Isabelle Turns 3

Our sweet, silly, spirited, and spunky baby girl turned THREE today. 

I don't know how that happened, but it did.

When Isabelle Lucille came into the world three years ago, we gave her a name that means "God's abundance" and "light." She has lived up to her name already! God has given us an abundance of joy and goodness through Isabelle and all the laughter, silliness, tender hearted embraces, kisses and cuddles and creative ideas she brings into our home. Her cheerful smile, eager energy and goofy giggles have been a light in the darkness of difficult times throughout her three years of life. Isabelle, you are such a gift! We are exceedingly grateful for your life. 

"My Favorite Things" was the most requested song for Isabelle's bedtime lullaby this past year - so here are a few of her favorite things...and a few of my (our) favorite things about her. 

Isabelle loves all things pink. Puppy is her most precious possession and goes everywhere with her and sleeps with her every night. She loves bananas and is always excited when I come home from the grocery store knowing that more bananas have arrived. Isabelle loves to read - she will look through book after book on her own, and would love to sit and read in your lap for hours. She loves the alphabet! At one point, she wanted the Alphabet sung every night before bed. Isabelle loves little things - legos, Shopkins (especially mini Shopkins), and big soft huggable stuffed animals. One of her favorite sayings is, "It's sooooooo cuuuuuuuuteee!" Her favorite pastimes outside are swinging in the hammock, playing in the water table, zooming around on her green scooter, and jumping on the trampoline. 

Isabelle LOVES Paw Patrol. I never imagined after Isaiah went through his Paw Patrol phase that we would go through it again AND have another Paw Patrol Party. But, here we are! Isabelle plays with her pups every day, building them houses with magnatiles and bringing them into her imaginary world - or entering into their adventures at Adventure Bay. She watches Paw Patrol whenever I give her a chance. For the first part of this year, Isabelle identified her colors by the correlating pup (Green = Rocky, Pink = Sky) and would shout out their names every time she saw something that matched their color. She can sing every word of the theme song better than her parents. So, to celebrate our little pup lover we threw a sweet Paw Patrol "paw-ty" that lasted all day with fun balloons, all her favorite foods, Paw Patrol hide-and-seek, a Pup Pup Boogie dance, and a little Paw Patrol marathon with puppy chow. The kids all helped make and decorate dog bone sugar cookies and we enjoyed them along with yummy cupcakes outside with the Aunties and Didi. 

Everything is full hilt for Isabelle. Go big, or go home. Every emotion is to the most extreme, everything needs to be in its order and place. Her facial expressions are hilarious and she has the funniest sayings with great inflection. Isabelle has many habits and routines that need to be just right or she makes sure we all know about it. She is a girl who knows what she wants exactly how she wants it. At night, Isabelle often wants 10 kisses - exactly. And counts them. And if I just happen to give one too many, she exclaims, "NOT ELEVEN!!!"

She is also the sweetest, most empathetic little child. If someone is crying - anyone, even a random child -Isabelle will start crying too. She can be so helpful and thoughtful. In the mornings (on good wake up days) she will come to my bedside and say, "Good morning, Mommy. Here, take my hand," and then help me up out of bed...so that I can get her some yogurt - another Isabelle favorite!

Isabelle is entering her 3's with all the independent will one could imagine for a toddler who is ready to take on the world. "I do it myself!" might be her favorite phrase. Ha! From putting on her clothes to going potty, to stirring and cutting (yikes), to turning on and off all the lights, to opening and closing all the doors, buckling and unbuckling, to carrying big baskets of toys all over the house - she does it all in her own way! She also is self-entertained most of the time and likes it that way. I will often ask her if she wants to join us with an activity, and she will say, "No. I want play," and go off in her room or elsewhere happily content with her many "friends." 

I love her expressive side-eye roll and cheesy grin. I cherish the sweet kisses when she wants to give them, and the cuddles when she gently lays her head on my arm or crawls over into my lap. Her precious little voice saying all sorts of big words and full sentences is just adorable. I love watching her play away with toys or stuffed animals, fully dramatized with different voices, sound effects and an exciting storyline. I enjoy watching her make art and deciding to draw very definite things - like a whale. Or a bird. I love how she observes everything, surprising us with what she understands of our conversations, and we always get a kick out of it when she wants to join in the conversation and tells her own story. Over and over. 

I love her big squeezes. She gives the BEST hugs. I love the feel of her soft lips on my cheek. I love that when she sees me baking in the kitchen, she grabs the step stool so she can help (and taste). I treasure the times when she would wake up early and grab some books to come read on my bed while I read my bible. I love her sweet singing voice and the songs she likes to make up. I love watching her pitter-patter run and speed by recklessly on her scooter. She is full of adventure and lives each day to the fullest. 

Isabelle, there is never a dull moment with you around. Thanks for bringing so much joy, laughter and adventure to our family! We love you, Isabelle Lucille!

Happy 3rd Birthday, sweetheart!