First Christmas with Isaiah

So, it has clearly been a long time since I posted. Nothing too deep to say at the moment. The first Christmas with Isaiah was also the first bad cold he's had, so that was sad. I can hear him now (as he is lying in his crib, supposed to be napping) chatting and coughing. In a little while we might go to the hospital to visit our friend's new baby who was born yesterday. Isaiah was the first little guy born in a string of little boys that is coming in our community at the church. So, Isaiah should have plenty of little buddies to play with. Look out, children's church workers! :)

For any who might read this who aren't on facebook, John posted a little lesson on unwrapping gifts by Isaiah. So, here it is...

First you take off the ribbon...Then you eat it.

Then you take off the wrapping paper...Then you eat it.

Then you take out the present...Then you eat it.

Then you are happy! :)

New Developments

First of all, the biggie...drum roll, please...nearly nine hours of sleep in a row last night! For the little guy, I mean. Not me. I woke up multiple times because it seemed like such a long stretch. He actually seemed like he was waking up about an hour and a half before that (which still would have been a long stretch!), so I quickly went to the bathroom before heading in to nurse him, but when I came out of the bathroom, he had fallen back asleep! So, he went to bed at 8:00 and didn't really wake up to nurse until 4:50. And then, he went back to sleep again until 8:10! Wow! Hope he's not sick or something! :)
Other exciting developments:
He continues to discover his hands. He had been playing with one hand at a time and putting it in his mouth (often gagging himself because he wanted the whole hand in at once). Just in the last couple of days, he has started to rub his hands together and play with his hands together. It's pretty fun to watch.
He also continues to chatter and giggle much more, which is SO fun.
Less than exciting developments:
Pinching. Need I say more? Not so fun.

Counsel

There is a difference between advice and counsel. Advice is someone telling you what you should do, and I think is often based on little else beyond opinion. Counsel offers insight into your situation and wisdom about life; it is guiding and points you toward wise principles beyond just the current decision.
For counsel, I am so very grateful. For advice, not so much. West Los Angeles has a mostly younger demographic, and I often feel a loss and longing to be surrounded by wisdom that is gained by those who have walked through more of life and who have faithfully seen the hand of God through many seasons. Most of the parenting and life "resources" (books, classes, support groups, etc.) here feel like they are from people who have barely gained more experience or perspective than I have myself and who haven't even seen the fruit of their theories play out.
I am so thankful today (always, really, but am thinking of it especially today) for my friend Rebecca out here. She has walked through more of life than I have. She has sought and continues to seek the fullness of God in her life and in the life of her family. She shares principles and truth about life and wisdom gained from walking through seasons of life. When I talk about life with her, I feel such encouragement and peace about not only what is at hand but what lies ahead. God is faithful. And, I'm especially thankful for those He works through to give wise counsel!

Big Day

Today was the first day since Isaiah was born that I wore (without other things holding them together) a regular, pre-pregnancy pair of pants. They are one of my looser pairs, but they are still non-elastic waistband, zipper and buttons, pre-preggo pants! Big day. :)

First, the Good News...

Last night, Isaiah had his longest stretch of sleep yet...just about 5 minutes short of 7 hours! :) Then, he woke up a couple times, but didn't actually wake up for the day until 10:00!
The not as good news...
When he woke up around 7:40 or so, I brought him in our bed with me. (John had already gotten up to get ready to go teach his high school youth group.) He continued to snooze until 10:00. At that time it seemed he was awake and ready to get up for the day. When I slid my hand under him to pick him up, I discovered that he had soaked all the way through his diaper, the diaper cover, his pajamas, his swaddle blanket, AND another blanket I had laid him on to leave a big wet spot on our sheets. That's a lot of pee for such a little guy! Totally worth it, though, for the sleeping in! :)

I think the little guy has actually not been feeling all that great the last couple of days. He took a pretty long nap this afternoon (which is unusual for him lately) and slept through most of the service this evening. When we got home, he was cheerful and alert like his usual self, so hopefully, he is feeling better. Would be nice if he still has a long night of sleep again!

Just a couple photos from the week...

This is an outfit from his Grandpa & Grandma Miller. This was election day actually. He was very patient with us getting him all ready and then waiting in line to vote. Can't complain about the wait compared to what a lot of people hit. Isaiah wasn't much help with the vote, though. When I asked him to raise his right hand for John McCain or his left hand for Barak Obama, he threw both arms up in the air and blew spit bubbles. But he sure looked cute! :)

Videos

My mom just left to go back home. She spent a little over a week with us, and it was SO great having her here!!!
We are still missing John very much and looking forward to him coming home Saturday!
Here are a few videos of Isaiah:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xZyF2ps1m0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Glr9PRfris

More Fun with Toys

Here We Are

I realized how long it has been since I blogged! It has been a lot to start back to work and keep up with the little guy. Can't say I have it figured out yet as to how to fit all that together.

John is in Canada for 2 weeks for his masters program. We miss him! Thankfully, my mom came Tuesday for just over a week to help us out! Isaiah has been doing fairly well sleeping at night--a new record Wednesday night of 5 1/2 hours in a row. However, he seems to be boycotting any form of daytime sleeping. He fights it like crazy, which means he's had some cranky times. I do think he actually was getting a little bored, though, which seems weird for such a little guy, but since we put some colorful toys on his bouncy seat, he loves to watch them and bounce and see them flop around. He even sort of giggles at them, which is super cute! Here is a little video of the first day we tried it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmDpK9WbELI
It's pretty rough because we mostly just took it for John and my Dad to see, but it's still fun to watch him.

He's also been "talking" a ton. Last night he cooed and babbled back and forth with me for almost an hour! He has been working on his little leg muscles, too. When you hold him up, he pushes his feet down and tries to stand. He actually supports a fair amount of his weight on those little legs. I think he's just dying to run around all over the place! :)

Go Cats!

Since John is a proud Northwestern alum and former Willie the Wildcat (literally, he was the mascot in college), Isaiah needed to sport some attire for football season. It is pretty big on him, but I'm pretty sure he enjoys being like his daddy! :)

He listened to his first Northwestern football game on the radio last Saturday. (We don't get them on TV out here usually.)
Tomorrow, there is actually a gathering of Northwestern alumni at a local place to watch the game on a cable station. We might try to take Isaiah. Since we're Pacific time, it starts here at 9:00, which is early lately to actually get out of the house these days, but we'll see how it goes. Doubt we'd make it through the whole game anyway, so maybe we'll just go late. So sorry to all my family who are die-hard Hawkeye fans, but Isaiah has to cheer against you tomorrow. :) Go 'cats!

Baffling

So, what I can't figure out is how such a massive amount of pee can come out of someone the size of my son! I mean, it's not as if he can fit a bladder the size of Texas in that little body, but then how does all that liquid come out?
By noon, he had soaked through his THIRD outfit since getting up this morning! Soaked! Through the diaper, through the cover, and absolutely soaked the clothes! Seriously, where does it all come from?

And, in other liquids, at one of his feedings this morning, I put him up to my shoulder to burp him. He lifted his head (which is getting so strong at doing!) and milk shot out of his nose right at my face. Good times.

Hard-Earned Photo

So, here is Isaiah's 5-Week Picture...

It was actually taken when he was 5 weeks and 1 day old. Thursday was a very rough and fussy day, so we took it on Friday instead. Friday was also a rough day, and I had just gotten him calmed, but then John needed to leave with the camera for the rest of the afternoon, so we decided to try the photo. Well, it's no small accomplishment that we got even one that is sort of happy looking! Take a look at the progression! :)

A very exhausting photo shoot...

Grandparents!

So, my parents came last Wednesday to see us and meet Isaiah. They helped SO much around the apartment and were so great with the little guy!


Then, John's parents came also for the weekend...

On Sunday night, we had Isaiah's baby dedication at our church service. It was such a beautiful time. Joel led the time, and we were so glad to have our parents here. We are so thankful to have such a wonderful and loving community around us as we raise Isaiah!


On top of all the visitors, Isaiah has been really active! He has started smiling, which is SO cute! It is still not incredibly clear-cut what makes him smile, but it has passed beyond just a sign of having gas. :) He smiled a lot for his grandparents--showing off, I think! He has also started to look around a lot and work on holding his head up. He can also roll over (sort of); today he did it twice. I was sitting next to him, so once he got up to his side, he had a bit of a downhill advantage to finish the rest of the roll, but it still is a big deal!
He's having quite a fussy afternoon...I think he misses Grandpa & Grandma already...I know I do!!!

Video

For any who haven't already had the pleasure of watching Isaiah's dramatic performance through Facebook, here is your chance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EgTos7dlHg

:)

Thank goodness!

Two reasons to be thankful today:
1. Football season has started...

Heisman! :)

2. My boys are feeling better (as you can see from the photos!). :)

John was feeling really crummy this weekend with some sort of stomach bug. Isaiah was pretty congested and fussy. Isaiah is still congested today, but I think it's just normal baby congestion. He is happier today and seems to be feeling well other than the stuffy nose. So glad whatever miserable bug John had seems to have passed.

And, with John feeling better, he took Isaiah with a bottle to a coffe shop with him so that they could hang out while John does some of his work and reading. That means a shower and a nap for me! :) John is a great husband and a great father; he is amazing with Isaiah. I'm so glad to see him feeling better!

Get a Grip

Isaiah has started to really grip onto things. Before he would wrap his fingers around something but not really hold it. Now, he really grabs stuff. Pretty frequently now, when I bring him down from burping him on my shoulder, the burp cloth comes with him because he has ahold of it. Yesterday, John was holding him while I warmed up some dinner. He had been a little fussy, and I thought I would feed him before I sat down to try to eat. John had put Isaiah tummy down across his chest. When I went to lift him up, he grabbed on to Daddy's T-shirt and wouldn't let go! So, I let him stay with Daddy as it seemed he was not ready to leave. :)

Today Isaiah is three week old!!! We'll have to take his weekly picture a little later today.

The doctor told us yesterday at our wellness check that since Isaiah is gaining weight well (8 lbs 12 oz now!), we no longer have to wake him at night to feed him; we'll just let him wake up. Seemed exciting, but he woke up an extra time last night from the nights when we had been waking him, so I don't know that extra sleep is anywhere in the immediate future. :)

Growing

So, it is hard to believe that in such a short time, Isaiah is already growing and changing a lot. Here he is at one week old...




And, here he is at two weeks old...



Man, he's cute! Looking at John's baby pictures, I think Isaiah is starting to look like his daddy! :)

Today

I just can't get over how absolutely overwhelmed I am with my love for this little guy!

Isaiah has been "helping" his daddy with grad school reading and preparing for the class he has to teach.



Yesterday we went to the pediatrician for the first visit, and today I went to a support group for breastfeeding moms at this place called "The Pump Station" (nice name). I think I realized that an outing a day for two days in a row is a bit too much for both little Isaiah and for me right now. All I want to do is stay home for the next several days and not even step outside the door. Maybe by tomorrow I feel motivated enough to take a walk...But, beyond that, I want to just stay in and soak up time with my beautiful little guy! (That and possibly take a nap!)

These lovely flowers are from our extra "family" at the Vineyard staff.

He's here!

I can only imagine that I will be writing non-stop about every little thing that this miraculous, precious little gift of ours does, but today, I am sleep-deprived and just happy and overwhelmed by the privilege of having our new little Isaiah Jackson Snowden in our home.

He was born on Thursday, August 14 at 7:30 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and is the most beautiful thing in the whole wide world!

He is home now and doing well. John took him for a walk this afternoon and is now holding him. John is an amazing dad, and I am so blessed to share this life adventure with such an amazing man!

Anyway, for today, just a couple quick photos and my expression of great joy!!!

Baby's Room

Some sweet friends came over Saturday and helped me clear and organize some things from Baby's room, and today, John hung up the stuff on the walls. It feels like the room is really ready to have a baby living in it! Whoa, it's exciting!

Getting Ready and Waiting

Hey, guys! When is Baby Snowden going to get here?

Well, it could be any day now. The due date is still two weeks away, so it could be any day or four weeks from now! That's a pretty broad range for a Type-A planner like me. :)

I am plodding along with my preparations. I just move a lot slower these days with everything! And there is so much I would still like to get done before he comes. I may need to accept that not all of it will be in perfect order. Bleh.

My major accomplishment of the day was to finally finish the curtains that I was making for Baby's room. They still need to be hemmed, but I went ahead and hung them for now. May have to enlist Grandma Miller's (my mom) help when she comes if they don't get hemmed before then. Here's a little shot of them...


And a close-up of the fabric. What could be more fun than monkeys playing funky tribal drums? :)

Cloth Diapering--Gearing Up!

So, I've been really determined to try to do the cloth diapering thing, but it has come a long way since the days of basic flat cloth with pins and rubber pants. There are so many options! I've been looking on some message boards, and it gets a little overwhelming trying to sort through it all. Anyway, I came across this contest where you can win 12 FREE AIO's (which stands for All-In-Ones, as I'm learning from message boards)! I LOVE free stuff. So, if you're a mom or going to be soon and happen to read this, check out the contest:

http://babycheapskate.blogspot.com/2008/07/giveaway-12-bumgenius-30-diapers.html

5 Years; 36 Weeks

John and I celebrated our 5-Year Anniversary last weekend! We went to a little B&B closeby that we stayed at after our wedding. We spent a nice relaxing day together, and it was so nice to get away even a little bit.

I'm so thankful and so blessed to have such an amazing husband! Seriously, he is so good to me, and I just can't wait to see him with Baby Snowden because he's going to be an amazing dad!

While we were there, we were playing around with the camera, and John had the idea to try to take a silhouette picture of the baby belly. It turned out pretty fun, and you can definitely see how big it is these days! I just hit 36 weeks this Tuesday, so while it is still early and unlikely to happen quite yet, it really could be any day now! Wow!

Humbling Moments

I am getting really large these days, and it has been humbling to feel my energy fading! I really packed a lot of events for my work at the church into July because I was (rather naively) thinking, Well, as long as I have things pretty clear by early August (due date is the 19th), that should be fine, right? I am teaching a class at the church for a summer series we have, and it ends July 29. I've had a lot of people come up and ask me, What are you thinking?! Well, I was thinking, I've never done this before! How should I know any better?! Not to mention that I come from a family of people on both sides who never retire and probably cooked three full meals after helping in the field the day they gave birth! Ok, so maybe an exaggeration, but point being, I don't come from a long line of people who know how to just "take it easy."
Anyway, I've had to face some of the limitations on my energy this week, but an even more humbling moment came on Saturday. I had gone for a walk Friday morning and felt my toes poking and rubbing and thought, Oh, I probably need to trim by toenails; it's been awhile. So, Saturday morning when I was getting ready to walk again, I went into the bathroom to cut my toenails only to discover that I can't actually reach them well enough to accomplish such a task!!!
So, I rather sheepishly called out to John that I needed some help (which I think scared him for a moment considering the room I was calling from!), and my dear husband helped me out with this task, which I don't imagine you really foresee yourself ever needing to help another adult complete. He's awfully good to me! And, I suppose it is a good lesson for me overall because it is hard to be too stubbornly self-sufficient when you need assistance to cut your own toenails! :)

Father's Day

I love seeing my boys bonding already! I'm really blessed to have such a great husband! He's been so great with the pregnancy, and Iknow he's going to be the best dad! He's already so good with the little guy. I couldn't ask for someone better to raise a family with!!!