Izzy turns ONE!

 

 

Izzy turned 1 on November 8th and it's so weird how it seems like the year flew by and like we've had her forever all at the same time. I took the day off and had big plans to make the day extra special. We planned to have a party for her but Kary and I decided that since none of our family could come and because it would cost a bunch of money and Izzy would be just as happy with just us, we decided not to throw her a party.

The morning of her birthday Kary was super sick. Our plans got messed up as he kept falling asleep and could barely stand up. We finally made it to the cupcake shop @Maddy's Fatty's and got Izzy (and London) a cupcake. From there we traveled almost an hour to a park that was supposed to be awesome. It ended up being closed. London played on the playground for a bit and we decided to just head home. I was feeling bad that the day seemed to be a bust but we had one last take: going out to dinner. We went to Killingtons and Izzy chowed down on mac n cheese and we ate delicious bean burgers on flat bread. The night turned out to be special. We stopped and got Izzy a big piece of red velvet cake and sang to her, just us. She was happy and that's all that matters. I definitely want to make it up to her when she turns 2. For now, I'm pretty sure she had no idea about any of the setbacks and is happy to be ONE!

 

Izabelle Alice

hanging with mommy and daddy for some Christmas shopping
 

So much time has passed in between posts and my kids have grown and changed so much. I guess it's awesome that I am out living life enough that I have no time to blog but I can't help but feel like I'm treating Izzy as the typical middle child. I used to document London's life every week and always posted about height/ weight etc. I can tell you that Izzy weighs about 20lbs, she is short but I am not sure on her exact inch measurement.
It seems like we woke up one day and our baby girl was suddenly a little person. She is starting to talk and so far can say: mama, dada, bye, all done, yeah, bye, hi, fire and a few times she said Izzy. She shakes her head no, claps, does pat-a-cake and says, "roooll it" which is adorable.
Izzy is a very good easy going baby for the most part but has a crazy fiery mean streak. When she is pissed she will scream, headbutt, and pull hair. But, if you're cool with her she's fine.
She is a total mama's girl and prefers me over anyone. I can't say I complain because having her lay her head on my shoulder may be the best feeling in the world.
I managed to boobie feed Izzy for an entire year and quit on her birthday. If I was a stay at home mom and didn't have to pump and if my baby didn't have so many teeth, I may have done it even longer.
Izzy has no interest in walking. She is currently a knee walker and is super fast. I am hoping she gets the hang of it soon.
Izzy is going to start daycare next month but only 1 day a week. I am excited for her to be around other babies and I know she will have a fun day but I am sure she will be pissed off at me when I go to pick her up.
A few other random facts about Izzy: she eats a TON, she eats 3x the amount of her brother, she hates clothes and recently learned how to take off her diaper. She prefers to be naked, she has crazy curly hair especially after bath time, she thinks London is the coolest person on the planet and thinks he is HILARIOUS. She will turn anything into a cell phone. She is the cutest and I am sooo lucky to call her my daughter.

innocent?

mama/ baby time
 

House Hunters Reality: Our First Home!

After 3 weeks with no AC, a leaky ceiling, and an HOA from hell, Kary and I decided it was time to move. We played around with the idea of buying but weren't sure if it was the right time, especially since we don't have a big chunk of change for a down payment. We looked at some rentals but then with the advice of my friend Lynn and a great realtor recommendation, decided to go for it.
We called Kolleen and got started right away. It was pretty awesome to hear her ask what kind of house we were looking for. She had me come up with a "wish list" and I was realistic. She sent me a few options and Kary and I started getting really excited. We went through a mortgage company she recommended and got started on the paperwork. A few days later we heard back and it wasn't good news. She basically told us we couldn't qualify for half we thought. We were pretty bummed but just figured we'd keep renting and save up. But, this wasn't far from over. My mom suggested we try the Credit Union. So, on a Friday we rushed over to the credit union, signed up for an account and got busy on the paperwork. The girl helping us was really cool and didn't even mind that London was ducking down behind her hair dropping a deuce in his diaper...ha.
After a few days she got back to us and told us we'd qualify for what we thought and actually $25,000 more than that! We were sooo pumped so I got ahold of Kolleen right away and we set up a day to go house hunting. We bookmarked a few good options and set it up for a Thursday.
I met Kolleen at a blue ranch in Huntersville first. The house had a great yard and really nice on the inside but at first it appeared a little small and was a ranch and was in a less than beautiful neighborhood. I brought Izzy with me and Lynn generously watched London. I was quickly impressed with the ranch house and couldn't get it out of my mind as we traveled from house to house to house. I'm pretty sure we looked at about 8-10 houses that day. None of the houses stood out like the first one and I honestly don't even remember them. They were very generic. Finally, while in a Mooresville cookie cutter I told Kolleen I was ready to put an offer in at that first home! I called Kary, changed Izzy's diaper on the floor of the generico house and headed to Kary's work to fill out the offer paperwork! Of course, Kary agreed right away! Kolleen showed up and we made the offer. A few hours later she got back to us. After a few counter offers we finally settled at them paying closing costs, and throwing in the brand new LG washer and dryer and us paying asking price. It was super fast and exciting! We did a walk through the next day and that was Kary's first time seeing the house, he loved it! We then had the appraisal which was $15,000 more than we paid. Then we had the inspection and after a few weeks of a mold scare all was good to go and safe! So, we set closing day at August 29th (my mama's birthday) and then played the waiting game.............within those 45 days we had ceiling leaks, I ran into the garage with my car and our landlord asked us to place the ad, show the place ,etc (so not our responsibility!) Finally, the time was here and after A LOT of harrassment from our landlord, we were FREE! I don't even want to get into the bs she tried with us but all that matters was we were HOME OWNERS!
We had our closing on August 29th as planned and Kolleen, her cool lawyer guy and the previous owners all showed up. They all loved Izzy and London and I could tell the previous owners were happy someone as cute as us bought their house ;-) The woman even showed up a few days later with a check of ours that was delivered to her by accident and she even gave me advice on how to care for the flowers in the yard. She was sweet.
We moved in August 30th and paid a moving company and were moved in within one day. Kary's parents came and helped with the kids and Risa and Brent came to check it out and we had a bathroom dance party. We were sooo happy to be HOME and have been having fun doing all kinds of projects. We have big plans for this house and can't wait to build memories in a house that actually belongs to us! Good riddance landlords. WE ARE HOME! <3 p="">

closing!

after closing with Kollen

hanging outside

my parents came to visit and check out the new house

Pumpkin Patch 2013!

We continued our tradition of going to the Pumpkin Patch and this time we had another little cutie to join in the fun. Last year at this time Izzy was in my belly and a few weeks away from being born. It is crazy how fast the year went and how much both kids have changed. I compared London's 3 trips to the pumpkin patch and he's such a big kid now, it's crazy! We had a fun day of hay riding, playing in pumpkins, eating ice cream, and checking out some animals. London was afraid of the hayride at first but finally went on after some bribing. Then he felt brave and wanted his face painted. We waited in line for 30 minutes only to have him freak and refuse to get it done. It wasn't a total loss because we had the lady paint a pumpkin on Izzy's cheek as she tried to eat the paint brush...haha. It was a fun Fall day. Plus, I got lots of cute pictures.