The Girls

Daddy with his GIRLS!
Ireland Faith
Zonked out!!!

Things have been busy around here lately. We're getting more used to having 2 kids instead of just the one. Really the only part that I found to be taking some getting used to is when I have both girls by myself and we're going shopping or running errands. Having to make sure that Isabelle doesn't dart off when we're in the parking lot and I'm getting both out of the car is a challenge. Though I haven't had to chase her or go looking too far for her yet! Isabelle seems to love her sister more and more as the days go on. She always looks for her when she gets up in the morning, loves to give her kisses, and will mimic EVERYTHING I do with Ireland (scary to know that she listens and watches so closly. What a GREAT responsibility we have to teach her in the ways of the Lord).

We've also been busy the last week or so trying to get Isabelle's new "BIG GIRL" room ready for her. Of course, this was our extra room, storage room, put the extra junk in room (ya know how that goes!) and so we've had to move out, relocate, sell, and throw out lots of stuff. We had a garage sale on Sat. to get rid of some of the "extra" stuff we had and we, thankfully, were able to get rid of most of it. My next post I'll put up pictures of Isabelle's new and improved room. I painted some furniture PINK and it all really seems to be coming together! We're going to be moving her into the new room next week sometime and Ireland will move into the nursery and the big crib! Isabelle really does fine in her crib still but Ireland seems to like comfort, therefore, is not too comfortable with the thin mattress in her cradle. I'm a little sad to have her out of our room but 6 weeks with us is probably good enough for a little girl who's a huge grunter and very squirmy and loud! Mommy can sleep through it without much problem, Daddy...well...he's got the sleeping ears of a Mommy in our house! So, we'll look forward to the big room swap next week! Stay tuned! :)

Animal Fair & Dr.Update

On Saturday we went as a family to the Simpsonville Fair. We thought Isabelle would enjoy seeing all the animals. Well, she did enjoy seeing them but she had some raisins on her stroller tray and for a while was way more interested in her raisins than any animals. She end up releasing the raisins and liked petting the baby goat, donkey, and the horse. We had a fun time together!

I took the girls today for their 4week and 2 year checkup and we are blessed with two healthy little girls! I continue to be amazed at God's goodness to us. By way of update...Isabelle just turned 2 years and weighed 22lbs (5th percentile) and was 33in tall (40th percetile). She tall and skinny but healthy. When she was born as a preemie the drs said she should be caught up by age 2. She seems to be very much caught up and continues to grow and learn more each day. Praise God for His goodness in her life! Ireland is now 4 weeks and 2days old and weighs 8lbs 10oz and is 21in long!!! She's obviously having no problem in the growing area!! Her cheeks are growing bigger each day (and her grunts louder!!!, she's a noisy baby!!). We just love them!

Before we went to church on Sunday we snapped a family picture. What a joy it is to be able to sit in church again (I've been going for a couple weeks now) and to be able to worship together in church with my husband!!

Friend Visit

Ireland (4 weeks)
Aubrey (6weeeks)
Aubrey & Ireland
Aubrey, Ireland, & Lauren

My good friend Lauren came with her new baby, Aubrey LeeAnne, the other day to meet Ireland for the first time. Lauren and I have been close friends since H.S. and she lives only 30 min. away so we are still able to stay in touch. She was a great help to me when I was on bedrest. She came over a couple times a week to keep me company and help us out. (Thanks Lauren!) We were good friends growing up and now our girls are only 2 weeks apart. I'm sure we'll enjoy many play times together!!
Ireland is 4 weeks old now!! WOW, I know! The time has already flown by! (Though I sure am glad the first two recovery weeks are past. Not fun, that's for sure!) Ireland is still a super good baby and we're very grateful for that! Isabelle still loves her baby sister and gives her lots of kisses. We will go on Monday for Ireland's 4 week check-up and Isabelle's 2 year check-up. We're doing double duty with the dr.! :)

P.s. I don't actually spike Ireland's hair like that. It just stands up and won't lay flat. I love it! A little girl at Truth Trackers asked me if Ireland was a girl or a boy. I said, "Well, do boys wear outfits with flowers?" She said, "Oh, no! :) But I wasn't sure b/c her hair is spiked like that!" haha! I got a good laugh!

Picnic at the Park

The other night Ben called me from work and said, "Hey, it's nice outside. Let's go have a picnic dinner at the park!" So I quickly threw together what I was planning for dinner and made it into "dinner to-go!" We went to Heritage Park in Simpsinville and had a great time together! After we ate we let Isabelle play on the playground. She LOVES to swing and enjoyed the bouncy truck too!

Ireland's belly button finally fell off so she was able to get her first "REAL" bath. She loved it. Not that I thought she would be any different b/c she hardly ever cries anyways. She's a great baby and I think we might start calling her miss. Grunter! She grunts and squeeks to let you know she wants/needs something. She is too sweet!!

Sisters!

Isabelle and Ireland got matching outfits from our friend Kylie so I thought we'd get some matching sister pics with them. This is Isabelle's first time to hold Ireland and she was thrilled. My hand/arm is in most of the pics b/c Isabelle wasn't giving much help to the hold. :) It's funny to see the extreme difference in their looks when they're right next to each other!

Happy Birthday Isabelle!

At 10:02am TWO years ago and little 2lb 131/2inch miracle was born - Isabelle Grace! We praise God for giving Isabelle to us and for what He's done in her little life already. She is so sweet and such a blessing to have.

Yesterday we celebrated her birthday with her friends Maggie and Callie. Callie was born on the same day as Isabelle so we had a birthday blast together! :) The McCombies came over and we enjoyed dinner together and had cupcakes and presents too. When Amy and I were getting the cupcakes candles lit Isabelle just didn't want to wait she wanted the cupcake to EAT right away. So in the pictures Isabelle is crying b/c she was going to grab the cupcake with the lit candles to eat it and I had to pull it away from her. That didn't make for a very happy girl! :) So even though Ben and I had been practicing the Birthday song with her and blowing out the candles at the end she just wanted to eat when it came to that time. Once she got the cupcake she enjoyed it to the fullest.

Thanks for coming over Paul, Amy, Maggie and Callie to celebrate together. We had a great time! Happy Birthday Isabelle and Callie!

New Things

Yesterday for the first time since May 16th I was able to drive!! Isabelle and I went out to the Country store in Simpsonville yesterday to get some milk...all by ourselves!!! This new found freedom in more areas than one takes a little getting used to! :) Another new thing is the hotslings baby sling we got for Ireland. I found this online when I was on bedrest and thought it would work out good with having two children now. Well, we tried it out yesterday and it's great! Ireland seemed to like it and zonked right out. The sling is really comfy too! The last new thing is with Isabelle and sharing. It seems that Isabelle has decided that it would be a nice (???) thing to share her COLD with her 2 week old sister. :( Yes, Ireland has a cold at only 2 weeks old. I can't believe it and I feel terrible about it. We tried our best to keep Isabelle from getting too near her but sometimes there's not much you can do about it when she's getting to know her new little sister. This is the same cold that I asked prayer for it to go away BEFORE the baby was born. For some reason it just keeps hanging around! So Ireland has a yucky nose for the most part. No fever or anything bad like that. We're praying that she gets well soon (Isabelle seems to be getting better now) and that the cold doesn't get any worse.

Have a great Labor Day weekend. (You'll have to excuse me -I'm still just half put together in the picture...no makeup or hair done. It'll get done one of these days. ha)