August Update

Isabelle
Isabelle is a hoot as usual.  She spent about a week being grouchy as her canine teeth (cuspids?) started coming in, but after that initial discomfort, she's been back to her usual cheery self, with the occasional bout of toddler independence roaring it's ugly head.  She's even attempted to throw a few fits, but after just standing there and crying at me, she sees it does her no good and ends up complying with my instructions.

Otherwise, Isabelle has been happy and cheery.  She's learning new words all the time, and frequently surprises us with something she's picked up (some of the words she's learned this week are church, table, bible, chair, and giraffe--"faffe").  I think her understanding of emotions and compassion has really been developing.  Last week, as I was getting ready for the day, Isabelle was watching the end of Veggie Tales:  Josh and the Big Wall.  When the walls of Jericho came tumbling down, Isabelle shouted at the screen "Oh No!  Oh No!" until the scene ended with the Israelite's triumphant entry into the city.  At that point, she recognized it was a happy situation, so she started applauding for the vegetables.  It's been fun to watch her emotionally respond to situations.  She's understanding more and more all the time.

I catch Isabelle singing all the time.  She usually sings one of the pre-school songs that are on a CD we have.  The words are easy, and she just sings simple phrases like "Oh Dear" (to the tune of Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?").  Otherwise, she just sings songs to a random tune and inserts words she knows, like Mommy and Daddy. 

Isabelle is at the stage where she loves to imitate.  She'll carry a phone around on her shoulder and hold conversations in her toddler babble, attempt to sweep the floors, try to wear our shoes and clothes, or care for her baby.  A friend is giving us her daughter's play kitchen, and I'm looking forward to seeing the fun she'll have with it.

She's learning quite a bit too.  If you haven't seen our videos of Isabelle's phonics, check them out:



In this one, she identifies the letter B.  We'd worked on it for about 10 minutes that morning, and later in the day, she was able to point it out.  She's a quick learner and I love teaching her.




As a Family
This month, my husband has been hard at work completing what I affectionately refer to as The Never Ending Paint Job.  We've been painting the outside of our home in stages for quite some time.  This month, he's made tons of progress and probably has about 4-6 more weekends worth of work ahead of him.  Now that the temperature is no longer hovering around 100 degrees, he might be able to get even more done outside.  Last weekend, he had to deviate from the plan of painting to replace our hot water heater.  This weekend, we'll all be down in South Louisiana for a baby shower for my brother and his wife.  Did I ever mention how much I love baby showers?

While Damian has worked on the outside of our home, I've been working on the inside, trying to do some de-cluttering.  It's part of my preparations for the new baby, but it's also long overdue.  I love simplicity, and simplicity is hard to achieve when unwanted junk is hanging out in your closets. 

Gabby, Personally
I'm hanging in there!  I had a great couple of weeks recently where I felt so well that I thought my morning sickness must surely be gone.  I was in for a rude awaking, however, and spent a 24 hour period doing little besides getting sick.  I lost a couple of pounds in the process, but I'm sure I'll gain them back at my mom's this weekend.  I'm definitely looking forward to a weekend of good Louisiana food.

Spiritually, I'm doing really well.  I've had to watch a couple of friends go through some serious struggles recently, and as I've tried to walk with them in their trials, I think the Lord has worked in me too.  I've had a growing discontent with my selfishness and have drawn closer to the Lord in my quiet times.  Also, my day of getting sick constantly forced me to rely on the Lord for physical strength in order to follow through on some commitments I had that day.  I'd forgotten how extreme morning sickness causes me to be completely dependent upon Him, and that's definitely a good thing. 

I've started my hunt for a good desk to use for my sewing nook, but I've found nothing that will work so far. I don't know if it'll be done in time for my birthday after all, but we'll see!

As of our last checkup, baby #2 seems to be cooking nicely in the oven.  On my 29th birthday (September 20), we'll have another sonogram and hopefully get to see if this baby is a boy or a girl.  That will determine a lot of what will need to be done around here to prepare for the baby.  We have everything we need to outfit a girl (or two!), but if it's a boy, we'll even need crib bedding.  I have weird taste and rarely like themes, so it's tough to find something I like.  I've been eyeing a few bedding options from Pottery Barn Kids, but it's tough to decide between Kasey (in primary colors), A to Z, Patchwork Stars, and the organic and gender neutral Sweet Lambie.  Feel free to give me your opinion.