Hello Isaac!

With so many pictures of Grace lately I had to post this one of our little guy. This is honetly how he is most of the day. He is very happy and smiley. He entertains himself and loves to play. Over the weekend he discovered that if he tries real hard he can make his hands grab toys and mommies. He has practically mastered his new skill in the last 4 days. He loves laying on his back on his play mat with toys dangling above. He will reach and grab and shake for 20-30 minutes at a time. Of course I don't get much accomplished b/c I am generally right there egging him on and watching in amazement. Even though he is my second, everything he does seems like the first time I have seen it. He is such a joy.

Rachel and Bryan AND the Circus are in town!

What a busy, fun-filled day. This morning Rachel and Bryan came over for breakfast. They were in Raleigh for the weekend. Rachel and little Baby Powell are doing well. Ray is due August 5th- I am putting my money on a baby girl.
After a napless afternoon Grace and I headed to the Barnum and Bailey circus...the greatest show on earth! The boys stayed home and watched basketball. It really was pretty neat. I haven't been to the circus in years and this was Grace's first time. Grace was mesmirized. She also ate a bunch of crap and that made it even more fun. There were a ton of people there who brought babies. Seriously, the circus is not a place for babies. As they say, "...children of all ages!" No babies.
The Powells hold the Mitcheners. Grace got to wear her UNC pj's- Bryan is a UNC alumni.
She sucked on this bottle all night. At least half of it ended up on her or the chair.
"Mom, are you kidding me?"
Might as well make her do it while I can.
An evening I will never forget.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Sid got Grace a little pink carnation corsage. She wore it for about 10 minutes. :-)
Daddy and Daughter
See my pink shoes!?

Grace and Ryen Grace and Ryen tearing it up! Which one of these kids is doing their own thing?

Friday night was the DDD at church. For the second year I was blessed to serve as committee head and so was able to attend. This was Sid and Grace's first dance and I definitely had a few teary eyes. By far the highlight of the dance is watching the daddies and their dates come in through the front door and have their picture taken. The girls are so excited and the dads are relieved to see other dads all dressed up and trying to manage giggly little girls running around and dancing. This year my favorite was of course seeing Grace, but also her friend Ryen. There were a couple of other two-year olds at the dance too. The little girls are precious b/c they are adorable in their dresses, but mostly b/c they just run around. The other funny thing is they do exactly what the big girls do. The big girls all took off their shoes, so did Grace. The big girls went to the bathroom by themselves, so did Grace. The big girls got their own plates of food, so did Grace...donuts and mints of course. I also thoroughly enjoy watching the dads do the Hokey Pokey and the Macarana. Grace had a blast and especially loved staying up late. She now wants to go to a party every day. hehe. We've created a monster.

A visit from Grandpa and Aunt Holly

My dad and his wife, Holly, came to visit for a few days last week. They flew in from Minnesota to catch-up with Grace and meet Isaac. It was a cold weekend but they didn't seem to notice. We wanted them to have the full effect, so on Friday morning we took the kids to Marbles, a kid's museum here in Raleigh. Even though Grace was the only one playing, she wore them out. Grandpa and Grace spent lots of time playing over the weekend and Isaac, well, Isaac was his typical laid back self and just took it all in. Holly also spent lots of time playing along with Grace and talking with Isaac. She made her famous eggrolls, which only took her an entire afternoon. We put them both to work wrapping tissue boxes for Grace's preschool Valentine's party. A good time was had by all and we will look forward to their next visit.

Doogie Houser watch out!

Grace's new passion has been playing doctor. Her Auntie Hill sent her a doctor kit when she had surgery over the summer and then we got her a kit as well. Needless to say, she is always looking for a willing patient and on occasion will let us be the doctor. I guess I shouldn't say that all of her patients are too willing- poor Isaac doesn't get much say in the matter. Interestingly, Sid enjoys the game tremendously. He seems to always have a real life "boo boo" or ailment and Grace is just the person to provide lots of attention. Good natured Isaac takes it all in. When asked where his "booboo" was, he happily cooed.
Doctor Grace with her doctor hat on.
The kid will sleep anywhere. And he does a lot of eating and sleeping. He had his two-month appointment on Thursday and he is what we call a "big kid." He is in the 96% for height and weight- just like his big sister always was-and still is. He is 14 pounds and 25 1/8 inches. He is already wearing size 6-9 mos. He has almost outgrown his infant carrier- the pediatrician said I could keep him in it for another month. Gee thanks- b/c lugging around a huge baby, who cannot completely support his head, in out of the car to Grace's pre-school in the freezing weather is just what I was hoping to do for the next few months! He has completely recovered from his RSV. He is healthy and happy and just precious. And I have to brag- I have gotten several compliments on how "pretty" he is. People think he is a girl even with tractors on his overalls or dressed in blue from head to toe. Oh well, I'll take the compliment either way.
Grace leaves no white space on the paper- this one took a while to finish.
Stamping is fun- when the stamps stay on the paper.

Nana to the rescue!

Grace and Sid at Grace's first UNC game! Go Heels!

Grace and Isaac in their UNC pj's. Courtesy of Nana-of course!
Is there anything better than sleeping on mommy, with your head crooked to the side with a paci hanging out of your mouth?

Phew! What a week. We couldn't have done it without Janice. We kept Isaac home all week except for his regular trips to the pediatrician. We had beautiful weather this week which was wonderful so that Grace could play outside since we were kind of stuck at home. Isaac is doing great. He still has a cough and congestion but he has shocked his doctors by how well he is doing. He has even started gaining back weight. Now we just need to get him back to sleeping well in the night...b/c now I am the one with the dark circles. Grace had a fun week playing with Nana. Unfortunately she has caught something and is feeling rotten. We will be taking her to see the doctor this week. I cannot even imagine how much we have paid in co-pays in the last two weeks. We were going so often with Isaac that they stopped charging us-no kidding. Anyway, thanks to everyone for all of the prayers. They were felt and made a difference for little Isaac.

Oh- and I can't forget- Grace went to her first UNC basketball game this past Saturday. Janice and Sid took her to the Dean Dome to watch UNC v NCState and UNC blew them away by 30 points. Everyone had a wonderful time.

RSV...again

We have had a big week. Janice and Aunt L came up for a visit. Janice stayed for the week and left on Friday. She is back again today, and I will elaborate later. Grace and Isaac have kept us busy. Isaac's umbilical cord did not want to fall off so we took him to the doc last week to have it removed and cauterized twice. It is finally starting to look like a normal belly betton. On the sad side of things, Isaac has RSV. Grace had it the exact same time of year two years ago and it was a nightmare. Isaac seems to be fairing better at this point, which is surprising given his age. He is struggling to breathe a little, and has a terrible cough, but surprising the doctors by how well he is handling this. We are praying against a trip to the NICU and of course we are praying that the long-term affects are minimal; namely no asthma and a weak immune system. Grace didn't get the asthma but her immune system struggled for a long time. Anyway, we are having some long days and nights, but Isaac is taking it in stride and is still really good; hardly fusses at all. Nana came back to help out and we are so grateful.
Here is Grace holding Isaac "by herself."
The kids in their 'horsey' outfits as Grace describes them.
Isaac's first official bathtub bath- we had to go back to sponge baths b/c his belly button had to be re-cauterized-but are hoping to start them back up again soon.
Nana with her grandkids.