Chunkin' up and smiling

Leah was officially 8 weeks old yesterday--I can't believe it! She's getting so big so fast...I love the chubby arms and legs! There is nothing cuter than a baby in just a diaper, is there?


I love all the smiles we're getting these days. It is hard for me to catch them on camera when I'm the one she's smiling at, so I try to take pictures when she's smiling at Joshua or David. This cute little grin was for Daddy tonight :)

What a cutie pie!

Spiderman...sort of :)

Last year for Halloween, Joshua was Superman (and a pretty cute one, if you ask me). One of David's coworkers passed down a bunch of really great 2T clothes from her son to Joshua, and in the mix was a Spiderman costume...so we continued the superhero theme! But just like anything else, Joshua puts his own little spin on things. He decided to skip the mask and wear his Carolina cap instead. He wears this hat (or one of David's) pretty much all day, every day, for every moment that he's awake. He's all boy...and pretty stinkin' adorable too!

I love the stuffing in the sleeves

and chest that make the "muscles"

***

We had our church chili cookoff and trunk-or-treat tonight and had so much fun! Leah was a trooper and rode around in the baby carrier on my chest the whole time, sleeping some and just looking around some as well--she couldn't have been better! Joshua loved seeing all the people dressed up in fun costumes...and the yummy food didn't hurt either :) Happy Halloween!

Leah's baby blessing

We had Leah's baby blessing on Sunday, October 24. David's little sister Erin got married on Saturday, and since all the family would be in town for that, we figured that would be the best time to do her blessing so all of David's brothers would be there to participate. Two of my really good friends from high school, Katherine (with her husband Dan and cute little girl Josie) and Erin (with her boyfriend Jonathan), came as well. David gave Leah the sweetest blessing and then we were all entertained by the ward primary program--Joshua was enthralled each time the kids sang a song. I can't believe that he'll be participating before long!

Here's my handsome little guy showing

us one of his cars...doesn't he look sharp

in this outfit his Grandma Martha gave him?

Like his Mommy, Joshua likes to get

in comfy clothes as soon as we get

home from church :)

He also enjoys hanging out in the

baby swing (which he hated as an infant)

and pushing himself REALLY high!

My wonderful friend Katherine took some

beautiful pictures for us at our house after

the blessing...I love this one of my two

precious little ones!

I usually avoid posting pictures of myself,

but I absolutely loved this one...

Mommy and baby Leah smiling!

This is the blessing dress that my

extremely sweet and talented friend

Jenny made for Leah...isn't it just

beautiful?

Look at those sweet cheeks and

chubby little arms...I could just

kiss her all day long!

More smiles for Mommy :)


Pretty girl

We love you, Leah-bug, and we are

so grateful to have you in our family!

Funny kids

Neither one of my kids has been a huge fan of the swing, but Leah will at least let it buy me 10-15 minutes when I need to finish something up or help Joshua with something. Joshua likes to help "push" the swing and Leah doesn't seem to mind.

So, even though Joshua has his own toddler-sized baseball cap, he still likes to wear Daddy's hats sometimes. He'll find them and put them on, usually backwards or sideways and wear them like that all morning. I'm not sure how he can see very well with one eye covered, but I guess it is all in the name of fashion :)

Joshua surrounded by the typical morning carnage

(I sometimes wonder why I bother to clean up)

What a cutie!

David and I are counting down the days until Little Miss Leah decides that she wants an earlier bedtime...right now, she doesn't knock out until 11:00pm. She's bright-eyed (as seen here) way past when I'd like to go to bed! She gives me at least a 5-6 hour stretch, though, so I know I shouldn't complain. We're getting sweet smiles now, but she's hard to catch on camera at this point.

***

Joshua is in complete sponge/parrot mode. He picks up everything he hears and says it at the funniest times. When coughing yesterday morning, he patted himself on the back and said, "Are you okay?" He also loves to say the things he hears Mommy tell him often, like "Don't touch" and "Get down," and he likes to narrate what people are doing, like "Mommy's brushing teeth" and "Baby's taking a bath." He also learned how to blow his nose this week because it has been so runny (and for some reason, he thinks it is fun), so we're both quite happy about that! He's so much fun (and so exhausting) at this age...he's certainly keeping me on my toes!

Posing with Grandma

My mom came up for the State Fair and some time with the grandbabies. Since someone else could hold Leah while I took the pictures, I was able to get a few shots. On Grandma's request, I made sure she wasn't in the picture--since I make that request often myself, I'm very respectful of other people who do the same :)

Big yawn!

Must we use the bright flash, Mommy?

Oh okay, if you insist.

Cutest. face. ever.

This baby loves her baths, and I love all her

cute little rolls!

Look at that strong little neck!
She loves holding her head up and trying

to look around :)

State Fair!

I love the State Fair. I mean, REALLY love the State Fair. It is one of the many things that make autumn my very favorite season. I love the displays, the animals, the food, the weather, the people-watching...I could go on and on. And now I have another thing I love about the fair:

Watching this little guy light up with joy

as he rides this ATV ride...4 times!

***

We bought a book of tickets in advance (all about saving money here, people!) and didn't realize that even in Kiddieland, you have to be 36 inches tall to ride almost everything, even with a parent. No worries, though--Joshua LOVED this ride! He was all smiles the whole time...seriously, how can you not smile when you see a kid this cute and happy?

***

We got to enjoy the beautiful weather, some yummy food, and seeing the animals. Little Miss Leah-bug slept most of the time, and then decided that half-way through lunch, she was ready to go home...RIGHT THEN. So she screamed bloody murder the whole way to the car...and I was *this close* to punching the next person who heard her screaming in her stroller and said, "Well, she's not very happy, is she?"

***

I think next year will be a bit easier, since Joshua will be able to have more ride options and Leah will be old enough to enjoy more of the fair. Oh, and get this: not once, but twice, when Leah was being held near the kiddie rides, people came and sat right next to us and lit up a cigarette and proceded to smoke...in the midst of tons of children and RIGHT next to a newborn baby. Unbelievable.

***

So, aside from the extremely selfish and oblivious smokers who seem unaware that not everyone enjoys their poisonous habit, I absolutely LOVE the State Fair :)

Birthday boy!

Can you tell someone is excited?

I wish I could say that he understood that there

was a party about to start for him,

but the excitement was really about this cool new

Carolina hat his Grandma got him for his birthday!

He's been wearing Daddy's hats for months,
but they're just too big. Now he has one that
is just right for him...and he wants to wear it
all the time!

Something about him wearing that hat with jeans
and big boy sneakers makes him look so grown to me!


My friend Maria from church made this AMAZING
cake for Joshua's party--isn't she insanely talented?!


She and David did a trade this year: David did her
taxes and she agreed to make a cake for us. Can you
believe this thing is edible? It was delicious!


Since Joshua is such a huge fan of the movie "Cars,"
we thought that a Lightning McQueen cake would be
perfect. Since Maria is really creative and loves to do
new and different cakes, she did the version of
Lightning when he day dreams about being
sponsored by Dinoco, which turned out amazing!


We had the first gorgeous fall day for Joshua's party!
My parents and brother came up for the weekend,
and a bunch of the local Isgetts joined us on Saturday
afternoon for a cookout and playing in the backyard.
Grandma Martha brought a bunch of PE equipment,
so the kids had a blast playing with that and all
the outdoor play stuff in the yard.


Here's Janie, who is 5 months younger than Joshua
and was the youngest Isgett grandchild until
little Leah joined the family last month.


Here are Janie's siblings, Ellie (almost 4 years old)
and Will (going on 6 years old).

Working together, they got some serious air!

Joshua tried to imitate Daddy's skill catching the

ball on the string in the cup, but couldn't quite

get it. He sure looked cute trying, though :)

***

Joshua was spoiled rotten with lots of great gifts

from family: his new Tar Heels hat, a Veggie Tales

DVD, a Cars cup, a toy dump truck, a youth soccer

ball (which he is really good at kicking and dribbling!),

a pair of Cars sneakers that light up when he jumps,

a pair of Cars flannel pajamas, a new outfit for church,

a big set of Matchbox cars, and a Cars coloring book

with special markers that only mark on the paper

(thank goodness!) There was one other very

special gift from Grandma Martha that I'll be doing

a seperate video post about...it was a BIG hit!

We had so much fun celebrating two years with our

favorite little guy! He is such a happy, smart,

energetic little boy with such a fun personality...

we couldn't be happier to be his mommy and

daddy and watch him grow each day!