Isabella, the Chef

My littlest munchkin, Isabella, has a birthday coming up this week. She will be turning a grand two years old on the 14th of August, and boy, has she definitely been growing by leaps and bounds. Sometimes she completely surprises me with the things she says - although I will be glad when the word "no" stops being one of her favorites, LOL. Well, it looks like Isaiah will now be going out of town (to Australia - what a hardship! wink, wink) and will miss her big day, so we went out and got one of her birthday gifts in advance. Check it out:

Isabella absolutely loves puttering around my kitchen and trying to "help" me when I am cooking and baking. So now, she has her own kitchen to whip up whatever she wants, however she wants. I would have LOVED one of these things when I was little - the phone rings and speaks, the burner turns red and bubbles, the overhead light turns on and off...need I go on? Very, very cool! As soon as it was set up, Isa headed straight for it and began playing with the little dishes and utensils:

Many thanks to Isa's Abuela and Papa for helping give our girl her dream kitchen. Grandparents are so awesome!

On another happy note, my cousin Beth - who inspired me to start blogging in the first place - was blessed with the arrival of a handsome and healthy baby boy named Caedon on July 31st. If you get a chance, swing on over to her blog, See Bess Run, and send her some congratulations! We all know that pregnancy and labor is no joke, so I am sure that this delivery was both a blessing and relief for her. I bet she will be lacing on her running shoes again in no time : )