Lots to be thankful for!

R and I were discussing all the changes over this past year and there's so much to be thankful for. I thought I'd just take a minute to share.

I'm thankful for a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery.
I'm thankful for our sweet son, Isaac, who is surely the best baby ever!
I'm thankful for 3 years of marriage to my sweet husband!
I'm thankful for our cozy house that has plenty of room for our family and a fenced yard for the dogs.
I'm thankful R and I were able to vacation in Puerto Rico and experience their culture!
I'm thankful I get to stay home and be a full-time Mommy!
I'm thankful for family and friends and all the love we've been blessed with!

God has truly given us more than we could have dreamed up for ourselves!!! Hope your thanksgiving was filled with recollections of the blessings you've been given!!!!

Behind.....

So I'm starting to get the hang of this mommy thing and am totally loving it! Isaac is such a wonderful baby!! Yesterday he and I started Christmas shopping and preparations! We went to Walmart and got supplies for a gift for R (hee, hee) and our front door is now sporting a Christmas wreath!! Life is starting to feel normal again + baby! However, I am so behind!!!

I finally paid the bills today from the mid-month paycheck; just in time to pay bills again in about a week when we get paid again. Thankfully only one of them was late! I'm now washing my 3rd load of laundry for the day and still have about 5 loads to fold and put away. My next goal is thank you cards. I MUST write them today!!! They're SO late and I feel so bad because we really do appreciate all the generosity for little Isaac man! Yikes!!! It's crazy!! Is there any possibility of ever catching up?!?! Not so sure about that! Smile. Okay...on to lunch and then writing my little fingers off!!!!

Oh, and by the way, for those of you who have said how great I look in the last post. Thank you! But...that's not me!!! That's my sister!!!! Smile. She looks great, though, huh?!!?

Time for an Update

It's been awhile since I took time to post...perhaps because I'm trying to figure out how to FIND time! Smile. My parents and sis came to visit last week. We had the BEST visit ever! It was so precious to see my family love on our little son!! The week was too short, though! I'm ready for them to come back again. How about next week!?!?

Yesterday Isaac turned 6 weeks old! It's hard to believe that he's been with us that long already!!! The little man now weighs 10 pounds!! He slept through the night last night for the first time! (thank you Babywise!!) He's such a joy! I love being his Mommy!!!

Yesterday was also my 6 week checkup. Not quite as encouraging. It was good to know that I've lost 30 pounds already!!! Sweet!!! Still have a ways to go before I'm back to my original size, but good progess. Talk about a painful visit, though. I unfortunately have scar tissue from the episiotomy. OUCH! And with the second bout of mastitis I also now have thrush. Thankfully we caught it early before it got too painful. Poor little Isaac has thrush as well from the antibiotics. So, we're using straight formula while we're treating him for that. I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to keep nursing or if I should just go ahead and wean myself off of breastfeeding. I've been pumping but my milk supply is down anyway...I don't know. It's such a hard decision!!!

As crazy as it sounds, all this is worth it. I love Isaac so much and he's such a joy!!! To look into his little face as he takes in his environment with his big eyes and pursed lips! Wow! He started cooing a bit this week. What a sound!!!! I'm thankful!!! We're so blessed...even on the rough days!

Momma's Boy

My parents and sister are visiting us this week. It's so awesome to see my Dad holding my Son; my Mom holding my Son; my Sis holding my Son. This is only to be surpassed by seeing R holding our little boy.

Of course with family here we had to discuss baby pictures and who Isaac resembles. We drug out R's photo album first; then we looked at some of my pics. And surprise! While Isaac of course resembles both of us, we found this picture where there is a decided resemblance to ME! My little boy is a Momma's boy!!!! Yay!

A Little Political Conversation

I'm not usually into politics, but this election was exciting to me and I followed it pretty closely, even engaging in political conversation now and then! Listening to the news, it would seem that there were many people who found themselves interested in politics for the first time this election.

For as long as I can remember, even as a little girl, I've been concerned about civil rights and racism, particularly regarding the black race. When I was little I recall crying over a movie in which a cross was burned in the yard of a black family. As I entered junior high, I argued the case for mixed marriage, insisting that if the color of someone's skin was the only argument against them marrying one's son or daughter that that was prejudice. As an adult I've done quite a bit of reading on the subject. Once I met R and became his friend, and eventually his wife, my passion for civil rights became even more deeply rooted in my heart. And now that I have a son, it has become more important still.

Politics are controversial for many reasons and I'm not looking to debate the numerous issues. That said, I have to say that I'm glad that Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States. I am excited for what this means to the black community. I am excited for what this means to my husband as a black man and for my son. Isaac will never know a world where a black man has never held the office of president. It's a new world. As R said to me on election night, "the glass ceiling has been broken".

I heard a story on the news about how black slaves laid the stones on the steps of the white house; the very steps where a black man will be sworn in as president. In their wildest imaginations, could those slaves have ever dreamed that was possible? Or there's the story about the 109 year old woman who's father was a slave, who once could not vote because she was black, who voted for and witnessed the election of Barack Obama. I think about Martin Luther King and the dream that's coming true in our generation.

While I disagree with Obama on certain issues, I do believe that his election has spiritual significance for our country. I believe that our nation's participation in the sin of slavery, racism and hatred has caused a spirit of oppression to reside in our country, particularly over the black community. I believe that this huge step forward in electing a black man as president has broken something in the spirit realm that has begun to lift that oppressive spirit.

There's more I'd like to say, but my poor sleep-deprived brain is giving out on me. Time to go get Isaac up for his last feeding of the night.

4 Whole Weeks

I can't believe that Isaac is 4 whole weeks old today! He's so precious! I think this week it finally has sunk in that I'm a Mommy and this is our little boy!! I can't get enough of him! I love watching him take in everything. I love feeling his little hand on my shoulder. Even his loud, obnoxious cry has become endearing to me.

R went back to work this week. I was kinda nervous how it would be to be on my own, but it's actually gone really well! And I'm starting to get little things done here and there around the house, which is encouraging! Yesterday I ventured out on my own for the first time and today we had our friend, Bri, come visit us! It's all starting to come together!! Praise the Lord!!!

What's In A Name?

I realized the other day that after keeping Isaac's name a secret for so many months, that I could now tell the story behind our choice of his name!!! Some of you know the long story of how R and I dated, broke up, got back together and finally married and now have a sweet baby. For those of you who don't know, though, we dated for 5 months, broke up and started dating again after two and a half years apart.

During the time between our dating I tried and tried to get over R, unsuccessfully. I came to a point where I realized that R was my Isaac and that I had to surrender him to the Lord and trust that if we were supposed to be together that the Lord would bring R back into my life. As I prayed about R during that time, I knew that if it was the Lord's will for us to marry and have a family, that if we ever had a boy I wanted to name him Isaac R.

Fast forward to when the Lord did indeed bring R and I back together and we were talking about what God did in us during that time of separation. Children's names were on R's mind while we were apart as well. R told me that if we ever had a boy, he'd like to name him Isaac. I had to ask him if he was serious when he said that, knowing that that was the name on my heart, should we ever have a boy.

When we found out we were pregnant with a little man, there was no question about what his name would be. The Lord answered our prayers to restore our relationship and bring us together and now we have the amazing priviledge of being parents together!! And so our son is named Isaac! Isaac means "he laughs" and so we speak the blessing of joy into his little life!!