I don't know but I've been told....

Isaac's turning three years old!

Isaac's third birthday party was amazing - we had beautiful weather and a wonderful time with our family and friends. We had an Army themed party, complete with tins to eat out of (see below for a prime example of how to eat army style). Curious George made a surprise appearance and the kids had a blast with him - he entertained them with squirt-gun fights, a baseball lesson, and wrestling!!

Pre-party presents from Uncle Jon

The Cake - great job GramGram
Look who's here!!
Monkeying around with George
Isaac and Jackson playing with Army guys
Uncle Pat eating dinner "chow-style"

Isaac's Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Isaac's 3rd birthday downtown Rockford at the Blues - he loves it down there and it was a beautiful night! The only things missing was Rob, he was in Alpena :o(

Isaac was so excited to get his new Legos from Nana and Papa - he plays with them for hours!

He loves to build guns (he is such a boy!), pod racers for his figurines, and then we always have to make the animals shown on the bucket!
Isaac and Papa enjoying the Blues!
Isaac and Nana sharing an ice cream cone!
Isaac and Mommy building zoo animals!
Isaac blowing out the candle on the fun swimming pool birthday cake that Nana made. After eating dinner and ice cream, we hardly touched the cake! Isaac did eat the Jello that was in the middle!!

6-11-04

'Tis the evening of Isaac's arrival and I am near tears as I reminisce of this evening, 3 years ago already. How time has passed, and how much joy Isaac has brought to me.
For those who are interested, here are the thoughts going through my brain:
Three years ago tonight I weighed a whopping 141 pounds and was starting to swell from the heat of the summer. I stayed active - my mom and I walked religiously to help "stretch". I was a heap of emotions as it had been quite the pregnant experience... I never imagined that a person have to go through such amounts of pain to finally come to happiness. Those nine months of my life were off-the-charts emotional for everyone involved. I wouldn't change a thing.
I remember sitting at my brothers' baseball game and my back was killing me. I told everyone, half jokingly, "I think I am in labor!" I had gone to see Dr. Pete a few days previous and he confirmed that I was dilated to 4cm. His response, "Most women are begging for an epidural right now... why aren't you in labor?" I was like, why are you asking me? He scheduled the induction for Friday morning, but because it was my pregnancy and we should have learned to expect the unexpected, the maternity ward at Metro Hospital was full. I really thought the lady on the phone was pulling my leg. Did they not realize everything that I had gone through and the suspense was killing me here?!
Anyway, back to Friday evening: We decided to go down to the Start of Summer Celebration and watch the fireworks and because they rescheduled my induction for the next morning, I was all "Oh my gosh, I have got to get an elephant ear because I will be in the hospital all weekend and won't be able to have one!!!" HUGE mistake. Did I mention that I was 5 days late at this point and had tried Castor Oil to speed things up a couple days before - I was desperate! So, some people say to have sex, others say a glass of wine; for me, it was an elephant ear and fireworks. As we (my mom and I) were walking back to the car, we spotted the Ambulances and I mentioned that an ambulance might just be the best mode of transportation in this situation. However, because I had made two trips to Metro in May, thinking I was in labor (and was in fact having contractions 2 minutes apart for 48 hours) we thought, eh, let's just go home and try to get some rest before we go to the hospital in the morning.
I went over to the Kalemba's house and they confirmed in drunken tones that I was indeed in labor. I therefor decided that the only way I was going to know that it was real was to try to go to bed. It ended up being real. I tossed and turned and felt the most horrendous (up to that point) cramps I have ever felt. Nevertheless, I tried to sleep. As I lay there I reflected upon my entire experience and told my self that I was doing this for a reason. Everything happens for a reason. I knew that I was going to rely on my family for support and that was okay as long as they were willing to provide it. They truly are amazing for all that they have done (and continue to do) for us.
I won't bore you with the major details of the birthing experience, but I did stay strong and continued to deny medication. To this day I can not, for the life of me, remember the pain. It never ceases to amaze me how soon the mind can heal and in some cases mask various experiences. Can you imagine if we could remember the pain?! The population count would be significantly lower :o)
Several hours later, on a beautiful Saturday morning, a handsome baby boy was placed on my chest and at that moment I was assured that everything I had experienced in those nine months was worth it. Those amazing eyes and lips and ten fingers and ten toes and he was mine. That's all I could think about. The fright set in later when they had the nerve to kick me out of the hospital and send me on my way with this precious little thing that I thought I couldn't handle on my own.

As I remember thinking about how significant it was that Isaac was mine, I am truly blessed to have Rob in my life to share him with. I never in a million years thought that Isaac and I would ever be complete; Rob completes us. He has taken on a task that many would shy away from and he is amazing for that! He is away this week in Alpena and I know that he is heartbroken that he is missing Isaac's birthday. Isaac misses him just as much.
Luckily, this is just the beginning for us.

Busy weekend

Wow, what a busy and beautiful weekend we had!

Rob worked in Alpena all week and we were so excited to have him home all day Friday! We attempted to use our Rice Maker on Thursday and realized that it has stopped working. We put it on the floor so that we would remember to take it back to Bed Bath and Beyond and on Friday morning, we found that Isaac had overheard our talking about it and decided that he could fix it on his own (and then recruited his dad for help)!

Later that night we participated in the Relay for Life walk in Downtown GR. We walked from 8-9pm and had a ton of fun. Isaac got a temporary tattoo and Rob and I got a caricatures done of us. He keeps teasing that he is going to put it in the Press as our wedding announcement (because we still haven't done that yet)!!!

On Saturday we went downtown Rockford for the Start of Summer Parade. Isaac rode the motorcycles (wearing ever so appropriately a shirt that says, "Naps Suck, Let's Ride") and took a ride on the Ferris wheel with Nana. We were going to ride the Sea Ray but he wasn't tall enough and boy did that hurt his ego!! It's not Start of Summer without a trip to the "Community Tent" aka "The Beer Tent", so Rob, Mom, Isaac and I grabbed an Elephant Ear, French Fries, a couple of cold beers, a water and enjoyed a wonderfully healthy lunch under the shade!

Today we are going to Liam's birthday party - he turned 2 on the 6th of June. I will snap some photos while I am there and share them when we get back.

If you were looking for news about Joe, he is doing fine. He broke down and bought himself a cell phone. Now we can call him anytime we want, and we do, it's awesome!!!! He made and ate Tomato Rice soup for lunch the other day - he is a changed man!

Beautiful

I was able to talk to Joe yesterday and he informed me that he was able to choose from several bases that he will be stationed in after his 8 weeks in AIT. He choose a base in Kentucky, Washington, Colorado, Hawaii, Alaska, and Germany. Hooray - we are hoping that this means his trip to Iraq is postponed?! He does have a computer in his barracks, but he is unsure as to how often he will have access to it. When he is assigned and stationed in his "unit" he will have his laptop so that he can keep in contact with everyone (then he can start his own blog and give you all a different perspective that what I can!!!) As soon as I verify his address, I will post it here - Joe loves to receive mail!

First time on a military base

We just got back from Fort Jackson, South Carolina! We made the 900 mile trip to visit my little brother, PV2 Lewis, Joseph. It was an amazing experience for all of us. We attended famliy day on Thursday - we were confined to the base all day, but it gave us an "un-distracted" opportunity to catch up with Joe. Our first stop was to the PX, which is the on-base shopping center. While we were there, I bought a pair of Orange Crocs (only because my feet were blistered due to a mix of bad choice of shoes and sand). We ate at the food court. Joe needed a grease and caffeine fix after not having it for 2 months! We visited the barracks and got a small taste of what life was like for Joe since his time in Fort Jackson. The fort encompasses more than 52,000 acres of land. They have 2 bowling alleys (of course we had to visit one of them, and yes, Joe still has his touch), 2 shopping centers, miniature golf, a water park, Burger King, a sports bar, and a ton of housing. For the two months that Joe was on base, he was only aware of these facilities while enroute to activities that required strength and determination. He had a total of 3 PT (physical training) tests and his best time on the two-mile run was 11:57 - AMAZING!!! He had the third fastest time in his Platoon. After visiting the barracks, we toured the fort and went to a picnic area to sit back and relax. We listened to music on Joe's new laptop and tossed the football around a bit. We had dinner again at the PX, only this time we had pizza! We then went to the playground where Isaac learned to climb the rockwall (all by himself) and finally returned Joe back to barracks around 8pm.

Friday was graduation day and time for Joe to finally leave base. After the ceremony we took him back to the hotel and enjoyed Arby's for lunch. He went to Best Buy to purchase a PSP and then we got to go to Hooters! This was the best Hooters experience any of us have ever had. We were all up dancing and singing with the girls, taking pictures - I don't think that I have ever laughed so hard in all of my life. If you could imagine Jon with the Hooters girls, you can slightly imagine the experience! After shedding a few more tears, mom and dad left on the Harley to start heading home. We took Joe back to the hotel and then back to barracks at 8pm again. We helped him pack up his clothes and toiletries and said our goodbyes. We then went back to the hotel and went to bed, got up the next morning and made the trip home. Isaac did get a birthday present from Joe before we left. Now he tells me, "I am going to the army, see you in 6 weeks!" He has no idea! Joe is now in Fort Lee, VA where he will be studying food service for the next 8 weeks. He will come home for two weeks after that - we are counting down already!