Administrative Note...

Chris has informed me that it is difficult to read the captions that go with the pictures, because it is hard to tell if the caption goes with the picture above the caption or the picture below the caption. He says that they should go ABOVE the pertinent photo. Therefore, in accordance with his wishes and his supreme knowledge, captions will now go ABOVE the pictures that they relate to. Thank you for your time and attention in this matter. We will now rejoin your regularly scheduled program, which is already in progress.

Tummy Time

Izzy doesn't get enough tummy time. I admit that up front. She gets lots of time sitting and standing and lying down, but tummy time always seems to escape me. I usually think to do it right after she has eaten (which would result in a whole lot of spit up), or right before nap time (which means she isn't in the mood to hold her head up). So, she just misses a lot of chances to be on her tummy. Chris is way better at giving her tummy time. And since she has gotten more head control, and a stronger neck, she even enjoys it a little if she gets lots of praise. Here are some recent pictures of tummy time with Daddy.

If we push her little arms under her, she can push up pretty well.



She likes to have people tell her "Yay, Isabelle!"



Sometimes, she can even follow us as we walk around her. She has pretty good neck control so far.



Also, please notice the nice bedspread that she is lying on. I made that! A long time ago, I made it, and christened it "The blanket bundle" because it actually folds up into itself.



Izzy is so happy to have tummy time with Daddy.

Wolverine-abelle

For those of you who don't know who Wolverine is, he is a member of the X-men. I won't go into the many complicated details of his life, except to say that his hair is kind of one of his trademarks (along with the metal that is fused to his bones...adamantium...and the way it shoots out of his knuckles...very cool). Anyways, Izzy has learned to wiggle around in her crib, and often ends up with her head pushed up along the side slats. If she stays that way long enough, it pushes her hair down, so that the middle of her fuzzy head is flattened, while the sides stick up...looking crazily, like Wolverine.



This is Wolverine. The sides of his hair are slicked back, while the front comes forward, like a valley between two hills.




And here is Wolverine-abelle. We did her hair just like the original Wolverine, and the resemblance is uncanny. (For those of you who DO follow X-Men, I said Uncanny on purpose...)



This is a side view...Notice the nice point in front? Young wolverines often have that look.



This is a real wolverine. See the point on his/her forehead? Wolverine-abelle is even more like a real wolverine, than the X-Men Wolverine!



And here, Wolverine-abelle is lunging at the camera...very ferocious.

Izzy's future...

Isabelle has so much hair, that Chris and I decided to see what she would look like with LOTS of hair...like a real person does (because she's a baby, not yet a "real" person. Here are the results...


In this one, she has shoulder length hair, with some bangs. Kind of like you'd see with a headband.



This one is short and shaggy. The ends were expertly arranged to flip AWAY from her head. Very trendy.



And this is the punk look. One side is longer than the other. It all curls away from the head. Kind of like Kelly Osbourne (but korean). Please let us know which one you like best!

Izzy's first Christmas!!!

Somehow, Izzy was in Minnesota today!!!

Here, Izzy is with her cousin Ellee. In Minnesota. While we thought she was napping in her crib. That girl is AMAZING!!!

Izzy breaks the Time-Space Continuum

Izzy with her Godparents, Josh and Kal, on the Great Wall of China in 2003.



Izzy in Wisconsin with Josh and Jimmie. She's sporting Kid 'n Play hair.


Izzy watching soccer/futbol in South Dakota the Rygh family last month.


Izzy celebrating her -1 Christmas with her family, last year.


Izzy hiking with Chris in Hawaii.


Izzy with Chris and Max.


Izzy admiring a waterfall with Sarah at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii.


Izzy with Chris and Jake at a Florida football game. Check out her hook 'em horns on her left hand!


Izzy sitting with Lizzie on a very nice bench.


Izzy bathing with the Koi at the Buddhist temple in Hawaii.


Izzy riding a whale tail, in Hawaii.


Izzy growing out of a plumeria flower, a la Cabbage Patch kids.

Isabelle "Einstein" Pack

Izzy's hair is getting longer (minus the growing bald spot), and so after a bath the other day, it was poking out in all different directions. Usually, the sides get matted down pretty quickly once it dries, but I'd never seen the "before matting", or at least I'd never noticed it. Chris says that Izzy kind of looks like a crazy Einstein in a straight jacket.



Here she is with a crazy look on her face.



This smile is mostly because I was standing above her on the bed, and kept trying to get her to smile.



This smile was a consolation smile, because I had just taken a few pictures, and missed the smile because she would stop when I took the picture, and then smile right after the picture, before the camera was ready again.



In this picture, she's telling me "Mom, I'm done posing, so you had better pick me up before I poop on your white comforter."



And this is an almost naked baby picture...perfect to threaten her with when she tries to go to prom with a guy who owns a motorcycle.

Izzy with her hair done

So, when Izzy was born, she had a full head of hair. I figured it would all fall out, but it didn't. So, as it has grown, it has gotten a life of its own, where it probably decided it couldn't see all that well, so it stood up for a better look. Also, I have a gray and green stroller, and usually put a bib on her when she was in it, so people often thought she was a boy. Well, let me tell you, Izzy didn't like that one bit! She would often ignore them, or give them a fake smile, or even cry when people did that. So, I decided that she needed to have her hair done so that people would know she was a girl. That, and I was worried that the hairs in back were getting mad because the hairs in front always had the good view. (kind of like when you're at a concert or a game, and the person in front of you stands...then you have to stand...then the person behind you has to stand...it's madness...) Anyways, Izzy got these cute clips from her cousin, Hannah, so I put some in her hair one day. They were super cute, but hard to open and close and I think I almost pushed one through her soft spot. Then she cried when I took them out, because I pulled her hair. So, we will save those for special occasions (maybe when her hair is a little longer and she's not so much of a wimp). We also got a truck load of bows from a friend who lives in Texas (Thanks, Jennifer!). She actually MADE them! So, now that Izzy has her hair done when we go out, she's much happier, and looks really cute!



This is a picture of Izzy with the Hannah clips in her hair. I had to use two to hold it down in front, and even then, it was putting up a fight.



Here's Izzy with ALL the bows Jennifer made, in her hair. We didn't want any of them to feel left out, so we put them all in, and sent a picture to Jennifer. I think Izzy's in shock about it.



Here she is again with all the bows. As you can see, some of them are holding on by a hair (get it? hehehe...okay, I don't know if that's actually funny or not...don't think about it too hard and it might be.)



Here's Izzy with just ONE bow in her hair. She's in her favorite sitting spot, aka the crack in the couch. And she's got a tiny bit of drool at the corner of her mouth, because that's where drool lives. Inside the mouth, it's spit. Outside of it, it's drool. This is drool that's being coy.



And here's a better picture of Izzy in her crack. She really needs a bumbo. But she's happy! It's the seat that affords her the best view of the TV. Her current favorite is football. Any football. Pro, college, NFL gameday, highlights, Classic. As long as it's football, she's happy. Second is basketball. We've only watched basketball a few times, and she's been happy, but it doesn't grab her attention like football does. And her third favorite thing to watch is Full House. I don't know why, but she likes it.

And the best part of the hair things is that her hair is starting to fall out. We finally got her some hair things, and the hair may be gone within a month. It started with a tiny bald spot on the back of her head where she pushes off when she tries to roll over. Now, it's like it's own planet. Chris calls her "the bald and the beautiful" (for all you people with a life, it's a reference to a soap opera, the bold and the beautiful). So, hopefully, the top won't fall out, and she can keep wearing her bows.

Izzy's first Thanksgiving, and meeting family

For Thanksgiving, my parents and my sister's family drove down (from Wisconsin and South Dakota, respectively) to celebrate with us, and to meet Izzy. Emily, my sister, is married to Mark, and they have 4 children, three of which attended the Thanksgiving bash (the fourth was still in Guatemala waiting for paperwork to go through). Ellee is 7, Isaac is 5, and Hannah is 3, so it was a full and crazy house, but TONS of fun! Izzy was super smiley and loved hanging out with her cousins and grandparents. Raisin and Eden were surprisingly well behaved, taking to Ellee, especially. Nothing really crazy happened...just lots of fun.



Here's my dad, playing with Izzy.



Isaac is really good with kids, and just loved sitting in the papasan chair, holding Izzy.



Hannah also liked holding her "Isabelle Katherine" as she called her, but got bored easily, and was usually done after a few minutes.



This is all four of the kids. We're only missing Muffie and Josiah to have all the Tackes side cousins. Maybe later....

Izzy, an Homage to Tupac Shakur

Izzy has long been involved in a Ghetto lifestyle. It began with flashing gang signs. Then, she has shown a love for Hip Hop, R&B, and Rap music, especially the booty shaking songs. Now, she has began using her (clean) burp rag for head gear. What can we do but love her, and hope that her life is good and safe and happy, a blend of all that she loves, even if that includes booty shaking. At least we can all agree that if she's going to be ghetto, at least she looks good doing it.