Isaac at 1 year

Issac still loves the outdoors! Rocks, tractors, hammers, etc...he's all boy!  Even thought he loves to bang and throw, he has such a soft gentle side of him that will make you melt.  He will give you kisses and hugs just because.  And he will gently open the book and turn pages.  This boy will still eat anything!  The only thing he stopped eating was bananas.  He has learned to wave hi and bye regularly.  When he finds anything on the floor he says "auck" and will hand it over to Mama to through it away. A few more sounds from last month like "na-na-na" and "uck" for clock.  Still no "ma ma" in correlation to me.  I can see that he really enjoys learning.  He studies objects and toys to figure them out and will only need to be shown something minimal times before he copies and does it himself.  He has taken his first steps and is getting better and better at walking every day.  Now the chasing really begins! He is in 18 months tops and still 12 month pants for those short legs of his.  Has not gained any more teeth from last month, but I believe his 1 year molars are making their way to the surface.

12 month stats
Weight - 22 lbs 6 ozs. (50th percentile)
Height - 28.5 inches (10th percentile)
Head Circumfrence - 47.4 cm (75th percentile)

Isaac's First Birthday

Issac is now one!!! We threw a little birthday party with some neighbors and softball friends. Joe's dad and my mom were both able to come from out of state for the party too, so it was great to have some of Isaac's family with us to enjoy his first birthday party! Joe was on "cake duty" and boy was it the hit of party! I don't know how I'll ever be able to top this with a homemade cake in the future. Isaac did very well with the decorations and all the people.  He seemed to have fun with being outside and playing with the other kids.  I know he'll never remember his first birthday, but was a special milestone for Daddy and Mommy! 

Loves stars and balloons



"The Cake"

Decked out with real tire tracks, cinnamon sugar sand, candy rocks, chocolate mud piles and more!

Isaac's very own cake!

Pop Pop Fuller and Gamma Shaw

Yes...wrapping paper on one of his presents (Thanks, Nick!)

Girls across the street did some decorating of their own on our driveway!  Very cute!

Isaac is gonna be a big brother!

We are so blessed and full of joy to announce that we are expecting another baby in our family!  Isaac will become a big brother around the end of March, and the two of them will be 18 months apart. I know we will be two busy parents, but we are are looking forward to meeting this new little one!!!

Baby #2 (looks like another child with a big head! )

Isaac sporting his "I'm gonna be a Big Brother" T-Shirt

Cross Country Trip - Part 2

Stop #5 - Frederick, MN and Harper's Ferry, WV
Joe's Grandma Sweeney lives in Frederick and we were able to spend a few days visiting her.  We stayed at a KOA campground in Harper's Ferry and drove Grandma's car back and forth to visit each day, sometimes twice a day to visit with her.  It was so great, because this was the first time I got to meet her too!  We also saw Joe's Uncle Jim and his family there too.

Isaac with Great Grandma Sweeney

Wearing one of G-G's hats!

Grandma Sweeney and Joe

Great Aunt Ines with Isaac (he went very naturally to her)

Great Uncle Jim with Isaac

Isaac's 2nd cousin, Jimmy

Isaac's 2nd cousin, Elise

Riding the "Cadillac" a.k.a Grandma's walker

Stop #6 - Huntingtown, MD
Joe's childhood friend and Colorado roommate for many years moved back with his wife, Michelle.  Nick and Michelle have a 5 1/2 month old girl, McKenna, who Isaac loved to play with and take all of her toys.  Nick's parents were great and we all had a wonderful visit.  Joe said this was an expensive stop, because I was already making plans to buy a jumpy thing that McKenna had that Isaac loved and a Keurig coffee maker that Nick and Michelle had.  :-)

McKenna and Joe

Nick, McKenna, Joe and Isaac



The jumpy thing I had to get! :-)  I think he loved it more there.

 Stop #7 - Cullowhee, NC
The final stop of the trip was to Joe's family.  Isaac meet the rest of his aunts and uncles, Great Grandma Parrish, and Great aunt and uncle Blair and Steve, and great cousin, Andrew.  By this time in the trip, Isaac was doing great with new people and would pretty much play with anyone who would walk with him or feed him! :-) He recognized MeMaw and Pop Pop right way and enjoy his special time with them too!

Great Grandma Parrish

Isaac and MeMaw

Aunt Olivia and Uncle Josh

Great Aunt Blair and Uncle Josh reading to Isaac

Uncle Josh and Isaac's new Sit and Stand toy he loves!

Funny Faces with Isaac and Aunt "O"

Devin, Josh, Isaac and Olivia

Out on the lake with Pop Pop

Isaac with Uncle Chris

A bunch of the gang out swimming in the lake

All of Isaac's aunts and uncles on Daddy's side

Isaac with Godfather Will

Riding on the tractor with Uncle Josh

Enjoying the new pool Uncle Will and Tammy bought him!

Loving time with Great Uncle Steve

Mommy, Daddy, Isaac, Uncle Josh and Aunt Michelle

This pictures makes me giggle.  Trying to get a family picture next to the camper (mommy's idea). 

The best family pic we are gonna get. :-)

Ready for the drive straight through to get home.  We left EARLY on Monday morning. We take a little pitstop somewhere in Kansas, I think, for Joe to rest, and back on the road to get home Tuesday afternoon. Wee get 10 miles from home when the RV decides to break down.  Good thing we got AAA with RV protection before we left.  There we were getting the RV towed back to the house. All in all, it was a great time, lots of memories, and as always, we LOVE being able to see out families! I know Isaac will be too young too remember this trip, but I hope he'll have these pictures to know all the places he was and people he was able to meet before he was a year old!