Two Months

Isabella is two months old, and she has changed so much in the last month. She now weighs 11
pounds, 8 ounces and is 23 3/4 inches long. Our doctor says that she is still "tall" for her weight, so she takes after her daddy in that department.

Isabella is so much more vocal now. She loves talking to anyone who will talk back, and she sometimes talks to those who don't, such as her stuffed animals! She started laughing out loud around 8 weeks old.

She is also getting a lot more hair now. There has been lots of discussion on what color it is going to be. We think it looks quite red!

Isabella has been holding her head up well, especially when she is being carried upright. She likes to lay on her right side when she is playing on the floor. She seems as if she might roll from her back to her tummy before going the other way around. When she is on her tummy, she just stays there, and when she is on her back, she like to roll to her side. Funny girl!

Here are a few pictures from this last month and a couple of videos that I took today.

Isabella says hello to everyone!

Napping with Daddy

Enjoying the mobile over her swing.

Sweet baby.

My Easter outfit. The little shoes are actually attached to my tights!

Easter Sunday with Daddy & Mama

Easter Sunday with Gram & Papa

Easter Sunday with Grandma & Grandpa

We call this her "muppet" face.

Two month "photo shoot"

Two month "photo shoot"

Smiley girl!

Video for Daddy

Hello, Everyone!

One Month Old

Isabella is one month old today...and we can't believe it. How can this last month have been both the shortest and longest months of our lives? It has seemed short because we can't believe that Isabella is already a month old. But, it has been the longest month of our lives when it's 2 am and you have a very hungry baby!

Isabella is slowly getting into more of a routine. She is more alert and active for longer periods of time during the day, and she sleeps for longer periods of time at night most nights. She had a doctor's appointment this week, and she is now up to 8 pounds, 13 ounces and 22 inches! Quite a gain from 7 pounds, 2 ounces and 19 1/2 inches. Obviously she has been eating well!

Wesley & I are doing pretty well. We are slowly being able to get some sleep for longer periods of time. Wesley takes over in the evenings when he gets home so that I can get a late evening nap in before taking the night shift.

Isabella and I had a little photo shoot this week, and I got some really good shots. She also really smiled for the first time on Monday! I actually got a photo of her smiling...don't ask me how I did it! Total luck.

Enjoy the pictures!

Go Purdue! Isabella is glad that the Purdue Men's Basketball team won the Big Ten Championship. She is also looking forward to watching all of the NCAA tournament games. We think she will be a sports fan like her Mama and Grandmas.

Our sweet baby girl.

We almost have a smile...

There it is!

Still More Pictures

Okay, so Blogger is letting me post pictures again. Here are a few from over the last few weeks.

Resting with Mom in the hospital.

Isabella with Gram & Papa

Isabella with Grandma & Grandpa

Isabella's first visit to her new room!

Afternoon naptime.

More Pictures

Here are some more pictures of Isabella during her first week or so. We will post more soon. Blogger.com is not letting me post any more than this right now. Weird.

Isabella in her "I love my Daddy" outifit.

Isabella with Papa.

We think she looks like a Muppet when she sits like this. A cute Muppet, but still a Muppet!

A close-up of the Muppet pose. (Wesley really isn't hurting her when he holds her like this, even though I (Sara) think it looks brutal. This is one of the ways the nurses told us to burp her. We are leaving it to the professionals.)

Isabella Gale Shoop

(From Wesley)

Hello everyone. I wanted to let you all know that Isabella Gale Shoop came into the world at 3:58 AM, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009. She was 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 19.5" long. Mother and daughter are both doing well. Thank you all for all of your prayers. We are thrilled to finally meet her, and we are glad to be home and to begin this adventure together as a family!

Just Waiting

These last few weeks, we have been busy getting everything ready for our new arrival. We are now as ready as we can be at this point! We have a car seat, the nursery is ready, and our bags are packed for the hospital.

With only 3 weeks to go, we are really looking forward to our little girl actually being here!

Now we wait!

30 Weeks

Back in December, when our little one was 30 weeks in gestational age, we had another 3D ultrasound. It was so cool and so different from the one we had at 17 weeks. She was just so much bigger this time around!

Here is a sneak peak of our little girl.

Not as much room in there this time!

A 3D shot--don't her cheeks look all cute and chubby?

This one is our favorite, with her little hands in front of her face.

Baby Showers

Wondering what the Shoops have been up to besides waiting for Isabella to arrive? One thing is that we have enjoyed having two baby showers over the last couple of months.

The first one was held as a drop-in shower on Sunday afternoon, December 7, 2008. It was given by the grandparents-to-be, and included our friends from our church and community. It was so great to see some friends who we had not seen in a while. We also received so many cute things for our baby girl! Here are some pictures from the event.

Wesley, Sara, & Isabella

Wesley with our friends from church, Larry and Julie Cole, and Wesley's parents


Sara with our friends from West Side Community Church, Rick & Jeanne Butler. Rick was the pastor of WSCC, and he was the pastor who married us!

Yummy cookies and treats!

Wesley & Sara with our friends from church, Jamie & Jamie

A belly shot of Sara and Kristal!

Wesley and James, soon-to-be Dads!

Sara's Mom & Aunt Jane

Our church ABF (Sunday School class) also gave a shower for Sara, along with our good friend Kristal, who is due in March, on Saturday afternoon, January 10, 2009. The ladies from our Connection Group (small group Bible study) coordinated it, and everything was so wonderful! Here are some pictures from that shower.

Another belly shot with Sara & Kristal

The Connection Group ladies: Beth, Kristal, Sherry, Sara, & Deb

Sara with her gifts from the shower

We are so thankful for all of our friends who have given us showers and gifts for our soon-to-be- here little one!

Myrtle Beach

(Written by Sara:)

The first week in November, Wesley & I traveled to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for a bit of a vacation. My mom and her brother and sisters decided to rent a condo there for the whole month of November. My mom and one of her sisters are planning to stay there practically the whole month, and the rest of the family put in for their time where they could!

We had a great time walking on the beach, shopping at outlet malls, playing miniature golf, going to the Medieval Times dinner show (we highly recommend it!), and just relaxing. We also did a lot of eating! The pulled pork barbecue from Sticky Fingers and the hamburgers and sweet tea at Fuddruckers were our favorites.

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

The view of the beach from our condo.

This is where we played miniture golf the last day we were there--Hawaiian Rumble Golf. We paid a flat fee for an all-day pass, and we ended up going through the course five times throughout the day! If you look closely at the sign, it says it is the "#1 Most Famous Minigolf Course in the World." It also proclaims that it is the home of the Masters (there's a Masters of minigolf?) and approved by the USPMGA, which is the U.S. ProMiniGolf Association. (Don't believe me? Check it out...http://www.prominigolf.com/). Even though we thought it was a little redundant to be the "#1 Most Famous," it really was a great mini-golf course! Thus, we played through five times!

The volcano in the background would actually rumble and erupt fire every once in a while!

Here I am at the mini-golf course....and 25 weeks pregnant!