Isaiah's First Snowman

Last night it was up in the 30s, so Daddy and Isaiah took advantage of this "heat wave" and went out after dinner to build a snowman. Isaiah never has been very fond of the snow. I got him a snowsuit this year, and we took him out after the first snow. I thought we were going to have such a great time. Nope, within the first 2 min. of being outside, Isaiah tripped and did a face plant into the snow. He has not really liked it from that point on. He did, however, have a good time with Daddy building the snowman on the deck.

We received this as a gift last year and are finally using it.

The finished product! The snow was not great for making snowmen, but it was still standing this morning so, good job boys.

Christmas Baking and Choo Choos

Well, this year is a bit different than other years in that we a have a little one who likes to look at and touch the Christmas tree, we did not get to cut down our Christmas tree, and instead of making tons of cookies to give away this year, I decided to make candy. I am having so much fun learning new recipes and playing with chocolate. The only problem is, I have gone through about 20 lbs of chocolate. Wow! So far we have made peanut clusters, peppermint bark, chocolate covered pretzels, and English toffee. I still want to try almond bark and carmels, but we will see if that happens.

Isaiah got an early Christmas gift from Papa and GG Hinkle and he loves it. This train goes around our tree making noises and puffing smoke. Isaiah gets very upset if it gets derailed, as it does often. He comes crying to mommy or daddy saying, "Oh no, oh no, oh no"

Getting it out of the house!!!!!

Christmas Decor and a sick boy!

The first weekend in Dec. proved to be a busy one. We have had the tradition of going to a tree farm and cutting down a tree for 3 years now, every year we have been married. We had plans to do that Saturday morning, but a sick little boy broke our tradition this year. We ended up going to the Home Depot tree farm and picking a tree out within 2 min of getting there due to Isaiah needing to get out of the cold weather. We were delighted to find out that our 2 min quick pick ended up being our favorite of all the trees we have had. We found that going to a tree farm normally ends up in bringing home a tree that looks small among all the other trees, but when it gets inside a house it is huge. This years tree is perfectly sized for our living room and we love it.

Here are just a few home decor picks.

One of my favorite wedding gifts was this nativity set. What a great gift idea.

We have taught Isaiah that he can point, but not touch. In this picture he is an angelic little boy who is obeying his parents. That is not always the case though, so all of the breakables are up high.


Our favorite tree!

Thanksgiving fun

We had a full and cozy house, but we loved it that way. Papa Griz and Gramzie came up from Indi; Josh, Andrea, Addison, and Parker came from Ohio; and Stephanie a baby McKenzie came from Indianapolis as well.

We ate lots of food, decorated sugar cookies, played Settlers of Catan, watched football, and celebrated Addison's 3rd birthday. On top of the Thanksgiving feast, the rest of the family was craving some Chicago favorites such as Portillo's Chocolate cake, Lou Malnati's, and Claim Jumper.

We loved every minute of the full house, and now we are having to adjust to no kids to play with, and no daddy being home. Isaiah has been walking around like a lost puppy.

Forgetfulness and Finger Painting

Forgetfulness, yes, well we just had a wonderful visit with Papa Griz but I forgot to take pictures. Papa took all of us out to Claim Jumper, one of our favorites. And Isaiah got to sit on Papa's lap and read books before bed time. After Papa left, Isaiah said, "Papa" for another 3 hours.

After Papa left, and after a not so long nap, we tried finger painting for the first time. Isaiah loved this activity. He was able to practice saying his colors, while working on fine motor skills.

After a while he realized he did not need paper to enjoy the activity.



Almost done!

Here are the finished products. In my biased opinion they look just as good as the abstract modern art that goes for a pretty penny. Of course we have to display it on our wall of fame. (the refrigerator)

Our Little Fireman

"Trick or Treat" or if Isaiah is saying it then it is just, "reat" In all fairness he did not get to practice very much because we only stopped by Papa and Grandma Hinkle's house for some candy.

Isaiah has now been tainted by candy. I bought a huge bag of an assortment of M&Ms for any kids we might get, but as it is every year, no kids for us. Roosevelt is a bit of a deterrent for little ones. This left me with a whole bag of M&Ms, and Lance thought it would be fun to give Isaiah some Peanut Butter M&Ms. Of course he loved them and kept asking for more. I have now hidden the rest of them because he knows what the wrapper looks like.

We dressed Isaiah up as a fireman, but he hated the hat. It only took about 20 pictures to try to get one with the hat actually on him.

His vocabulary continues to explode, some of his newest words are:

Cocoa- "coco"

Blueberry-"booby" (have to laugh)

Dip Dip- "patip" (referring to ketchup and BBQ)

Hug- "hug"

Car- "car"

Outlet- "a kak"

T.V.- "b.v."
Morning- "mon'n"

Love You- "love e"

You have to see it to believe it!!!

What, you ask, do you have to see to believe? Well, Lance sporting a Metallica shirt and a mullet. Yep! Last weekend we had an 80s party to attend, and after many google searches on what people wore in the 80s, and trips to various resale shops this is what we came up with. The sad thing is most of my outfit is from the Target clearance rack as is Lance's shirt. Yes, I am afraid a bit of 80s fashion is back. Although that may be true, I think we will keep these particular articles of clothing stowed away for our next 80s party.

And here is Mr. innocent....umm not quite. Last Thursday I went into his room to get him out of bed for the day and found him lying in dyied vomit. It was everywhere. I treated him as if he were a sick little boy, making toast, letting him eat all carbohydrates that day for fear of another mess, disinfected EVERYTHING, and let him get away with a little more whinning than normal. At lunch time he threw up all of his lunch while I was putting dishes away. Again, I was very concerned and babied him a bit, giving him noodles to try and keep something down him. I sat next to him this time to monitor. Little did I know this little stinker knows how to gag himself. He threw up again right in front of my face. At that moment I got a bit angry, cleaned him up, and tried to get him to eat again. (not knowing if there was anything that had stayed down) He put more noodles in his mouth swallowed, again more noodles then made his gagging face again at which point I had to yell and say, "NO." He was pretty easily able to stop himself and finish swallowing. I could not believe my eyes.

more of the fun

...and here is Universal Studios. We had a blast.

A few pictures from Disney

We had a great time in the "most magical place on Earth" Here are just a few pictures, with over 200 it is hard to pick which ones to use.

Labor Day

We had so much fun getting some R & R on our lake vacation. The weather was a bit cold for the first 2 days, but that didn't bother us. Our friends brought up their shot gun, so we were able to find a nieghbors property to go shoot some clay pigoens. That was both fun and exhausting. I didn't realize how heavy those guns are. Isaiah was able to go one his first tube ride and spend lots of time with his friend. He calls his friend, "Go Go" because that is the word his friend uses all the time. Lance was able to catch some air on the tube due to his wife's masterful boat driving skills. Then, after a little taunting by Lance, I was able to get him off the tube. Moral of the story...don't do any trash talking to your wife if you don't know her skills. All in all, a very fun trip.

New Things

Yep, I am sporting a NEW shirt while doing my NEW skill, walking! Mama found this shirt, like she does with almost all my clothes, on clearance and had to scoop it up. I was matching Dada that day for church.

Dada thought it would be funny to put up a blog post about my other NEW trick. I tend to have gas problems throughout the day and I have learned the word, "Bup." (Mama and Dada say, "burp" but I am not great with my "r" sound yet.) So when I have a lot to drink, I tend to burp and then I laugh and say, "bup." Mama and Dada think it is so funny. Well, last night I am not quite sure what I did, but Mama and Dada almost fell off their chairs laughing. We were at the dinner table and I was having pretty bad gas problems, only it was not the kind that comes out of my mouth... After I was done I said, "Bup." (I wonder if it will work again tonight???)

This is my NEW tent! Mama and Dada say I am getting a little big for the pack and play and that this is easier to travel with. Mama and Dada say we are having a "test run" tonight before we go away.

They tell me I am going to have a camp out in my room. I am not so sure about this.

A Typical Sunday

It has been a while since I have taken any pictures of Isaiah and last night there were just too many opportunities to pass up. It is hard to believe how fast this little guy is growing, both in size and abilities. Last night was the first night that we let him eat corn on the cob by himself. In the past we have just let him take bites off of our cobs, but it got to be hard for us to eat as he would go crazy over corn on the cob and demand a bite every 5 seconds. So, when we handed over the corn I had to take a picture. He also enjoyed going for wagon ride and "driving" Dada's truck last night.

Mama and me after my bath. Dada and me after putting on the PJs. (Check out Dada's hat head)

Me driving Dada's truck.

Dada pulling me in my chariot

Me loving my dinner!!!!!!

Mama can't sit still

I have learned a lot about myself this past week and am starting to understand how Isaiah can be such a busy body. I am now about 90% convinced that this trait has come from me. It seems my favorite method of coping with trials is through staying busy. I have not come to a conclusion about whether this is a good thing or bad thing. In one respect I have a lot to show for my week, in another respect my body is probably not healing as fast as it could. And, a blessing and curse of being busy during the day is that my mind is distracted, but then the emotion all comes flooding in as soon as I put my head on the pillow. Poor Lance!

Well, maybe this is a right way to process and maybe it is a wrong way, but I guess it is my way. I am excited about the clean house, Isaiah's freshly painted toddler room, 8 pints of frozen green beans, 6 pints of peaches, 6 half pints of peach butter, and two loafs of freshly baked yeast bread (my up and coming hobby) I never knew I could enjoy so much of what a homemaker/mother does.

Isaiah is talking more everyday. 2 days ago I would not allow him to play with Dada's shoes and he began to through a rather large fit and continue to reach for them. I then said, "Mama is going to move the shoes because they are to tempting." He then repeated several times in a row, "tenting, tenting" I had to laugh, it was just too cute. He is also walking more everyday, accomplishing greater distances without assistance. It won't be much longer now before he is walking all over the place.

New Words, Walking, and Stewing Bob!

I think I have said this before, but everyday, not so little Isaiah, is communicating new words to us. Most of the time he is mimicking something we have just said which makes us die laughing, and other times he repeats a word that Mama or Dada are trying to teach him. Very recently Dada lifted him up to push the test button on the smoke detector which made a "Beep" noise and now he says, "Bep" yes, "Bep" not, "Beep" any time he hears a car horn, the oven timer, or the coffee maker. It is very cute! His other words (with translation) include:

up

dow (down)

ack (snack)

ock (block)

o (on)

ot (off, hot)

ope (open)

ball

gette (gentle)

and many more.

This is Isaiah taking a few steps.

This week and weekend Mama and Dada tried the hand at canning. Bob the tomato got stewed and cut up for salsa. This week Mama went to pick up 30 lbs of tomatoes and had a friend come over to teach her how to can them.

This is Dada after cutting up 6 onions. He had the bad job.
Salsa cooking!!

30 lbs of tomatoes=7 quarts of stewed tomatoes and 11 pints of salsa.

This is Isaiah saying "Bep"