bearing gifts

whew. here & gone! merry Christmas... so good to see so many of you. much thanks to all our family & friends who worked to make this one heck of an amazing 1st Christmas for Isa. what child is this? santa baby. drummer boy!

time flies

when you're a new parent...

had a groovy thanksgiving! so much to be thankful for this year. how very cliche. yet how true.

storytime

here is isaiah's interpretation of a favorite book, Baby Panda

western values

isaiah finally got to meet the west coast contingent! cousins mike & joe, accompanied by their beautiful ladies & friend mike g. were in for the weekend. a sardy good time was had by one & all.

taste & see

at isa's 4 month appointment, we were told he could start doing rice cereal!
although, this proved to be much more exciting for andrew & i than it was for him:

all dressed up & no where to go

ok. so i thought things were going well in terms of my avoidance of the whole over-obsessive mother bit... until i suddenly looked down at my poor son the other day, dressed up like the little brother in The Christmas Story.
all we were doing was taking the dog for a walk around the block.
it was at least 50 degrees outside.
i'm screwed.
no, wait--he's screwed.

sweetpea

we're doing our best to generate great blackmail photos of isa, with which to haunt him when he's older. happy halloween!

social eater

isaiah's become quite the chatty kathy lately, especially after hitting the bottle...

plumpkin

autumn has arrived, as have the pumpkins. as you can see, isaiah is just crazy for the pumpkins...

he's on a roll!

isaiah's been rolling over for the last couple weeks, but it's always been at night while we're sleeping. we finally got to see it the other day, and the camera just happened to be rolling!

down time

it's been a crazy month. back to work, visitors, travel... we three finally had a day at home last week to reconnect--but we still couldn't avoid the 'mama'razzi

wade in the water

last sunday, isaiah was welcomed by family & friends into our faith community. as my grandma would say, may God bless him, love him & keep him.

day @ beach

isa met lake michigan for the first time today... he's been listening to simulated waves on a sound machine every night in his crib, but we thought it was time for him to hear the real thing.

the sultan

isa experienced his first Art Beat last week... seems to wear a paper bag hat well, no?

bear down

isa didn't know what to make of his first Bears game.

8 weeks

isa is two months old! (well, actually, much older than that now--I'm getting lazy with these posts...)
at his 2 mos checkup he was 9 lbs 6 oz and 23 inches long. can you imagine growing 4 inches and practically doubling your weight in 2 months?! well done, isa.

it's a family affair

our long-anticipated visit from the plymouth branch was finally fulfilled last week... what a wonderful time we had with amelia (and her parents, of course)!

the whole clan (moses even made the shot)


the cousins


two are better than one


bathtub bright eyes


the ladies love the hair


those who got the 'wear white' memo


isa liza amelia


fast friends


proud mamas!

tie-dyed & bushy tailed

hippie blood runs deep... although, isa's not too sure what to make of his new kicks.

construction supervisor

isaiah & moses were on site to oversee andrew's home improvement project--patio door & stairs!

scrub a dub

isaiah has outgrown the football-hold-under-the-faucet bathing technique, so we purch'ed a babe bath, of which he's grown quite fond. complete with a hammock!

little man

isaiah has been showered with gifts from so many friends & family... which is wonderful, but frustrating, as none of it really fits him yet. for instance, take these jean 'shorts' from his great aunt pat--size 0-3 mos... we've got some bulking up to do!

a baby is bjorn

well, the instructions said we were supposed to wait until isaiah was at least 8 lbs & 23 inches before using the baby bjorn, but i was at my wit's end trying to do everything one-handed, so we gave it a shot... and despite his serious countenance in these photos (looks like a turtle), he LOVES it!


ellen also came out last wknd and helped me figure out this baby-gami wrap, which is super comfy for both carrier & traveler (he falls asleep as soon as i strap him into it).

bird in hand

my sister ellen is an amazing woman.
she's one of those seldom people who was blessed with two full hemispheres of brain (and stunning good looks!)--where art & science, personality & thoughtfulness, language & logic are interwoven like a beautiful quilt.
she's just accepted a fellowship with the CDC and will be doing global AIDS research out in california...
but in her spare time, she knits. she knits things like these, for lucky people like isaiah.
someday (if i have any say in the matter), she'll have a business called bird in hand.
watch for it. save your pennies. they'll be heirlooms!

put to scale

no, it's not a super-sized binky.
for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting isaiah yet, we thought we'd help you put him to scale.

popularity contest

if it were one, isaiah would be winning. the visitors continue to flow into his life, showering him with love (and tears!)