Caramel Apples and More!

We had lots of fun making caramel apples together on Wednesday night. Isabel can say apple pretty good and was having fun trying to put the sticks in them. She supervised to make sure we got all the apples covered.

Oh man, were they yummy! I think it was the first caramel apple I have ever had (I know, I am deprived!), and it was so good, and juicy, and sticky and messy!

Here is her little Halloween outfit. She wore it on Thursday because we went to a "Witches Brew" at a friends house, so I got her all festive looking.

These pictures were taken last Monday when Isabel was playing Mommy. She is so cute with little dolls. She wraps them up in blankets and puts them in the doll bassinett to go ni-ni and gives them lots of kisses (see pic below) I think she will adjust pretty good to this new baby, I will just have to watch her really close to make sure she isn't too hands on!

Trick or treating at the Dental School

Every year at Halloween, the CWDA (Creighton Women's Dental Alliance-a club where all the girls associated with dental school get together for fun activities and parties all the time) puts together a little trick or treat adventure at the dental school. We get all the kids dressed up in their costumes and head to the dental school. Then we meet the daddy's there and they take us around the clinic and school to go trick or treating to all the staff and professors their. It is fun to see the school and let the Dad's show off their cute kiddos to all the people they work with. Isabel was a little monkey and I don't think she was too happy. She wouldn't do anything but make her serious face and wouldn't wave at anyone. After a while though, she did get the hang of taking candy from the people and putting it in her bag. Of course, her favorite thing she got that she would not let go of was a cute little toothbrush. She is definitely the daughter of a future dentist! As soon as we were done, we took off her costume and then had lunch in the cafeteria there. That is when she decided to show her personality and be a little more lively. Oh well, I can't fault her for being shy, she is such a sweetie!

Flowers for Daddy - Oct. 20th

Last week, I was using our grill to cook some dinner and Isabel was playing with our flowers. She loves flowers and if she spots any, she starts making a sniffing noise, like she is trying to smell the flowers. That is how she says flowers right now, cute huh? (at least I think so). So to keep her distracted and happy while I finished grilling, I picked a few for her and she wandered around our lawn smelling them. Daddy came home from school and she was so excited to show him what she had been up to. I thought these pics were pretty cute.

Our cute neighbors made this adorable Halloween scene in their flower bed. Isabel loves the pumpkins, but she wasn't too happy sitting on the bale of hay. Can't say that I blame her, kinda pokey!

This girl loves her purses

So I think I could just get Isabel a bunch of purses for Christmas and she would be good. If I leave my purse out or within reach, it is not long before she is toting it around the house and filling it with all sorts of great things. In these pics, we were getting ready to leave the house and I had gotten her all ready and had a few last minute things to grab. She grabbed my purse as well as another one from the closet and started wandering around the house, waiting for me to get ready. I think she will be a great shopping buddy when she is a bit older:)

I thought I would try and make her a trick or treat bag this year. It is not perfect, but don't tell Isabel that. She saw it when I was halfway done sewing it and knew exactly what it was...a PURSE. She was so impatient and I finally let her play with it before I did some last minute touches on it. She carried it around all afternoon and put all her toys in it. I think I may try and use the same pattern and make a cute girly purse for her for Christmas. She loves carrying things like this around and filling it with things from all over the house. One of her favorite toys is her block bucket. She carries it all over and is constantly putting things in it. What a sweetheart!

33 weeks!

Say Please!

Isabel loves the camera. In fact she freaks out if she finds it, especially if she gets her hands on it and can walk around trying to push all the buttons. So as she was helping me fold clothes (you can see how that went in the background, but at least she tries) she saw me get the camera out and started whining for it (1st pic). Then when I told her, just a minute, she said please and signed it at the same time (2nd pic). How can you resist that? Well I did, since I want my camera to stay in one piece. But she is so cute for trying and being so polite about it.


Isabel loves Sesame Street. At least in like 2 minute increments. We put it on and she gets all excited and sits down. Then something distracts her and she plays for a little while, until it catches her attention and watches some more. This was during Elmo's world. As you can see, she is so immersed in it that she doesn't pay attention to the camera, which is amazing!
Don't you love her cute little ponytail? It only last for an hour because she has so many hairs around her face and by her ears that are too short to stay in. But it was fun while it lasted.

Spokane Visit

We had a great time up in Spokane. We got to see most of my family which was really nice. We were missing my brother on a mission and then 2 other siblings that couldn't make it, but there was still a crowd of family!
The flights there were great. We had a layover both times, but Isabel still fell asleep in every plane and had lots of fun running around in the airport. I was a slacker and didn't get my camera out very much. The slideshow above is Isabel and her cousin, Sarah Beth, playing with the dinosaur. They were both so interested in it and were ignoring all of us that were sitting around giggling at them. It was so funny to watch how they played and how Isabel would crawl all over anyone in her way when she was trying to get a ball.

We went to a pumpkin patch with all the family. It was pretty chilly and very windy, so we got really bundled up and braved the weather. We took a little train ride around the property and scouted out some good pumpkins.

Then we walked around and everyone picked out the pumpkins they wanted. We just watched, seeing as how I think a few pumpkins would put us over the 50 lb. limit with our luggage. We even ate a yummy funnel cake and looked at all the different gourds they grew.

Isabel was such a big helper to me and helped me unpack the suitcase, all while looking cool in Daddy's sunglasses.
She got a little baby from Grandma G. (aka G.G.) and decided to see how mommy feels carrying a baby around in her tummy. She would pull it out of her shirt and get so excited to see the baby, then want us to put it back. (I am sure some mothers have the same feelings, JK)

All the older grandkids were playing kneeball (kickball modified so it didn't destroy my sister's basement) with David. Isabel kept trying to play, but she enjoyed playing with the keyboard and dancing to the tempos we had playing on it.
My brother Kyle having a sitting contest with Corissa and McKay. As you can see, Kyle felt threatened by them, and felt the need to cheat (nice going new RM!) Isabel and Sarah Beth being silly with David.

This is my sweet little nephew McKay. He really enjoys hanging out with David. It was so fun to see David playing with all the nieces and nephews, he has such a way with kids. Maybe it's cause he is still a kid at heart himself:)

Here is a pic of all the girls. From left to right, my niece Corissa, my sister Carrie, me, Isabel, my sister in law Melanie, my sis in law Julie and Sarah Beth. I don't know where my mom was, but this is all the Gillespie girls, minus my sweet sister Amber, who couldn't come up from Idaho:( Speaking of my mom, I just want to say how proud I am of her! She has lost 64 pounds and is looking smoking hot! Just ask my dad;) She has done so good and is feeling great. She even tried to give me some of her clothes that were too big for her! Unfortunately with my long torso, the shirts were too short. Darn, and they were brand new too! Love you Mom.

I have a brother and his family and a sister and her family that live up by my parents, and they took turns hosting us for dinner at all their homes. It was so nice to see all of them. Isabel did good, considering we were 2 hours behind our time zone and she is an early to bed, early to rise kind of gal. She didn't get much sleep, but she was still a sweetheart.

I even got to see my best friend from high school, Ashleigh for a little bit. Silly me forgot to take a picture of us together, but she looks great and has a hot little hairdo that makes me want to chop all mine off again. Next time I am up there, we will have to do something more. I am trying to talk her into coming out here, like I am anyone who wants to visit!

We had a great time and loved spending time with the family. We feel blessed to both come from big families who love to be together. Families are Forever.

Pregnancy...

Well, we are long over due for updates. We went to Spokane over Fall Break to visit my family and we had lots of fun. Every time I have tried to upload the pictures, my computer stalls, and I get impatient, so I think when I have a second I will just put a slideshow up to save my insanity. It was great to see lots of my family and do some fun things. More on that later.
I am now almost 33 weeks into my pregnancy, and I am finally starting to feel it! I love being pregnant (I know some hate when girls say that, but it is true). I love feeling our little child moving around and growing, getting ready to come into the world and be loved and cuddled. I love thinking about what a miracle little children are and how wonderful it is to know that David and I helped create this little being. I love talking with Isabel about "her baby" and watching as she lifts my shirt to find the baby (aka, my belly button) and give it kisses. Knowing what it means to love your child, it makes me even more excited, because I know just how special it is to have a child. We can't wait, and I am realizing how fast it is approaching.
Now I don't want to complain, but I thought I would tell you some of the things I deal with so that when I am up at night with a newborn, I will remember what it is like to be pregnant and be happy that they are in my arms and not my belly:
-The rib kicking has begun. Because Isabel was so tiny and had little short legs, I didn't get much of the feet in the ribs. But I think this one is making up for it. Anytime I am sitting, I feel my ribs getting a swift kick and it makes me sit up very straight. It was very hard to do in a cramped airplane seat with a sleeping toddlers in my arms, so I got pretty uncomfortable.
-I get hot flashes that will rival any menopausal woman! My husband can attest to that! They come all times of the day, but especially at night. Now ever since we have been married, he is always the one that sleeps without covers with a fan on him and I usually have about 3 blankets on me to keep me warm. Talk about role reversal. He wakes up in the mornings and saying he is getting a sore throat from sleeping in such cold temps. I on the other hand can't even have a sheet over me, I have the ceiling fan going, a box fan blowing on me, and the window open to let that crisp fall night air come in and cool me off. And with all that, I still wake up sweating and complaining that I am too hot. David can't even put an arm on me cause it will cause me to burn up. Sorry hun, hopefully I go back to normal in a few months:)
-I can now hardly bend down to get things off the floor. So Isabels toys lay scattered around the house until she is in bed for the night and I just have to go around once and crawl to get all her toys. I am thinking of passing this chore on to David after he is done studying.
-Shoes are becoming more and more difficult to get on and tie. Luckily I have a pair of shoes that I can slip on without the help of my hands. I think these will become my staple until the baby comes. Now if only I can find some Sunday dresses to match the shoes:)
-Heartburn is back. I get it at really random times, so I haven't been able to tell if it is from something I eat or what.
-The smell of coffee makes my mouth water. I felt the same way when I was pregnant with Isabel. Normally, I think it is pretty stinky and don't like coffee flavored things. But something with being pregnant makes me go crazy when I smell coffee. I even will walk down the aisle at the store with the coffee, just to get a big ol sniff of it. Pretty weird. But when I was pregnant with Isabel, we were at Sam's club and they were sampling these breakfast granola bars, and one of them was a mocha coffee flavor. I thought, yay, I can finally eat something that tastes like coffee but doesn't have caffeine. I took one bite and nearly spit it out on the floor. So the taste is no fun, but I sure love the smell of it!
- I have been getting a lot of Braxton-hicks contractions. I didn't get them very much with Isabel, but I get a lot now. Everytime she is sitting on my lap or I am carrying her, I get one, which makes it even more uncomfortable to do those things. I am trying to practice my relaxation techniques to ignore them. I just hope they are doing things to help me out when labor starts, so I don't have another 19 hour labor on pitocin.
-Surprisingly, my carpal tunnel is not as bad as it was with Isabel. The last 3 months, I was in so much pain and numbness that I cried many nights when my hands woke me up from hurting so bad. Now, certain tasks make my hands a little numb, but the braces at night help so they don't fall asleep as much and start hurting. I am so grateful for this. I was nervous that the next time I got pregnant, my hands would hurt so much, that I wouldn't be able to change Isabel's diapers. Thankfully (or not) I am still able to do so.
I am currently measuring 2 weeks ahead of my due date. Now it would be great it that meant I may deliver a little earlier than Dec. 10th, but I am nervous it means I am just growing a large baby who wants to make Mommy work extra hard to get them here. Here's to hoping for an early birthday for them!
I love being pregnant, even with all these crazy things going on. I feel so priveledged to have these spirits come into our family and I love being a mom. I will go through it as much as possible to bring our children to our family. We can't wait to meet this little person that is rolling around in my tummy and see what joys their personality brings to our family.