Halloween Fun

Here are some pictures from two Halloween activities. We went to a corn maze yesterday with a few of the couples from our home fellowship. Here are some pictures of that.

Virginia and Isaac and I also went to a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin or two for the carving. Isaac got a special treat from the lady at the pumpkin patch, his very first sucker. He liked it with the paper on, but he REALLY liked it with the paper off.

He Crawls

What an amazing experience it is to witness the advancements our tiny little man is making every day. When we brought him home from the hospital he could do little more than sleep and stare at you. If we were really lucky we'd go through the excitement that came he'd get his eyes crossed and we'd wait anxiously while holding our breath, praying that his eyes wouldn't get stuck that way.

Now he is, as it seems, a real person with his own personality, and what a personality it is! While he is incredibly happy on the whole, he also knows exactly what he wants and will accept nothing less. As I always say about him "He wants what he wants when he wants it." I've learned the hard way that Isaac does not want to be fed. He wants to feed himself. I've been worrying myself sick about whether or not he would ever eat well. He seemed to be so picky and wouldn't eat anything unless it was mixed it with a heavy dash of sweet potatoes. It turns out he really is picky, but not about what he eats, just how. Thanks to his two tiny teeth he has been chowing down on cheerios, crackers, noodles, rice, french fries, chicken, and his new favorite, beef.
See Isaac enjoying his Mommy's beef stew (listen carefully and you may even hear his Daddy complaining about the very same stew).



Last Monday Isaac crawled for his first significant distance. For whatever reason, he was really interested in the glass that I had been drinking out of. Whatever works! Now, a mere week later he's all over the place. I was crawling behind him tonight threatening to get him and he thought that was the most hilarious thing in the world. Have I ever mentioned how great it is to finally find someone who thinks I'm as funny as I've always known I am?!

Still More New Things

During the last two weeks my sweet, smiling, happy regardless of any situation son has turned into a pitiful, crying, whining, waking up in the middle of the night to eat little being. Some time between 3 a.m. and 9 a.m. Saturday morning his first tooth finally broke through. I know this because at 3 a.m. I was up rubbing orajel on his gums and there was no tooth. When I went to rub more on at 9, he had a tooth! Since that first tooth came through he has been waking up less but is still inconsolably crying each morning by 4. The only thing I can do to soothe him is to feed him. He hasn't eaten in the middle of the night since he was 10 weeks old. It breaks my heart that he is in so much pain. Yet, there is a light at the end of the tunnel as I can see another tooth right right at his gum line. Albeit, I can see yet another tunnel right ahead but at least we'll all get a few days of relief before it starts all over again.
Isaac keeps getting closer and closer to crawling. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks and had recently learned how to sit up from lying on his stomach. But his most recent and exciting accomplishment can be seen in the video below: Enjoy!

More New Things

Isaac has begun to get into the eating process and has started eating Cheerios as well as learning to use the spoon by himself. Here is a video of than endeavor.



In addition, we've also tried the classic trick of getting a donkey to move by dangling a carrot on a stick in front of him. Instead of donkeys and carrots, we use Isaac and bottles. Cruel, but it's working.

Isaac Scoots Backwards

It's been a while since we updated last, but Isaac is doing a lot of new things. First, he scoots backwards now! Second, he is saying mama and dada. He doesn't know what he is saying and won't repeat it back but I have heard him say both by themselves. Joe will tell you that he doesn't say it but other people have heard it too.

I really just wanted to post to show off some videos. The first was taken last Friday and is of Isaac scooting- don't laugh at me; I was just really excited. The second was taken in July and is of Isaac doing his then favorite thing- jumping in his jumper.

Finally An Update

It's been a while since I've written and lots of things have happened. Isaac is completely on formula and some baby food now. He's been doing really well with that and it's been easier on me than I had imagined it would be. On August 18 Joe started back to work and Isaac went back to Building Blocks. They both seemed to transition easily but I think Joe was a little more reluctant to start back than Isaac was. Benson Middle had its open house the next Monday night and Isaac and I went to hang out with Joe during that. The students started back four days later. The past two Fridays Joe has been covering high school football games for the Smithfield Herald. I saw an advertisement for freelance writers and Joe submitted some of his work. The editor wrote him back right away. Joe seems to be really excited about this, especially because it gets him a press pass. His first article can be read here.

Isaac came down with a stomach virus a week ago yesterday. By Monday he was pooping every hour and he had a wicked diaper rash. He was crying when he went and as I was changing his diaper. It was pitiful. I stayed home with him most of the week and worked from home before sending him back to daycare on Thursday. He's still not 100% but he's definitely better and his bottom has healed which is a plus.

During this week he started doing some new things. I found him asleep on his stomach twice. I always suspected that he could roll over to his tummy but just didn't want to. For a long while now he's been able to turn himself around while on his stomach but I always thought it was on accident until the other day. He was laying on the floor and saw our cat and whipped himself around 90 degrees to reach him. It was really impressive - I'm not sure I can even do it that quickly. He's started pulling himself up pretty well. He doesn't have a good grip but if you hold onto his hands he can do it. In fact, that's all he wants to do. If you try to sit him up he stiffens his legs so you have to let him stand. He's so proud of himself, too. There's a picture of him standing up in his pack 'N play in the photo album. I really believe he's going to walk before he crawls. My mother-in-law said that Joe walked first, so it looks like Isaac is going to follow in his footsteps. I just can't believe how far he's come in such a short time. My baby isn't going to be a baby for much longer. He's already in some 12 month clothes - I had to bust them out yesterday because it was too cool for his summer stuff.

We'll try to do a better job of updating and especially of posting pictures. Until then!

Is it Really Almost Over?

It's hard to believe that next Thursday I have to go back to work. This summer seems to have gone so fast. I have to admit that when it started, I was very nervous about the idea that I would be the primary caregiver for Isaac each day. It's been an easy ride though. I've begun to understand how to take care of him and what he needs when he is crying. I'm by no means an expert, but the time I've had to spend with him each day has been great. Being home all summer with him really does make you want to find a way to work from home. I'm continuing to work on my websites to try to build them enough to where I could make that my full time job. It's not there yet, but I see potential.

Since our last update, a few things have happened. We had Isaac's six month pictures taken and they turned out very well. It's funny when we get pictures taken because all the other babies are screaming and he's in and out in like 10 minutes. He smiles and we're done. I'm not sure if we will be able to post the pictures on the flickr account, but I'll ask Virginia on that one. As far as new tricks, there isn't much to report. He has started to eat food from a spoon. Virginia feeds him a little each night, mostly sweat potatoes or cereal. He seems to do OK with it. He's still not even trying to crawl, but he can turn over OK. He's not perfect, but he's getting there.

In other news, Virginia and I got Netflix a couple weeks ago and LOVE it. I love the fact that I don't have to drive to Blockbuster and pay $4.50 for a movie. They deliver it to me and it's cheaper. You can't beat that. So, we've watched movies a lot lately. Virginia hated the movie we watched last night, but I really liked it. It was Five People You Meet in Heaven. It stars Jon Voight. I thought it was very good. It didn't have any action, but it had great dialogue and was very good. I highly recommend it. That's about all for now.

Life on the Run

Things have been so crazy for us lately. As Joe told you, he started Daddy Daycare a few weeks ago. Isaac seems to be doing fantastic with it. He's falling asleep on his own during the day, which he never did before. I had my own way of putting Isaac to sleep and it never worked for Joe. I'd get frustrated and worry "how is he going to manage when he has to keep him on his own," but sure enough, Joe figured out his own method and it's better than mine, and less work for that matter, too. When I come home we fix dinner, eat, and relax on the couch. I play with Isaac as much as he is awake during that time. He is just doing so much sleeping right now that the time I have with him when I'm home is so precious. He is such a funny kid. He gets excited when he sees me or Joe come into the room, and when he's not playing with his toes or eating his toys he's making all sorts of noise. Just today when I came home from work he was playing in his jumper and just laughing for no apparent reason. He is such a joy.

We had a lot of fun in DC this weekend. We left the house at 4:45 Saturday morning and drove straight to Mt. Vernon. We toured the estate and the mansion. I thought it was really cool but I don't think it was Joe's forte. I had lots of pictures but you won't believe how simple it is to accidentally erase your entire memory card on a digital camera. I did a quick run-through as Joe and Isaac waited patiently. Then we drove into Arlington where we stayed, dropped off the car and took the metro downtown. There we saw the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument (from afar). By then it was time to head back to the hotel. At night we went to a Nationals v. Devil Rays game and while we were in line to buy tickets these people came up to us and offered us free tickets. Come to find out they were season ticket seats 8 rows up from the plate and the best part was that they were VIP so we got into the VIP lounge where there was a free buffet of really great food like fresh tuna, shrimp, lasagna, and every dessert you can imagine. Joe will have to tell you about the game, he was far more excited about it than I was.

On Sunday we drove to the National Mall and parked in front of the Capital building. We went in the Air and Space Museum (only for about 10 minutes since it wasn't on the itinerary for the day...Joe's like the schedule nazi...don't get me started), then we went to the Natural History Museum, and the American History Museum where they had a replica of certain parts of the White House, so the picture of me in front of the oval office isn't actually the oval office, but hey, who's keeping track! That really took all day. I had wanted to see the White House and the Holocaust Museum but we were exhausted and just left to go home. I'll tell you, it was awesome to be in our capital on the 4th of July weekend but it was a zoo! We'll have to go back again soon.

Check out the photo album for pictures of the weekend.

Daddy Day Care

Well, it's been a little over a week since I have officially taken over as the day care for Isaac. At first, I was very nervous about the whole idea. I am nervous around babies, although I am getting a lot more comfortable around Isaac, so the thought of being the only one to take care of him all day was a little scary. However, I have to say that it's really not hard at all. We've got a routine now that basically works every day. At around 9 or so he gets a bottle, which he can basically hold on his own now. He can't take it and bring it to his mouth yet, but if you get him there, he'll hold it right. Then, after the bottle, he plays in the jumper or on the floor with his toys for a little while until he gets sleepy. Usually he'll take a nap around 10 until around 11. Then, it's play time and lunch at 12. Basically, the routine is play, bottle, play, nap, play, bottle. In between, we mix in a few diaper changes and before you know it, it's 5:30 and Virginia is home. During his nap times, I have had time to work on my website as well as do other things I enjoy, like reading. So far, it's been an easy summer

In other news, I have been thinking about moving into a banking career and I have an interview at a small new bank about 20 min from the house. We'll see how that goes. If nothing comes of it, i'm still happy to return to teaching. I would just like the opportunity to make some more money, and this job would give me that chance. We'll see. Virginia and I will be heading to Washington DC for Saturday and Sunday so we'll have some pictures posted on Monday. That's about all for now. In the meantime, check out the photo album for some pictures of Jeff and Tonya's visit this summer.

Almost There

Memorial day has come and gone. I actually had to work, which is the first time in my life that has ever happened. It was a teacher work day, so it wasn't too bad. I spent the day grading research papers and listening to music in my classroom. I can't wait until this year is finished. I'm very ready for summer to arrive. It is nice to not have to worry about work for a little while. This summer, I am planning on keeping Isaac and relaxing. After I finished work, we went to my friend Chris's house for a cookout and evening of playing games. It was a good time.

Isaac has been doing well. We were at a friends house on Sunday and he was laying on a blanket on the floor. He was very close to completely turning over to his stomach from his back. He's getting very close so it should be any day now. The older he gets, the more he is developing a personality. Thank goodness it's a good one. We've been very blessed to have such a good baby. He is always so happy. He smiles and even laughs now.

Isaac Update

It's been awhile since we last updated. You know, I always think about how we need to just update each Saturday about what happened that week, but then I get so busy or tired and end up not updating. So, my plan is for that to change. Will it happen? Who knows!!! With that being said, I'll take this time to update on what has been going on in our lives.

For me, the school year is reaching the end. It's been a long year and I am glad we're at the end. I can really use the break for the summer. The plan is to relax, hang out with Isaac, and watch the pathetic Cubs play baseball. I am not sure why I'm still doing the last one, but maybe one day they'll be good. We have about ten days until the end of the year, and it couldn't come fast enough. The one good thing is that over the last six or so days, we are all teaching Mini Courses. Since the End of Grade Tests are finished, we're done teaching our main subjects. In order to keep students interested in school for the last two weeks, we have each come up with some class for the students to sign up for. My class is kickball. It should be the easiest six days of the entire year. Basically, I'll have a planning period in the beginning of the day and then have four classes of kickball. Nice huh?

Virginia has been back to work now for about two months and it seems to be going fine. In the beginning, it was hard because the daycare that he was at was making a lot of stupid mistakes. She got fed up with them and pulled him out when my parents were in town. We put him in a new daycare that has been much better. It's about $25 more a month, but it's been worth it because we haven't had any problems.

My parents came down to visit for a long weekend a few weeks ago. We had a good time visiting. The trip here for them was bad, but it all worked out. Yesterday, Virginia talked with Tonya and she said that her and Jeff and the kids are going to be coming to visit in June, so that should be fun. They've never been down here so it should be a good time for them.

As far as Isaac's development is concerned, he does a lot of things now. He has almost got the hang of sitting up by himself. He can't quite get the balance thing down, but in another week or so, he should be good to go. He can sit up with help if he has something to keep him from falling over to one side. He also laughs now when you're playing with him. He doesn't do it all the time, but when he does, it's pretty funny. He smiles all the time, and has even begun sitting in his high chair at the dinner table while we eat. He's a good baby. We couldn't have asked for better.

That's about it for now. Like I said, I'll try to be consistent with updating, but I make no promises. Pictures will be coming as well.

Busy Weekend

So it's only Saturday evening but already it's been a busy weekend. Yesterday Isaac and I went to an Easter party at Bridget Ketron's house. She had food and an egg hunt for the kids in our home fellowship along with neighbors and children from her daughter's school. We went just to witness the chaos. Joe stayed home and stained the swing. It turned out really well.

Isaac stayed up from 8:30 until 1:00 so he slept nearly the entire rest of the day. We used that time to power wash the deck to prep it for staining. We rested for a while then at 7:00 we went out to start staining it. Things were going fast and looking really good so we finished the tops of the railings and the entire floor of the deck. Too bad it looks terrible. Maybe we just need another coat or it will come together once the whole thing is finished but at the moment neither Joe or I are happy with it. It's the exact same stain that we used on the swing but let's face it...the swing is nearly brand new and the deck is 8 years old. Oh well. Either way we're stuck with it. The dilema is whether or not to use that same stain on the front porch floor. It's just as old but it's been under a porch and looks nearly new, so it may or may not look as good as the swing- which, by the way, is on the front porch. I'll let you know what we decide.

Since Isaac slept all day yesterday it should come as no surprise that he was up all night long. He woke up every two hours, which he hasn't done since we brought him home the first night. I'm exhausted!

My mom and Amanda, a friend of ours, came over at 1:30. The Easter Bunny (Grandma) brought all sorts of goodies for Isaac. He got a big stuffed bunny, baseball glove, blowup baseball beach ball, a tee ball stand with the ball attached which he will actually be able to play with in a few months, a little ducky and a Blue's Clues bib. She had it all in metal bucket which she proceeded to prop Isaac up in to take his pictures. It was really cute, but he wasn't cooperating well. You can see the few that I got in the photo album along with pictures of the deck progress in the "our house" section.

So Many New Things

First of all, Isaac laughs out loud now. I haven't heard him do it in over a week but he did it the first time for his Granps. One week later he rolled over for the first time. He only rolls from his back to his side and vice versa but it's a start. You can see a video of him doing it for the second, third, fourth- and so on- times. It looks a little like I'm pushing him over but really I'm just trying to get him to stay on his back for long enough to get an obvious roll. You'll still get the point. He has also started genuinely reaching for things. When you lay him down, his legs come straight up and he grabs his feet. I put him in his exersaucer today and he enjoyed it for the first time. When he's gone in it before he has just cried, but today he played with the toys. You can see video of that too.
He's changing so quickly and doing so many different things that I can't keep up with him. It's a blast and I love it! Enjoy the videos and new pictures!!!

Oh How Time Flies

Well, we just finished the second week with me at work at Isaac in daycare. I, believe it or not, have not fallen to pieces, the world has not stopped turning, and Isaac continues to breathe, eat, sleep, and be a happy baby without me by his side. Aside from a few glitches which I dare not go into lest I'll be here all night, things have gone rather well. Isaac developed a mild rash on Monday and his daycare director asked me to have the doctor look at. She said it was likely a reaction from the antibiotic he had been on the week before for his infected ingrown toenail. Then when I picked him up on Tuesday they had just noticed that he had hives all over his neck and cheeks, so I took him to the pediatrician's urgent care. They again told me that it could be a number of things including leftover antibiotic in his system and gave me an antihistamine in case they seemed to make him itch. They went away on their own and haven't been back since.

I'm thrilled to report that Isaac is sleeping through the night as he has been since he was 10 1/2 weeks old- the weekend before I went back to work. Perfect timing- my little angel is too good to me. He's been sleeping a lot the past few days. Aside from waking up just enough to eat, he slept from 5:00 yesterday until 6:30 this morning. I feel like I can't spend any time with him. Even this evening he was awake for a little bit but wasn't his normal playful self. He just seemed like he was staying awake to humor me. I suppose he's just going through a growth spurt and needs his rest.

Well, I really don't have much else to report, but I wanted to at least make a post with the NEW pictures I added. They are all from the past two weeks. There are new pictures of the outside of the house as well in the house set. I finally go around to hanging planters on the porch so it looks like someone actually lives here. Enjoy the pictures!

Been Awhile

I guess, since it's been over a month, it is probably time to update everyone on our lives. We lead pretty boring lives, but I'll share the newsworthy information.

1) Isaac has officially started his time in day care. As of this morning, Virginia went back to work which means Isaac needs to go to daycare. Virginia said this morning that she is doing fine, but i'm sure it hurt a little to leave him. Be praying that she continues to do OK with leaving him each morning.

2) We now have Vonage. In case you have no clue what that is, it allows us to pay $24.95 per month and have unlimited local and long distance AND get rid of our telephone company. The way it works is, we have cable internet. Vonage sends us a phone adapter that connects right to the internet and gives us a dial tone. It's really pretty cool. So, now we'll be able to call people and not have to use a phone card anymore. I'm excited about that.

3) Isaac went to the doctor yesterday because he has an ingrown toe nail on his left big toe. The doctor gave him an antibiotic, which he doesn't like because it tastes bad. Virginia is going to take it to get it flavored today. Be praying that the toe nail heals and doesn't get infected.

4) Opening day for MLB begins today and I am psyched. I am working a half day today so I can head home and watch the Cubs game. I've been doing that for as long as I can remember. It's a tradition for me.

Update on Isaac

First things first, I finally uploaded new pictures for everyone to see.

Last week Isaac had been extremely fussy. He wasn't sleeping during the day and he wasn't eating very well either. Instead of sucking, he was doing more gnawing. Whenever we laid him down, he would wake up immediately screaming. On top of that, he was drooling a lot. Mom and I thought that he might be teething. I know it's early but it's not entirely impossible. Finally, on Thursday I went to the store to buy baby orajel only to find out that you can't give that to them until they're 4 months old, so I called the nurse help line. She told me that it sounded like an ear infection and that laying him down and sucking caused pain, so we set up an appointment for Friday morning. That night I let him sleep in his car seat and sat him up to nurse and he seemed to respond well to both. But when we got to the doctor on Friday he didn't have an ear infection, he wasn't teething and his testicles were very swollen and blue. The doctor told us at his 1 month check-up that he might have a hydroceil - basically just water around his testicles but to keep an eye out for any issues. Well, that was obviously an issue, so we were sent to the emergency room to have an ultrasound just to make sure he didn't have a hernia. As I was leaving, I kept saying "but what about the fact that he won't sleep." The doctor said that we would address that issue later but we had to get him checked out right away. The short of it, he doesn't have a hernia but they wanted us to see a urologist to have him look at it to see if we needed to do surgery to reverse the hydroceil. So, we made an appointment for Thursday the 9th.

Over the weekend, however, Isaac still wouldn't sleep well, he was constantly drooling, fussy all the time, eating more frequently and gurgling on something most of his waking hours. He doesn't spit up much, but when he does it's volumous. I'd discussed the possibility of acid reflux with his doctor when he was about a week old but she assured me that he didn't spit up enough to be concerned. But I started doing research and spit up isn't necessarily a symptom of reflux, but Isaac had every other symptom listed. I scheduled an appointment Monday afternoon with a different doctor and she said that "it is very obvious that Isaac has acid reflux." She put him on zantac and told us to wait about 3 days to start seeing an effect and to keep him sleeping in his car seat in his crib.

So, Thursday with the urologist. Basically I don't know why we bothered to go to the office. He told us the same thing that the emergency room did- he has a communicating hydroceil ( that means water travels in and out from his tummy) and that we would just keep an eye on it. If it hasn't healed itself by 6 months, they'll do surgery. The procedure would be very similar in nature to a vasectomy. It would be out-patient and supposedly non-invasive, but hopefully it won't come to that. In the mean time we have to keep watch for a hernia. If he were to develop one of those, they'd go ahead with the surgery.

Well, that's what is going on with Isaac. His medicine for his reflux doesn't appear to be working entirely. He's less fussy but still won't sleep flat on his back. Please be in prayer that it is at least preventing him from being in pain. Oh, and enjoy the new pictures of our beautiful boy.

Hospital Blues

Friday I was at school when the phone rang. Isaac had a appointment with the doctor to talk about the fact that he hadn't been sleeping very well. The doctor wanted to have him get an ultrasound on his testicles to see if that was part of the problem. Virginia wanted me to be there so I left school early to head up to Wake Med. Waiting in the children's emergency room always stinks because not only was Isaac cranky, but the time takes forever. In the end, everything was basically normal. Isaac has some sort of hydro seal on the testicles. I'm not really sure what happens from there, but I'm sure I can have Virginia update you on that soon. Be in prayer that everything works out OK.

Big Weekend

So Joe and I had our first date since Isaac has been born on Friday. In fact, it was our first date in quite a while. Leading up to the day he was born we both stayed very busy and tired. Not to mention the fact that I was miserably large and had no clothes that fit comfortably. Isaac stayed here at the house with my mom while Joe and I went to Bahama Breeze in Raleigh. It's this great Caribbean food restaurant. I had jerk salmon with a mango, apple chutney, Caribbean rice and plantains and Joe had jerk chicken with cinnamon mashed sweet potatoes and plantains. We both really enjoyed our meal and the time we got to spend together. We were only gone for a total of two hours but it was still nice and I was excited to get home to see my sweet baby boy. I don't think he even realized we were gone.

Saturday we had some friends over for dinner. The plan had been for everyone to bring the meat of their choosing, we would supply sides and Joe would grill everything, but unfortunately it rained most of the day so we went with plan B and picked up barbecue. It wasn't raining heavy by the time everyone got here but oh well. We invited two couples from our church and a girl Joe works with and her husband, and one of the couples from church had friends up for the weekend so they came too. It was definitely a full house but we really enjoyed it.

Sunday we went to church and Isaac and I sat in while Joe taught Sunday school. He wanted my honest opinion about whether his lesson was boring. I thought it was actually really interesting. I learned a lot that I didn't know. After that we stopped by my Dad's house to see him, his girlfriend (Sheila) and my brother. We stayed there about an hour and a half before coming home. Then we just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Yesterday I had my 6 week postpartum check-up at the doctor. No one thought to get a picture of Isaac and the doctor who delivered him so I meant to get a picture of the two of them yesterday but left home without the camera like a genius. Oh well. We were supposed to go to home fellowship yesterday but Joe wasn't feeling well and I was having trouble finding...support...let's just say that Isaac threw up all over me twice yesterday and the washer and dryer weren't fast enough to get everything clean. If you don't know what I'm talking about, that's okay. Well, I'm off to get something to eat, feed my son, and do some light cleaning before Joe gets home tonight. It never ends.

4 Weeks Already?

I can't believe Isaac will be four weeks old tomorrow. The time has gone by so quickly. It's amazing. People tell you that a baby changes everything, but I had no idea. I seriously can't imagine my life without him or remember what I ever did that was so important before him. Last night his umbilical cord finally fell off, he slept in his room for the first time and slept for 5 1/2 hours. I posted pictures of him during his first night in his room. He's getting so big so quickly. It's amazing to me how much he has changed just since last week. I swear he gets cuter every day!

His favorite things to do are ride in his swing, play on his mat and sit up while you kiss his cheeks and talk to him. He hates his tummy time and I hate making him do it, but it's supposed to help strengthen their arm and leg muscles. Personally, I think the child is strong enough at this point. If you're not careful he'll kick himself right off your lap.

The cats are doing very well with him. They're starting to want to lay by him- when he's not crying of course. He's still too small for me to rest easy with them too near him but I'm sure they'll be good buddies when he's bigger. I'll try to post more but our days are so routine that its hard to find something particular to write about. Enjoy the new pictures!

It's about time

Since I haven't updating in quite some time, I figured maybe it was time for a quick one. Things are going well. Isaac is doing great. Sometimes he gets a little fussy, but it's usually just because he is in need of a diaper change or he is sleepy. Rare is the time when we can't figure out what is wrong with him. He's been a great baby so far.

We haven't been taking too many pictures lately, which is something that I need to change. I just forget sometimes because he is always around and he's not really "new" anymore. He is changing all the time though. Virginia posted a few pictures from week 3 in the photo album, so check those out.

Back to School

Having a new baby is like having an unplanned vacation. It couldn't have come at a more perfect time either. Because we went to the hospital on a Wednesday morning and had to stay through Friday, I did not have to go to school on those days. Couple that with Martin Luther King holiday on Monday and you've got yourself a nice little mini vacation there. When it's over, though, you are thrown back to reality and go back to school with no plans to execute at all. That was the case for me this week. Luckily it was an odd week. We had testing this week. In our county, we have a pacing guide for Math and Reading and the students are tested each nine weeks on the material that was supposed to be covered in that time. This meant that it was less teaching for me, but more transition for the students during the school day. That is not a good thing. As a result, I broke up two fights during my lunch period. I've had to break up a good number of fights this year, including an all out brawl at a dance two days before Christmas break. In that one, I had to physically wrestle a kid to the ground and stay on top of him performing various WWF leg locks to restrain him. Let's just say I woke up sore the next day. Aside from the fights this week, the rest of the school day went fairly smooth all around.

In other news, Isaac had to go to the doctor yesterday, because he had been throwing up when he was done eating and Virginia was worried about it. She took him to the doctor and they said he may have a little acid reflux, but that he wasn't sick. So, that's good news. It's been a good week and a half. It's hard to believe that it's gone that quickly. We are already in the week 2 pictures, which are posted in the photo album. One cool thing I noticed was that when you click on a picture, it gives you the option of printing photos and picking them up at the local Target. The only requirement is that you have to be a flickr member. It's free and it's actually a cool thing to have because you can upload your own pictures for people. It's super easy. I highly recommend it. If nothing else, just sign up so you can print pictures and comment on ours. The rates are pretty cheap though and there is no minimum order for pictures, which is pretty cool, if you ask me.

In Love With Two Men

Well, I fell in love twice this week. The first time I fell in love was when I held Isaac for the first time. I knew I loved him while he was still in my tummy, but I never imagined how consumed I would be immediately after he arrived. The second time I fell in love was with my husband all over again. He stood and stared at Isaac for what seemed like forever after he was born just making sure he was OK. As many of you know, bringing home a new baby is a very emotional time, especially for mothers. Joe has been my rock. I thank God for him every day and don't know how I could make it without him. When I've been out of my head with anxiety and worry, he's taken my face in his hands and let me know that we're in this together. I am so proud of him.

We're all so happy to have Isaac here, but I don't think anyone is more happy about it than he is. He is such a good baby. With the exception of the first two nights home, where he woke up literally every 30 minutes, he hardly ever cries. He will cry when we change his diaper if it's too cold or if he is really hungry and I'm being slow getting to him but that's about it. We're rotten. When he does get fussy we scramble around like crazy people because we're just not used to it. It's decided - we're not having any more. No other baby could possibly be as good as him.

Isaac had his first visit to the doctor on Monday. You can see pictures in the week 1 picture set in the photo album. It was a standard newborn visit. He now weighs 8 lbs. 6 oz. The doctor seemed pleased with his weight and color. He has his two week check-up next Wednesday where he will hopefully be back up to his birth weight.

Before I sign out here to go spend time with my two favorite men, I want to take a moment to thank everyone who prayed for us during my pregnancy. We had a beautiful, healthy baby and a safe delivery. Joe and I couldn't have asked for more. I would ask that everyone continue to pray for me and Joe; that we would make wise decisions for Isaac and be Godly examples to him as he grows. God Bless You All.

It's a Boy

Isaac Joseph Aiello
Born: 1/11/06 @ 1:20pm EST
Weight: 8lb 14 oz.
Length: 21"

See the rest of the pictures in the Photo Album