Happy Birthday, Dad!

I am grateful for September 30, 1981 because it is the day that the best man I know came into the world! Woohoo! Happy Birthday, Josh! Josh was also born on his mom's birthday. So for his birthday Josh wanted to go see a BYU football game and to take his mom to it...so the saturday before Josh's birthday, we got tickets and all met up at the Lavell Edwards stadium. It was a blast! However, having a baby at a football game makes watching it a whole new experience! We dropped his pacifier down in between the railings of the stadium and went on a hunt down the many levels to try and find it! Nap time was also a new experience at a game because everytime the crowd errupted, Isaac's whole body would startle awake! Not quite what we expected when we imagined taking our first son to his first BYU football game, but still a lot of fun!

We actually had Isaac in a really cute BYU onesie before we left for the game, but right on cue Isaac had a major fecal explosion all over it!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Since the game was before Josh's birthday I still wanted to come up with something to make his actual birthday special. As soon as Josh left for work on the 30th, Isaac and I put our kitchen into motion! I flew trying to make treats and get myself ready and Isaac ready to make it up to Salt Lake by lunch time. We came up and surprised Josh and kidnapped him for lunch. I think Josh had a lot of fun showing off Isaac to his office.

We love you, Josh!(Isaac is doing a half grin!)

Happy Birthday, Dad! (Please tell me that when you look at this face you can't help but smile,too!)

And one more very cute picture of Isaac for good measure!

I Hope You Dance!

I don't know if you remember me telling you that in July Isaac and I went to one of my best friend's wedding and that I had forgotten my camera. Well, her photographer took a couple of Isaac. One with me and one with Kelly(the bride) during the dancing. I think dancing with her child is a dream most mothers have. At least I know that it has been one of mine. I don't really remember any of the songs we danced to, but I have realized that a lot of the love songs they play at weddings that are sung between lovers can be sung between a mother and her baby, too. One of my favorites to sing to Isaac is the one with the phrase, "And I hope you don't mind and I hope you don't mind if I write down in words, how wonderful life is now you're in the world." And oh how wonderful my life is now that Isaac is in the world. This is one of those perfect moments with Isaac that I am grateful that I have a picture to remember it by.

Like I said in one of my previous posts, the bride and the groom danced for money. The guests could pay to dance with either of them. I paid and handed Isaac to Kelly. This is the picture that was taken during that dance! What a handsome little stud! He's sure got a way with the ladies!

My Water Boy!

Josh always tells me that there are dirt boys, fire boys, and water boys. Isaac is definately a water boy! I took Isaac swimming for the first time today! The Shum's invited us to go to a little community pool which was perfect for Isaac's first experience. We were the only ones in the pool. I forgot my camera so Kaulana took a picture on his phone for us. Isaac absolutely loved the pool. He squealed in delight over and over again. He was just crazy about all of that water! The Shum's have a little son named Paxton that Isaac was having fun playing with. They wrestled over a diaper for a little bit and pulled eachothers hair. Just the sort of thing that baby boys do, I guess. It was funny anyway.The only sad part of the day was that Josh couldn't be with us. Kaulana emailed the picture to Josh right after he took it(thanks to modern technology) and when Josh got it he had some mixed emotions...it made him feel like crying, but he thought it was so cute he couldn't help but laugh. He told his co-workers that "I missed my son's first time swimming...my job satisfaction has just gone down."

We're Back!

It has been way too long since I blogged. To update you, Isaac and I both got pretty sick in the middle of July. I was up for four nights in a row, one of them I was throwing up! The next week Isaac and I went to Rexburg and stayed with my parents for a week. Heaven. One of my best friends, Kelly McCready, got married while we were up there...so I got to go to that. It was a big highlight. My friend and her husband had a dance for money where guests could pay to dance with either of them. I paid and handed Isaac to Kelly. I forgot my camera otherwise I would have pictures of that. You might be asking yourself where Josh has been all of this time. The answer:working the fall tax busy season. We have basically been in survival mode. We have seen him a little bit here and there, but for the most part it has been pretty much just Isaac and me. The good news, though, is that busy season is almost over! Hip Hip Hurray! I will have a husband again!(Actually, he has been really helpful...that night I was throwing up, he was holding back my hair so that it wouldn't fall into the cascade of pepperoni's, sausage, and stomach bile. And he drove us up to Rexburg and picked us up a week later! I love you, Josh!)

Here is my sweet little toad. Josh calls him "the toad" all of the time and I have picked up on it and now lovingly refer to him as "toad" or "toady."

The 4th

tThe Fourth of July weekend was great! My family came down from Idaho to spend it with us. Any time my mom comes down I try to get a date with Josh out of the visit. I barely am able to pump any extra milk than Isaac eats, so I pumped milk every night for a week and put it in the freezer just so that Josh and I could go out. Mom and Dad willingly took Isaac for the evening. Josh and I went and saw "Singing in the Rain." It was an absolutely phenomenal production done by the Hale Center Theater in Orem. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it!

The next day was the fourth. Josh's family tradition is to get everyone together for a big bbq. The kids put on a little production for us(this was of their own choosing...they memomrized their parts and everything on their own!) Have any of you seen the little animated cartoon right before "The Incredibles?" They did that little Jackelope seen for us. It was SO cute! Afterwords everyone heads over by the Stadium of fire. There is a big road there that they block off and the kids play in the road while the adults just sit and chat. I love going every year. And then of course there are the fire works. My favorite part is the finale. There are so many fireworks going off that you can feel them in your chest. Combine that with a beautiful sleeping baby and a handsome husband and you have "the stuff that movies are made of!" And yes, Isaac slept through the whole thing. I couldn't believe it! I guess I have a more of a deep sleeper than I thought I did.

Here is Isaac with my parents. Isaac is their first grandbaby. They are very doting grandparents! =0)

We put Isaac into the pool. He wasn't sure what he thought of it. This was the happiest picture we were able to take! But even when he is sad he still looks SO cute!

My sister-in-law, Katherine, got all of the new babies together on a blanket and climbed up in a tree to take birds-eye-view pictures of them! It was SO cute. These four were all born within 2 months of eachother! Can you find Isaac? ;-)

Katherine you're amazing!(Notice me off to the right pigging out as I watch the others block the shade with a blanket...oh and Ashton got really tall for being only one!)

My Dad, brother, and Josh built shelves in our garage over the weekend! Hurray for shelves in the garage! "Happy thought indeed!"(Name that movie!)

Visiting Grandpa and Granny Glo

A couple of weekends ago we went down and visited St. George. That is where I grew up. My parents moved away, but my grandparents still live there. We went and spent a couple of days with them and then on Saturday we went to my high school reunion. The reunion was fun, but the highlight was definately seeing my grandparents with Isaac. My grandpa just adores babies, especially ones that are his own flesh and blood. My grandpa was orphaned as a little boy and everyone told him that he couldn't expect to be anything. He served in WWII and almost died on several occasions. His life could have been something of a tragedy if he had let it, but my grandpa had some good examples in his life and he wanted to aspire to something more. When he got home from the war he met a beautiful and virtuous woman named Mary(that's where I get my name.) They had seven children, three of which passed away not long after they were born. My grandma also passed away when she was fifty years old. My grandpa is something of a hero to me. He has been through more than I can comprehend and has born it all with a smile. If you know my grandpa he is always telling jokes and making stories sound even bigger and better than they really are! Often he pretends like he is being serious, but you can always catch a twinkle in his eye. He remarried a wonderful lady who we call "Granny Glo." Together they have 8 surviving children, 27 grandchildren, and 20+ great grand children! My grandpa's life is nothing short of a miracle! I love you grandpa!

Granny Glo and Isaac

Grandpa wanted to give Isaac a ride on his Jazzy. Grandpa and Isaac enjoyed it a lot!

Isaac just loved grandpa. He smiled at him constantly and wouldn't stop touching his face.

Isaac and Grandpa chillin' in Grandpa's rocking chair.

Oh, and here is another one I can chalk up for embarassing moments: I have always thought I have things pretty under control. That was until I had a baby. We went to church with my grandparents and I was in the mothers lounge nursing and changing diaper and trying to use the bathroom. I came out of the bathroom and who knows how long I was standing there or how many people saw me, but anyways, a lady came up to me and said, "your skirt is tucked up into your garments." Yes, my whole rearend had been exposed to the world. Yay for being a mom!

Hair, hair, and more hair!

I am sure that you are all very sick of hearing about Isaac's hair, but this is the last one I promise! You may have noticed that in some of the most recent pictures I have put up, Isaac's hair is a little bit shorter...yeah well, we cut it! I actually did cry a little bit. Pathetic, I know. Here is Isaac's hair cut from beginning to end:a before, during, and after picture.

Here is the before picture. When my mom saw this picture she asked me if we had already cut half of Isaac's hair in it. The answer: no. His hair was just extra crazy that day...perhaps that is how it was every day and I just didn't realize it.

Isaac looks like he is excited to have his hair cut, too.
Actually, I am not sure what this face means...


Right is a picture of me cutting the first locks.
It was a momentous, but very sad occasion. I almost couldn't bring myself to doing it. Isaac is doing a good job of looking sad about it, too.













Left is the "during" picture that I promised. Isaac was really interested in the feeling of the electric shaver. Look how long the peices of hair are on the counter!...Yes, we did this on the kitchen counter. I learned my lesson. I still get a hair here and a hair there when I wipe down the counter!


Here is the "after" picture. I thought the haircut turned out pretty good. Isaac looks very handsome and much more like a missionary. It was quite the fun little family adventure! It has been about a month now since we did this and Isaac is looking a little shaggy again. I guess he will have had two haircuts by the time he is five months old!

Computer Anyone?

How many of you out there have had to search for your computer/video camera/wallet/checkbook/etc....on a daily basis? Let me explain why I have to. I usually keep my home pretty organized. I usually know where most of the items are, but often these specific items in my home go missing and I often spend 10-20 minutes everyday looking for them. Frustrating? Humorous? I like to think that all of us have a little bit of the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder for one thing or another. This happens to be Josh's. 9 times out of 10, as soon as we find the missing item I hear Josh exclaim, "Oh yeah... that's where I hid the... (fill in the blank)" sometimes this is followed by him rapping, "OCD...Yeah you know me..." Josh likes to hide our expensive electronic items in different places around the house so they won't get stolen if someone breaks in. More often than not I find myself laughing as I look for these items. It's one of the quirks about our marriage that I kind of like. I mean how many people can honestly say that they look for their computer everyday. It's like searching for the buried treasure...it makes it all the more worthwhile once you find it!

Isaac's 1st Parade & Fireworks!

One week ago we went to the Orem Summer Fest. They have a big parade and then a couple of hours later they do fireworks. The nice thing about the parade this year was there were clouds overhead blocking the sun. Normally it is scorching while we watch the floats go by. The clouds were a bad thing, also. They brought rain pouring down on us! It was actually a blast. We got Isaac all covered up and warm and then we walked to my brother- in-laws house for some hot cocoa and apple-cider...all this in June! Can you believe it? We were all soaked and wet haired by the time we got there. After the rain died down they shot off the fireworks. We put Isaac in the car and went to find a parking spot. We got really close and pulled Isaac out. He was fascinated, as I am sure most babies are, by the fireworks. We plugged his ears so the loud "booms" would be somewhat stifled out...I am not sure how good of a job we did though. It was such a fun family evening. While we were watching the fireworks together, Josh made the comment, "This is the stuff movies are made out of." What a great moment.

Isaac was so tired while we were watching the parade. He fell asleep half way through it. There were two girls standing above me screaming at every float! I wanted to look up and say, "Hey, I've got a sleeping baby here," but then I realized that I was at a parade. =0) So I got up and moved. Hehe

..."and the rain came tumbling down."

Isaac's first kiss...besides me. This is my cute little niece. She just loves Isaac! Both of our hair is wet and curly from the walk home!

Watching the fireworks...the stuff movies are made of!

Family Pics

These are the family pics you have all been waiting for! The girl that took these is Katie Torriente. She took Isaac's 5 day old pics also and I just love her stuff. If you want to see more of her stuff you can go to her blog: katietorriente.blogspot.com
Thanks Katie!


These are just a few of my favorites...

My cousin did one like this with his family and I really wanted to get one of our own...I know strange that it's feet, but I thought it was so cute!

Forever Family

There has been an empty picture frame hanging in my family room for over five months now. I hung it in anticipation of a future family picture, not realizing that it would be hanging there empty for almost half of a year! Well, last week we finally went and got families pictures taken. It ended up being so much fun. The photographer had a little dog that Isaac kept staring at the whole time...we will have to see if there are any pictures of him actually looking at the camera!

After posing for our family pictures we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple openhouse. It was such a neat experience having my little family in the temple even though it hasn't been dedicated yet. Isaac was so peaceful the whole time. In one part they invite everyone to sit down in the temple while they talk about sealing families together. When they finished speaking, Isaac let out a little happy sound. Before we left the sealing room, we held up Isaac and looked at our family in the mirrors on opposite walls. People call them them the mirrors of eternity because the reflection seems to go on forever. Josh and I have seen our reflection in these mirrors many times, but we had to laugh when we saw an infinite amount of carseats!

When we got home we did a few of our own little family pictures to put up on the blog.

The Expression Says It All!

Alright...I just had to do this. I have been itching to do it pretty much ever since Isaac was born!


My baby Einstein! Love the expression!

Isaac's New Do

As you know, Isaac has this totally crazy hair. Every bit of it sticks up in the back. It is one enourmous calic. We love it! One day I decided to do it up. It turned out pretty cute, but I have to say he still mostly sports the crazy hair because I like it just a little bit more. But here are picks of his handsome new do. Man I love this kid!

Here's the front...




The side...

And the back!

How You Know You Are on Vacation With a Baby: Our Experience

We just took our very first vacation with our sweet baby Isaac. We went to the Oregon Coast: a hidden paradise and a favorite of Josh's family. My brother-in-law made the comment that "it's a place where it doesn't seem like very many people have discovered it yet." I have to agree. I felt I could walk down miles of beach with no one around or have my own private cove. It was really fantastic, but with that said we did bring Isaac. And vacationing with a baby is really a different story. I thought I would write down a few of the funny experiences we had while traveling with Isaac.

#1-Prior to going on this trip we were trying to decide between flying and driving. Not only is driving cheaper, but everyone assured us that Isaac was young enough that he would sleep for most of the journey...after 14 hours of trying to entertain with "woowoowoowoo"sounds, contorting our faces into any shape we could think of, shaking any or all objects(ramen noodle bags, sun flower seeds, chip bags, toys, etc.) in front of his face, and stopping every two hours to play and nurse...we were beginning to think flying might have been the better option. It ended up being a fun adventure, though and I might even do it all over again just for the laughs we had.
This picture is my favorite: Isaac loved stopping and looking out the car window. Don't you just love that face! I can't get enough of it!

#2 Isaac did finally manage to fall asleep for awhile at which point I began navigating us through Portland, Oregon while Josh was driving. Josh's phone has a GPS system which we were following. After taking several different exits toward Salem, Tiggard, and Beaverton;coming into town and driving in circles through one way streets;we were stopped at a stop sign and Josh asked me for the next direction. The GPS only said: "Beaverton, OR." We had put the end point as Beaverton so rather than going through we had driven straight into town adding about another hour to our already very long drive! Back on the freeway we went. Oh, and did I metion that this was all during rush hour traffic? I guess you had to be there on that one.

#3 By the time we were about half an hour from the coast Isaac woke up screaming for some food. I fed him, but then immediately jumped out of the car to use the bathroom. I couldn't hold it any longer. We weren't at a rest stop, just in a little secluded area so I just had to go and find a place in the trees. However, I wasn't sure of what wild life there was so I decided to just go right behind the car. Midstream I realized I was crouched down right behind the exhaust and was breathing that in so I tried to waddle away, but in doing so I managed to pee all over myself.(I know, gross) I came back into the car and began changing Isaac's diaper who was aimed right at me and peed all down my front. For two days I had managed to keep myself clean from all bodily fluids and in the last half hour became covered in it!

#4 One morning we were headed south to check out Cape Perpetua and some light houses. I was making some peanut butter and honey sandwiches for us(try keeping yourself clean doing that while driving) and upon finishing I looked into Isaac's carseat. For a second I wondered if I had spilled peanut butter all over him, but then my wisdom got the better of me and I realized what all of that orangish/brown stuff really was all over him. Isaac was sitting in a puddle of pooh. We pulled over into a pasture to clean up where we were being swarmed by bees and Isaac was wearing a bright and colorful shirt. Ugh.

Josh is cleaning up Isaac after the major pooping in the carseat. I am in the back cleaning the carseat! What a mess!

#5 Wednesday morning it was drizzling rain outside. We decided to head up North towards Ecola State Park and Oswald West. We drove into the state park and thought we would just take a little walk around. When we got there it was no longer just drizzling it was pouring/dumping rain. Why we didn't just begin heading home I will never know, but I guess we thought we could still manage to have a nice stroll in the rain. We bundled up Isaac, got on our coats, pulled out the umbrella and began to head out. A soon as we were out of the car the umbrella went inside out. Isaac began screaming. What baby likes being cold and wet? You would think at that point that we would have gotten back into the car...but no. We trudged on. About 20 feet later we realized how stupid we were being and went back. We are still amazed we made it 20 feet!

#6 The last day we were there we decided to go to Oswald West and Ecola State Park again because we didn't get to do it before with the rain. Now to get to Oswald West there is a little mile hike down to the beach. We didn't realize that part of it was fairly rocky and difficult to get through. It wouldn't have been so bad, but we had brought with us a baby bjorn, a carseat, and a stroller in an attempt to get Isaac down comfortably. I ended up carrying Isaac in the bjorn while Josh hoisted the carseat and stroller over the rocks, logs, and muddy turain! I wish I had a picture of this but I don't. It was hilarious to watch!

This is on one of our walks down a beach that no one else was on! My two handsome boys!(Notice in any picture where Isaac is in the bjorn he is sucking on the front of it: classic Isaac!)

This was on the drive home. We had gotten out of the car to watch Multnomah falls. I think Isaac was getting pretty fed up with being in a carseat.

Watching Multnomah falls.

Our hike down to Oswald West! It was really gorgeous despite lugging so much with us. The beach there was spectacular!

And there he is sucking on the front...


This was at Ecola State Park. It was really incredible! We had a little family picnic right at this spot! Can the view get any better?

And there is Isaac sucking on the front of the bjorn yet again!

My sweet little family.(Oh and check out Isaac sucking on the front of the bjorn =0)

This is one of the light houses...actually the tallest one on the Oregon coast! My legs were burning after that long flight of stairs!

What a handsome guy!

We found this sign on the way to Oregon and had to get a shot by it!