David and Sara's 30th Birthday Party

This past weekend was David and Sara's 30th Birthday Fiesta! I attempted to surprise David with his parents, but he was suspicious for over a month and knew they'd be here. I was extremely disappointed that I wasn't successful with the surprise. I'll get him one day.

We had a great turnout at the party and a good time was had by all. Here are some photos and videos from the bash:

Visit to KC

In her 4+ months of life, Isabella is becoming well-traveled. She just made her second trip to Kansas City to celebrate her Great-grandfather Ray's 85th birthday. She got to see so many family members including her cousin Allison and her boyfriend Chad who happened to be in Kansas City at the same time. She was so excited to finally meet them and can't wait to see them again in December. She got her first KC BBQ experience (unfortunately it will be some time before she gets to taste it) when we, along with her Mimi, Papa and Aunt Meagan went to Fiorella's Jack Stack BBQ. Because that's where we had our rehearsal dinner, it's a "must eat" every time we're in KC. It's just as good each and every time. Isabella was showered with gifts this trip. Lucky little thing. Her Mimi and Papa brought her a gorgeous dress back from Greece, a Marionette Doll from Venice as well as some nesting dolls from Croatia. Her Great-grandparents (the Rays) brought her back a beautiful Star of David necklace from the Jewish Ghetto in Rome. She even got a couple of cute teethers and a toy from her Great-grandma Betty as well as a Pat the Bunny book from her Great-aunt Julie and family (she really did rip the paper...it was so cute).

All in all she had a great weekend (she slept great while she was there) and can't wait to go back in 4 weeks! Here are the pics from the weekend:

My Little Girl is Growing Up...

Isabella tried rice cereal for the first time Sunday night. The feeding went surprisingly well. I expected most of the cereal to end up on her face and bib, but much to my amazement, she actually swallowed 90% of it (she was only given a tablespoon). The cereal did its job. She's back to sleeping 10-11 consecutive hours. I guess she really did need it. Here are a few pics of her sitting in her high chair before the feeding and in the Bumbo seat during the feeding. David and I weren't smart enough to figure out the harness system on the highchair at first so we decided to feed her in the Bumbo until we could decipher the code :) David figured it out while she was eating so last night I fed her in her high chair. I'll be honest, feeding #2 wasn't quite as pleasant as feeding #1. She still ate about 2/3 of her tablespoon of rice cereal, but screamed bloody murder in between bites. She was just REALLY tired, so I've decided to feed her the cereal with her 5:00p feeding instead of her 8:00p. It takes quite a bit of time so in order to get her to bed at her usual time, I just have to it earlier in the day.

I've included a couple of random bath photos that were too cute to pass up. They are a little blurry b/c she wouldn't stop moving, but you'll get the gist...

Isabella at 4 months...

As I sit here and listen to Isabella talking to herself in her crib (she is supposed to be napping), I can't believe 4 months have already gone by. Looking back at her first photos, I can't believe how different she looks and acts. She has a wonderful personality. At playgroup today, she did not stop talking the ENTIRE time. It didn't matter who was talking, she wanted to be heard and talked louder and louder. I guess she gets that from her father... She laughs and coos all day long. It's so wonderful to see. She has her "diva" moments, of course, but then again, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. She's just a happy baby and I couldn't ask for anything better...

As I did last month, I took a series of "home" portraits. I hope you enjoy!

Visit to San Antonio

We just arrived home last night from our trip to San Antonio. David had quarterly meetings there Monday and Tuesday, so Isabella and I made the trip with him and we went up early to spend the weekend with Ike, Sandy and the kids who had gone to S.A. for a Wiggles concert. Isabella had so much fun with all of her cousins. She got to go to a San Antonio Missions game (the San Diego Padres AA team). It was her first of many sporting events. She behaved perfectly. She was an absolute angel. She didn't make a fuss even once throughout the night. Not even the fireworks after the game made her cry! On Sunday she took pictures with all 5 of her cousins including Arianna who is only a month younger than Isabella. She was very patient with all of picture-taking. On Monday she helped make kreplach with Honey, her Grammy and I. Although she wasn't aware of it, this was actually her second time making them (I'd made them last year when I was 6 weeks pregnant with her. This was a much less nauseating experience). :) Tuesday we drove back to Dallas in record time. She, of course, was an angel on the drive allowing us to only stop once along the way. We'd fed her right before we left and right when we got home. It was perfect! (The playmat video and bath pics/video are from last night when we got home.) Stay tuned for the next post as Isabella will be celebrating her 4-month birthday on Friday. I, of course, will be taking TONS of photos again.