Gag Me With A Spoon

Isabelle had her four-month Dr. appt this week! She weighs 15.1 pounds and she now gets to start eating baby food! She started on rice cereal today, her very first time eating from a spoon. She wasn't sure what to think about the spoon or the texture of the food. I don't think she swallowed any food at the first meal. Mostly, she gagged on the spoon and the food ended up all over her and on us! The second meal later the same day went a lot better and she quickly picked up on it, laughing and squeeling at her new found talent and opening her mouth wide for more food! It was SO cute!

"What is going on here??"

Mid-Gag

"This isn't so bad, I can do this!"

"Yeah, I know I'm cute.. You just keep that cereal coming mommy."

Bumbo

Thanks to my friend, Natalie, I have discovered the Bumbo. I had to run out and get one as soon as I tried it out. Izzy loves sitting in it because she feels like a big girl and Luke and I are just tickled that she is growing up so much.. She gets to start eating baby food next week. We are super excited about that.. pictures of her first meal are definately coming soon!

Oh, Daddy, I Love You THIS Much!

Isabelle becomes more and more of a daddy's girl every day. They have so much fun playing together.

Nature

I happened to glance out the living room window this evening and this is what I saw.

Where else can you see six deer just grazing peacefully outside your living room window?

A Milestone Day

Just a typical day.. The weather is gorgeous, we've got the windows open and a nice cool breeze coming through the house. Isabelle is laying on her back on her little play mat in the living room, Luke is on the computer. I'm in Izzy's room cleaning and peaking around the corner every now and then to make sure she is okay.

So, I peek around the corner again to check on her when I yell "Oh, my gosh!!". I'm sure I scared Luke half to death, and we both go running into the living room to find Izzy on her belly, looking around, chest and head raised proudly in the air, about two feet away from where I had left her!

Needless to say, Luke and I are super excited about Izzy's milestone day!

"Wow, the world looks totally different from this angle..

Hmm.. Which one should I play with.."

"Hi, Mr. Worm, You look fun."

"Yep, Heh.. Heh.. That's the one I'm going for."

The Initiation

Picture It: Sunday, September 28, 2008, 2:00 AM. (Anyone who is a fan of Sophia on the Golden Girls will appreciate that opening). But, I digress, so, Picture It: Sunday, September 28, 2008, 2:00 AM.

Luke is working late, it's just me and Isabelle out on the farm sleeping peacefully when a strange rustling outside my bedroom window along with the sound of what had to be a very large, hooved animal running... no, sprinting, past my bedroom window. I am startled awake. In the next forty-five seconds three things would happen.

First, I would wonder... "Is it the bull? Yesterday one of the cows was at the pear tree.. Did the bull get out?", "Is someone trying to break in the basement?" Then I hear the flapping of ears and I relax because I have figured it out. "Ahhh.. The bull was on the side of the house and Buddy chased it past my window and now the bull is eating pears that have fallen on the ground and he just shook his head which would explain the ear-flapping noise." So, I go to the door that opens onto the deck so that I can sneak a peak and see if I am right, but unfortunately I can't see anything. That's when the second event happens.

A strange smell, a horrible odor inside the house that I have never smelled before.. then I peek out the front door where Buddy is standing guard and I notice a strange fog, so I open the door just a crack to investigate and I'm almost knocked over by the horrible, ungodly odor. Then my imagination runs wild. "Is someone trying to break in the house and they've released a poisonous gas so that no one inside can escape!?! Should I take Izzy and go hide somewhere?".... Then reason takes over... "I've never been around or really smelled a skunk before, but maybe it's a skunk?"

Anxious, dizzy and nostrils burning, finally the third thing happens. I frantically call Luke at work. However, there is nothing he can do from work.. so I have to wait.. and wait. Finally at 4am Luke gets home and runs to the front door where I'm anxiously waiting for him. "Can you smell it? What is it? Is it poison? Is it a skunk?" and Luke, tired and sore from working a 12 hour day answers and says.. "No, it's not a skunk! It's the epicenter of a skunk!"

It's as if there was a skunk bomb and Buddy and our house was ground zero. Inside and out was thick with the remnants of our skunk bomb. Poor Buddy hosed down by the skunk, didn't know what was going on. We tried to get what little sleep we could with vicks vapor rub caked on our upper lips. Finally, several air fresheners, bottles of vinegar and skunk shampoo mixtures later, the smell has gotten a little better and this city girl has officially been initiated into life on the farm.