shorter, it only took me 4 days to find her. I was on a mission and I wasn't going to stop until I did. In Feb of 2002 we talked for the first time, on a Wed I think. We set up to meet that Saturday afternoon at my sister's house who happened to live in Georgetown. Well, Judi and my sister's were all there and we spent hours getting to know each other and trying to cram 34 years into a small amount of time. Fast forward to now, I am close to all of them. We talk often and get together when we can. It is the best thing I have done. I don't regret it at all. It was hard at first on my parents even though they wouldn't tell me that it was. I think they were worried that I would replace them but I reassured them that THEY were my parents and nothing was going to change that. They have since met Judi a couple of times and my sisters too. Everyone is OK with it now.

I'm writing this partly to tell you guys how comfortable I am with being adopted and tell you that it's not an everyday thought. Maybe it's my personality on how well I've dealt with it but I don't think so. I think it had everything to do with my parents. I am so glad they adopted me and I wouldn't change a thing. I just hope that I can do the same for Isabella. I want to make her feel so secure and loved that she doesn't dwell on being adopted and that it isn't a problem for her. I know I can do that.

I left a lot of the story out because of length but I hope you got the jist of it. i just wanted to share the wonderful birth mother and sisters that I have. I know I didn't give you any insight to their lives but that would take FOREVER to do 4 people. Just know that I am VERY PROUD to be part of their family. They never hesitated to take me in and make me a part of their lives. I love them for that.

My baby has a cold

I know, I know. She doesn't look like she has a cold. These were taken a couple of weeks ago when it was warm and sunny not cold and rainy like it is now. She wasn't sure what to think about the flowers. It was really hard to get her to sit still. I don't think she liked sitting in the grass. I thought the flowers would be a pretty background but Isabella didn't agree.

Anyway, I took Isabella to the doctor today to get checked out. She's been really congested for 2 days and really cranky. I would be too if I couldn't breathe. It's kinda hard to eat when you can only breathe through your mouth! The doctor put her on an antibiotic because her ears weren't totally clear and we're at the beginning of the cold. I've been suctioning out her nose (gross) and she was okay with it at first. But I've had to do it so much that now she HATES it. She knows whats coming when I get near her with a Kleenex and she cries. I can't have snot running down her face. So I've been giving her alot more TLC than usual. The doctor also said that her top 4 teeth were ready to come through. I'm sure that's part of the crankiness so I'm also giving her Motrin and using oragel. Seems to make her happy.

I can't bear to take a picture of her crying because it's so pitiful. Maybe I should for proof because she really NEVER cries. No one can believe how good she is. I'll see if I can snap a quick one.

No more braces! (and random pics)

Ok. I know the post says "braces", but you'll have to scroll to the bottom for that picture. I keep forgetting that the blog loads pictures from the bottom /up instead of top/down. This is VERY annoying so if anyone knows how to change this let me know. Anyway, I always like seeing pictures in posts so I had to leave you with some of the kids.

This is Alex's favorite thing to do--play with Isabella.

Isabella and Hunter on the couch. She's trying to get his nose.

This is THE picture I had wanted to post of Shane and Isabella first. It finally decided to load for me. This is the first time Shane got to see Isabella when we got home. He was spending the night with a friend on Sat when we got home. He worked on Sunday then school on Monday. So Monday night, he introduced her to football.

Again, Hunter and Isabella on the couch laughing.

Now, when Hunter was little, he had a gap between his front teeth. He had to much skin there and all the dentists said to wait and see if he permenant teeth pushed it together. Never happened. It didn't bother Hunter, just me. I wanted to do what I could to fix that gap. Hope that doesn't sound vain or shallow. His teeth were straight except for that. Anyway, the braces fixed the gap and last month he got the extra skin cut off. He now has perfect teeth! I let him stay home from school today to celebrate. We have to go back this afternoon to pick up his retainers.

On a side note, last Friday, we got Isabella's Certificate of Citizenship in the mail. She is officially a United States Citizen!

Our Foster Family

I've thought and thought about what to say about these WONDERFUL people. We met with them 3 of the 4 days we were in Guatemala. You couldn't help but see the love the whole family had for Isabella. I know that it's that love that made Isabella the perfect baby that she is. Isabella is so sociable and loving and I owe that to the foster family. This is the only family Isabella knew for the first 8 months and it was so hard to take her away. For those of you that don't know, we had only a few hours notice before we flew to Guatemala. The foster family only had the same notice instead of having a week or so to prepare. The last hours the foster family had with her were spent getting last minute paperwork done and going to appts that were required. They didn't get quality time with her at the end to say goodbye. That was really hard for me because I really felt for them and what they must be going through. In the last picture, they had come to the hotel after much confusion (long story) and I had already put Isabella in bed. I got her up so they could spend time with her. That's why she's in pajamas. It was so worth it. We also got to spend time with the whole family the morning we left. We treated to a buffet breakfast and hired a translator to help. We spent 2 hours talking and all of them getting their turn with Isabella. This was SO priceless and we have a lot of pictures and video to keep. Saying goodbye was really hard for us all. I'm glad we only had to do that once because I don't think my heart could take it again. This family will always be a part of our family and we hope to go back to Guatemala with our other kids to visit them in the near future. I know they see this blog and I hope they don't get mad for posting about them. That's why I left out names. We love them very much and they hold a very special place in our hearts.

Some of the grandparents

I don't know who this man is but for some reason I love this picture. I love how he and Isabella are looking at each other.

This is my Dad. He wouldn't look at the camera so you can't see his face.

This is my Mom. We were at a church picnic. Isabella was one of the main attractions. Nana loved showing her off.

This is the last grandparent I have left. This is my Mom's mom and I call her MeMe. She was so excited during the whole process. She had pictures of Isabella by her bed and she would kiss them before she went to bed and when she got up. She was so excited to finally see Isabella in person.

This is Allen's mom, Mary. This is right after we got home with her. I don't have a picture of Allen's dad so I'll have to post one later.

update and pics (update at the bottom of post)

My Mom lives behind a horse farm so when we go there we like to go see the horses. They come right up to the fence to be petted. Isabella didn't know what to think of them. She didn't cry but kept her eyes glued to them.

This is my cousin Rusty who lives in Washington state. We all had fun with the horses.

Again, she doesn't know what to think of the horses!

Just a random picture. She's probably laughing at Alex.

Sorry it's been so long between postings. It's been kinda busy. On friday Shane got his wisdom teeth taken out so I was babying him all day. On saturday, I was going a little stir crazy so I decided to go shopping. Allen's mom, Mary, Hunter, Alex, Isabella, and I went shopping all day. Isabella was wonderful of course. Sunday, we went to my Mom's house because my uncle Dexter and my cousin, Rusty, were getting ready to leave to go back home to Washington state. They drove here to visit and it was great seeing them. They are so cool and I wish they lived closer. We've been trying to plan a trip out to Washington so maybe next spring break or summer. For those of you that haven't been there, it really is beautiful. Maybe I can get Rusty to send me some pictures to post. Today we are finally getting some much needed rain so we're just hanging out in the house. Tomorrow I'll post pics of the grandparents with Isabella!!