Isabella Grace-ious

Isabella Grace
The story of the girl who changes my life

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Weekend of Greatness

Just a quick note while the kids are still in bed (I can't believe it myself. I should be enjoying this and sleeping in myself, but it never works out that way, does it?)

So far it's been a pretty fantastic weekend. And like my good old college days, my weekend started on Thursday this week for a Girl's Night Out. I have Jen to thank for inviting me, and Dollar General to thank for giving me the courage to go out with 10 or so other women whom I had never met and really really enjoy myself. Dollar General? Yes. My favorite store. I fould the CUTEST bracelet there just before going out for just 70 cents.



So the great weekend started at Wooster Inn and continued into friday where the kids and I did nothing more than play in the baby pool. All day. Which makes me doubly happy because not only are they popsicle filled happy and exhausted at the end of a day spent in the sun, but I get a killer tan to show for it.

That, my friends, includes a tan line. Faint, I know, but I haven't had one of those in years. Since Bells has been around really. We are usually pretty climate controlled and enjoy the ac to the max, but Noah doesn't agree. So this summer we will be practically living outside, and I LOVE it.



And Saturday? Spectacular. Sun soaked and happy, I got to go shopping for new shorts while hubby played with the kids. And then I came home to have my mama over for dinner, which we ate picnic style on the front porch on the new rug she found at a garage sale for $5. We do love good deals!



So today I get to make cupcakes with my girl and then go to a pool party (for MORE sun) at Nik's aunt's house. Oh excitment!

And while there have been a few bumps along this road of near perfection (like when I had JUST put sunscreen on the kids and they decide to rub up all over the sliding glass door to the deck while they were waiting for me to take them outside...all after I had just windexed the damn things the day before....and when they both melted down out of total exhaustion at 7pm last night while Nik was mowing the lawn and I had to bathe the two most crabbiest kids in the world and then keep them as happy as possible until Nik was done mowing since there was going to be NO WAY one was going to be patient enough to let me put the other one to bed with the way they were acting) these are the most MINIMAL and welcome bumps I could ever ask for.




(that would be the disgustingness of the sunscreen on the door. Nasty, I know. But even more gross to me is how redneck our deck looks with all the plastic out there. And not to mention the need to restain it! But the kids are lovin in, and thus, so am I)

So now I'm off to continue this weekend of greatness. I just heard my cue...Bells is up and talking to Noah thru his crib slats about "puptates" (cupcakes)...i swear you tell this kid something before she goes to sleep and she dreams it and remembers it the second she wakes up!

Hope you have a weekend of greatness!

(and on a side note, hoping jen and her hubby have a fantastic week away this week...you will be missed my friend!)

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Feeling Guilty

You know how sometimes when it rains it pours? It seems like every day lately I get a call from a family member or a friend who, metaphorically speaking, needs to borrow Isabella's pink umbrella. And while I hurt because they hurt, I'm feeling pretty guilty that behind our own closed windows and doors (which are only closed now because it got so hot that i broke down and turned on the AC) we are happier than we have ever been.

The kids are loving the weather, which helps. Every morning when we get downstairs, even before diapers are changed and breakfast is made, Noah finds his green crocks (somehow knowing those are his "play shoes") and hands them to me. Isabella has decided that most of her toys are now "outside toys" and gets a little peeved when I try to bring them in at night. Yesterday was so miserably hot that Nik went to dollar general and came home with a seven dollar baby pool, which was the highlight of the kids' day.





The highlight of MY day, however was how my hubby, who is usually the sweetest and most thoughtful (even tho forgetful) man anyway, decided to up the anty and not only switch the laundry over without me even mentioning it, but also came home (after an 8oclock run to get toilet paper at dollar general (we should buy stock there honestly)) with a peanut butter cup blizzard from dairy queen for me. I do love that man.

So for these reasons, among many others, we are blissful lately. Which brings me back to feeling guilty. Is it selfishly wrong of me to want to not pick up the phone when I know the caller will bring a solemn mood? Because I know how quickly our own contentment and drama free life can turn to chaos with just one croupy cough at night from Bells. So again I ask...am I allowed to trade my guilt for ignorance and just enjoy these sunny days with my happy and (currently) healthy kids and my loving (and doting!!) husband?

And so while I try to shed the guilt, I will leave you with pictures of our recent days... how can we not be happy with memories like these?

Isabella's new summer outfit...she loves this shirt so much she keeps pulling it out of the dirty basket and handing it to me saying "ON please!"




The playhouse Nik's dad built for the kids in their backyard... while we love him for making this for them, it is in NO way babyproof or age/developmentally appropriate yet for our kids, which causes us much anxiety everytime we go over there! The kids love it however:







Nik's parents also bought Bells a Barbie Jeep off of Craig's list, which Noah has taken a fond liking to:






He did NOT, however, enjoy being confined to a swing:


Soo...back to the Barbie Jeep it was for him:


And since yesterday was Nik's day off from work, we did a whole bunch of nothing besides enjoying our kids:

(he would KILL me if he saw that I posted that pic, but it was too sweet NOT to post!)



Soon, it was getting too hot out there tho, so it was back in the house for more fun... with mama-paparazzi following close behind:





Then today, the fun started all over again... Princess Bella woke up and immediately wanted to put on one of her many "fancy dresses", this one she calls her "Sleeping Beauty" dress because it is pink...just like the real Sleeping Beauty's! Of course the only time I could get her to be still long enough for me to take a picture of her was on the potty:





"I see you, mama!!"






Sorry for the ridiculous amount of pictures...just wanted to show you how HAPPY we are:

And to top off all this goodness, look what I found at a yard sale (FOR FREE!)...Nik and Isabella made it even more beautiful with their artwork...



Hope you all are enjoying life as much as we are today!
xoxo

Monday, May 24, 2010

Isabella's Journey





One day when Isabella was about 2 I went to an antique shop with my mother-in-law. I really didn't even feel like going, as I was just coming to grips with the idea that my daughter may have a "disablitity" (altho i prefer to call her "differently abled as opposed to "disabled")... anyhow, my mother in law, Brenda, convinced me to go, as it is a family ritual of sorts to go antiquing every August when her sister is in town for a week.

So it is really at that antique store where my outlook on life (both my own and that of my daughter) changed forever.

Rewind 1 day. We are at dinner at my inlaws when I notice that Brenda seems deep in thought. She was with me a few days prior when we were at the neurologist with Bella, and I know that she was upset also about that the neurologist confirmed my dreaded thoughts that something might be wrong with my daughter. But the doctor took it one step further and pointed out some facial features of Bella's that made her think that whatever she was "suffering from" has "genetic components." Facial features including a low nasal bridge and wider set eyes with an epicanthal fold. "Not too predominant" she says "but visable nonetheless"... While I was focused on internalizing and accepting this news, Brenda seemed hell bent on proving it wrong. I had already gone through my denial phase, but Brenda's was just beginning.

So back to dinner at the inlaws. Brenda seemed a little quiet, and finally admitted that after the appointment with the neurologist, she went home and got out all of her old family photo albums, looking for people in the family with eyes like Isabella's. I can't say I blamed her because to this day every time I see a picture of any of my family, I search for Isabella's face. And usually I find it.

It was during the search that Brenda came across an old birthday card her own mother had given her years before she died. Brenda opened it and out fell a folded and forgotten twenty dollar bill.

"I just felt like maybe my mom was trying to tell me something" Brenda told me... "If I hadn't been searching for signs that Isabella would be okay, I never would have found that twenty"

Okay, so fast forward to the antique shop the next day. I was feeling pretty depressed, and as I pushed Isabella's stroller into the store I wanted nothing more than to turn around and drive home to climb in bed with my baby and cry. But tradition is tradition, and what would the end of summer be without some great finds at the antique store with the family, so onward I went.

In the corner of the store something pink and ruffley caught my eye. (Mothers of little girls everywhere can relate I'm sure) I walked over to it and saw that it was a little pink purse with brown etching of a picure of a little girl on it. But it wasn't just a purse, inside was an umbrella, small and compact with ruffles everywhere. I decided it was the perfect find, and even though it was expensive for an umbrella I went up to the cash register to buy it. When I went to pay, however, the lady told me they only took cash, of which i had none (like always...i'm a debit kind of girl) so Brenda said she would buy it for Isabella.

She pulled out her wallet and realized that the only cash she had was the folded twenty from her mom's card. I could see the tears in her eyes as she handed the money to the register lady, and she looked at Isabella and said "Isabella, that was a gift from your great grandmother!"

It was really a beautiful moment, and when we walked outside I was excited to open the umbrella and see what it really looked like (since i have to admit i was too scared of having any more bad things happen by opening it in the shop... supersticious or not!) I took the umbrella out of the bag and slowly popped it open... and it was beautiful. Which is weird to say about an umbrella but if you saw it you would understand. When I was closing it back up I looked more closely at the edges of the umbrella where I saw a design. Goosebumps ran up and down my arms as I realized that it wasn't just a design it was words: Isabella's Journey

I couldn't help it. I started bawling. My family must have thought I was nuts. I showed Brenda what it said and she started crying too. And as I folded up the umbrella and went to velcro the strap, it too said "Isabella's Journey" on it. And it was then I realized that everything was going to be just fine. Because even if Isabella was standing in a rain storm, she would have the most beautiful pink ruffles keeping her dry.

And it isn't about what I want for my child. Those are MY dreams for her. But it isn't my life. I am just lucky enough to be her mother. It's Isabella's Journey.





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