New videos...We'll start with the Christmas videos..

Katherine and Eliza got skillz yo!

18 month check up

Iris is 26 lbs 9 oz and in the 97th percentile for height. She is still going strong in the height department. She might be taller than both of us. I guess we'll find out when she turns two. Anybody have the equation for that? It is a mystery how that figure that stuff out.

Anywho, Iris is talking all the time. She repeats EVERYTHING you say. She tries to speak in full sentences and she will repeat that sentence the same way over and over hoping you might understand. She loves to read grown up books and Veranda Magazine. She has made a best friend at school. Her name is Lilly. Iris and Lilly were in the same class until it got too big and they were split up. Apparently, Iris asks for Lilly all the time so they let Iris go next door to play. :) Today Iris and Lilly were leaving early so they got to eat lunch together. Also, Iris has become very interested in the potty. She asks to go potty all the time, but she still hasn't quite figured it out. However, she loves to flush so we have to keep the bathroom door shut. Oh, she is an escape artist now. She is able to climb out of her pack-n-play and open most doors. I was getting ready one morning in our suite in the Dominican when she escaped. I heard, "hola, chiquita." It was our favorite cleaning lady, Deonesia, talking to Iris. Iris was in the hallway of the hotel at this time making a break for it. I had to run from the bedroom, through the living room, and out into the hallway in my underwear, no less, and grab her. Not to mention, I didn't have my contacts in so I could barely see. That was probably a good thing b/c I'm not sure I could have looked anyone in the eye that saw me in my underwear! So, needless to say, we must keep all doors locked now.

Well, I have a ton of videos and pictures to post since Christmas. It has been so hectic and I fell way behind in my blogging. Pictures and videos coming soon!

Iris having fun at Uncle Van's and Aunt Joans

Iris update

She has started putting 2 words together now. Yesterday, when she realized we were pulling into her school, she yelled, "YAY, SCHOOL!" She will say, "Help Please," while using her please sign language. I have GOT to get that on video. She has also learned how to boss Stogey around by saying, "No, Stodey!" She hasn't quite figured out the "G" sound yet. Her teacher was telling me yesterday how she was telling one of the boy's in Iris' class, "No, Jett, we don't do that," when Iris chimed in saying... "No, No! while shaking her pointer finger at him in a z formation all sassy like! Her teacher said she thought at any moment Iris was going to snap him out! Lol!

Turkey day with Daddy in the D.R.

THANKSGIVING

2009

Dominican Republic

Iris' new milestones

1. When asked by her daddy during a skype call if she had to go potty, she feverishly ran to the bathroom door. I put her on the potty and she went Poopy! For real, I know this was just luck and it may not happen again for a long while, but she was so proud! Of course, we were too. I didn't realize how funny it would be to see her on the potty and so focused. A 15 month old on the potty is pretty hysterical. Her little legs barely dangled over the seat. Now, when I ask her if she has to go potty, she runs the restroom, she sits on there for all of one sec, gets down, and looks in to see if there is anything left behind! It really cracks me up.

2. She has officially learned the word booby and knows exactly where they are located on her body. I'm afraid this might make for an awkward situation one day. Lol!

3. She can call Stogey by name and she loves to boss him around.

4. She is such a little helper. She loves to find minuscule pieces of paper on the floor just to throw them away.

5. She decided that dad was to be called Poppy and not Pops.

6. She is a little "Jetson" baby. She thinks anytime she is on the phone she should be able to see the person that she is speaking to. I mean really.

7. She has become quite the artist. She has impressed her teachers at school with her painting, crayon, and chalk abilities. I'm such a proud Momma when I look at her works of art.

8. She has learned how to use a spoon and fork. She seems very proud of herself while using the same.

9. She laughs when she passes gas.

10. She has learned how to fake cry, but cracks up when you call her out by fake crying back at her.

The Name Iris Rose...

I was just thinking about how difficult is was to come up with our baby girls name. I don't think I ever posted how we finally got there. The entire year before she was born we read baby name books, researched the internet, and asked around. It was the most difficult decision of our lives to date. I mean, what you name your child sticks with them for life! This was a heavy weight to carry. We had not even decided on her name as I was going into labor. We had written lists upon lists of options, but were never quite sure. I even dropped the main list of names that D.J. and I had been working on for so long behind our couch. I couldn't get my big ole' pregnant self to move our heavy couch to get it out. And I tried! I tried broom sticks and all kinds of things to get to that list with no luck. We had spent so much time working on that list throughout the baseball season that I finally said to heck with writing lists for the rest of my pregnancy. We really had no idea what our daughters name would be, but I always felt like it would come to us after we looked into her eyes for the first time. During labor, I'm pushing with all of my might with no idea what I'm about to experience as our baby enters the world. I promise you, as soon as she took her first breath, her name was laid upon my heart straight from heaven. That is exactly how it felt. I wasn't even thinking about that. It just appeared. I thought Iris Rose. It just popped in my head like that and I felt peace and pure joy. It was a very dreamlike experience. D.J. and I had talked about those two names, but had no idea that is what we would name her. We had trouble deciding if we could actually give her two flower names, but decided that it just fit her perfectly. It seems even more fitting when we found out that Iris was the Greek goddess that carried messages from heaven to earth. The same way her name came to me the day she entered our world.

The first day we arrived home from the hospital the movie "The Holiday" was on. I had never even noticed that Kate Winslet's character's name was Iris. When I heard it out loud on t.v. it was so surreal. My baby's name is Iris. :) Then, a couple of months later we moved to our home. The couch was finally moved and the list that I had created with D.J. so long ago was found. I couldn't believe what I saw when I looked at the list of names. The name Iris was at the very top! It was the first name listed! The odd thing is... is that the page was so full of names there were no more lines to fit the name Iris... sooo... I had written it at the very top of the page! All I could do was smile when I saw that. Life is so funny!