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!!!