Happy Birthday Daddy!

Mark's birthday was on January 21...and we had LOTS of fun!

The morning started with Isaiah and Daddy making pancakes. (well, really it started with Mark's 6:30 a.m. PT for ROTC and 8 o'clock class).

and Levi and I just hung out...isn't he getting so big and sweet? He's sitting up by himself in this picture!!

Then we headed to Chuck E Cheese's (or Chuck E Cheese's House as Isaiah called it!) to have some fun! I'm not sure who had more fun...me, Isaiah or Daddy... (I'm sure it wasn't Levi -- because he slept for all but 5 minutes of the fun!)

The Birthday Boy.

the picture that the ride takes ... not too bad!

Daddy and Isaiah playing their favorite game--basketball!

Isaiah's new way to play skee-ball.

us.

Levi woke up at the very end of our fun...it worked out perfectly!

After the games it was time for lunch...we headed to the mall to Hu Hot and Uncle Matthew met us there to join the party!

Uncle Matthew and Mark standing in line while their food is cooked.

Next we headed home for nap time (and presents and (more) cake!) Right away we put Isaiah to sleep so he could get a good nap in and we went upstairs to play Mario Kart...When Isaiah woke up it was time for cake!!

and then presents...

Matthew made Mark this really soft and warm Hawkeye blanket!

Isaiah and Levi gave him a few new grilling tools to go along with his new grill he got for Christmas...

and I gave him this fun pull-up bar!

We hung out a little while longer...and then Morgan, our neighbor, came over to watch the boys while we went to Mark's basketball game...and out for a little more celebrating...

Mark plays on my work's basketball team...they always have a good time... my mom and dad came to watch the game and cheer him on!

Then Mark, Matthew, my dad and I headed out to have a little fun at the casino... unfortunately we came out $5 behind when we left...but my dad won $30! So all in all it was a lot of fun...

What an eventful birthday!! But a great way to celebrate!
Happy Birthday Honey!

we cheated.

On Tuesday night Isaiah and I worked hard to make a cake for my husband's birthday that was on Wednesday (watch for my next post about his birthday!). Isaiah was such a big helper...see...

No, really he did help...

We planned to have the cake all done Tuesday so we could enjoy Wednesday with nothing to do but whatever daddy wanted to do... so we made the cake secretly (okay so he knew the whole time, but pretended like he had no clue what we were doing--even though Isaiah brought him the spoonful of batter for him to taste and another spoon full of frosting)

When we were all done we decided to show daddy our creation that we made for him...

It says "we love dada" (but it looks like dado...haha)

...and then he said, we could eat just one piece tonight...

...and no one objected...

so here we are eating a piece of daddy's cake the night before his birthday!

Levi's favorite toy...and pretending it's summer.

Levi likes to play with toys. He is starting to grab the toys on his swing and tug at them, he likes to hold different toys and watch how he can make them move. Of course he likes the ones that light up, but his favorite toy is this soft, colorful ball that has a rattle inside. He likes to hold it and kick it with his feet. We even played catch with it together yesterday. What he REALLY likes is to hold it up to his mouth and chew on it! :)

We still have cabin fever at my house...so on Thursday when Jayda was over we pretended it was summer...and the toddlers enjoyed eating a popsicle together.

another first.

The other night Isaiah wanted to take a bath (downstairs in the baby tub of course, ever since we tried the bubble bath in the big tub upstairs he wants nothing to do with the upstairs bathtub--oops!!).

Isaiah was all ready to get in the bath and he said, "Levi come too." I thought, "Why not?"
and put both boys in the tub together--their first bath together! And boy did they BOTH have lots of fun!! Levi wouldn't stop grinning at Isaiah and Isaiah was having so much fun playing with Levi and putting the wash cloth on him. It was the cutest thing!! In the middle of the bath Isaiah looked like he was going to go potty so I asked him, "Isaiah do you have to go potty?" Instead of his usually "no" even when he does, he just looked at me and said, "yeah." (hooray we may be getting somewhere!!?!) I told him he needed to get out and go in the big potty or get out and we needed to put a diaper on him so he could go. I explained that if he went in the tub that our bath time would have to be over. So he decided to get out and go on the potty...and guess what!! he went pee on the little potty!! This is the first time he has ever gone pee on the potty! I was so proud of him and let him know it! And he got to get back in the tub and continue playing with his littler brother! What a big boy!

Look at those chubby arms!

A little crowded don't you think? They sure didn't care!


Smiling at each other...they are already buddies!

105 scare

Isaiah has been the healthiest little boy. Before this winter I think I could count the number of times he has been sick (cold, flu, etc) on one hand. It seems that this winter has been hard on him! He's had a running nose/stuffy nose and a cough several times...he's thrown up several times and now he has his first ear infections ever!

This past weekend it started with diapers that were sooooo yucky...you basically had to hold your nose and hurry...it turned into taking off the diaper and put him in the bath/shower to get him clean..ew, I know...but Sunday he seemed better and those icky messes stopped coming...so he went to Laura's like normal on Monday (ALL day long because Mark left for the Special Olypmics--to help, not participate ha ha :) --THANK YOU Laura!) She had a long day with him and knew he didn't feel good. On Monday night when we got home I took his temperature to find it was 102.7 degrees! poor little boy. I gave him some medicine and we laid low for just a little while and I knew Isaiah was ready for bed. Tuesday I was home and he still didn't seem like himself, but he was playing with Jayda and it seemed like just a bad cold...and his fever was just a little over 100. Wednesday came and his eyes were droopy and he looked miserable so I decided enough was enough and we went to urgent care. The doctor said both of his ears were very infected...so he started on his amoxicillian... We continued to take it easy and let Isaiah dose in and out on the couch upstairs...after awhile, we both looked at Isaiah and saw just how RED his cheeks were...so we decided to take his temperature again... Mark took it and looks up at me and says, "it's 105 degrees!" I said, "WHAT?!" and looked at the thermomiter. We both started to panic...I said, "call the doctor!!!!" so we did. (Thankfully we have a doctor who has a pager that he allows his patients to call any time to answer any questions and he always returns the page within a few minutes...) While waiting for the doctor's call, we called my mom to see what she thought...The doctor told us to give him a dose of Ibuprofin and get him in a lukewarm bath...and if the fever wasn't down to 104 or less in 30 minutes to head to the ER....Still panicing we got Isaiah down to the bath (screaming because we woke him and he's hot and sick), he hated every second of the bath, but we got him to stay in about 7 or 8 minutes. We then took him back upstairs (because that's what he kept asking to do -- "go upstairs and watch mommy and daddy's show" is what he was saying.) and then we took his temperature again--103.8--whew! but is that down enough to stay home??? So we called the doctor back. He said to keep watching it and to continue to keep him comfortable. By the time we got off the phone with the doctor it had gone down to 103...and before long it was down in the 102s... and then we saw a comercial for pancakes...Isaiah popped his head up and says, "I want some pancakes mama." Mark and I looked at each other...and I said, "okay, I'll go make you some pancakes." Isaiah decided he wanted to come with, so Isaiah and I made pancakes at like 9:45pm... and he was happy as can be...and by the time we were done eating pancakes his fever was down to 99.3... Just to be safe, Mark decided to have a little slumberparty with Isaiah and sleep upstairs together on the pullout futon. He got up with him a couple times in the night to give him more medicine (and to watch him talk in his sleep!:)) and we survived the night...

oh my goodness, I think that was the scariest experience in my parenting life...but we made it through---and I have to say, Mark and I made a pretty good team!
Isaiah helping make the pankcakes. Look at his red little cheeks.

Pancakes are done-Mickey Mouse! Look at how sick he looks :(

Slumber party with daddy.

go white team!

The other night we were all upstairs hanging out...Mark had on a playoff (?) football game. There was a white team (New York???) and a black team (Steelers). Isaiah was off sweeping the bathroom and hallway as he likes to do for fun up there...when he came in, I asked him, "Are you rooting for the black team or the white team, Isaiah?" and he said, "The white team!" He obviously had no idea what any of that really meant, but it was pretty funny because Mark was rooting for the black team! So I said, "go team go!" which is our new family thing--whenever sports are on, one of us, including Isaiah, will start the Go Team Go chant. Isaiah's response was "go white team go!!" so Mark says, "go black team go!" Isaiah says, "go white team go!" and they went back in forth a few times until Isaiah said, "go black team go!" ha ha... a little while later, maybe 20 minutes or so, Isaiah who has been in and out of the room doing this and that comes in and says again, "go white team go!" It was so funny. I'm pretty sure he doesn't really understand the concept of teams and I KNOW he doesn't understand the concept of two football teams playing against each other on TV, but he knows enough to say, "go white team go!" It's so neat to watch him turn into a little boy and enjoy the things his daddy does.

footsteps and holding his head high!

"Following the footsteps, the footsteps, the footsteps, following the footsteps wherever they may go! Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot."

That's the song we were singing the other day when I had laid out a path of footsteps for the kids to play with. We had fun walking back and forth on the footsteps... Next time I'm going to have them laid out before the kids see them so it will be fun from the start! They were so excited as I was setting them up that they kept walking on the path before it was done... now we have them hanging on the wall so we can use them again...Isaiah keeps saying, "I want to walk on the wall." so Mark or I will hold him up so he can walk on the footsteps on the wall. fun stuff! :)

Look at how high Levi can hold up his head! He is getting so big!! We had his 4 month appointment today (really he's almost 5 months, but that's okay!) He weighed in at 18 pounds 9 ounces!! (the 75% percentile!) and 28 inches (the 95% percentile!) . He's a very healthy baby boy!