Isabella

Isabella...

1 -wants to be a unicorn when she grows up...or maybe a mermaid.

2 -loves to swim and go to the beach.

3 -'s favorite place to eat is Panera...broc cheddar soup w/chips.

4 -is addicted to candy.

5 -has an incredible memory...scary!

6 -loves her Uncle Tono and Aunt Betsy.

7 -eats octopus.

8 -is very social.

9 -wants to have long hair.

10 -has a very deep bonded relationship with my mom. Loves her Oma!

11 -loves pets and asks all the time when we can get a cat.

12 -prefers to be called Isabella at school.

13 -almost broke her nose in November.

14 -enjoys finding bugs, lizards, frogs, etc.

15 -loves to cuddle.

16 -is a rule monitor/reminder...but often fails to apply them to herself.

17 -is a mommy's girl.

18 -wants to be right.

19 -is strong, independent, and going to be a mighty force one day!

20 -wants to know and please God.

21 -inspires me to be a better person and mother.

22 -has a sensitive heart.

23 -wants an American Doll.

24 -did not talk til almost 29 months and now we can get her to stop!

25 -is beautiful!

Abbey

I take full responsibility for being a blog slacker. After the car accident this summer, time got away from us, school starting, fall, visits from Peru, a wedding, the holidays...whew! But I am determined to get back into the swing of blogging. So to jump start I wanted to update about the girls so here are 25 random bits of info about each...

Abbey...

1 -takes 1 to 3 baths a day!

2 -prefers to wear dresses right now.

3- is a girly girl..loves diamonds and anything that sparkles.

4 -is the comedian of the family and makes us laugh frequently.

5 -is a cuddlebug.

6 -is a free spirit.

7 -is addicted to lip gloss.

8 -is a homebody.

9 -is compassionate and loving.

10 -is a princess. She will actually say...I not Abbey, I uh pincess!


11 -'s favorite shows are Tom & Jerry, Pink Panther and Peter & the Wolf.

12 -calls her special blankie "ah-chee" and is very attached to it.

13 -loves to eat woodles (noodles).

14 -wants to go to the castle!

15 -'s favorite color is PINK.

16 -gets stinky feet.

17 -melts my heart when she says, "what you say mommy?"

18 -'s favorite book is "The Monster at the End of this book" w/ Grover.

19 -wears her jammies when home all day and changes into them as soon as she gets home.

20 -likes to be my helper in the kitchen.

21 -says things like "bashlight, bix-it, baff, Tom & Cherry, and nilky's." And we don't intend to correct them anytime soon.

22 -has micro fits and then gets over it.

(this is her having a 5 minute fit under the table.)

23 -is a Daddy's girl.

24 -albeit loving, have to bribe kisses out of her.

25 -is honest and calls it how she sees or smells it! Mind you...this is in public as well. Doh!

June

Our summer started with an extra dose of sunshine while vacationing in Florida. Although the sun was just starting to shine in MI, we got the full affect of the sun in FL...no mercy there! Unfortunately the first day at the beach yielded some awful sunburns for all. But man what I wouldn't pay to have this to look at right now!

We also always try to find a local Peruvian restaurant. We did, but was not all that great. But the girls found a new appreciation for the drink of Peru...Inca Kola!

Breathe...

A few weeks ago now, Bella went home with my mom. On their way home, as they went through the GREEN light, the intoxicated driver blew threw his RED light. My mom hit his car head on on his passenger side. Bella was in the back seat driver side and Melissa my cousin (up visiting from GA) was in the passenger seat. His car then swung around, hit the back door where Bella was sitting, and proceeded into the telephone pole taking that out.

Bella only received a bad bump on the left side of her head and all over aches...THANK YOU GOD! She has had a few headaches since, but pray these will pass and there is no ongoing affects.

My mom banged her left arm up pretty good, as well as her shins, and is moving slowly. For her I think the emotional stress took more of a toll than anything and will take some time to sort it all out.

My cousin Melissa was 17 weeks pregnant, unfortunately lost the baby due to the trauma from the accident. She also has a bad laceration in her groin area from the seat belt. She had stitches inside and 22 on the outside. She also broke her ankle, had to have 2 screws put in it and will be in a cast for 6-8 weeks. Fortunately the physical wounds will heal, albeit slowly, but they will. As for losing Andrew, having been through this type of loss ourselves, we pray her heart will heal from this loss and God will bless her through this journey.

As for the drunk driver...last we head he was still in a coma, but was able to come off the ventilator. He's 23, has a young son. Beyond that, we do not know much about it. After speaking with the state trooper, he confirmed he was indeed severely intoxicated, and had no priors on his record. As difficult as it is, I really do pray for a full recovery. I know there will be appropriate consequences, but pray this was a life changing/defining moment for him. I have such deep sorrow and sympathy for this man's family. It too has been unfair for them to be on this journey with him. But to be honest I struggle feeling any sorrow or sympathy for him individually. He made a choice, and I understand we all make dumb choices from time to time, but this one took a life and could have taken more. If the life he had taken was our Isabella...would you really ask me to feel sorry or sympathy for him? Maybe one day I will, just not today.

Overall our family was shaken, we are still healing, but praise God for His protection and goodness in the outcome of this accident. I know God is still good had things turned out differently, but so much easier to praise Him in this circumstance than all the others we have imagined.

Complicated?

Bella: "Mom, does it hurt when the baby comes out?"

Mom: "uh-huh, but it was worth it."

Bella: "Do you have to be married to have a baby."

Mom: "Uh-huh, that's what God says."

Bella: "Geeze! Why does it have to be SO complicated!?"

For Sale

It is officially official...we are selling our house and moving! We listed finally April 24th and have already had a few showings. It's excitment wrapped up in feelings that are bittersweet. We are excited for our move to somewhere new but are also pushing aside feelings of those we will leave behind. I have lived in MI my WHOLE life and while I have travelled much, my friends, church and family I have here make it quite difficult to leave. But to be honest, a burden to move has been on my heart for some time and have had plenty of excuses not to move...loved my teaching job, having babies, raising children, church, and so on. But I have run out of excuses and having lived out of state for two months last year...God showed me I could move away and do just fine. So we are moving and to where to you might ask!? Yes Hotlanta...I mean Atlanta! Yes it will be pretty hot and humid some of the time...but they don't have snow! Well maybe a little, but I am told it melts quickly! We are looking at a community about 45-50 miles north of the city. In February I spent a week there looking at new build and re-sale and while we did have something in the works, we have decided to wait til we sell our house here, move to Atlanta and then decide where to buy or build.

Also for anyone looking to list their house...we listed with a flat fee broker. Which means we paid him some cash to give us a MLS#, put our listing on all the important websites (and then some), and will pay an extra 1/3% of 1% of our selling cost to do everything, not the usual 3%! We still had to offer 3% to a buyers agent...but really is a great deal all around! The Realtor we have been working with, Jeff Kermath, has been helpful and great in helping us through this process. I also did tell him I would pass it along since most if not all of their business is by word of mouth. = )

(http://www.brokerdirectmlsmichigan.com)

Spring Break

During Bella's spring vacation we tried to busy ourselves outside the house so as to not go crazy! One of our adventures took us to the mall to the butterfly house! As soon as Abbey walked into the humid, warm butterfly exhibit she said yuck! Stinky! So, she didn't last too long inside, but Bella had fun admiring and holding the butterflies. With us were our friends the Roesslers...Ethan and Nolan. The afternoon would not have been complete without an ice cream either!

Our next outing took us to Splash Village at Frankenmuth. We went with some other friends and her two older girls disappeared with Bella and didn't really see much of them the whole 3ish hours we were there. But Bella did go down the covered slide numerous times and definitely got her money's worth out of the excursion! Abbey loved the water and I forced her into a few laps around the lazy river, which she ended up liking and a trip down the water slide with me. FUN! After that she was pretty exhausted and hung out by the zero depth end of the pool.

Aside from outings we also enjoyed the company of some long time friends...I have known Greg since I was 10ish as he was my youth minister. He and his wife Karen recently brought home their daughter from Russia and we were so excited to meet her and celebrate with them their newest addition to their family...Welcome AnnaFaye!

We've also made our first trip to the zoo this year. A weekend or two ago we had awesome "spring" weather!

Abbey's "1st" Haircut

We have tried on a few occasions to have Abbey's haircut/trimmed with little to no success. She has been at the don't look at me, touch me, or get near me stage for some time now with strangers...this does not help with haircuts, photo sessions at JCPenny's, etc!

So I remembered we have a friend who cuts hair! And better yet, she offered to come to us! YAY!!! So while I held her 2 month old sweet yummy baby in one arm to keep from having a meltdown (which I must say was torture getting in my baby fix), I held Abbey on my lap while Keightie cut and Abbey complied...majority of the time. And when she didn't...mini-choco chips and jelly beans filled in the gaps! By the end she was sitting on the table, eating some candy, watching the Pink Panther...but we got the job done!

Thank You Keightie!

http://walkwagon.blogspot.com/