Happy Thanksgiving!

From all of us here in Arena, Happy Thanksgiving! I realize that Turkey Day isn't until tomorrow, but we're planning on hitting the road pretty much immediately after Isaiah has his breakfast, so that doesn't leave much time for blogging. We've got a full day ahead of us filled with family and, of course, food. The latter is something I know I'm going to struggle with this year. I am so prone to over-eating in my daily life and the holidays only make it worse. I'm going to really make an effort to try to not stuff myself like a turkey. I'll probably be too busy trying to keep up with the "Walking Wonder" to be able to eat anyway!

So, what do we have to be thankful for this year? Where do I start? Here's the uber-edited, short list:

• Our beautiful son
• Each other
• Our family
• Our home
• Our health

I guess most of all, I'm thankful that we are, when it comes down to it, really happy. God has blessed us beyond measure this year and we are so grateful. Despite the difficult economy and having to live paycheck to paycheck, our family is happy because we have each other. And for that, we are truly thankful.

Red Banoons

My very wise mother-in-law sent me this email a few minutes ago and I just had to post it on here so I would see it every time I opened up my Internet explorer. It's so cute and so wise at the same time. Thanks Sandy!


Beth Moore has a blog that she posts to and her daughters do too. This was such a neat one from her older daughter Amanda, I thought I'd share with you two. Good stuff for all of us to remember.

Sandy

Jackson's Red Banoon
Yesterday after church, Curtis, Jackson and I had a yummy lunch at Luby's Cafeteria with all the other church-going folks on this side of town. As we were leaving, Jackson was given a big red balloon on a string. It was his joy and his delight. Let me just say that his joy and delight are fragile things. Having seen this particular joy swept away in the wind too many times before, I tied the balloon onto his clothes to keep him from losing it. Of course he had a fit about that. My banoon, Mommy! My banoon! He wanted all the control in his sweaty little hand! To my very great surprise, the balloon actually survived the trip home. It was still intact this morning and he enjoyed several more hours with it. He loved it so much. I cringed though, seeing my son get all of this happiness from something so fragile and temporary. It would only be a matter of time before it popped or sprung a leak out of nowhere. Then I'd have a sad, sad boy on my hands.
I think God must look at me in the same way when I'm trying to get my joy and happiness out of earthly things. I wonder if He thinks, Oh, baby girl, that is so temporary. It's already got a leak in it - you just can't see it yet. Find your joy in me! I'm everlasting! My unfailing love it what your heart truly seeks. So today I'll remember that my beautiful white house, compliments I may get because of this or that, my cute new maternity clothes, the holiday atmosphere that will soon surround us - all of these things I like and love so much - are about as safe for my heart to depend on as a simple latex balloon. These things add color and festivity to my life, but they are not sturdy enough to support my soul. There's only One who is, and He's more than willing to do it for me! He wants to! Thank You, Lord!

What a man desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar. (Proverbs 19:22)

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. (Psalm 130:5-7)

But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love. (Psalm 33:18)

In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you. (Psalm 33:21-22)

Looking Ahead

Can you believe it? Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is next week! Last night I even found myself telling Evan and I wanted to get the Christmas tree up soon. Hard to believe that the holidays are just around the corner. I'm such a nerd because I am already really excited about all the fun experiences I'm going to get to scrap from this holiday season, now that Isaiah is old enough to be able to have some fun. Thinking about scrapping all those great upcoming holiday photos got me dreaming about the new office/scrap space I'm going to have when we get the basement finished off and I've got a "Honey Do" list churning in my brain....all sorts of things Evan can build for me! :-) I'm sure he won't mind, right? I found this photo of someone's scraproom and I fell in love! Of course, I know mine won't look anything remotely like this, but I'm definitely stealing the idea of the lime green wall paint and the storage. Nothing wrong with having some inspiration, right? Oh, and I also managed to add about 25 more things to my Scrapbook.com wish list today. I am ready to admit that I am officially addicted. We've moved beyond hobby here, people.

One of the upcoming events that Evan and I are looking forward to is a trip to the Overture Center in Madison to take in a show. Evan enters a lottery of sorts every year at work where they give away extra tickets that the company buys for "important people" and this year Evan was lucky enough to win the tickets to The Wizard of Oz! We almost didn't even pick that one on our form because we thought for sure it would be everyone's first choice so there would be no chance of us winning, but we got lucky. The long and the short of it is that we are in need of a babysitter for Saturday, December 13th. We'll need someone from about 5:00 or so until LATE. The show starts at 8:00, but I wouldn't expect to be home before 11:00, so an overnight stay might be in order. Let me know if you're interested! As far as I know, that is the only date so far in December that we need a babysitter, but I'll let you all know if that changes.

Cake!!

It took me a little longer than I would have liked, but I have completed the first of two layouts for Isaiah's birthday! Then I get to begin on our first general family album. It will be different to scrap something other than my son, but who knows when that event will actually occur. For the time being, enjoy another Isaiah layout!

Trouble in the Bathroom

Ah, the classic funny scenario: Baby finding completely inappropriate things to play with in the bathroom and Mommy recording it because it's hilarious.

A Busy Weekend

Ever have one of those weekends that seems to rocket by so quickly that you swear it was just Friday and suddenly you're going to bed on Sunday night thinking, "How the heck is the weekend over already?" The bright side is that these super-fast weekends always seem to speed by because you were so busy, hopefully doing cool things. That was the case with us this weekend. Saturday was a really fun, but busy day for me because I had to work for a friend Saturday morning, but was relieved of my duty an hour early to go to the Badger game! My buddy Serena has an uncle who didn't want to go to the game this weekend because it was going to be "too cold" so he offered her the tickets. Even though she could care less about football, she accepted, knowing that I would probably crap my pants when she invited me to go. She was right! After I changed my underwear, I made arrangements with Evan to watch Isaiah (don't worry....he gets to go to the game next weekend so it's fair) and off we went. It ended being one of the most exciting games I have been to and we had a great time. One of the fans in our row was ejected from the game for throwing peanuts so we even got to spread out a bit, so that was a bonus.

And yesterday we had our annual Fat Man's Thanksgiving celebration. It was at our apartment last year and we held it early in the month since I was due with Isaiah the day before Thanksgiving. This year, we had our meal over at Joe and Jess's house and the evening was not without its drama. We ended up waiting outside for the fire department to come because the carbon monoxide detector kept going off upstairs so Joe finally called 911. Better safe than sorry where there are wee ones in the house. Isaiah got to sit in the fire truck and the house was all clear of CO, so it ended up being all good.

Now today I'm in Waupun for Isaiah's 12 month photos and to do some visiting with family. Tomorrow will be his 12 month checkup with Dr. Baker (hopefully....it's been rescheduled twice) so we'll finally get a concrete idea of exactly how much of a tank this kid actually is. So, after a busy weekend, I can look forward to a busy week as well. Can't say I'd really want to have it any other way.

Oh, and stay tuned for a fun little video of what Isaiah was doing in the bathroom this morning to keep himself occupied while Mommy put her makeup on. Classic stuff. :-)

Memory Lane

Nothing like a good ole trip down memory lane to make a date night special. Tonight Evan and I went out for a great dinner (yay broiled scallops!) at Green Acres and then attended the Sauk Prairie High School production of Once Upon a Mattress. For those of you playing along at home, yes....that's the show in high school where Evan and I met. It's the show that I almost didn't try out for. It's the show that I ended up landing the lead role in, which lead me down an entirely different path in my life. It's the show that changed both of our lives in ways that we shudder to think about now what would have happened if one of us hadn't been in it. I cried when Princess Winnifred sang her first number tonight. I still knew all the words to all her songs. It was such a great time to be able to enjoy that with Evan, 10 years after we enjoyed it together as cast members. The music program at Sauk is amazing as well, so the show was fantastic. If we had had half of the resources at Waupun that they have, our show would have been very different. Oh, and do they have some serious vocal talent! I can't even begin to gush about the amazing voices from these students. We left having enjoyed ourselves immensely and at least I felt rather sentimental. Hard to believe sometimes how one decision can end up changing your entire life, but that's what Once Upon a Mattress did for us. I guess it will always have a special place in my heart because of it.

Dancing with Junior Asparagus

Here's Isaiah doing his morning workout to Veggie Tales!

He's Back!

Oour little boy is officially back to normal, thank goodness. For a good chunk of time there, he was really, for lack of a better word, OFF. After having a fever for a few days and then daylight savings time....well, he was not acting like himself. Crabby 24/7, waking up at 4:00 am, not wanting to eat, not wanting to play. No longer! My playful, mischevious, curious boy is back to his normal disposition and I am so glad. Now I just have the next bout of teething to look forward to, since he always becomes a bit of a beastie during that.

Stay tuned for a video of the little guy doing his morning dance to Veggie Tales! (It's uploading right now to You Tube)

Happy Birthday Isaiah!

Hard to believe that it has already been a year since this little guy came into our lives! This has certainly been the most stressful year of our lives, but by far more wonderful than we could have imagined!

Photos: Snapfish is updated! The 11 month album is complete and there is a whole album with photos from the birthday party yesterday. Go check it out!

And, for your viewing pleasure....here's the birthday boy enjoying his first birthday cake!

Thank You!

Thank you so very much to everyone who made today such a wonderful day for our family. Isaiah's birthday party was WONDERFUL and there were so many people who contributed to that very special memory for us. From making food, to helping blow up balloons, to giving a gift, to just showing up....your kindness was truly appreciated. I am working right now on downloading the photos and video from the party so I am hoping to have them ready for your viewing pleasure by tomorrow. Again, thank you so much for making Isaiah's birthday so special!

Dancing with Daddy

Yet another humorous performance by Evan and Isaiah. Watch how Isaiah continues the "dance" even after Evan stops moving the high chair!

Eggs are Hilarious

What else can I say? This is just cuteness at its best.

Election Day

Thank goodness it is finally here. I went to the polls at about 7:15 this morning, so I am proudly sporting my "I Voted" sticker for all the world (ok, just Isaiah) to see! It will be interesting to see how things unfold as the polls close tonight, but I am really glad that it's almost over.

Sick Baby

Poor, sick baby! Isaiah's been fighting a fever for the past couple days and I think we finally have that under control, but the main problem now is congestion. He is so stuffed up that he's finding it difficult to eat and sleep because he can't breathe out his nose. He was up SCREAMING at 4:00 this morning (yes, that's after DST) and Evan was up with him for a good hour and a half after that trying to get him back to sleep, but he was just miserable. Maybe I should get a humidifier for his room?

Cup and Jelly

Sometimes the simplest things can make a little boy concentrate very hard for a good 10 minutes!

Snapfish Update

I have updated Isaiah's 11 month album as well as the Halloween album on Snapfish as of this afternoon, so there are fresh photos for your viewing and/or purchasing pleasure on there. For those of you who are members of "Isaiah's Room" on Snapfish, are you receiving an email about once a month or so to let you know that photos were added?