Two Year Old Words

Isabella's silly words:

Uh-fwhys: butterflies
Wonderwears: underwear
"I Got Move Momma, I Got move"
Glubs: gloves
Meemster/Mimi: her blanker
Phineas Sperb: Phineas & Ferb

McDonalns!! (McDonalds) I libe there one time!!!

Ouch Momma! I got sharped!

Top 11 of 2011

We had an awesome Christmas break...I spent time with every person I really love from WV to Pgh to OH! It was so fun! So as a toast to 2011, here are the highlights of the year...especially since the year ended a billion times better than it started! (in no particular order...)

1. Kinsey Mae!
2. NKOTBSB with my sister!
3. Land contract on the house!
4. Photography opportunities!
5. Being back in a house!
6. Trips with just Justin!
7. Malia can read and ride a bike!
8. My grandma turning 80!
9. Running 10 miles with my BFF!
10.Girls weekend and vacations!
11.10 years of marriage!!!

My Silly Girls

Here was a little conversation I over heard between Pressley and Isabella:

Pressley to Isabella: Do you like Justin Beiber?
Isabella: No
Pressley: Good! Me neither!
Isabella: Justin Beiber have cooties!
Pressley: Yeah, he's gross!

For the Love of Monkeys {I Heart Faces Challenge-Laughter}

So my photography blog has been down for a while, but I couldn't resist entering a photo of my newly turned 2 year old for this weeks I Heart Faces "Laughter" challenge. I did a photo shoot in our front yard with our sweet Isabella who turned two this month. She loves sock monkeys, so it was obvious that a monkey themed shoot was what we were going to do! I thought the photos turned out to be so much fun! Make sure to check out all the other "bust a gut moments" over at I Heart Faces!

My Isabella-Bee is 2!!

Happy Birthday my sweet Isabella! I can not believe you are two years old! You are such a two year old too! Your favorite words are "I do it!", "Self" and "Mine"! You are a momma's girl! You love to tell your sisters that I'm YOUR momma! You love princesses (or de de's as you call them), Dora...although you've never watched much of it...but when you can't do something you tell us, "oh man!". You love your mimi (blanket) and Ah Ah (sock monkey). You are always asking "Wha's dat?" and tell us that you are "Cared Cookie Monster" because his voice box growled at you one time when the batteries were dying and it scared you. You love your sisters to pieces, except when they do something you don't like and then you tell them, "No, no ma'am". You give the sweetest kisses, have the BEST manners of anyone I know and you love to sing and dance...especially to country music and Lemonade Mouth. I can't believe how fast you are growing and how much you are learning...and I'm so glad you finally have hair! You are a sweet, sweet baby...though not so much anymore and I love you more than you'll ever know. Happy 2nd Birthday!

Lessons from my Four-Year-Old

My Pressley bug is one of the most caring, self-less people I know. Two days ago, she came to me and asked if she could take some money out of her piggy bank to give to people who needed new clothes. So we emptied out her coins and she pulled $20 in change out and asked what she could do with it. That motivated her big sister to do the same and together my two girls decided to give $40 to Operation Christmas Child and send two packages to kids who won't get much for Christmas.

Going back a bit further...

In January I mentioned to Pressley something about growing her hair out and donating it to Locks of Love. We got on the website and looked at photos of children who had received "new hair" after loosing their own from sicknesses. Pressley decided right then she wanted to help these other children and grow her out, then cut it off. After 10 months of growing it out, she did just that. Jamie, our hair dresser cut about 9 inches off Pressley's hair today. Pressley BEAMED the entire time. She could not contain her smiles and excitement. I am so proud of her. Her willingness to give away what she has amazes me and continues to teach me everyday.

Happy Birthday to Me: A New Year and New Attitude

This past year and a half has been a roller coaster ride, to say the least and I have spent most of that time being angry and regretting it. I've been angry about selling a house I love. I've been angry about it taking forever to sell. I've been angry about how Justin's quitting his last job was handled. I've been angry at God for not showing up when I thought he should. I've been angry that *my* plans didn't happen the way *I* wanted them to. It's been a frustrating year and I have spent most of that time sulking and obsessing about what I want to change about it. It's not a good place to be. I truly have a lot to be thankful for...and rather than living in that misery and enjoying all that surrounds me, I have decided I need to pick myself up and start again. Time goes to quickly to waste it being angry. Malia started school this year. Pressley starts next year and Isabella turns TWO next month! I am not going to waste anymore time, but instead enjoy the moment. I have an enormous amount of things to be thankful for...and I've spent the last few weeks really thinking about that and making this list, that I will to continue to add to. We're in a great place as a family right now. I really enjoy where we are, and the opportunities that have become available to our family. So, here's my open-ended list of things I am over the top thankful for...I will continue to revisit it and add to it when I think of new things...


*support from a family in our old church while we were unemployed
*Isabella's UTI and emergency room trip not happening until after we got our health insurance back
*only spending 6 weeks apart as a family...the house still hasn't sold and this could have made almost 7 months of being apart
*a free place to live (together)
*good friends and a supportive church in Michigan
*living next door to 5 awesome kids that my girls LOVE and play with all the time
*knowing teachers in the school system
*Malia has an awesome principal
*medical reimbursements for an impossible to meet deductible
*beautiful Michigan skies
*planting a garden this summer
*having a house for sale and NOT worrying about making sure it's perfect for showings-it's empty!
*living somewhere flat enough I can run outside
*training for my first 10 mile run with my best friend Krissie
*photography
*being close to the lake/beach
*my husband's support in all I do, because I couldn't do it without him and wouldn't want to
*my girls' love for each other
*tears from Malia if there is no time to snuggle at night
*the frogs that live in our window wells
*a toy room
*Isabella's ever growing vocabulary and polite manners
*a new niece or nephew for Christmas
*a HUGE yard for my girls to safely play in
*a swing set that was not broken in a wind storm
*sunny, sunny skies all summer and quickly passing storms
*vacations with family
*tons of room in the house for lots of people to visit and kids to play
*spray paint
*Malia learning to ride her bike
*reliving my childhood for the second time and seeing NKOTB with my sister
*finishing a 10 mile run
*signing closing papers on our land contract 10.6.11, a year after listing it with a realtor
*breathing room
*Kristin interning here next semester
*family willing to drive a long distance to help out
*a weekend get-away with Justin (this month and next)
*Justin's flexible schedule
*Pressley's crazy hard questions about God
*Pressley asking Jesus to come live in her heart 10.4.11
*Photography jobs--lots and lots of them!
*An awesome radio station that reminds me of "The Great 98"
*Good friends and mentors
*Birthday cards and phone calls from long-time friends
*Weddings
*Giggling girls
*Logging 300 miles of running
*Ninja birthday cakes
*Celebrating 15 years of being with Justin (since dating)