For Anyone Who Doesn't Have Facebook (mostly Rachel)

This video was posted on my Facebook wall...I think we need to start working on Isaac's left foot.

Halloween

Thought we should share some fun pix from the end of October. Most are from Halloween with a few randoms:

 -Irene decided that she wanted to paint the pumpkins instead of carving them...or as Isaac liked to call them, "Bunkins"...

 -Irene wore the Cinderella dress from her summer Disney trip...and Shan whipped up a last second ear thing because we live in MN and MN is cold.

 -This was arguably Jeremy's best costume ever (closely followed by the Ewok)...Shannon was instrumental in pulling it off. She dyed the entire thing, made the tie, made the hat, and made the boots...and Isaac was a brilliant "George".

  -She also whipped up a "fairy godmother costume" as well...(CJ is the sultan from Aladdin-Annika was Jasmine, Eric was Aladdin, and Bee was the tiger, Rajah)

 -Irene wrote her own bday card for Shannon...she spelled her name and Isaac's with no assistance from me. Super cute...

 -Apparently Shannon used to do this as a little girl too.

Isaac = "Laughter"

Here are 2 videos that we have been meaning to post. We have prayed that Isaac would come to embody his name...we think he is off to a good start!



(Dancing is from May 2011)



(The Cage is from June 2011)

December

Isaac turned 1. He decided it was time to start walking. He takes more steps every day...but still prefers to crawl mostly as it is much faster!

Irene is 2.5 going on 18...we will have our hands full with her...and God definitely has a sense of humor.

here is the first of 2 december albums...we will get a more christmas-themed one up soon.

2 months late...

so Isaac is now 11 months old. and these pix were taken at 9 months. that is a lot of elapsed time in baby world. oh well, hope you enjoy them anyway!

October 2010

Irene is funny. Here are some examples:

Jeremy is reading books to Irene, sitting on the couch...she stops, points at my face, and says, "this is the long nose".

Irene: "humongous is my favorite color"

Me: "Irene, do you love mama?"

Irene: "Yeah...(pause)...she is the best"

(Irene playing with a little toy princess cell phone)

Me: "...oh, is Cinderella calling from the castle?"

Irene: " No, she bought a house."

We asked Irene if she was ready to eat lunch and she said, "oui, oui oui" as she ran into the kitchen. (She is a big fan of "Fancy Nancy")

Not only does she speak French, she occasionally has a southern accent when saying certain words: "sad", "around", "dad", "well", "mad", "mommy", "help"

Irene is 2 years, 3 months in this photo. Shannon is 4. That is the same dress.

Isaac is hilarious in much different ways. After he wakes up in the morning he will sit quietly and read books for about 5-10 minutes...then he NEVER stops moving, yelling, talking, climbing, jumping, banging, opening, closing, crawling, drooling, smiling, or crying until he goes to bed. He makes us smile a lot and is a joy to be around (except in the middle of the night, which he still has trouble sleeping through). We had a friend take some 9-month photos for us...here is a teaser and we will post some more from the session soon.

Be sure to check out the new album of October pix.

Isaac is mobile...

He is "crawling"...or rather pulling himself along the ground. He is a boy. Very active. Very wiggly. Very wanting-to-stand-up and walk and run and jump. Irene is quickly learning (with reminders) to move her toys and books out of reach of her mobile brother.

We also think he has started making sounds for things:

-dadadada

-mamamamamamam

-bababababbababab (ball)

Here are a few more pix from the summer. We will post some Sept pix soon.

Isaac kicking a ball...

Isaac at 4 months...

Isaac had his 4 month checkup a couple of weeks ago...his stats were:

-16.8 lbs.
-25 & 3/4ths inches

His measurements are smaller than Irene's (18 lbs, 27 inches) were at the same time, BUT his rate of growth is greater (he started smaller and is still smaller, but he has grown more than Irene did over the same time frame). He is really really cute now that he has stopped crying so much. He has settled into a good schedule of eating, playing, and sleeping. We like him.

Irene is just hilarious. Her vocabulary seems to explode exponentially every week. Over the past 2 months, she has gone from a handful of phrases to speaking in complex sentences. She is shy so not everyone gets to experience this, but behind closed doors, she never stops talking! She makes us laugh a lot.

Hope you enjoy the new album!

March 2010

This will be the first of several quick posts in a row (over the next week). We've got a 'march album', an 'Easter album', and then a couple of videos to get up. This first one will be the MARCH POST...March is mostly a blur. The first week Irene was super sick. The second week Isaac was super sick and we were in the hospital...after that we're not sure what happened. These are pieces of the blur:

-Nana came down and spent some time in Murray.
-The weather finally decided to stop raining.
-Isaac's little personality finally started to emerge when we were in the hospital. He loves to smile, loves for us to read books to him, he LOVES his big sister, and he loves to try and swat/grab/etc. hanging things...
-Much like his sister, he hates to go to sleep...
-He is long. Not nearly as chunky as Irene but very long...
-Supposedly he looks like Jeremy...

Check out the new album.

RSV is not awesome…but big sisters are!

We checked in to the hospital on Tuesday afternoon. We HOPEFULLY get to checkout on Sunday morning…this is a long time to sit in a small room. We are mentally and physically wiped, but are thankful that Isaac is doing very well. He received breathing treatments every 4 hours, lived under an oxygen tent, got some gunk deep-suctioned out, and received a few other drugs for basic cold/ear infection. The nurses and staff have been wonderful. Shannon is so thankful that her mom could come help out. We are ready to go home. Thank you for praying.

"Go Away Dad"

Irene has a lot of fun sayings. Here are a few more of our favorites:

"Go away dog"
"Mama, sit down"
"All dough, moke a bro bro mama"
"I want dis"
"Dada help"
"yuck a yuck" (rock a rock)
"a yittle td" (a little tv)

She has also started calling the dog and her brother by their names:

"Bruh bo" = "Icuss" (Isaac)
"Dog" = "Fufu" (Swiffer)

Isaac had his 2 month checkup last week. He was 12 lbs 13 ounces and 23 inches long...since then he has gotten fatter and added rolls to his thighs and chin. He also picked up a nasty upper respiratory infection that is currently kicking all our butts (Irene had it first and is coming out of it. Isaac is in the thick of the badness)...

Check out the new album here.

Also, we loaded a few more videos on youtube.

"Moke a Bro-bo"

Isaac is almost 7 weeks old...he is getting longer/taller but he is still super skinny! It has been an interesting ride as he has been a bit fussy. We have tried a variety of "cures" and feel like we have made progress, but he is definitely different than Irene!

Irene LOVES being a big sister. One of her favorite phrases is, "Moke a bro-bo" (milk for brother), which she says when Shannon nurses and/or pumps...she also loves, "bath a bro-bo" in which she gets to dump water all over brother.

New things with Isaac:
-he has started to smile consistently at us
-he will sleep a little bit longer (occasionally going 4 hours)
-he loves bath time...just like his sister did/does!
-he seems to be more coordinated than Irene was at this age; but less attuned to what is going on around him (just like men and women?!)

New things with Irene:
-she adds words to her vocabulary daily
-she has a number of different phrases and sentences that make us laugh/smile every time
-she LOVES her brother very much
-she is 36 inches (3 feet!) and 32 lbs
-she had her first "naughty moment"
Enjoy the new album!

Photo Shoot...

We took Irene and Isaac to get some photos taken a few weeks ago. Isaac was about 2 weeks old. We took them to our new friend, Makenzie (http://www.makenzielynnphotography.com) and she did a great job! They have both changed so much since then, but we still wanted to share these. Follow the link to "proofs". choose "Irene and Isaac". the password is "shannon". hope you enjoy!

Photo Shoot Album

2 babies under 2

Isaac started off as an "angel baby". He didn't make a peep the first 2 weeks. BUT then he found his lungs. We think it is a combination of digestive/gas issues coupled with a personality that cries when going to sleep. We are making progress, but 2 crying babies is torturous.

Irene seems to LOVE being a big sister. She is constantly wanting/trying to "help" momma: taking things to the trash, bringing "BRUH BOW" his paci, and patting his back after he's done nursing. We are thankful that the transition has gone well for her.

Enjoy the new album!

and these are similar pix taken at similar times...what do you think?

Goodbye 2009

Some cuteness:

-Irene calls Isaac, "brother" or rather "brabo"...sort of sounds like "bra bow"...
-She fake cries for him...sort of like empathy in that she is crying in his place.
-She "washes" his hands and feet. She got a mini kitchen from Gigi and Didu for Christmas and she turns on the faucet to wash her hands, everyone else's hands, and then everything in the room.
-Irene has a Christmas book with a poem in it about a tiny reindeer named "Bob"...SO, she calls every reindeer and/or moose she sees, "Bob"...and she always says it with passion and conviction.

We hope you all enjoy or last (and probably favorite!) albums of 2009.

1.) December 2009
2.) Isaac's birth