Christmas...States Style

I have been working on this post for over a week now. Its been kinda crazy busy here at the States' household which is why i have had to sit down 3-4 times on separate occasions to write this!

Since Leith and I both work in healthcare there is always the very unfortunate requirement of having to work holidays. This year we were blessed to both have Christmas off so that we could enjoy our first christmas as a family of three! Leith even got a whole week off...during internship year...unheard of! So we decided to head up to LA to visit our families for the holidays. We started out the week by heading to Leith's mom's house the 18th and 19th where we just hung out at home and tried to stay dry since it was pouring rain. My friend Jen from college lives near by so she was able to stop by and visit. It was so great to see her and finally meet her boyfriend Johnny. Sunday night we headed to our best friends The Girards house and enjoyed a lovely christmas dinner with them and the Bodziaks and of course Moose (their bulldog). It was a great evening of eating, drinking, carrying babies, and watching football. Monday we headed over to APU where Leith and I both went to college and where we met. We were able to have lunch with a few old professors of ours and they had the chance to meet Isaiah. It was great to catch up and see some familiar faces again. I hadn't been back on campus since I graduated and I was shocked at all the changes they had made! That day we headed to my parents' house for the rest of the week. My older sister Mindy ended up in the hospital on Monday to be induced so on Tuesday we welcomed another little baby boy into our family! Dylan Ryan Schnieber was born on 12/21/10 at 1:30 pm weighing 6.4 lbs and measuring 19 inches long. What a great christmas gift for the entire family!

Leith and I were able to enjoy a couple of date nights that week thanks to my parents watching Isaiah for us. Actually, it was less of us asking them and more of them telling us to please leave so they could spend time with the baby :). Finally, on Christmas Eve we prepared for and enjoyed our traditional Londono christmas party, but of course not before we were completely shocked when we walked out to feed the dogs and discovered that our dog Brandi had given birth to 9 puppies! wow! We didn't even know she was pregnant...she hid it well! After scrambling to make room for the puppies and mama in the heated garage 2 hours before the party we were finally able to finish dinner and get the party started! I always love our christmas party because whenever my family gets together there is bound to be some good times. There is never a time when my family gets together that we don't bust out the conga drums and maracas and dance the night away. Even the babies wanted to join in and bang on the drums! Out of the 30+ people at the house that night were 3 babies celebrating their first christmas...what a joy! We were up until 3 in the morning singing and eating which made for a tired bunch Christmas morning. After opening gifts and having some breakfast, we headed out to Leith's moms house where we ate more and opened more presents. Of course they were mostly all for Isaiah. He doesn't need new toys for another 2 years! The next day we packed our bags, all of Isaiah's gifts, loaded 2 cars and headed back down to San Diego.

We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas with family and friends. We feel so blessed to have such great family and friends and felt so loved by everyone while we were home. We thank everyone for all the great gifts Isaiah received...he will enjoy them greatly! Below are a few snapshots of the our week at home....

Isaiah and his grandmas

Dylan Ryan Schneiber approximately 24 hrs old

Isaiah and his cousin Charlie

yay for presents!

We hope you had a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

6 months

Isaiah is six months old! yes, you heard me right...our little boy is half way through his first year of life. I cannot even put to words how fast time has flown by. In the past month I have returned to work as a nurse at UCSD. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be for me and I am thankful for all of those who prayed for me that week...it really helped! I am working perdiem so I have a minimun requirement of working 4 shifts per month which is so great!

Now onto more important subjects...Isaiah! What can I say to describe Isaiah these days? CURIOUS! He wants to touch, look, and eat everything! With all the brightly colored toys and gadgets that we have for him, his interest always falls to either my cell phone or the straps on the diaper bag which have become his new teething toy. He has two teeth! They are so cute when he smiles but not so cute when he bites considering I am still breastfeeding him...ouch! We just took him into his 6 month well-baby appointment and he is 26 inches and weighing in at 15 lbs. He's in the 10th percentile, but the doctor says he's doing just fine. We attempted to give him carrots a couple of weeks ago and lets just say he wasn't a big fan of them. Two weeks later he is still refusing to swallow and makes this horrible gagging noise, so last night we tried sweet potatoes and he seemed to like those better. Looks liks our son won't be a big carrot eater. We have been having so much fun with him in this stage of his development because he is so much more interactive and playful. He loves to smile and laugh when he's being tickled and he really loves jumping...ALL THE TIME!

We are looking forward to enjoying our first christmas together as a family with our little boy. I am sure that he will be showered with many gifts from his grandparents, but this year we have received the greatest gift of all...our precious baby boy. We love you son.

"Future USC Alum" compliments of uncle Brett and aunt Jess

Isaiah's new friend Eliana was born on 11/20/10 to our dear friends Hector and Melissa. Isaiah's already trying to make a move!

trying to eat mommy's brownie and ice cream

loves to mess with his daddy

its beginning to look alot like christmas...

This is my absolute FAVORITE time of the year! I think it's cuz I love the challenge of searching for the perfect christmas gift for someone and then seeing their face when they open it. Leith says its cuz I get to wear my cute scarves and boots. I will admit his reason is somewhat true! Well, this year we decided not to get a christmas tree for a couple reasons...1) the spot in our apartment where we used to place our christmas tree is home to Isaiah's swing and jumperoo, and 2) we will be gone for the entire week before christmas at our parents' house so we wont even be home to enjoy our tree on christmas. Although I love the smell of a fresh christmas tree, I must say I am somewhat relieved by the fact that I won't have to deal with all the work that goes into putting it up, decorating it, and then taking it all down.

So...in the effort to make this holiday season somewhat festive even without a christmas tree we put up some simple holiday decor and have been attempting to partake in as many holiday themed activities possible.

at "december nights" in balboa park...it was cold!

we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Sara's house and Isaiah got to see his first christmas tree!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

cereal

About a month ago we started giving Isaiah rice cereal. His pediatrician gave us the green light to start anywhere between 4-6 months so when he turned 5 months we thought we'd give it a try. The first attempt was much messier than I expected. It seemed that for every spoonful of cereal that went in one came out! Of course it was quite entertaining for Leith as Isaiah would either spit out the cereal or blow on the spoon causing the cereal to spray everywhere including mommy's face. With time his eating abilities have improved although I think he enjoys getting messy just for the fun of it. Soon we will graduate to veggies...stay tuned!

Apple picking

As I mentioned in a previous post, Isaiah and I ventured to Julian about a month ago with my friend Sara to do some exploring and apple picking. The drive there was about an hour, but didn't feel that long because the scenery was so beautiful. Our first stop was at an orchard where Sara attempted to pick apples but most of them had already fallen onto the ground and didn't look very appetizing. After some searching we managed to fill up a bag. Since it was in the 40's and Isaiah's nose was turning a new shade of red, we decided to head to the main part of Julian where we enjoyed a warm piece of apple pie and the most amazing apple cider I have ever had! It literally tasted like I was drinking straight out of an apple with a straw. We did some walking around, bought some goodies (I got a caramel apple...yum!), and then decided to head home, but of course got a second cup of apple cider for the ride! Although it was freezing (yes i am from southern cali and 40's is pretty darn cold for me) it was a fun day for a drive and some new sights. Below are some pics from the day...enjoy!

Orchard

the apples were so small and cute!

brrrr! it was so cold!

his poor little nose was so pink and cold

enjoying some pie and cider

the sunset on our drive home

superman!

so the other day Leith was playing with Isaiah on the living room floor and he discovered a new game to play with him. It's called superman...enjoy!

5 months

I can't believe that Isaiah is five months old! I know I say that every month but for some reason this month it is even harder to believe. I feel like his personality is definitely showing more and its so fun to see all the new things he can do. His grandma Gloria bought him a jumperoo which he loves to bounce around in now. He has also mastered the art of rolling over on both sides and rolling back onto his back again! He is also sitting upsupported long enough for me to take a picture (which I have displayed below). We have also intruduced rice cereal to Isaiah's diet which is more entertainment than nutrition at the moment but thats ok. As usual he continues to be a fabulous sleeper which makes me a happy mommy. I will say that the time change a couple of weeks ago definitely had him all confused for a bit but we are back on schedule and getting some good zzzzzz's. In the past month we did another weekend trip up to my parents, enjoyed his first halloween, and went up to Julian for a fun-filled day of apple picking and exploring. It's been good times!

post apple-picking...it was in the 40's...so cold! you can tell by the color of his nose :)

view of the beautiful orchard

at pizza port with daddy...and yes his shirt says "My dad is stronger than your dad"

sitting up!

my new jumperoo!

monkey business

This years halloween brought with it many costume options that we could pull off now that we have a baby and all. Our top two choices were between The Incredibles (Leith being Mr Incredible, I would be Elasti-girl, and Isaiah would be Dash) and Curious George and the man with the yellow hat (leaving me out of course). Unfortunately, Leith had to work Halloween so we ended up just having Curious George or should I say Curious Isaiah without the man in the yellow hat. I must say that he makes one adorable monkey!

Our dear friends, the Burmeisters, had a fun Halloween party that day. We enjoyed some soup and sandwiches and then went out trick-or-treating with all the kids. Isaiah enjoyed a nice nap in the ergo, but I am sure next year that won't be the case!

Our little monkey was super tired after a night of partying and fun. It was a very Happy Halloween!

4 months

That's right! Our little Isaiah is four months old as of last week! As I sit here listening to Leith give Isaiah his bath, I can't believe that we have been enjoying him for four whole months already. Once again I must say...time flies! This past month has been very busy for all three of us. Leith is averaging 90 hour work weeks, I am always either doing laundry or trying to catch up with the dust accumulating in the house, and Isaiah is the busiest of all...thumb sucking and rolling over is very time consuming! He had his four month appointment last week which came with the very unpleasane round of shots, but otherwise he passed with flying colors. He's weighing in at 14 lbs 1 oz and is 25 1/4 inches long. I think we are gonna have a tall boy on our hands.

So what's the latest and greatest? Well, he has mastered the art of rolling over quite well and I believe he will start to scoot around any day now. He has also become very vocal lately. His new thing is screaming at the top of his lungs either while he plays or when Leith gets him very excited. Last week he found his feet and they have been inseparable ever since. A couple of weeks ago we made the big jump and decided to start putting Isaiah in his own room to sleep at night. He had been napping in his room during the day but was still sleeping in ours at night. Surprisingly it was harder for Leith than for me...probably because Leith can't even here him when he gets up anyway :). He's doing great in his room and sleeps an average of 8-9 hours at night....hooray!

Isaiah, your dad and I have never been happier than we are now. You make our lives so much more enjoyable and we thank the Lord for blessing us with you every day. We love you so much sweetheart!

DIY: nursery decor

So initially Leith and I decided not to decorate the baby's room/office/guest room because it is so multi-purposeful and because we had planned on moving to a house by September. Well, September came and went and we are still in our apartment and plan on being here a few more months until some plans with Leith's job pan out. So since I have sooo much free time on my hands (taking care of a baby is not time consuming at all...sense the sarcasm...) I decided to start some little craft projects to add a little umf to Isaiah's half of the room. (The other half is the office and Leith's wall of fame which holds his degrees and several momentos from his various accomplishments. I started out with purchasing some wooden letters from Michaels and I painted them blue and attached some brown and blue ribbon to hang them with. I think they turned out great!

Then I decorated a couple of shadow boxes. Since his bedding has trains and cars on it I made one of the boxes with a train cut out and added some ribbon and scrapbooking paper. The second shadow box is centered around one of Isaiah's newborn pictures which I decorated with different shades and patterns of baby blue scrapbooking paper, some brown ribbon and a few embellishments.

I believe I have rediscovered my love of crafting and although I am not as creative as I would like, I find it very thereapeutic and have enjoyed myself alot! I am working on a few crafts for christmas gifts...we'll see how they turn out! Below is a look at Isaiah's new and improved nursery.

home sweet home

Last week Isaiah and I went up to my parents house for a week long visit while Leith was in San Antonio for a combat trauma training course. It was the longest that Leith had been away from the baby so that was tough for him but otherwise the week went quite smoothly. We had a great time visiting friends and family and getting a week's worth of grandma's spoiling! The first couple days we were there we went up to my parents' cabin for the night. Grandpa was especially happy about that because this is his favorite place on earth and he was very excited for Isaiah to see it for the first time. On Sunday we went to church and then spent the rest of the day relaxing in the pool, watching football, and hanging out with my sister, brother and my nephews. The rest of the week went by WAY to quickly and consisted of a visit to my long time friend Emily's house so she could meet Isaiah, visiting grandma at work and having lunch, doing some shopping, and just enjoying the company of my family. I must say that I enjoyed all the extra arms that were so willing to help me out with the baby. Isaiah also had a blast hanging out with his Uncle Frank watching cartoons and biking videos...man time!

The day before we headed home my mom took the day off work and we went shopping and had lunch which was such a blast. Isaiah even got a new toy! Although the week was tons of fun I was ready to come home and see Leith again. Of course after a week with grandma we have begun our dreaded "grandma detox" this week, which pretty much means that Isaiah had to get used to not being held all the time. What a task! I love and miss my family tons! Thanks to my parents for having us over...we love you!

bath time with grandmawe went swimming...it was 113 degrees that day!with uncle frank and feliciai love grandma and grandpawith tia Angelaout to dinnergrandma can't get enough of me!

three!

Our sweet little boy is three months old today and I cannot believe it! I feel like we just brought him home from the hospital yesterday. He has started to plump up a bit and I am starting to say goodbye to his barely-worn clothes as he outgrows them daily. I must say that he is a very good baby. He sleeps through the night and actually gave us a record breaking night's sleep of 9 hours the other night! His favorite passtimes include sitting in his ocean-themed bouncy chair, listening to mommy sing, watching football with daddy (although he just stares at the bright colors Leith is convinced that he loves the sport already), sucking his thumb (I informed Leith that means we should start saving up for braces), and chatting away! Yesterday we had a conversation that went something like this...

Isaiah: baaaaaa

Mommy: hi baby!

Isaiah: yaaaa?

Mommy: Oh really?

Isaiah: aahhhh eeeeee aahhhh

Mommy: tell me about it!

Isaiah: grrrraaaa

Mommy: wow!

You can imagine how the rest of it went! He really gets a kick out of my responses! This month has been exceptionally busy for Isaiah's social calendar. He went to his first wedding in Newport Beach. Our family friends Kristy and Charlie were married at the Newport Dunes...very beautiful! (Kristy is Leith's friend Shaun's sister whom Isaiah is named after.) The whole Tanner family was very excited and touched to finally meet Isaiah and I must say he made quite the impression with his collared button-up shirt and slacks. We spent the entire weekend up at Leith's mom's house so Isaiah had tons of Grandma spoiling time. Isaiah also went to his first baby shower (not something he will be proud of later on, but baby goes where mommy goes since mommy has the food!). My dear friend Michelle is due to have her first baby (Morgan Grace) in November. Might I add that Isaiah and Morgan's marriage has already been arranged! They will make an adorable couple! We have also had a couple play dates with friends at the beach and two visits from my 2 dear friends Erin and Jen who came to meet the little guy. He's a popular one!

Needless to say, we have had a great third month with our little one. He continues to make us laugh when he laughs and melt our hearts when he smiles. We feel so blessed that we cannot even put it in words. Thank you so all friends and family who continue to keep us in your prayers and who have lent us a helping hand with our little guy. We are so grateful!