I-Z-Z-I

So a few months ago, Isabelle started to "recognize" her written name (well, her nickname anyway). When she sees "Izzi" written somewhere, she says "I-Z-Z-I, that says IZZI!"

So at "school" this year the kids started working on writing their name. It took her all of three weeks to "get it" and tonight she grabbed a marker and a piece of paper. She asked us if she could write her name for us. Sure!

So in red magic marker tonight, on September 29, 2010, Isabelle Natalie Siler wrote I-Z-Z-I on a piece of paper without a model to go off of and no letters to trace. She just wrote her nickname out all by herself.

Just to remind you readers and family members......she's TWO years old. Granted, she's just a few weeks from turning three.....and already going on four. Lord, give us the strength we need!!!

As a postscript, Miss Trish has already decided to switch her school things to "Isabelle" since she will probably have to learn to use that in Kindgergarten. So at this rate, Izzi will probably be writing I-S-A-B-E-L-L-E by her third birthday. I'll let her sign her own birthday card to herself, ha ha.

Our Littlest Raven

Izzi sitting in Club Level, learning to yell DEFENSE!

On August 26, 2010, Isabelle got to see her very first Ravens game. Granted, it was a pre-season game, but Ed took her up to the game to see how she would do. She was a trooper and stuck in there until the 4th quarter. Even better, our neighbors parents were going to the game and taking their granddaughter up, so they offered to give Ed and Isabelle a ride. They even had a parking pass. Sweet! Otherwise Ed would have been hoofing it about a mile from where we park to get to the stadium. That wouldn't have been fun with a Toddler in tow.

Isn't she the BEST Ravens fan ever?!?!?

Iz met tons of people who couldn't help but comment on her enthusiastic showing. She was dressed to the nines (hate, beads, Flacco jersey, purple sneakers). She yelled DEFENSE when Daddy told her too and she did so fiercely! She even learned a little of the "Move Those Chains" chant and arm movements from Uncle Ivars (Ed sat in Club Level with Iz but they walked up to our nosebleed seats during Halftime to see our regular crew.

Our Littlest Raven fan is on-board for a lifetime of excitement, highs, and lows (like the Week 2 game against Cinci....ugh!)

Izzi with Uncle Ivars in Section 543

Find your beach

We just got home from a very long overdue and much needed vacation. We flew to Tampa last Thursday and stayed until Tuesday. On this trip, we got to go out on TWO boat rides, with Ed's Aunt Joann and Uncle Ron. Both boat outings were fantastic. The first night, they took us to this huge sandbar that was created from a storm a few years back, it's a mini-island with more seashells than we could fit on the boat. Amazing!

We also got a very nice piece of coral. Shhhhhh, not exactly sure if it's legal to take those things home, but it was up on the sand, not in the water, so we think it's OK, right?

We actually saw a pod of Dolphins playing in the Gulf of Mexico. If you look closely, you'll see the dorsal fin of a playful Bottlenose in the middle of the picture below:

When we got to the sandbar, Isabelle had a huge wide open area to just run and be FREEEEEE. She scared away all the birds for Mommy. It was a beautiful area with crystal clear warm water, no waves, and like I said, more seashells than you could possibly carry.

On the second boat ride of the week, we went to a shallow water sandbar area and anchored out with a few other boats. We got floaty things out and tied up to the boat so we didn't drift away, the current was pretty strong that night.

Isabelle is starting to love boats, just the reason to buy one in a few years when she's a bit older. This was the first visit to Tampa when we got to ride on a boat. I always love seeing a town from the waterside view, it really is a totally different perspective. We passed Kenny Rogers house one night (well, one of them anyway). But I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the mansion on the water. Below is a pic of Isabelle and Mom-Mom Susan a few minutes before sunset.

And the actual sunset on the Gulf of Mexico is below. I've seen a lot of sunsets in my lifetime, and they all leave me speechless with their beauty. But watching the sun set on the water is pretty cool for an East Coast girl. I've been fortunate enough to see a waterfront sunset in Key West, Ireland, and now Tampa. Amazing.

Fantastic vacation, but as always, way too short. We're going back to Tampa for two full weeks in February. One week to work and one week to play. Ed has a conference down there for a week, I'll work from Susan and Bill's house while they play with Isabelle. The second week will be time off from work so we can play play play! It won't be boating or beaching weather, but at least there won't be snow or sub-freezing temperatures. We can still do the zoo, children's museum, and Busch Gardens!

All aboard!

Last month we went to a 2nd birthday party for our friend Charley Mahoney. We rode the mini steam engine trains at Leakin Park over off Route 40. It was a beautiful (but hot) day and we had a nice party back at the Mahoney's house afterwards. Here is pic of Izzi and Mommy riding the mini-trains.

Dog is God Spelled Backwards

We got an email from LRR (Labrador Retriever Rescue) today asking for emergency Foster Homes this coming October. Several of our regular Foster Home Families are going on a group trip this October leaving our all-volunteer organization very short on Foster Homes for about 8 days this Fall.

We recently lost both of our precious Labbies in less than a year and we needed a break for a while. Isabelle was still a baby, and we figured we would wait until she was a bit older before we became a dog family again. I figured when the time was right, an opportunity would present itself.

Oddly enough, the friends we went to the concert with yesterday were talking about their dog, and asking us when we thought we might get another one. A few hours later, watching late night cable at Ed's cousin's house, I caught the last half of Marley & Me on HBO and ended up in tears (once again) watching the movie based off the classic book about a "bad" yellow Lab and the family who loved him. I realized that I do truly miss having a warm, wet nose in my life.

Today, the opportunity presented itself. An "emergency" email from LRR asking for foster homes this October. It seemed like kismet with the dog conversation and movie yesterday. I volunteered our home for those 8 days in October, without even clearing it with Ed first. (I told him immediately afterwards, and he was fine with it.)

Granted, we're only volunteering to foster for 8 daysl. But anyone who knows us, knows where fostering Labs has led us in the past. We had 2 dogs at one time for several years (3 different Labs rescued so far). And the director of LRR knows us well enough that she will ensure we get a great foster dog, that she knows we'll fall in love with, and end up adopting. Susan is the quintessential organizer of what we call "suckers" in our LRR organization. Those are the "foster homes" that end up adopting the dogs we're only supposedly providing temporary foster homes for.

So, this might be a bit sooner than what we thought? We said 2011 when we'd start fostering-to-adopt. But I have a feeling that Isabelle is going to have a fuzzy friend in her life sooner than planned. I just pray that we don't have another Winter like last year, for more reasons than just not wanting to walk a dog in 4 feet of snow!

Juicy Butter

I made a turkey & cheese sandwich for Isabelle the other day. And she brought her plate over to me with one bite taken out of the sandwich and told me it need something juicy. Ummm, what?

She further explained, "Mommy, it's DRY!". So I put some butter on the inside of the bread. (I didn't think she would tolerate mayo or mustard and I didn't have any salad dressing she would like either.) Turns out, she loves butter. (But hey, what's not to love?)

So today she got a sandwich for lunch, and I put a tiny bit of butter on the bread and she took the first bite. Her eyes got really wide, and she asked me, "Mommy? Did you put BUTTER on this sammmmwich? I really really LIKE it!"

I do love a little juicy butter on my sammmmmwich every once in a while, ha ha.

The Unmentionable Helmet

Izzi spent the day with Aunt Kim (Ed's cousin), Uncle Chris, and Ronan yesterday. Ed & I went to the Hot August Blues Concert at Oregon Ridge. And the name held up to it's meaning. It was HOT and the music was a great mix of Blues bands. We went to see our favorite live act, Mister Keb 'Mo. We travel to see him whenever he's within 2 hours of us. He's just that great. The headliner was Lyle Lovett and he was fantastic with his FULL band. There must have been 30 guys up on the stage and they sounded superb. He even treated us to our favorite song of his, If I Had a Boat. Fantabulous.

During the concert, I got the attached picture from Aunt Kim, sent to my cell phone. It was sunny and I couldn't see the pic very well so I texted her back thanking her for putting a helmet on Izzi. She texted me back that it was UNDERWEAR! Ha ha.

Her 2-year-old son just got new underwear but has NO use for them yet. He thinks they are hats. So Ronan and Izzi were running around their backyard, riding bikes, with Thomas the Tank boys underwear on their heads.

Viva la Redneck Babies!