The Many Faces of Izzy

I’m going to have to blog about our vacation in short bits because I don’t have the time to do it one sitting. The gist of the trip was that we had a really great time and we didn’t want to come. We left San Diego when it was 78 degrees and returned to a 23 degree Salt Lake City. It even snowed on us while we were driving home. We definitely feel that the California life style is the life for us. I have attached some pictures where I have blown up Izzy’s face because I thought they were funny. The kid can be such a ham. A grouchy ham, but a ham none the less. We have so many great memories that I hope I can touch on a few of them.

Guys, I'm in here!

Isabelle has been acting like such a drama queen lately. You can reprimand her in the littlest way and she runs away crying hysterically. At my parents house, she runs and throws herself on to their bed and acts like she just found out that the world is ending. My dad told her to get her hand out of her nose and she was off, crying that "Jrandpa hurt me." Usually one of the softy's (Chuck 0r Connie) follows her begging for forgiveness. Last night, no one followed her because we wanted to see what she would do. We heard the usual cries and finally after a few minutes, there was nothing. Then we heard a little voice say "Guys, I'm in here. Guys, I'm in here. GUYS! I'M IN HERE!" The kid was waiting for someone to track her down and apologize. The second that she saw me round the corner, she started crying. She had her head in the pillow and you could tell that she has been peaking out waiting for a reason to start the drama show all over again. Kids! After that issue got resolved, my dad told her that she couldn't ride Spot (the horse) until she didn't act like a baby. All she heard was "Let's go ride Spot." Before you know it, she had her coat and boots on. She was very confused that Jrandpa was still sitting there. So she brought him his boots. Mind you, it was dark and freezing outside. When she couldn't get those shoes on, she went and found another pair to try. We all kept telling her that it wasn't going to be tonight but as per usual, she heard what she wanted to hear. She kept telling Chuck, "I'm ready to ride Spot now." The kid loves horses. I don't think you should turn kids off from what they love, but I'm hoping she picks something a litte safer. My brother-in-law, Cody, told her that if she turns into a cowgirl that he wouldn't be able to love her anymore. She looked at him and said, "No, I'm a cowboy like Jrandpa." What more can I say?

Random Izzy Thoughts...

I have a lot to blog about today because I have been away for so long. I actually have a valid reason. My blood pressure is very high which is causing me to have a habitual headache. Which makes it difficult to stare at a computer screen for too long. But I'm feeling much better today, so I really want to get caught up. My parents have been so great (they always are but exceptionally so lately) and they have been picking Izzy up four nights a week so that I can go to the gym. I feel so much better when I have a small amount of personal time that I can spend on the treadmill. Not that it appears to be doing much good, as I have gained 13 pounds this month. But oh well. Sadly, I have gained as much weight this time around as I did when I was 19 weeks pregnant with Izzy. This is not a good sign. But as the nurse pointed out, most of my weight gain was in the last four months with Isabelle, so I need to be extra careful. This is not fun, but extremely neccessary, to hear. But Izzy has been going out of her way to be helpful and she assisted my mom with the dishes the other night. Hopefully she can do enough to earn her keep that they will want to continue to pick her up. It really is a life saver.

Bake Off

Yes, Jaderbug, Izzy is naked again. I can't seem to keep her clothes on. I think I let her watch too much TV.

These pictures are actually from before Christmas, but I just saw them again. Chase was out of town (how unusual!) and so my parents and I had a baking day. It was a lot of fun and Isabelle was very good about rolling out the dough and then pushing the cookie cutters in. And then eating it instead of putting it on the tray. She was so helpful. We made chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies and popcorn balls. But I had actually lost 3 pounds at the doctors visit I had right after this. So I guess I'm not a very good cook.

It's Jade! Not Really...

Welcome to American Baby magazine. I get this for free my doctor every month and I usually quickly scan and toss. Another reason that landfills are out of control (I have actually tried refusing the magazine, but it doesn't seem to work). This month, Isabelle has become convinced that this is Jade on the cover. Obviously, it is not, because Jade is much cuter. But it you kind of squint and tilt your head a little, I guess you could made see some similarities. Isabelle is 100% convinced that it is. She has been carrying it around telling everyone, "That's Jade." Our checker at Target asked me if we really knew this little girl. When I said no, Isabelle looked and me and said, "Mommy, that's Jade. You know, she lives with Ryan and Micki." Thanks for the clarification Izzy! Unfortunately though, that is not correct. I have to pry it out of her hands in the morning when I drop her off and its the first thing that she grabs when she gets back in the car. She is very proud of her pretend cousin for being on a national magazine cover and all.

More humans, please!

I think it’s safe to assume that Izzy and I need more human interaction. This is Izzy pretending her bear is the daddy and she is the mommy and they are taking care of a new baby. I felt kind of bad for the poor kid because she must be starting to feel as lonely as I do. It was super cute to watch Izzy put the bear in the chair. Later, after my camera died, she cooked dinner for her little family unit in her kitchen. I love watching her pretend because I often don’t know where this stuff comes from and I find it hysterical. The stuff that kids come up with! Izzy and I both stayed home yesterday because we were sick. I actually stayed home for me, but I was glad that I did because Izzy started throwing up around 9 and didn’t stop all day. I have scrubbed enough vomit out of the carpet, clothes and sheets to last me a week. What am I saying? I scrubbed enough to last me an entire lifetime. We had the barf bowl out but she would get scared and want to hold me instead of the bowl. Around 3, she was throwing up and crying for Daddy so we tried to call even though we knew he would be sleeping. We didn’t get to talk to him so that made Izzy even sadder. Needless to say, it was a very long day.

Happy Valentine's Day

Just when I thought that he forgot! Chasey sent me this lovely floral arrangement. I was hinting around on the phone today that I was feeling lonely and Chase said, " I don't know why you think you have to remind me!" And I didn't! A dozen red roses showed up for me at work today. My absolute favorite kind of flowers. I know that some people think that flowers are a waste of money (and they probably kind of are) but this is going to keep me in a great mood all day! I carried them back to the breakroom while I ate lunch and then back to my desk because everytime I look at them, I am reminded how lucky I am. I love you babe!

I want Daddy

Izzy rounded the corner last night at the day care, took one look at me, said “Nope, I want Daddy,” and returned to her seat on the couch. You can only imagine how good this was for my self esteem. You can’t leave the tile at day care unless you take off your shoes, so I had to wait for one of the employees to drag my child to me kicking and screaming. I asked if I could leave her there overnight, and they laughed, not knowing that I was serious. It is always hard to adjust Izzy back into being a Mommy’s girl for the first few days. But we had such a good week last week that I’m still energized. For the time being. I went to the Apple to work out last night and I was on the treadmill next to a girl watching a movie on her Ipod. She told me that she watched Mr. & Mrs. Smith while she worked out in order to motivate herself to look like Angelina Jolie. I told her if that was the case, I should watch old episodes of The View so that I could aspire to look like Rosie O. As you can tell, it was a long day for me. Chase and I went to Ashton last weekend to help my Grandma with her new door knobs. We had a really good time and Izzy didn’t want to leave. Of course, the puppy did want to leave because Izzy strangled him the entire time in the car. She loves him so much! Chase got out of the car to install his Valentine’s Day present (custom taillights) and you can see how excited Izzy was to be stuck with me. Why doesn’t my child love me? I think she does but Daddy has become a fun novelty and that outweighs me for the time being. This morning, Izzy was so good that I almost didn't recognize her. We only had a couple of moments instead of our usual breakdowns.

All Grown Up!

In order for Chase to get LOTS of brownie points on his last night, we took Izzy to Leo’s Place last night. Which is pretty much the Idaho Falls equivalent of hell on earth (better known as Chuck E. Cheese). Watching her race around 10 feet off the ground made me nervous and sad at the same time. I actually started crying when she got stuck and needed me. Mainly because I’m pregnant, but the emotion of dealing with an aging child got to me last night. As you can tell from the pictures, she was all over with no hesitation whatsoever. And we had to beg her to eat. She kept saying, “No! I want to play!” So Chase made her sit in the seat by the wall until she took two bites. She tried to make the most of those bites. But here we are again, facing another 3 weeks without Chase.

Crazy Cousins

So I lied about the better photography. This whole thing happened so fast that I didn’t have a chance to grab my camera and had to use my phone once again. We went over to Ryan & Nicki’s last night and the girls were being amazingly quiet. I wish I had a before picture so that you could see that when we arrived, Nicole had a spotless rob with a made bed. Somewhere along the line, the girls moved Jade’s entire room into her parent’s room, I assume so they could play while watching TV. What can I say? They’re Burkes. Burkes are TV addicts. Stuffed animals, blankets and tons of little toys were everywhere. The mess even extended out of this picture, I know because I stepped on a play fork while taking it. Earlier, Nicole headed back to put little Mia to bed and next thing I knew, she was calling for Ryan. I knew right then that my child was somehow involved in something. It was crazy! Later that night, Isabelle came back into the living room wearing Jade’s pjs. The kid just makes herself at home wherever she goes. But Jade and Izzy were super cute last night and hugs were plentiful. Needless to say, Izzy didn’t want to come home with her lame parents when she was having so much fun with Jade!

Katie's Camera!

Everyone will be excited to know that I'm charging my camera as I type. Come back soon for a much higher quaility of photography...

All About Hair

I'm so proud of Chase. He has become extra ambitious with Izzy's hair lately. Much more than myself, who would just rather her wear a hat. This morning, he gave her pigtails. As you can tell from my photo montage, she wasn't the easiest client. And they turned out pretty good. I was impressed anyway. Her gold purse is her new favorite accessory because it holds her "dollars," which are really a bunch of dimes and nickels. But she even slept with it last night. I know because I kept waking up with slams to the face. Chase and I let her sleep with us because she misses her Daddy so much while he is away.

Super Bowl=Super Fun!

Chase and I held our 3rd Annual Super Bowl Bash this weekend and both of us had a really great time. I hope everyone else did. These pictures are truly horrible and don't really capture any of the fun that we had, but unfortunately, I still have not charged my camera and had to use my phone again. And needless to say, these photos reflect the extremely low quality images that I get with this method. But I didn't really have time to take pictures while trying to host 38 people (kids included in this count). Things got really crazy because it was hard to breathe! In fact, Isabelle got bit and you could still see the marks this morning. You might be wondering why Izzy is wearing different clothes in each picture. This is because she changed her clothes no less than 4 times. One time, I looked into the hallway just as I saw a streak of flesh running from the bathroom. It was my butt-naked child. I heard Natasha tell Paula, "I think I just saw Izzy's butt!" Yes, she was completely nude and I still have no idea why. I think I need to spend more time working with Izzy to not become a stripper. The bigger kids played on the wii while the grown up kids screamed at the TV. Unfortunately, the rest of the females and myself were subjected to the "Enhancement" commercial multiple times. Remind me never to use Go Daddy! for any of my website needs. Paula turns 26 (!!) today, so I got her a cake and we all sang at halftime. It was the loudest, most horrible thing to listen to ever. But I hope she has a great day. Chase and I love our Superbowl party so much, mainly because it is worth every penny we spend to see our old (& new) friends.

25 Random Things About Me!

I know that it has been a while! But I have been having a challenging month! Anyway, I have a few new Isabelle stories, but those are going to have to wait until I get a chance to breathe. I got tagged on Facebook the other day and had to post 25 random facts about me. I know that some of my faithful blog readers aren't on Facebook, so I thought I would post it on this as well. For those of you on Facebook, this is the exact same list.

1. I have been with my husband since I was 18 and still remember the exact date I fell in love with him (November 11, 2002). While it hasn’t always been a bed of roses, I’m so grateful that we stuck it out.

2. My marriage is one of complete opposites. We don’t have similar backgrounds, we don’t agree politically and we have completely different parenting methods. But for some reason it seems to work for us and I wouldn’t have it another way.

3. I’m lucky if I see my husband for 1 week a month. This time he has been on the job for 4 weeks with no end in sight!

4. I consider being a mom my most important (and difficult!) job but it is becoming easier for me to relate to people who have been pushed to the brink of insanity by their children. Last night when Izzy counted all the way to 24 by herself, I knew that I wouldn’t change my life for anything. This morning when she was screaming while undressing herself as fast as I was getting her dressed, I had second thoughts…

5. My favorite thing at Dairy Queen is the chocolate covered waffle bowls. I have some favorite DQ memories but I won't use this forum to go into them!

6. Hollywood celebrity types + elected government officials = propaganda. I wouldn’t trust most of these celebrities to dog sit for me but yet I’m constantly subjected to their beliefs on mainstream media.

7. I would totally be a surrogate mother for a couple that couldn’t have children!

8. I complain frequently about my petccessory (Gordy, my Chihuahua) but the night he was missing, I was the one up until 2am crying.

9. My mother can be my witness that I’m a huge grudge holder and can still remember things that date back to middle school that I’m disgruntled about.

10. That being said, the only person on this planet who I consider unredeemable and unforgivable is my brother-in-laws baby mama who I recently discovered brought drugs into my home.

11. I’m a self proclaimed news junkie and high speed internet has made my problem way more prevalent. I swear that msnbc.com is giving me an ulcer.

12. I love boy bands. I can’t decide whether I’m more excited about having met John Paul II or the one time I met all three members of Hanson!

13. I am a textbook Pisces, meaning that I can be compassionate and devoted but I am also too sensitive and lacking in self-discipline. But my husband is a Cancer, which makes us a perfect fit for each other and our signs are often paired in ideal marriages.

14. I’ve worked for the same company since I was 16. I used to say it was the only job I’ve ever wanted but this last year has shown me that I need to make a change.

15. I’m addicted to Dr. Pepper and TV. We have over 60 season passes that record regularly on our DVR. I have to admit that I cried during the series finale of Gilmore Girls.

16. I’m 15 episodes away from completely rewatching all 10 seasons of Beverly Hills, 90210. It has taken me 6 months.

17. I’m usually in bed by 8:30 pm.

18. I’m 4 months pregnant with my last child (unless the first two don’t like me, then I might have one more when I’m 40). But I’m getting rid of all my baby stuff after this one regardless.

19. I wear sandals year round, no matter the weather.

20. I love living in Idaho so much that I never want to leave. I knew that I finally converted Chase to my ways when I heard him say the same thing to someone on the phone.

21. My biggest dream is take my husband back to Italy with me.

22. All I want for my birthday is to go to Disneyland.

23. I consider my husband my hero. He is only 25 and has conquered demons that some people battle their entire lives.

24. I consider my mom my best friend after Chase. I tell Isabelle she is my best friend but that is more of a ploy for some kind of cooperation.

25. The biggest loss in my life has been my Grandfather. I’m still plagued by guilt over thing I could have done better. Some nights when I can’t sleep, I get in his old shirt and cry in the chair that he gave me.

The Kid Loves Elmo

I'm going to call it the curse of the blog. Whenever I type something on this site about how good Izzy is, she ruins it. As soon as I wrote about what a good sleeper she is, she completely threw that out the window. Every night is a struggle to get her into bed and an even bigger struggle to get her up in the morning. I have been letting her sleep with me for the past few nights and last night I hit my breaking point when I woke up (around 10pm!) and she was under the cover at my feet pulling the dog's tail. So back to her bed she went. At 1:51 am, she brought her pillow and her blankie and crawled back into bed with me. I was too tired to fight with her and she fell right asleep so I gave up. But this morning, I woke her up, gave her her clothes and got in the shower. She is loving dressing herself as of this moment but this is how I found her this morning when I got out of the shower. She went and got her Elmos and fell back asleep. Cody can be my witness that when I woke her up, it wasn't pretty!

Uncle Al's Last Supper

My brother has been home for the last month and will be returning to school today. We took him out to Fanatics last night for dinner and we had a lot of fun. Izzy, as per usual, was the center of attention. I don't think that kid is going to be able to function with a sibling. She's used to being the light of everyone's eyes, including surrounding patrons and the waitstaff. It's going to be an adjustment for her. She has this really disgusting habit of sucking off condiments from her food. She loves sauce (all kinds!) so much that she doesn't want to waste any room actually putting food in her stomach. This leads to quadruple dipping into sauces that should be community property. As you can guess, most people stop dipping once they watch her eat. She lathers up on the sauce and then slowly sucks it off. I have seen her use the same fry for a whole container of fry sauce. Her Dad gets mad at her and makes her bite for every dip. But when he's not around, she usually reverts back to her old behavior. Last night, she was going crazy over marinara with her cheese stick. It was like a train wreck and no one at the table could look away. Needless to say, the rest of us ate without using the marinara because it started to look watered down with spit after a few dips. But other than that,we had fun. Izzy spent most of the meal sitting under the table. She was being quiet so that was a plus. The National Championship games was on and every time the crowd reacted to something, she would poke her head out to see what was going on. When she was a small baby, she would often get confused over public displays such as clapping and laughing. She would always smile and wave as if they were cheering for her and I think last night was a little flashback for her. She also had another break through when she finally figured out ordering at a restaurant. As soon as the waitress came to get our drink orders, she said, "Mac and cheese please!" She wasn't going to wait for anyone else. It was very sweet. My life would be so boring without my little baby. I can't even imagine.

Our Little Monkey

We are the proud adopted parents of a new baby. A new monkey baby that is. I'm anticipating this one will be easier than a real baby. It better be! Or I will have to unadopt it. It's funny that my aunt would pick this paticular animal to adopt in our name because it is Izzy's favorite display at the zoo. The monkeys have so much energy and the are so much fun to watch. They had little baby monkeys last year that made my child look easy to take care of. These things were crashing into the glass and putting on a real show for us mortals. But next time you are at the Tautphaus Park Zoo, look for our name on the plaque next to the penguin display with all the other adoptive parents that are busy supporting our important community centerpiece. I should also mention that we got a zoo pass for the next year, so Isabelle and I will be spending alot of time getting to know our new family member. Thanks Aunt Cyndy!

Micki & Jade please!

Doubling the number of occupants in your house is overwhelming for anyone. Cody's baby mama (her name is Brittany, I just think that baby mama is funny to say) came to stay at our house with her two kids for 11 days. Izzy fought with Brooklyn the entire time. I know that my kid can be spoiled but the fact of the matter is that she was just not used to so much commotion and competitiveness in her house. By day 8, she came to be crying because the girls got into another fight and she said, "I want Micki and Jade." Even her little two year old mind could process the fact that things are easier when we visit with them than the situation we were living in. I was at the end of my rope, not that there weren't fun moments with the kids, but it was too much for too long. At one point, Isabelle and Brooklyn got stuck behind the couch, which I thought made a great cage. They thew themselves over it and got stuck in the corner, which makes it their problem, not mine. I refused to rescue them until they agreed to calm down, so Braxton stepped in for me. Thankfully, he couldn't lift either one of them. There is also a seperate issue that is up for debate. Brooklyn's hair got cut and she started closely resembling Joe Dirt with the mullet look. She kept claiming that Izzy did it and Brittany told everyone that. It can't be true! During the alleged incident, Izzy was asleep in her bed. And I told everyone this. I fought it to the bitter end but the day after they left, I found a piece of Isabelle's hair that had been cut. Her hair is much thicker than Brooklyn's and so it was hidden better. So maybe Izzy did it. But I'm not telling anyone because there is no way that it could be proved either way! Everyone has returned to where they belong and I can get my life back to normal (if that's possible).

Merry Tristmas!

Isabelle had so much fun on Christmas morning that she keeps wanting to relive it. Now every morning, she runs into my room and says "Merry Tristmas." Whenever I get her to talk on the phone, instead of saying hello she says "Merry Tristmas." It's really cute, but of course, any Mom would probably say that about their kid. I finally got my tree down but I still have to take care of everything else. I'm just running out of room to store everything because I seem to collect more every single year. We went over to my parents house and when Izzy saw that they were taking down their tree, she almost had a heart attack. She would follow behind my dad and put up the ornaments that he had just taken down. When he finally got the lights off, she started putting the garland back on tree. When he finally hauled it out the door, she stood at the entry way crying out "Goodbye Tristmas Tree, Goodbye." If she had her way, we would celebrate Christmas everyday! My sister-in-law was telling me that out of everything that her parents own her brother, sister and herself are most concerned about who gets her mom's Christmas decor because its the most symbolic thing left of their childhood. When I started thinking about it, that makes so much sense! When I was helping put away the ornaments from the tree so many memories are associated with everything. I always wanted to have a perfectly matched Christmas tree, which is what I have now, but there is something to be said for having a hodgepodge of ornaments that have meaning. Everything I allow on my tree was specifically bought to match everything else and last year I wouldn't let my nephew hang up his proudly homemade stuff (I'm feeling bad now kindof). When I was little, our tree topper was the little blue bird who my Dad nicknamed the Blue Bird of Happiness. I always thought that other houses with angels and stars were so neat because we had this pathetic little bird on top of our tree. I have no idea where this bird came from but we have used it as a tree topper ever since I can remember. And the Blue Bird of Happiness made an appearance this year. To keep up with the tradition of me being difficult, I asked when we are going to retire him but I really don't want him to go anywhere. He symbolizes Christmas at the Thomas house. As an FYI to my sister, I already claimed all of Mom's Precious Moment ornaments so you'll have to think of something else. And I'm not kidding!

Good Riddance!

2008 was a crappy year for me. I shouldn't complain because my family is healthy and so forth (plus I don't want to curse 2009) but I really could have skipped the entire year and been much happier. Starting back in January when I lost my job and a pregnancy on the same day (January 15th). While I was lucky to get an eleventh hour transfer to a different department, a lot of my identity was wrapped up in what I did for a living. A year later I can't really say that I have gotten over it. Don't get my wrong, my new job allows me to be based out of Idaho Falls and only travel to Pocatello one day a week instead of five, but I don't feel any passion over what I do anymore. In fact, most days I have to drag myself into the office. My grandpa died back in October which I still find devasting and it still brings me to tears at least once a day. In May, my sister abandoned me for South Dakota and I don't think it has hit me yet. I think I keep assuming she's on some kind of hellish vacation that is going to end soon. I spent the last day of 2008 so sick that I could barely get out of bed yet I had a house full of guests with kids running everywhere. As I write this, I keep telling myself that I need to put some positive things down. My husbands job is still dependable. My baby is like a little sponge who is growing and learning so fast that sometimes it take my breath away. But I can hope for a little more out of 09 right?