being a big sis

As we have already told you, Isabelle is becoming a great big sister. She loves holding Luke & has become more adamant about it in the last few days. She also loves covering him up with blankets, rubbing his belly & saying "Shhhh!" when he is crying & helping him out with his pacifier. Luke doesn't realize yet how lucky he is to have a big sis like Isabelle Ruth Phillips!

making friends & pizza

We are so blessed to have such great friends in Bowling Green who love us & our kids. One of those friends in particular is Mary Beth Carlisle. She & her 2 girls, Annye & Maddie, came over the other week to play with Isabelle, love on Luke & make us homemade pizzas! We had such a great time with them & Isabelle loved helping to make her own pizza! Thank you Carlisle girls for loving on our kids & creating such a fun day for all of us!

Maddie reading with Isabelle

Annye loving on little Luke

The girls in their aprons getting ready to make the pizzas

Little chef hard at work

She is all serious about her pizza dough

Sprinkling cheese on her pizza

Looks like it needs just a little bit more cheese

Giving it a taste ... yumm!

Thanks again girls!! It was a fun day & the pizza was delicious!!

what happens at gaga & papa's ...

... stays at Gaga & Papa's!

Mark's parents (affectionately known as Gaga & Papa by their grandchildren) have been a super help to us since we arrived in Kentucky in January. Before Luke came along, they graciously took Isabelle for a night each week so that Mark & I could have a few date nights & mornings to sleep in. They have continued that tradition even now that Luke is here so that we can "sleep when the baby sleeps!" They've cooked us meals, bought us suppers & babysat for free! They've played with Isabelle or cuddled with Luke so that we could escape from the house from time to time.

We just wanted to take a moment to say, "Thank you!" to them. We know that Isabelle probably gets away with a few extra things when she stays with them (hence the title of this blog) but didn't we all get away with stuff with all of our grandparents? And we know the spoiling will continue in South Dakota when we are with GB & Bebe, too. And it really doesn't bother us because it's so worth it to have a morning each week to sleep in!

Thanks Gaga & Papa!! We love you!

the cousins come to town

My sister came to Bowling Green to help us out with Isabelle & Luke & make our transition into being parents to 2 kiddos a little easier. She was Cinderella to us all week ... cleaning, dishes, laundry (& lots of it), changing diapers, and the list goes on & on. She was also a great help with giving us advice & calming our fears about a certain procedure that was done to our son! This was all new territory for us but she's been through it with both of her sons & we were SO glad to have her around! I wish we had gotten more pictures of her with Luke & Isabelle and all we did that week but such is the case with the 2nd kid, right? We have no way to prove that we dragged him to Chick-Fil-A, Chuck E Cheese, & Moe's all by the time he was a week old!

This was the longest amount of time I've been able to spend with my sister since we went to Africa ... and maybe a couple of years before that. We couldn't have asked for a better week. Thank you BJ for all you did for us & for loving on our kiddos!! We love you!!

She dropped off her boys with their grandparents a few hours away but they were able to come to BG for a few days before they headed back to NC. Isabelle loved being able to play with her cousins. Here are a few pics (okay, a LOT of pics) from their adventures together ...

Isabelle loves to have people come play in her room with her. Her cousins were no exception, especially when there is a miniature air hockey table around.

The Belle is a girl after my own heart. She loves to help me clean. And she didn't mind lending a hand with Aunt BJ either.

On the ONLY nice day they were here (which happened to be their last day), we took the kids to the park to feed the ducks & play for a little while.

Isabelle loves to slide but she's not quite a pro at it yet. She hasn't seemed to figure out how to stay in a seated position while she goes down the slide.

Her cousin Emory, on the other hand, is a slide pro!

We love Aunt BJ!!!

Isn't that just cute?!

After the trip to the park & a meal at McD's, my sister picked up cookies for my birthday. Isabelle was very happy to still be awake for this!

And this was our attempt to get one good picture of all the cousins together. I guess after a long day out & about and a good dose of sugar, we shouldn't have expected anything better than this shot right here!

a little cuteness

Just a few more pictures of Luke's first days ...

home from the hospital

We arrived home with Luke on February 26. His Gaga & Papa & big sister were all waiting for him. His aunt BJ came in from NC later that evening to welcome him home, too!