Randy and Rachel's Wedding Weekend

The long-awaited union of Randy and Rachel has finally arrived. They were a genuinely happy couple. Rachel was as calm as can be (she said Randy was the "Bridezilla") which made me totally jealous. I was a basket-case the entire week leading up to my wedding... Anywho, despite a weekend with virtually NO sleep for any of us (Isabella insisted on sleeping nowhere but my chest the entire time) we all had a wonderful time. It may sound adorable, but it stops being cute after an hour. Trust me.

Mom and Dad (aka Mimi and Papa) flew into Dallas Thursday night and we caravaned down to San Antonio Friday morning. The drives were long (about 6 hours each way), but all things considered, Isabella did extremely well. There was only about 30 miles of driving on Friday where she cried - that was it for both legs of the trip! Impressive, if you ask me.

Saturday Faye (Grammy) and I met Rachel at a cute salon where we had spa pedicures. (I'd done an airbrush tan Thursday night, so there was to be no spa pedi for me - just a paint job :).) After that I met up with my parents and Isabella and headed off to spend a few hours with our wonderful cousins, Edward, Brenda and Michael. Brenda fixed a lunch that could've easily made the cover of a culinary magazine. It was quite a spread. Since David was playing golf with the groom that day, he didn't get to enjoy it. That night we went to La Fonda Mexican Restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. It was so much fun. I really got to hang out with a lot of David's cousins and we all had a really good time. (so did Isabella as you'll see in a later video)

Sunday was a full day. Sandy, Faye and I went to Yolanda to have our hair done. My hair was frighteningly similar to that out of a scene from hairspray (see the photo from the make-up counter), but fortunately it calmed itself just in the nick of time (literally about 15 minutes before I had to walk down the aisle). My parents picked up Isabella around noon, fed her lunch, bathed her and got her ready for the wedding (they did a great job - she was clean and adorable). The wedding was beautiful. Rachel and her mom did a fantastic job. We all had a great time.

Monday was travel day, but we couldn't leave without an incredible brunch at Honey's (a last minute addition to the day). Nothing like Popeye's fried chicken before a long drive home :-). Really, it was delicious. My dad was in heaven - BEEF, fried chicken and salami and eggs (none of which he gets at home). We left from there. The drive back was awful (Isabella was great though) and we were all exhausted when we got home.

My parents flew out the next morning. David and I really appreciated their help this weekend watching Isabella since we had a million wedding-related things planned. Isabella is so lucky. Not only did she get to spend a lot of time with her Mimi and Papa last weekend, she gets to do the same next weekend with her Grammy and Jiddo. David is in another wedding (yes, another one) in Austin next weekend, so Faye is driving up to meet us and taking Isabella back with her. Hopefully it'll be easier for me this time than it was last time - it was beyond difficult to let Isabella go.

Here are a few pictures and some footage from the weekend. Enjoy:

1st Trip to the Zoo

Today was so incredibly beautiful that it would've been a sin not to be outside enjoying the weather. It was 79 and not a cloud in the sky (which is a nice change of pace from the constant rain we've had for 3 weeks). We decided to take Isabella to the Zoo for the first time. Apparently quite a few other people had the same idea. As it is, it's a 30 minute drive to the zoo, but sat in a "parking lot" line of cars for an additional 20 minutes trying to find somewhere to park. The main zoo parking lot was full so they rerouted us to the "overflow" parking lot - which ended up being full as well, so they started parking people on the street.

It's hard to say whether or not she had a good time because all of the animals were sleeping. She really enjoyed the Children's Zoo, and seemed to enjoy the monorail ride of the "African" animals, but trying to point out a sleeping animal to a one-year old is nearly impossible. We still had fun as a family...

Happy Birthday to Me!

If dinner out with David on Saturday night wasn't great enough (which it was. He took me to this trendy restaurant Stephan Pyle's. The food was incredible. They have this amazing Ceviche menu, of which we ordered 3 different types, incredible crab "tamales" (not shaped like a tamale, but has the same ingredients in a "quiche" shape), delectable Ribeye and Snapper that melts in your mouth.), Isabella decided to take her first two steps on my actual birthday! It was so exciting. As amazing as it was - she hasn't even tried to do it since. Oh well - false alarm :)



I received this card from Meagan for my birthday which sang a song. Isabella is obsessed with the card. She insisted I play it over and over and over again. I captured it on video:

13 mo. Appt./Big Girl Cup

Isabella went for her 13 month check up (actually to check some fluid in her ears) and was weighed at 18 1/2 lbs! Very exciting. I don't know how accurate it was because she was clothed and had a wet diaper. Oh well - hopefully by 18 months she'll be forward facing in her car seat...

She has been trying for some time to drink out of a big girl cup. I usually hold it for her and she does her best to suck in the water. A few months ago I'd bought some "Isabella" sized cups at Ikea (of all places...). I figured I could give it a go. After spilling it on herself many times, she was unwilling to give up. She kept wanting to try it again and again. Here's one of her attempts:

A little bit of this and a little bit of that...

Most of you are going to be rather disappointed with this post because typically I write about everything Isabella. Today however, I had a successful day of my own and want to share it with everyone. My business (as most of you know I started my own business of handmade, personalized baby blankets, burp cloths and shirts) made a huge step today on the road to success. My burp cloths and tshirts were purchased by a swanky boutique in Plano, TX to be sold there. I can't tell you how excited I am. This has the potential to really get my name out there.

Ok, enough about me. I know you really only come here to hear about Isabella. Don't worry, I understand, I only care about her as well ;). Just kidding. In the last week, Isabella has cut 3 new teeth. She now has a total of 5. They are coming in much faster than the first two. She looks so cute. She's also standing on her own more frequently, so unfortunately, walking is right around the corner. (Ok, not unfortunate for her, but DEFINITELY unfortunate for me). We go to the Dr. tomorrow to have her ears checked (if you remember, at her 12 mo. appointment, the Dr. saw some fluid in her ears and wanted to see her back in a month to check them). I'll let you know how much she weighs at 13 mo. Just to calm the craving, here are some random photos of Isabella (and two of the t-shirts I started making):

*In one of the pictures you'll notice a mess on Isabella's face and tray - she tried chili for the first time, but didn't like the idea of eating from a spoon or fork - she liked picking it up off of her tray...