Happy Halloween!!!

Our little squeaky mouse went trick-or-treating at the library this morning!!! They had lots of crafts and she got a sucker, Hersey kisses, and a cookie!!!

We met up with Sam and Brandon and our neighbors, Stephanie, Natalia, Ariana! She had a blast!! Hope she likes it tonight as well!!!

Snow!!!

Because of the hurricane, we had snow and winds in Ohio today!! Iris felt a little snow last year but this year, I scooped up a little snow ball for her! She loved it and kept going to the window saying "snow"!!! I cannot wait to get enough to play in it and take her sledding!

Candy!!!

After the party, we went back to mom's to let iris get her trick-or-treat bucket! It was filled with all of her favorites!!! She had fruit snacks and fruit squeeze pouches! Even a cute outfit!!! Mom and Steve also threw in a few suckers and other sugary surprises as well haha. I stole her suckers but gave her a quick lick of one of mine and she loved it!!! Maybe next Halloween she can have a sucker of her own =)

Happy Halloween!!!!!!

Surprise!!!

We surprised my mom for her 50th birthday at outback yesterday!!! My sister got most of the family to come celebrate and it was such a fun time!!! The littlest 3 cousins came so Iris had fun playing with the girls and running all over!!!

I made mom a photo book from our trip to South Carolina together and she loved it!!!

It was so nice getting everyone together =)

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

Old paci

Iris found an old paci and this is her at just a few weeks old and then today!!!

Amazing how fast she has grown!!!

Big girl in the car!!!

Love mail

Ever since I started weaning Iris from breast feeding, my hormones have been crazy and seems I have been having some hard days lately! (***Anyone experiencing this??***)

My wonderful husband has been putting up with my crazy mood swings and even surprised me with a little love!!

It surely brightened my day!!!!

Saying good bye with hugs and high 5's!!

These two....

Are best buds!!! Rachel is 3 months older than Iris but they are the same size!! They are so cute together and play so well!!!

Rachel's momma and I used to work together on the cardiac floor! Her momma actually trained me and she was recently pregnant and I had a drink of the water and became pregnant shortly after!!!! We really bonded and I cherish our friendship! We try to get together when our schedules allow and it's so much fun to let our girls play together!!!! Amanda recently had baby girl #2 so getting the 3 girls together is even more fun!!!!

They enjoyed taking a wagon ride, swinging, playing with babies, carts, and dress up!!! So fun!!!

Cheese!!!

First single ponytail!

Love her baby blues!!!

2 days a week, Iris and I meet Doug at OSU so I can go to work and he takes Iris home. He goes in super early a d this way, we only need a baby sitter for 1 day and for only 2-3 hrs!! It saves us a ton of money and keeps Iris at home and with her parents like we want!!!

So today, Iris and I played around outside while we waited for dadda to come out! We chased leafs and she found a dandelion full of seeds!!! She loves blowing those! So I quickly snagged her picture!!! Love it!

I seriously could squeeze her!!!

Love her!!!

Fun at the park!

After dinner and decorating our pumpkins, iris wanted to "swing"!!!

Our finished masterpieces!!!

Making silly pumpkins

Decorating our pumpkins!

Afternoon fun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjdKLpssx40

Iris and I are enjoying a relaxing afternoon at home! I was not called in on my "on-call" so we are enjoying some play time!!!

I love how she starts singing at the end!!

Such a toddler!

Not sure why I love this picture so much! Maybe because she looks more like a toddler as she squeezes her way through the adults and children to see the penguins eat and swim!!

The afternoon ended with a carousel ride!!!

We can never get tired of the zoo! We try to see a different area each time we go and like this week, we went twice!!! =). Iris LOVES it and we enjoy walking leisurely since there is never a rush! What we miss, we can see tomorrow as our membership doesn't expire until the end of February!!!!

Never a disappointment as the gorillas are always out!!

This one freaked Iris out haha

An afternoon at the zoo!

After Iris's check-up with 2 shots =(. She had a nap and we headed to the zoo!!!

Reading while waiting for the doctor!!

18 month check-up!!!

Iris is officially half way to 2!!!!

Its crazy!

Today was her well toddler check-up and she passed with flying colors!

Her weight is 21lbs and 4oz! (Was 19.12 at her 15 month) Still 10th percentile but Dr. Brill was happy she was staying consistent and not dropping!

Her height is 2 ft 6in! (Was 2ft 4.5in at her 15 month) Still staying consistent on the 10 percentile as well =). Our little peanut!!!

Head...still in the 70th percentile haha. It's holding her big beautiful brains =)

Now the updates on her development!!

Clothes: she is still mostly in 12 month size and a few 9 month items but we have been buying 18 month items to last us all through fall and winter!! Some of her 12 month jeans are becoming too short. It's funny with jeans bc they only stay up with her cloth diapers =). She has such a narrow waist!! Still in size 3 disposables when we use one at bedtime!

She is in size 4.5 shoes an have been buying size 5 fall boots etc to last through the winter!!

Food: she is a little bit picky only because she still can't chew a whole lot =). She has 4 front teeth and 3 more are coming in but no molars!!! Soon they will be popping through!!

Her favorites are broccoli and cheese, yo baby organic yogurt, fruit and really anything with cheese!!! I still make about 75% of what she eats! She loves her "snacks!!!" She asks for them all day long and they are anything from baby goldfish, graham crackers, Cheerios, or lately we tried fig newtons! She loves those! We try to limit them but she will yell "snack" and if you say no, she says "pees". Cutest thing ever!!!

She has trouble with meat or things with a lot of texture so I still purée most of her food! What we have for dinner, I will pulse it a bit in the blender and it seems to help her!

I am still nursing her only in the morning and bedtime and the nights I work, she gets a 4-5oz bottle of organic whole milk with DHA. She still refuses to drink milk in a cup so until I completely wean her from nursing, we are continuing her use of a bottle at bedtime. She will drink water all day long in a cup and we give her apple juice 1-2 times a week!

Sleep: Iris is a great sleeper!!! Her bedtime is between 7:30 & 8pm and gets up by 7:45am!! Rarely does she wake up in the middle of the night!!! I nurse her and we rock her for a short time and then she's ready for us to lay her down! Sometimes if she's super sleepy, she refuses to rock! This makes momma sad!!

She naps from 10:30-12 or 12:30 daily and sometimes takes a nap around 3pm for about an hour!

Activities/likes: She is on the go!!! She loves to color, play with her blocks, play with her baby and kitty. She loves pushing her grocery cart all over the house. Outside, she loves the park and going to the zoo! She prefers to walk everywhere! She's miss independent!!! She has also started to love wearing my shoes/slippers and accessorizing her outfits with her play jewelry!! She also loves talking on the phone and doing FaceTime with me on nights I'm working!! I love being able to tell her good night and she gives me moochies!!! She also loves playing with Wesley and snuggling with him in his dog bed!!! We both love story time at the library! We recently started going to the toddler one and its so much fun! Oh an she loves Barney and Elmo!!!!

Dislikes: meat, not being able to walk around target or the grocery, boo boo's, being told no, having to leave when she's having fun!!

Words: on my she talks non stop!!! Everyone comments on her vocabulary and how talkative she is! I have no idea where she gets it from!!! =). At 15 months, I made a list of over 30 words but the list has probably doubled! She picks up new words daily. This week was "sorry" and "snake". She is a little parrot and repeats a lot but also uses it in her daily vocabulary!!! She is also saying 2 words together. She was saying "thank you baby" a lot haha. It was so cute!!

She also knows the sounds that a cow, duck, cat, lion/tiger/bear make. She can point and say "eye, ear, nose, mouth, hear/head". And knows "bee bo" for belly button and loves to poker her finger/hand in it!!

Personality: she is a joy to be around!!! She is so excited and happy most of the time but she surely throws her temper tantrums and will throw herself down and kick! Hello terrible 2's!!! =). We just walk away and don't react and she will get up and continue playing!

Oh Iris Grace, you are my sunshine!!!! You make every day so special and I am thankful for every minute we have together!!! You make your daddy and I laugh constantly!!! We love teaching you an watching you grow into such a sweet girl!!! There is no doubt that we love you with all our hearts!!

We love you!!!!

iPhone app for blogging??

Anyone recommend a good iPhone app to blog from???

~Ashlie
Enjoy the day!!!