Tiny Food

Dear Mom

2008-11-13T21:06:00.003-05:00

Hospice of Wake County is really good about following up with family members after a loss. They have an entire bereavement team. The people I most want to talk to are the ones who were here for us during the process. I really grew to love our nurse and our social worker. I spent more time with the two of them than anyone else (not residing in our home). It's very difficult because I don't feel like I lost one person on the day my mother passed, but three. But as much as I long for them to be part of the bereavement team, I know their skills are better served helping the patient and coaching the caregivers through what is going to happen.

As part of mailing four, signifying the fourth month since I lost my mom, Hospice recommends writing a letter to the deceased to help me deal with my loss, specifically talking about certain things. So, here goes...

Dear Mom,

One of the fondest memories I have of you is the day I came in to your work to show you the ultrasound pictures of Isaac. I had them on disk and you had Grace put it in the computer to print out the pictures. I was only 9 weeks pregnant, so he looked like nothing more than a crooked peanut, but those pictures hadn't even finished printing before you were uncontrollably crying tears of pure joy. Don't get me wrong...I was totally embarrassed, mostly for you, but also very proud to have given you something that would make you that happy. What you expressed was the same feeling I had that I didn't think anyone else was capable of feeling at the same time, and I felt closer to you at that moment than I ever had before.

I miss you. I miss being able to call you to talk about what's going on in my life. I miss being able to ask your opinion, even though most of the time I didn't listen to it anyway. I miss hearing your opinion even when I didn't ask for it. Mostly I miss seeing you interact with Isaac. You were a wonderful grandmother. You, like me, marveled in even his smallest accomplishments in a way that only a mother or grandmother can. You were a huge source of support and never skipped a beat when I asked for help - with anything. You were willing to take care of him when he was sick, well, happy or screaming his head off without the slightest complaint because you were just happy to be around him. It made me proud...of him and of you.

I wish I had taken you to the beach, and fishing one last time. Those were the only two things you repeatedly said that you wanted to do. But I just couldn't figure out the logistics and I thought it would be too much hassle. It would have been a lot of hassle, and exhausting for everyone involved, and you probably would have been ready to fall asleep within 20 minutes, but I should have done it anyway. That would have been a memory I have of you instead of a regret. I'm sorry.

The hardest thing I've had to deal with since you've passed has been knowing how I treated you. Yes, I took care of you. I made sure you had all of your medicines, kept you safe, and handled all of your affairs, but I stopped treating you like a person who was scared, sad, and in need of her daughter to reassure her that she was loved and would be missed.

Today marks four months from the day I watched you take your last breaths. Every day at some point, even for just a brief moment, I'm right there in that room with you, holding your hand and Trey's hand, wishing I would say something instead of just watching it happen. I should have told you I loved you one last time.

But I do. I do love you, and always will. I promise that I will never forget all of the wonderful things you did from me, promise to learn from your mistakes, and promise to always always make sure Isaac knows how much his grandma loved him.

See you some day. Miss you until then.

Love Always

Virginia

Once Upon a Time

2008-11-05T13:14:00.003-05:00

I always tell people how funny Isaac is. Really, you should spend some time around him and you'll fall instantly in love. Up until recently, though, anything he said or did that was funny was something he had heard someone else say or do. Last week while in the waiting room for my Dad to have surgery, he looked at me and began to tell me a story.

"Once upon a time there was a little boy 'flalling' down a hill," he says (Yes, falling is spelled incorrectly, but that's how he says it, so it makes the story even cuter.)I chuckled a little at stared at him in surprise then asked what happened next. "He got a boo-boo." Well, of course he did. "Then what happened, Isaac?" I ask. "Then his mommy kissed it." "Wow, what happened next, buddy?" "Then it make him all better." When I asked him what happened next, he proceeded to tell me the story all over again.

Then, yesterday we were playing in the living room and after I pinned him to the floor to steal his kisses from his cheeks, he got up, reached towards my lips, then brought his hand back to his cheek to retrieve the kisses I stole from him. TOO Funny.

FUN with FOOD

2008-11-01T07:41:00.010-04:00

5MinutesforMom.com is having another one of their fantastic photo contests, and this time I thought I'd get in on the action. The winner gets $500 for groceries.

This picture was taken last summer before my sweet little baby ever turned 2. Now, close to three years old, so many features of that cute baby face are no longer there. His cute gappy teeth and fat cheeks are a thing of the past. I'm thankful I have this precious photo to make sure I never forget.

Who Your Friends Are..and Aren't

2008-06-17T20:33:00.005-04:00

I'm not the most eloquent speaker or writer, consequently I rarely know how to word things so as not to offend people. Oddly enough, my sugarcoating abilities are worse in my writing than in conversation. Perhaps because in conversation I have to look people in the eyes and see their reaction, or listen to the offense or hurt in their voice, so I muster more compassion. I say this because I realize that what I'm about to write will likely make it obvious for some readers which category they fall into.

When I had my beautiful baby boy, Joe's and my life suddenly became no longer about us, but about this sweet, innocent child God had placed in our care. We saw a total outpouring of love and support from practically everyone we knew, not just for Joe and I, but, of course, for this new member of our family. People were coming by to visit, to give calls of support for no other reason than to let us know they were praying for us. I was, and still am, so incredibly grateful for everything that was done for us in those early weeks and months of our lives as new parents. At that time, I believed that I had discovered who our true friends were. The thing is, in times of great joy, everyone steps up their game and is excited to share in that joy.

Three months and eleven days ago, we were taken out of our own little world and placed inside the cancer cage. That Thursday night I sat by my mother's side in an emergency room, watching her go through agonizing pain and listening to doctors respond to every symptom we reported with, "Yes, that too would further lead us to believe that the masses found on the CAT scans are cancerous tumors." As I sat in shock, thinking this was all too surreal my husband tapped out a heartfelt post on this very blog giving a praise to God for an answered prayer, and also begging for the prayers of others for my mother and the battle she and we were going to be facing. For the next week, I commuted back and forth from the hospital and spent every waking minute at home on the phone talking to concerned friends and family who wanted updates on my mother's condition. Six days after the longest night of my life, we received the news that my mother had metastatic pancreatic cancer and there was nothing that could be done to cure her, and to top it off, her pain would become increasingly worse. The next day she came home to live with us.

When the fog started to dissipate, the shock wore off, and the world kept on spinning for everyone else but us, slowly but surely, I started to realize that my list of people who were true friends was way off. People I would have expected to demonstrate the same outpouring of love we received in our time of joy... some of them have come through, and others just never emerged from the mist. People I had limited contact with, and in many cases, no relationship with, came out of the woodwork and have been such an amazing source of strength. Others, some friends and some family haven't so much as called to ask how things are going or offer a word of encouragement. So many brothers and sisters in Christ rejoiced with us when mom accepted Christ as her savior. At the same time, nearly all have missed such an amazing opportunity to show Christ's love to a new Christian in an incredibly vulnerable, scary position. The hardest part has been realizing that people who I thought would be there to show their love to my mother, aren't.

I get it. It's not that anyone doesn't care. Perhaps in many cases it's because they care too much or, even more likely, just don't know what to say or how to act.

Finding out who your friends are or aren't can be saddening, but at the same time, what a joy it is to receive that hug or thoughtful note from someone you wouldn't have expected to reach out to you.

Help my sis-in-law win a Wii

2008-06-08T21:21:00.002-04:00

My five year old nephew took the picture below. Didn't he do a great job? Tonya entered it into an online contest themed "the kid in you".

Click Here to vote for "A Day in the Life of a Mama."

I Speak Muna Muna

2008-04-30T15:28:00.006-04:00

Isaac is developing quite the imagination. For weeks now he's been going around "picking" things off a table or the wall and saying "I eat grape." or "you want berry?". He'll come to you with his hand out, stick it in your face and demand that you eat the pancake he made especially for you.

Yesterday he stacked two blocks together and said "I eat ice cream." He got ready to take a "bite" out of it and stopped, said "uh oh. I say blessing." He then put it between his knees and said, "Dear God, thank you ice cream. Amen," and proceeded to pretend to eat his ice cream cone. I of course bowed my head with him when he prayed, but I thought I was going to wet myself it was so cute and funny.

As you all know, toddlers often times have their own language. I call Isaac's Isaneese. Several weeks ago he was laying in bed getting ready to go to sleep and he started chanting "muna muna muna muna." I asked him if he was speaking Isaneese, to which he replied, "No. I speak muna muna." What a character.

April Update

2008-04-20T18:20:00.003-04:00

I wanted to take some time to update everyone on where our life stood.

In case you didn't already know, I quit my job teaching and have since began working at a dental office owned by a guy in our church. His son in law is a friend of ours and is the head of business operations, so I was able to go through him for the job. I'm really enjoying the job and have learned a ton of information about the dental world.

A lot of people were surprised to hear that I quit teaching, but the fact is that it just doesn't pay the kind of money I feel like I'm worth. I hope that doesn't come across as arrogant, but when you go to school and have a bachelors degree and see managers at fast food restaurants making virtually the same salary it gets a bit frustrating. I was sad to leave the kids in the middle of the year, one girl even cried, but I will get a chance to tutor eight of them over the next five weeks (and get paid good money for it).

Virginia's mom, Melissa, is still living with us, and will continue to for the rest of her life. One answer to prayer about three weeks ago was that she prayed the prayer of salvation with Virginia one Saturday night. I think that was a burden off of Virginia and it seems to have changed her outlook on life. As for her health, things are not great. We have hospice nurses coming to the house a couple times a week and have put her house on the market. At this point we're just trying to get things organized and taken care of so that we're ready when the end does come. I have no idea how long she has left, but it's important to get it done quickly any way.

Please continue to pray for us and all the changes going on in our life. This is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to go through. For the most part, my life has been rather problem free in terms of major changes. This has been a learning experience for both of us.

Bad News

2008-03-08T16:38:00.004-05:00

Thursday afternoon, Virginia got the word that her mom, who had been experiencing back pain and things of that nature, was on her way to the hospital at the order of the doctor. She had blood clots in her lungs and was admitted to Rex Hospital. As things have unfolded, it's looking more and more as if she has cancer, though the origin of it has yet to be determined. Virginia spent most of the night with her on Thursday and then the entire day on Friday. Tonight, she's there again and spending the night with her. She's pretty overwhelmed and could use your prayer. I'll try to keep you updated as I can.

Winning the War

2008-02-23T09:06:00.002-05:00

It's not how many battles you win, it's who surrenders in the end. Right?

Isaac has always been a really good sleeper. With the exception of a few short periods where he screamed bloody murder before finally drifting off to sleep, he's always gone to sleep right away. Okay, so nap time has been a chore for quite some time, and sure, after the first week after moving to his "big boy bed," he started laying by the door and crying himself to sleep for over a month. But, for the past few months he's gone to bed without a fight. I read him a few books, we say our prayers, sing a a song or two, give hugs and kisses and we're done. But here's where things changed - Isaac learned to open doors. He's been able to open doors from the outside of a room for a while now, but now he's mastered opening a door from inside. He got that action down pat one day and on the next he started leaving his room.

For a few nights one of us would stay with him in his room until he fell asleep. It didn't take long and seemed pretty harmless. However, now that he can leave his room in the middle of the night, when he wakes up, why in the world should he stay in his room? By 1 in the morning, he's had a good nap, doesn't want to go back to bed and sitting with him in his room until he falls asleep becomes a two hour event.

So, I decided we were going to nip this thing in the bud before it got out of control. Last night I sent Joe off to Bible study, stayed home with Isaac and prepared myself for an hour or two of walking Isaac back to his bed.

He went to bed at 7:59. Between 7:59 and 8:35 he's left his room a 54 times - I'm feeling good; after all, he has to give up eventually. By 9:00, he left his bed a total of 85 times - I'm sure that he'll be in bed in no time. By 9:40 we're up to 139 times and I'm getting less patient. I keep remembering that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. I stopped counting at 10:05 -166 times of putting Isaac back to bed. At 10:15 I was ready to hurt my child, so for my sanity and his protection, I quit. I held the door shut and he kicked the door and cried himself to sleep, meanwhile I sat on the floor and cried my eyes out as well. This whole Supernanny/ Healthy Sleep Habits garbage of "no communicating or showing affection of any kind after bedtime" only works with a child who stays in bed for a little while and then gets up.

Who won that battle? I don't know - my count says we both lost.

Oh, by the way, he was up before 6 this morning.

Catching Up

2008-01-25T16:14:00.000-05:00

I took a couple of videos off of our camera right before Isaac's birthday. Here they are.

This is Isaac right after Christmas:

This was back in early December:

This was at the State Fair in September:

This was back in July:

Big Boy Bed

2007-10-13T19:12:00.000-04:00

Joe and I converted Isaac's bed to a toddler bed on Wednesday night. That morning he nearly threw himself out of his crib, so I figured it was time. He's done really well about staying in it. In fact, he hasn't gotten out of the bed once without permission. He is growing up so fast. Look how proud he is of himself!

Oh, I had to share this of my niece and nephews. It is the cutest thing!

And Ivory Makes 4

2007-09-20T19:12:00.000-04:00

That's right. I am now the proud aunt of 4, count them, 4 little blessings. My little niece was born Friday September 14. I just can't wait to see the little bundle. I have to again ask my brother-in-law's forgiveness for taking his father way in his time of, what was it Jeff? "child birthing and rejoicing." My father-in-law was with us that weekend to install new floors in our kitchen and dining room, which look beautiful, by the way. Thanks Nonno!

On another note, our home fellowships started back up at church on Monday. We are excited to be able to go this year. Last year we weren't able to because of Isaac's sleep schedule. Admittedly he got to sleep two hours late Monday night, but that's because the little guy refused to go to sleep in the car on the way home. We can be in the car for fifteen minutes with the sun shining right on him and he konks out, but give him a quiet, thirty minute car ride in the dark and he jabbers the whole way home. He kept saying "hi." "hi." trying to get our attention. It was too cute and all I could do not to laugh at him.

Isaac has recently discovered "Melmo". He realized how great his dance and sing Elmo was and got interested in anything with Elmo on it. Sue sent three DVDs when Joe came down over the weekend to do the floors. Isaac loves them. They come in handy when we're trying to get dinner ready. We just sit him in his booster, turn him towards the TV and he's good to go for twenty minutes. I swore I'd never be that mother - not that I wouldn't put my toddler in front of the TV; I had no disillusions about that - I just never thought I'd be encouraging Elmo, after all, he's so annoying! At any rate, I've become that mother and couldn't be happier about it.

Happy Birthday America

2007-07-03T19:11:00.000-04:00

Joe and Isaac have been busy with Daddy Day Care Part 2. Isaac appears to really be enjoying his time with Dad. When I come home in the afternoon he briefly acknowledges my presence then begins pointing to Joe chanting "Dada, Dada...." Yeah, I get it baby, you and Dad are buds. How 'bout a little love for mom?

The little guy is learning new words and new things every day. To his list of words he has added pear, chicken, shovel, nose, eye, bike, pee-pee and nite-nite and let's you know when he has a stinky diaper by waving his hand in front of his nose and saying "woo woo." It's very funny and I'm amazed and impressed by him every day. He has continued his reign of terror over our poor cats who are de-clawed, might I add. They, now realizing that he is far from fragile, have decided that enough is enough. Wrigley bit Isaac for the first and second time this weekend and Joe and I allowed it to happen. We've told him too many times to stop stepping on the kitties, stop pulling the kitties' tails, stop trying to ride the kitties, awww sweet boy petting the kitties - it's time he learns the hard way.

On a side note, please be in prayer for me. I have several ovarian cysts that pose no medical threat but are causing, sometimes severe, pain in my back and abdomen. The doctors are hoping they will resolve themselves, but in the mean time pray that the pain stays manageable with ibuprofen.

Tubular

2007-06-03T19:11:00.000-04:00

As many of you may know, Isaac had tubes put in on May 17. He had been dealing with multiple ear infections, and had been on antibiotics consistently since Christmas. The tubes will make Isaac far less likely to get ear infections because they allow fluid to drain out. Since then we have seen a big change in his vocabulary. Not only is he saying more words, he seems to understand us better. I decided to document his progress but unfortunately I had some technical difficulties and the middle of the video was cut out.

In addition, Isaac also says shoe (shu), Grandma (amma), kitty (izzy), yeah, no ( nu nu nu nu), and wow (wu). He also blows kisses and gives piranha kisses (imagine a big, sloppy, open-mouth, teeth-first kiss).

Oh, and just for kicks, here's a video of Isaac at ten months. This is back when he still looked like he wore a toupee.

Isaac Eats with a Fork & Spoon

2007-03-30T19:10:00.000-04:00

Yes it's true! My 14 1/2 month old son CAN indeed eat with utensils.

Woes of a Working Mom

2007-03-21T19:10:00.000-04:00

Monday during my lunch I ran into a man I work with who was there with his wife and daughter. She's been fortunate enough to be able to stay home with their little girl who is two months younger than Isaac. The two of them have been married for over 10 years and had been praying for Hannah for years and had nearly come to the conclusion that they would never have children. She was telling me about how she cried when Hannah turned a year old and how quickly the time has flown by. Everyone can relate to feeling like time passes too quickly but those with children have a heightened sense of this. She started talking about how she hates to go anywhere without Hannah because she changes so quickly and is doing so many new things that she's afraid she'll miss something. She really struck a cord in my heart and with my response of "I know, it just breaks my heart that I can't be with Isaac during the day," I broke into tears like a big baby. For the rest of the day I remained in the same state; if I so much as broke concentration of what I was working on, the water works started all over again.

Joe and I have been listening to the Money Matters PodCast pretty regularly. For those of you who aren't familiar with Money Matters, they're a Christian Ministry dedicated to teaching what God has to say about how we should handle money. One of the things I hear them repeat so often is a passage out of scripture that says the debtor is servant to the lender. How true this is. I look back now on all the student loans we took out based on the advise of University Financial Aid. Some we needed to be able to finance our education but others we took as cushion, to put into savings since we had very little and felt we really should have since we had no health insurance. They told us that some of the loans would be cleared since Joe was going to be a teacher and that it was cheap money to borrow. We were young, stupid kids. If we didn't have these loans, would I be able to be home with Isaac? Maybe; probably not. I don't know; my husband's a teacher and we all know they're underpaid.

All I know is that I was home today with Isaac because he became sick Tuesday afternoon and although he hasn't gotten sick at all today, he's slept most of the day. He could probably use an extra day of rest that he undoubtedly will not get enough of at daycare tomorrow but I'm forced to bring him in out of guilt about all of the work I have to get done and the people who are relying on me there. I guess I'll just say a little prayer and push on.

Toothy Grin

2007-02-24T19:09:00.000-05:00

During the past two weeks Isaac has had 4 teeth break through, that brings us to a grand total of 6 teeth. The poor child has been working away at his food (and believe me, he eats a lot of it) with only two teeth since October. He now has four, incredibly cute, gappy top teeth adding to his adorable smile.

As of February 13, Isaac has moved up to the toddler's room in school. He really seems to enjoy it. They have music and art time every day, go outside in from 9-10 when it's warm enough and again at 3 after they all get up from their 2 1/2 hour naps. It's very structrued and he is really thriving in that kind of an environment. The best part of it, however, is the nap time. That was my biggest complaint about the other classroom. No one slept at the same time so there was always someone awake for Isaac to play with therefore he just didn't sleep. The toddler room is so cute. They have a little table that sits about 12 inches off the floor with tiny little chairs they all sit in to eat breakfast, lunch and snack. They also have their own playground which has been Isaac's nemesis. One of the first days there he fell and hit his nose on the playground and he continues to reinjure it. My poor baby has had a scab or bloody nose in some shape or form every day since he first started. You can see it in most of the pictures we've added to the photo album.

Isaac's sweet curls, which we used to be able to brush down are now in full control. I've now resorted to mouse to keep him from looking like we just forget to brush his hair every morning. I really do love his curls but I feel bad that they always look in such disarray.

Lately I've become worried that Isaac is overconcerned about his weight. Every morning and I try to get ready for work Isaac steps up on the scale and down, up and down. I can't tell if he's just trying to make sure the scale tells him the same thing each time or if he's trying to exercise his gluts. Either way it's very amusing, to him at least.

Well, until next time!

Time to Quit Being Lazy

2007-02-17T19:09:00.000-05:00

It's really time that we quit being so terrible when it comes to updating this site. Life is just so busy these days that it's hard to find the time or the motivation to actually sit down and write. Since our last update, we have had a birthday party for Isaac. It went well. We had some people over to the house for cake and ice cream. Here are a couple pictures of Isaac opening presents if you haven't seen them in the photo album yet. Click on the photos to make them larger.

Last night Virginia and I went to Olive Garden for Valentine's Day. It was the first time I had been there since about three years ago. It was good. My main course was not as good as I had hoped, but the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake for desert more than made up for it. What was frustrating for us was the fact that the waiter seemed to rush us. We had ordered an appetizer to start with. He brought out our salad and breadsticks to start. Before we had even finished the salad, our appetizer was on the table. Then, not 5 minutes later, in the middle of us eating our calamari and mushrooms, our main dish came out. We had a huge amount of food on the table, which was a little frustrating.

That's about it for now. I know Virginia took some pictures last night, so be looking for those soon.

Oh Isaac, You Make My Life Sunshine and Bubbles

2007-01-11T19:07:00.000-05:00

It seems like only yesterday I was complaining about how slowly every day was passing. Every day past the day Isaac was due seemed like an eternity. Every hour meant my legs grew that much more tired and my ankles that much more swollen. Fast track one year later and I don't know where the time has gone. This past year Isaac has learned to sit, roll, feed himself, pull up, crawl, and walk. He has two teeth - yes, just two - and a row full of teeth pressing on his poor little gums just waiting to all pop through at the same time. He has a mound full of unruly curls sitting on top of his head and the happiest eyes and brightest smile I have ever seen in my entire life.

I can't believe how much our lives has changed since he made his arrival into our lives. Our world, which used to revolve around sports and social schedules, now revolves around nap and bed times and ...sports schedules...but that's another post. We find ourselves being entertained by the silliest things; the funny faces he makes when he tries a new food he really likes, or better yet, one he really dislikes, watching him crawl back and forth under the coffee table 16 times like it's his own private passage way, or the way he bursts out laughing and scurries off when you chase him. He is such a joy and a light and I couldn't think of a more rewarding, challenging, and humbling job than being his parent. Happy Birthday, my Tiny Man.

Halloween Fun

2006-10-29T19:04:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-23T19:03:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-10T19:03:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-05T19:02:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-22T19:00:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-02T18:59:00.000-04:00

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?

2006-08-08T18:58:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-05T18:52:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-29T18:50:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-05T18:49:00.000-04:00

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

2006-05-26T18:48:00.000-04:00

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

2006-05-14T18:47:00.000-04:00

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

2006-05-04T18:48:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-13T18:46:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-03T18:45:00.000-04:00

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

2006-03-10T18:37:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-06T18:37:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-21T18:35:00.000-05:00

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?

2006-02-07T18:34:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-03T18:33:00.000-05:00

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

2006-01-21T18:31:00.000-05:00

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

2006-01-17T18:29:00.000-05:00

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

2006-01-11T18:27:00.000-05:00

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