Celebrating two years!

We had a small ball pit in an inflatable pool.

Friends Diane, Lili, and Henry

Colorful cupcakes.

Yum!

We threw a party for Isabella's second birthday and it was a blast. We invited all of our toddler friends that we hang out with on a regular basis...which meant there were a total of 9 toddlers! yikes! It was crazy and fun! We had such a good time having all our friends over.

An Older Post

I meant to post these photos of one of our adventures in Wenatchee a while back...but forgot.

We went up to Lake Chelan one morning and went berry picking. (Yes, one of my all-time favorite things to do!) Lake Chelan is absolutely gorgeous and I hope the next time I visit we can spend some more time up there. It was the perfect picking weather, the perfect picking spot, and the perfect picking people! I loved that Gillian and Isabella would run around eating berries and smiling.

Sailing the Liberty Schooner

My good friend Sarah is full of fun adventures. Recently she became friends with a lovely family (with two children, ages 7 & 4) who live on and operate the Liberty Schooner in the New York Harbor. The last time they invited her to come out on a chartered ride she asked if she could bring me along. I was completely thrilled and honored! Sarah and I helped them prepare and serve food for the passengers. We even learned one bit of pulling the boat back into the pier (and actually got to do it...pulling ropes, yelling commands, etc.) I loved getting to know the family and the crew. All amazing people!

The whole evening was fabulous. There was something magical and harmonious about being on a beautiful sailboat gliding around the harbor as the sun set on the city.

I can't believe she's TWO!!!

How did this happen? Where has the time gone? I can't believe Isabella is two! The baby in her is fading more each day and a sweet, spunky little girl is emerging. So sad and so fun all at the same time.

I can't help but remember two years ago. She's a girl who likes to take her time and do things her way. (Favorite saying right now, "I do it!") She was born 10 days late (with the help of some natural induction techniques) and didn't even show signs that she was ready to be born until three hours before she was finally out at 10am on a Saturday morning.

Isabella Margaret Carini is named after two amazing women. Isabella is her maternal great, great grandmother who has been deemed a saint in my family; must be where she got her sweetness from. Margaret is her paternal great grandmother who is a spitfire woman, full of life and vigor; must be where she gets her spunk from. ;)

Isabella has brought more joy and love into our lives than we thought possible. How can such a little human bring so much life and light into our hearts?! What an perfect miracle and amazing blessing she is!

Some favorite things:
"I do it!"
"a Bella." Not commanding, but stated as a matter of fact.
"Oh boy!"
"funny"
"whalk"..."steirs"..."and" She prefers to walk down the subway stairs, holding my hand, rather than being carried in the stroller. This rarely happens but is requested every time.
"NOON!" She gets so excited on the rare occasions we spot the moon above the city buildings.
"See it." When she hears something she often wants to see it...which isn't easy in the city. There are a lot of sounds and few open visual spaces.
She is a fabulous helper: "backuum" vacuum, "poon" putting the clean spoons away, "push" pushing the full laundry baskets into the elevator and down to the basement.
"Tank ou!" 'Thank you' is rarely prompted anymore but frequently given.
"dan" She loves to dance in circles on her own or with daddy.
Her many facial expressions lately are priceless. Oh, how I wish I could capture some with the camera.

Thank you Minde for the fabulous cupckes at the playground!