Lunch Outside

We enjoyed eating our lunch outside on our patio today! It was such a beautiful day with temperatures in the low 70s! This was our first meal on our new patio furniture!

Our new patio furniture!

We have new patio furniture! I am so excited about it! When Jason's Mom and Dad were here visiting last weekend, his Dad helped him unpack everything from the boxes in the garage and set it all up.

The table has a beautiful leaf pattern on it! We found it at Sears on sale at the end of the "summer season" --I guess clearance for patio furniture at that time of the year. The chairs are super comfortable too! I can't wait to serve a meal out there on the patio!

There are six chairs, so plenty of room for guests! ;-D

The patio furniture set came with an umbrella too, but we have not put that outside yet. It's been kind of stormy and windy this past week, so it's not a good time to test the umbrella yet.

Isaac's 1st Birthday Party!

Isaac had his 1 year birthday party on Sunday! It was lots of fun with 15 little ones to share in the celebration! --The youngest was 5 weeks old, and the oldest about 6-7 years old! Our theme was Thomas the Train!
All the kids enjoyed playing with Isaac's toys and the parents enjoyed visiting with one another. Thanks so much to everyone who came!

We served yummy finger foods and raspberry punch!

It was really fun watching the kids interacting with each other! Isaac was giggling and enjoying all the action!

Isaac, the Birthday boy! He didn't want to wear his birthday hat, but we managed snap a quick photo with Daddy holding the hat on his head.

We got the cake from our local Super Target. It had whipped cream icing and was a yellow cake. Delicious!!

The little Thomas train on the cake is a toy with wheels that move, so Isaac can remember his special birthday party when he plays with it!

Family photo time! Isaac's first birthday was lots of fun--we were so glad to share the occasion with Jason's parents and many of our friends!

Once Isaac finished opening his presents . . . with Mommy and Daddy's help . . . the kids were eager to help him play with them! So, Jason started to get the boxes open and cut through all the "top security" straps and ties that hold baby's toys in their packaging. You would think there was a major problem with toys being stolen with the high level of security the toy companies use to keep the toys in their boxes!! Several of the kids enjoyed building a giraffe out of the blocks, and playing with a couple of Isaac's other new toys! Thanks again to everyone who came to his party, it was lots of fun!!

Remembering Isaac's arrival

It was Sunday at about 6:00 pm when we left to go to the hospital for me to be induced. We were supposed to be there by 6 o'clock, but had gotten delayed trying to grab everything we could think of that we might need at the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital, the nurses in labor and delivery told us that my doctor had called to see if I had arrived yet. They basically were scolding us for being late, but I just tried to make a joke and said something about "you know us pregnant women"...hah...hah...I'm sure the labor and delivery nurses know all about pregnant women so that wasn't much of a joke. They showed us the room where I would be staying, and the room where I would potentially give birth! They hooked me up to the monitor machine and nurses and a medical technologist came to check me and stick me and hook me up to my IV. They started me on Cervidil (spelling?) to soften my cervix. Jason was watching the Saints play against the Vikings to see who would go on to the Super Bowl. Jason is from Louisiana and he is a very big Saints fan! I really, really hoped that the Saints would win, because I didn't want his disappointment to "cloud" the arrival of our son! --NOT THAT IT WOULD, because of course meeting our little baby boy was going to be wonderful and exciting no matter what happened in the game. But, I still really hoped that they would win. They did!! By morning, they determined that the Cervidil had worked fairly well, but I still would need more of another type of induction medication to go into labor. Sometime late in the morning they began to give me Pitosen (spelling?) in my IV, which would actually make my contractions bigger and stronger. I remember the pain I felt as the contractions got stronger and stronger. I could hardly think, or speak, or move. Soon they gave me an epidural to ease the pain. Around 2:00 pm my water broke, and the huge, huge amount of water that kept coming was so surprising to me. It was really quite gross. (to put it nicely) Soon after that, my doctor came to check me and said we could soon begin pushing. I pushed for 2 hours, with no progress. The doctor gave me the option to either push 1 more hour or have a C-section. Due to the amount pushing I had done with no progress, and the fact that I was really tired, I decided to go ahead with the c-section. At 5:04 pm Isaac Samuel Sasser was born! I was so excited to hear him make those first noises when he cried. I was laying down with a sheet draped in front of me, so I was not the 1st or 2nd person to see him. I heard everyone talking about him, and Jason taking photos. I was hearing him crying, and I was desperate to see him! I thought for sure they had forgotten about me (his MOMMY who carried him 9 MONTHS!!!!), when they brought him over for me to see for the first time. What an INCREDIBLE moment! After that I had to wait about an hour or so (don't remember exactly how long) while they did all the check ups. Jason went with Isaac to watch what they were doing with our new little son! I was taken back to recovery and began making phone calls on my cell phone! We announced his name to all our family and friends, and I even posted a little announcement on Facebook. What an exciting time that was! Now, he's a whole year old. Hard to believe! It is still so exciting to see him each morning! We love to watch him exploring and engaging the world around him. Thank You, God, for the amazing, wonderful gift of Isaac!

Exploring the park

It was such a beautiful day that we decided to take Isaac to play at the park. However, by the time we arrived at the park, it had gotten to be a little bit later in the day and the temperatures had dropped. It was cold and a little windy. We didn't stay very long, but Isaac couldn't pass up the opportunity to ride on the swings!

I love how his huge smile is the only part of his face you can see! He really, really loves to swing. It's a good thing we have a little park within walking distance from our house (not this one in the picture) that I can take Isaac to any time to have a little fun swinging!

He wanted to explore the tic-tac-toe game and counting cubes!

Isaac's funny smile & the cat in the tree

We were taking the Christmas down and had everything off, when we discovered one last decoration on the tree--a furry little kitty cat named Fluffy! No, really, me and Isaac were hanging out when suddenly I heard a lot of commotion over by the Christmas tree. I saw the cat in the tree and grabbed my camera as fast as I could! She is so hilarious! The crazy thing is, this is not the first time for her to climb the Christmas tree!! She did this a couple of years ago, while it was fully decorated! She was a little bit smaller then, too!

Isaac plays in his activity circle toy sometimes when I am doing dishes or getting supper ready. He usually enjoys it fairly well, until he gets bored or restless. I had come over to check on him, when I noticed some funny faces he was making. . .

He was sticking his lower teeth (the only ones he currently has) out and making a kind of goofy grin! I started laughing and imitating him, and he LOVED that! So, he did it again several times --enough for me to grab the camera and snap a quick photo!

He was soo funny! Even he thought he was funny! Ha ha Ha . . . Ha ha Ha!!!

Isaac's room

It has been a while since I posted any photos of Isaac's nursery! I think the last photo I posted was right after we had finished painting in there. Well, here is a little tour of how it looks now!

We have three baskets on one of the shelves to contain diapers, burp clothes, and diapering creams and powders.

The theme of his nursery is "jungle"!

His closet, where I have been sorting through his old clothes and organizing his new clothes. He has grown especially fast through 6-12 month-sizes, and is currently wearing mostly 18 month-size clothes. Although, quite a few of his size 12 clothes (that don't snap underneath) are still fitting him.

His dresser is full of pants, shorts, pajamas, t-shirts, socks, shoes, blankets, and crib sheets.

We keep a bunch of books and stuffed toys handy in a basket beside his rocking chair/glider.

January flowers

We planted some new flowers in our circular flower bed in the front yard! It has been so cold around here lately (I know it doesn't seem cold to you northerners ... ha ha ...), so we decided to get some hardy plants that would survive the night time freezing temperatures.

Our fall garden is doing really well. We have a bunch of mustard greens that are ready to eat!

These are purple cabbage, but I don't think they are going to make cabbages. We'll see. We're not sure what happened to them, but they haven't done real well yet.

These are our ornamental kale plants. They are so pretty at this stage! Soon they will start to "go to seed" and produce some long stalks with little flowers on the end.

These ornamental kale plants are in the back yard flower bed on the left side of the yard.

Birthday fun!

Isaac was invited to birthday party of one of his friends from church. It was a beautiful day, so many of the kids spent some time playing in their back yard!
Isaac really enjoyed taking rides in this wagon in our friends' backyard.

Here's the birthday boy blowing bubbles with Jason. It is his 2nd birthday!

Cake time for the birthday boy! Isaac is on the far left in this photo!

Isaac really enjoyed those party blow-thingys!