one year

Isaiah has made it through his first year of life and I think about it with tears of joy and a little sadness. I will explain the sadness first so you all dont think i am crazy. I feel like the year has gone so fast and although growing up comes with new stages and accomplishments, I will greatly miss the baby things. I miss when he would fall asleep on my chest for hours and when I could wear him around in my moby carrier. So many things I will miss about his baby stage but i look upon the future with joy and excitement.
Now for the exciting part...Isaiah is at the point of taking his first steps any day now! He has been cruising since he was 10 months old and each day he seems to get more and more comfortable with the idea of taking a step without holding mommy or daddy's hand. He stand independently quite well and is very proud of himself which he always makes sure to demonstrate with cheering and clapping. He has begun to climb on anything and everything and he also discovered where mom keeps the pots and pans. One of his favorite pass times recently is playing hide and seek with daddy. When Leith finds him he screams and crawls away as fast as his little arms and legs will allow. It's seriously the cutest thing I have ever seen. He made sure to top off the year by saying "mama" to me yesterday as he stood at my feet pulling on my pant leg. It was so amazing!!!! I love that little guy!
I have experienced more changes in the past year than ever in my life. It has not all been easy but man it's been interesting and fun! My life completely changed when Isaiah entered it. He has brought me more joy that I could have ever imagined. He has taught me to appreciate the little things in life. His smile melts my heart and his laugh is contagious! We can't wait to see what God has in store for our little man. Our hope and prayer is that He will grow up to be a man after God's heart and that we can raise him in the manner that God wants us to. Isaiah we love you more than you will ever know!

the first time we looked into each other's eyes

Happy Birthday!

rock n roll half marathon

After almost six months of training I am proud to say that I finally completed the half marathon that was looming over my head for a long time it seems. Throughout my training I remember being so hard on myself when it came to reaching my goals and decreasing my walking time and people would tell me that on race day the adrenaline would change everything...its so true! Sara and I ran almost the entire 13.1 miles! I the last two miles were the hardest part for me because by right calf stiffened up and my foot went numb. Surprisingly it was harder to walk than run! During the run I saw so many people running with pictures of friends or family members on their shirts to whom they were dedicating their race since it was to support the leukemia and lymphoma society. The pictures and cheering brought chills all over my body and tears to my eyes. I had been training all this time with a personal goal and didn't even think that people were running in honor of someone they loved who had battled such a horrible illness. It was a huge eye opener and such an encouragement that I could accomplish what was ahead of me. I am so proud of Sara, her dad, and myself for taking on this challenge and seeing it through till the end. Thanks to all of those who have been supporting me through my training and who cheered me on during the race. Rock on!

my training and race buddy...couldn't have done it without u!

our cheerleaders!

our new house!

Leith and I have become homeowners! and yes...since most have asked us this question...we feel old! We thought having a baby made us feel older but having an almost 1 year old and owning a house definitely has added some gray hairs. We will be moving to Orange County...specifically Rancho Santa Margarita at the end of June. Leith finishes his internship year in June and then will be stationed to work as the primary doctor for a group of marines at Camp Pendleton. We are so sad to leave San Diego because of the memories we have here and the great friends we have made here. We feel so blessed to have formed such great relationships and met such great people that have made this transition to parenthood so much more fun and memorable. We know that they will be lifetime friends. Our new house is approximately an hour from where we live now in La Jolla which is not too far for day trips (hint hint)...come visit us friends!!!! When we first were showed this home Leith and I looked at eachother and knew that this is what we wanted. Now that it's official we can share the pictures with all of you! But you still must see it in person so this is no excuse...come visit us! haha...can you tell I want you all to come visit us? I am especially talking to a select group...you know who you are! So without further delay...here she is!

back yard

my new kitchen!

living room as seen from entryway

living room

guest bedroom (you can stay here if you visit!)

master bath

We are so excited to get settled in and have all of you over!

11

my apologies...this post is a couple days late but I worked over the weekend and didn't have time to write. For you followers that anxiously await the monthly report...you know who you are! Isaiah is 11 months! WOW!!! I seriously cannot believe it. I feel like last May was not that long ago and I remember the excitement we felt because we would soon welcome our little boy. Now we are preparing to celebrate his first birthday! Since Isaiah turned six months Leith and I have been saying that the stage he was in was so great and fun and our favorite yet...since then each stage has been so great and fun and our favorite yet! Its amazing to us how fast he has grown and changed. Each day he surprises us with something new. He's gotten much stronger on his feet this past month. Although not walking independently yet he cruises while holding on to an object or someone's hand. The best part is his facial expression when he realizes he's walking...its so funny! His cuisine and appetite have both increased. He's eating most everything now and able to chew most foods. Amongst his favorites are beans and rice, macaroni and cheese, and steamed veggies. He definitely keeps me on my toes all day long. Many times throughout the day I find myself looking for him even when I have only left the room for a minute. I usually find him under the dining table or behind the recliner or in the kitchen trying to open the door to the pantry (which we just baby proofed because he started taking everything out!). So as you can imagine everything is slowly being taken off shelves and placed in boxes in order to keep them out of Isaiah's reach. I guess you could say he's helping us get a head start on our packing! This month came with some fun activities as well. We had a couple beach days and discovered that Isaiah loves sand but not ocean water. We headed to the park quite and bit and had a few play dates. This month has come and gone and although I am in denial about it I know that my next monthly update will be for his first birthday...ahhh! (tears :( ) I don't know if I am ready but ready or not here it comes!

first mother's day

This was my first mother's day this year and I have to say I was pretty excited about it! Leith had to be oncall on sunday so we celebrated on Saturday instead. Saturday morning I woke up to the sound of movement in the kitchen and the smell of bacon. When I came out of the bedroom there was Leith and Isaiah in the kitchen making breakfast dressed up in collared shirts...so cute! There were flowers and cards set up and a little breakfast table in the living room. After reading the cards and drying my tears (leith always manages to make me cry when he writes a message in a card for me), we had breakfast. Delicious homemade waffles with strawberries, bacon, and coffee...yum! Then I was told to get ready and we could go do anything I wanted. So we headed out for an afternoon of pampering and some lunch. We spent the rest of the day in our pjs watching movies...amazing! My parents came down to spend Mother's day with me and Isaiah so we wouldn't be alone since Leith had to work. We spent half the day in our pjs and then went to coronado for a late lunch and a stroll around the town. It was overall a great first mother's day. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing husband and son. I thank God for them everyday and wouldn't change our life for anything in the world. Becoming a mother has definitely changed my level of appreciation for my own mom. I now understand in every way the way she feels about me. Thank you mom for everything you do for me and for being such a great example of selflessness. I hope that I can be as great a mother to Isaiah. I love you!


my boys (isaiah is eating waffles of course!)

my delicious breakfast

my pride and joy

rolling with the punches...

If there's something I've learned for sure from being a mom it is that things don't always go as expected. Not a day goes by when I am either running late, have to cancel things, or rearrange my schedule due to a late feeding or an unexpected longer nap or just not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I want to get done. But although I know this for sure, I am also human and I forget these lessons I have learned. As some of you may or may not know, Leith and I are in the process of purchasing our first home. The process has been yet another lesson for us and we have learned alot. Amongst those lessons is that dreaded topic of PATIENCE! We were supposed to close escrow last week and due to some unexpected delays we had to push it to this week. We are (or should I say were) supposed to close tomorrow and have the keys by the end of this week but it looks like that's not gonna happen either. I would be lying if I said I wasn't very upset this morning at the happenings that have occured and that I didn't kinda yell at the processor in charge of our mortgage. ok...I admit...i yelled at her. Not my proudest moment but the frustration built up and since she was the only one I was able to talk to (other than Isaiah) I ended up venting to her. I don't think Isaiah would understand much of what I had to say anyway :). After I let out my frustrations and felt a bit better I decided to go along with my plan for the day and head to costco for some groceries. All was going well and Isaiah was behaving himself beautifully until we got to the register. (btw i just realized that alot of my fellow mommies' tough day stories involve costco...haha). So I got to the register and as the clerk rang up my items and oood and aaaahhd over isaiah, I opened my wallet and realized I had forgotten my debit card at home. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! so as you may have already figured out...i had to leave all my groceries at costco and head home empty handed with a baby whose nap was overdue. Lets just say there wasn't a dry eye in that car on the way home.
What happened next was everything I needed. Leith called me while he was on his way home and knew I had had a rough morning so he told me to pack isaiah's diaper bag and have him ready so he could pick him up. "what?" I responded. Yes, and he told me to go and get a few hours to myself...get a pedicure...shop...do whatever I wanted to clear my head. I promise you all I heard the hallelujah chorus in my head at that time. Leith took Isaiah and I went and got a pedicure and had some frozen yogurt and walked around the mall without pushing a stroller or picking up cheerios from all over the ground. It was amazing! Don't get me wrong...I adore Isaiah but I needed the time away.
So hear I sit feeling much better than I did this morning and realizing how blessed I am. Although the house situation is taking longer than expected we at least have a place to live now and we still have time before we have to move. So we don't have much to make dinner tonight? oh well...Costco will still be there tomorrow and hopefully so will my debit card. God has an amazing way of showing us how to be grateful for the little things in life.

cheeeeeeeeese!

"say cheese!"

"cheeeeeeeese!!!"