First Tooth!

First tooth (it's there, I promise!!)

After months of drooling on and gumming everything he could get his little paws on, Izaak has finally gotten his first tooth! Earlier in the day, he had been patiently sitting in my lap and gnawing on the knotted string on my hoodie. I was happy that he had stopped squirming and pulling my hair for a couple minutes and there was no plastic part on it so I let him slobber away. A couple hours later, Joe was holding him and noticed that a tooth had broken through!

Joe and I were so excited and wanted to document this milestone with a picture. Izaak wasn’t sure why we were all pumped up and smiling like buffoons at him but he played along. “Izee! Let’s see your new tooth!! Open your mouth! But move your tongue… no, the tongue is in the way… there we go! Good jo- … eh, the tongue is in the way again”. I think we did end up getting a picture but some imagination may be necessary to really see the tooth ;)

Happy New Year!

What a cute bunch of Niedweckis and Ellers!

Happy New Year! I hope this posting finds everyone healthy and happy. Things are wonderful on this end and here’s what we’ve been up to lately:

We were able to meet up with and exchange Christmas gifts with Joe’s sister’s family this past weekend at Joe’s parents’ house in Myrtle Beach. New Year’s Eve was spent with Joe’s parents and their neighbors, Joe’s sister’s family, and Joe’s grandpa; a great time was had by all! Izaak was so excited that he stayed up for the celebration as well (we aren’t a quiet group, oops!) and though he seemed happy enough, I’m sure he was more than a little confused at the midnight hoopla. He’s not too keen on fireworks yet, something that we’ll have to work on given his father’s side job with Zambelli.

New Glo-Baby and awesome Izaak-couch
from Nana and Papa!!

What a year 2011 was! Perhaps it sounds cheesy, but bringing a new life into the world has made the past year my personal best. Well, not really the bringing part, but I couldn’t be happier with our little bundle of joy and I’m very excited at all the prospects the New Year has to offer! It’s nice to have an excuse to wipe the proverbial slate clean and have a fresh start. As expected, I was barraged at work this morning with questions about what my New Year’s Resolutions are. My answer is simply that I don’t have any. Of course I’d like to shed a few pounds (umm, around 40lbs would be fantastic!) and make healthier choices but I’m not going to limit myself to “not eating sugar” or “no beer except weekends” at this point. I do plan to use my jogging stroller but I refuse to set unrealistic goals such as “running 3 miles every other day”. Though I will attempt to be a better version of me, my main focus this year is going to be family.

Super fun learning train from Aunt Michele and Uncle Bob!

Before the baby came along, Joe and I were already a family of sorts (regardless of our non-marital status) but the dynamic has changed somewhat with the addition of Izaak. I can’t properly put it into words, but the kiddo has brought out the best in both of us. We don’t have as much time for each other as we used to but we also don’t seem to require that time as much as before. I don’t think either of us feels neglected or anything--the love connection is still as abundant as ever--our priorities have just shifted a bit.

 As parents, I think we are gaining more confidence in our perceived skills but I’m sure it still looks awkward to anyone else. Some days I feel like I’m doing ok, other days I feel terribly clumsy. I sometimes wonder if being a parent at a younger age, when you think you know it all, is easier than a little later in life, when you’re paranoid about all that you don’t know! Luckily, we typically maintain a good sense of humor and don’t freak out too badly when we run into issues like a diaper that has overflowed and run up the baby’s back and trying to figure out how to wiggle him out of his onesie without getting poo on his head. Despite our inept parenting abilities, I can confidently say that Izaak is thriving but I’m convinced that there’s a reason why nobody remembers being an infant!

Izaak's new gocrib! This thing is SWEET!!

Yummy dish from Aunt Jordana and cuzzies!

New jammies from Grandma and Grandpa!

Some things that perhaps should be on my New Year’s resolution list besides fitness goals and organization improvement are “keeping in touch with friends and family” and “keeping up with the housework”. It’s far too easy to fall out of touch with great people and I’m sad to report that currently, the inside of our home looks like a bomb filled with junk-shrapnel went off. We’re contending with “stuff overload” presently and suffering from not being home long enough to get the place in order. I could try to blame it on the baby’s plentiful accessories but that isn’t really fair (though we do need to figure out some toy storage options pretty soon), the real issue is the fact that Joe and I should be on the TV show “Hoarders”. Is it really so difficult to get rid of things that we don’t use anymore or put junk mail in the garbage? Apparently. And I need to be timelier with trips to the Post Office. I still have 4 sets of Christmas gifts that need to be sent out… pathetic! I was so excited about sending out Christmas cards this year that I totally slacked on getting the bigger stuff packed up and out to their respective destinations. In my defense, some of the items are breakable and I haven’t had the time to properly get them wrapped so that they (hopefully) arrive in one piece.

All in all, life is far from perfect yet perfectly fantastic and I’m currently quite content with my place in the universe!

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!!

Izaak's Photo Book

http://izaakcole.shutterfly.com/

Charleston Photos

http://bethandjoecharlestonsc.shutterfly.com/#%26emid%3dsite_sitecreated%26cid%3dSHARE3SXXXX