One Month Later...

Tuesday marked one month since Isabel was placed in our arms. It is very cliche...but I will say it anyway...we can't imagine our lives without her. Jeff and I always knew we wanted to be parents and we have felt it was our calling in life. While we often wondered why it was taking so long for us to become parents, we had faith that there was a reason. Looking back on it now, we can't imagine being matched at any other time as Isabel is so perfect for us and is no doubt the child we were meant to have.

We have only been home for a little over two weeks, but things are going very well. As I said in a previous post, our first week was spent living like vampires with our days and nights completely switched. So our focus was getting that straightened out as well as getting everyone healthy. Isabel and I both came home with nasty colds/infections, she had been exposed to chicken pox and Jeff ended up with pink eye (something else we had been exposed to our last days in China). Needless to say we didn't really set foot outside of the house that first week except to go to the doctor. :-)

Last week went much smoother. Isabel started getting her nights and days straight and once our medications kicked in we all started feeling much better. We had a few close friends over to our house to meet her. I think Isabel was especially thankful when other kiddos would come over as up until recently she has always been around a lot of other kids her age. The past few days we have been taking her out to the store, running errands, to lunch, and follow-up doctor appointments. She has been doing really well and life is good.

We learn new things about Isabel every day. It didn't take long for us to decide that one of our favorite times of day is when she first wakes up. It is hard to beat walking into the nursery and seeing her smiling face while she reaches for us to be picked up. She is a very happy kiddo and wakes up in a great mood. She is starting to try new foods and makes the most adorable face when trying new things. When she doesn't want something she is sure to let you know as she smacks it out of the way with her hand and will point to the food she prefers. Definitely a decisive kiddo who knows what she wants and loves being independent!

Isabel has learned a lot about us as well. She says "da" for everything, but every now and then she will say it in a very soft high voice and she has quickly learned that melts her daddy's heart and is sure to get her kisses and hugs. :-) In the mornings after breakfast and play time, when she sees mom get out the leash for Murphy she goes straight to the door because she knows it is time for our morning walk. And she is starting to learn that bath time can be a lot of fun and not nearly as scary as she once thought!

Jeff has to run drumline camp this week and has band camp next week. It was hard for him to leave her, so the first day Isabel and I took Jeff lunch. We let her play in the band room and try her hand at the "big kid drums." She has a lot of toy drums at home and loves playing with them. She was super excited to see big drums and bang on them.

Here are some pictures of the past couple weeks and our adventures.

Playing around in the band room:




First lunch at Chipotle...Isabel loves their rice!


Trying new food at home...can't I just have more Chipotle?


Bath time is fun when I get to have a cool mohawk.


Lunch at Spin with Cousin Carter.


Carter and Isabel went to a Funky Mama concert at the Town Center Pottery Barn for Kids. For those of you with kiddos, this lady is great, check out her website here. Isabel loves to "dance" by waving her hands to the music.


Uncle Travis bought Isabel a super cool wagon/guitar/piano/drum thingy.


Isabel loves wearing dads hat...and pulling her wagon with her shoe inside.


Isabel had her first experience of playing in the grass. It freaked her out at first, but she now loves to walk around in it. Still not so sure about sitting in it just yet.


Seriously, these two are too cute together!