Back in Town

I am sorry that it has been so long since we posted anything. We were up in northern Virginia for Jai's cousin's wedding. Stay posted for some great pictures of Isha in her little Indian dress. Thank you for being so patient!

Lunch With Friends

Yesterday Isha and I went out to lunch with some of the other moms from our breastfeeding support group. Our group meets every other week at the hospital. The week that we don't meet we usually all get together for lunch. I have really enjoyed spending time with other moms and babies. This week we went to lunch at Cafe Caturra. I had this great curried chicken salad sandwich. YUMMY! Here is Manisha with her little boy Ian. He is 4 months old and has the biggest brown eyes I have ever seen. He is passed out after having his lunch. Next time I will have to get a picture of his adorable little face. Here is Hunter and her mom Lauren (next time I will have to get a picture of Lauren's face). Hunter and Lauren live in our neighborhood, so we also hang out with them with our Charter Colony Mom's Group. Here is Jennifer and her little boy Tyler. He is eight months old. Once again he is passed out after his lunch. Very typical, the boys are passed out after eating and the girls are still up socializing. I put Isha in this adorable little green outfit with a matching hat. There is nothing cuter than babies in hats. Here Isha is standing up all by herself. She needs the back of the couch to keep her balance, but her little legs are doing the rest of the work. She is such a happy little girl! Always smiling.

Say Hi To Frannie

I can't believe I did this...I bought Isha a webkinz. I don't want Isha to be some spoiled little kid who is always expecting the next great toy, but I couldn't help it. I have heard a lot about them and I wanted to see what they are all about. We named the kitty Frannie. Jai is always saying we should get a cat, but I don't want the added responsibility or the litter box, so I figured this would be a great compromise. When you buy the webkinz they come with a special code which allows you to enter the webkinz web site. It is hilarious. You make a little house for your pet, complete with furniture and toys. You have to earn kinzcash to buy food and objects for your pet. There is a clinic that you take them to to make sure they are healthy and there is even an employment agency so that you can do jobs to earn kinzcash. I don't know who came up with this idea, but I am sure they are rolling in the dough now.

Crazy Hair

The other day Isha was having some wild and crazy hair so I grabbed the camera. People are always making comments on how much hair she has. Some lady stopped me at the store the other day and was talking about Isha's hair. This is pretty normal so I was just chatting with her and then she asked me if Isha was mine. I was offended. Of course she is mine. What a wierdo!!! Since we have started solid food you never know what you will find in Isha's hair. She loves to smear the food around her face and then put her hands in her hair. It is very messy, but really cute when she does it. I have been using baby shampoo plus conditioner, but now her hair is getting so long that it is getting hard to comb out. I may have to start using a little bit of grown up conditioner.

Family Pictures

A couple of weeks ago we all went and had our pictures taken. It took three takes before we got some good shots of all of us together. I think we had a new guy taking the pictures and then we had a problem with a glare on Jai's glasses. Next time I think we will ask for a better photographer. I still think that these turned out pretty good! Isha and I had some pictures taken with just the two of us. There is one with her sticking her tongue out at me. I hope that is not a sign of things to come. We tried to put shoes on her, but they just kept ending up in her mouth so finally we gave up and did the pictures barefoot. These ones turned out really cute. Jai and I couldn't decide between these two pictures so we had a 10x13 made with both poses. I love the expression on her face in the first one. Jai fell in love with the second one. Luckily they were able to put both shots in one picture so both of us could walk out happy.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Here are a few shots of Isha hanging out with me. I don't know if it was the vibration from the bouncy seat or if the prunes finally took effect, but Isha finally did her business! Now we can go to the pool. I have been afraid to go because I didn't want Isha to have a blow out in the pool. I would never be able to show my face there again. PS. No sausage biscuit here Eric! Well, maybe one that has been left in 98.6 degree heat for four days.

Solid Food. YUMMY YUMMY!

Isha is really enjoying all the new tastes that she is getting to try. She loves peaches, which is what is covering her face in these pictures. Dinner time is always very messy. I have learned to keep a washcloth close by. Isha is learning to use the sippy cup. It is great to see her learning new things. She is very independent and she enjoys doing things on her own. I just have to remember to sit back and let her do things on her own, and if she ends up with more water on her than in her mouth that is just fine. Isha has made a game out of stealing the bowl. I have to stay on top of things otherwise we would have an even bigger mess. I had a great plan for how I was going to keep introducing other new foods, but today we had to change course. Poor Isha hasn't pooped in days so it was off to Kroger for a jar of prunes. I was afraid that she would hate them, but she gobbled them up. And just a word of advice... never wear a white shirt when you feed a baby prunes. Isha has spit up on me twice today and now my shirt is covered in prune stains. Gross!!

Isha Meets The Endo Gang

I am still trying to catch up on some pictures from the Idaho trip. We spent an evening with some of my former coworkers from St. Luke's. Lauren has been a great friend to me. Her and her husband used to watch Stitch for me and she still sends me a birthday card every year. She has also been a great mentor to me in my nursing career. She just retired a few weeks ago and she has a sister that lives here in Virginia, so I am hoping that one of these days we may get to visit again, but it will be here instead of Idaho. Debbie has family here and she came to visit us once when she was in Virginia. It is so cool to have people from home come to visit. Where do I begin with Byron? He has also been a great mentor to me in my nursing career and he has been like a big brother to me. He was always giving me advice, especially when it comes to finances. I was so lucky to have such a great group of people to work with. I hope that someday Isha finds friends and coworkers as great as my friends from St. Luke's!

More of Isha and "The Family" in Texas

Here we are playing poker. Isha lost her money quick but Mom (Jen) was still in. I guess this is the new family tradition, to play poker. The family with all the good, bad, and the ugly (not Jai or Isha).

Isha's time in Texas

Check out the my sister (Bov), nephew (Stephen), and brother-in law (Tom) hanging out in the pool. They had a blast. I guess they did not like the temperature of the pool since they were cold. I hope they didn't go in their wet suits. Yes, you guessed it right, they are drinking in the pool. It's not water, soda, or even beer but the good stuff. I had the privilege of drying Isha off. She's so cute. I guess Bov and Tom really wanted to see if they could drink Isha size bottle. It almost looks like the bottle is bigger than Isha but she's sitting down. Here's Isha with my sister. She's praying that Bov doesn't drop her. Just kidding. She's praying that she doesn't let one out while Bov has her (Not).

Isha rolls over for the first time

Isha rolls over for the first time and it happens when I'm not around. I asked Jen to tape this so I could see it for myself. Wow, this is awesome!!! She's (Isha not Jen) so smart. I love it when she knows to get her arm out under her so she could hold herself up. Now that's my girl. (This video is about a month old. Now Isha is rolling over like a pro.)

Isha eating solid food for the first time

Here some video of Isha eating her first meal. She's so excited and can't wait for more. You have to love her. Isha keeps eating but starts making faces. I guess she doesn't like mild food. If only she could have some blended chicken (Laura found it and it does exist). I think she wants some Thai or Indian with some taste to it. Now, you have to love the facial expression in this one. She's like, this food sucks. Mom and dad, give me some Thai.

Happy Half Birthday

Isha turned six months old on Sunday the 8th of July. She wore her adorable red dress from her Aunt Tony. I know I have said it a million times, but I can't believe how fast the last six months have gone. Isha has changed so much. Everyday there is something new that she has discovered or accomplished. We had a half birthday party for Isha. Uncle Adam and Aunt Laura came over for some BBQ ribs. We ate so many ribs that we were practically oinking by time we were done with dinner. I also made a cherry chip cake for Isha. That was my favorite cake when I was a little kid. It is sickeningly sweet and obnoxiously pink. I felt guilty that we ate it after Isha went to bed, but it's not like she could eat it anyways. Adam and Laura brought a gift for Isha. They gave her this great new toy that she loves to rattle and chew on. They also brought her a four course meal of baby food. Isha went to the doctor on Tuesday for her six month check up. She weighed in at 13 lbs and 9oz. That was only a nine ounce gain in two month. I guess she spent the last two months growing taller instead of heavier. She grew two inches. She is now 25 and 1/2 inches. I was a little upset about the weight gain, but the pediatrician was not concerned. He said that just means that she is ready to start on solid food.

More Idaho Friends

My Uncle Mart came over so that he could meet Isha. When I was little and I would go places with him people always thought he was my dad. I am sure it is because of the blond hair. Here is my cousin, Kaylee, Uncle Mart's daughter. She is going to have a baby at the end of this summer. A little girl!! I am so excited for her. I hadn't seen her in the longest time so it was great to see her and to see her house she just moved into. She is in the process of getting the babies room ready. That is such a fun time. Of course we had to stop in and see Calvin, he is one of my mom's friends. He owns his own car lot. Jai is always asking me if I think Calvin could help him get an Acura NSX. Poor Jai and his endless quest to have another sports car. I'm sure Calvin could help him get the car of his dreams, but just not for the price I am willing to pay. I just hope that some day when it is Isha's turn to get her first car that she finds someone as nice and honest as Calvin to buy it from!! Maybe we will just have to buy the car from Calvin and have a road trip home! I know that is some serious thinking ahead. Dana came over the night before we left to get in another visit with us. Unfortunately Gordon was unable to make it over, but we did get a chance to see him earlier in the week. Dana and Gordon are friends of my parents. I have spent many nights eating pizza and watching Survivor with them. I am so glad that Isha was able to meet so many of the people in my life from when I lived in Idaho. I miss them all so much.

Isha Meets The Best Girls

While we were in Boise we were able to visit Heather. She is one of my closest friends from way back. We actually knew each other in elementary school, but became good friends in high school. We used to carpool to school every morning and that is where we got our nicknames Special H and Special J. Isha and Amelia are 3 months apart, but they are the same size. It was so cute when they first met because Amelia immediately started giggling as soon as she saw Isha. Heather also has an older daughter, Hadley, who just turned five and is headed to kindergarten in the fall. It is hard to believe she is so grown up. She is a great helper with the little ones. Here is a shot with Heather and all the gang! Hadley wanted to hold Isha. She is such a good big sister. Isha looks so small to me, but when I put her in Hadley's little lap she actually looks really big, but Hadley did a great job holding her! It was so great to see Heather and her little girls. I miss her so much. We have lived so far away from each other for a long time. Heather was in Arkansas for awhile and as soon as she moved back to Idaho I moved to Virginia. Even though there are lots of miles between us we have remained good friends. For that I am forever grateful. Sorry to be so sappy, but I can't help it.

Computer Problems

Once again we are experiencing technical difficulties. Now our modem is fried. Verizon said we should have a new one in 2-3 business days. As soon as we are up and running we will post our new family picture we had taken the other day. Thanks for being patient.

A Day With Grandpa Jack

Isha got to spend some time with her Grandpa Jack. We went out to dinner and had some great BBQ. Uncle Jamie also came and we had a good time visiting. Grandpa Jack took a day off so that he could take Isha out and do some spoiling. He bought her some new clothes and then we all went and had a great lunch. After lunch we went home and let Isha take a nap and then we went over to Grandpa's house so spend some more time together. Grandpa loved holding her and giving her lots of attention. We went out to lunch the day before we left so that we could let Isha see her Grandpa one more time before heading back home to Virginia. Uncle Jamie also came and had lunch with us. We went to Pollo Rey. I always have to eat here so I can have the fish tacos and salsa verde. YUM! Finally, Isha warmed up to her Uncle Jamie. I think he was feeling more comfortable around her also. I thought it was so cute that when Jamie holds her his hands go all the way around her. We had a great lunch together and I am glad that Isha was able to meet so many of the people who love her so much.

Fiddle Festival

While we were in Idaho we went to Weiser so that we could visit some friends who's band was playing at the Fiddle Festival. Dale and Anna Fisk are from Council Idaho, which is were I was born. We found a nice spot in the shade to sit and listen to the music. Isha had a good time playing with her toys, while we sat around eating Kettle Korn. Yummy! Here is a group photo of all of us. We had a great time just hanging out. On the way home Isha had a diaper disaster in her car seat. Yuck. The liner had to come out and get washed. We made it almost 6 months before that happened so I guess we are pretty lucky!