Fall is Here!

We're so glad that fall seems to finally be here! I love this time of year and we've been taking advantage of the nice weather by spending lots of time outside. We recently headed down to Forsyth Park to hear one of the bands in town for the Savannah Jazz Festival. We took a picnic dinner and had a great time! This past Wednesday through Saturday, B and Poppa came down for a visit. Thursday we picked up lunch from Zunzi's (you must try it if you're in Savannah!) and walked over to one of the squares to eat. It was sunny and only in the upper 70's-- just perfect! We had another great lunch downtown on Friday and also got in some yard work.

A few hours after Mom and Dad left, Jonathan and his girlfriend April drove down from Charleston to spend the night. It was great to watch football and catch up with Jonathan, and we loved getting to meet April. Can't wait to see you both again soon!

Sunday afternoon was very relaxing. Ben played golf and Izzy took a 3-hour nap, which gave me time to rest and do a few things around the house. She seemed a little fussy and tired all weekend and wanted to have her pacifier a lot more than usual, and Monday morning we discovered why. Izzy's first tooth is here! It's her lower right front one and it looks like the left one won't be far behind.

Here are some pictures from the past week, including quite a few of our backyard photo shoot with the pumpkin. :) Tomorrow we're headed to Greenville to celebrate Ben's brother Peter's wedding. I'm sure we'll have lots of good pictures to share next week!

Enjoying Veggies!

Last Saturday morning Izzy and I visited a local farmers' market and bought a sweet potato, butternut squash, green beans, pears, plums and peaches. I had read how easy it is to make your own baby food and figured I'd give it a try. I baked or steamed each food and then pureed it and froze it in ice cube trays. Each cube of food is about one ounce, so we just take out a cube each night for her to try. Her pediatrician said to eat each new food for 4 days to make sure she doesn't have an allergic reaction before going on to the next food. We decided to start with green beans and as you can tell from this picture, Izzy's first night didn't go very well! She was enjoying her cereal but as soon as I tried to sneak in a little of the green beans, she started crying and wanted nothing more to do with the meal. The next night, though, it was like she's been eating green beans all her life and she thought nothing of it. Wednesday night we tried butternut squash and she really likes it! Tonight we'll try sweet potatoes and then move on to the fruits later this week. We have the feeling our little Chunk won't find many foods she doesn't like!

We've had a great weekend walking downtown and eating out Friday night and then getting together with friends to watch the Clemson game (Go Tigers!) yesterday. Now we're relaxing after church and thinking about the chores we need to do around the house and yard. We'll get to them eventually... :)

Here are a few pictures and a little video from the week.

Playing on the sofa- she's getting very good at supporting herself

All clean after a bath- still loves bathtime

She's really enjoying her exersaucer!

After church today

Cereal

We went in for Izzy's 4-month well baby check on September 3, and she's up to 19 pounds, 14 ounces and 26.5 inches! I thought for sure she was going to break the 20-pound mark, but not quite yet. :) Her pediatrician likes to have babies start solids on the early side of the 4 to 6 month range, so we decided to try cereal. I was extra agreeable to his suggestion since Izzy has started waking up several times a night lately and seems not quite satisfied with breastmilk anymore, so I was hoping cereal might help. Her first experience went pretty well. She was a little uncertain about the spoon and having the cereal in her mouth at first, but she's quickly getting the hang of it. Last night was her 4th meal and she really seemed to enjoy it, holding her mouth open before the next bite was even on the spoon! Check out the last picture in the slideshow to see her reaction when the bowl was empty... We had to make her some more! And best of all (I hope I'm not jinxing myself!), she finally did sleep through the night again! We'll keep going with cereal through the week and may try green beans this weekend. Stay tuned!

We stayed in town this weekend and had a great long Labor Day weekend. (A 5-day one for me since I don't work Thursday and Friday anyhow!) Saturday we went to a very fun party at the Thompsons where Izzy got to meet several new friends around her age and Ben and I got to watch the first Clemson game of the season. The Thompsons know how to throw a party and had great food plus a projector and screen to show the non-televised game. We had an awesome time! Then Sunday we went to a baby shower for Mandy and Jesse, who are expecting their second child, a boy this time, in about a month. More delicious food and good company, plus the fun of seeing them open their gifts. I love baby showers! :)

A Busy August!

Hello all! It's been awhile! We've been keeping busy with some great family time and trips. In mid August we headed up the coast to Litchfield for a long weekend with B, Poppa, and Uncles Jonathan and Andrew. We stayed at the Taylors' beautiful house and enjoyed the pool and beach throughout our stay. I haven't been able to take Izzy to the aquatic center much lately so I wasn't sure if she would remember the feel of the water, but she did just fine swimming in the pool with us. The weather was perfect for her most of the trip-- cooler and overcast. We were all able to get some sun the last day though, so it was a nice combination! We ate at some great restaurants, cooked wonderful meals, and the guys enjoyed playing golf one morning. Perfect trip!

August 23 we gathered with family and friends to celebrate Isabelle's dedication at church. She was by far the most vocal of the babies being dedicated ("Make a joyful noise unto the Lord"!) and ended up napping through most of the lunch afterwards, but it was a very fun and special day. Thank you so much to the grandparents and everyone who came to share in the day with us.

We drove up to the Greensboro area the last weekend in August to attend the wedding of one of Ben's cousins, Rachel. She was a beautiful bride and it was fun to see much of the Gillette family and have them meet Izzy. It was also great to be able to stay with Jessica and Matt in Apex and see their house and town, and best of all, Jess' pregnant belly! Can't wait to meet little James soon!

Here are some pictures from all that's been going on. We hope you enjoy!

Family Visits

Hi Everyone! Sorry it's been awhile since we've posted. We've been busy with some wonderful family visits. Ruth Ann (Grandma), Heather and Anna came to see us one weekend recently. Izzy had so much fun spending time with the Williams ladies and especially enjoyed showing them how she likes to swim! We've been going about three times a week and she is getting more comfortable with it each time. She really seems to like watching the water aerobics classes and prefers being on her tummy to her back.

I started back to work on July 20 so Izzy began going to daycare. Ben and I like the ladies who work in her room very much and I think it's going to be a great arrangement. I'm lucky to only work three days a week right now, so Izzy and I still have time for things like swimming and story time at the library. Dropping her off was very hard, but it's easier each day and we think she'll benefit from the interaction with other babies.

B arrived Wednesday evening to spend a long weekend with us. Poppa is still in Vietnam but we enjoyed getting to talk to him on Skype. Isabelle coos her hellos and I love yous to him! We've had a great few days filled with Supper Club, shopping, swimming and going to story time. Unfortunately Izzy came down with her first cold Friday night so we've stayed home working on little projects and cooking. She's doing better today and hopefully will continue to feel better.

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks. It's amazing how much Izzy is changing! Hope you enjoy!

Happy Fourth of July!

We've had a lot going on lately! Isabelle and I made a trip to Spartanburg week before last and we got to visit with a lot of people. Mom and Dad hosted a get-together one night, Gramps and several aunts, uncles and cousins stopped by, and quite a few of my high school and college friends came to visit too! It was a busy but wonderful weekend. Izzy did really well in the car and slept most of the trip both ways.

Since getting back home to Savannah we've stayed busy. Izzy had her 2-month check-up on July 1 and is weighing in at 16 pounds, 8 ounces and is 25 inches long. She's healthy and growing fast! She also had 3 shots and only cried a little.

We hope you all had a happy July 4th! We went to a fun cookout at our neighbors' house. Izzy was passed around all evening and enjoyed being held by so many friends. She fell asleep just before the guys put on their fireworks show and slept through the whole thing without being bothered by the noise at all. She then came home and slept almost 10 hours!!!! We haven't repeated that yet, but she's making it between 7.5 and 8.5 hours which is great with us!

Some other firsts from the past few days... We dropped her off in the church nursery for the first time without me staying to work and she did great. We also went to the Aquatic Center to swim yesterday and she really seemed to enjoy it. We stayed in the water about 20 minutes bobbing and moving around. She even let me lie her on her back a few times. I loved it that she loved it! :)

We hope you enjoy these photos!

Latest pictures

It's been a pretty laid back week here. We've had fun visiting with new friend Charlotte (3 weeks younger than Izzy) and with Gracie, who is almost exactly one year older than Izzy. I'm sure they'll all be great friends as they grow up!

Ben had a wonderful first Father's Day! Izzy gave him some beach chairs and an umbrella so we can start spending more time at Tybee later this summer. The dogs were more practical in their gift-giving and opted for new undershirts. So thoughtful.

And the big news... Izzy slept for 7 hours last night! Yay!! :)

Here are some pictures from the week. Hope you enjoy!