Noticing the little things....

Our life goes by in such a flash, sometimes I think to myself - you need to write this down, before you forget. Like, when Isaac started referring to robots as "be-bop robop"...which morphed into "be bop robot", complete with robotic voice action.

One of my favorite things right now - I have NO idea the origin of. The "line leader". I suspect it may be from his brief stint in day care this fall, when I was doing a contract - but I am not sure. Essentially, in his eyes, a line leader is anything that starts something. Whether you are the first in a a line, the first to do something, etc. Sometimes he will say "Mom, you are the line leader becausee you woke up before me". It cracks me up...and, I have been able to turn it around on him to get him to do things. "Can you be the line leader to the bathroom".

He also "insulted" a friend at playgroup the other day by referring to her as "the caboose". A line leader can be interchanged with an "engine". So - if you are the first person, you can be the engine, and if Isaac wants you to follow him - don't be insulted if you are the "caboose". Oh - and, those of you in the middle...you are the shark cars. (Named after the shark train cars we have for his train set....don't all sharks travel by train??? really?). The other day at dinner, Isaac was explaining how he was the engine, Daddy was the shark car and I was the caboose.

Anyways...Brian probably considers this just the beginnings of a whole other fake language he is going to have to live with, along with the already well known "Becky-isms"....but I think it's just an interesting observation of how a toddler relates to the world.

Upcoming conversations will probably revolve around....

"Mommy, do you have a baby in your belly?"
"Yes, I do"
"Why?"
"So you can have a brother or sister".
"I want a brother and a sister, at the same time"
"sorry bud, only one or the other"
"that's my choice?"
"Well...not really your choice, but we will get into that later"

What does this look like, Mommy?

What DOES this look like? It looks like what mommy is going to look like this spring/summer.

Brian and I are pleased, thankful and humbled to announce - Isaac is going to be a big brother. We are due August 6, 2010. Obviously, given our history - this date is really nothing more than an end date - but a date it is. As Brian said, we appreciate it so much more this time around, knowing what is in store for us.

We have been lucky enough to hear heartbeats, get glamor shots (ultrasounds), yadda yadda.... so it's becoming more real every day.

Nothing like stacking the decks by planning a family reunion (Aug 7-8th, 2010) and buying tickets to see U2 (June 30th, 2010) to make that stick turn pink. So, I will be relying on my "up north" friends, to reserve a spot on the beach for me in August....and my Caravelle neighbors - you will actually get to SEE US during the month of July.

Behind, behind,behind....

It seems lately, posting on here is an after thought...something I get to now and then, when I get to sit down. There certainly isn't much sitting down when you are chasing a 3 year old around. I hope to get around to improving that soon...really! The biggest problem is - all our photos are on another computer, and when I think to blog, that computer isn't on, so I don't....and the cycle goes on.

I will post more pictures - soon! I promise!!!

That being said, we had a really nice New Years! We had 3 other couples come to visit - totaling 8 adults, 7 kids in our house. That doesn't even include the 2 dogs and Helen the cat. Thank goodness Blue and Maggie are geriatric and sleep a lot!!!

Isaac's new room was a huge success - the kids spent a lot of time in there, hanging out on the top bunk and playing. Brian took the kids out to play in the snow, and we made a mass trip to Bounce Party on New Years Day. Of course, we chatted by fires, played Wii, ate too much and enjoyed much catching up.

It was wonderful to be with our friends, and their children - this is the 12th year of our friendship with them. Although we generally referred to them as the Blue Sky gang - I have recently taken to calling them "pajama friends". That category of friends that you put people in when you can hang out with them in your jammies. (nothing like waking up and hashing out how awful Dick Clark looked over coffee). Friends like that can be hard to find, and take time to cultivate - but with these guys - it was always instant. I cherish their friendships so much.

So - to all of you, I hope you had a wonderful New Years - perhaps with some "pajama buddies" of your own.... or at least, a restful and refreshing start to the new year.

Gilligan's Island Party

In honor of their 10 year anniversaries, our friend's Mike & Renee, along with their close friend's Lou & Kate decided to throw a party...and not just any party - but a Gilligan's Island party!

So - celebrate we did with a DJ and a multitude of Skippers and MaryAnn's!!!

Brian dressed as Mr.Howell, I dressed as "MaryAnn from the Goddess Episiode". It was a really fun party theme and we had a great time!

Since I can't possibly post all the pictures from this - you'll have to check our photo site:

Gilligan's Island Photos

Enjoy!

What was I thinkin?

Ok! That wasn't our WHOLE November! Geesh!

Isaac went to his buddy Tyler's birthday party - and enjoyed some bowling. He did pretty well! Check out his "moves".

Then, the infamous Birchville WingDing 2009!!! Our annual end of the year get together with our cabin neighbors. We expanded our menu this year to not only deep frying wings, but also mushrooms and potatoes! Add some red pepper relish and mac n' cheese...and holy cow, what a feast!

November Recap

Oh, so - the holidays struck us in full force, with parties, fun, etc - and of course, I posted none of it! So - to start a recap on November - here's a little video from early November...

Due to the unseasonable warm weather, we did a lot of playing outside:
And then there was Thanksgiving, with the normal kitchen chaos, cosmos and...of course, Auntie Bear. Isaac seemed to think she'd enjoy a toddler on her lap.
We rounded out the month with a trip to Isaac's first ballet "Twas the Night Before Christmas"...and he got to see Santa when it was done.

Halloween - Petoskey style

After the infamous barn party, we had a full day of being lazy at Tim and Missy's until it was time to go trick or treating. Since they live in a rural area, they head into Petoskey for Halloween fun. The street they took us to was jam- with kids, and you could tell the residents really enjoyed decorating for the holiday!

Isaac was a "happy bat" and Will was a "black cat"! It was so funny to watch them...and Isaac was very serious about the candy gathering! He wouldn't even eat any until he was done. We called it "No Candy Left Behind".


Then, after all of the fun, Isaac and Will decided to try on some of the masks from the "Barn Bash"!

Cuddling with Uncle Tim and cousin Will during Sunday morning cartoons....

Happy Halloween Everyone!

The Freeman Barn Bash

Have barn, will party.

My brother and sister-in-law hosted the first annual "Barn Bash" at their place in Wolverine this year. The mandatory costume requirement was taken seriously - especially by Brian, who grew a goatee, then trimmed it to a mustache in order to become "Magnum PI". I was a witch, although I never got around to making myself look very witchy!

The witch and Magnum PI

Michael and I, changin' up our costumes.

They had all the makings for a great fall party...bobbing for apples, kegs o' beer, spooky decorations and of course, little goblins (kids) dancing to bluegrass music! After the kids were settled into the house (or camper, in Isaac's case) - the band Rootstand took over the stage. They were great and it was awesome to have a band just for family and friends!

It's not often I get to have quality time with ALL of my brothers - much less actually capture a picture of it happening...AND in birth order(or youngest to oldest at least)!"the Freeman's"
Jon, Becky, Michael and Tim

Enjoying Fall...

Sometimes I forget to post the simple pictures. The ones that show us doing something "everydayish". So here are a few of these from about a week ago. My friend MVG went on a 'craigslist' run with me (which is a great way to get time to have a coffee n' chat without kids!), meanwhile, Isaac and Brian did some raking...and leaf jumpin.
Isaac was also excited to show off a worm he found (and later, accidentally squished) to MVG...and she was nice enough to act interested!!!

Halloween - and it's not even the 31st yet!

We started our our Halloween with carving pumpkins with Leslie and Joe! This year, we really pulled out the stops of our creativity!!! Isaac missed out because he was power-napping, but we sure had fun! Pumpkin seeds were consumed by all in the following week. Can you guess who is who's?Next, we had our Mothers & More - Trick or Trunk. Problem was - well, it rained, so we were trunkless - and held it indoors. It was more like "Trick or Room full of spastic toddlers". Isaac ran into the room, bouncing and annoucing "I'm a bat! I'm a bat! Look, I am flapping my wings!". Despite our child running himself ragged - we had a really good time!

"We like trees"
Brendan and Isaac

"Cat and Bat"
Natalie and Isaac

"Batty about Princess"
Isaac and Charlotte

"Argh, A bat matey!"
Luke and Isaac

This week has been quiet on the Halloween activities, but this weekend will be sure to make up for it! I am amazed at how much more fun it is, this year, vs. last....and how much Isaac "gets" it. Last year, he never asked for ANY of his candy-loot....this year, it's a daily request! Ugh....

Happy Halloween everyone!

Cooking breakfast with Daddy

Brian is, hands down, the egg-cooker of the house. Every weekend that we stay home - he whips up some sort of egg creation. This weekend's delight was chock full of veggies and cheese. Yum.

Here he is - passing on his talent to Isaac.

Random Fall Activities...

We've been trying to take full advantage of fall this year, since Isaac can fully appreciate things like hay rides, pumpkin patches, Children's Museum, etc. We've been to Post Family Farm, Koetisers, etc.

Here's some pics!

Adventures at Post (sitting with his buddy Natalie)



Bounce Fun and a Hay Ride at Koetsiers!



Children's Museum

Central-Western -- Battle for the Cannon!

Yesterday, (thanks to my favorite ticket hook-up) we went down to Kalamazoo for the Central / Western Game. We invited local friends, Brian and Mary, to represent for the Broncos - and ol' college friends, Jon and Christine to root for the Chippewas.

This was my first trip ever to Western, and I thought the campus was beautiful. We had fun observing the college kids - and reflecting how different fashion is now vs. then (flannel, anyone?).

Western put up a good fight, but ultimately Central won!

We had such a great time - we all agreed, we should meet up again for it next year!

GO CHIPs!

Visit with Sam!

Brian had to travel to Georgia for the weekend, so Isaac and I decided to become wondering travelers!

We stopped to see Dawn and Sam for a night, then over to Flint, then up to Tawas to do "end of the year cabiny things"...and then back home again.

While visiting Sam, we went to a pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins to paint! It was a quick, but fun visit!

Bed head, anyone?

Ride a lil horsey...

A lil movie time so the mom's can visit...