Isaac: 3 Months

We can't believe our sweet boy is already 3 months old!

Isaac's new interests...
--looking at his aquarium
--his hands and feet (this is especially funny when he tries to get his feet in his mouth!)
--scooting to the end of his crib during the night...this is where now find him each morning!

Highlights of the last month....
--First 11 hour night of sleep! (January 6!)
--First Christmas
--First visit to Santa!
--Giggling a LOT, especially when somebody coughs (who knew he would think coughing is hilarious?), Daddy sings vocal warm-ups, or you pretend to go "running" with him!

Isaac's Dedication

"Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain." Psalm 127:1

On Sunday, November 29, we dedicated Isaac at our church! It was a memorable Sunday for us in many ways. All of our family members who now live in Texas joined us at Keystone for the service, plus many of our friends attended with us too. Our pastor spoke on the first part of Psalm 127 before praying for the families who were dedicating babies. David & I were again reminded of the awesome responsibility God has given us to train Isaac to know and love Him!During Brandon's dedication prayer, Isaac was smiling so big that Dave & I couldn't help but peek! (I'm sure he was just smiling at all the bright lights in the worship center, but it was still adorable.)One of the songs that we sang in the service was "Oh You Bring" by Hillsong United. The lyrics from this song spoke so strongly to me that morning of what God has brought us through:

"Oh You fill those who are empty
And rescue those in the valley
And through it all You calm my soul
Oh You find me in my weakness
And heal the wounds of my heartache"

I know that we keep saying it over and over, but we are so thankful for God's gift of Isaac to our family!

After the service, we had an open house. We had a blast having friends & family over to celebrate Isaac's dedication!


We're so grateful for everyone who was able to celebrate with us! (Of course, Isaac had no idea what was going on & slept like a champ through his whole party!)

Our Visit to Santa

Last Saturday, we went to Breakfast with Santa at Central High School with our friends Jenny & Joel & their 2 cuties. It worked out well that we got there right when they opened, so Jenny & Joel's 2 little guys were the first kids to sit on Santa's lap...after that, the line just got longer and longer.


We couldn't believe how little Isaac looked in Santa's arms!
I just might have been teary-eyed in this picture with Isaac, Jenny, and her boys...right before we took it, both Jenny & I were reminiscing of how tough Christmas has been in the past. We couldn't wait to do fun things like visit Santa and hang a little stocking on the mantle...thank you, Jesus, for answering our prayers! I think Isaac had a fun time, too, because this is the last picture we took before we headed home!

Isaac: 2 Months

It's so hard to believe that our baby boy is already 2 months old! He had a fantastic checkup at the doctor yesterday! As soon as Dr. Dalton entered the exam room, he leaned over the exam table where Isaac was lying, and immediately Isaac grinned at him and gave the most adorable "coo." At the end of the visit, Dr. Dalton said he was very impressed with how well Isaac makes eye contact & also how much he "converses." Each day, we are noticing more and more how social Isaac seems to be...he must take after his mommy!













At his 2 month appointment yesterday, Isaac weighed 11 lbs, 14 oz. (50th percentile) and measured at 22 inches (25th percentile). That means he gained 3 lbs, 12 ounces in just the past 6 weeks...not bad for a little guy! ;) He also had his 2 month vaccines...let's just say his mommy cried a LOT harder than he did. The little bandaids on his legs were so cute that I had to take a picture.
Highlights of the past month have been...

--Meeting Auntie Em
--Consistently sleeping 7 - 7 1/2 hours a night (hurrah!)
--"Talking" a LOT
--Moving out of the cradle and into the crib in the nursery

Happy 2 Month Birthday, Isaac...we love you more than you know!

Thanksgiving 2009

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever." Psalm 107:1

Our Thanksgiving festivities started early in the morning as the three of us watched the Macy's Day Parade (one of my things about Thanksgiving!). As has become our family tradition, Dave makes all the Thanksgiving pies, so he put the finishing touches on them before we all headed up to my parent's house!

We celebrated this Thanksgiving with my (Bethany) parents, grandparents, sister, & cousin Nate, and we all had a great day together. This Thanksgiving was incredibly special as we have seen God work so mightily these past few months...as my dad was thanking God for giving Isaac back to our family during his prayer before dinner, I don't think there was a dry eye at the table.

Isaac had a great first Thanksgiving. He wished he could have some of Grandpa Kal's herring...

...and he checked out Uncle Nate's camo hat...











and he spent a lot of time snuggling with Great-Grandma Joan & Great-Grandpa Ken.












We also spent a lot of time (too much, in my dad and Dave's opinion) trying to get a good family snapshot for my parent's Christmas card. After a lot of shots, we finally ended up with a good one! And, in traditional Bergstrom fashion, we played several intense games of Bang and Phase 10. At this point in Phase 10, we were all ready to give up and eat some more leftovers!

We are in awe of all there is to be thankful for this year. Of course, Isaac tops the list, but we are also incredibly grateful for all the support & love we received from our family, friends, and church when we came home without Isaac. Our hearts are overflowing! From all three of us, Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

What's in a Name, Part II

In some of our early marriage talks about baby names, both Dave & I discovered that we loved the name Isaac. Of course, when we picked the name Isaac for our firstborn son, we had no idea of the journey that was ahead of us as we sought to grow our family. Once we decided to adopt, were matched with our birthmom, and found out that Baby Rinn was a boy, the name Isaac took on an even greater meaning to us.

In the Old Testament, Abraham and Sarah named their long-awaited son "Isaac" because it means "he laughs" or "he will laugh." Sarah laughed at God when she heard that God had promised she and Abraham a son in their old age. After her Isaac's birth, she said

"God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." (Genesis 21:6)

Throughout our struggle with infertility, I was hurting so badly, and I wasn't seeing God's goodness through our pain. We yearned for the sound of a child's laughter in our family...so, the main reason that we love the name Isaac is that we knew this sweet boy would bring that long-awaited laughter!

Obviously, we had no idea of the story that our little Isaac was going to have. As we left the hospital without our Isaac on Sunday, October 18, we sat in the parking lot & called our parents, who were all weeping right along with us. During those terrible hours of waiting to find out what was going to happen that afternoon, God had reminded Dave of the story of Abraham & Isaac. As Abraham was walking up the mountain to sacrifice, Isaac asked, "Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham replied, "God Himself will provide." Another of our dear friends put it this way: That even while Abraham and Isaac were walking up one side of the mountain, God's provision (the ram) was walking up the other side. Though Abraham could not see the ram, he had faith that God would provide for him. Even in the pain of coming home without Isaac, we believed that God Himself would provide for us...and little did we know how incredible His provision would be!

Since I love names so much, I am always asking my grandparents about the history of their extended family members' names. While talking with my Grandma Joan awhile ago, she shared that her grandfather was named Isaac...immediately my ears perked up and I started taking notes. Isaac Theodore Edman was my Grandma Joan's paternal grandfather, which makes him my great-great-grandfather. Isaac Edman immigrated to America from Sweden. While we had already chosen the name Isaac for our firstborn son, we think it's extra special that his name has a link to our family's heritage.

We chose "David" as Isaac's middle name based on Rinn family tradition. The firstborn son in each Rinn family has his father's name as his middle name.

Isaac's great-great-grandpa--Roy Nelson Rinn
Isaac's great-grandpa--Benjamin Roy Rinn
Isaac's grandpa--Timothy Benjamin Rinn,
Isaac's dad--David Timothy Rinn

As far as we could tell in our research on the Rinn family geneology, Great-great-grandpa Roy seems to be the first Rinn who gave his firstborn son his first name as a middle name. But still, that's a tradition that's lasted 4 generations so far, and so it's noe one that we wanted to break!

So...needless to say, we had our own ideas on why we picked the name Isaac, but God had a far greater plan for this sweet baby boy's name! We are still in awe that God brought our Isaac home to us!

Link to Family Portraits Online

Our friend Heather McFadden, whom we know from church, took our family portraits last Friday at Las Colinas. If you'd like to view the proofs online, click here, select "clients," enter your e-mail, and then the event password (Rinn).