Mine

I heard silence... and then this. Adventure with toilet paper.

Playing with her pal, Mr. Martin.

Unconditional love. 

My Reindeer.

Rockin' around the Christmas Tree.

She is mine. Ours. And we couldn't be more pleased. 

Christmas Isla

Here are some pics of Isla... we played with the decorations today as we stayed inside our cozy home.

Have I mentioned recently how much I love this little girl? 

Stuff

Wow. My blogging has significantly slowed down... as has my picture taking. It's not that Isla isn't doing amazing things, it's just that this time of year is SO busy. We have just decorated our house for Christmas and I am loving it. Another little human in my house is loving it too! She has left her mark on several decorations, including the 2 that are in shattered pieces in my garbage can. I have bought Isla her brand new Christmas dress and am SO pumped for her to wear it!

Not only is Christmas coming, but so is our trip to Vegas. Cam and I are leaving to Vegas for 5 days on December 9th! We will be spending my birthday there too!! I am getting SO excited for our trip, but as the excitement builds, so does the nervousness about leaving Isla. She will be staying with both Momo and Nana & Popi for the duration of our absence. I know she is in great hands... but still?! Pictures and blogging will be coming.

I promise I will try and do a decent blog soon... with pics!

Pretty Ears

So, my ear piercing blog is finally here, albeit picture-less. In my hurriedness to get to Merle Norman, I forgot my camera (it figures on momentous occasions). However, Amber has posted photos, documenting our entire adventure. Go to my facebook profile and check them out!

Ok. There were a couple of us talking about wanting to pierce our daughters ears. Since I was able to think about having my own kids, I have told myself that if I had a girl, she needed earrings immediately upon birth. And, as some of you may know, I had my ears pierced at a young age as well (just before I turned 2). My lobes were punctured so people would stop asking my parents how their 'son' was (but earrings didn't change that... I was called a boy up until age 13... I think the parental enforced mushroom cut had something to do with that). I wanted to pierce Isla's ears because it is simply adorable and would only enhance her perfect femininity. However, it was not that easy. Cam took some serious convincing, and still he was reluctant (but clearly, I won that war). He felt she was as cute as she could be and didn't need to be harmed in the name of beauty (clearly, he is not a woman and does not understand this). After some discussion, his sensitive side was exposed and he deeply felt that piercing her ears made her grow up too fast. Amber, Erin and myself had discussed doing this with our kiddies for a while and finally made a family date to get them done. I made appointments for us (which were cancelled 30 minutes prior to due to the woman's stupidity). We quickly changed locales and met up at Merle Norman in West Ed. We were all so excited... and nervous too! Isla was up first. I had to hold her head and arms still and after marking the spot... she was pierced. At first, there was a delay... AND THEN... the screams and tears. The left ear was done quickly afterwards and 3 minutes later, she was an ear pierced beauty. Amber's daughters, Kyla and Kinley were next. Amber is a hairdresser and her client had told her about Emla cream. She bought some Emla patches, slapped those bad boys on her kids ears and as a result, both girls were the champions of the night, shedding a combined total of 0 tears. Next up, Luci. Luci was so pumped about this... she was telling her mom, my friend Erin, how excited she was to have '"eeeings". Luci did super well too! A few expected tears and.... poof... all 4 girls sporting some cubic zirconias. We all headed down to the food court, Daddy's too, and enjoyed a lovely dinner of greasy fare. All in all, an amazing time that we will remember forever... and our daughter's will too!

Showing off her ears. 

10 Months... Double Digits.

Hmmm. What has happened in Isla's little life since 9 months? She has sprouted another tooth... so our total count is 5. She continues to be absolutely delightful and Cam & I often pause with amazement at the beautiful being we have created. She makes us laugh daily with her silly faces and boisterous giggles. She is obsessed with her tongue... sticking it out, blowing spit and copying us when we do silly things with ours. She continues to eat a variety of foods. Her new favorite? Anything with yogurt. Her crawling has significantly approved since last blogged about. She just motors everywhere and wants to get her paws on everything. Her favorites include the fridge and the dishwasher. She can hear me doing dishes or making lunch from the living room and scurries her little butt into the kitchen so she can get in on the action. Adorable. Her love for Sesame Street has grown significantly and our daily routine still consists of snuggle time during Elmo's World. Our library card has come in handy as Isla's love for books begins. She has enjoyed her first Bunnies experience very much... she loves the songs. We read to her daily... multiple times and she loves turning the pages (or attempting too at least). Her favorite person is Daddy... when Cam is around, Mommy doesn't exist. She loves him SO much and wants to be with him always. It melts my heart to see the look on her face when Daddy comes home from work. The best. She has learned the words "Shake" and "High Five". When holding her moroccos, she shakes them when we tell her too. And with our hands held high, she high fives them with pride! Another new trick?? DANCING. When we say dance, she stands up and shakes her bum back and forth with a beaming smile on her face. She tilts her head back too. I am not sure how big she is but I am guessing by the fact that her pants are now flood pants, that she is trucking along quite nicely. She is one heavy lady. To sum all this up... as the months continue on, I continue falling more and more in love with her as her uniquely beautiful personality is expressed.Oh yea... we pierced her ears (HUGE DEAL).  Enjoy the photos.

All bundled up for a drive. 

Daddy and Isla brush teeth.

A ride on the blanket!

Modeling her sweater from Great Grandma.

Eating a snowball.

Obviously... our little Peacock at Halloween.

And of course... our little lady and her earrings. *Tear* (ps - more photos and an entire blog post to come on this topic)

The Schellenberg's Stroll

Yesterday was SUCH a beautiful day and Cam had an impromptu day off (I LOVE those). We decided to put last years Christmas gift to good use and take Isla on a walk... in her special backpack (thanks Nana & Popi for the great gift). We got her all cozy warm and packed her in. We had a lovely time taking a family walk... they are simply the best. Here are some photos.

A sort of Family shot.

 

A better one.

Isla's First Halloween

Yesterday was Isla's first Halloween... and she loved it! We dressed her up as a peacock and she wore her costume ALL day... including to church! Haha. We dropped our little peacock off in the nursery and she played so nicely with the other non-dressed up kids. We had a busy day. We had a stop off at Momo's house so she could see Isla in her costume...

We also played a little too...

Momo also took Isla on her first Trick or Treating experience... to the neighbor's house. She got some fruit snacks!

After trying, unsuccessfully, to eat some candy, we went over to Uncle Chris' and Aunty Nicole's to join her cousins for some more trick or treating.

After a few more houses, we headed home. Our little Peacock was pooped!

It was such an exciting day for us as parents. I was so proud of my little girl and filled with such joy! She was the cutest.