Piranhas

Today, I showed my self-control. For some of you who know me well I can imagine you're asking yourself "what self-control?" Well it's true. At 3:38 today I got a phone call at work from daycare. They said "we just wanted to let you know that Isaac got bit by another child this afternoon. It's left a pretty large mark on his face, but he's fine, not upset, and we're putting ice on it. We wanted you to know before you got here." I politely asked again if they were sure that he was okay, and told them I'd be there to pick him up shortly. I hung up the phone and could immediately feel the rush of white trash attitude building up inside me. I'm guessing that's why they don't tell you which little brat bit your child at school today. I'd love to have marched myself right down to that daycare and right into his room and rung that kid's neck!! Ah, but self-control, set a good example. So I went and picked up Isaac and despite the horrible bite mark on his face I smiled and said "you okay buddy?" He hugged me and said "yes". That's all I needed. I will say that every time I've looked at his precious little face tonight I feel that rage way deep down inside, but Isaac seems to have just let it go and mommy is trying to as well. Just another example of something we can learn from our kids...forgive and forget.

No Habla Espanol

On Monday morning, Isaac woke up early. I turned the tv on in the living room so that he could watch a little bit of playhouse Disney before going to school. I walked out of the room and set the remote on the table. He evidently picked it up after I left and changed the channel. Brian walked through a few minutes later and Isaac told him in a very concerned voice "Daddy, tv is broken!" I heard Brian kind of chuckle, and he replied "Is it talking funny?". Isaac says "yes!". Turns out, Isaac had managed to turn the tv to a spanish channel and he couldn't figure out what they were talking about!!

Payback

Do you remember when you were a kid and you were acting up and your parents said to you "one day you're going to have a kid and I hope they act just like you!"? I remember that phrase coming out of my parents' mouths on more than one occasion. And tonight, they are smiling. When I was a kid, I had a terrible time going to bed. I always had a something to ask them, or something I needed, and they say I wore a path in the carpet between my room and the living room after bedtime! Tonight, Isaac paid me back. He's up in his big boy bed and he's called for Brian or myself at least 15 times. We've both been in to say goodnight, and then I hear him one more time. Brian walks in his room as I walk down the hall to get the laundry in our bedroom. That's when I hear Isaac over the monitor, "but daddy, I have a question!!" If I'd have had a drink in my mouth, I would have spit it across the room. It was a new version of me on the other end of the monitor!! It was my "payback"!! I immediately called mom and dad to give them a little bit of satisfaction. And all I can do tonight is smile and laugh.

Kings Dominion

Saturday was Catalent Family Day at Kings Dominion and Isaac's first trip to an amusement park. We left bright and early for the trip to Richmond and arrived just as the park opened. We managed to find the kids area right away and Isaac was all too excited to start riding.

I was so proud of my little man who jumped right in and rode the 4x4s by himself!!

Daddy, Aunt RaRa and Brandon rode roller coasters for a while, so Isaac and I went off on our own to ride the ferris wheel and the carousel.

Daddy and Isaac with Snoopy at the lunch pavilion.

Isaac cruising in his sports car. He looks good doesn't he?!

My little pilot.

Isaac would have ridden the Grizzly Roller Coaster, but he was too small. So he settle for playing with the bear at the ride entrance!

We played for nearly 10 hours straight! Isaac was an absolute angel all day! He was exhausted by the time we decided to head home. So much so that we had to yell and be crazy to keep him awake to make it to dinner at McDonald's!!

Summer Hours Friday!

Catalent recently started a summer hours program that allows employees to work an extra hour during the first 4 days of the week and then take a half day on Friday every other week. So far, I've had 2 "summer hour" Fridays and I am absolutely loving it! Last week, I spent my half day with Isaac at Marbles in downtown Raleigh. I picked him up before nap (yes, I let him skip his nap) and we headed downtown. We spent the next three and a half hours playing non-stop. Marbles is a great place for little kids to play and it's fairly cheap at $5/person to get in.

However, I will say that one thing I learned while we were there is that some parents have annoying children and some children have annoying parents. I am annoyed by both at times and evidently Isaac was too. At one point, this probably about 4 year old kid dressed as a fireman came over to Isaac driving one of the cars. He laid across the hood and said something like "you make sure to call me if you see a fire". My fatal mistake occurred next...I spoke back to him and "we'll be sure to do that" thinking he'd just go away. I mean his dad was standing right there with him. But no, for the next 30 minutes he followed us everywhere we went talking about putting out the fire. I know this is supposed to be cute, but really kid I'm here to play with Isaac, why don't you go play with your goofy dad. Finally, we think we get away when Isaac climbs in the ambulance and starts to "drive". It's kind of over in a corner so I'm thinking we're home free. But then who appears in front of the ambulance but the little fireman and he starts climbing up the windshield of the ambulance. At this point, I kind of sigh/groan and that's when Isaac says "I crash him mommy?". Usually I'd say something like "that's not very nice" or "we shouldn't do that", but this time the words that came out of my mouth were "sure you can crash him". Way to go mom of the year!! At this point, I decided it was time to head upstairs and permanently away from the fireman before I taught Isaac something else inappropriate!


Isaac with his baby doll in the stable area.
(All the baby dolls were named Audrey after his cousin)

Surfing with his gloves on!

Driving the city bus!

Exploring the ocean deep!

One worn out little boy!!

Isaac and I had a great afternoon together. He slept the whole half hour ride home and then we both crawled in bed and snuggled for the rest of a two hour nap. It never ceases to amaze me how he can fix everything that has gone wrong in a day. Granted it was a half day Friday, but it had been an overall rough day almost to the point where I was thinking about changed our plans. I'm so glad I didn't. In just minutes, he fixed everything that was wrong with my day! He's one special little man.

Big Boy Bed

With the new baby on the way, we decided it was time to transition Isaac into a big boy bed. So, in July, we made a trip to IKEA where we bought Isaac his first big boy bed. A lot of people think we're crazy, but we decided to get Isaac a full size loft bed to give him more space in his room to play. I'll admit I was nervous the first couple of nights as the bed is pretty high, but he has done great. We pulled the baby monitor back out and balanced it on the valence above the window. He understands that this is his "telephone" to mommy and daddy and talks (well really yells) into it when he needs something in the middle of the night or in the morning when he wakes up instead of crawling down the ladder without us. It took some adjusting going from that small crib to a big boy bed, but I'm proud to report that one month later he is doing great!!

Special thanks goes out to Daddy for putting a lot of the stuff together while Isaac and I spent time with Audrey (Isaac's newest cousin) and family in July!

The before pictures (Isaac's Nursery)

The after pictures (Isaac's Big Boy Room)

Just a quick note on this last picture...today was wacky outfit day at school. We do not dress our child like this on a regular basis!! :)

Madeline's Birthday Weekend!

This past weekend we packed up and headed to Gastonia for Cousin Madeline's 2nd birthday party!! I can hardly believe that Anna and I have two year olds already...where does the time go?? We had a big weekend. Friday, after the kids were tucked in bed, we started work on the birthday cakes. Madeline's birthday was an owl theme and Anna did a great job coming up with decorations and dad helped out with a great cake design. I was in charge of mixing the colors and I'm proud to report that over the past year I've gotten much better at mixing colors without coloring my arms in the process (this is significant progress from last year). Now if only I could control the amount of icing that I eat in the process!! We had a great time decorating and everything turned out perfect.

For Madeline's actual party, they had a cookout and a pool party for the kids. They had a blast and were completely exhausted by the end of the day. (For the record, there were more kids than just Isaac and Madeline, but for some reason my camera was a little bias....but who can blame me!)

Anna got a ton of great pictures of the kids over the weekend. You can check them out on her blog. We had a great weekend celebrating Madeline's birthday!
Happy Birthday Cutie Pie!!

Baby Update

Brian and I visited the doctor last week for the ultrasound where most people find out if they're having a boy or a girl. We are in the minority in that, like Isaac, the gender of baby #2 is going to be a surprise. I absolutely love surprises!

Here is the ultrasound picture from last week. We got to see hands, feet, the heart, the brain, etc. But we kept our eyes closed while they checked out the lower half. :) The baby is healthy and growing perfectly. For those of you not great at interpreting ultrasounds, from left to right you see the curve of the spine and then the baby's head on the right. The baby is currently facing down and slept through most of the ultrasound.


We got a second picture with this one, but it's the token alien shot that everyone gets. The one that looks like your child has the face of someone from outer space. I hate those pictures, so it's not posted.

Isaac is growing more excited by the day about having a little brother or sister. Until last week he was adamant that the baby was going to be a "girl baby", but since we brought him the ultrasound picture last week he's been a little more wishy-washy on the subject. Sometimes it's going to be a girl and sometimes it's going to be a "little brother".

The baby is due on January 3rd, and last week Isaac and I had a conversation about when exactly January is. I told him that first we'd have Christmas and Santa would come visit and then after that his baby would come. As a parent of a two year old, you always wonder if they fully understand. Last night while playing, he stopped and looked at me and said "Mommy, Santa Claus is going to bring my baby." So he was listening and he's got it all figured out! Later he brought me his baby doll and said "She's crying Mommy. You can hold her but use two hands!" I'm telling you this little boy is more than ready to be a big brother!!

Carrying on a Tradition

When I was a little girl, we took quite a few trips to Surfside, SC just south of Myrtle Beach. One of my fondest memories of those trips was when my dad would wake me up early and we'd go to Krispy Kreme and get donuts and then go out to the Pier to watch the sun come up. I don't really remember the drive to the Pier, but I can remember sitting up on an old wooden bench by the rails munching on my morning donut.

Well, this weekend at the beach when Isaac woke up early, I decided it was time to pass on the tradition. So I got up, got us both dressed and we went to the store for some Krispy Kreme donuts and then we went out on the beach to eat them. He seemed to really enjoy sitting beside me in the sand eating his breakfast. When he finished his sandy little donut, we took a walk on the beach and put our feet in the water. It was one of those moments in time as a mother that you take a mental picture and tuck it away in your heart forever. I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to pass on that tradition to my son.

Pictures don't really capture the true essence of the morning, but here are a couple of my cutie on our special morning at the beach.

From the Mountains to the Sea!

In the past two weeks we have managed to visit both the mountains and the sea! Isaac has been talking about the beach for weeks, so this weekend we decided it was time to go. Nana and Papa (formerly Boppa, part of Isaac's ever developing vocabulary) were down at Oak Island and were ever so excited to hear that we were coming. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Isaac and Daddy playing in the sand!

With Papa and his turtle!

I told him before we got there that he could play in the sand and get as dirty as he wanted. He took full advantage!

He even had sand in his teeth!

My little man and his helmet!

The shark outside the Eagles Store. Isaac watched part of shark week last week on Discovery and was SO excited to go see the shark!

Day 2 on the beach - Daddy & Isaac built a sand shark.

Isaac loved to watch the pelicans fly and then dive into the water after the fish. This is his impression of a pelican.

Taking a break - isn't he handsome?

Catch of the day!

Playing in the surf

Finally, here is a video of some of his fun.

He was such a good boy all weekend and we had a wonderful time at the beach. Thanks Nana and Papa for letting us come down for a visit.