That's What Aunts Are For!

We had a fun-filled week visiting all our family and friends in Idaho Falls these last few days. It was nice to catch up and everyone was happy to see Isaiah. We were also able to catch one of Nick's softball games since he still plans on playing with his old team in Idaho Falls whenever he is working there. It's so funny because this season, all the families came back with a new addition. There were tons of new babies at Community Park and it was exciting to meet all of the little ones!

As always, Isaiah learned a few new things from his aunts. Debbie taught Isaiah how to drink water from a straw, which he loved. The negative is that he now lunges toward anything in my hands that has a straw and demands to share. Bonus...I no longer drink anything that comes with a straw which means more water for me! Hooray for cutting calories!

Aunt Jessica had the honor of introducing Isaiah to his first sweet treat. He gummed a Nilla Wafer while Jessica held him. He was a little unsure at first, but once he got a taste, he wasn't letting her or the cookie out of his sight. Looks like he inherited his mom's sweet tooth...poor little guy.

How Time Flies

I don't know exactly when it happened, but our little Isaiah just took a giant leap one day from being a sweet little newborn-ish baby into Mr. Personality! We are going to be celebrating his 6 month birthday on Monday, and I wanted to give a little update on all the new things he has been up to.

We started letting Isaiah have a few spoonfuls of baby food at night and in the morning this last month just to give him a taste and to get the ball rolling there. I had no idea I would be dealing with such a food connoisseur! If it is something he likes (bananas, pears, peas, green beans), he smacks his lips and says "Mmmmm" and "Ahhh". Then he tries to grab the spoon and feed himself because he is also Mr. Independent. If it is something he doesn't like (squash, sweet potatoes, rice cereal) he pulls a sour face and spits it out. We also started giving him water in a big boy cup, since he tries to drink ours every time he sees a bottle in our hands. This photo was taken at my sister Lisa's house that first day with the cup. Isaiah would not put down his sippy, he was so proud of himself!

Nick travels quite a bit during the work week, but when he is home, Daddy=Party Time!!! Isaiah lights up every time he sees Daddy and just wants to play. This can be a problem when he wakes up at 3am, and sees Dad sleeping next to him. The next thing we know, Isaiah is cooing and giggling trying to get our attention to wake up and play! So often when playing, we will count "1...2...3!!!" and then we will toss him in the air, or jump out from under the blanket we were hiding under, or whatever it might be. Isaiah has learned that after "3", something good always happens, so now, we only have to say the words "One....Two...." and we can get a great laugh out of him, even if we never end up getting to "Three"!

Isaiah is also making lots of friends in our new neighborhood thanks to bootcamp. Every morning, he gets to play with Ross, Aiden, and my neighbors daughters Ruby and Macy. He also has a little friend Coleman, who is also 6 months old. Coleman's mom works at the playcenter at the Idaho Athletic Club and sometimes I take Isaiah in to play while I get some cardio in. The two boys play on a blanket together and roll around from back to tummy and give each other the stare-down. They are really cute together. I think it is great for Isaiah to have a chance to branch out and be around other kids. It's good for Mom to be around other adults too!

Bootcamp WHAT?

Every so often, I get the urge to refocus and get back into a healthy lifestyle. Now I'm not talking about getting myself to the gym, or choosing the grilled chicken salad instead of the greasy burger...those are things I try to do on a regular basis anyways. I am talking about going through the pantry with a garbage bag to ensure there isn't a scrap of anything that might tempt me in there, stocking up on whey protein, and putting myself on a strict schedule to make sure I work out each and every muscle by the weeks' end. It sounds kind of crazy, but it really gives me something positive to work towards.

I haven't had one of these urges since I was 38 weeks pregnant. As my due date approached and my clothes grew increasingly snug, I planned it all out in my head...."Ok, Nick is going to take 4 weeks off when the baby is born, so I should be able to start going to the gym to at least walk a couple of miles each day the 1st week post-partum. Then by 3 weeks I should be able to do a light jog, and then by 6 weeks, I should be right back in the full swing of things, lifting weights and all. WISHFUL THINKING!. Although labor and delivery were a breeze, the adjusting to life with a baby was not. I had never felt so exhausted in my life, my hormones were wacky, and the last thing you want to do when you are engorged is run. Those first couple of months went by in a blur.

What was I thinking? I had to get my priorities stright. Plus, once Isaiah was here, he was all that mattered to me and I wanted to give him 100%, which is what I did. Within a few weeks, I had lost most of my pregnancy weight anyways and I was happy with that for the time being.

Fast-forward to the present. Isaiah is almost 6 months old, and the weather has been in the 80's. and I haven't gotten into non-maternity summer clothes since 2007! Yikes! That's where the bootcamp comes into the picture. My neighborhood HOA is hosting a program where a personal trainer conducts a ladies only bootcamp class in the park 4 days a week for 8 weeks. I originally signed up because I am brand new to this neighborhood and I am dying to meet some of my neighbors, but now I am feeling my old self kick into gear. I am getting pumped and cannot wait to get back into shape! I talked my sister Becky into doing the program also....this should be interesting-I will keep you posted on how it all turns out. Wish me luck. I am gonna need it!

Hello family and friends!

I have been a "stay at home" mom for approximately 6 months now, and have decided to start this blog for 3 reasons: 1) We have moved to Boise away from some of our family and friends and would like to stay in touch. 2) Although I don't have nearly as much free time on my hands as I would have guessed 6 months ago, amid the diaper changing and playing peekaboo, I have all the time in the world to think up things in my head I would like to talk about if another adult were within earshot. 3) I have been inspired recently to put something heartfelt and honest out there about becoming a mom and still keeping your sanity, because truthfully, it gets lost in the daily shuffle.



I will try to keep things updated as much as possible, especially since Isaiah is at a stage where he seems to change over night. He is such a wonderful little guy, I feel like the whole world should have a chance to know him.



These pictures were all taken on Easter. We made Isaiah his first little basket and had it sitting on his high chair when he woke up. Although he was pretty excited about all his new toys, I think he was picking up on how excited his mom and dad were, but didn't exactly know why.







We then went to the Easter service at church (Isaiah got pretty dudded up)

And spent the afternoon at my sister Becky's house with Becky Cameron, their boys Ross and Aiden, my sister Lisa and her husband Shaun, and my brother Will.

The day was wrapped up with a visit from Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Dani. It was one of the nicest holidays we have ever shared together.