Happy 5th Birthday, Izzy!!!

Izzy's 5 years old!!!!!

Her gifts when she woke included Brave tattoos, a blinking princess crown and donut holes.

I went to the party store the evening before her birthday to get a dozen balloons and some streamers to decorate her room as a surprise when she woke up.  She absolutely LOVED this!

I think she put this tattoo on before she even broke into the donuts!

The thing I didn't think about was Lemmy's love and fascination with strings, particularly those attached to the previously-mentioned balloons!

This was Izzy's BIG present...a mini trampoline.  Check out the photo bomb by Rosie :)

Oh yeah, do we know our little Izzy or what?

She's practicing her gymnastics straddle jump

After jumping for a bit, we had a call from Farmor and Farfar wishing Izzy a happy birthday

and made some Pinkalicious cupcakes

Then Daniel and Caroline stopped by to give Izzy a birthday gift

She got a spirograph and paint splatter kit from them.  Great gift for her artistic side!

We took a trip down to the playground in our neighborhood later in the day.  This was the first really nice day we had had in a LOOOOOONG time, and we tried to enjoy it as much as possible.

These pics weren't taken on her birthday, but they were presents she got from Farmor and Farfar that were personally delivered by Janne, so I thought I'd add them here.

Pippi Longstockings!!! How FANTASTIC!!!

I truly believe Izzy had a great birthday.  I'm really glad that we are still able to keep them small, and I'm glad we cut back on all of the gifts.  I think it helped her focus more on the day rather than things, and that's a good thing.  Happy happy birthday, Loppan!

THERE you are, spring!

I forgot how good it can feel when the sun's out and a warm wind is blowing.  Well, in this case, it was near hurricane-force, but I'll take it.

I was going to take my friend's new baby's photos, but I woke up feeling a cold coming on (and Joacim and Izzy were no better) so I thought it best to reschedule so as not to get the baby sick.  So instead, we did a little yardwork.  Very little, actually, but spent the most time just hanging out and swinging Izzy.  I can tell how much she's grown since last year, since it's a lot harder to push her in the swing now, and it just doesn't swing as freely as it used to.   But she loves it just as much as she did before, if not more :)

 And here's one of the cutest dogs in the world.  No, seriously.  The.  Cutest.

Granted, this bone made her poop all strange today, but she seemed to enjoy it going in (just not so much coming out :)  I know..I know...TMI.  Sorry :)

Fantastic weekend....

We had a really great weekend with Izzy.  Saturday, since the weather was nice, we headed to the zoo.  The last time she was there she was terrified of everything, but this time she was so interested in everything!  And naming the animals and what-not.

Self-portrait

I kinda feel like we were interrupting something here....

We got to see an elephant show this time, and it was really fun!

She was scared of the elephants, even when they were way on the other side of the ring, so I didn't think there was any way that Joacim was going to be able to get this close to one with her in his arms

but I was totally wrong, and I'm so happy that I was!

I had never touched an elephant before, and it was totally not what I expected.  Look at the texture of the skin!

OMG...so much fun that day.  We went to get something to eat after that and then came home and relaxed.  And I'll admit that, when I put her to bed, I cried....because I didn't want the day to end.  And because I don't get to spend enough time with her, and because it's been so hard to go back to work and not be with her all day since our vacation.

The next day, she woke up in a great mood!  She and Joacim watched Formula 1 and World Cup while I was outside reading magazines...

she's playing with my iPhone in this photo....she's addicted to it

Oh, and more swinging......soo much swinging.....look at little miss Hollywood here...man, she's got more personality already than I think we're prepared for

I'm so thankful that I have my little family here.  And I know how lucky I am to be her mamma and his wife.

Little visit to Eagle Creek Park (picture heavy)

We headed out this morning to Eagle Creek Park since the weather was still pretty nice. We were a bit inspired because I had done a photo session there last weekend, and I'm glad we went. It's not nearly as easy to go to a park now as it was before Izzy. We don't really "hike" so much now (much to Murphy's dismay, I imagine) and we look for playgrounds. Yeah, a little different.

We were able to find a little path that was paved so we could use Izzy's wagon. She quickly decided that she didn't want to sit in it (no surprise there!) but she managed just fine.



It wasn't always easy for her walking through the leaves

but she LOVED playing in them!

water break!

Joacim and Murphy went back to the car to make sure it was locked, and it was so cute when Izzy saw him coming back!

Then we made our way to the playgound. Izzy hasn't seen a slide she didn't love!

And she LOVES LOVES LOVES to swing now!




After all that fun, it was time to go home. She fell asleep on the way, so when we got home, I took out the camera and played with the macro lens again. I wish I would've had this when she was born....I could've captured those wonderful little flakes of skin that were all over over her feet and hands....ahhhhhhh...wishes....but LOOK AT THESE EYELASHES!!!


And then she woke up with a smile, and I got that too!