It's All Her Fault...

We promised that Izzy would wear her Husky Cheer outfit on Saturday to give the Husky Basketball team good luck for their game against Purdue, but she just wasn't in the mood. It lasted less than 5 minutes. I got a couple photos, but you can see she just wasn't in the modeling mood. Oh well, as least she sent a few good vibes their way since they only lost by a basket ...

Playtime with Aunties

Heather & Kristi came out to hang with Izzy & me on Saturday. We headed to the mall so I could finally order my new glasses and then had lunch at Macaroni Grill. Izzy was pretty tired & grumpy since she's finally getting a tooth, but we got a couple silly photos of her while we were waiting for our lunches to come...

As Heather says, "I didn't know Izzy was in Iraq."

Silly Izzy

The beginning of the rebelliousness ... tearing the tablecloth.

After Izzy's nap, Kristi & Heather raced cars down the hallway and Izzy enjoyed it. Heather & I noticed that Kristi & Izzy were twins as they sat side by side on the floor. As I picked up the camera to capture the moment, Izzy started to throw a fit, so Kristi copied. She'll probably kill me for posting this, but I think this photo is hillarious!

Popsicle

Izzy's teething ... we think. She's 1 year old and doesn't have a single tooth yet! She's tricked us several times now, but still no teeth. God help us if she isn't teething - she's really got a temper these days!! Anyway... I was out taking a little break yesterday afternoon and ran across this cool kitchen gadget (what can I say, I take after my father...) to make homemade popsicles. So I poured some 100% fruit juice in them and froze them for Izzy. She had one for "dessert" tonight after dinner and she LOVED it!!

Look How She's Grown!

When I got Izzy dressed this morning, I found a shirt that I had bought her for Gerald's first Father's Day. It was huge for her last June but now fits her perfectly! Here are the comparison photos ... it's so amazing how fast kids grow!

Izzy at 3 months

Izzy at 12 months

Birthday Party Pics

We didn't get photos of everyone (we missed Auntie Heather, Uncle Mark, Auntie Marie, Uncle Larry, Lolo, Auntie Nila, Katherine, Rachel, Jason ... and of course Daddy Gerald who was outside grilling in the frigid temperatures much of the event - everyone loved his food, though!) Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate!

Jenny & Izzy look at her butterflies

Izzy eats near the party table

Landen & Alex at the Kids Table

Izzy loved the lumpia made by Auntie Nila & Lola!

Opening presents

Sofia, Rachel & Jason brought a big box ... a stroller for Izzy's baby doll was inside!

Mmmm... cupcakes!

Auntie Kristi & Izzy

Avery wearing Rachel's shoes!

Grandma, Grandpa & Izzy

The girls

Lola saying goodbye...

Jil & Avery

More Birthday ... cake time!

So birthday cake at her birthday party was a strike-out, but we tried again on Monday and Izzy had some fun with it. Thanks again, Mom, for making her cakes for her!

Izzy's Birthday Party!

What a whirlwind weekend! Izzy's first birthday was capped off with a party with our closest friends and family members - just a smallish gathering and chance to celebrate her special day. Izzy had a few "troublesome" moments during the day - nearly swallowing a penny and burning her fingers on her candle wick - but by the time the party was coming to a close she was playing with her new toys and laughing again. After her nap she got a chance to really dive in to her new gifts and she's going to be a happy girl for quite some time!!

I only posted a few photos here. More to follow later.

Click here to see Auntie Kristi's photos on picasa.

Homemade carrot cake (notice Izzy's mini version) -

made & decorated from scratch by Grandma Vinson - thank you Mom!!

Ready for cake!

Look at that candle - I like the frosting!

Owwww! I burned my finger!

Present Time

After dinner, we opened a few presents. Gerald and I were lame and didn't wrap ours - we just gave them to her in a brown paper bag that she enjoyed playing with. Gerald's co-workers Shanthi and Sigi sent a gift home so we had her open that one. It had a ribbon that she enjoyed pulling off the package and did a bit of paper tearing, but what she was most excited about were the tags that were attached to the stuffed animal inside! Thank you Shanthi & Sigi!

Opening Shanthi & Sigi's gift

Kissing her new husky dog from Shanthi & Sigi

Racer car & push toy from Mom & Dad

New puzzles from Mom & Dad

The Special Plate

Gerald, Izzy and I sat down for Izzy's first annual birthday dinner. In my family growing up we always celebrated birthdays or special occasions with a meal (the menu was usually picked by the honoree) and the person we were celebrating used the "special plate". My mom got me my own "special plate" for Mother's Day last year, but I'm afraid that we haven't used it until tonight (this will change from now on!). I attempted to seat Izzy in her highchair without the tray so she could eat off the special plate, but it didn't last longer than a few photos before she was trying to throw it on the floor. We'll try again another time, but at least we got a photo.

Izzy's First Birthday

Today is Isabella's first birthday - I've been thinking back to a year ago on the day she was born. It's so funny because it was all such a whirlwind at the time, but now looking back I have such vivid memories of so many details from the day. Pretty amazing considering how sleep deprived I was within only 24 hours of her birth! In a lot of ways it seems like forever ago and in others it seems like just yesterday. How time flies before your eyes once a child has entered your life.

I took today off from work and my Mom headed up to spend the day with us. The first order of business was breakfast, opening a couple presents (one for my Mom & Dad and one for Izzy). They we headed down to Izzy's daycare to bring birthday treats to the kids. Izzy had her first cupcake - or should I say cupcake frosting - with the kids. She had fun but since she isn't really used to sweets, it didn't last long before she had too much sugar and spit it out. We tried again after dinner and she had some of the cake part - and gobbled it all up!

New birthday clothes from Grandma & Grandpa

Izzy's first cupcake at daycare

Old McDonald

Izzy's starting to say a few words - her first was "Hi" a couple of weeks ago, then "Daddy", "Mama", and sometimes "yay". In the last week or so, she's started to sing "E-I-E-I-O" when we sing Old McDonald. If you stick with this video to the end, she'll sing it for you - sorry for the craziness in the middle, she tried to attack me and the camera!

New Toys

It was mostly a quiet weekend, but we headed to Ballard yesterday to check-out Top Ten Toys. For anyone who hasn't been there, I think it's the best toy store ever!! Izzy had fun playing with toys around the store and Gerald and I got a chance to pick out a few presents for Izzy's upcoming birthday. We let her keep one of the toys - she absolutely loves this ladybug that she pushes around on the floor and the balls inside pop.

The Park

After the Flower & Garden Show (and a nice long nap for Izzy), we headed to Hiawatha Park in W. Seattle. It's the best park I've found for kids Izzy's age. They have great swings & play ground for little ones. Izzy loved the swings (as always), and she finally got a chance to go down a slide for the first time - I think you can see from the photos that it was a hit!

Flower & Garden Show

Kristi, Grandma, Izzy, and I headed to the Flower & Garden Show since it's their last year (maybe) of having it. It was a bit of a disappointment because people weren't very nice about letting a stroller in to see the gardens, but Izzy was on her best behavior and we made the best of it we could. I got inspiration for a couple of new plants for my garden, so I guess it served its purpose!

A couple of fun photos from our day:

Izzy & Grandma in front of the red mustang in one of the gardens
(my Mom had a red mustang when she was younger).

Kristi & Izzy in front of the Asian inspired garden - there are cool lanterns, chairs and elephants behind them - but they're hard to see...

Izzy with the stuffed Tiger in the same Asian inspired garden. I think it was called dancing in the garden and on this side of the exhibit there was a large dance floor with a set-up for a King to watch and the Tiger was near the King's area - Izzy liked the tiger.

At "Spoutopia", younger gardeners designed several displays - this was sponsored by High School students and was a "dressed-up" golf cart. Since Gerald had a golf outing planned the next morning, I thought this was a perfect place for Izzy & me to pose.

As usual, Grandma spoiled Izzy and bought her this darling hat. We tried on a ton of them and finally arrived at this one, because it matches her wardrobe (she looks so cute in purple, what can I say!). Here she is posing on a purple chair at Starbucks - she knows that camera is on her...