Isabelle's first experience with rice cereal

I know she gagged a little at first but compared to Riley's first time with rice cereal I would call this a total success. Riley had one little taste and cried and didn't want to open her mouth for anything after the first bite. I think Izzy was definitely ready though because she will open her mouth if anything (and I mean ANYTHING) comes remotely toward it. She also loves chewing on things and loves to watch us eat. Keep checking back as I hope to get a video on here of her giggling in the next few days if I can!

What a week...

I have been keeping very busy the past couple weeks. The big move is now less than a week away and I am dreading it more than ever. We had a nice General Confrence weekend with the exception that Travis had to work all day Saturday then came home just to turn around and leave for Priesthood session. At least Darcy and Adam visited for the second Saturday session to break up the monotony of my days and to play with the girls. I LOVE COMPANY especially this late in tax season! This week has kept me busy with more packing while juggling the girls daily schedules. It is a rare moment that they nap very long at the same time. But I cherish those moments. I feel like a bad mom lately but I have to get packed up!! Travis worked a couple 11 hour days this week....add in his commute to and from work and that makes for over 12 hours gone. It is a long day for him but it is long for me as well. Tax season is almost over which is nice but then a whole new set of challenges will come along. I think he will begin studying for his CPA exams soon. AND he has been talking about golfing for weeks now that we have warmer weather...so it is only a matter of days until he decides to go check out the courses :P Oh JOY. I get kind of used to him not being around. But I do miss him so much. Once tax season ends and he is around I am sure that will take getting used to again (in a good way) plus the girls and I will be very glad to have our daddy and husband back. Riley misses him so much all day. She is so excited when he comes through the door at the end of the day, just like the song "I'm so Glad When Daddy Comes Home." One highlight of our week is now that the writers strike is over we finally got to see a new episode of The Office. We sure like our TV but I know we watch too much of it. Some of our other favorites are The Biggest Loser, Survivor, and American Idol. And that is only a few. We look so forward to May when "So You Think You Can Dance" starts back up! Riley is as funny as ever. Her newest obsessions are Nemo, Happy Feet, and monkeys because of the movie "Tarzan". She goes around saying "Ooo ooo ooo, ah ah" like a monkey. It is soooo cute! Riley also got to go to a friend's house this week! My friend Amanda offered to take Riley Wednesday afternoon so I got get some stuff done. She has a daughter Riley's age so it was perfect! Thanks again, Amanda! And Riley continues to grow and learn and play with her sister. That's all that is new with her. Isabelle is 4 MONTHS OLD ALREADY! She got her four month shots yesterday and has two sore little legs. I don't notice that much of a difference in her fussiness because she is a fussy girl anyway but she is growing out of that stage. The shots have affected her appetite but I decided to give her rice cereal tonight for the first time anyway. I will post a video clip of that asap. She weighs 14 pounds 5 ounces putting her in the 75th percentile for weight and she was in the 97th for her height! I have a big girl! She has some really chunky thighs! They are adorable. I also hope to catch her laughing soon and video that for on here. Today I went over to a friend's house to learn how to beautify my blog and so cannot take credit for knowing what I am doing...I had a good teacher and I was clueless before now. Thanks Dana! Anyway, that is what's new with us. Hopefully the move doesn't kill me and you will soon hear that we are settled and happy in Rexburg again. Enjoy the following photos! Izzy happy as can be before her shots...
...and NOT so happy afterwards. But hey, at least she isn't crying here!
It is so hard to get her to say "cheese" these days. She used to do it for me though!
She is still the cutest toddler I know anyway though, even when she doesn't smile.

I love Riley in pigtails. I have been putting them in her hair almost daily lately.
Isabelle fell asleep propped up in a semi-reclining position on the couch. So funny!

Looking dazed....with that darn "Paci" in her mouth. I know, I need to just take it away! But not until after we are settled in the new place. That will be an adjustment for her. Can't change too much at once!
Half-naked, freshly bathed Riley!
My little Izzy-boo! (That is what I call her)

And now for great, new Riley sleeping pics. We have made the transition from crib to toddler bed by taking the front of the crib off and putting up the half-rail. She actually does quite well in it; staying in bed when we put her there. My fear was that she would get out and play all night. It took only a day or two for her to get it though. One morning this is how we found her: fast asleep, DEAD asleep. Travis thought it was hilarious because we could say she fell asleep saying her prayers, kneeling there by her bed. Beautiful baby
Goofy Girl

My Celebrity look-alikes

Dana tagged me...so here it is. I am not real fond of the picture of myself but oh well. I tried a few different ones and it comes up with some of the most interesting people and by interesting I mean weird...and I didn't like the matches. Anyway...am I supposed to tag people now? Eh...maybe later :P

I needed a break...

from packing. Yes, I have begun the process...and I am so over it already. I am sick of moving. This will be our 6th place in the 3 years we have been married. We have just over two weeks but considering it is nearing the end of tax season Travis is busy working long hours and I am on my own. This move is coming at the worst time but we didn't want to pay more rent where we are because we are getting a much better deal over in Rexburg. So yeah, I am packing up... But like I said, I needed a break. My kids have been neglected today since I am trying to pack but luckily they both had decent naps. I think Riley is coming down with something. She definitely isn't herself. She is SO whiny when she doesn't feel well. She has cried all day. Where is a grandma when you need one??? I have posted some new pictures. It is getting more and more difficult to get Riley to cooperate for pictures. I think she is sick of the camera. And she is too busy to sit still. Anyway, if there are no new pics in the next few weeks, you know it is because I am busy packing and cleaning... blah. Isabelle spends a lot of time in her swing. She loves it and it is a life saver.

I finally have some pictures of me with the kids. This is a rarity.
Mommy's girls And here is one of Travis and I together, another rarity. I took it myself since we have no recent pics of us together.
I love snapping pictures of my girls sleeping.

The only problem is I wake them up half the time. The flash is hard to sleep through.

Isabelle hanging onto the toy, sleeping. Sweet little girl! It is hard to capture her smile still...but we see it all the time!

Little girls, sweet giggles, and a very Happy Easter

Thought I would get on here and give a little update. Last Wednesday I got Isabelle to laugh for the first time. And luckily Travis was home to witness it! YAY!!! Since then we still really have to work to get giggles out of her but we are successful a couple of times a day. I LOVE baby laughter. And I especially love the laughter of my own children. Corny as it sounds, it makes my heart smile. Or I smile and get this warm feeling inside, you know...whatever. Riley is showing more and more interest in her little sister every day. I tried to catch a picture of Riley giving Izzy a kiss but I couldn't get the timing right. Isabelle is sleeping through the night now (most nights, at least). She will sleep a good 5-6 hours minimum. But on good nights I can sleep 7-8 hours. YAY. More smiles. She can be so sweet and mellow but then can change on a dime. She just definitely knows what she wants and what she likes as I have said before. Easter was fun. Brad and Alison were here and we colored eggs Saturday night. Riley had an egg hunt with some other little kids that my friends and I put together in Rexburg on Saturday afternoon. It was a real success and a hit with the kids. While Riley is at a fun age and did well picking up eggs and putting them in her basket, I know the next few years will be even more fun as she gets a little older. The Easter Bunny really spoiled Riley. Not so much with candy but she got a lot of little toys and trinkets that she loves so she has been really entertained the past couple days. The most exciting thing about Easter is that cousin Hailee got a new baby sister. So our girls got a new cousin and we got a new neice. YAY! Camryn Jade was born at 2:40 am Sunday morning. Grandma and Grandpa Anderson now have four grandkids and they are all girls! Meanwhile both dads (John and Travis) want sons so bad! Maybe someday... HOPEFULLY, right guys?? The first picture below is of Hailee with her new sister Camryn. Hailee has been so looking forward to becoming a sister. We hope the adjustment is a smooth and easy one for her and her parents. Congratulations, guys...We can't wait to see you again and to meet Camryn!

SOO stinkin' cute! She gets prettier everyday and sometimes I can't believe she is mine! We make cute kids, what can we say? Travis has said we are done but then he says, "Probably not, we make too cute of kids to waste it!"
Sisterly love. Isabelle LOVES her sister. She likes to watch her play and rarely takes her eyes off Riley if she is in the room. And as I said, Riley is becoming more aware of Isabelle also. It will be fun that they have each other to play with in the years to come.Isabelle LOVES gumming on her hands. She chomps her fist or fingers a lot. Riley never did that but she had a pacifier (and still does, unfortunately). We have, however, managed to lose (and I mean it's really lost) one of the two she had. One down, one to go. Isabelle has never taken to a pacifier. It looks like we will have more trouble losing fingers than pacifiers though. I don't even want to think about it. Beautiful Big Blue eyesYummy fingers again.
Dress Riley wore for Easter. Thanks Grandma Barb. We put a shirt under it because it is still to cold for no sleeves. And it's more modest ;) Somehow we managed to not get a picture of Izzy in her Easter dress. Some mom I am! I used to take pictures of everything. Now I am lucky to get the ones I do. Isabelle trying out the walker...she's still not quite tall enough...or old enough. The age recommendation on it is 4 months. Close enough.Just look how long her hair is getting!

Just playing around

It's been a couple weeks...

...and I don't have a whole lot of anything going on. No new news to share. At least nothing that I feel is important or significant enough. So let's see, what to say? I guess I am on here just to post a couple new pictures. The girls are doing well. They are both growing and learning so much. Riley is getting smarter by the day and can be quite a challange at times. Izzy is a challenge but in a very different way. She is slowly growing out of her fussiness it seems. But maybe I am just so used to it. It's not like she is impossible or anything but she has her moments. I think often times when she is fussing it is just because she has a burp that she needs to get out. Sometimes it takes her forever to burp. Other times that she fusses I believe it is just because she knows exactly what she wants or how she wants to be held. Basically, if she doesn't like something, you will know! We had a pretty good weekend. We went to see Horton Hears a Who on Saturday night. Yes, we took both kids. They did fairly well. I thought it would be a train wreck; and while they weren't prefect I cannot say it was bad. The movie was kind of silly and cute but there was a strange part or two. There was one part where it flips into that Japanese-type anime and it was quite weird. Sunday we spent the entire day in Shelley because Trav's cousin CJ gave his farewell talk. He is leaving in April to serve a mission in Russia. So we spent the day eating good food and hanging out with family. I am including a few new pictures of the girls below. I haven't taken many lately. But I do have a good story to go along with the couple of Riley. When Riley was about 10 or 11 months old she found a piece of chocolate candy and put it in her mouth...my eyes were only off of her for a few minutes or so but with those short minutes and one piece of candy she made a royal mess. See picture #1 below. And that is just her, I am not including pictures of the carpet or aything else that got covered in chocolate. Now fast forward to yesterday. Riley is just a week shy of 19 months and we have a similar incident. I made no-bake cookies yesterday morning. They were sitting on wax paper on the kitchen counter. Travis was showering, I was in the other bathroom getting ready to head to Shelley for church...and Riley once again was unsupervised. And while it was only a matter of minutes...she is tall enough to reach things on the kitchen counter. She had been upstairs in her room but in the time we took our eyes off her she went downstairs. AND helped herself to the cookies. And so the pictures that follow the first picture are of Riley the chocolate mess. At first she seemed embarassed for me to snap a photo, the next one she actually smiled for, and by the third she was LAUGHING at me because she could see I wasn't very happy with her. What a little devil! After things like this are over and cleaned up it is easy to see the humor. But when I have the mess before me to clean I am not so happy. Also, I caught Riley at the top of the steps heading back to her beadroom, when I was coming out of my room. Which leads us to believe that mid-cookie snatching she realized, "Uh-oh. I am going to be in trouble so I am going to go back up to my room and act like nothing has happened...and Mom will never know I was eating her fresh cookies." She actually thinks she can outsmart me. I love it. She is pretty smart. And I know she will be trying to get away with stuff time and again in the years to come...oh joy. And enjoy the photos. :)
Picture #1

"Oh man, not that darn camera again..."Ok, I guess I could smile for this. Totally loving the fact that she got away with this. Or not necessarily got away with it but she DID get to eat cookies! And yes, she really was laughing at me.

At least she only had ONE whole cookie and just touched a couple others.Sweet little Isabelle