This is the day that the Lord has made!!

Isabella's Birtthday Celebration!!

2008-11-01T19:22:00.000-07:00

As I put in a previous post, October 26th was Isabella's 2nd birthday! We decided that with how crazy the last few months have been we would have a much more low key birthday party for Isabella, family only this year. We will get back to having a big party next year!

Well, we started the weekend with a little birthday celebration at daycare! All of the kids in her class are so great, and usually interact well. They may all bite, push each other, and get rough at times but at the end of the day they all hug as they are leaving! It is so cute to watch them interact, and celebrate events together!

Isabella loves Marcella so much--she calls her "my Sha-sha!!" Apparently she is very possessive of her during the day!

Isabella with her ladies(Miss Marcella and Miss Kote)--minus Miss Sarah, she was gone for the day already!

Her little family party was Saturday afternoon, my Mom came over Saturday morning to help me continue to get ready for the party! We made Rice Krispy treats and she iced the cake and cupcakes that I had made (I am a terrible cake-icer).

Isabella loved licking the Rice Krispies off of the spoon! I always thought that was the best part too!

Notice the pumpkin cake, thanks Mom for icing it for us!

My new favorite picture of them! They both look so happy!
The yummy chocolate fountain that we tried for the first time!!
Isabella playing with her new kitchen, she absolutely LOVES it!!
Isabella with her new talking Minnie Mouse and the phone from her kitchen! She always talks to Papa on the phone!
Isabella really loved her Great-Grandparents this trip, it gets better every trip!
She seriously has hardly stopped playing with her kitchen since she got it!
Dinner at Lone Star Saturday night, a great way to end a great day!

It has been a week and I still can't believe that she is two years old already! It seems like just yesterday that we were in the hospital, and she was brand new! She is seriously sweeter, more precious, and more fun to be around than I could ever have imagined! It is so hard to even comprehend how much we love her and she has changed our lives for the better!! Sometimes it seems like she was just born and other times it seems like she has been a part of our lives for ever!! Thank you Lord for the precious, priceless gift of our Isabella!!

Just thought that i would include a few pictures while we were still in the hospital! Wow--it is crazy to look at how much she has changed!!

Our trip to Baltimore

2008-11-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

The first weekend of October we went to Baltimore to see some family. We decided to leave after work Thursday and just drive until we got there. Well, at around 1130 we changed our minds and decided to stop and spend the night in a hotel and finish the trip in the morning. We had hoped to get into Ben and Kim's house and not wake them up, I am very glad that we changed our minds. Isabella had been totally asleep in the car, that is until the motor was turned off. She decided when we got to our hotel room that she was wide awake and wanted to talk--I bet that we laid there and tried to get her to go back to sleep for at least a half hour!

We finally got to Baltimore around noon the next day, and after a quick stop for lunch, and at the grocery store, Isabella and I were laying down for a nap by 1:30pm--and when we got up around 3 Ben was home from school! Shortly after that Kim got home from work and our weekend together got underway!

That night we went out to G&M restaurant and feasted on the best crab cakes ever! I always say that you can't go to Baltimore and not eat a crab cake! To make it even nicer--Ben and Kim treated as a slightly belated birthday gift to me. Thank you again, it was wonderful!!

Saturday morning was pretty quiet, just hanging out with Ben and Kim. That afternoon we went over to my cousin Emma's house to celebrate the baby shower of her brother and his wife! They are expecting their first baby girl in December! It was a great afternoon of showering Valerie (and Walter) with gifts, and watching football with a lot of family we don't get to see nearly enough!

Saturday evening we drove to downtown Baltimore to catch some fireworks that the City of Baltimore was putting off in celebration of Michael Phelps. Apparently the city celebrated him (he is from Baltimore and still lives there) all day on Saturday! We missed the rest of the celebrations, but made it for the fireworks! With the help of Emma's husband Joe (he is a Baltimore county transport policeman) we were able to park close enough to see the fireworks, and actually hear Micheal Phelps speak just before the fireworks, but still far enough away to miss traffic!!

Not sure why there did not turn out better, I even used the night setting!

Isabella and her Aunt Kim!

Emma has new twins (Ava and Landon) that are almost 3 months old! That Sunday they were Baptized and we got to go the the ceremony. After the ceremony we all headed back to Emma and Joe's house to continue to hang out together and get ready for the Sunday night football game between the Steelers and the Jaguars!

The proud parents on the left, Godparents on the right, and big sister in front!!

The vast majority of my family are Steelers fans!

Madison, Isabella, and Uncle Ben--all decked out in their Steelers gear! Thanks Uncle Ben and Aunt Kim for Isabella's new jersey, she loves it!

The girls with Uncle Tom!

Isabella celebrating a Touchdown with Uncle Ben!!

Monday we had to get in the car and come home! We had a wonderful weekend with family, it was great to get so much time with them!! It is also, and always, great to watch Isabella with Ben and Kim. They all just love each other so much!!

Thanks for a wonderful weekend Ben and Kim. We love you so much!!

ISABELLA

2008-10-26T05:38:00.000-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday to our precious, sweet Isabella! I can't believe that it has already been two years! I will catch up on posts soon, and post some pics from her family birthday party!

Thank you Lord for the privilege of being her parent, and taking care of her! I am standing in awe of Him and His creations today!!

It's a baby ...

2008-10-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

You may know that ever since we told Isabella that we are going to be having another baby she has said that it is a "baby sister!" Absolutely every time, that was her answer, without exception!

One night we were laying on the floor talking and playing (Jason was at church), and I asked her how she knew that it is a baby sister, and without skipping a beat she looked at me and said "Jesus." I said, "are you telling Mommy that Jesus told you that it is a baby sister?" "Yes Mommy," she said!

I think that I was so much more eager to find out this time because she was absolutely so set on a baby sister. We snuck and had an ultrasound at work one day during week 14, and we were not quite able to tell yet, although it was really great to see the baby at that point. We could see everything--the valves of its heart, ventricles in its brain--absolutely everything except a good shot at the area in question!!

So at 16 weeks we snuck and had another peek at work, and this time she was totally able to tell without any question that.... Isabella was right and it is a baby sister!! We totally and honestly did not care wether it was a boy or girl, but now that we know for sure, I am so excited for Isabella to have a sister. As much as I love my brother, I always wanted a sister too! All of these years of hearing stories about my Mom and all of her sisters, we are are so excited! And I really was not looking forward to trying to explain to Isabella if she had possibly heard Jesus wrong--how exactly I would have done that I am glad that I did not have to find out!!

I have an adorable video of Isabella saying that she thinks that it is a sister, I will download it as soon as I figure out how too!

The last month or so...

2008-10-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

Whew! The last month around here has been really busy, that sounds so cliche'! September was full of tons of fun times; I got the stomach bug twice, had to spend 2 weekends in bed, and my Mom was sick and had to be hospitalized!! Thank you Lord, we all made it through it, and my Mom is on the mend from her pneumonia!

Another big day for us!!

2008-08-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

Today was a milestone day around the Allen household!

About 3 weeks ago we purchased a potty for Isabella at Target and put it in the bathroom. Whenever we use the bathroom, she goes with us and sits on her potty (with her clothes on). For the last week or so we have had her sit on it naked just before her bath time, and nothing has happened, until tonight!! Tonight Jason was getting her ready for her bath, and urgently called me to the bathroom! I ran in there (as fast as I can lately), and we found pee in her little potty! Of course we danced around the bathroom, and sang, praised her, and told her how happy and proud of her we are! We have been really hoping that she might be totally toilet trained by March, hopefully this is just the beginning of a wonderful relationship between her and the potty! Tomorrow is another day, we will see if it happens again!!

To make the day even better--MOUNTAINEER football started back today!! We decided that we would order College Game day on our DirectTV for Jason as an early Christmas present, just in time for the season opener today! Being here in SC we would not ordinarily get all the WVU games, but with Game Day we should not have to miss any of them!! Yes Keri, we did have chips and a dip while watching the game--it's a little tradition for us!!

We have been working on Isabella saying "Let's go Mountaineers!!" She comes pretty close, the "let's go" is totally clear, and if you know that she is trying to say Mountaineers, you could probably recognize it!

She wore her WVU tee shirt today, it is getting a little tight, but mine is too lately!! She will probably get a new one for her birthday!

The cutest little WVU fan ever!

Reading the newspaper with her Grand during half-time!

I tried to include a recent video, but blogger is taking forever, and I am quite tired and need to go to bed. Hopefully I will get to post it soon!

Some recent pictures

2008-08-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

I have made several post lately, and not posted many pictures, this one is dedicated to pictures!!
My Mom and I were making curtain, and she thought it made a good sarong!!

Papa and his grandbabies!!

Cousins Mackenzie and Jesse

Our 4th of July girl!

She just looks like she is up to something!

So grown up!

For some reason she loves to put socks on her hands lately!

Cheesy smile in her prissy nightgown, with her princess cup!

My sweet babes!!

More Jesus, Mommy!!

2008-08-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

Ever since Isabella was tiny, before she goes to bed at night we rock in the rocker, pray and sing 4 worship songs. "I love you Lord," "Prepare me to be a Sanctuary," "This little light of mine," and "Jesus loves me."
For several months now whenever we are finished praying, she has said (rather loudly) "Amen." The last few weeks she will ask to "Talk to Jesus," and then she will put her hands together, and lower her head--it is seriously about the cutest thing I have ever seen!
She will out of the blue during the day look at one of us and ask for "Jesus Mommy?" That means that she would like you to please sing "Jesus loves me." It really could happen anywhere, shopping in Target, walking into church this morning, riding in the car, or just playing. Those of you that know we well, know that I am not much of a singer, but the way that she asks I have to sing to her. You just can't turn down your child who is asking you to sing about Jesus, and don't think that you can get away with just singing it once, she always says "More Jesus, Mommy!!"
Tonight when I was just going through the night time routine and getting ready to sing, she would not let me sing anything except "Jesus Mommy."
I know that I have said it a thousand time, but she is absolutely such a sweet, sweet child!!

A little news!!

2008-07-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

Today was an interesting day for the Allen family!! A few weeks ago I took a home pregnancy test and to my amazement it was positive!! We are very excited, but had to wait until today to go to doctors office and have it officially confirmed.
Friday July 11th, I took the home pregnancy test. Jason was gone that week with the youth group students and was coming home that night. I took the test that afternoon, and when he got home Isabella walked up to him and gave him "our present." Understandably he was quite amazed, and very excited!!
If you ask Isabella what is her mommy's tummy, her answer is always "da baby!" And anytime that you ask her, no matter how you word it, if it is a baby brother or sister she ALWAYS says sister! We shall see!!
The baby's official due date is March 17, 2009!! A St. Patty's day baby--watch this one will have my red hair!!
We would really appreciate your prayers during this exciting time!!

1st Play date

2008-07-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

Right now Isabella is at a friends house playing, and I am home. That might not seem like anything very big to most of you, but this is her very first play date away from home!! She is with Emma Rae and her Mommy at Emma Rae's grandma's house!! I thought for sure that she would not go (she has been very attached to me lately), but she got into Emma Rae's car seat and went with Miss Megan to play!
If you ask her if she is a baby, she will say "no", but if you ask if she is Mommy's baby she will say "yes." She is growing up so quickly, sometimes I wish that I could slow it down, just a little!!

Home improvements!

2008-06-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend we decided that we would get busy doing little things around the house that we have been wanting and needing to do!!

We started Saturday morning at 7am, to put more insulation in our attic! 44 bags later we were finally finished!! Jason ran the machine outside, Papa (Jason's Dad) was in the attic blowing the insulation and I was on the ladder in between being the goffer and communicator for them!!Our attic before, if you look really closely you can see Papa in the far back! It is so hazy due to the dust that was blowing around!!

Papa knee deep in insulation!

Papa after all the work was done!

When they were finished in the attic, Jason decided that it was finally time to cut down the huge magnolia tree in the front yard! He has been wanting to cut it down since we moved in!
A picture of one of the last blooms!! Very pretty tree, but oh my goodness does it shed leaves--all over the yard, and the neighbors yards!!

Yes, he really did stop cutting down the tree to talk on the phone!!

Watching Daddy in the tree!!
Jason's brother Mark stopped by to watch him work and brought along Mackenzie and Jesse!!

A few weeks ago Mom and I were working on some curtains for our bedroom, and Isabella decided that it would make a beautiful sarong!!
Thanks to Grand and Papa for all of your work in helping us!! Also thanks Grand for keeping Isabella Friday night so that we could start working really early Saturday morning, I know Isabella loved it!!

Our Island!!

2008-06-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

For our 7 year anniversary we decided that we would buy what we needed and build an island for our kitchen!! We have always wanted an island and now we finally have a kitchen that is big enough for one!

Above is our kitchen before and below is our after!! Yeah!!

Thank you so much, Honey, for all your hard work!! I love you so much! Thank you for 7 wonderful year, 73 to go!! On our wedding day we promised each other 80 years, and then we are going to reevaluate this thing!! : )

Pictures from the last few weeks!!

2008-06-29T18:43:00.001-07:00

The last few weeks have been really busy!! We have been busy living, and loving each other and our family--and enjoying summer!! Summer rocks!! If it just wasn't quite so HOT already!

Last weekend my brother and his wife (Ben and Kim) came down to visit us, and spend some time at the beach! It is always so wonderful to get to spend time with them. We love them so much and wish that we lived closer to each other. As you will see in the pictures, Aunt Kim and Isabella have their own little love affair going on. Just this morning she was walking around the house calling for her! I wish that they were still here and that she could have found her!!
If you look really closely, you can probably see the chocolate frosting on her mouth!

Isabella playing in Uncle Ben's stinky running shoes! Yuck!

Grand and Isabella at the shore!!

Isabella putting "andy otion" aka sandy lotion on aunt Kim's back!

More Aunt Kim and Isabella, is anyone noticing a pattern here?

Does anyone else see just a hint of red in her hair? Maybe just a hint????

Isabella and Uncle Ben
We ended our weekend at the beach with dinner at "California Dreaming," and my Dad came up from Charleston and joined us!!

Uncle Ben and Gran

Grand, Isabella, and Aunt Kim

My Dad (Grandpa Nick) and Uncle Ben

Myself, Grandpa Nick, and Uncle Ben

Thank you so much Uncle Ben and Aunt Kim for spending your vacation with us!! We always love spending time with you!!

Our Spring Vacation--Part 3 Baltimore

2008-06-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

Isabella and I got up way too early on Friday to fly to Baltimore!! It was her second time on a plane, but she did really well!! We flew to Baltimore instead of driving home and then onto Baltimore!
We has set it all up a few months ago that we would fly up for the weekend and then travel home with Mom and Humphrey on Monday! That Saturday there was a baby shower for my cousin Emma who has a 5 year old daughter and is pregnant with twins -- a boy and a girl!! We are all so excited for Emma, Joe, and Madison! Aunt Kim and Uncle Ben live in Baltimore, so we got to spend lots of time with them--and unfortunately forgot to take any pictures at all!!

It was a great end to a wonderful week!! Thanks to everyone that we got to spend time with! We love all of you so much!!

Update. . .

2008-06-08T07:06:00.000-07:00

Isabella is doing great without her pacifier! As I posted she napped without it last Saturday, but the Saturday night she had some kind of virus, 103.5 temp, and I caved and gave it back to her! I know I was a slacker, but I wanted her to rest well so that she could feel better sooner. She had her "pac" the rest of the weekend. Sunday afternoon our air conditioner broke so we went to stay with my mom--I did not want her to cry a lot there and keep all of us awake. (I know, I know!) Monday she went back to daycare (without a pac) and struggled to go to sleep but then slept well. Monday night, still at Mom's, still had "pac". Tuesday went to sleep like a big girl at daycare without any tears, so no "pac" that night at home either--and no "pac" since!! She has asked for it a few times but if I remind her that "paci's" are for babies and that she is big girl she is just fine!! We are so proud of her!!
Last night one of the things that I cooked for dinner was corn on the cob, she decided that she did not want to eat it cut off of the cob, like her Mommy, she wanted to eat it off the cob like Daddy and Papa! She ate a piece and a half of corn, and loved it!! Fruits and veggies are her favorites!!

Our Spring Vacation--Part 2 Jacksonville

2008-06-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

Let me start this post by saying the Heather is much more gifted at blogging than I am, please check out her posts about your visits at http://web.mac.com/burrows4
We were hoping to get up and leave first thing Sunday morning to head to Jacksonville, but we got a later start than planned!! We finally got on the road around noon, and were hoping that Isabella would take a great, long nap in the car--turned out only be around 30 minutes long!
Thank you Megan and Scotty for loaning us your portable DVD, it definitely made the time go faster for Isabella, and in turn better for all three of us!!

Isabella intently watching Mickey mouse, still her favorite!

Around 4pm we finally arrived in J-ville!! We were so excited to be there!! Pat and Heather have been wonderful friends of our for years, they have a 4 year old girl Alana, and another girl Lilliana (Lilli) that is just almost 6 weeks older than Isabella! It is always so much fun to watch the girls interact and catch up!!
That night we started our visit with our tradition of a taco dinner! The weather was wonderful and we ate outside on their back patio! So very nice, and no mosquitoes!!
I have come to the conclusion that Jax is the place for yard sales! They have this really fun climbing toy with a slide in the room that Jason and I slept in, the girls (all 3 of them) loved playing on it all week!!

An action shot!! They loved playing together!!

After dinner Heather, Laura (Pat's wonderful sister), and myself went and did a little shopping and the guys put the kiddos to bed!! What a nice evening out!!

On Monday Heather baby-sits a baby by the name of Carmen and we decided that we all wanted to go the Jacksonville Zoo--actually much nicer than Riverbanks in Columbia!! It was the first time that Isabella had been to the zoo since last spring, she seemed to like it so much better this time!!

Towards the end of the day we headed towards the splash pad, all of the kiddos loved it, except Isabella! She is just not too sure of water splashing her!!

On Tuesday we went to beach for the late morning, early afternoon! Alana joined us after she was finished with school for the day, we missed her while she was gone! It was a wonderful, beautiful day for the beach! We had a wonderful time flying kites, the guys played Bacci ball (with a little help from the girls, we played in the water. . . all of the very fun beach stuff!!

I just love these last two pictures of Isabella and Lilli--they are just so cute and such sweet girls!! Tuesday night the four of us got to go out on a date--Laura baby-sat the kids for us!! Thank you so much Laura, you are the best!! It seemed like the old days before either of us had kiddos yet!! We had a wonderful evening of dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then onto the movies to see Prince Caspian! It was so great to get to spend an evening out, just the four of us!!
Not a wonderful picture, but the only one that we had of the four of us for the whole week!!

We decided that Wednesday would be a day to stay home and make sure that the girls rested up and stuff! Jason and Patrick went and picked up their new piece of furniture and made an awesome castle with the box for all three of the girls to play with!! What wonderful, imaginative, handy Daddy's our girls have!! Huge Daddy points for this!!

The girls loved playing in the castle!! It was so much fun to watch them play!

We saved going out on the boat until Thursday, again we had to wait to hang out with Alana until after school! Once we were all together, we had another wonderful, perfect day!! We have always loved hanging out on the boat with the Burrows'--on water or land!! : ) We boated to this semi-private beach and had a picnic and just played for hours!!

This became my new favorite picture of her!! She loved playing in the water!!

This one made all of us think about what empty tomb must have been like!!

This sweet picture is how our precious baby spent the boat ride back to the docks!! She was so tired!! Thursday was another wonderful day, we capped it off with a trip to a Japanese Steakhouse to see Adam and Allison (some friends from CIU that are now living in Jacksonville)!!

Thank you so much for another wonderful time with guys! We absolutely love you so much, and wish that we could be together more often!!! Hope to see you again soon!!

Our Spring Vacation--Part 1

2008-06-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

We had been looking forward to our spring vacation for a very long time!! For almost a year we had been talking about and planning to spend our time with our wonderful friends the Burrows!! Okay, so we didn't end up going back to Jamaica like we had talked about--we will save that for another time!!
We were not able to leave for Jacksonville until Sunday morning, so our vacation started with the arrival of Nick and Keri Friday night! We don't get to see Nick and Keri nearly enough, so we took the little bit of time that we could get with them. Friday was Nick's birthday so the four of us went out to eat at Miyami (a Japanese Steakhouse here in town), and had a great time. After dinner we introduced Keri (she is originally from Michigan) to Harris Teeter, she had never been in one before. We had a big time doing a little grocery shopping!! The only person besides immediate family to baby-sit Isabella so far, is a girl by the name of Megan--she does a wonderful job!! Thanks Megan for keeping her so that we could have a wonderful double date!! It reminded us of our ABC days!!

Keri, Nick, and Isabella playing with Mr. Potato-head!!

Saturday morning we continued to celebrate Nick with a birthday breakfast of pancakes and turkey bacon!! After breakfast the boys worked in the yard and the girls hung out inside. That afternoon there was a tailgating event at church. Everyone took their own food and cooked and then went inside to hear a Christian comedian/singer--who was hilarious!! Our neighbors the Hopkins went with us!! Emma Ray and Isabella get along like they have known each other forever!! They are so sweet to watch!

Does anyone else think that these girls could be sisters?? They actually look more alike in person!!

Right: Megan and Scotty listening intently
Left: Emma Ray and Isabella playing in Emma Ray's wagon

Both girls with Papa

Thank you Snyders, Hopkins, Papa, Grand and H for joining us for the afternoon!! Thanks Nick and Keri for our wonderful, yet hectic, visit!! We love you guys!!

Today is a big day!!!

2008-05-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

Today is a big day in the Allen household!! We decided that today would be the day that we would give "paci" to Emma Ray's new baby brother, McClure --because babies need "paci" and big girls don't need them!! We have been talking about this with her for several days, but right now she is in her crib crying and asking for it!! Please pray for strength during this transition, for all three of us!! We have been very blessed that every other transition so far has gone smoothly, hopefully after this first little hurdle, this one will too!!

To be totally honest, I am kind of sad too, it does mean that my little baby girl is growing up!! I have loved absolutely loved every second we have had with her so far!!

Today. . .

2008-05-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

18 month Well Baby check-up stats:
23.14 1/2 pounds (25-50% percentile)
33 1/4 inches (75-90% percentile)
Right on target developmentally!!

We love Dr. Whitehead!! I know, we are running a whole month late on her 18 month check-up but we finally made it today!! Isabella cried the whole time that the nurse was in the room, and when Dr. Whitehead first came in the room, but finally calmed down!!

He mentioned the wives-tale that you can double a child height at two years old and get an approximation of adult height!! If she continues at the rate that she is currently growing she might hopefully be 5 feet 11 inches!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you Daddy for your tall genes!! We love you so much!!

I promise that I will post pics and info from our recent wonderful vacation to Jacksonville, and Baltimore soon!! As well as some more recent pictures!!

My chatty sweet girl!!

2008-05-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

As usual I am behind on my posting!! Also as usual, no really good excuse, we have just been surviving Jason's last few weeks of class and all of the busyness that was included with that!!

Isabella continues to talk up a storm, and actually has quite good manners for being 18 months old (wow--18 months already, can you believe that?)! If you hand her anything she says thank you very clearly, and if she hands you something and you forget to say it, she looks at you with as stern a look as she can muster and says "thank you." She and the little girl next door were playing with a stick one day and Isabella handed it to Emma Rae and Emma Rae did not say thank you, so Isabella gave her a look like that said "hello" and said "thank you!!??" Emma Rae's Mommy, Miss Megan and I just laughed at them!!

Today I was sneezing (yes we all have another cold, for at least the 10th time this winter), and after each sneeze she would say "bless"!!

When we are leaving somewhere or someone is leaving us, she looks at them and says "Bye bye, see you soon!" She also says that when the bath water is going out of the tub, or when she is telling her baby night-night!!

She also TOTALLY loves Mickey and Minnie Mouse!! We were at the Disney Outlet at the beach several weeks ago and she ran up to the display and grabbed a Mickey and just hugged him. Jason told her that if she could say Mickey Mouse he would buy it for her. She promptly answered him and said "Mic Mouse, Min-mini-mini Mouse," so of course we left with a stuffed Mickey and Minnie!! Most of the time it sounds like mouse, but sometimes it sounds more like moose!! When Mickey Mouse Clubhouse comes on Disney Channel, if she is anywhere within earshot she stops whatever she is doing, says "Mic Mouse" and runs to the TV!

Isabella and her new best friends!!

It is so hard to believe that she is 18 months old already!! We are absolutely loving every moment that we have with her!! She is such a blessing to us, and we thank God for her all the time!!

One last thing--she really loves the youth group, and spending time with them!! She tries so hard to talk to them too! She tries to say some of their names like Ashley, she calls "Ashes." She can totally say Hannah as clear as the rest of us, but it is more like "Ha-nnnah." Of course the girls eat it up! It is so cool to watch her interact with the "big kids"!!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY GRANT!!

2008-04-15T19:10:00.000-07:00

We love you, Buddy!! We hope that you have a wonderful birthday tomorrow, wish that we could celebrate with you in person!!

Erin and Grant come for a visit!!

2008-04-15T18:53:00.000-07:00

Our DEAR friends Gus, Erin, and Grant moved back to California in September! I felt like I was losing my right arm, it was SO hard to let them go! On top of being a WONDERFUL friend for the last several years, Erin took care of Isabella from the time that I went back to work until September!! She did an AMAZING job! I am so thankful and blessed to have had that time!!
Erin and I had been talking about she and Grant coming to visit before he turns 2 and they have to start paying for an airline ticket for him. Needless to say we were so excited when she finally picked some dates and booked their flights! The arrived here in Florence late Thursday the 27th of March and got to be in SC for a whole week! It was wonderful to get to spend so much time with she and Grant, the kids seemed like they picked up right where they left off, and so did we!!
Gus, Erin, Jason and myself have said for a long time that Isabella and Grant are going to get married some day-- Isabella Svendsen -- has a great ring to it, doesn't it?
We had such a great visit that unfortunately I did not get many pictures of, but I will include the ones that I did take!
Eating breakfast with Luke and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!!
All three kids playing in Isabella's "house." Actually a car seat box, but she loves it!!
I wish that I had taken more pictures, I will have to get some from Erin that she took!!
Thank you son much for coming to visit us! We love you guys so much!! Next time we see you will be in CA, hopefully!!

Easter 2008

2008-04-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

HE IS RISEN!!
Easter was absolutely wonderful this year!! Not only did we get to celebrate our Risen Lord and Savior, but we got to have wonderful family around to celebrate with us! Easter weekend started with a VERY moving Thursday night service at church, and it continued with the arrival of my Grandparents of Friday!!
Saturday the real, busy, festivities started! I went and helped hide over 1200 eggs at church for the annual Southside Baptist Church Easter Eggstravaganza!! It was so much fun to hide the eggs, think about and pray for all of the kids that would later that day be searching for them! Isabella is still at that distractable age, once she found one egg she was happy and played with it only! We tried to get her to look for more eggs but she was more interested in playing with her basket! She had been playing with her basket (from her Grand) for weeks--I have called her "bucket head" because she thinks that it makes a great hat!
My little "Bucket head!!"
An action shot!!
Grand came by to watch the hunt!Before we headed to swimming, she wanted to go down the slide!!
After the Easter egg hunt we had swimming lessons and a nice 3 hour nap!! The naps after swimming lessons have all been three hours or longer!! Nice!!
Great-Grandma loves to shop for Isabella, this time she brought her some Easter decoration, a very prissy ruffled purse (that she HAS to keep a handerchief in to blow her nose with), a bathing suit cover-up (that she is wearing in the picture) and a lamb that she slept with for days.In the evening my Dad came from Charleston for a visit! It is always really nice to see him.
Easter Sunday morning my Mom and Grandma went to church with us!! It was a wonderful moving service, to celebrate our wonderful risen Savior!!

Unfortunately I forgot my camera Easter morning so we took pictures with my moms, I will post them as soon as I can get them from her!!I don't know why, but I love this picture!! It is so sweet to me!!

My Mom was carrying Isabella into church and Grandma and I were probably ten feet behind them, Isabella looked over Mom's shoulder and said "Come on Mama!! Come on!!" Absolutely as clear as you and I could say it--it was so cute! She amazes me daily!
After church we went back to Mom's for lunch, and a nap for Isabella!
It was an absolutely wonderful day!!

Marching on. . .

2008-04-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, so as usual I am running a little late in my posting!! March ended up being quite a busy month, or at least it felt like it!!
On March 8th we started swimming lessons for Isabella--I know that she is too little to actually learn to swim--I am just hoping that at the end of the lessons she will have a healthy fear of the water!! I really want her to enjoy being in the water too. She was so funny the first couple of weeks, she kept looking at us like "What are we doing?" I would totally recommend "Water Babies" classes for any child, she loves it!! They taught us to teach the kids a certain command and say it every time that they come into the pool to us-- jumping in from sitting on the side of the pool!! Jumping in is her favorite thing to do!! I hope that she will be a little fish and love to swim!!
The next week Jason got in the pool and swam with her! It is so funny how she varies from being a Mommy's girl to a Daddy's girl--from day to day, sometimes moment to moment!!
In the picture above they are doing the motions to "The Wheels on the Bus," pool style!!
I am so glad that she is enjoying the lessons as much as we are!!

March...so far

2008-03-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Isabella and I went to Santee to meet my Dad for lunch. He lives in Charleston and we don't get to see him nearly enough, so we met half way at the Cracker Barrel. It is always great to see and get to spend time with him!!
In the car on the way, it was a pleasant trip--it just does not look like it at this moment!
We will just let it look like she is smiling--don't look too closely!!
You can see the sleepiness on her face!!
The restful ride home!!
March 2nd is Jason's birthday and the 5th is my Dad's birthday!! Dad and Andrea came up to visit us and celebrate birthdays with us Saturday March 1st. That afternoon we did a little birthday shopping and then celebrated birthday dinner at Percy and Willie's (Jason's favorite restaurant). I took an ice cream cake with us, and they were kind enough to put it in their freezer until we were finished eating dinner and were ready for it. We usually have the family over for birthday cake after dinner, but even though we had thoroughly sprayed Lysol, we did not want to take any chances of anyone catching Jason's flu germs!! We had eleven people for birthday dinner and dessert!!
The birthday boy and his little girl--so sweet together!!
Papa and Grand!
My Dad and Andrea!!
Mark (Jason's brother), Dawn, Mackenzie, and Jesse!!
As I mentioned, we shopped Saturday afternoon. We decided that I would get Jason a seat to go on the back of his bike for Isabella to ride with us, and she got him the helmet that she is required to wear. Even though he was still recuperating and Isabella and I had colds, we went for a little ride Sunday afternoon to try out the new seat---she loved it!! Getting all strapped in and ready for her first ride!
I hope that you had a wonderful birthday weekend, Jason!! We love you and are so blessed to have you in our lives!! Happy 28th Birthday!!!

FINALLY, pictures of our new house!!

2008-03-12T17:41:00.000-07:00

After a few very crazy weeks around here, I can finally sit down and blog about our new house!! The wonderful man that we purchased the house from let us come in before we close on it to get some painting and cleaning completed. I just love the names that companies come up with for colors--we painted Isabella's room "Rhapsody Lilac", the kitchen "Cantaloupe Smile", and the rest of the house a mixed khaki color!!!
i almost forgot--I love the Magnolia tree in our front yard!! It is so pretty and southern, I can't wait until it blooms!! Jason, and a lot of other people swear that we need to severely cut it back or down because of spiders, the roots... We haven't made a final decision yet, he did relent to let it bloom at least once before we decide!!
For Valentines day my super sweet husband bought Isabella and myself a wonderful porch swing--I grew up with a front porch swing that I LOVED, and have always wanted one!! That weekend Jason and his dad set to the task of hanging the swing, and they did a great job--no worries that anything (or any weight) will ever bring it down!! As I knew that she would, Isabella loves sitting on it with us and swinging!
My Jason and his Dad, after a long afternoon of working!! Isabella enjoying her first swing with her Daddy!!
As I wrote in my last post, we closed on the house on Wednesday the 20th of February, and that Friday Jason started not feeling well. Isabella and I moved out and stayed with my mom the whole next week, per the doctors recommendation. Even though the house certainly was still a mess, I was so ready to get back here. Please don't misunderstand, we totally love my mom and are so thankful for her and her ability to help us--but there is no place like your own bed!!!
Slowly but surely the house is coming together, not as quickly as I would like it to, but we will get there some day!! We get more comfortable here everyday, and Isabella can already take you down the hall and right to her room when asked!
She has already claimed a cabinet for our Rubbermaid for her to play with!!
Our first breakfast in our new house--a carpet picnic of bananas and Captain Crunch cereal!
Sharing a donut with Papa--notice the "Cantaloupe Smile" she is leaning on! :)
I wish that you could hear the way that she cackled while being dragged around!!
These pictures are of how Papa kept Isabella entertained while the rest of us were hard at work painting! She loved being pulled around in her "cart"!!
Speaking of Isabella, I have to brag for a few minutes!! Since we got her ear tubes she is constantly picking up new words and phrases. Seriously, every time you hand her something she says "taint you." We went to see Dr. Whitehead for her 15 month checkup the week before last (I know, a little late), and he handed her a book and her response was "taint you," he looked shocked and said "well, your welcome"!! She is up to 23 pounds and 33 inches! Growing like a weed, and continuing to amaze us every single day! We are so very blessed and thank God everyday for her!!
It did not seem to matter whether she had a little ketchup or a lot, she just wanted some!!
Isabella has finally figured out what some of us have known for a really long time--ketchup makes everything better!!! I purposefully tried to not introduce her to condiments, trying to keep things simple--but one night we were eating at Chik-Fil-A and she would not take a bite without there being ketchup on it! I am telling you, something new everyday!! It is SO MUCH FUN to be a parent and experience new things with her!!

The FLU has struck!!!

2008-02-24T14:42:00.000-08:00

Jason has the flu, we went to the new McLeod Urgent Care place on Palmetto this afternoon, when his temperature reached 103.8!!! They did a nose swab, and quickly told us that he has the flu!! Please, please pray for him to feel better soon, and that Isabella and I would not catch it from him!! We have shipped her off to my Mom's for the night! Please, please pray for all of us!! Thank you!!

We're in!!!

2008-02-21T08:03:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to let you all know that we are in our new home!!! It has been an absolutely CRAZY BUSY week, but we spent the night in our new house last night for the 1st time!! I will post some pictures of the last week soon!! Please come by and see us, we would love to see you!!

Isabella's 1st Pigtails!!!

2008-02-03T18:02:00.000-08:00

Okay, don't pass out--2 posts in one day!! Can you believe it?!?
For the Super Bowl with Jason's Youth Group tonight I decided to try to put pigtails in Isabella's hair. I think that it turned out pretty well, you might be able to see from the pictures that actually there were 3 pigtails!! Hopefully with some practice I will get better at fixing her hair!! She is thinking--"Mommy, what have you done with my hair?"
It is so much fun to have such a girlie girl!!

These are a few of my favorite things. . .

2008-02-03T13:03:00.000-08:00

Since I am really trying to do better with blogging about our life I thought that I would make a post about some of Isabella's favorite things!!!
She is ALL girl!! For months now everything that can be is a bracelet, purse or baby! She has even started trying to feed and give her baby "juice."
Dr Farrell said that her vocabulary would really take off after her tubes were placed and her tongue was clipped and it really has! She can say Mama, Daddy, Papa (Jason's Dad, but seems to only say it when he can't hear her), juice, baby, duck, turtle, hi, hello, bye, this, cheese, shoes, and my favorite she tries to say thank you! It sounds like more like "ank ou," but I will take it!! I am sure that there are more words that she can say but that is all that is coming to mind at the moment.
I am sure that all parents feel this way, but I can't even comprehend how much and deeply that I love her! She is just the sweetest thing ever, she gives "loves" anytime she is asked to--"loves" at our house are hugs and kisses!!
Here some pictures of some of her favorite things!!
Two of her favorite things--books and playing in her Mommy's laundry basket--she climbs in and out and in and out....
She loves to look at books, always right side up and from front to back!!
Okay, so she is not smiling in this picture but she really does love this toy from her Great-Grandparents!

Leave it to Grand (my Mom) to introduce her to cheese balls, she loves them and loves carrying around the container too!!
I just love this picture from Christmas!! Unfortunately it does not really get cold enough here often enough for her to wear hat and scarf!!
Her car at Papa's house--okay so it really used to be her cousin Mackenzie's but I think that she has claimed it for her own!!
A picture of "juice" and "baby," it doesn't get any better than that!!
She loves getting into my rubbermaid cabinet and throwing all of it onto the floor!!
Caught in the act!!!
Playing with Keri!! Nick and Keri were here for the weekend again--always great to spend time with the Snyders!! And I finally remembered to take a pic of Keri and Isabella! I just noticed that she is holding her socks--another fav--she loves to take off her socks and shoes!
Playing in boxes--and boy we have a lot of them around here lately with the impending move!! Grand got a care seat for her car and gave the box to us, now it is a "house" for Isabella!!
Her very favorite thing--spending time with her Papa!!
Being dressed up like the princess that she is for her friend Carlisle's birthday party!
No one could have ever told us that being a parent could be the absolute best and hardest job ever!! She is just the best thing ever!!

Finally, a new post from the Allen's!!!

2008-01-23T10:48:00.000-08:00

I know that I have been VERY slack about posting lately!! I have decided that I will stop thinking about (and being overwhelmed by) trying to catch up from the last few months, so I am going to start posting and just try to catch up when I can!!
For New Year's we were at the beach at BIG GOD conference with the Youth Group from Southside Baptist Church. What an awesome way to start 2008!! Approximately 2000 people were at the conference, and around 200 people made decisions for Christ!! It was truly amazing to witness the lives of these people change right in front of our eyes! Ken Freeman was the speaker and Big Daddy Weave and Barlow Girls were there. I had never really listened to Barlow Girl before--what wonderful role models, and girls that ROCK are really cool! When the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve, 6000 colored balloons were dropped on all of us, what a sight!! I will try to get pictures and post some soon!!
It seems like just when things are going great something bad happens, when we got home Jan 1st one of the adult chaperons got home and found her husband dead. Apparently Becky's husband had a heart attack and went to be with the Lord while Becky was at the beach with us. She amazingly seems to be doing well, but we would ask that you guys lift Becky and her family up in your prayers while they are in this time of huge transition!!
I almost forgot to tell you that while we were gone Isabella stayed with her Papa (Jason's dad) and they had a wonderful time together! He spoils her like crazy, and she eats it up!! They so love each other!!On Tuesday January 8th Isabella had to get ear tubes! She had 4 infections since September, and Dr. Farrell said that it was time. She was also slightly tongue tied, so he said that since she was going to be put to sleep he might as well fix that at the same time. He is an amazing doctor who I always ask to treat her like she was one of his own girls (he has 3 at home). We had to arrive at the hospital dark and early at 0530 am, and at around 0800 am Isabella was taken away from us from to go to the OR, talk about a feeling of hopelessness! I work in the OR everyday, but it all changes when it is your own child and heart!! She was away from us for around 20 minutes and then we were able to go into the Recovery Room and be with her. She is amazing, she was a little fussy for a few hours, and took 3 naps that day--but by the next day she was back to her sweet, pleasant, loving self!! For the rest of the week she would move her tongue around in her mouth and stick it out, just because she could!! Dr. Farrell actually encouraged us to get to stick it out and exercise it!! As you will see in the pictures, our prissy little girl walked around with her purse while we waited for our turn! TOO CUTE!!!
She decided that she wanted to walk around in the hall and check everyone else out!!

Grand and Isabella in the holding area, waiting for Dr. Farrell.

Snuggle time back in the Day Hospital, it's all over!! Thank you God for taking care of her!!

Taking a nap on the living room floor after we got home. One minute she was playing, and the next she was asleep!

The weekend of January 11-13 our great friends Nick and Keri were here for the weekend!! Nick is involved with the PACE program (he is a teacher in Charleston, SC) and has to go to weekend seminars every few weeks, and this time it was in Lugoff, so he and Keri came and stayed with us! It is always so nice to get to spend time with them!! Thanks for being such great friends and for coming to stay with us!Distracting Nick from his homework!!
January 15th Isabella's Aunt Kim's 28th birthday!! Unfortunately we were not able to spend the day with her, but we love her so dearly and are so thankful that she is part of you family!!! Happy Birthday Aunt Kim!!
Saturday January 19th is a day that will change us forever!! WE FOUND A HOUSE THAT WE LOVE!! We have sort of been looking for a house to buy for almost a month now. We knew that we would have to sell our condo before we could afford to buy a house, so we had kind of slowed the looking process and were going to put our condo up for sale by owner. Our wonderful real estate agent Lynn Christenberry called us Saturday and said that she knew that we had decided to wait until we sold ours but there was a house that she really felt that we need to look at. Jason, Isabella, and I met her there Saturday, and we REALLY like the house! It is on Devonshire, right off of Marsh Avenue here in Florence, 1/2 mile from my Mom's house!! So here is the BEST part, when Lynn called the man who owns the house to tell him that we were very interested but would have to make an offer contingent on the sale of our condo, he said that he would be interested in buying our condo for investment property!! WHAT A GOD THING--we put an offer on a house and sold our condo in a matter of minute!! God is so awesome!! The house is great and is going to be wonderful for us, it actually has an extra living room, which will be great for having youth group people over to hang out in!! It needs a little TLC but all of the TLC that it needs is stuff that we can do with no problem! Anyone that likes to paint, we are looking for volunteers!! Here is the other crazy part, we close February 20th, that is like 3 weeks away! Oh, my!! We are going to be so busy, but it will all be worth it to have more room, and a YARD to play in! We are so excited!! I will post pictures of it as soon as I take some :) !!

Technical difficulties

2007-11-19T08:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I know that I have been quite slack about making new posts lately, but it is not entirely my fault!! We are having some serious technical difficulties in uploading pictures from our digital camera to the computer. As soon as we sort out the problem I will make a new post--hopefully very soon!!

In the Pumkin patch with friends

2007-10-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

This morning Julie called and asked if we were interested in meeting she and Luke at the Highland Park United Methodist Church pumpkin patch and take some pictures of the kids playing. Of course we said yes! Erin and Grant were able to join us, and the kids had so much fun playing with pumpkins. It was so sweet to watch them and take some great pictures. Nothing better than sweet babies to get you in the mood for Fall!!

This one is my favorite!!

Trying to pick out a good one!

Attempting to get all three kiddos in the picture and all looking at the camera at the same time proved to be impossible!!

For some reason she loved this little white pumpkin!!
The best group shot that we could get!

After our time in the pumpkin patch we headed to Chick-fil-a for lunch. The kiddos loved the chicken nuggets and fries!! While we were there some friends just so happened to show up, so we got to hang out with Jennie, Carlisle and Evelyn as well as Courtney and Olivia!! As we were leaving to take our babies home for naps, Mandy and Doff showed up!!

Notice Jennie and Courtney and their beautiful babies in the background!

Baby Girl and Grant sharing some love!! They really just love each other, they are going to miss each other so much!!

Erin and Julie--two great mommies!!

Apparently Chick-fil-a is the place to be for lunch on Wednesdays!! We will have to remember that!! It is not everyday that we get to have lunch with a bunch of sweet people and their sweet babies!!

My Birthday Celebration

2007-10-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

I am a lucky girl--I got to celebrate my birthday for three days!! Saturday in Charleston, and then on Sunday we (Mr. Allen, my Mom, Jason, Isabella and myself) ate Papa John's pizza for dinner and my Mom made a carrot cake with cream cheese icing (my favorite!!). We decided that since Isabella is almost a year old she was old enough to try pizza crust and carrot cake. I scraped all the toppings off of the pizza and let her eat the crust--she ate a whole piece!! After that she was kind of timid with the cake--she sometimes has a thing about new textures--Mr. Allen put a small piece in her mouth to make her try it, and she loved it!!

Her Grandpa Nick will be so happy that we finally let her try pizza!!

And now, on to the cake! Mommy's favorite part!!

This look says "wow, you are really letting me eat this"!!

Papa and his "Honey"!

My Mom and Jason enjoying their cake!

Then on Monday, my actual birthday, I worked. Jason and Isabella got me a bouquet of beautiful flowers. That night we finally got to go to a parenting Bible Study that we have been trying to make it to for almost a year. The very first meeting of the Bible Study was last October, the day that Isabella was born!! Anyway, it was great to finally get to be there. We really enjoyed the study and getting to fellowship with the other people in the group. Thanks for being so welcoming!!

A wonderful day in Charleston!!

2007-10-03T14:05:00.000-07:00

To celebrate my birthday we went to Charleston SC for the day on Saturday. Our wonderful friends Nick and Keri as well as my Dad and his wife Andrea live there. We started the day by meeting all of them at Nick and Keri's adorable apartment, and then we went to one of our favorite restaurants--Jason's Deli!! It has such a great name, and the very best Chicken Salad and Reuben sandwiches ever!! We walked around Northwoods Mall while Isabella took a little nap in her stroller and then we headed to Isle of Palms beach. Isabella seems to love the beach, and trying to walk on the sand. As you can see from the pictures it was very windy, but it was the perfect temperature!! We only got our feet and lower legs wet, but the water was wonderful!!

My Dad, Andrea, and Isabella!

The five of us on the beach!! What a gorgeous day!!

Windy family picture on the beach!

The wonderful Nick and Keri!

I love this one--the wind blowing her hair!!
Thanks guys for letting us come and spend the day with you--we had a wonderful time!!

Finally feeling better!!!

2007-10-03T14:03:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Isabella is finally feeling better!! She hated having to take medicine, apparently Amoxicillin does not taste very good. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!!

Best Laid Plans. . .

2007-10-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

As you have seen in previous posts our best friends Patrick and Heather have two children--Alana and Lilliana. Lilliana is about 7 weeks older than our Isabella. We are so excited to have children born so close together, and have decided that they will grow up best friends and be college roommates some day!!
Lilliana turned 1 year old September 17th! A birthday party was planned for Saturday September 22rd, Isabella and I were on going to Jacksonville for the weekend. I had arranged my work schedule to be off Friday through Monday for a nice long weekend in FL.
Thursday night Jason picked Isabella up from day care and brought her home while I went to the last meeting of a Beth Moore Bible Study on the book of Daniel (which I would highly recommend to anyone). While I was there Jason called three times to tell me that Isabella was not acting right, and seemed to not be feeling well. When I got home to put her to bed, we took her temperature and her fever was 101.3. We gave her some Tylenol and rotated it with Motrin through the night. Friday morning she still had a fever, and just seemed to feel terrible. I called the doctor and we went into the office, after waiting 1 and 1/2 hours in the sick waiting room, we finally saw Dr Whitehead and he told me that she had an ear infection in her left ear. Apparently the cold that she had been battling for 2 weeks had resulted in an ear infection. We started her on Amoxicillin and called to tell Heather that we would not be coming that afternoon, but maybe we would still go on Saturday. Well Friday evening Heather called me back and told me that Lilli had awakened from her afternoon nap with a 103 fever and they had taken her to the doctor and she had strept throat!!
We decided to listen to what the Lord was apparently telling us, and stayed home. We were all very bummed!!! Apparently we made a good decision because by Sunday Alana was sick too!!! Poor Lilli's 1st birthday party had to be rescheduled!!
Our weekend was spent at home, taking medicine, and trying to get Isabella to eat, drink, and sleep!! Hopefully next weekend will be better!!
Happy 1st Birthday Lilliana, wish that we could have been there to celebrate you!!

What's new in Allenland!!

2007-09-17T08:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, so actually there is not really much new with us--we have just been living and loving each other!! Isabella has started cruising around furniture and anything that she can hold on to. It is so amazing to literally watch her learn and try new things every single day!!

You gotta love sweet baby bed head! I swear this is for real, we could not have made it stick straight up like this!

We love giving her new foods to try! She is such a mess, she loves to feed herself and sometimes gets so frustrated if I try to feed her! As you can see we had to take the pretty cloth high chair pad out because she is so messy I was washing it everyday.
Yummy!! She did not really like pasta primavera, but she loved playing with it!

The week before last she started daycare (she really misses Miss Erin and her buddy Grant). She has adapted well, and seems to be falling into the routine that they have laid out. I think that she is handling it better that her Mommy is, I still feel so bad dropping her off every day. I would love to be a fly on the wall and just watch her play and interact with the other kids! Of course, since she started daycare she got her first really bad cold. Poor thing, she seemed so miserable! Praise the Lord, she is finally feeling better!!

Check out her cute little red nose!

We spent an afternoon recently checking out Hartsville with our great friends Nick
and Keri!

Hanging out with cousin Mackenzie!

Jason took this one, I am not sure when but it is really cute!

So helpful, helping Mommy empty the dishwasher!

We call these our "gangster baby"
pictures!

Hope that you enjoyed the pictures and little update!

Catch up!!

2007-08-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know that I said that I would do better about posting updates and that I have been slack about it lately. As you will see from the pictures we have been really busy! I know that sounds pretty lame. So here goes our big update:

Sunday August 5th
Isabella's Uncle Ben and Aunt Kim are renting our Aunt and Uncle's place at the beach for the week. They just love Isabella, so after I was finished working Isabella, Grand (my Mom), and I went to the beach to spend some time with them. That night we went to Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant and sports bar to watch the first Pittsburgh Steelers game of the season. For those of you that don't know, we are all huge Steelers fans!! Also, in case you don't know, they beat the New Orleans Saints that night!!

She was clapping at a great play! She enjoyed watching the game with us. We don't usually let her watch much TV, but we made an except for the Steelers!!

I know that these two pics are very similar but I had to include this one too! It is as if she is posing for the camera!! She is so funny!!

This is Uncle Ben, one of the best uncles in the whole world! He is a huge Steelers fan and always has been! (Notice his shirt!!)

Isabella's Grand! The BEST Grand on Earth! The lighting in this one is not very good, sorry Mom. We had to include Grand, though!

Super Sweet Aunt Kim! We are so thankful that she and Ben are together--we just love her!

I tried to get a picture of the fact that we were in a sports bar! She really enjoyed all the noise, people, and TVs to look at!

A really great picture of Isabella and Uncle Ben the next morning!!

While us girls were at the beach that night with Uncle Ben and Aunt Kim, our best friends in the whole world came to Florence for a visit! They got to stay until Thursday morning! Pat and Heather have two daughters--Alana is 3 1/2 years old and Lilliana (Lilly for short) is almost 6 weeks older than Isabella. We have already decided that they are going to be the best of friends and someday college roommates! It is so cute to watch them play and interact! Monday morning Jason, Pat, Heather, Alana, and Lilliana came down to the beach to join us!

Bathing beauties on the beach!! Mr. Allen also came down for the day and brought our niece Mackenzie to play on the beach with us! We had so much fun!

She is just too cute in her little bikini!!

Cutie Alana buried in the sand by her Daddy!

The burier of Alana, her Daddy Pat! Don't look too close at the picture or you will notice that Alana is trying to take a snooze, her eyes are closed!

Mackenzie in the water!

The girls may be two years apart but after they warmed up to each other, they had a great time playing in the water and the sand!

Mommy and daughter, Heather and Lilliana! Two beautiful girls!

Isabella and her Papa! They just LOVE each other!! Notice her very sleepy eyes, she would not sleep on the beach!!

Uncle Ben and Aunt Kim taking a rest and working on their tan!! They will love that I included this picture!

We ended our wonderful day at the beach with a group trip to Carrabba's Restaurant!

My Beautiful Mom (Isabella's Grand)!

Alana and Mackenzie--beautiful girls!! They had such a great time playing together all day!

We had such a wonderful time at the beach! Thanks Ben and Kim for letting us crash your vacation!!

Tuesday August 7th
Tonight we went over to Colin and Aron's house for dinner and to let all the kids play together! We had such a nice time with Smiths and LeMasters. It was great to see all the kids play together. Alana came home calling Makgill her Prince~~too cute!!

It was such a wonderful couple of days with The Burrows Family! THANK YOU so much for coming to visit us!!

Friday August 10th
Jason and I went to a Sunday School couples baby shower and Isabella stayed home with a non-family baby-sitter for the first time ever! Megan did a wonderful job and Isabella had a great time! I think that she did better being with a baby-sitter than her parents did having to hire one!! : ) Thanks Megan, we really appreciate you--and will definitely call you again!!

Sunday August 12th
Our new nephew Jesse Kendall Allen was born today!! He is absolutely adorable, and looks just like his Daddy!

Friday August 10th
Jason and I went to a Sunday School couples baby shower and Isabella stayed home with a non-family baby-sitter for the first time ever! Megan did a wonderful job and Isabella had a great time! I think that she did better being with a baby-sitter than her parents did having to hire one!! : ) Thanks Megan, we really appreciate you--and will definitely call you again!!

Monday August 13th
Today we traded our Jeep Cherokee and got a new Toyota Sienna mini-van! Yes, we have joined the ranks of mini-van families!! We LOVE it, and are so happy to have more room!! We can have seven adults, and Jason with his long legs can sit in any of the seats comfortably!!

Sunday August 12th
Tonight at church they had a reception for us (called a pounding) to welcome us to Southside Baptist Church! We are so touched and blessed by the outpouring of love and friendship that was extended to us! We are so excited to be at Southside, and totally feel like that it where we are supposed to be! Thank you so much!

Standing up!!

2007-07-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

Another new thing this week is that Isabella can pull herself up to standing! She also finally has two bottom teeth coming in, as soon as I can get a picture of them I will post it! Thanks Reeves and Rebecca for letting us borrow this toy!

Jason was taking pictures of her in her exersaucer when I got home day from work, trying to catch the excitement on her face!! It's adorable-- she jumps, reaches, squeals and says "mama mama!"

On the move!!

She gets so tickled with herself!!

Standing up on her own, and she pulled herself up!
Thanks Tallon for letting us borrow your toy!

Daddy, I want to hold that shiny thing that you keep pointing at me!!

Getting dressed for bed, after a long day of playing and a bath!

We can't resist taking pictures of her asleep in her crib. Just too adorable, precious, and sweet!

Marnie Moore's 50th B-Day Surprise Party!

2007-07-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday night we helped sweet Anne throw a surprise 50th birthday get together for her sweet husband Marnie! Almost all of our original Bible Study was there--we love these people so much that I had to include them on our blog!! Isabella and the birthday boy!!
Miss Erin, Grant and Isabella! For those of you who don't know, Miss Erin and her husband Gus are great friends of ours and she keeps Isabella while Jason and I work! She is soooo wonderful to her and to us!!

Kristin and cutie Anna! You can't see it in this picture but there is another Patterson baby girl on the way!

Doff loved the birthday cake!
Cool Luke, in his shades!!!
Waiting to eat cake and ice cream--yummy!!

We had a really great time with everybody!! It was wonderful to get together on a Sunday night like we used to -- plus kids now!!

A BIG week for us!

2007-07-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a pretty busy one! Isabella's Dada came home last Friday evening. She and I both were very happy to see him! She had been crawling around all week saying "Dada Dada?"--you could actually hear the question mark at the end! She is growing and changing so much and so fast lately!

She loves playing and crawling on our bed!! She won't sleep with us anymore, she moves too much and we get in her way! Please notice her pajamas--pink and purple Atlanta Braves pj's, Mommy is not a fan but Daddy is!

Here is my super sweet Sister-in-law--the best Aunt Kim ever!! (Thanks UT for sending this to me this week!!)

2007-07-16T18:56:00.001-07:00

I thought that our 1st blog entry would not be complete without a few pictures!

Here are Jason, Isabella and myself on her first plane ride, to Chicago in June. As you can see she was more interested in what was out the planes windows!

Isabella loves her stroller! I can't believe that she is almost 9 months old already!!

Our new blog!!

2007-07-16T18:28:00.000-07:00

The Allen's are finally getting into the blog world! We love looking at and reading our friends blogs and decided that we need one too! This week Jason is at Look-up Lodge with his youth group from Southside Baptist Church, so Isabella and I are home alone! We kept telling Jason that we were going to "party, party, party" without him; and we did, she tried mixed vegetables today for the first time and had a reaction to them! She got hives on her neck and back that lasted about an hour--I think that we will just stick with fruits for now!
She is growing and changing so fast. Today she went from crawling around to sitting herself up for the first time all by herself! Jason has the camera with him or I would have taken a picture, she was so excited and proud of herself!
I hope that this blog enables friends and family to keep up with our lives, and be able to see pictures of Isabella! I also hope that it encourages us to be better parents and take more pictures of our precious angel baby Isabella!!