Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...

Classes were canceled today and the city pretty much shut down because of freezing rain and snowstorms, so we decided to celebrate by giving Isaac his Christmas present early since we are going to be out of town on the big day. We let him open it himself, which took about 30 minutes because he was so enthralled with the wrapping paper, but he finally did it. It is one of those stacking toys with cups of different sizes that can also be put together to make different balls. While the toy entertained him for about 10 minutes, he ended up being most fascinated with the box. Merry Christmas everybody!

9 Months Old!

Well I decided to humor my brother a little bit by attempting to post about something other than Isaac, but I can't do that today. Our little guy will be 9 months old tomorrow--I can't believe it! Time has gone by so fast and yet I can't remember what we ever did without him--cliche I know but it's true. Our kid is a genius. He crawls around everywhere, pulls himself up, and has even figured out how to sit himself back down again! If that's not an Einstein in the making, I don't know what is. In all seriousness, the past nine months have been the happiest of our lives. I feel so grateful to have another one on the way. Here is a picture of Isaac from a couple of days ago. He has just figured out how to stand up in his crib. He uses this tactic when he doesn't want to take a nap.

Becoming Informed

Yesterday I had the opportunity to head downtown with a few friends to a Presidential Forum. Most of the Democratic candidates were there, including Barack Obama, Chris Dodd, and John Edwards. Hillary Clinton wasn't there in person (apparently her campaign headquarters had been facing a hostage situation so she missed her flight). She was able to participate via satellite. It wasn't a debate. None of the candidates were even on stage at the same time. Instead, each candidate was allowed about 20 minutes of podium time while they were asked a series of questions. All of the questions were different for each of the different candidates, but many of the same issues were brought up. Immigration, health care reform, farming (this IS Iowa, mind you), and the environment. It was interesting to listen to the different candidates and how they responded to the people. Barack Obama was by far the favorite. He received twice the cheers that any of the other candidates received. Whether you are an Obama fan or not, you can't deny that he is very charismatic. (Cheesy picture taken from the jumbo-tron because we were sitting too far back to get a good close-up). Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, had the opposite effect on the crowd. She even received a few boos of disapproval. (Another cheesy jumbo-tron photo). I really enjoyed the forum, but I came away feeling like all of the candidates had the same stand on almost every issue; either that or they were all very good at feeding the crowd what they wanted to hear. I guess if I were to vote Democratic, I would have to choose who I thought was going to actually fulfill all the the promises they are currently making. I have long said that I am either a liberal Republican or a conservative Democrat. I am still undecided about the 2008 election. Good thing I have almost a year to make up my mind.

RIBS?

Hello Everyone, As you well know our son Isaac has been learning many new things recently. We are trying to teach him by using real life examples. He has done well with crawling, standing, and eating, but he isn't seeming to master mathematical concepts as we think that he should. We wanted to teach him that 1+1=2. The best example we could come up with was that if you have one kid and then add another that you would have two. So in June we thought we would add another little one to our family. That's right, Sara is pregnant! We could not be more excited. Sara's brother has had some issues with the amount of content dedicated to Isaac on the blog, so hopefully another kid to write about will help ease his concerns. I am about 85% sure it is going to be a boy, but I would be happy with either. We are looking for a name that could be easily incorporated into the blog name (maybe like B name for RIBS or something like that) let us know if you have any good suggestions. Ryan PS-we really aren't going to base our child's name on the blog for those concerned. Here is a picture of Sara and our little bambino at 13 weeks. We'll post updates periodically so you can see our little one grow (via Sara's belly).

Rocky Mountain High

The holiday season has officially begun and I love it! It's my favorite time of the year. We were very fortunate to be able to spend Thanksgiving in Colorado with Ryan's brother, Gavin, and his family. Isaac was an angel for the 10 hour drive there. He had a couple of meltdowns on the way home, but then again, so did I. Can you really blame him after being stuck in a car seat for that long? We had a great time. We went to Boulder one night, visited the famous Hammond's candy factory, and played tons of games. Which brings me to the part of the post where I brag about myself. Ryan's family is really into game-playing. In the 2 1/2 years since I became one of them, I have secretly been trying to beat Gavin at anything and everything. He always wins. Until this weekend. I finally beat him at Settlers of Catan---hooray! I'm the new Queen of Catan! We had a great time. Isaac loved playing with his cousin, Ellie, but I think it is Becky who has become his latest crush--she can make him smile so big! Thanks again Gavin, Becky and Eleanor! Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Thanksgiving Dinner Isaac's first taste of stuffing and mashed potatoes Ryan and Isaac at the candy factory Ellie and I showing off our tongues right after eating handmade candy at the candy factory.

Puppy Love

Isaac has had a stuffy nose for the past few days. Since he can't breathe through his nose, he just crawls around with his tongue hanging out like a little puppy. He has been getting into anything and everything lately. Just the other day he pulled an empty cereal bag out of it's box and it entertained him for a half an hour (which is forever in Isaac time). Here is a little video clip of it (and don't worry, Grandmas, we watched him very closely so the plastic bag wouldn't impose any suffocation dangers to your baby boy). Happy Friday everyone!

Happy Traveler

Isaac is really getting used to being mobile. He is still working on his speed, but he gets faster everyday and I lose track of him more and more. His favorite spots are the dishwasher (he can see his own reflection and he just smiles at himself), the rug in our bedroom (it's really soft and he loves to lay on it), and the bathroom (we don't actually let him in there so he makes a b-line for the door every time we forget to close it). Here is a video of Isaac enjoying himself while I try to get him to crawl after me.

My Kind of Diet

Every year since we've been married, Ryan and I make caramel apples around Halloween. It's sort of the first "Ryan and Sara Payne Family Tradition" that we ever started. This year we did it a few days after Halloween, and Ryan and I rotated between entertaining Isaac (he was not in the mood to cooperate with our family tradition) and dipping the caramel apples. I failed to get a picture of the completely finished product (they didn't stick around very long), but here are some in progress. We ended up making three different types: White Chocolate Cinnamon, Reese's Pieces, and Oreo. We took some to a get-together our friends had and the White Chocolate Cinnamon ones were the biggest hit. I could have eaten them all by myself, but it's a little early to be packing on the holiday pounds, don't you think? But hey, they are just apples, right? Apples are fruit. Fruit is good for you...besides, I only ate one...per day.

Daddy's Boy

Isaac is definitely a "daddy's boy." He will do anything to get Ryan's attention. It is pretty dang cute. When Ryan comes home for lunch or at the end of a day, Isaac gets a huge smile on his face as soon as he hears the keys in the door. Sometimes he even gets so excited that he starts flailing his arms and legs around. He just can't contain himself. He loves to wrestle around with him and he'll do anything to get Ryan's attention. I love it.

Happy Halloween!!

Isaac helping me pass out candy at the church "Trunk or Treat" activity.

He was much happier without the headdress.

Attempting to steal a Snickers in the trunk.

Isaac the lion with Brinley the bee and Addie the ballerina. Addie is 2 days older than Isaac. She has helped him with his crawling moves since she's perfected them.

Isaac and his buddy Alec. It was impossible to get them to smile at the same time so of course I chose the picture where Isaac was smiling.

Having a Crawl here in Des Moines

The Bear's hibernation is over. Little Ike has finally gone from bear crawl position to real locomotion. After a couple months of practice and a lot of face planting, Isaac is crawling!! Our excitement level is through the roof. We have gone into full baby proofing mode. Here are a couple of the highlights. Happy Halloween everybody!---Ryan and Sara

Just a Spoon Full of Sugar (or at Least a Syringe)

Unfortunately for Isaac he inherited my ugly Roundy toes, and with those come the inevitable ingrown toenails. The poor kid isn't even 8 months old yet and he's already got his first one. Luckily it hasn't bothered him at all, but it has been all red and swollen so we didn't want to take any chances. We took him to the doctor the other day and they gave him an antibiotic to get rid of the infection. It must be loaded with sugar because Isaac has had no problem sucking it down for the past 6 days. All he has to see is the little syringe full of medicine and he starts to freak out. Here is a little video clip. Notice how excited he gets every time I squeeze a little bit of medicine in his mouth.

Kiddie Swap

Tonight Ryan and I went on our first date since moving to Iowa--it was great! We have a little kid-swap going on with a couple of other friends and tonight was our night to go out while our friends watched Isaac for a few hours. We took advantage of the time and spent a gift card that we had to the Cheesecake Factory (thank you Devin and Krystal!). I love this restaurant and would have run over there last month when they sent it to us but Devin said we had to go on a real date, so I made Ryan take me their the first chance we got. Meanwhile, Isaac was having fun taking crawling lessons from Chase at the Pluid household. Here are a few pictures from our night.

Me eating a monstrous Asian Chicken Salad. It was a gorgeous afternoon so we ate outside.

Ryan and his jumbo breakfast burrito.

Raspberry-Lemon Cheesecake, which came very highly recommended and did not disappoint. We got it to-go but ate it about 5 minutes after getting home.

Football Training Camp

When Ryan envisioned his son loving football as much as he does, I don't think this is exactly what he had in mind. Here is another one of Isaac practicing his bear crawl in nothing but his diaper (he loves to be desnudito). He's getting closer! (Can you sense the excitement in my voice? I can't wait for this boy to crawl even though I'm told I'll regret it!)

Bless You!

Well this week has just flown by, hence the lack of posts. Ryan is still as busy as ever with school. It never seems to slow down; if anything, they just keep piling more and more work on him. He always seems to keep up with his studies and is doing very well in all of his classes. He is a trooper and is able to balance his time very well. He makes time for Isaac and I every evening and we have fun eating lunch together during the day. Before we know it Christmas will be here and then he'll be halfway through his first year of school (but who's counting?)! We love Iowa more and more each day, but we hear that will change as soon as the temperature drops and the ice storms start pouring down. We're enjoying fall in the Midwest while it lasts.

Isaac and I started going to "Baby Story Time" at the library on Tuesdays. It is for children 0-18 months. They sing songs and read a couple of books. Isaac just gets ecstatic to be around other babies. They give the kids little rattles and other noise-makers and it's pretty much just pure chaos, but he loves it.

We started a little babysitting swap with a couple of other families here in Iowa. Last week was the kick off week and we volunteered to watch the kids. Tonight it is our turn to take Isaac over to another families' home while we go out on a date. I am so excited!! I think it's more because we have an excuse to go out to dinner than anything else (you all know how I love food), and it will be fun for Isaac to play with his little friends.

Here is one of the latest video clips of Isaac. He sneezes exactly like Ryan--no holds barred.

Comatose Baby

• We love to go on walks as a family (hence the many pictures of Isaac in his stroller). It has been cooling down a little bit here, so we have to bundle Isaac up so he doesn't get too cold. Something happens to this kid when we take him outside. He could be totally full of energy and rolling all over the place and squealing his lungs out in the apartment, but then we take him outside and he goes all comatose baby on us (at least that's what Ryan calls it). He gets so calm, it's crazy. The only sound he makes, if any, is a little humming noise like he's singing to himself. Sometimes we try to draw his attention to something and he won't even look our way. It's like he's saying, "leave me alone, I'm in the zone right now." Ryan and I don't mind because it's kind of our "alone" time. We almost feel like we're out on a date (except for the baby in the stroller that we're pushing around).

• Here is the latest video of Isaac squealing. I think it's super cute, but it's becoming a little bit hard to handle. Sometimes he just decides to open his mouth at inappropriate times...like this morning...at church...in the chapel...while a baby was being blessed. He seems to like the sounds he makes more than anyone, so he just entertains himself and squeals all the time. He doesn't particularly enjoy when you try to talk back with him, either. It interrupts his groove or something, and he stops babbling if you try to babble back. He prefers to have an entire conversation with himself.

Laugh it Up

The following video is music to my ears (I know, I know, I keep out-doing myself), but I can't really take credit this time since Ryan is the one responsible for making Isaac laugh.

High Fives

My sister tagged me (again), so here are a few things about me you may or may not know:

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. - Going to school at Weber State.
2. - Missing my sister who was on a mission in Argentina.
3. - Recently returning from a rockin' trip to Las Vegas with some high school friends (can you believe that was 10 years ago, Sally?)
4. - Working for a billboard company in order to have money to pay my college tuition.
5. - Trying to decide whether or not to apply for the Elementary Education program at Weber.

5 Things on my To-Do List Today:

1. - Plan my RS lesson.
2. - Read Eclipse, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and Mastering ESL and Bilingual Methods.
3. - Apply for my Iowa state teaching license (which seems to be an impossible feat).
4. - Cut Ryan's hair.
5. - Eat some pumpkin ice cream with Oreos (again).

5 Songs I know the Lyrics To:

1. - The entire Wicked soundtrack (hey, even Ryan and his brother are in-the-closet fans)
2. - Cuando Me Miras Asi by Cristian Castro
3. - My Stupid Mouth by John Mayer
4. - Everything by Michael Buble (my favorite song right now)
5. - Bubbly by Colbie Caillat (my other favorite song right now)

5 Things I Would Do if I Had One Million Dollars:

1. - Tithing and charity of course.
2. - Pay for Ryan to get through school.
3. - Buy a rockin' house with enough room for people to come and visit (and give them plane tickets so they would).
4. - Get myself a stellar Canon camera like Becky has and sign up for a Photoshop class.
5. - Put some of it away so we could start up our own practice if we want when Ryan is finished with school.

5 Things I Will Never Wear Again:

1. - M.C. Hammer Pants
2. - claw bangs
3. - braided belts
4. - tapered pants (they just don't look good with the Roundy thunder thighs)
5. - banana clips in my hair

5 Favorite Toys:

1. - my ipod nano
2. - my cell phone (it's how I stay connected with my family)
3. - Ryan's laptop (it's the other way I stay connected with my family--you're reading this, aren't you?)
4. - Isaac's exersaucer (it keeps him entertained when I can't)
5. - Isaac himself--he's the most fun of all to play with

5 People I’m Tagging: (ok, so I couldn't decide on just 5)

1. - Kyra
2. - Kelly
3. - Ashley
4. - Lisa
5. - Lynn
6. - Devin
7. -Krystal
8. -Becky
9. Shannon
10. Mary-Ann
11. Sally
12. Kandis
13. Andrea (if time permits, of course)
14. Brookie (as soon as she gets her blog set up)
15. Ryan (it's a stretch but we'll see if he loves me enough)

Or just whoever wants to!

Spiders, Lights, and Bear Crawling

Hello all, Life is moving along here in the Mid-West. School is going OK. Sara keeps herself pretty busy with a lot of things and really busy with Isaac. We liked some of the pictures from the last couple of days so we thought that we would share them with you all. Just today Isaac went from getting up on all fours to propping himself into bear crawling position. He doesn't really get anywhere once he is up there, but we think that getting into that position is a feat in itself. Whenever we help Isaac stand up he gets pretty happy and is proud of himself. That makes for a good photo-op. One of the parks here in Des Moines has a bridge that spans a lake. The bridge lights up with a bunch of different colors. It is a pretty cool sight. We couldn't get a real good picture because it was so dark, but this is a little glimpse. On the bridge by all of those colored lights there were huge webs on every light. In the middle of each of the webs were these big, ugly spiders. I haven't seen that many spiders ever. Here is a picture that I hope turns out.

These Shoes Were Made for Walkin'

We bought Isaac his first pair of real shoes--they have soles and everything! He'll probably grow out of them before he learns to walk, but we figured they would help keep his feet warm this fall. They make him look so old when he wears them, but as you can see from the pictures, he prefers to play with them rather than put them on his feet. He has already figured out how to untie the laces, so keeping them on his feet is a challenge. I should have gone with Velcro, but they match his cute camouflage jacket so well that I just couldn't resist! On a side note, isn't my Halloween background cute? I'd like to take all the credit and make everyone think I'd suddenly become digitally savvy, it's simply not true. Being as it's conference weekend and all, I cannot tell a lie about this one. My fab friend, Ashley, told me about another blog that allows you to download templates for free. I decided to give it a try since Ashley and I have pretty much everything in common (including our blog templates--until now!) and thought it would be healthy to seek my own identity. Here's the blog address in case you're interested: http://www.matiekay.blogspot.com/ Happy Friday and Happy Halloween!

Attack of the Nose-Eating Baby

Lately Isaac loves to attack my face with his mouth--particularly my nose and cheeks. I don't know why he has such a fascination with my nose, but he never does it to Ryan (although he tried to do it to an Elmo toy at Wal-Mart the other day). Here's a short video of him in action. I promise I feed him regularly! We have all been a little bit under the weather with a sore throat, so for the first time in his life Isaac is coughing because he needs to, not because he's faking it. Usually the boy loves to fake cough. In fact, last week I took him to the pediatrician for a check-up. The doctor's office has two waiting rooms, one for sick kids and one for kids who just need check-ups an immunizations (which is what Isaac needed). So there I was, waiting in the well-child waiting room, when Isaac decided to start fake-coughing. All of the parents were giving me dirty looks, wondering why my sick child was contaminating all of their healthy kids. One mother even glanced at me as she went up to the receptionist and asked "Is this the healthy-child waiting room?" I was so embarrassed, I just pretended not to notice her.

We Gotta Regatta

Isaac testing out the baby swings at the park.

Me in front of the Des Moines River downtown. We were really hoping the canoes would take that waterfall behind me but no such luck.

Ryan in front of some abstract piece of art on the river walk downtown.

Isaac and I getting ready to watch the canoe races. Today we decided to spend some time outside together since this past week has been extra-busy for Ryan and we were all in need of a little family time. We went to the farmer's market and then headed down to the river to watch a Regatta, which apparently, according to Wikipedia, is a boat race (who knew?). It was a little bit uneventful because they seemed to warm up over and over without ever racing. Ryan did take the picture above of the two canoes crossing the finish line (too bad they were still warming up at that point instead of actually racing). We also took Isaac to the park and tried to push him on the swings. He's still a little bit small, even for the baby swings, but hopefully he'll be big enough to try out Grandpa's swings before too long. That boy loves to be outside. The weather here is perfect this time of year. We are told to enjoy it because it won't last much longer before winter sets in, so that's just what we've been doing.

Who Needs a Babysitter When You've Got a LoveSac?

Look-a-Like Meter

Shocking! Everyone always says that Isaac looks just like Ryan, so this morning I put it to the test with this nifty meter that I I found on my sister's friend's blog (blogstalking again). I am so happy that at least a computer program thinks my son resembles me (I don't think it had anything to do with the fact that half of Isaac's face was in my picture, by the way).

Isaac Gets Angry

I hate to toot my own horn, but the following video clip is pretty solid. It's a much better representation of Isaac getting angry than the blurry picture I posted a few days ago. You can even hear his angry breathing if you listen closely. He does this face all of the time now--when he's tired, hungry, and even to tell me "No more green beans, mom," which was my favorite because he actually sucked some of the green beans (that were all over his face) up his nose. Classic. Hope you like it half as much as I do.

Don't Let the Blur Bother You

Why the fuzzy pictures, you ask? Because I think they are absolutely adorable and really show Isaac's personality. This first one is of Isaac in his crib at about 7:30am. Ryan went in his bedroom to check on him one morning. This is what he found--Isaac, not making even a peep, with one leg crossed over the other, sucking his thumb. The picture didn't turn out so great because Ryan took it in the dark (as not to startle Isaac and ruin his pose--instead he let the flash startle him right after the picture was taken). There is also a picture of Isaac in his Bumbo chair when he helped me make "cookie brownies" a couple of days ago. Finally, I've posted a picture of Isaac's latest face. He has started making it when he's upset--he puckers his lips and breathes in and out really hard like a bull getting ready to pounce. It cracks me up. I will have to get a better picture but he never wants to perform when he sees the camera. Anyway, things are going well for us. Ryan is very busy with school but he is doing awesome in his classes--I am married to such a smarty-pants. He is very good to Isaac and I and always makes time for us even with his busy studying schedule. We are having a lot of fun and getting to know a lot of people that I'm sure we'll be friends with for years to come. They are already becoming our Iowa family.

Shake, Rattle, and Throw

Here is a little clip to show you how Isaac's hand-eye coordination has improved. He is into throwing things lately and then picking them up again. I don't know how well the video illustrates this, but I had to duck out of his way because he kept almost hitting me with his toy.

Rock 'n' Roll

Isaac has just started to rock back and forth when he gets up on all fours. He often uses his head to prop himself up and get his knees underneath him. Sometimes he can stay up for minutes at a time, and other times he does a face plant seconds after he gets up. Here's the proof:

Wearing a White Coat

Today we went to Ryan's "White Coat Ceremony" for school. It's a ceremony that they do every fall in order to inaugurate the new students into the field of medicine. Sounds fascinating, right? It was basically like a graduation but he didn't get a diploma (only 4 more years until that happens!), he got a jacket instead. Ryan took one of his study guides for his biochemistry class and Isaac and I found some friends and watched the two-hour event from the audience. It wasn't as bad as we all expected. Isaac was a little angel through the whole thing--I didn't have to take him out once! This is shocking since lately he loves to test out his vocal cords and scream at the top of his lungs in the most quiet places-he just loves the sound of his own voice. All in all it wasn't too bad. Now Ryan has a snazzy new white coat that he will wear in the future when he works with patients. Here are some pictures from our eventful morning. Isaac with Ryan in his new white coat.

Isaac and I standing by the Des Moines River after the ceremony.

Fall is finally here and I am so excited because I get to dress Isaac in his army coat that I found for $4 at The Children's Place. It's my favorite baby clothes purchase so far.

Happy Hands

Last night Ryan and I took Isaac to a baby sign language class. There were tons of babies and Isaac got really excited being around all of them. All of the babies were going crazy while the parents tried to teach the different signs to them. Isaac, of course, picked up on the signs very quickly, as you will see in his rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," which he learned last night. Please don't let his off-tune singing distract you from the complex signs he makes with his hands (let's face it, his gene pool was pretty shallow in the musical department). He's nothing shy of a genius, this boy of ours. We can't wait to see what he learns during next week's class. :)

Isaac's Latest Trick

My baby boy is growing up! Today he held his own bottle and fed himself for the first time (but only for a couple of minutes, until he decided that he preferred to have me do all the work).