The Holidays Were Filled With Blessings

The holidays were filled with activities and family fun! We enjoyed every moment! I hope you enjoy these snapshots of our fun.

Isaac went to school with me on the day before Christmas Eve. He was a hit with all the teachers.

Christmas Eve Eve, Daddy and the little monkey fell asleep on the couch. They looked so comfy that I decided to join them and we all had a slumber party in the living room by the Christmas tree.

On Christmas Eve, Isaac and I went to a Christmas Eve service. Isaac wore his suit that Aunt Chrissy bought him for Daddy's graduation. I couldn't believe it fit him...no wonder it was big on him last year! During the service, Isaac puked all over me!

When we got home, Isaac was fine. We put on his Christmas jammies and headed to bed!

In the morning, Santa had definitely come!

Isaac loves his new Tonka truck.

A few days after Christmas, we went to the mall for some sales and Isaac had fun on the cars! His shirt is a cute little Santa Elmo with his name embroidered on the neck. Thanks Pam!

Isaac got to play with his cousins Eli and Chase...he did well with the baby.

We went to Grandma's for a visit and to Granny's for a while on New Year's Eve. We are spending the stroke of midnight at our house as a little family. Check back for New Year's pictures! 2008 was a great year and I have a feeling that 2009 will be even better!

My Son's Silliness...

We gave Isaac his first haircut! It really doesn't look much different, but it was a big deal for Momma and Daddy.

Before:

After:

Isaac has begun doing things for a reaction from others. His favorite thing to do is to try to put anything on his head. The other day, he picked up Brian's hat and successfully put it on his head and for the first time, it stayed! He was so proud of himself! It was so cute! He started walking around with a big smile on his face and giggled. When he saw us laughing, he smiled even bigger and started walking around like a penguin. He'd stop, look at us, and do it some more. Then he started sitting in the laundry basket and giggling. He was really hamming it up.

Another one of his favorite activities is to put on Momma's and Daddy's shoes. He has been successful in actually walking around in them too.

After he mastered Daddy's hat, Isaac is now even more preoccupied with putting things on his head. One night while playing with the pots and pans, he used a mixing bowl as a hat. Again, he was very proud of himself. He's gonna be a comedian!

Snow Day!!

Momma had a snow day on Friday November 21st. So Isaac and Momma went outside to play in the snow! This was the first snow that Isaac has ever played in!! He wasn't sure at first, but liked it after a while. Momma wanted to get some good pictures, but Isaac was so busy that it was hard to catch him. I just decided to shoot and pray for some good shots and by did I get some great ones! Isaac wore his new boots from Grandma and did quite well in them; however, there were some falls that left him unable to get up because of all the winter 'gear.' He reminded me of Ralphy from "The Christmas Story." He was so cute!

The Holidays Are Coming!!!

Because of the circumstances, Christmas decorations were at a minimum last year, so I'm making up for it this year! We had a snowday on Tuesday November 18th, so I took the day to begin to put up the Christmas tree! I achieved my goal over a couple days. Brian is on vacation this week and I know how much he loves the tree and decorations, so we just did it! Isaac was a little leary about the tree when it wasn't decorated and one of us had to go behind it in order to move it into position. He would cry because I think that he thought it was walking. I had to keep popping my head out from behind it to show that it was Momma and Daddy that were moving it. I got out the decorations and he helped me spread them out on the floor. He also helped by carrying around a hammer, a pot, and his monitor : ). He is obsessed to try and carry everything in one hand at the same time. He was very cute. Ignore the dates on the pictures - my camera needs reset...sorry.

Isaac and I have been down with a cold these last few days. No fevers or horrible sore throats, but nonetheless a cold. There were a few days that Isaac would be playing and energetic and suddenly he would pick up his bottle and blankie, say "Night, night." and begin walking to the steps. I would take him to his crib and he would zonk out for a few hours. It was really cute. I've been teaching him some signs and it is so helpful to have a way for him to communicate what he wants. Here is a video. He can tell me "All done" and "please." So cute.

Daddy usually makes it home when Isaac and I leave in the mornings and sometimes he's able to lie down in the bed to listen for Isaac while I get a shower. When I go in to get Isaac, we go say bye-bye to Daddy in our bedroom and blow him kisses we do this every night too. Well, last night, Daddy went out with friends and wasn't there to say good night to, but Isaac thought Daddy was in the bedroom. So when I took him up to his bedroom, he pointed into our bedroom and signed "please." I didn't know what he wanted, so I walked into our bedroom and he waved at the bed, said "night night," and blew kisses. How sweet is that?! That little monkey is such a love bug. He's had some real Daddy-son time and as you can see, he loves it! The holidays are going to be so special this year!

Taking The Monkey to the Zoo

On November 6, Mamma, Daddy, and the little monkey went to the Pittsburgh Zoo! We had a wonderful time even though Daddy was a little grumpy to have to wake up so early. We went with my preschool class, but got separated from them. So, we just enjoyed being there as a family. Isaac slept the whole way up, so he was in a good mood while we were there.

Our first stop was the tiger, but Isaac had a hard time seeing him among the plants. The tiger wasn't moving so, Isaac was a little confused about what we kept pointing at.

Then we went to the kangaroos, which were in a pen that we could walk through. Daddy was ready to pounce one if it got close to his little monkey. We didn't hang out in the pen for long because Daddy wasn't too comfortable with that, but we went to the gate and looked for a while. Isaac wasn't sure about them. Daddy was sure that the zoo keepers had drugged the animals because they were all acting sleepy.

Then, we went to the sea lions, which Isaac LOVED! He stood at the glass and giggled every time the sea lions swam toward him.

Then, we saw a rhinocerous, which Isaac just stared at.

Next were the zebras - Isaac wasn't interested.

The ostrich was cool because it was running and moving a lot. Isaac watched intently, but didn't get too excited.

Isaac LOVED the elephants! He giggled and bounced and pointed while he jabbered about them. They were walking around, making noise, and flapping their ears and trunks. He liked them a lot.

The giraffes were near the elephants, so Isaac just kept pointing at the elephants and ignored the giraffes.

When we went to the monkeys, we were surprised to find that our little monkey was not thrilled with them. He definitely didn't want to be put down and even though he didn't cry, he didn't smile either.

We had a lunch of french fries, chicken tenders, onion rings, and juice. Isaac was really thirsty and pretty hungry because he had just gotten over the stomach flu.

The bears were sleepy too. Daddy insisted they were drugged up, I think they were just sleepy.

Of course Daddy had to get our little monkey a stuffed monkey of his own. He wasn't sure of the real monkeys, but boy does he love his monkey from Daddy!

We had a wonderful day!