Almost Summer!

Any of you who are teachers probably know exactly what I'm feeling right now. It's almost summer which means that it's almost time to say goodbye to this year's class. It's a bittersweet moment for me. I had a rough class this year. Lots of behavior charts. But all in all, the kids were good kids who just had a hard time remembering to follow the rules. Not all of them, just a large number of them. It was a very active class. I'm finding that now that the year is almost over, they have grown on me pretty significantly.

It was difficult for me to get "into" this year. I have Isaac at home and did not like leaving him. Luckily, we found Ann, who is absolutely wonderful. I may have Isaac go once a week to play with Ann and Will when he is there over the summer. It will give me and Peter a day to get things done if we need to or just to hang out. It's hard to remember what our life was like before Isaac!

School was difficult for me this year. I just couldn't get excited to go back and then I didn't have an easy class like I did the two years before. My priorities had shifted tremendously so I did not want to stay at school until 5pm every night. It gave me a lot less time to get things done. I managed and almost had a routine down. I had a lot of parents that helped out in my classroom. It made things way easier. One mom/grandma came and made copies for me every week. It was great because even if I didn't have my plans completely finished, I had things to fill in and could fudge through a day or two if I had to and then fill in my plans later. It didn't happen very often but sometimes it couldn't be helped.

Now that we are on the last week of school, I am realizing how much I like these kids as people. Some of them still try my patience but they all have great personalities and I hope they come to say Hi to me when they are in 2nd grade.

The best thing is, I get to be home with Isaac and Peter for 2 months! YAY! Isaac and I are taking Mom and Tot Swim Lessons at the pool. He is sooo funny in the water. He puts his face in and then freaks out and coughs. But he just keeps doing it! I can't wait to see what he does in a more formal setting.

I hope everyone else has a great summer planned too!

Isaac's First Birthday

Isaac dancing on his birthday!

The big day finally arrived. Isaac turned 1 today. I was a little worried that he would have a rough day. He has another tooth getting close to coming in. He seemed to know that it was a special day for him today. He was very happy and took a good nap at Ann's house this afternoon. After I picked him up, we went home so Peter and I could get our stuff together and then go to Chuckie Cheese for a little fun. Isaac spent a little time playing in his house and with his musical cube. Then we went to Chuckie Cheese and played. He had chicken nuggets and baked potato for dinner. His birthday treat was a chocolate frosty that he shared with Grandma Seedoff.

Here are some pictures from Isaac's Special Day!
Isaac walking around the living room with Stitch.
















Isaac and Daddy playing with the Ducky.
















CHUCKIE CHEESE


Can't wait to see what he does with the cake on Saturday!

My Baby's Turning 1

This blog post might get a little mushy. I am feeling a little emotional this week. I'm getting ready for Isaac's First Birthday Party. I'm sure everyone out there who is a mom understands the way that I feel right now. But, it's my turn to feel it and I feel like I need to write it all down.

The top picture is from the day Isaac was born. He was looking around, fuzzily discovering this big world and seeing his mommy and daddy for the first time.

I did not know anything about this child. He was a mystery to me. I knew that he was the one that was keeping me up in the middle of the night and doing somersaults in my belly. I was overwhelmed and anxious about being a good mom. I knew that I loved him.

The bottom picture is from this weekend. It was Isaac's First Easter. He has become such an amazing child. It's like he understood when he was born that he was going to have to teach his mommy and daddy as much as they would teach him. He has a great sense of humor and curiosity. He likes to figure out how things work and push buttons to make things happen. He has a little bit of a temper when he doesn't get his way but recovers quickly and stays happy most of the time.

Isaac was named for Sir Isaac Newton. I didn't want to admit that because I honestly thought it was a little silly at first. But I loved the name Isaac and it didn't really matter where it came from. It also meant a lot to Peter. Isaac ended up being the best name and totally fitting. It means "laughing one" or "laughter". Anyone who has met Isaac knows how well that fits!

Like I said, I loved him on day one and I knew that it would only get stronger. I didn't realize just how strong. I can't imagine what the rest of our lives will bring.

The Mom Car

Yesterday, Peter and I decided that it would not be worth it to fix up my little Pontiac Grand Am (again) when we needed a bigger car anyway. We have been discussing a new car for awhile. We finally decided to take the leap. After a day of driving two different used Toyota Siennas, we decided on the "Desert Sand Mica" colored Sienna that you see in the picture on the right. We felt that we should commemorate the purchase by taking a picture of me by the car from my youth and then take a picture of me with my new Mom Car. We felt that it was fitting to have Isaac in the picture with the new Mom car.

I love my new mini van and it does not really bother me to be a grown up. Isaac seems much happier in the van as well. He sits in the same car seat but it is up high enough that he can see out the window. He can also reach his Baby Einstein Caterpillar with his feet. The smarty pants figured out how to turn it on and change the songs by pushing on the bottom with his feet. He amazes me every day. Yesterday, he was awesome. Peter and I are in trouble with our next child because Isaac is so laid back and easy going. Here are a couple of pictures of Isaac while we waited for the Finance guy to come out.

We had to keep him entertained but he hardly even fussed about being there. He played with a few of the toys that the dealership had out, knocked the magazines on the floor and watched while we picked them up, and of course, played with the blackberry. We are very lucky to have such a great kid.

Busy Days

I have to say that right now, life is pretty good. We have had a couple of very busy days. Yesterday, we had a great time with Amber and Paul Grace and their kids. Isaac was happy to play with other kids. He likes to explore new places so he was very busy. Today, we went to JC Penny and got pictures of Isaac with the Easter Bunny. Isaac had a lot of fun. Peter took video of his first reaction to the bunny. He was a little tentative at first but warmed up pretty quickly. We got some really cute pictures and they had us sign another release form to use Isaac's pictures! Peter and I discussed that if we had more time, we would take him around to modeling auditions and build up a college fund for him while he's little. Probably won't happen but we can dream! The only negative to the whole experience was that I thought we were going to be able to get the pictures at $3.99 a sheet but apparently, you can't use the coupon when there is an "event". I got over it and we just ordered a few of the pictures and got 3.5x5s instead of 5x7s.

Then in the afternoon, I had my Scentsy party. It went really well and I think everyone had a pretty good time. We had some chocolate Fondue and veggies. The kids got to play with all the toys and the adults got to play with all the cool scents.

Isaac has been so much fun. I love having a child. I always knew that I really wanted kids and that I would enjoy them but I never realized how much I would enjoy it. Isaac just has such a great personality and it gets better every day. He is learning so quickly. I can't believe he already says 4 or 5 words. He says kitty(kee), uh-oh, Da, and hi! I think he's said ball but it is just "bah" but he says it when he has a ball in his hand! I'm not sure but I think it's pretty early for him to say all of these things. I think one word is relatively normal but not 4 or 5! I feel like I'm bragging about my kid but I guess that's my right as a parent.

Isaac is also really close to walking on his own. I know Peter has posted some things about this but today, he walked across the living room and down the hallway holding just one of my hands. It was like I was holding his hand to cross the street or something. He barely used it to steady himself!

My life is so blessed and even the hard parts aren't so bad. I just need to remember that and all will be great. One of my new favorite songs is Darius Rucker "It won't be like this for long". Listen to it and you'll know why!

Mommy and Isaac Day

Isaac and I had a great day together today. He is feeling much better after having a really bad cold which turned into pink eye and then an ear infection. This morning, he woke up smiling and had some Cheerios and applesauce for breakfast. He took a shower and then put on a cute outfit to go and have his pictures taken. I think I timed everything very well. He fell asleep in the car on the way to JC Penny. When we got there he was well rested and starting to flirt with the girls that were working. I wanted to do a barrel picture that was shown on one of the advertisements but they didn't actually have to barrels at this studio. So, I went with the silver wash tub instead. It was very cute. Isaac just wanted to chew on everything but as the pictures were taken, I thought we had gotten a few cute ones.

After she had taken about a million pictures, I took Isaac to get him dressed again and the photographer loaded up the pictures on the computer. They play with them a little bit and focus on different parts of the pictures that they take. It's kind of neat because even if they don't get a good picture, they focus in on his hand or something and make a really precious montage of pictures.

I went through the pics and found a lot that I really liked. The last time I went there, I didn't like as many of the pictures. Isaac was just really cute today. I can't wait to get the pictures back!

Then we ate lunch at Subway in the food court. I felt like I had my first mother/son lunch date! We walked around the mall a little and then met Peter for bowling and dinner in Lake Zurich.

It was a great day and Isaac was so much fun. I'm exhausted tonight but it's a good exhausted.

Blessed

I don't really know how to put into words what I am feeling right now. I can only say that I am extremely blessed to have Isaac. He is such a happy and healthy little boy. He is so loving, strong, and smart. I hope that I NEVER take for granted what I have in this wonderful, bright little child.

I have a friend who is a very important part of the person that I am today. She was my friend starting in 2nd grade and we have kept in contact (somewhat sporadically in recent years). I will never forget what she meant to me as a somewhat insecure and shy girl. I may not have acted that way but I definitely felt that way a lot of the time. I never had to be like that with her. She was always there for me and I hope that she felt that way about me as well.

The reason that I bring this up is that she recently gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. He was born prematurely and is in the NICU. Her blog posts have been very positive as well has her posts and pictures on her Facebook page. I cannot, and hope that I never have to imagine what she and her family are going through right now. I can only say that she is one of the strongest people that I know to be so positive in such a difficult time.

I know that she has faith and that God is watching over her new little family. I ask that all of you out there say a little prayer for the Young Family and their son Raef. I read her blog post and the things that she says brings tears to my eyes because she is so faithful and looks forward to the day that she can bring her little one home. I hope and pray that her day comes soon and that Raef is healthy and strong.

I realize that most of you do not know who this person is and that's okay. Just know that she and her family have a strength that all of us hope that we would have in difficult times. Again, I ask that you say a prayer for Kara, Reid, and little Raef.