Merry Christmas!

Rainbows are festive, right?!

Happy Holidays! I'm happy to report that we had such a nice first Christmas with the kiddo! Regardless of the fact that Izaak had no idea what was going on, he seemingly had a wonderful time tearing into brightly colored paper and chewing/slobbering on the contents. We got to spend the weekend with Joe’s parents and grandfather in Myrtle Beach and everyone was thoroughly spoiled! Izaak really raked it in; he got tons of new clothes and toys including his own Sesame Street fold-out mini couch, Radio Flyer red wagon and tricycle, a train toy that teaches counting and the alphabet, a learning toy with a monkey that you can make dance using a joystick, a Glo-Worm, a big pillow-like stuffed Owl, Santa diapers and baby food, savings bonds, some ornaments for the tree, monkey dishware, much needed hooded towels and washcloths, a Nike jogging suit, many pairs of new, footed pajamas, a bunch of outfits from Carter’s, a really soft “lovey” with a frog’s head and satin underside, amongst other great gifts that I’m not remembering at the moment.

"Rip it open already, sheesh!"

My “big gift” from Joe: a jogging stroller that we found on Craigslist!! Granted, the thing is 10 years old and has had already had plenty of use, it works fine and was only 20 bucks! Though it isn’t the prettiest thing, it rides smoothly and does the job. Would I like one of those fancy $600 BOB strollers? Of course (duh)! Do I need one or could even fathom justifying us spending so much on a stroller? No way! I will however, be on the lookout for an upgrade, we can always put this one right back up on Craigslist!! Some of my other received gifts: cold hard cash, Amazon.com gift cards (hello, Star Wars Complete Bluray Saga!!), a set of automatic trash cans (they open when you wave your hand over the lid!) and some other stuff for the kitchen. I must be an adult now because I was genuinely excited about getting cutting boards, a new peppermill, a mortar and pestle, and the above mentioned garbage cans!!

"Is the bow on my head necessary?"

Even though I am short on “free time” these days, I tried to give personal gifts this year. We had family portraits taken by our friend at the beach earlier this month and I framed some 8x10’s. I also made some photo books for the grandparents using pictures taken since Izee was born. Joe and I acid-etched a glass beer mug for his grandfather. When we couldn’t come up with a decent personal gift, we resorted to the tried and true solution: gift cards!! All in all, we’ve had a wonderful year and can’t wait to see what the next year brings!

Xmas Card Idea from Shutterfly!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Happy Thanksgiving!

First off, I want to apologize. I’ve been terrible about keeping up with the blog! For about 8 hours a day, I’m in front of a computer at work so one of the last things I want to do upon arrival at the abode is to jump in front of the computer again. Plus, since I’m spending so much time at work, I want to spend my at-home time wisely; it’s baby-time after all!! I’ve been working 4 days a week and I will be transitioning back to a regular, full-time schedule starting December 12th. Besides that my paycheck will be nicer, making it easier to afford all the formula and diapers the little one rips through, I will accumulate time off more quickly and I won’t be packing 5 days worth of work into 4 days each week. We’ll just have to pack even more fun into the weekends and evenings!

Izaak is growing like a weed! He’s about 5½ months old now and I still believe that he’s the sweetest thing on the planet!! He rolls over from his back to his belly now and is building up muscles to crawl soon. He still hasn’t popped any teeth but if his water-works-drool-factory and chomping on my finger is any indication, we should have less gums showing in the near future. He’s been eating “real” food for over a month now and has gotten to enjoy sweet potatoes, peas, pears, green beans, bananas, squash, apples, and rice cereal. We even got him some turkey baby food for Thanksgiving (see picture, photo credit: Tim Eller) and he tried a little bit of mashed potatoes. He’s a good eater and is still taking 6oz bottles of formula, 5 times a day along with his cereal and fruit in the morning, vegetables for lunch, and fruit and veggies for dinner.

We got to spend Thanksgiving with Joe’s family again this year, at his sister’s in Charlotte. Joe and I were away from Izaak for the first time over the holiday weekend to go to our friends’ wedding in Pittsburgh. We drove up to Charlotte on Wednesday after work, had Turkey Day with Joe’s sister, brother-in-law, nephews, and Joe’s mom and dad. They graciously let me cook the turkey this year and luckily, it turned out pretty well! Joe and I flew out of the Charlotte airport early the next morning and Izaak stayed behind to play with his cousins, aunt, uncle, and grandparents. We had a fantastic weekend; the wedding was beautiful and it’s so much fun to see all of our favorite people! I always enjoy visiting Pittsburgh but I don’t think I’d want to live there - I enjoy a warm climate and proximity to beaches too much. We flew back to Charlotte on Monday; our connecting flight got a bit delayed so we didn’t end up leaving until way later than we wanted. The drive back to Charleston was miserable, Joe and I were running very low on sleep and we were driving through a torrential downpour the entire way home. Yuck! [Side note: Joe was doing the actual driving; I was sitting in the backseat, holding hands with my kiddo!] We did arrive in one piece and even managed to get to Izaak ready for daycare and us off to work the next morning.

The latest thing to report is that our youngling has turned into a chatterbox! He loves hearing his voice and had begun babbling like a madman. He says “abbuhba daduhdama bah!” and other choice phrases. I'll admit that he does say “da-da” but it isn’t directed at anyone or anything yet, so I don’t feel so bad… [me: “Izaak! Say “MA-MA!!” which is typically followed by delicious baby laughter and more instances of “da da dah”.] Eh, he’ll get there!!