Boards are done!

With grandpa Stapelton playing in the water

The kids take over!

Bath time! More fun with two babies!

Isla was in heaven with all the toys!

Now I have to see if I passed! I get the results Sept. 10th. We did take a trip to Chicago the week before the test for a review course. It was perfect because Auntie and Uncle Megan and Joe lived not far from the conference center. So Mark and Isla stayed there while I stayed at the hotel (boo...) BUT at least in the evenings I could see them. Isla had a great time playing with her cousins Sean and Liam. They went to the zoo, the water park and played with all of their toys. We really had a great time. It was also fun to see John and Saori who are expecting their little boy in September. Another boy cousin! It is good for Isla because she is such a girlie girl. She needs a little boy influence.

Copycat Cleaner

graduation pictures

Here are some pics from graduation I haven't posted yet. I love the one with me, Amanda and Isla-belle.

stroller accident

This video was taken at the Lynch family reunion two weeks ago. Isla was walking with her stroller and took a little spill. All was fine after we picked her up and got her going again!

dancing

Here is Isla's version of "butt" dancing!!! So cute!!

Cousin Anna

Cousin Anna came to visit this weekend. Isla loves other kids but I haven't really seen her interact with a baby before. She liked Anna's shirt but didn't really get that she was another baby. It was so good to see Auntie Beth, cousin Christa and baby Anna!

Belt

Isla is so cute! She has started copying things that we do. For example this weekend my mom was cleaning with a rag and Isla picked it up and started wiping the floor and the wall and the door....now she is our little copy-cat cleaner. So this video is of her trying to copy daddy when he puts on his belt!

M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A

We are home!!!!!
After making up the two weeks I owed for maternity leave we were on our way. We did have a tearful goodbye with Amanda and it was very hard to leave her. Grandpa Paul came up on Thursday and helped us pack. Friday we got Mark and Isla on the plane and Dad and I were on the road with our U-Haul. It was fun to have a road trip with him and it was also a good chance for me to have closure on the last five years since my father is a talker and the analytic type (in a good way!) We took 2 1/2 days to get back. The second night we stayed outside of Chicago and the fire alarm in the hotel went off at 12:30 am! That wasn't fun. But back on the road Sunday morning to have a cheesy breakfast in Wisconsin! We pulled into Chaska mid-afternoon and were greeted by my mother, my daughter and my husband! What a nice welcoming party. Mark's parents came over too and we had an unpacking party that went into Monday! Thank you for everyone's help!
So as soon as we thought we could get settled we were off again to New Orleans for Mark to receive his FAGD (Fellowship in General Dentistry!) In order to receive this degree you have to complete a certain number of CE courses and take a test. I am so proud of him. It was a cap and gown ceremony and got a little long so Isla and I went in the back of the ballroom and played with all the kids. She loved it!
New Orleans was great but HOT! We went to the French Quarter everyday as our hotel was basically on the edge of it. We went to the French Market, the Garden District and Mardi Gras World! It was a great time and Isla was a trooper as she being dragged all around the country!
So back home last Sunday and now we are settled in for good! (Well, until this weekend when we leave to go to Mill Lacs Lake for Mark's family reunion...)
We love the new house that we are renting. It is on a quiet street and the backyard looks over the 15th hole of the Chaska Town Course. So Mark is golfing everyday and loving it! Still no practice for him to buy but we are looking!
It is so good to be with friends again. I had Sara over on Monday night, last night I went to my new partner Amy's house and tonight a Twins game with Annie! Tomorrow Natasha has planned a little graduation celebration for me and we are going to go boating on Lake Minnetonka! So much to do but my main goal this summer is to study for boards which is august 12th! Wish me luck!!
Isla is doing great but she is starting to realize her vocal chord potential. She can really scream and squeal!
So good to be HOME!!!
I'm going to post pics on my picasaweb.google.com/krab0009 site!

The walker

While we were in the airport coming home from New Orleans there was a little boy Isla's age walking. She loved watching him walk and she is getting so close! So she found that by pushing the stroller she could walk with assistance all over the airport. When we got home we thought we should buy her a toy walker so she could keep practicing and now she is even closer to walking on her own! This is a video of her walking with her new toy.

Isla walking!

She did and for real this time! For about a week she has been bobbling between the coffee table and the couch but today she really walked about 6 steps!! Probably by the time we get to Minnesota she'll be getting up and walking around all over the place!

5 more days until Mark and Isla are in Minnesota! 7 days for me!!!!!