Isaac Eats with a Fork & Spoon

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

Woes of a Working Mom

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

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

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

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

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?!