Wordless Wednesday

Dave's 31st Birthday

For nearly an entire week before his birthday, Dave kept asking me over and over if I had planned another surprise birthday for him! (I think last year's surprise was so good that he's still in shock about it all.) This year, we kept Dave's birthday pretty low-key...no surprise party this time! My mom, grandparents, Uncle Kym, Aunt Bernie, and Amber, Uncle Jon & Nate came over on the evening of Dave's birthday to celebrate! I made and frosted my first cake from scratch in celebration of Dave's 31st!

On Sunday evening, my Uncle Jon & cousin Nate graciously babysat Isaac so that Dave and I could have an evening out with Kimi & Rob! Rob's birthday is just 4 days after Dave's, so it was fun to celebrate their birthdays together at Texas de Brazil! After dinner, we headed over to Eddie V.'s for some amazing bananas foster for dessert.

Isaac's First Christmas!

Our first Christmas with Isaac was so, so fun! There were so many moments when I paused to realize (once again) that our family has been blessed with such a little miracle! This Christmas was such a contrast to last year's Christmas...though we had a great time celebrating with our family last year, we were in the middle of a fertility treatment and were really struggling as to how to grow our family. It's hard to believe what can change in a year, and we truly couldn't be more grateful for Isaac.

I'll try not to make this Christmas post too long...though there were a lot of fun Christmas activities in December...(starting with our visit to Santa).

A few nights before Christmas, the three of us drove downtown to see the Fort Worth Christmas tree! We thought it would be a lot busier downtown than it actually was, but we had a fun time walking around and looking at all the Christmas decorations. Hot chocolate was the perfect ending to the evening. We hope to make a visit to the Fort Worth Christmas tree an annual tradition for our family.
On Tuesday, December 22, we celebrated Christmas with my immediate family! My mom made a delicious meal of salmon (one of her specialities), and, after dinner, we all opened gifts. This was our first time (of what was to become many times!) for Dave & me to open Isaac's gifts for him. (I'm sure next year will be a different story!)

The first gift we opened for Isaac was a sweet little lamb from my parents, which had special meaning due to Isaac's story. My mom said that she had purchased this gift long ago, even before Dave & I were trying to grow our family. (If you know anything about my mom, you know that she had an entire dresser filled with baby clothes--all sizes and both genders--just waiting for a grandbaby!) After opening gifts around the fire, we roasted s'mores and watched "Anne of Green Gables" (both Bergstrom tradtions). Those of us who live in North Texas had a huge surprise on Christmas Eve Day....a white Christmas! This was our fifth Christmas in Texas, and the first time that we actually had snow. (We actually heard that this was the first time in 83 years that north Texas had a white Christmas!) Driving to the Christmas Eve service at Keystone was all the more special due since the weather felt truly "Christmasy!" We were disappointed, though, that Dave's parent's flight from Denver into DFW was delayed 7 hours due to the snow. While we waited for them to land, Dave, Isaac, and I had a great Christmas Eve at my parent's along with my Uncle Jon and cousins Nate & Anna. Dave's parents finally arrived around 11:00 on Christmas Eve night (after being rerouted to Austin)...and since they missed all of our Christmas Eve festivities, we made up for it with extra celebrating on Christmas Day!
After cinnamon rolls & coffee on Christmas morning, we opened stockings and presents with Dave's parents! Isaac's sweet birthparents had sent a lot of presents for Isaac...each one was individually wrapped, and it took Dave & me nearly half an hour to open them all!

Around noon, we all drove up to my parent's, where we had a huge Christmas Day celebration! After a delicious Christmas feast, we played games...Apples to Apples, Phase 10, and Rummikub. The highlight of the day, though, was definitely jumping into the (unheated) pool. Under usual Texas weather conditions, this wouldn't be quite as big of a deal...but the high for the day was 39 degrees (and the water was only 47 degrees). The charge into the pool was led by my dad...and followed by Uncle Jon and Nate...and then Emily, Anna, and I were in next. (I am very proud of the fact that I was the first girl in the pool!) Dave was last, but only because we girls needed a little "encouragement." :) We decided that this may need to be our new Bergstrom tradition! We hope that your Christmas was full of wonderful memories, too...though we doubt your memories include jumping into an ice-cold pool! ;)

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!