Monday: unhappy seven months

Last night went very poorly. I started counting the days until it would be a good time for sleep training.

But then Isaac wasn't himself today either. Some of the people we saw didn't really believe me because he had smiles,but he was not acting himself. Teething??

After a rough beginning to tonight too, Isaac and I decided to sleep in the guest bedroom. Hopefully it helps.

Oh, it is his seven month birthday. Hopefully I'll get some pictures tomorrow.

The VBS finale was today at church.  I'm going to admit, it was actually a little disappointing.  Not because they did a bad job with the service, but because adults don't exude the same energy as kids when singing.  And when saying good morning.  Nor do they get excited by having a person in a monkey costume come down the aisle.

So while I didn't love volunteering, it was really good for me to see the joy of little children.

Saturday: loud

Isaac has gotten loud the last few days.  He realized that he can shriek (shreek?  shreak?) and does it with gusto.  We've had to stop talking a few times because we couldn't hear each other.

The video has an example around 0:12.  It might sound quiet, but the whole movie is quiet.
 

Friday: weeks 29 and 30

Sorry I'm late with the post.  Last night we were watching the Olympics and today has been rather busy.

Here are last week's shots:

This week's shots:

It was the last day of VBS.  I again didn't make it into any photos, so here is our quarter of the auditorium.  Just to give you an idea of the sea of kids that there was.   Oh!  You can see me in this picture.  I'm the one standing against the wall in a white shirt.  We had too many kids for the number of chairs in our row.

Life is good

Isaac slept through the night last night. It was completely unexpected as he's been waking up several times the past month. I woke up around 5am and checked the monitor, but he was still there so I went back to sleep.

And it's raining out.

Wednesday: VBS day 2

Today went better than yesterday.  Maybe because I knew the kids and they knew me...at least enough for a few conversations and as a person that could help.  Maybe because I knew the schedule and was able to take a break with Isaac.

We increased the count to 613 today.  It also rained.  While we really, really need the rain, it does make things a bit more difficult.  Some kids still played in the rain.  The smallest kids stayed inside and took over a hallway.  (There are a lot of inside activities, but space is still at a premium.)

I was almost in two pictures, but didn't actually make either.  Oh well.

I also have some of the songs stuck in my head.  There are about five that they sing.  They sing them at least once during the opening gathering.  Then they sing many of them again at the closing gathering.  By the end of today it was getting difficult to be as excited about singing the same song again.  Oh well.  The motions help keep things interesting.

Tuesday: VBS

Today I started helping out with VBS (Vacation Bible School).  There were 606 kids there today...maybe a few more if some skipped the registration table.  Needless to say, it was controlled chaos.  But, they did a really good job with it.

It was all morning and I'll admit, I wasn't really looking forward to it.  Spending time with kids, especially kids that I don't know, isn't one of the things that I love to do.  But I think that this is a very important ministry and the children's ministry is one of the reasons that Ben and I chose this church, so I figured I should volunteer.

I wouldn't say that it was super-awesome fun, but it also wasn't too bad.  We didn't spend much time doing any single thing, so that did help the morning fly by as we were moving from one place to another.  There was down time, so I went to the nursery during that time.  Isaac had just finished eating and was asleep, but I think that tomorrow I'll ask that they don't feed him...he was a little cranky when we got home and I don't know if it was from being with strangers all morning or if he just didn't get a good nap.

Here's a bad picture of me from the website.  They were snapping photos left and right, so I'm surprised this one made the cut.  The child doesn't look happy and I don't think I look all that excited either.

Kayak

Today was Isaac's first kayak ride. The life jacket didn't fit him well, but he was still a trooper and enjoyed the ride.

(Ben held and paddled for most of the ride; we just switched about two minutes before the picture was taken.)

Breakdown of infant luggage

50% diapers
20% clothes
15% toys
15% misc (wipes, blankets, etc.)
15% food
5% liquids (lotions, washes)
5% monitor

Isaac had the largest bag, spilled into Ben's bag, and then we got another small bag for his food. And this doesn't include the stroller (50% of the truck) and the pack n play.

Wednesday: hmm

Nothing too special happened today.  Isaac and I visited Betsy and Ethan.  Isaac enjoyed watching their dog.

I actually managed to dry all the laundry I washed.  I've been having problems remembering to keep the dryer running.

I finished quilting the baby quilt on the new quilter!  It was fun and fast.  It looks nice too...as long as you don't look too closely.  And even if you look closely, I think it still looks fine.  I'll take some video with the next quilt that goes on there because a few of you mentioned you wanted to see how it works.

This was this morning before it was all done.

Tuesday: two under one

Today I babysat Samuel.  He's one month older than Isaac.  They interacted a little bit, but were mostly in their own worlds playing with the toys.  Isaac went down for a nap about 45 minutes later.  Both of them together wasn't too bad, but I only felt comfortable with them secured in Isaac's room.  Since Isaac was asleep I felt comfortable bringing Samuel outside...and he loved it.

Look at how fast I can move the toys!

I also found it interesting how a day can fly by when it is just Isaac and me, but it didn't fly by when it was just Samuel and me.  Don't get me wrong...we had a good time together and it was fun to see how he is different and the same as Isaac.  It is more of just an interesting observation.  It would seem that since they are so close in age that the passage of time should be similar.

Monday: garden

My potted garden is not doing well.  I enjoyed the lettuce, but it is not the season for it as much (from what I'm told).  I saw a large bean so I went to pick them, only to find that the plant had withered and I could only find three beans of a decent size.

And they didn't taste good.

So I'm trying to decide what to do: we haven't had rain in about a month (and then it was about a ten minute rain).  We're about to go on vacation.  Most of the other bean plants are looking ok, but there are only a few beans on them.  Do I keep them alive?

I'll probably keep watering the lettuce to get it back in the fall.  I really enjoyed that.

Sunday: guess what's still funny

Ben throwing cloth into the air and clapping.  I tried it and got a few smiles, but it wasn't nearly as funny.

Saturday: what's so funny?

Ben throwing Isaac's swimsuit into the air, clapping, and catching it.  Simply hilarious.

It's probably the hardest we've seen him laugh.

Friday: 28 weeks

Well, it's that day of the week again!  Isaac is a week older.

Besides that, it was a pretty low-key day.  I wasn't really as productive as I was hoping, but I wasn't unproductive either.  I got two rows quilted with my quilter without any problems, so that is super exciting.

Thursday: productive

I woke up this morning in a productive mood.  It's a mood I find easy to start in, but hard to stay in.  So I decided to define productive as getting anything done, no matter it's importance.  Therefore, I had a very productive day!

*I emptied some boxes in the basement.  Several boxes where just emptied into another box, since there were a ton of barely full boxes.  But it gives us more room and a few things were put all the way away.

*I kept the kitchen clean.

*I finished my mending.

*I started to load an actual quilt on the frame.  (I finished loading it tonight.  I tried to start quilting it, but was having some thread issues.  I'll reevaluate tomorrow; I might just end up with different thread.)

*I took care of Isaac.

*Isaac and I went swimming.  We learned that sand isn't good to eat.  (Luckily, he hasn't quite learned that you open your hand when trying to put things in your mouth, so it wasn't too bad over all.  But he can get sand in his hand so quickly!)  I also pulled some seaweed out of the water at the same time.  Oh, and the fish!  They were being super friendly and coming in close.  I think I even got nibbled when we were in the deeper water.

*I took a nap.

*I collected trash from the various trash cans in the house.

So as you can see, very productive!  Maybe we can have another productive day tomorrow.

Wednesday: pears

Today Isaac got pears for the first time.  I figured they'd be easy enough to make myself, so I thought I'd do so and see if it was more economical than buying baby food pears.

I decided that I needed about 6 ice cubes worth of pears to make them come out evenly.  Two trays of ice cubes (about 24 ice cubes) later, I decided two things: 1) I put in too much water but 2) even with less water it would have still been worth the money.

Sure, it's a little bit more of a hassle, but pears were pretty easy.  Once they're ripe enough they get soft and very easy to cut and peel.  I'm planning on doing apples too, because I know they will be easy.  I might try green beans, but am not sure I'll be able to puree those smooth enough. We'll see how ambitious I feel.

We went out to eat with Dad and Pat tonight.  Pat came over a little early and helped with Isaac and it was awesome.  The kitchen was a mess and I really needed about 30 minutes and both hands to get it all finished.    I usually don't mind a messy kitchen (although I much prefer a clean one) but for some reason it was getting on my nerves.  Since I was able to get it clean, I'm hoping to do some non-repeating chores tomorrow.  Maybe empty some boxes.  At the rate we're going, I'll be finished in about two years and that isn't really acceptable.  Wish me luck.

Tuesday: polls

Once again, I find myself in the minority on one of my polls.  Most people (78%) cut their meat parallel to the fork tines.  I tried looking on-line to see if there is a "correct" way of doing it and couldn't find any info; everything talked about in which hand you're supposed to hold the knife and fork.

Since I like polls, I thought I'd start another one.  Do you sleep with your hands above your head?  It doesn't have to be all the time.  I find that I often sleep that way when I'm on my back.  Isaac often does it.

Monday: chores

Today I did some "only one time chores."  They're my favorite, as they are completely done after you do them...unlike laundry or cleaning the kitchen.

I put up some photos above our bed.

And helped Jamie clean out her closets of boy clothes.  (It was a win-win.)

Sunday: home

So it did take me two naps before I was feeling almost completely back to normal, but I did get there mid-afternoon.

Isaac is cutting his first tooth!  Ben felt it yesterday, but when I tried to verify it he was crying and it wasn't working.  So combined with a growth spurt, it makes sense that he isn't sleeping well again.  (This didn't help Ben or I last night though...hopefully tonight will be better.)

Saturday night: sick

Last night I was sick.  I took a shower after putting Isaac down, then came downstairs and told Ben I wasn't feeling great.  Half hour later I went to bed...I'm pretty sure I had a full blown fever but I didn't get up to check because I also had a headache that prevented movement.

Side note: I had a dream about the headache.  I was in a culture where there is a momentous day in every woman's life where she goes through a dream type thing that everyone has.  Usually the dream just is one copper ball being moved into place in a maze.  I had a copper ball and a platinum ball, which meant I was super special, but no one seemed to care.  It was also giving me these terrible headaches but I didn't think the doctors would know that the platinum ball was the cause.

Ben got me some Tyenol and the fever broke between 1am and 3am, but my side of the bed was soaked.  (I had just put new sheets on too!)

I'm feeling mostly better.  We'll see how the day goes. I'm very scared of being sick with a baby.

Friday: 27 weeks

Isaac turned 27 weeks today.  He really wanted to show you his open mouth.  I'm pretty sure he's going through a growth spurt and wants food.

Travis, Allison, and their kids came over tonight for dinner.  We built a fire to make hobo pies.  In this heat, it was maybe not the smartest idea, but it was still fun.  We swam in the lake while the fire was burning down...it is 82 degrees.  Nice and warm.  Maybe not super refreshing, but refreshing enough.  And Isaac will go in the water.

While were were getting the food ready, Autumn and Isaac played together.  Or, at least, Isaac played with whatever Autumn handed to him.  I think he gave her some toys at one point too.  It's nice that 1) he can sit up for long periods of time if he wants to and 2) he's starting to interact with people his own age.

Thursday: Tuesday

Today was a pretty low-key day.  We relaxed, did some work...the normal.  We let Isaac have a grape in a mesh net during lunch and he loved it.  (He did not want anything to do with it during dinner though.)  He must have gotten all the juice out because he started whining.  At least that's what we decided it was.  It was a new cry.

We were going to play a board game that is pretty much the same thing as Civilization.  Thirty minutes later we finally had it all set up and still had 2.5 pages of rules to go through.  We decided to wait until tomorrow.

The quilter is starting to run better.  There still seems to be one problem, but I found a forum and have a few things to try tomorrow.

Here are some pictures from Tuesday; it was too hot for a walk with Betsy and Ethan so we went in the pool.  (And yes, they have the same swimsuit!)

(I can't get this one to turn.  It is turned on my computer but blogger really wants it to go sideways.)

Wednesday: 4th activities

Happy July 4th!  We had a pretty busy day...

We had a picnic and boat parade with the neighborhood.  I guess we didn't actually stay around for the boat parade, but people parked on the beach and it was fun to see all the boats decked out.  (haha.)  It was hot and Isaac fell asleep while we were eating lunch.  I was hoping to transfer him to a crib, but he woke up way before then and of course that short nap was it for a while.

Then we went over to Christen and Tony's for dinner.  Christen took some awesome pictures with flags.

Tonight was nice...my quilter was working!  I had several problems with it throughout the day...maybe that's to be expected since it was my first time using it, but I'm getting much more familiar with it this way.  I ended after I had sewn something on my test fabric and the sewing machine was still working.

And now I'm listening to fireworks.  We sat on the deck for a little bit and watched them...to our left a bit people had large ones.

Tuesday: 6 months, revisited

Today Isaac has his doctor's appointment.  Everything is going well.  He's only weighing in at 15.5 lbs (a little on the light side for his age), but it didn't faze the doctor at all.

So on to the photos. 

The brown quilt...

The many faces of Isaac...

And the cutest ones...I couldn't decide on just one so put them together.

Monday: sweet potatoes

We aren't letting Isaac drink Mt Dew, so he ate the next best thing: the box.

Then for lunch he got sweet potatoes.  He loved them!  I wasn't expecting him to eat much since it's been a challenge to get him to eat about 2 Tbsp of rice cereal, but he ate the whole container.  Well, except for the stuff that he got on his forehead.  And in between all his fingers.  And up his nose.  He keeps breathing out just as I put the spoon in his mouth.  I have a feeling this eating process is going to be messy not only for Isaac, but also for me.

Sunday: today

I was taking a nap.  I heard Isaac crying, so I got up to take care of him.  On my way there it crossed my fuzzy brain that it was funny that my bedroom door was closed and I didn't have the monitor on.  About the time I got to Isaac's room I realized that Ben was "on-duty".  Bother.  If I had remembered that 30 seconds earlier I would have rolled over and gone back to sleep.

Isaac, on the other hand, wasn't having any of the roll-over-and-go-to-sleep and proceeded to be mad for the next hour.  I know, no one seems to believe us, but it does happen.  Ben dealt with most of it, but I was taking my turn when he stopped by and said his parents needed a jump at Captain Sundae and did we want to come?  I jumped at it...staying home with Isaac was not sounding fun.

Isaac calmed down quickly once we were in the car and then when there were people to watch.  He and Larry wore the same color shirt today.

Saturday: 6 months

How time flies.  To celebrate his half year birthday, Isaac slept for nine hours straight (11 hours in between eating!)  The only problem was that I kept expecting him to get up, so I didn't sleep well.  He then proceeded to dirty three clean diapers in the space of an hour.  I changed them promptly, but not right away...he could have had better timing.

I took a gazillion pictures for his six month birthday, but still need to edit them.  So that post will be for another time.  Maybe tonight.  (Also, I took over 2000 pictures this month.  I feel like that is about 1800 too many.  But, I delete most of them because I use burst mode to try and get one good one out of 20 pictures.  However, I have an uncomplaining subject and it gives us something to do.)

We accidentely brought a chip clip home with us from vacation, and then Isaac found it and it is his new favorite toy.  I was a little worried that it would pinch his fingers, but he doesn't seem to be strong enough for that.  It is the perfect size for grabbing, putting in his mouth, and it is a little floppy.

Ben was on Isaac duty this afternoon (Isaac would not sleep!) and I came upstairs to find both of them sleeping in the chair.  It was super cute, but Ben woke up before I could take his picture.