6 months old

This picture reminds me of my grandma when I see her eyes, and it also reminds me a little of my sister Maureen. Isabel loves the prunes.

This a picture of an outfit that I love, but the picture doesn't do it justice. A little vain I know, but I am a girl. :)
Another one of my favorite dresses. Thanks mom!

I can't believe that Isabel turned 6 months on the 13th! Time flies even faster with each kid that I have. She's taking solids now. It's making her a little constipated. So we've introduces some prunes and that's helped a lot.

She is sitting up for long periods all by herself. She grabs for things but isn't very coordinated and once in a while hits herself in the face. She is not rolling, and I'm not complaining about this. I really need to put her on her tummy more, but with her two tazmanian devil brothers, it's very difficult to do so.

This week she also started sleeping very little during the day and being very distracted when she breast feeds. This results in long days for mom, and both of us getting wet during every feeding because she keeps popping off. You want to tell her to quit being curious, but then again, you don't...

Isabel is a HAPPY baby and smiles at everyone. It makes me happy to have a pleasant child.

Happy Birthday Taryn & Ada

One thing I really miss about not living near home is being an aunt. So I've deemed myself aunt Julie to my two little friend's Ada and Taryn. They are in my ward, and both turn 1 this month. It's amazing how long it takes to make everything from scratch. I miss cake mix! But it was fun to try new things. These cupcakes are filled (and topped) with pastry cream made by yours truly. Paolo taught me how to do it. I think they came out quite well.
This is Ada. She is outgoing, and curious. She's already giving her mom a run for her money with her awesome climbing skills.

This is my friend Taryn. She is sweet and reserved. She takes a little bit to give her confidence and trust. She is also happy and a jewel!
It was fun to have an afternoon with my american friends. It was also fun to do something for someone else. I love it when they come up and visit.

Boredom comes at a price

Boredom comes at a huge price at my house = DEVASTATION! When I need a minute to "get things done", and my kids are bored (99% of the time since we've been snowed in for almost 2 weeks- and more is coming).
When I thought they were playing so nicely.... oh how gullible I can be at times.
This a scene from about a week ago. It was one of the worst explosions they've created.

This was also an attempt to alleviate the boredom- a Halloween party. We dressed up in Halloween costumes, and had a party with special snacks, including the last of our goldfish crackers.
The party was a good idea. The VERY BAD idea was to show them some of the Incredibles movie since Jordan was dressed up like one of them. I had forgotten how much body slamming, hitting, kicking action there was. The boys then body slammed, kicked, hit the rest of the week. The last thing they need is to refine those techniques at 2 and 4 years old. I am resigned that yes it will happen, but I'm hoping it's not until Isabel is in time to learn it and use it as self defense against her brothers.

quilt in progress

This is the back of a quilt I'm making for my bed.
This is the front. I spray basted it to the batting during nap time yesterday. I'm still trying to get it unwrinkled in spots. I got the idea for the lattice quilt from my friend Kati's blog. I love the design because it has so little waste, and enough wiggle room when you're preparing the blocks.

more snow, more mischief

What does boredom mean? = mischief! Yesterday while trying to give Isabel a bath the boys came in and handed me something from the fridge. They are strictly forbidden from opening the fridge (which they strictly ignore). As I went to return the stolen item, I found the flashlight on in the fridge looking at me. More evidence against the guilty. :) It's the square shape on the top shelf.
A cute hat from grandma!
Luckily a Valentine's package arrived from Grandma just before the storm hit. We've put those Cars2 stickers to use!
Sitting for long periods of time all by herself! Getting close to grabbing things and putting them in her mouth.
Another snow(man)blob. Sadly all this snow isn't the kind good for making snowmen.
Notice the ice on the back of the car. We dug out our car yesterday afternoon.
This is a sheet of ice from off the car
Can you see Aaron's tongue in these two pictures? No, it didn't stick. Not sure what I would have done if it did.

Proud owner of a frozen tongue...

Snowed in

This is the beginning of the snow fall on Tuesday. The kids were SOOOO excited.



This is after at least 2 feet of snow. It was not heavy, it was the fluffy kind of snow. All day long Aaron asked to make a snowman. This was the sad result. He did have a carrot for a nose, and a hat!

This car is not going anywhere until the snow melts. Since snow if forecasted off and on all week long I think it will be a while. We've had at least 3 feet of snow, some of it melting away. Imagine this happening in Florida and you can get the same idea of chaos as to what it is happening here. It doesn't snow more than 2-3 inches at a time (and even then it's a crisis). So this is a disaster for Bologna. I haven't left my driveway in 5 days.

The other problem is that we are not equipped for snow either. We have no snow clothes, and not even a decent pair of gloves for Jordan. We have no snow boots, and no snow shovel. We are using a garden shovel to try and dig a path in front of our door. It's a little tricky because the shovel is metal and the snow sticks to it right away and it gets heavy.
Glad that daddy finally came home from work. Sledding was a lot more fun when daddy was pulling.

Jordan feeding Isabel

Our friend's Brianna and Tyson Smith came over for lunch. They came despite snow and coldness. Thank you for the company! When I turned back from taking pictures, I found Jordan feeding Isabel!

Aaron took this of us. Good job buddy.
And this is little Taryn. She doesn't go to others easily and she let me hold her 5 minutes! Big step for her.

This about the cutest thing I've ever witnessed. Jordan is SUCH a 2 year-old that some days it's hard to remember the parts that I love most about him. I spend most of the day trying to forget the hours of crying, screaming, tantrums over the wrong color/shape/too much/too little/not hot enough/too hot, etc. Then he has moments like this one that shine through and remind me what a good core he has.

I was distracted in the middle of feeding Isabel (this is about her 5th solid food meal by the way). When I turned back I saw Jordan feeding Isabel, and Isabel was eating better for Jordan than she was for me. It was a small meal, but Jordan fed her all of it! Thank you for being such cute children!