A week at home...

...to watch Izzy grow! Sounds normal for many folks, but when both parents work outside the home all the extra time to enjoy the small things seems to fade away. But not this week!

This week was managed to have a TON of extra time home with our sweet, lovable Izzy - which was perfect because she grew up so much just this week it seems! We definitely enjoyed being with her and each other more than usual. A very nice treat these days.

On Monday, it was MLK day and we spent the day hanging out as a family, both around the house and out shopping too. Robert made us a big breakfast with bacon and eggs. I got Izzy up when I got home from work and she immediately asked for Daddy. When she smelled the bacon, she recognized that it was bacon and kept asking for it.

While shopping, we were able to find some things for our house that we have needed and then went out to eat at TGIFs after. Izzy did really good and seems to have advanced to sitting without a high chair and drinking out of cups with straws. She really loves to do things on her own most of the time, but will listen to our guidance at the table, thankfully.

She is pretty much done with her high chair. She prefers to sit at the table like a big girl.

Tuesday Izzy slept in until 8:30, which was awesome for me. She woke up asking for daddy and bacon again -so cute. Since Tuesday is a "mothers' day out for me, I got her ready and took her to CHET (school with aunt Becky) which she really has missed a lot. I ran around downtown and got all my errands done in time to pick her up and take her home for a nap. She took a 4 hour nap and so did I - great afternoon for us worn out gals! Our house isn't babyproofed at all, but occasionally Izzy gets into stuff she shouldn't, like this day. So, I ended up teaching Izzy how to Not touch the computer or laptop and after several timeouts, she finally got it. After Izzy went to bed, I went and got a much needed haircut. I came home to Robert and some delicious homemade cookies he made -some of the best we've ever tasted! Yum!

Wednesday Izzy slept in until 9:30 and I was thrilled with that! We got up and went to Story hour at the library and ran some errands. She absolutely loves to see all the kids. She spent some time after coloring and doing puzzles - seeing other kids do it seems to boost her talents more than anything. I think she is a see one, do one, teach one kind of learner :) She is doing much better about coloring on paper and not just eating the crayons now.

....well most of the time. She still enjoys munching on crayons occasionally

I had planned to take her to the park, but temps dropped down to the upper 20s and so we came home and played at the house.

Uncle Mark came over for dinner and a visit that evening - he played with Izzy the whole time while I made homemade spaghetti and meatballs. Turns out every time Mark did something new with Izzy she wanted him to repeat it 20 times and she was wearing him out...it's fun to see him with her though - she really enjoys having him around and asks for him quite a bit.

Thursday Izzy woke up a bit earlier at 8, but it was still nice to sleep in. I told her we were going to Macy's house to play and she immediately put on her shoes and tried to open the door. We had to leave earlier than planned because she really wanted to go out.

Izzy had a great time playing at Macy's (2.75 yr old) house - mostly she played with all her dolls and toys and said her name a lot. Macy wanted to play dress up, so she was Snow White and Izzy was Tinkerbell. They were pretty cute together. Izzy behaved extremely well and I'm so proud of her for getting along with other kiddos even though she's not always around kids to learn how to share all the time. I think she will make a wonderful big sis someday!

It snowed that afternoon - about 2+", and it was pretty to see it falling. We spent the evening playing and organizing some upstairs and Izzy ran around helping us out and laughing at herself.

Daddy and Izzy watching some Veggie Tales as the snow fell...very relaxing

Friday was a snow day and Robert got the day off! Yay! So we both only had to work 3 days -which is perfect if you ask me! I enjoyed the extra family time and getting more sleep before getting back to work for Fri & Sat. All in all, it's been an awesome week home having a less tired/stressed than normal week with Izzy. She was one happy little girl (as usual, but still she seemed to LOVE having us both around!)

Slide adventures these days are getting more and more dangerous!