Last night's dinner...

Baked chicken with fresh veggies from our garden (squash, our first zucchini, and tomatoes). On the side, we had fettucine alfredo from Trader Joes. All I did with my chicken was to fill my baking pan with about a quarter inch of olive oil, add a little garlic salt, place the chicken in this mixture and add the cut up veggies. I baked it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees (covered) and then for another half hour at 425 degrees (uncovered). It was a hit! My guys loved it, and I thought it was pretty yummy myself. :)

Yogurt is so yummy!

Isaac has been eating his yogurt by himself for a while now, and he is getting better and better each time! Of course, it usually produces a mess, but somehow he downs most of it. Here are some snapshots I got this morning while he was eating:

(This is Trader Joe's strawberry yogurt with Juice Plus powders mixed in.)

Just look at that face!!!

Our very first zucchini!

We thought our zucchini plant wasn't going to produce fruit this season. We were WAY wrong! Steven found this baby out in our garden a few days ago. Now, what to do with it? Maybe some zucchini bread?

Isaac is 20 months old!

Our little man is now 20 months old!

He is continuing to grow and develop more each day and is SO fun to be around.

His speech is really maturing - he is making words plural now (guitars, apples, balls) and using lots of posessiveness (Mommy's keys, Daddy's piano, Isaac's juice; or that's Daddy's, that's Mommy's, that's Isaac's). He can even say the new baby's name! When asked where she is, he points to my belly. He can also identify her room and her bassinet.

Isaac is still a great eater, and he regularly uses a spoon and fork during meals. He still loves cherry tomatoes (which are now ripe on our tomato plants! YAY!) and will eat most anything we put in front of him! I'm SO thankful that he eats most veggies, fruits, and whole grains, which is what we try to have lots of in our house.


Crawling is one of his favorite things, and he spends lots of time crawling up and down on our couches, chairs, stairs, and his new "big boy" bed. Speaking of the big boy bed - he loves to play on it, but he's made it clear to us that he's not ready to take naps in it yet. We've offered it to him for naps a couple times, and he doesn't act happy at all. So, for the time being, he enjoys climbing up and down from it, which is fine with us! We're in no rush for him to get out of the crib!

Isaac is a great helper, and he loves to feel that he's helping around the house. Any time that Steven is putting something together with his wrench or screwdriver, Isaac joins in and grabs a tool. He then putters around with his tool, just like a man on the job!


He is a little worshipper and loves to praise Jesus through singing "Hallelujah", clapping, and raising his hands! During our church services, he loves the music time and repeatedly says "Amen! Jeeeesus! Hallelujah!" He is also learning to play quietly while sitting between Steven and me during the sermon portion of the service. He doesn't quite understand how to whisper yet, but we're working with him on that! He does very well during the sermon, playing with his books and toys and eating a snack supper. Before and after the service, he loves to play with the older kids at church and assist them as they help Steven get his music equipment packed up.

Isaac is full of joy, and we pray that he continues to develop more of this fruit of the Spirit throughout his life and that it's a blessing to all who cross his path!

Thank you for our little boy, Lord! We just love him!!!

Isaac can vacuum, for real!

A couple weeks ago, we got a new little vacuum to keep downstairs for quick cleanups. When the handle is not extended, it's the perfect size for Isaac! I've mentioned before that he loves cleaning, so he was thrilled when Steven and I let him help us clean the corner where Steven's new keyboard table will go. (We have ordered a new table to hold Steven's Motif, and it will also have space for a computer and speakers. This is another step towards getting that first CD recorded - right here in our very house!)

Here are some shots of Isaac vacuuming for real for the very first time!

Our little snapper!

Isaac loves to "help" me snap fresh green beans. He literally pulls them apart in the middle and then I snap the ends off. He truly is such a big helper!

We harvested some of these green beans from our garden and also bought some from the farmer's market. I'm still learning the best way to cook them - any good recipes would be much appreciated!!

Think I picked this pepper too soon?

Pregnancy Update: 27 Weeks

I am 27 weeks pregnant, and officially in the third trimester! Only three months to go before our little miss arrives!

We are SO excited; words can't even describe the joy I feel in my heart when I think about this little one joining our family.

As far as my pregnancy goes, I am still feeling great overall. I am getting more tired than usual, so I can tell my body is shifting into the third trimester. My lower back is starting to be a little sore at times, especially when I get up from lying down (which happens more often than not with the incredibly frequent need to pee!) At my last checkup, I hadn't gained any weight in the last month, which made me happy since I'm trying to gain much less weight with this baby than with Isaac. I think I've gained about 11 pounds so far. I am not denying myself some occasional (ok, maybe regular) yummy treats to fulfill my cravings, like ice cream and cookies leftover from Kati's wedding (oh, they're so delicious! nothing like homemade iced sugar cookies!) Thankfully, though, Isaac loves fruit, so he inspires me to eat lots of fresh in-season fruit every day. (I really do love fruit myself, so this isn't hard at all in the summertime.) In addition to the lower back pain, I have felt very emotional during this pregnancy. In fact, I have felt significantly more emotional than with my pregnancy with Isaac. I have to wonder if it's because I have a little baby girl inside me this time - maybe it's the extra estrogen, in addition to my own?! Just this past Saturday I broke into tears during our lunch when the song "Moon River" started playing in the restaurant. I thought about how Steven and I used to dance to that song when we took dance lessons during our first year of marriage. All those memories of waltzing together came back, and I just started bawling. My sweet husband just smiled and said, "Yes, that was a wonderful time sweets. We can take dance lessons again if you want." :)

Since we are on the home stretch of this pregnancy, here are the things we are aiming to do before Baby #2 arrives:

1. Clear out the nursery of the last few things that have nothing to do with babies. (old work-related books, some cables and cords, etc.)
2. Purchase a crib for new baby from Ikea. We're looking at this one. Also, purchase a mattress.
3. Prepare decor for nursery. My mom found the perfect fabric for the nursery (!!!), and we'll be working together to make a valance, a bedskirt, and a couple other things around the room.
4. Get a pregnancy massage (or two!)
5. Get some frozen meals to keep in the freezer in preparation for the first few weeks after baby's birth.
6. Clean out the freezer since we can't fit any of the aforementioned meals in there at this point in time.
7. Get another receptacle and cable hookup set up in our garage, so that we can plug in our elliptical/fan/television and start using the new exercise portion of our garage. Maybe that will help me get back in shape after the delivery?!?
8. Take a trip to the mountains to enjoy a last getaway as a family of three.
9. Spend lots of time in prayer and seeking the Lord regarding parenting two babies, making it through this delivery with less trauma than the last, and praising Him for this incredible blessing in our lives.

October 11th, here we come!

Baby's Room Makeover; Part Two

Thanks to my wonderful parents, our baby's room has two fresh coats of new, lovely, "girly" paint now! Also, thanks to Steven and my dad, several pieces of furniture have been moved around so that everything is now in it's permanent place (well, for a while at least)! We still need to get the crib and decorate the nursery (with some rockin' material that my mom found at Mary Jo's!), but here's the progress we've made for now:

My dad and Steven cleared out the entertainment center (and we did some remodeling to it; see below!) and replaced it with Isaac's dresser (which was replaced with Aunt Kati's old dresser; see that below, too!) This dresser will serve as the diaper changing station:


This is the other side of the room. The crib will go here:


This is how we "remodeled" the entertainment center to fit our need for it now! (We figured it probably wouldn't sell easily, and we didn't want to just trash it.) My dad and Steven cut it in half, and now the bottom portion of it fits perfectly in our garage, holding our TV, VCR, and printer! Here it is:


Here is Isaac's "new" room. His dresser is new (formerly Aunt Kati's) and his bed is also new (formerly Aunt Kati's and years ago it was my dad's). This furniture works better with Isaac's room decor, and the furniture he had previously will be used for our new baby. (It belonged to my Nana, and it's made from cherry.) Isaac might just be ready for this new bed soon! (Don't you love those cute little rails!!)



Again, thanks to my parents for all their hard work in painting the room and also in moving lots of furniture around this weekend. We love you both!!!

Isaac's new high chair!

A few weeks ago, we took a family trip to Ikea to purchase a high chair we'd seen a while back. It's been an instant hit with Isaac and our family. Although he can't climb into it like his other one, it is very sleek and fits at the end of our table perfectly. It allows him to eat right at the table instead of using a tray. Also, the fabric part is completely washable and we can fold it up if we want to put it away or take it somewhere. Isaac's other high chair had to attach to one of our dining chairs, so with this one, we are able to have more free chairs for company, for the time being.

This picture shows it in black and white, but we actually chose the grey and white one. We love it! We'll be packing up the other high chair until next spring when Baby #2 will need it!

Baby's Room Makeover; Part One

Here are some shots of what the baby's room used to look like:




My parents have been painting the room for us today and they'll be back tomorrow to apply another coat. Thank you Momma and Daddy!!! We are SO grateful for your help with this, and the room already looks much more ready for baby #2!!! I'll be posting pictures soon once the painting is completed!

By the way, the entertainment center is for sale (for a really good price). Let us know if you're interested!! We need to get it out of the house pretty soon!

Wondering where the Bowflex went? Here's our "new" garage, complete with our workout area: (of course, we won't be parking our cars in here anymore!)

Our Babymoon #2!

Steven and I had our second babymoon this past weekend (our first babymoon, when I was pregnant with Isaac, was in Aruba in Summer 2007). This was our first time of leaving Isaac overnight since his birth. He had grand adventures with my parents (Gramps and Granni) and his Aunt Kati and Uncle Ray that you can read about here on my Dad's blog. We are SO grateful to them for caring for him so that we could have this getaway! Thanks Momma, Daddy, Kati and Ray - we love you all! (And thanks also to our extended family who made Isaac's time even more fun during all the Fourth of July festivities!)

We had a wonderful time together in the mountains of North Carolina. We stayed at our favorite little spot in Blowing Rock and rented a convertible so we could enjoy the gorgeous mountain weather even more. (And that's not really something you can do with babies, so we thought we'd take advantage of the opportunity!) Our days were spent riding around the Blue Ridge Parkway, eating delicious food, resting, and hiking. Here are some pictures from our little adventure:

Enjoying a leisurely afternoon in Blowing Rock at Kojay's Cafe (and I especially enjoyed the Rocky Road brownie!)


Riding in the convertible:



Our adventures in the convertible on the Blue Ridge Parkway (SO FUN!!!):



Again, at the Parkway:


Ahhhh...this is why we keep coming back. This place never changes:


Hiking to the waterfalls at Valle Crucis (uphill ALL the way. It was at least a half mile, but it felt like three miles to this pregnant momma!)


Steven took a shortcut up the mountain:


At the waterfalls in Valle Crucis (totally worth the hike! And, don't you love it when random people volunteer to take a picture of the two of you during one of the most scenic parts of your trip?!):


At the waterfalls in Valle Crucis (taking a nice, long rest before hiking back! Next time we'll pack a picnic!):


Where we stayed:


At our favorite overlook on the Parkway:


Sitting on the back of the convertible on the side of Hwy 321, waiting for the 4th of July Fireworks show at Tweetsie Railroad: (we ended up not able to see the fireworks from our spot, so we hopped in the car once they started, headed towards Tweetsie, and then ended up able to stop in the middle of Hwy 321 and watch them directly above our heads because all the other traffic stopped, too!)


Fireworks at Tweetsie Railroad:



What a fabulous trip!

Isaac's after-bath routine...