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.

We're Back!!!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We were inundated with Ryghs and Tackes parents. Tons of fun. Total chaos. A glimpse into the future. But before we get to that part of our lives, a brief recap....



Izzy, cheering on UVA. You know, I'm not a huge fan of Duke, even though I went there, but it still chafes that my husband is a fan of UVA. At least Izzy is equally as fond of the Packers (Go Pack!!!).



Here is Izzy and Chris. She was making some great faces during this photo shoot...



And this one was so darned cute...



This is one of the bigger smiles that Izzy has given on camera. Usually, she smiles big, and then, just as I click the picture, she poops or realizes that she's really not THAT happy, or something. And all I get is a grumpy Izzy face.



And this is what Isabelle would look like if her hair DIDN'T stand straight up on her head. Kind of like a half asian Elvis or something....and her chubby face looks even chubbier. Her hair standing up really slims down her face. Yet another sign that God is real.

Raisin tries to be Sneaky

The other day, I was making Chicken Cordon Bleu Puffs, and it involved dusting flour on the cutting board. Some got on the counter, and after I had cleaned up (-ish), there was still some flour in the counter. So Raisin put his front paws on the counter, and must have turned his head sideways in an attempt to lick the counter. I didn't see it, and neither did Chris, but we know he did it, because the flour gave it away.



In this picture, on the side of Rai's face, he has a ton of flour, which show that he DRAGGED his face along the counter.



This is him, trying to keep me from taking more pictures. He was so embarassed (I don't know if the embarassment stemmed from the telltale flour on his face, or being caught. You'd have to ask him.)



And this is the ultimate "Raisin has a Piggy Nose" picture. I've been telling Chris for a long time that Raisin has a piggy nose. Chris has maintained that Raisin has a German Shorthaired Pointer nose, but this picture showed who was right. And it was such a funny picture, that I sent it to Ellen (DeGeneres) because she likes pictures of funny animals (or is it funny pictures of animals?).

Sitting on the couch

These pictures are pretty self explanatory. If you are one of those people who think that babies should be fully clothed at all times, look away.

Chris thinks it's pretty hilarious that Izzy already has boobs. He's laughing now, but give it 15 years. Or is it 12?



Chris has also so delicately pointed out that our 7 1/2 week old baby looks stoned in this picture. Hopefully, it's a coincidence, not a precursor.



Again with the stoned look.



In this one, I think she looks like she's dancing.



Notice her baby "muscles" (aka arm fat rolls)



And here, she's wiggled around so much, she's kind of scooted herself down. And squashed herself. Oops.