We took Isabella to the pumpkin patch this weekend...forgot our camera though. Darn it! I was so concerned with remembering the diaper bag (which I forget on occasion) that I totally forgot the camera. We'll have to take some fall pictures at home this week.

Jason had to work from 6pm-6am on Saturday night, we needed groceries desperately so I packed up the bug and we headed to Target - great Saturday night plans...ya right! I've decided Isabella is going to be spoiled in a big way. As we were tooling by the baby department I pulled a plush butterfly toy off the shelf and pressed its tummy which made it play 'twinkle, twinkle little star' and light up. I showed it to Isabella, she smiled instantly. In the cart it goes! I'm such an easy target.

Bug update

What's new with Bella bug this week?

Let's see ...she likes cheerios, she's been doing much more talking "bababababababa", she now crawls from the living room to the dining room to the kitchen and back to the living room. She also will crawl right to mama or dada to pick her up. OH! She finally caught Rocco over the weekend (see picture above). As you can see, Rocco wasn't too happy about her victory, he was a good kitty though and didn't retaliate.

On the home front..

We're ready to pack up the swing, papasan chair, activity/play mat. We can no longer use the changing table - so the changing pad is getting packed up also. Now that Isabella is mobile changing her diaper has become a bit more challenging (just when you think you have it down pat). A common scene is her little bare butt crawling away from a fresh diaper in hand. It is a little frustrating but pretty darn cute.

I remember being a little sad when I had to pack up Bella's 0-3 month onsies...well that was 3 large storage containers ago, I have no idea where we are going to store all these things - or if we should store them for that matter. Jason wants to build another garage...as fast as things are accumulating we may have no choice. Kids sure are expensive! :-)

Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!

And I'm not singing the Mazda commercial! Isabella is zooming all over the house. Rocco seems to be a significant motivator in Isabella's increasing speed - she wants to catch the cat sooo much. Bella also pulled herself up to stand next to her toy basket a few times yesterday and when we hold onto her hands she is taking numerous steps...very deliberate in her movements. I'm not sure if she'll be walking anytime soon but if desire and determination mean anything I'd guess she'll be walking by Christmas.

Things are going good for me. I continue to enjoy the work and people at Lifetouch. My contract has become open-ended, with no set date to expire. I worked from home yesterday, it was nice skipping the commute - even one less day a week. I'd like to do this more often, nothing set in stone on this though.

Jason is spending next week at Camp Ripley. He will be training a new batch of cadets in firearms/shooting etc. In other news Jason will be going to Green Bay in November to work the Vikings/Packers game. I'm sure it will be quite the experience, I hope for his sake that it isn't a freezing blizzard as he stands on the sidelines guarding the coach.

We are looking for a couple who might be interested in going on a 10-day sailing cruise around the Virgin Islands in March. We have a 45-foot sailboat with accommodations for four couples booked. I found out yesterday that one of the couples cancelled, they are going to Splitsville instead. Let me know if you are interested and I'll send you the details.

R&R

Jason and I returned yesterday from a nice long-weekend trip. We flew into Las Vegas, drove out to the Grand Canyon...a road trip that turned into a much longer experience than we'd anticipated, and then spent the rest of the time at a condo in Mesquite (about 1-hour NE of Vegas). We had a wonderful, relaxing time...a much needed break from the daily grind.

A big shout out of "thanks" to Grandma B. and Auntie Sue and Auntie Kris for taking care of our girl while we were away. We know she was in good hands...despite our daily calls. We were eager to see our baby girl and she was overwhelmed with emotion at the sight of us...big tears and everything. On one hand it is sweet that she loves us and missed us...on the other hand it will make it even harder for me to leave her for 10-days in March.

While we were gone Bella continued to practice her crawling...she was chasing Rocco all over the house yesterday :-) Isabella is also saying mama, however indiscriminately...this is still going down in her baby book as her first word!