fall, michigan and just because

I LOVE MY BOYS!

10.18.08 Pumpkin Patch for Gabe's 2nd Birthday

10.19.08 Playing at Mimi and Pop's

11.08.08 Playing in the leaves

11.05.08 Love his profile

11.24.08 Playing in the "no" in Michigan

10.24.08 Ike in his swing - 3 weeks 4 days old

11.05.08 Just playing with the camera

12.03.08

isaac jeffrey black

It’s been way too long! Things have been so crazy around here! Jeff changed jobs, Ike was born, I quit my job, our house was put on the market and we've been searching for houses in Junction City.

Isaac,
You are a blessing to Mommy, Daddy and Gabe. We have loved you from the moment we saw a little plus sign on the pregnancy test. We were so excited that Gabe was going to be a big brother and we couldn’t have asked for anything more perfect when we saw your sweet face on October 6! My heart grew bigger the second I heard your cry and I fell in love all over again. I couldn’t wait to get out of surgery and hold you. You were so tiny, so much smaller than the doctor had guessed. He thought you were going to be as big as Gabe (8.8 lbs) or BIGGER! You weighed 7.11 and were 19.5 inches long. You only lost 2 ounces in the hospital and when we went for your 1-month check up, you were up to 10 pounds 5 ounces and 21 inches long! Doctor Perry was very happy with how you had grown and said you were right on track developmentally. You are very strong and were already trying to hold your head up in the hospital! You’re doing a great job at it now and you already push off of things with your legs if they’re close enough while you’re laying down!

On November 10th, when I got up for one of your feedings, you paused from drinking your bottle, pushed it out of your mouth with your tongue and gave me the biggest smile and “ahhhhhgoooo”. My heart melted! It made getting up in the middle of the night so much easier. Nothing is as sweet as your smiles and coos while I rock you! You have been a great baby. Not too much crying and you have only been waking up two times at night for the past couple of weeks.


I love seeing you smile and coo at your brother when he talks to you. He says “lub you, Ike” and gives you kisses before bed. He doesn’t like it when you’re upset and tries to give you your pacifier or rubs your head and tells you it’s going to be okay. He likes to lay with you under your activity mat and help keep the toys moving so you stay happy. You bat at them with your arms, kick your feet, smile and coo. You’re so close to laughing! In the car, when you’ve had enough of being in your car seat, Gabe says, “We’re almost there Ike”. He’s such a sweet big brother to you! You couldn’t ask for a better big brother!


I got to quit my job and stay home with you and Gabe during the day. I am beyond thankful to have gotten this chance! It was a little tough at first just because I had a hard time not feeling guilty for not paying 100% of my attention to you AND 100% of my attention to Gabe. We’re all adjusting and I wouldn’t trade it for the world! It would have broken my heart to drop you off at a daycare when you were only 6 weeks old! I’m so thankful that I get to be the first one to see your personality come through, to see you smile at your brother, to comfort you when you’re upset and to love you more and more every second of the day.

I love you Baby Ike! Xoxo – Mommy

the boys

Eli, Gabe and Corbin love the pool table at Meme and Pops! It's so fun to see the three play together. Gabe and Corbin play better together. Eli's still wanting to do his own thing and not too interested in the older boys yet...he's gettin' there though. Can't wait to add another little boy to the mix! Instead of a three ring circus, it will be a four ring circus! :o)

sweet gabe

I just wanted to post some pictures that we took tonight with our new camera. We love it! THANKS Kara! These have been edited with Photoshop and I'm sure I could stay up all night playing around more with all the pictures we took!

it's been forever!

Hey Sweet Sweet Bubbies!

I'm so sorry I haven't kept up with this thing! I wanted to write you a letter every month so bad and I've totally slacked! We still haven't gotten you in for your 18 month check up...yes, you are now 19 months. I know, I know, Daddy and I are both slackers! I'm anxious to see how much you weigh and how tall you are. You will be getting tubes in your ears in June so hopefully those ear infections will stop coming back! I just can't believe though how good you are even when you have an ear infection! I'm so thankful that you don't seem to be in pain when you get one! You are starting to talk more and more. We still can't understand most of everything you say, but you're telling big stories. You have amazingly learned sign language! We had no idea that you had picked up what a few kids in daycare had been doing until Dada finally looked something up online. You sign more while saying "more" and then follow it by a sweet little rub on your belly and say "peeese". You can also sign thank you and while doing it you say something that sounds like "thank you" but I'm not sure how to type it out on here.

You LOVE books! One day when Daddy had to go pick you up from school because you were sick, from 11 to 1, you and Dada had read 22 books! WOW! You are now starting to take the books and open them up and ramble on like you're reading them. It's very very cute!

You also LOVE to dance! We ask you if you want to have a Dance Party, you say yes, and then we turn on the TV to the dance music channel and you dance, dance, dance!

I know you don't understand yet, but you're going to be a big brother! We have been pointing to my tummy and saying "baby". You now point to any child...even if they're older than you and say "baby". You came with us to our sonogram on May 16th to find out if you were going to have a little brother or a little sister. And guess what!?! You're going to have a little brother, Isaac! We will call him Ike for short. We taught you to say "Ike" and you say it very clearly. The other night I asked you if you could give Ike a kiss and you kissed my tummy! Oh Gabe, it melted my heart! You are so so SO sweet! You already have such a big and caring heart! You're going to be an amazing big brother! Daddy told me that one day when he was dropping you off at daycare, one little boy was crying because his mommy was leaving him. She was holding him on the floor and you walked over, squatted down, cocked your head to the side and patted his back! You are such a sweet boy!

We went to the zoo last weekend with Becca, Travis and Curran. You loved it! You did so well all day! No fussing at all! When we got home, you and I took a 3 hour nap! :o)

I love you so much Gabe! Mama

the cutest skunk ever!

Gabe will probably kill us later for making him dress up like a skunk! The picture I saw online was just so cute, we couldn't resist. Jeff picked Gabe up from daycare early and took him to see Mimi at work and then to get his picture taken at the local newspaper and then to some of the businesses who are chamber members. By the time I got home from work, Gabe had enough. We waited for Corbin and Eli to come to the house and show off their Boxer and Captain America costumes. It's so fun to have the three boys around the same ages. Corbin is 2.5 and Eli is 7 months. Here are some pictures of our cute little skunk:

more 1st birthday pictures