Everything Happens for a Reason!!

Heads shook with disbelief when we came home with Molly.

Laughter was really the only thing that came out of our families mouths!

Well my mom did say, "So will we ever get an actual grandchild or just grand-dogs?"

Knowing exactly what they were thinking because we were thinking it too!!

What the hell did we just do!!

And truthfully, the day after we sat in our den questioning what we had just done and thought about giving her back or trying to find a good home for her!

But, we loved her instantly and knew there was no way we could let her go!

There was a reason Molly was in Petsmart that day!

There was a reason we saw her and fell in love with

her.

And there was a reason why we adopted her and brought her home to join our family!

The REASON being, IZZY!

Sure she can be a handful, but she is a lab!

It amazes me that someone just let her go!

But at the same time I am so thankful, she truly has been a blessing to our family!!

Molly is a perfect family dog!!

Guard Dogs!

These are our guard dogs!

They sit at the window and watch!

They bark!

And than they go back to watching!

This happens day after day!

Molly especially likes to sit at the window and watch. If the door is open she will lay there watching and snoozing.
I do feel safer because we have them!

It does get annoying at times when they bark and you have ABSOLUTELY NO idea why they are barking.

But..........................

I mean seriously I would not want to mess with a house that has 2 big dogs!

I used to think that if we would have an intruder they would just lick them to death.

But my feelings are changing!
At times when they bark their hair stands up, they are serious, like they are saying this is my house and my family, stay away!

Just one of the reasons I love them so much!

We are blessed to have them for so many reasons!!

Moving forward!!

Today we actually got her to move forwards instead of her moving backwards or in circles!! Once she really gets it, she is never going to stop moving!!

Favorites of Christmas 2011

Some of my favorite pictures from Christmas this year!

A very special Christmas as it was Izzy's first!

Duke and Molly=Best Friends

Izzy opening her gift from her 2nd cousin Anna!
Love her face here!

Present opening is hard work! She needed to cool off so she could continue!!

Photo shoot at Grammies work!

Who is this guy???

Papa and Grandma with all 5 of their girls!!

Emily and Nicole feeding Izzy!

Izzy with Auntie Katy and Uncle Brandon on Christmas morning!

Izzy trying to play with her very tired puppies!! Love how hard my dad is laughing in the background!

Grandpa and Izzy!! Love this picture!

Izzy and Nicole!

Sitting on Santa's lap with her 3 of her cousins! Love how Izzy could care less! And I LOVE LOVE how Grace pretended to care! Such a SWEET girl!

Papa and Izzy snuggling!

Molly, Auntie Holly, Izzy, and Duke!

Playing with Lil D with Auntie Holly!

Santa Land with Auntie Katy!

So thankful that we were able to make it home and be with our families once again for Christmas. I loved being able to see Izzy with our families.

Truly the best gift I could of received!

~Christmas 2011~

Moving down!

So today was kind of a big day in our house. Such a little thing really, but to me it seems huge because Izzy is just getting to be so big!

This picture explains a lot. This morning I had no choice but to finally break down and lower her crib. She is starting to really pull herself up onto things. I kept mentioning it to Joey and my mom that we really need to do it, but I just kept putting it off because it kind of is a big milestone. I feel like she is moving down in the crib but is just growing to fast for my heart to handle.

This morning at 3AM, she woke up talking away and ready to play. She does this quite often lately. She talks, plays, moves around and turns her little safari on. Sometimes we just let her and other times we will go in and reposition her. Well I had gone in once and found her just sitting their playing with her nuk, chatting away. I laid her back down and I went back to bed. After about 15 minutes of her chatting, she is suddenly crying. And it is not her normal whine it was a legitimate cry. I jump out of bed and run to her room and she is trying her hardest to pull herself up and I think she started crying because she got stuck. So I reposition her and the entire time I am pondering if I should just take her back to bed with me because I am not lowering her bed at 345 A.M. but yet I am nervous about leaving her there. Well I end up leaving her in her bed but I was on high alert for any big movement. She was of course fine but this morning I knew their was no more procrastinating. Her bed needed to be lowered. And I did it. And it looks different. But I feel better because I know she is safer and I can relax without worrying.

As I was lowering her bed I remember not that long ago putting it together with her in my belly and now I am having to lower it for her with her playing right there. The time is just moving so fast.

So yeah, not a huge milestone, but kind of a reality check for me. She is not going to stay my baby forever. In my heart yes but not in real time.

This video I think is a little better and at the end she is not spitting up her dinner!! Just love this little girl so much! Everyday I swear she gets more fun than the next!!

BEST TIMES OF MY LIFE!!!!!

Izzy is clapping!!!

So Izzy got this Fisher Price puppy for Christmas from her Grandma Ross and she absolutely loves it!! Well it is also teaching her how to clap especially with the help of Daddy!! Here she is after she went from being on her belly to sitting. We started to clap and yelled go Izzy and this is what she started to do!! All we have to do is say "yea Izzy" and start clapping and we get this response!! Love it!!

How our Peanut has changed!

Izzy started off literally the size of a peanut!

She was so tiny, even I was nervous holding her.

At 5lbs 13 oz. and 19.5in long, I can't imagine holding a baby any smaller.

June 3, 2011~Not even 24 hours old!!
1 month old

2 months old

3 months old

And

At 7 months old, Izzy is weighing in at 19 lbs and is 26.5 in long.

Looking at this picture compared to day 1 or even at 1 month old, it almost doesn't look like the same baby!

Every month she looks just a little bit different and a little bit older!

She is growing MUCH to fast for me!!!

But it is fun to see the changes in her as she grows!!

I just love this Peanut to the moon and back, on repeat!!

New Years Resolutions

Every year I usually make some kind of new years resolution that I end up not keeping. It is usually something generic like losing weight, something totally unoriginal. Of course I still want to lose weight, I have a few extra baby pounds I would love to get rid of, but that would be a goal no matter what.

But this year, my resolution is a little different, it is to blog more. I truly want to make more of an effort to document our lives and what is happening in them. Especially with Izzy. She is just growing so fast and does so many new things in a day. And I want to remember them.

Izzy is finally starting to fall into a routine, giving me some extra time during the day, which will give me some time to make this more of a priority. It is something I always think about doing, but when it comes to actually doing it I usually don't and I get upset. But there is no reason why I can't find a little time every couple of days to sit down and blog a bit. It is something I know I will treasure and what a gift to Izzy someday.

So, YES I can DO THIS!!

And we are 8 days into the new year and this is my second post!

Not a bad start!!

What more could I possibly want???

NOTHING!!

This Christmas I had everything I could possibly want and more!

IZZY

She was the only gift I needed and was absolutely PERFECT!!!

She made this the BEST Christmas EVER!