Isaac Smiles!

Here is Isaac at 11 weeks - smiling and cooing! 

Will at Thanksgiving...

Will, 14 months.

I just love this picture! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We spent Thanksgiving in Flint with our families this year. It was so nice to see everyone. We spent the holiday at Mom's house drinking cosmo's, cooking turkey and playing with the wee tykes- Will and Isaac. Will is all over the place and becoming more of a little boy each day! I will download the pictures and try to get them posted by the end of the week!

As I write this, Isaac is sitting next to me in his boppy, chatting up a storm with his red crab rattle. Yes, he now smiles and chats like you would not believe. He is 11 weeks old today and it is amazing how much he is getting interested in the world around him. He notices the color red a lot (funny, because that is my favorite color!), laughs, gruns, coos and smiles.

As of today, he is 11lbs, 10oz. Can you believe it!? He is still gaining about an ounce a day. At this rate, he will be a giant!!!...or at least a really fat little monkey. hee hee.

I have started back to work a little...yes...a little - only about 8-10 hours a week for now. In December I will start to do slightly more, ramping up to part time. In January, I will return to the office 2 days a week, while Isaac goes off to a place where he will break some other women's hearts...(I am convincing myself that is what is going on, not day care).

Also, Congrats to Barb and Paul - a cyber friend from CMU and her husband, who live in the Flint area, who just had their twins this weekend!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving!

Pictures From Christine's Shower

Here are some pictures from Christine's baby shower on Oct 7th.You can see how tiny he was at the time! Janet (as shown below) was kind enough to email them to me!

New Pictures!

As I write this - Brian is putting up more pictures on our webpage!! Check it out!

Weeks 7-9 - we had Halloween, a visit from "aunts" Courtney and Kathy, dinner with friends - after which we got perhaps our last "prego" photo of Mindi and Heather, and of course, Isaac being a rock star in his NIN onsie from Kev and Mon.

Baptism - St. Matthew Church, Flint MI, Nov 11th, 2006. Father Frederick Taggart officiating. Godparents Michael Freeman and Molly Proctor. Afterwords, we returned to Mom's where Perry made an awesome meal! Everything went perfectly!

Last week, Isaac had his 2 month wellness check. He was 10lbs 8oz, 21" inches long! Meaning, now, he is over 11lbs! So hard to believe that he has gained more weight in 9.5 weeks than he weighed when he was born!

This weekend, we stayed home. We were supposed to go to my brother's house so Brian could hunt, but they caught a nasty bug. We stayed in and watched the UM vs. OSU game with friends.

This week is Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday!!!! Since I am off work, I will be heading to Flint early to get things ready, and B will come when he gets out. It will be so much fun to see Will and Isaac have their first holiday together!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Isaac's Baptism!

Isaac Joseph was baptized at St. Matthew Catholic Church on Saturday, November 11, 2006.
His godparents are Michael Freeman and Molly Jones. We had a wonderful party after with friends and family! :) More pictures to be posted soon!

Visit with Courtney!

Courtney came to visit us on Thursday! She brought us the soon to be infamous christmas carol screetching monkey. :) Ha ha.

Isaac's First Halloween

Here are pictures from Isaac's first Halloween!

Weeks 4-6...

Here is a picture of Isaac in a onsie from Monica. We thought it was pretty funny (ok, at least Monica and I did!)

Sometime today, we will have pictures from weeks 4-6 on our webpage...

www.blueskymi.com

Isaac is doing very well. We have survived the 6 week growth spurt - time of constant feedings and a lot of "mommy, hold me!" time. Isaac is getting very close to 9lbs! His personality becomes more and more noticable every day - and I can't believe that time is flying like it is! Hard to believe, on Election Day - I will turn 31, and he will be 8 weeks old! WOW!

Aside from that...Brian has been working a TON lately...poor guy! and was greatly disappointed by the outcome of the World Series. At least he got to attend the one game that they won! Myself, I have just been putzing around, visiting with friends, helping my buddies at work a little bit, and enjoying experimenting with new crock pot receipes.

For those of you who are interested in Isaac's baptism, it will be November 11th, 4:30 mass at St. Matthew's. We will have a little informal get together at Mom's house afterwords if you are interested in meeting Isaac!

If you do decide to come and are contemplating a gift, Isaac has been blessed with many, many gifts over the past week - and we would love if you would make a donation to the church, or a local charity in his name. Afterall, the season of giving is just around the corner... :)

Take care, and thanks for stopping in to see our progress!

A pic from week 5....

Just because it's cute. 

Visits with friends....

The last few weeks have been filled with more visitors! The picture is us with Laura and with her kids Alex, Sarah (baby) and Emily.

The following week, Mike & Renee visited with their girls. Followed up by a weekend visit from Dawn and Samantha, while our husbands were at the World Series!

Life has been busy!

Right now, we are having a visit with Grandma Freeman. Isaac is now over 8.5lbs - almost double his birth weight! He has started working on his 2 month milestones, such as turning his head towards voices and tracking things with his eyes. He is very much a sleepyhead though - his most awake time of day is when Daddy gets home from work!

It's 27.7 degrees outside, and their is frost on the ground. But, the sun is out, so it should be a pretty fall day! 

Dumb Luck

Well I had another stoke of dumb luck today. On a whim I went onto ticketmaster and checked if tickets were available. To my amazement I was able to get 4 more tickets to game 1! I had promised my friends Jon & Rob that if I didn't go to one of the games I'd sell them my tickets. They got 2. And Becky's cousin Rob & Chris are going to take the other 2 tickets.

3 days until the World Series!!!!!!

World Series

Can you believe it? The Detroit Tigers are going to the world series. And so are the Spratke's. I was able to score 4 tickets to the Series. 2 for Game 1, and 2 for Game 2. Don't ask me how I managed to get lucky enough to get 2, let alone 4.

Lazy Saturday

Last night we had a wonderful dinner with the Galloway's. They were kind enough to invite us over for dinner. We also stayed and watched the Tiger game and X-Men 3. Today we have the Cretors coming for a visit, I'm sure there will be a few memorable moments from their visit.

Here is a picture of Isaac taking a nap with his blocks.

New pics!

There are new pics on our website of Isaac! Check them out!

www.blueskymi.com

:)

Week 4 - Holding head up!

Isaac is doing "tummy time" next to me right now....and I am just amazed that I am sitting here, watching him make all these little coo-ey noises and grunts, and he is holding his head up, and switching it from side to side.....WOW!

Week 3....

Here is Isaac, during "Tummy Time" on Friday.


Here are my guys. Brian and his son....watching a recap of the Tiger's game together :)

It's been a busy end to a busy week!

Yesterday, we drove up to Mt.P/Alma. I attended our friend Christine's baby shower - meanwhile Brian got to binge on some bw3 wings. We watched the Tiger game with our friend's Mike and Stacey, and his parents, the infamous Mr and Mrs Wise. Brian was elated that they won. :)

Today we are hanging about...doing some household chores...waiting for a visit from Grandma!

Due date visitors!

So, the weekend of Isaac's actual due date - we had lots of visitors!

Kev and Mon came to visit...and they brought us the coolest "custom made" onsies. Isaac is now the coolest kid on the block with his own NIN, Metallica, Red Wings and "I can't read" onsies. Definitely a cool kid.

Then, the next day, Uncle Tim, Aunt Missy and cousin Will (who is 51 weeks to the DAY older) came down to visit. The weather was awesome, so we went for a great walk, and ate some very yummy "take n' bake" pizza. I can't believe how BIG Will has gotten! Just think, in a few years, he and Isaac will be best buds!

It's a good week....

Not much to report this week...except I started taking some Yoga classes - it felt so good to be physically active again, and, the class was very relaxing. I can't wait to go again next week!

Currently, I am able to get back into my old clothes, but unfortunately, just because I can button my pants, doesn't mean I am comfortable in them. I am looking forward to getting active so I can loose these last couple pounds. I know, I know, it's supposed to take a while, but I am impatient!

Last night, I attended a baby shower for our friend Heather. Just before the shower, the hostess said "I have a baby scale, do you want to weigh Isaac?" - um...OF COURSE! So we weighed him, and he is at 6.5lbs! HOLY COW - can you believe it? He is growing so fast!

Now, we prepare for another day of visitors, and an exciting weekend adventure to another baby shower....and maybe, if we are lucky, a visit from Grandma on Sunday!

2 Weeks, 2 days!

Well, some people were harassing me for pictures of the nursery. Granted, I still haven't gotten anything up on the walls - there just hasn't been time! But here it is...





...and here is Brian and his boyz. :)

Well, another week is almost over, and Isaac is still growing like a weed! He has the cutest double chin! He will be over 6lbs before we know it!

2 Weeks! Appointment Update!

Today we had Isaac's 2 week wellness check. He measured 18" (up 1/4" since last Monday!) and weighed 5lbs 9oz! Holy cow - that's 10 oz in a week! The doctor said whatever I am feeding him is liquid gold, because she never imaged he would grow so fast!

So, all is well and happy in the Spratke house!!!

One week, 5 days!

Well, 2 weeks ago today was Brian and I's last Sunday as DINKs (double income, no kids). Little did we know that night, as we sat watching TV that 24 hours later, we would be on our way to parenthood.

Here is little Isaac, now weighing over 5lbs! We can't get over how fast he seems to be growing - by next week, he may actually be in newborn sized clothes!!!

We had a very low key weekend, with some more visitors...a few neighbors stopped by, our friend Christine from Chicago (who is expecting!), and Chris and Mindi (who are also expecting!). Friday night, we took Isaac out on his first adventure to Babies R Us and Toys R Us...he was quite the trooper! Also, we managed to get a lot of tasks done this weekend, and get a fair amount of sleep in too. No complaints from the new parents so far!!!

Brian posted more pics on our webpage tonight! www.blueskymi.com

Pix w/ Aunt Sarah

Here is a picture of "Aunt" Sarah with Isaac from Sept 15th, taken by "Aunt" Kathy.

1 Week, 2 days...

Well, today Isaac is 1 week, 2 days old - and he went for his first walk! Blue, Isaac and I did a quick tour around the block and enjoyed the incredible weather today!

He has been growing like crazy - it's hard to believe all the clothes that were so big on him, just a week ago, are now all starting to get snug! I am finding myself changing his clothes just so I can see him in the little outfits before he grows out of them and into the next size..."newborn". Ha ha. He continues to be the most perfect baby, and every time I have to wake up at some strange hour to feed him, I am reminded of how lucky I am. So, next time you wake up at 2am, think of Isaac and myself, sitting in our green chair listening to the NPR while he eats. :)

Also, yesterday we scheduled Isaac's baptism. We are doing it at the same place where Brian and I were married - St. Matthew Catholic Church. If you are interested in coming to mass, it will be November 11th, at 4:30pm.

Last, I just wanted to say, I have always known that I have been blessed with a wonderful husband....but in the last 10 days, I will say, I have been reminded daily of how blessed I am. Brian has been the so supportive, helpful, and involved - even more than I could have imagined. Every step of the way, he has taken with patience and humor. He's the one everyone can thank for the fun videos and pictures....the hospital updates, etc. I love seeing him holding Isaac, and thinking about how great of a Dad he is going to be...and every time he does something so simple, like brings me a glass of water, I feel like the most loved person in the world. Because of him, I have this little bitty tootin, pooin, mini-version of Brian on my lap....Does it get any better than this?

Email Issues

If anyone is trying to email us today at our blueskymi.com accounts we apologize, but there are some technical difficulties.

It appears that the company hosting our domain screwed with some of the routing values and now our email is bounced right back. I hope to have this fix tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks.

Ah - that's better.... / First doctor's appt.

Ok - here is a picture of me from last Friday, Sept 8th. A little more flattering than the pink stripe photo! ha ha.
(don't ask me why that whole line has an underline...)


Today was also Isaac's first doctor's appointment. My Dad was over, so he went with me. Isaac weighed 4lbs 15oz and was 17-3/4" long. His doctor said that he is doing exceptionally!!! Apparently the normal gain is an ounce a day - so he has gained 7 oz since Thursday!!! At that rate, we will hit 5lbs tomorrow! She was very impressed with how he was doing - and I was very relieved!!!

Stripes not so flattering...

Here is a picture from the cookout at the Gerlach's on Saturday, Sept 9th. The stripes were not so flattering on me, however, since I am only 2 days from going into labor, and my clothing selection had thinned out - it was cold and most of my maternity garb is summer stuff! I am excused, right? Believe it or not, I was actually measuring smaller at this point than 2 weeks before, but that is probably because at my previous appt, I was already starting to dialate!

This is me at 37 weeks, Heather at 27 weeks, and Mindi at 26 weeks.

Today is Isaac and I's first day at home alone. It's going pretty well! He had (2) 4 hour long sleeping stretches last night which were amazing! This morning, we surfed the internet a little...had a shower (for me) and bath for him...and now we are just chillin out (ok, he is sleeping). Later today we go to his first doctor's appointment, and hopefully we will find out that he has gained some weight! If his appetite and diaper changes are any indication, I would say he has!

Finally Pictures!!!

Well we finally made it home. Around 1:30 we finally made it home safe and sound. At this point it is very nice to be home. I'm very proud of how Becky & Isaac have done the last couple of days.

Since being home I have posted a few pictures from the hospital. They are on our website. If you go to the main page you will see a link at the top. I hope you enjoy them.

In case there is anyone that hasn't heard by now. There was a little bit of a humerous mix up at the hospital. It appears that the people that took the initial hospital photo had a little mix up with Isaac's picture. If you google Spectrum Health, go the the baby images and look at Isaac's picture for the 12th, well, we'll just say that isn't Isaac.

I'm off to sleep!

Well I've been hounded for an update. Not much new to report. Becky and Isaac are still doing fine. He's doing all the things he's supposed to at this point. He lost a few ounces the first day which is normal. With his size though, they don't want to see him loose much more. Now he is getting a some formula supplement which he seems to be eating right up. His job for the next day is to eat a ton and maintain his weight.

Sorry I forgot to bring the camera home to download the pictures. So I will post a older picture I have from Tuesday morning.

Isaac Joseph Spratke

Well Isaac has already started out as in impatient little guy.

Becky thought her water broke around 8:30 last night. She called the Dr. and they had us go to the hospital. Around 9:15 we got to the hospital and were admitted. A few contractions later and some walking around we were moved up to the labor room around 11:15. All of a sudden the contractions got a lot harder, and around 11:45 they paged the Dr. At 12:27 Isaac was born. He's just a little guy at 4lb 13oz an 17in.

Mom and Isaac are doing fine. They are planning on them being here until Thursday morning. If anyone wants to call the room the number is 616-391-7287

I'll post pictures when I get a chance

37 weeks....

Ok, ok...I know, I owe more belly pix, we just haven't downloaded them from the camera lately. Brian did put a video of the "bellah" moving on You Tube (privately) - if you would like to see it, drop him an email (brian@blueskymi.com) and he can send you an invite....

Little guy doesn't move much these days. He likes to wake me in the early morning hours, and he keeps his knees firmly planted in my ribcage. He is completely in position and according to the doctor, could come out any minute now...or 3 weeks from now. Wowsa. The anticipation is the worst part!!! In the meantime, I am still downing half a grocery store's stock of fruit every week and craving the days of drinking coffee with reckless abandon again. ha ha. The nursery is done, except for waiting on a lampshade from Pottery Barn and getting the motivation to hang some things on the walls....We own more diapers than I can ever imagine, and the tiniest collection of t-shirts ever (the little newborn ones!). And...my hand is still cramping up from all the thank you cards I have been working on! Hard to believe - a month from now, Brian will be a daddy. :)

Anyways, i will try to get nursery pics and belly pics up this week - promise!

Becky

Showers, vacay and more....

Well, since I wrote last...we have been sooooo busy!!!

On the 26th, Brian, Sarah and Jon ran the 8K Crim road race! Brian ranked in the 90th percentile! The rest of us cheered them on from Michael's house!

That night, we had a bbq to celebrate Brian's 29th birthday - and it was one of the few occasions that ALL my siblings and my parents were in one place at one time! WOW! Lots of friends came to visit too - Scott, Jonquil with Toby, Melissa, Courtney, Jon, Dawn with Sam, Julia....along with Brian's mom.

Then, Sunday, we had our shower in Grand Blanc - and the turnout was great. I love seeing all my friends and family in one place! Special thanks to Kathy and Sarah for helping out! ;) The picture is from my shower...Jenny, Dawn, Wendy and Renee.

Then, a week at the cabin. The weather wasn't as warm has it has been this summer, and the waves were crazy-big for a few days (ranging from 3-5 feet!), but it made for entertaining Sea Doo'ng for Brian...and lots of good reading time for me. We had lots of campfires....Mom visited for a night....we (Mom, Brian and I) went out in Tawas Bay on the Tall Ship Appledore - which was very cool.

Now...back to reality....went to the doc yesterday, and it seems that I am starting to dilate. How crazy is that! For months and months, you fixate on a date...then all the sudden...it could happen any time! I can't take the anticipation!!!!

Well, I will keep you posted!

Railing....

We have railing! We have some tweaking to do on the staircase, but for the most part - it's done!!! Props to everyone who helped out - especially brother Timmy!

Overdue updates!

Ok...trying to go in chronological order...

The first weekend in August to Tim and Missy's for a visit. While we were there, we got to go to Weber Lake campground to hang out with some of the Spratke cousins during their annual camping trip. The weather was great, and we had a good time seeing everyone!

Nephew Will is getting bigger and bigger! He's such a sweetie!

This week in review....

It's been a busy week. We went to week 2 of baby class, which pretty much amounted to learning about the stages of labor, and practicing "relaxing" laboring positions...ie, becky in different positions getting backrubs. Ha.

Wednesday night, we had dinner with the GR clan....got a pic of all the prego girls...

Myself, at 30 weeks...Heather at approx. 20 weeks and Mindi at approx. 18 weeks. (I could be off on their weeks, but it's close!)

Yesterday, Brian and I went to the neighborhood block party - which was fun. We were there until 9:30pm! It was nice to mingle with neighbors that we normally just pass and wave...borrow the occasional tool, etc. Especially now that the Twarozynski's have moved! They were our family away from family!! ! We will miss them tons, but we are excited for Sarah, David and lil David to move in!!!

Nuff for now....

Rob's Graduation Party

My cousin Rob graduated this year. Here are some pics from his party on June 17th!

First picture is of my brother Michael touchin' nephew #2. The second is a picture of Grandpa Giacalone. The last is of of Rob, Uncle Jim, his friend Crisco and his son.

A few pics from the 4th of July...

Here are a few pictures from when we were at the cabin over the 4th.

This is what we look like at 5:30am...yes - half asleep!....our kayaks made a good backrest! The picture is what we were waiting for...which was well worth it. :)

Alma Baby Shower

Here are a few pictures from the shower that my mother in law threw for me in Alma. :)

Grand Rapids Baby Shower

I finally downloaded the pictures from my first baby shower on June 28th, in Grand Rapids, hosted by Tonya Price. It was attended by local friends, as well as some college friends. During the shower, everyone made a scrapbook page for me to later add pictures to. It turned out really great, and I can't wait to have pictures to put in it!!! I recieved some wonderful gifts, and had a great time!!!

Week 27 and Fourth of July...

Brian and I spent Friday through Wednesday morning at the cabin - and we couldn't have asked for better weather!

Brian's parents came up for a night, and we spent the day on the beach soaking up the rays. Brian even got his parents on the Sea Doo!

Blue couldn't get enough of the beach. At one point, he actually WALKED HIMSELF down to the beach without us!!! What an independant guy!

The rest of the weekend was full of lazy days on the beach, sleeping in late and good food.

On the 4th, we went into town and watched the fireworks with the local yocals. What's funny is, when the fireworks went off, I could feel the baby moving around. I am not sure if that means he liked the booms or didn't!!!

The day we came home, we went down to the beach to watch the sunrise....it was so pretty and so worth it. When we download the pics, I will post them.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!