August 31, 2011

Homework.  Isaac's class is talking about families this week.  He was sent home with a giant piece of construction paper and instructions to bring in a family photo and to trace everyone's hands onto the paper.  The note said that the children could decorate the paper anyway they wanted, but Isaac was not at all interested in decorating it.  Instead he wanted to use stickers and markers to make notes for his teachers.  I thought that was really cute and figured our colorful hands looked just fine how they were.  (And we sent sticker notes to all of his teachers from last year.)    

August 30, 2011

Is anyone else out there friendly with your trash man?  Isaac used to be totally obsessed with the trash truck and would beg to go outside every time he heard it coming (it comes three times a week because we are in a condo complex).  And we would have to sit and watch as all four dumpsters were emptied.  Our trash man always waved and smiled and pretty soon we started seeing him and recognizing him all over town.  He recognizes us too and always waves hello.  You have no idea how many trash trucks there are until you have a little boy.  There are tons!  Anyway, Isaac eventually lost interest and we stopped going out to watch the truck - until this week when he is suddenly begging to go outside again.  

August 29, 2011

When I was getting Isaac ready for bed last night I noticed that he had a bit of a cough.  I commented to Charlie "I hope he's not getting sick again."  A few hours later I woke up to Isaac's horrible barking cough and him gasping for air.  It was pretty scary and I wasn't really sure what to do.  I woke Charlie up and we discussed taking him to the emergency room, but ultimately decided not to.  I slept with Isaac on the couch the rest of the night, constantly checking to make sure he was still breathing, and then called the doctor first thing the next morning.  He has croup and a bad case of stridor which was causing him to struggle for air.  The doctor put him on a steroid and said that should be enough to keep him out of the emergency room tonight.  Hopefully he'll be all better in a few more days.  

August 28, 2011

Here is Luke enjoying a Sunday nap on our bed.  You would think a little guy like this would take nice peaceful naps like this everyday, but he doesn't.  He usually only sleeps about 20 minutes at a time and it is most often in his bouncy seat.  The only time I can get him to sleep longer is if he sleeps in my arms or next to me on the bed.  Then I can get him past that 20 minute wake up spot and he'll go back to sleep for an hour or so. 

August 27, 2011

Today we went to Daniel's dinosaur birthday party.  Isaac kept eyeing the cupcakes and we had to physically restrain him from grabbing one before it was time.  About one second after this photo was taken Charlie let him go and he made a mad dash for the one with the blue dinosaur.  It was kind of hilarious.  

August 26, 2011

I don't think Charlie or I had any idea how much this fence project was going to tear apart our yard.  It is a total disaster outside.  There has been non-stop jack hammering and power sawing for the last week and they are no where close to finishing.  Plus it is totally ruining our yard.  Our sprinkles are broken, our grass is slowly dying and most of our plants have been trampled.  I am most sad about the hydrangea that Janelle sent me in the hospital when Luke was born.  We planted it in the yard but it is barely recognizable now.  This better be one amazing fence!  

(A few days later...)

August 25, 2011

Today was Isaac's birthday and I can hardly believe that he is 4 years old already!  We kept offering to throw him a birthday party but he insisted that he did not want one.  Instead he chose to go to Boomer's and ride the go carts.  Afterwards we went to dinner at Super Mex and came home to eat birthday cake.  He told me that he wanted a lemon cake, but when he saw the finished product he was disappointed that it was not yellow and never ate a single bite of it!  Too bad because it was a really good cake.  At least he liked the plastic airplanes that I put on top.  

August 24, 2011

Today we went back to the bike park with Sandy and her kids ("the cousins" as Isaac calls them).  Katie was having a tough time getting up some of the hills so Isaac was helping to push her.  I thought it was super cute.  Poor Hailey is too little to really ride so she hung out with Sandy and Luke & I.  She is almost two and she was super cute telling me about the kitty on her shirt in this tiny little voice.  

August 23, 2011

It's been 4 months since they dropped that enormous pile of wood in our parking long, and today they FINALLY began working on our new fence.  Isaac spent half the morning watching out the window.  He insisted that the construction workers needed his help.  He even brought out his hard hat and his drill in an effort to convince me to let him go outside.  The jack hammer was his favorite (my least favorite) part of the ordeal and he told me that he wants a jack hammer for his birthday.  

August 22, 2011

Ever since I had Isaac I pretty much stopped listening to the radio.  I only ever listened in the car and once I had a baby in tow, I just couldn't bring myself to taint his little ears with some of the terrible lyrics of today's popular music.  I am pretty out of the loop when it comes to new artists, but I had heard of Adele a few times.  Then a few months ago my brother in law Chris, posted a link on Facebook to one of her songs and after listening to it I went out and bought the CD.  I have not been disappointed.  Now whenever it's just Luke and I driving together I turn up the volume and sing along.  (I tried it once with Isaac but he was annoyed because it interfered with his endless string of questions regarding road signs or something else important like that.)   

August 21, 2011

I apologize for the terrible cell phone photo.  Today was my friend Sherri's birthday and her husband planned a little surprise party for her.  We met at Sam's sister's house in Corona Del Mar (which was totally darling by the way) and waited as quietly as possible (there were several young children there) for the birthday girl to arrive.  I snapped this photo when they walked in.  I intended to get a better one while they were singing and blowing out candles but I ended up with a different kind of blow out to deal with.

August 20, 2011

Tonight we went to dinner with some friends at Cafe Rio.  It was fun to catch up with our friends but the food made me sad.  The steak salad is just not quite the same with the cilantro vinaigrette dressing.  In fact the creamy cilantro dressing is probably my favorite thing about the salad (I'm not eating most dairy products because they bother Luke's stomach).  And looking at this picture is another reminder that I am in desperate need of a haircut.  

August 19, 2011

I was totally shocked to walk in and find Luke half way out of his bouncy seat.  Yikes!  Isaac was 5 1/2 months before I ever buckled him into this thing and that's because he started rolling out.  Luke just uses his little feet to push and squirm his way around.  Kind of funny, kind of frightening.  We will be buckling him in from now on!  

August 18, 2011

Here's little Luke just relaxing in his bouncy seat and feasting on his hands.  He LOVES his hands.  I think we may have a thumb sucker if he every actually finds his thumb.  Right now it's mostly just fingers but he has them in his mouth all the time.  I think he'd put that whole fist in there if he could.  I think he's absolutely darling.  

August 17, 2011

Luke had his 2 month doctor appointment today, and I was conveniently able to schedule Isaac's 4 year old check-up for the same time.  Both boys were well behaved and both left with a clean bill of health.  Luke is chunking up pretty well so I was a bit surprised that his weight (a little over 14 lbs) only landed him in the 75-90th percentile.  Isaac refused to take a picture with his "Watch Me Grow" sheet but Luke was much more cooperative.  

August 16, 2011

Charlie came home from NYC tonight.  He usually brings some kind of little surprise home for Isaac.  This time it was a stuffed Angry Bird (and yes, Isaac plays Angry Birds - what 3 year old doesn't?)  When you push a button it plays the music from the game and makes that crazy bird noise.  Isaac spent the next half an hour running around the house throwing his bird at Charlie & I and yelling "ANGRY BIRDS!!!"  

August 15, 2011

Charlie was out of town so I took my boys and headed to Chik-Fil-A for dinner.  Isaac loves playing in the play structure, but turns out it is not quite as fun when he is the only one in there.  At lunch the place is always packed (and we are usually there with a friend anyway), at dinner time - not so much.  Anyway, he still had fun and I don't know how I caught this action shot with my iphone but it looks pretty cool.  And Luke just keeps getting chubbier and cuter by the day.

August 14, 2011

We received a catalog of Halloween costumes in the mail this week.  Isaac found it and has become completely obsessed with it.  Every time I sit down to nurse Luke he pulls out that catalog and starts in with the questions.  He wants to know the name of every monster, transformer, super hero, etc. and what they all do and why.   He about drove me crazy today.  The good news is he has changed his mind about what he wants to be for Halloween to a costume that you can actually buy.  I was getting really nervous that I was going to have to create a satellite costume for him (as that is what he's been insisting on for the past week or so).  Anyway, since we were talking about costumes it reminded me of this caterpillar costume that I bought for Isaac as a baby and I couldn't resist trying it on Luke.  I love it!  

August 13, 2011

Charlie is in NYC for work this weekend and I knew that Isaac and I would go crazy if we stayed home the whole day.  I still get a little nervous trying to manage outings with two children, but it usually turns out just fine.  Today we went to Fashion Island, which is an outdoor mall in Newport Beach.  Isaac loves playing at this koi pond and jumping across the steps.  We probably spent about 45 minutes there before moving on to the big water fountain and then the pet store where he laughed like crazy watching the puppies wrestle in their bins.  We stopped at Sonic on the way home for drinks and french fries.  

August 12, 2011

Now that Isaac is back in school again I find myself at the mall at least once a week.  Luke has had a lot of meals in dressing rooms.  Today we stopped in the children's department at Bloomingdale's and Luke was totally mesmerized by this polka dot wall paper.  He could not even focus on eating because he was so excited about the dots.  He could barely focus on eating and when I laid him down to change his diaper he went nuts kicking his legs and cooing and shrieking in delight.  It was hilarious and totally adorable.  It almost makes me want to get some polka dots for our house!  

August 11, 2011

Charlie had to go to a work dinner tonight so I didn't want to cook a full meal.  Isaac ended up eating Cars shaped macaroni & cheese (which he picked out himself on a recent trip to the store).  I haven't been eating dairy products because they bother Luke's stomach.  So it got me thinking tonight - what exactly is in that fluorescent orange cheese powder?  Is it really even cheese?  Then I started feeling all the more guilty that I was feeding it to my child for dinner.  

August 10, 2011

Today we met up with some friends from Isaac's school at the Bike Park.  It's a park in Woodbridge that is fenced in (and locked - you have to have a Woodbridge key to get in) and has bike trails going all through it.  There are tunnels, a pretend gas station, stop lights, etc.  It's pretty cool.  Isaac wanted to bring his tricycle instead of his bike, which was probably the safer option anyway.  He's tried to go off-roading at this park before and had a pretty bad fall.  Here he's playing with Jacob and Hannah.

August 9, 2011

Today is Charlie's 34th birthday.  Of course he had to work all day, but when he came home we opened gifts, went to dinner at La Sirena Grill, and then sang "Happy Birthday" and ate German chocolate cake.  Isaac's birthday is in a few weeks so we have been talking a lot about that lately.  On the way home from dinner Isaac kept telling us that he wanted to blow out the candles on Charlie's cake.  And then he started singing "Happy Birthday to Isaac"and joking that today was his birthday.  He has a funny little sense of humor.  

August 8, 2011

It has not been that easy to find a time to go running.  Luke is too little for the jogging stroller and the timing hasn't been quite right in the morning between when I need to nurse Luke and when Charlie leaves for work.  Anyway, this morning I decided to try a workout DVD instead.  I started with Level 1 and it was enough for me to work up a bit of a sweat and feel the burn (which is a little embarrassing since the way Jillian is talking during Level 1 makes me feel like it is targeted towards the type of people who are actually on the Biggest Loser).  Next time I'll try Level 2.  

August 7, 2011

Luke has started smiling and cooing and talking to us a lot lately.  It is simply adorable!  He also seems to know when I am getting ready to feed him.  As soon as I lay him down on the Boppy pillow he gets the biggest smile and starts making all sorts of happy noises.  He is just the cutest thing ever! 

August 6, 2011

Charlie took Isaac to a movie and to the pool today so I had most of the afternoon alone with Luke.  It was nice to sit and relax while Luke napped.  I started trying to get caught-up on my blogs but got side tracked on the internet and never got around to posting anything. 

August 5, 2011

Charlie & I had a lunch date today.  His new job is only a few miles away so he normally comes home for lunch.  Today he rode his bike to work, so I went and picked him up for lunch.  First I had to bring Luke into the office so everyone could admire him, and then we went to Knowlwood's.  I had never been there before.  They claim to have the "World's Best Hamburger."  They don't.  It's a good burger, but I think it's silly to claim you are the "world's best" of anything.  It sets people's expectations too high.  

August 4, 2011

When Charlie asked Isaac where he wanted to go for dinner tonight he adamantly insisted on Super Mex.  He used to always choose Rubio's.  We're not sure what brought about the change of heart but suspect it might be the construction that is going on in the Super Mex shopping center.  Also, Isaac loves to drink.  He is always asking everyone for "just one little sip" of their drink, which always turns out to be lots of sips.  Here he is downing a nice mixture of Sprite and Diet Coke.  

August 3, 2011

I needed to pick up a few things at Albertson's today.  Isaac noticed some Thomas the Train fruit snacks on the shelf and begged me to buy them.  Then I noticed that the fruit snacks were part of some promotion.  You know where you buy a certain number of items and save a couple extra bucks?  But of course it is always the junk food that goes on sale like that.  I must have been hungry because I got suckered into buy all sorts of garbage in order to "save" a few dollars.  

August 2, 2011

A few weeks after Isaac started school at ECLC last year I asked him if he had made any friends.  He told me his friend was Alex.  It took awhile longer before I figured out that Alex is a girl!  He still tells me that she is his best friend.  Alex is not in his class this year, but her mom had her switch bus routes so that she and Isaac could ride the bus together.  I thought they looked so cute sitting together today but Isaac was being a booger and kept making pouty faces instead of smiling for a picture.

Too bad since he looked so cute blowing dandelions while waiting for the bus to come!

August 1, 2011

Look at this cute little guy in his bathtub!  I just love it.  He's got quite the belly in this photo.  I think he'd probably just eaten.  I remember he cried a little the first time I gave him a bath, but every other time he's just seemed very relaxed and happy.  Isaac likes to come help give Luke a bath too.