HALLOWEEN 2009

Also on this last Friday was our ward's Halloween party. We've had Isaac's costume for at least a month or so, and I was curious to see how he'd like it. It included a hat and typically he is NOT a hat wearer, he always pulls it off as soon as we put it on him...but he surprised me and wore his hat all night long...it was great!!! Keeping in true Isaac fashion, he was a "Choo Choo Train Conductor" and he LOVED his costume!!!

Here he is saying "choo! choo!"



Posing for me by some of our Halloween decorations...


And speaking of decorations...this was about as "festive" as we got this year, but I loved it! Got the sign for a great price and the fall garland for 50% off from Micheal's. I bought a bag of mini pumpkins from the grocery store for cheap and then I filled vases I had on hand with black beans, tied ribbon around it and called it good...
Back to Halloween pictures...Nana and Papa stopped by to see Isaac in his costume...

Isaac and I.

He loved his bucket...although at this point he didn't know what it was for...

Gave his pumpkin a kiss... haha!

Papa put the first candy in...as soon as Isaac got that bag of M&M's, he would have been good to call it a night. He thought that was great and enough. :) Funny story...he asked my mom to open the candy and I said that he had to wait until we had some dinner so my mom responds to Isaac, "You need to ask Mom if you can have it" to which Isaac replied, "No, Nana..." Apparently he knows that Nana is a softy!!

After our mini-photo shoot at our house, we went to the church building for the carnival games... some sort of bean toss I think...

Bowling...

And fishing...
And a picture with daddy (who was at the church helping set up when we took our mini photo shoot at home)

This is Mason, one of Isaac's favorite buddies.

LOVE this picture.

And then some trunk-or-treating... which coincidentally was not only Isaac's first time going TRUNK-or-treating, but also Taylor's! :)

And lastly, I had to throw in these pictures. For those of you who don't know, my dad is a bishop of a singles ward here. (people between the ages of 18-30) and their singles ward had a Halloween party and my parents dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Incredible....want proof?? Here it is!

Since Isaac LOVES the movie "The Incredibles" they stopped by to show him. Love it!!

Two Year Well Check Up

On Friday Isaac and I went to the doctor's office for his two-year check up. He is the 30% for his weight, 60% for his height and 50% for his head. He looks great--and I really like our doctor.

I love this picture so I had to share...Isaac would climb up on the chair and open the door and stick his head out...as if to say, "Hurry up nurse and get these shots over with!" He did have three shots...he did not like them at all...he kept saying "owie!" all morning.

But he is so stinkin cute! :)

And a mommy-son picture moment! :)

Still can't believe that I have a child, a son to be exact, and that he is TWO!!! Oh how I (we) love him!!!

I'm a "Big Boy" NOW!

For the past week, Isaac has been sleeping in his "big boy" bed--as we call it--in his very new room. He has done fantastic! I don't know why, but I was the anxious one to move him from his crib in the nursery to his big boy bed in a new room. I know that after your first child you keep your subsequent kids in their cribs for as long as possible--there's no need to "rush" the transition from not being able to get out of the crib, to getting out of a bed.

I knew that, and at one point I planned to keep Isaac in the nursery until we knew we had another child on the way and would make the transition then. BUT, I couldn't wait. I had heard how kids younger than Isaac were sleeping in twin beds and were doing fine, so I knew it could be possible. So leading up to Isaac's birthday, we made all the necessary preparations to get his room ready and then last week (last Wednesday...October 14 to be exact) he started sleeping in his new room!!

I had dance that night and didn't get home until 9:30 or so--about an hour past his bedtime. Taylor had been talking up Isaac's new room and his big boy bed all night, so when we were getting ready to put him to bed, he was ready!! Not to mention that every time we were getting his room ready for the transition he loved being in this new room.

We didn't--and still don't--have any issues with Isaac being in this new room and the ability to get out of bed. He slept just normal and through the night the first night and every night since. He does great with naps, too. When he wakes up he still says, "Mommy....Mommy..." until I go in to get him. As soon as he sees me, he jumps right out of bed. So I know he knows how to get out, and as long as he stays in bed until I go to get him...works for me!! We are so proud of him!!

Here is a picture of his bunk beds...which he loves. I really like the fact that it is the same bunk bed that Taylor grew up on. One night Taylor even went in and laid with Isaac for a little bit...I'm sure that brought back some memories.

Obviously a "all-boy's sports-themed" room. This desk is an antique and has been in my mom's family forever. I still need to find a stool for it.

This is a toy box/bench. Isaac LOVES it. And it was made possible due to Nana G for his birthday...thank you!!

Lastly, some pictures of Isaac in his bed...he seriously loves his new bed and room. Every time we are upstairs he wants to go in his room and get on the top bunk and throw balls at us. Or every time a guest is at our house he wants to show them.

This picture was taken the morning after his first night in his new bed.

I still have some things I want to add to the room and something to return and other things on the way, but for now, it is great! We sure love our 2-year-old!!

Isaac is TWO!

Two years ago on Oct. 6, Isaac entered this world. Oh how we love him. This is him a few days old:

Last year, we were in Colorado so Taylor could do work interviews. We just happened to go eat at Red Robin with my parents. He didn't care so much about the balloons and really only ate baby food. But this year...totally different! Wanted the balloons from the moment we came in, ate a pizza for lunch and wanted to devour the ice cream sundae at the end! Oh how time changes!

Even loves coloring, or as he says, "wa-ite!" Notice the tongue...

"Just hand over the balloons and no one gets hurt..."

"How big can I open my mouth?"

"So Yummy!"

His birthday was on Tuesday, but due to hectic schedules we did some presents on Tues and the rest on Sunday. I had dance that night so we opened some from us and Grandma!

Thank you Grandma!!

Sunday was the main day, but seeing how he is only two, we just celebrated with my family. I don't think he'd really grasp the whole "party" with friends thing yet. He did pretty well with opening presents and loved the cupcakes. Here is his cupcakes, obviously different sport balls with some in the shape of a "2."

Opening more gifts with daddy this time.

Got his very own "Quiksilver" backpack which he thought was pretty cool.

Amongst some clothes, coats, more play-doh and toys--my parents got Isaac this "Leapster Learn to Read" gadget. Don't quite know how it works yet, but I think it is really cool. You put this caterpillar looking thing on a book and the caterpillar thing reads the book back to you and makes the noises of the animals.

Thank you Nana & Papa and Hee-Hee & T! Isaac was soooo anxious to eat his cupcakes. All day while I was making them he kept asking to eat them and even managed to grab a part of one while they were sitting on the counter to cool.

Yes, you are seeing that right, he started with a soccer ball and then had a basketball...perhaps having two cupcakes explains why he was bouncing off the wall when it was bedtime!

We are also in the process of putting his "big boy" room together. We have the same bunk beds that Taylor grew up on in his room and as soon as I get his curtains up, we will post pictures of his all-boy-sports-filled room. :)

Happy Birthday Isaac, we sure love you!!! (And please don't the let the "two's" be "terrible"!!)

Last Week's Update

Last week was a fun and busy one like usual. Last Monday, believe it or not, we got SNOW!!! So what better way to spend the day than making homemade chicken noodle soup (YUM!) and homemade bread!!! But a better combination would be to have Ashley helping us make the bread!! This beauty is a girl in our ward and she and I want to make this "homemade bread once a month" a tradition! :) It was great to have her over and all in all, we made 10 homemade loaves!! Even Isaac wanted in on the fun...

He LOVED the flour...

Hard at work...look at all those loafs on the stove rising!

Wednesday I was asked by another great gal from church to be a judge for Pine Creek High School's Glenwood DECA try-outs. I was a DECA participate many years ago, so it was fun to go back and help out!

Before the try-outs on Wednesday and then again on Thursday, I taught a few hours of dance--did I mention on here how I am back at dance? But this time as a teacher?!

Friday night we were invited to Taylor's Aunt & Uncle's house here in Colorado Springs for a wonderful dinner and discussion on Joseph Smith--it was awesome!!

Then Saturday, we went boating. Yes, it was snowing on Monday, but by Saturday it was beautiful out! It was 83 degrees at one point and not a cloud in the sky!! My parents recently bought a boat, so we took it out for a spin...it was a blast!!


My handsome hubby!

Nana and Isaac

Cheese!! Isaac ate snack food-galore!

Family pic

Taylor was the only one to get in the water--now before you say anything--yes it was 83 degrees outside, but the water temp was only 65!!! In other words, the water was freezing...here, Taylor's face says it all:

But he did surf for a while and did really well....he wanted to surf without the rope, which he did, but was working on finding that "sweet spot" .... I guess that's what they call it when you can surf the wake without the rope.

However, while he was surfing, at one point he fell and my dad had to turn around to get him--obviously. Well, in order to surf, you have to create a lot of weight in the back of the boat which gives off a large wake. When my dad turned to get Taylor he went right into the wake which caused all the water to come in the boat...no big deal...unless you were my mom. She was "laying out" on the front of the boat, laying on her stomach, with her head at the very front....when my dad hit that wake and all the water came in the boat--she had a wake-up call!! Remember how I said the temp of the water was only around 65 degrees??? BRRRR!!!

So she moved to the back of the boat where she got warm again! :)

We stopped at the beach for a little bit and Isaac thought he was sooo funny because he would "splash" us!

We played hard, it was a great day with great company....and surely, we wore Isaac out...please notice how he is holding on to Taylor's hand! :)

New Blog: Letters to Angelina

I have a new blog--in addition to our family blog--titled, "Letters to Angelina." For those of you who don't know, our second child was born stillborn earlier this year. I have really been impressed lately to start a blog to record what we went through and what we continue to go through with everything that happened with Angelina. The web address is:

http://letterstoangelina.blogspot.com

For me, part of this is therapeutic. Another part of it is to record our thoughts, feelings, etc. But a bigger part of creating this blog is to meet others who have gone through similar things or who are going through similar things or who are plain out having a hard time. From when we found out about our high-risk pregnancy until recently, I used to look for web sites or blogs of someone who had gone through what I was going through and never found anything--until recently--and it has really been a helpful and insightful avenue. So please, if you follow this or not, please pass the link on to family, friends, etc....it would mean a lot.

Annual Housley Vacation--Lake Powell

Last week we participated in our annual Housley vacation, destination: Lake Powell. We bought a three week timeshare a year or two ago and this was our first time going since we had to work last year. Taylor and I left late Tuesday night and spent the night in Grand Junction (wonderful idea!) and then got up Wednesday and drove the rest of the way. We pulled out of the marina that evening and went to find a spot to park. Wednesday was also my brother-in-law's birthday, so I remembered to take a few pictures of that:

He LOVES chips, and since his birthday fell on 9-9-09, we gave him 99 bags of chips.

Thursday the weather was less than ideal, but we still stayed occupied. Theran, Cam and Taylor went scuba diving. Despite the fact that Taylor had never been before and received a (maybe) 10 minute lesson on how to scuba dive from Theran, it proved to be a fun time for all....maybe not Cam since he got a sinus infection and had clogged ears the rest of the trip. :(

Friday the weather was beautiful. To start the day off, my brother-in-law Brett threw me in the water--dressed and all. Talk about wake up call. :) He was nice enough to walk me into the water since I had a death grip on him and luckily the water was pretty warm, so it was pretty funny. Then we went out on the boat and believe it or not, I got up on the WAKEBOARD. I have never been on it before but thought I'd take a whack at it and really liked it, even though I am still sore from it. :) Later that day we played Scrabble, got in a mini-water fight with Theran since he poured ice cold water down my back, and ended the night playing Werewolf. Lots of fun!

Oh, and another thing I witnessed... (I learn these things now since I never had a brother growing up) Lesson learned: never fall asleep around your brothers, especially if you are the youngest....case in point:

Taylor woke up with permanent marker on his feet. :) It was funny.

The food was yummy, the weather was great, the company was even better and we got much needed R&R. We left Saturday afternoon and got home that night. Many thanks to my parents, sister and her husband and Jodie for helping with Isaac!!! We sure appreciate and love you!

And until next year....Brett, you better watch out...retaliation is coming your way! :)

An Incident Per Day

Please tell me this is not how my week is going to go...

To start, yesterday Isaac put Taylor's wedding ring down a convenient hole--the hole between the unfinished wall and the door frame. To be exact, it was the opening where the door handle closes in the door frame and there was just the perfect opening between the door frame and the unfinished wall for Taylor's ring to fall straight to the floor. We had to rip part of the door frame off to get the ring and in the process put a nice hole in the wall, not to mention we have to replace the trim now.

Secondly, Isaac put a blue ink pen in the laundry hamper. Oh, but it wasn't his fault that turned all the clothes and the dryer blue...nope...as I was pulling the clothes out of the washer I saw the pen and instantly thought, "Ah Isaac! At least it wasn't a dirty diaper..." (which several of my friends have washed) but nope, I had the chance to pull the pen out of the washer without hurting the clothes. Instead, I was thinking about two of the items that had previous stains on them and I was hoping they had disappeared since I used Tide's new stain booster drop-in....(which it didn't fully get the stains out) but in the process of focusing on those stains, I grabbed the last bunch of clothes and threw them in the dryer. When I proceed to get the clothes out of the dryer, I noticed blue streaks in my dryer drum, my immediate thought was, "Oh NO! How could I have forgotten!?" Currently, I have sprayed those clothes with hairspray and am re-washing them...hopefully that hairspray trick works!!

Needless to say, we have had an "incident a day" at our house this week and hopefully that streak will end!!