Holly at 8 Months

It was tough to keep the blog updated when it was just 4 of us. Now it is nearly impossible. Always have to sacrifice something in order to update the blog. Right now I'm sacrificing the time I should be using to clean up and prepare for our Super Bowl party. So this will be brief. I want to update on how Isaac is growing up quickly, but I'll come back to do that. Right now I need to stay on target and just post these photos. They are photos I took of us in our living room 9 days before Isaac showed up early. Been meaning to post these for a couple months now. Enjoy!

Christmas Traditions

Every year on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when others are fighting crowds for huge "savings," we begin our Christmas tradition. Preparations actually begin a couple days earlier. I usually take a day or two off before Thanksgiving and all the outside lights up. On Friday we wake up and get ready to head to the Elgin CHRISTmas Tree Farm. We always enjoy going there and checking out the animals, hay maze, the shops and the hot chocolate. We cut down our Christmas tree and on the way home we stop at Southside Market for some great Elgin BBQ. Then we come and decorate the tree and inside the house. While we decorate, we have our first taste of eggnog for the season and watch Ice Age, followed by Dr.Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and Horton Hears a Who.

We were on pace to continue our tradition this year, but the Monday before Thanksgiving, around 2AM, Holly started having real contractions that were consistent and not far apart. About 6 hours later, Isaac was born. We were fortunate the docs agreed to let Holly come home a day early, and after her c-section, she and Isaac were home on Wednesday afternoon.


So, the lights were not put up before Thanksgiving and there was no Christmas tree hunting or BBQ on Black Friday. A week later, however, my bro-in-law Mike came over and helped me get on the roof to get our outside lights up. On Friday, Holly was feeling good and we were able to continue the tradition only a week late. The temperature was like 180°, or 80°, so we skipped on the hot chocolate. We did have a fun time on the farm though, everyone loved the BBQ, and we got all our decorations up! We are ready to celebrate Jesus' birthday for the next month!

The pics you see Holly and I in front of the tree, they are probably not centered or focused...that's cause I had Jeremy take the pic for us.

Click here to view these pictures larger

Happy Birthday, Isaac!!

He is here! Everything went great and mommy and baby are doing great. Isaac Francisco was born at 8:37 AM. He tipped the scale at 6 lbs, 11 oz and is 20 1/4" long. His face is still too "new-bornish" to tell who he will look like. Right now he seems like a good mix of Jeremy and Jordan. We're not sure about the nose, though. He's already gone through a couple diapers and feedings with momma.

World, meet Isaac...





³ 

3 Children are a heritage from the Lord,

    offspring a reward from him.

⁴ 

4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

    are children born in one’s youth.

⁵ 

5 Blessed is the man

    whose quiver is full of them.

Psalm 127:3-4

It's Time

Well, we had a nice Thanksgiving at home planned out, and it's our family tradition the day after Thanksgiving to head to Elgin to chop down our Christmas tree, stop at Southside Market for some BBQ and then decorate. Not this year. Isaac decided he wants out now. We are at the hospital now. Holly is checked in and they are prepping her now.

Nothing at home is ready. Still have to put a mod on our crib because it is a recalled drop-side crib. Still have to finish up Isaac's room. Need to mow. Wanted to decorate. Send out Christmas cards. Still have a project at work to finish. Oh well, I've never been good at planning anyways. I can plan as far ahead as lunch, anything after that is Holly's deal.

So we are here at the hospital. Will update when there is more to update.

Another thing I wanted to do for a while now was post a video of the boys dancing. So while I'm here. I leave you with the boys dancing to one of their favorite cartoons. More after the break...

Another Shower

Did not know you could have a second baby shower, but Holly's friends threw another one for her. Turned out to be a really great blessing to our family. We got to hang out with friends new and old and they just selflessly gave so much. Didn't think we needed much, but since we gave a lot of stuff away after the boys (thought we couldn't have anymore kids), it turns out we did actually need stuff. Holly has already received lots of maternity clothes and little boys clothing (all sorts of sizes) from friends. So the gifts she got last weekend just made things so much easier. We can't say enough how grateful and how thankful we are for everyone and all their giving.

Isaac's shower was a "Rock-A-By Baby" theme. Really cool thing they did was bring a lot of plain white onesies (infant size and up) and then templates and paints to decorate it. The designs matched the rock n roll theme of the whole party. Some of the decorations were a bunch of inflatable electric guitars, cool right? There were a lot of kids at the party and they had a air guitar contest. They jammed out to "Another One Bites the Dust." They kind of just stood there for a while, but then Jack started to get into it and the jam dam was busted and they all started rockin' out. We really had a fantastic time with friends and family.

We've also been taken care of by friends and neighbors repeatedly with their used baby toys, clothes and food. We do not deserve to be taken care of so well.

Thank you all!