A lot to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving Sir Isaac! This is definitely a year we have A LOT to be thankful for! Not only do Daddy and I have the good fortune of being blessed with wonderful families and friends...but this year we have a whole new addition to our lists of "Blessings" Who knew a screaming little baby boy could be such a Blessing in disguise! OK..we knew!
     We are spending our first Turkey day in Elko this year with Gramma 'Berta and Grampa Pat! SO far Isaac has made liars out of us! He has been a complete angel so far! barely a crying peep out of his little mouth! I cant believe it! Maybe we took the wrong baby! Although it was surely our hellish baby angel in the car on our 8 hour trek out here!...But whatever works! Im pretty sure he just is bored of us and is stoked to have new faces doting over him....Thank heavens for Grandparents! As well as baby-less getaways  to the gym (ugh, i am so sore!) and the store.

    That is all for now - just a big Happy THanksgiving to all of our family and friends. We can wait to see the rest of you over CHristmas! More faces and more babysitters! The list of Thankfuls keeps growing!

THe First 100 days!

                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              Dear Isaac,
     You are 100 days old today! I cannot believe it! My little monster is officially 3 months old! So now is when the fun starts right??? Well apparently you didnt get the memo that you are not supposed to cry so much anymore...we will just blame that on your inability to read just yet!
      The past 100 days have been such a whirlwind of emotions....I cannot imagine anything in the world causing such a roller coaster of emotions than motherhood! Your smiles & giggles give me the highest highs and your screams and cries give me the lowest lows (so you can stop the crying at any moment now please!) I have never been so proud and so terrified all in one! I cannot believe I have not driven your Daddy crazy yet!! No preparation in the world can get you ready for a journey like this!
    Everyday is something new! I love peeking over your bed each morning to see you smiling face!  I cannot wait for all the fun times we will have together - you, me & daddy! I look forward to the new things you do everyday and watching you grow! You are definitely a 12lb handful for sure! But for all of my gripes, I wouldnt have it any other way! You are the one the angels picked out for me and Daddy and we are so thankful to have you in our lives!
    I love you more than anything LIttle Sir! And I look forward to each and everyday new and exciting moment with you! Happy  100 days! May there be MANY MANY MANY more!!!
     Love, Mommy

Road Trippin!

      Ho Hum! What to do when all the Halloween candy is gone and Mommy and Daddy both have the week off....Let's jump in the car and take a 15 hour drive to Colorado!! Just shy of 3 full months of life Little Man has already seen the sights of Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado! 5 days, 4 states, 3 time zones and 2 exhausted parents leads to 1 amazing Family vacation!
      Isaac was such a trooper on the ride! After waking the little critter up at 2 AM and hittin the highway, we were off! All was going well until we hit that Rocky Mountain High!!! Stupid Mommy didn't even think about the altitude change affecting his ears...that is when the Rocky Mountain Meltdown began! I felt so bad! He cried and Cried and nothing seemed to help him...until he finally (hours later) fell asleep from exhaustion! Poor guy! By the time we got to Jason's Aunt Sue's house he was wiped out! And so were we!
     But the next morning he was up with a big smile on his face and a sure crowd pleaser!  We had a great time at Aunt Sue's amazing ranch in Boulder!  Isaac got his first glimpse of horses, deer, and the amazing dacschunds  Mr, Boges and Joey! While in Colorado we also did some exploring of the "most colorful state". We saw the sights of Colorado Springs, Manatou, the Garden of the Gods, Old Colorado City and Boulder city! A lot of driving for 5 days! But well worth the trip! Although Im sure we have scarred Isaac from ever wanting to get in his car seat again! Who knows maybe he will finally start sleeping in his crib! (doubt it)
     Back in Vegas we are scurrying around trying to get the house all packed up and moved out! Who knew you could accumulate so much junk in such a little bit of time! I blame my mom for that genetic default! And since when does a barely 3 month old need a bigger wardrobe than his mommy and daddy combined??  At this rate I won't have to buy him new clothes till junior high!
    Speaking of Mr. Man (which is  what I am supposed to be doing here, right??) He is growing in leaps and bounds these days! He has finally busted out of his Size 1 diapers and is barely wearing his 3 months clothes! I have tried to get him from stop growing so fast but he just won't listen to me!  He is like an out of control weed - although he is pretty damn cute! And the giggles?? Well they are just to die for...if you can get one! Daddy can...I think they plot against me when I am not around! As if I am not emotional enough!

    We are 6 days away from the magic month 3 when all the chaos falls into place and Isaac magically becomes the perfect Gerber baby! I cant wait! Only 6 more days of uncontrollable screaming and crying for no reason!! 6 more days? I can handle that! Bring on Magic #3!!! Just keep in mind if we don't see any changes come November 17, Jason and I will personally seek all of you "magic Month 3 liars" out! So beware!
   The holiday season will be filled with lots of travel time again(weather permitting of course!) First we are off to Elko for Thanksgiving with Gramma Berta and to meet Grampa Pat! Also I finally booked our plane tickets to NEPA for the holidays!(December 15th) I cannot wait to go home! Little guy will finally get to meet his Nono, Nona, Aunt Kri$$y( sorry...is that a typo?), & Uncle Mark! Noni will be so shocked at how big he is! I will be scared to death of flying with him until the second we land! More than anything I am scared he will have a freak out and they will have to land the plane in some remote midwest location and kick us off the plane for not being able to control our child! We will end up on 20/20 with Barbara Walters condemning us for being such horrible parents! How embarrassing!Ugh! I don't even have a ready-for-TV-body yet!!
     Well thats all for now! Hope to hear from you all soon and see you at the holidays!

MAC-tastrophe!

Weeee'rrreeee back!!! What a past few weeks we had!! If ever there was a time to blog!
First off, the most devastating news....my computer died. I am sure you all heard about it on your local news. It was pretty catastrophic. Lots of tears and screaming. My hard drive sang its final swan song...for the second time! For those of you who dont know what that means (Mom) it means EVERYTHING is gone....pictures, videos, music, everything, Gone. This would also be a good time to refrain from asking me if I backed it up...Enough said there.
But alas, my Lassie is back - blank slate as she may be - Im back in the wonderful world wide web!
Next up we had Sir's 2 month birthday celebration! Grammy Roberta came to visit and had a great time! She got to witness the Isaac freakouts first hand and handled him as only a loving gramma can!! Im sure little Isaac misses her already !! I know Jt and I miss all the extra help!
Speaking of Freakouts, Little Man also had his first round of shots...that was fun! Of course - I cried. When don't I cry anymore? But Daddy was there to hold my...err..our hands and make it better.

On a separate note..,The weather in Las Vegas is finally BEAUTIFUL!! Now is definitely the time to be here! The cool fall breeze is long overdue!
  Milestones for month 2 have been right on schedule! LIttle Man is learning about his hands and how yummy they can be! ugh! And finally he is starting to smile and coo - which is the most amazing thing to see! He has the cutest smile! It amazes me how quickly he goes from smile to meltdown....but when its the other way around, meltdown to giggle, it almost makes the crying bearable!

As if we didnt have enough going on - We are packing up shop again and moving out of our house. Mommy's short temper got her in "trouble" with the landlord and I demanded to be let out of the lease. We figured they would let us out of few months early - but they said now or never...needless to say you can probably guess which option we picked if we are packing! Not that we have any place particular to go - Just wait until Uncle Ronnie has a live in ticking time bomb with stinky diapers! Hopefully it wont be for too long....
Lastly Mommy finally headed back to the gym. UGH! what torture that is! I honestly can say that I absolutely HATE to workout - no matter how i much i do it! But after a month of a broken back I could never imagine how hard it was to go back! Pregnancy was probably the best shape I have ever been in in my entire life and after 2 months off I can barely touch my toes. The back thing really did me in...But I am hoping Day 1 is the hardest and its all down hill from here! Tony I miss you!!! ;)
  We are less than 3 weeks away from the "Magic Month 3" when supposedly everything "falls into place" - I won't hold my breath! But who knows - maybe Sir will shock us all!
Well that's about it for now - my foot is going numb from rocking the stroller as I type - of course little man still sleeps in the stroller! - which by the way, the dr said is completely fine as long as he sleeps. I just wanted to let everyone now we are still alive and well. I miss you guys all so much. Stay tuned for my next post when I tackle my holiday travel dilemas and swine flu vaccinations! I have my Kleenex ready!!!

8 and Counting...

8 weeks old!! Can you believe it?? I survived! He survived! And amazingly Daddy survived me! Much to my disbelief, it seems I have a new baby in the house!!! We started the Similac Alimentum last week (aptly coined "liquid gold") and literally in hours I have a new baby! My little Alimentum angel! It is amazing what a difference we saw in just one feeding! I wish I could call my pediatrician and shake him silly for telling me Isaac's doesn't need it, but i doubt they favor doctor abuse in the office! Don't get me wrong, he still freaks out all the time and cries for no reason (or what I say is no reason) but at least now he will have 20 to 30 minute stretches of alone time! It is amazing! Well worth the (insane) price!!
Little man is still sleeping in his stroller every night. I finally gave up on the bassinet and took it out of the room. The important thing is that he is sleeping - which means I AM SLEEPING!! Yeah stroller!!
Sir Isaac also had his visit from his cousins and Aunt Gina this week! We had a great time and it was so nice to pawn his screaming head off on someone else! I just hope he didnt scare Bratty off as my lifetime free babysitter!! Not like she has a choice anyway!
Gramma Berta comes to visit this week too! I am sure she will be surprised at how big he has gotten in the few weeks since her last visit! Plus its another mini break for me!! Oh yeah for visitors!!
Unfortunately Mr. Man also got his first taste of life as a member of Red Sox nation. Elimination hurt us both! Alas, his first taste of Sox heartbreak. I am sure there are many more years of that to come. Maybe next year!

Jason and I have also decided now is not the time to venture out into public with little man. I have been crazy about hand washing too! The news has been scaring the bejesus out of me with all the kids dying of the flu! I dont even want to take him to the Dr for his shots! All those little sick rugrats running around wiping their snotnose faces all over the chairs and such...ugh! Maybe ill just give him his shots at home! ha! I hesitate to even buy plane tickets home for the holidays without knowing how bad the flu season will actually get! But i think I may just INSANE if I dont get home for Christmas! I will drive if we have too! Plus we can take Zorro too!! I am sure everyone would love that, except evil Jumper!!!
Well off to get the dogs out of their new doggy daycare - the car! How embarrassing! I put the dogs in the car all morning because they drive me crazy! But they love it!
They dont know they are not moving! The neighbors hate it, but hell with them right!!
As long as they are happy is all I care about!

7th week stretch....

We are 7 weeks into mommyhood and - as promised, things seem to be getting a little easier - or maybe just a bit more predictable. It is amazing what a difference a week makes in his development! I am already crying at his "baby"pictures and wondering how he got so big so fast!!! For all of my complaining I still want him to stay my baby boy!!! Before I know it my perfect little angel ( and every other man in the world) will be checking out a 15 year old Hannah Montana rocking a stripper pole! (BTW am I the only one who finds the Cyrus clan slightly disturbing? Thank God I had a boy!!)
Finally I am starting to pick up on the cues of his cries - Hungry? Dirty? Tired? They are all starting to have different cries. His formula issues still exist, I finally broke down and bought the Alimentum last nite. I hope this works for him, its compeltely hypo-allergenic so he cant complain about anything!! Although it smells like dog food and my other boys are a bit jealous!! He still needs to figure out his pooping schedule - once every 2 or 3 days isn't working out for us. By day 3 he is all cramped up and cranky, not so fun for any of us! The little bugger is no dummy either - he completely knows the difference between me rocking the stroller in the house and actually going out for a walk. He is definitely going to be an outdoorsy kid - once again Jason's kid for sure!!
Isaac has stared to become more alert these days. His eyes are starting to track mine and the sound of my voice. He has discovered his fingers are yummy too! Now this could be completely coincidental ( I hope!) but i think my little man has already fallen victim to Barney! I put PBS on when he is in his bouncy chair and he miraculously becomes perfectly content when the big purple dinosaur starts bopping around! I swear PBS brainwashes kids! As you can see he is just as serious about his Red Sox!
As for Mommy I am still as discombobulated as ever! My thoughts range from "did that person wash their hands?" to "oh yeah!! maybe i can sneak in a shower today!" It is true you become so consumed with your new bundle of joy you can't possibly remember what you thought of non baby related! I actually tried to make coffee the other morning without adding any water OR grounds to the pot! And forget about little things like personal appearance! I hardly remember what my hair looks like outside of a ponytail! But it is all worth it when he smiles - even if it a poopy face smile!
Miraculously Little man has been sleeping a little better at night! I have given up hope of him sleeping in his crib! He sleeps in the stroller - I am not embarrassed to admit it! I think of it as a crib on wheels! I think he likes the "cave" feel of being all snug in his carseat! But as I learned in a hurry - "go with whatever works!" so Sroller it is!

I am finding Mommy life has also made me look at the world a little differently. It makes you realize that EVERYONE is someone's daughter and son. Everyone was once the center of someone's universe and rocked to sleep each night. It also makes me appreciate my mom so much more!! I can't believe she did this 5 times!!! (yes dad, there are 5 of us... :)) It's unfortunate it takes so long to realize how amazing your parents are - or how much they have gone through to get you where you are. I almost (almost!) feel bad for being such a spoiled brat when I was little! Little Isaac won't ever know all the sleepless nights, tears, or struggles Jsson and I had, or how our world suddenly began to revolve around him the second he came into the world until he has kids of his own. After gladly being peed on, pooped on, and (my favorite) thrown up on daily, I can't wait to remind him of all the havoc he has wreaked and say I told you so!!

Fall is in the Air

Las Vegas is well known for being the 24 hour city, the (other) city that never sleeps. These days Sir Isaac is taking that a bit too far! It seems he has his days and nights a little mixed up lately. My little Stewie is on an "all or nothing" plan when it comes to sleep. Either he sleeps ALL day and awake all night or he cries ALL day and sleeps (a bit) at night. I have yet to decide which is the lesser of the two evils! A late night drive at 11PM to try to put him to sleep turned up useless. I spent midnite to 5:30 thinking of ways to maintain my sanity during his 5 hour freak out and came up with nothing. Finally I took a long hot shower and cried my eyes out! Had I known the sound of the shower would put him to sleep I would not have put it off so long!
The past week has definitely had some breaking points for both Jason and I. It seems nothing will soothe him. I have read that babies his age typically cry 2 to 3 hours a day and Sleep 16 to 18 hours a day. Once again Little Man has it backwards. Lucky us. I even think Zorro has had his fill of the nonstop screaming. Normally nothing can get his lazy butt off the couch, but one yelp out the little monster's mouth sends him off to quieter pastures! The dogs give us the look of "when are you going to put that thing outside already".

Speaking of outside, the weather here has taken a dramatic turn for the better. Finally we have temps in the 60s and 70s. These are the days when it is (almost) worth living in Vegas! On the flip side, Mommy threw her back out. Literally the back pain is worse than labor - only now i have to carry the baby AND a car seat rather than just waddle around with him in my belly! I blame the car seat for this whole fiasco anyway! They are such torture devices for both baby and mommy! What did parents do before carseats? Whatever it was it had to be OK since most of us are still here!!

Oh MY!!! while typing this I just experienced my first victory in letting him cry it out!!! Albeit a well fed and clean diapered Isaac is laying 6 inches from me wailing away, I decided to let him have his little fit without pulling me in, and it FINALLY worked!! He is finally asleep!! Sweet victory!! UGH!!!!!!!!! My Cell Phone ringing had a sneak attack ambush and the crying is back on!! The gods have foiled me again! I can not wait for teething!! Bring it on!!!