Flower girl dresses

Recently, my sister Katee got engaged to a wonderful gentleman named Matt (copycat). They are getting married in December up in Washington just as we did two years ago. That being said, wedding planning is already in full swing.

This morning while we were at Matt's parents' house (Grand and Juanita), Katee was looking at some wedding dresses online and we decided to start looking at some flower girl dresses for Isidora.

Of course, Isidora had to help look.

Wait. Auntie Katee, are you talking to Grandma?

I need to talk, too!

We don't know which one to pick, either, Isidora!

Rocket Chair

Since returning from Houston and our little vacation with the Tavares family, Isidora has decided that she likes her Bumbo chair again. Clare and Izzie played with Clare's a lot while we were down there, and now Isidora has rediscovered the little pink chair.

Recently while Isidora was sitting in her chair, Matt decided that it could also be a rocket ship, and so Isidora got to have a ride around our apartment.

Can you tell Isidora lives here?

Coming around the corner!

Matt is always thinking up fun games like this and Isidora really loves them! I think she is pretty lucky to have such a creative Daddy. :)

PS:

This was when she first got her Bumbo in February of last year. Can you believe the difference?

The Magic House

Yesterday we took an afternoon trip down to Kirkwood to visit the St. Louis Children's Museum, aka The Magic House. This place is one of those landmarks around town that people always mention--"You really need to see the museums in Forest Park, and go to a Cards game at Busch, and do the brewery tour, oh, and the Magic House is awesome!"

I'm not really sure how old I was when I last went to the Magic House, but it was probably something like 15 to 20 years ago. They have expanded quite a lot, and the place is huge now. The parts that I recognized from childhood are much, much larger in my memory than in real life.

Picture Time!

Rooms with lots of mirrors are always entertaining.

"Man, mommy, I could play with this stuff all day."

"No, really! All day!"

The Magic House: Teaching kids that knives and stoves are not only not that big a deal, but completely harmless when combined.

I believe this is her first ball pit. Start 'em young, I say

Onward!

If you don't recognize this, it's a display with a faithful reproduction of the classic children's book "Goodnight Moon" which I read many times as a kid.

Isidora being fascinated (actually, surprisingly un-fascinated) by the wonders of electricity.

That's all for now. We had a very good time, but as often happens, Izzie let us know when she was tired and it was time to go. Which meant she protested loudly upon leaving. We went ahead and sprung (sprang?) for a basic membership, so we will be back many more times I'm sure.

Houston

Last week we all went down to Houston so I could take Step 2 Clinical Skills, which is a test required to get your license to practice medicine in the US. It is an 8 hour long test during which you see 12 simulated patients and write notes about your encounter. There are only 5 centers in the country which hold the test and Houston is one of them.

So, since I had to take the test anyway, we decided to make a vacation out of it, and visit the Tavares' and our lovely goddaughter, Clare! While we were there, we had a great time and did all sorts of fun things in Houston.

Isidora and Clare having fun playing around the house.

Little girls with ashes on Ash Wednesday.

We took a walk to a park after my test on Thursday. Clare was having a stunning hair day :)

Isidora took a nap.

We went to the Houston Zoo on Friday and saw some fish.

And played with the elephant.

On Saturday we went to the Children's Museum of Houston and Isidora made a phone call.

And she talked to Clare and Kelly.

They went to the market.

And overall had a really great time!

Thanks again to the Tavares family! We had a fabulous stay.

Introducing Isidora Perpetua

It will be 15 months in 2 days since our little Isidora was born on a lovely Tuesday evening in November. In celebration, I will give you a brief pictorial recap.

Isidora on her birthday with tired Mommy and Daddy.

One day old.

One month old.

Three months old.

Six months old.

Nine months old.

Happy Birthday!

Fifteen months old.

She is getting to be such a big girl!

Getting Started

Matt and I were talking this morning and we thought that it might be a good idea to start a family blog. Several of our friends have blogs and I love the ability to watch as their kids grow up and read updates about their lives. So, here we are. Hopefully you all will enjoy reading about Isidora and our little family as our adventure continues! Welcome!