Isaac: 11 Months

I can't believe my baby boy is just one month away from being ONE!  (Well, actually I must believe, it, since I have already had a lot of fun planning for his birthday!)  But, it still seems unreal that Isaac is almost a one year old! 

This past month was a very busy one for our family, largely due to my grandpa.  While my grandpa was very sick, we spent a lot of time visiting him in the hospital and hospice.  Isaac was a trooper through it all!  One of Isaac's favorite things to do while visiting my grandpa was pushing my grandpa's walker through the halls of the nursing home!  It was hilarious!  The bar on the walker was just the right height for him, and Isaac would walk until he fell over from being so tired (literally!).  I shared this picture in my recent post about my grandpa, but I love the smile on my grandpa's face...and I like to remember that moments such as these were how we spent much of this past month.

New this month for Isaac:

--Clapping!  Definitely one of the cutest things I've seen Isaac do...and that's saying a lot for me!  :)

--Crawling onto the door of the open dishwasher and hanging from the top rack

--Watching airplanes at my parent's house  (Here's Isaac pointing them out to Auntie Em)

--Drinking from a straw

--Pointing at lights and saying "ITE ITE"

--Crawling in reverse VERY fast

--Climbing up the stairs as many times a day as he can! 

--Turning off light switches

--New foods this month:  plums, pita bread, & mandarin oranges

And best of all...a brand new cousin!  My Aunt Bernie & Uncle Kym adopted this beautiful baby girl, Amanda Noelle, last month!   Isaac always wants to poke her, cries when he doesn't get to drink her bottles, and laughs when she cries (oh dear!).  It's so much fun having another baby in the family (especially one so close by!), and I can't even begin to imagine all the adventures these two are going to have together! 

A few more pictures from this past month....

Our family at Grandpa Ken's funeral....when I saw this picture, I couldn't believe what a little boy Isaac looks like!  (Where'd my baby boy go?!?)



And...I think Isaac's about had it with the rocking chair pictures:

Happy 11 Months, Isaac!  We love you!



Goodbye for Now

We are so grateful for all the love & support we've received over the last few weeks as my Grandpa Ken was very sick.  He was admitted to Harris Methodist on August 12 and moved to a nursing home (Bishop Davies) nearly a week later.  Not too long after being admitted to Bishop Davies, he started receiving hospice care.  All of his immediate family were with him in his final weeks.  My aunt, uncle, and cousins all made 2 flights down from Minnesota in the past few weeks.  It was very bittersweet having our entire family together during this time.  There were plenty of laughs as we remembered funny stories and memories...but also lots of tears as we knew that we would soon be saying "goodbye" to my Grandpa Ken, who passed away this last Saturday, September 4.  Through all our tears and sadness, though, is an incredible peace knowing that this wasn't truly "goodbye."  I am so thankful that my grandfather was a believer and is now in heaven with Jesus.

My sister snapped this picture one night while we were all visiting my grandpa in hospice.  Up until nearly the very end, my grandpa loved bouncing Isaac on his knee and playing with him.  My grandpa absolutely thought the world of Isaac!  Every time I visited him in the hospital and at hospice without Isaac (which was very rare), Grandpa's first question was "How's my boy?"  He also called Isaac "my little rascal."  I'm so glad that my grandpa had nearly a year to know Isaac; though Isaac won't remember his Great-Grandpa Ken, we have lots of pictures to show him someday.

It's still hard for me to believe that my grandpa is no longer here.  Just the other night, Dave & I were talking about how fun this Halloween will be with Isaac!  I told Dave that I couldn't wait to show up on Grandpa & Grandma's doorstep with Isaac for trick or treating....then I paused and realized we won't be able to do that after all.  Though there will be sad days ahead, I'm thankful for all the good times we had with Grandpa Ken.