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.