Smorgasbord of our new Midwest life

We have been settling into our new life in Iowa quite well.  We are reminded almost daily of why we chose to make this big move back to rediscover our roots.  Thunderstorms, sitting on our front porch swing, lightning bugs, crickets & cicadas singing to us, neighbors who would give you the shirt off their back and are happy to drink Miller Lite...the list goes on.  

I am way behind on posting updates, so I thought I'd go for a "snapshot smorgasbord" approach for a little catch up.  

Here goes:

Isaac and Mama on Drake's campus, while Daddy gets his new office keys.

Our first Farmers Market bounty.

Isaac loves sweet corn.

Isaac gets a postcard from our sweet Juneau neighbor boy, Henry.

We drove to Michigan to see Brian's 102 year old grandmother and celebrate his aunt's 75th birthday.  Isaac likes to play piano.

We are getting acquainted with the great parks Des Moines has to offer.  No swinging is complete without a mountain lion in tow.

We went to the Iowa State Fair and Isaac got to be a "farmer" for a half-hour.

I ate bacon wrapped rib and Brian ate a corn dog.  Comments about the corn dog are not welcome.  😉

Our neighbors gave us an old swing set from their yard.  

Isaac and mama love to play in the back yard together.  Sunshine!  Do you see the sunshine?

Guess who is the most excited to be at the Drake women's volleyball game!

Isaac was surprisingly calm during the game and sat in our laps the whole time.  Mesmerizing for both boys, clearly.

Isaac turned 15 months!

Brian and I got a date night when Grandma and Grandpa visited.  We ate beef tongue for an appetizer and it was surprisingly delicious.  The date was spectacular.  I almost got teary-eyed with the waiter it was so nice.

Isaac loves, loves, loves his G&G and they clearly love him!  Play time, snuggles and books galore!

Isaac snapped his first selfie.

We went to Ledges State Park for some time in nature.  We went with some new friends who also work at Drake, also have a baby, and also live in our neighborhood.  Fun stuff!

Isaac loves to explore our backyard, especially to smell the flowers.  

Not pictured here is the YMCA where Isaac and I go almost daily for exercise and childcare room time.  Brian already has a running buddy.  He loves his new job and from my view is much lighter.  

Also not pictured is our ongoing house-hunt.  New territory for us to actually have a lot of options and factors to consider, unlike Juneau.

Also not pictured is Isaac's first ER visit after a drum stick (like, to bang on a drum) made its way up into the roof of his mouth.  Terrifying, horrifying blood flowed out of his mouth and nose and we rushed him off immediately.  It was terrifying.  As it turns out, in the ER world, it was about equivalent to a paper cut.  In our world, it felt like a gunshot wound.  Thankfully, Isaac is all healed up, and Brian and I are wiser for it.  I wish they would have prescribed the mama some Valium.  Did I mention it was terrifying?

I think this about sums up our first month in Des Moines!  More to come later, including road trip pics from the big move.  

Running the Ridge

Before we left Juneau, Brian wanted to be sure to run the ridge.  This means running up Mt. Juneau, along the ridge line, then down Granite Basin.  All told, it's 4,000 ft. elevation gain and 13 miles.  After trying it a couple weeks ago with a larger group of friends, they were thwarted by fog.  He and his running buddy Zane were finally able to do it last week on a beautifully clear day, beginning at 5:30am and making it home around 10am.  They both still had plenty of time to put in a half-day of work afterward.  Here are some pics and one video (don't worry Val, they were safe and responsible!) of their trek from Zane's phone:   

Our 1-year old!

We delight in Isaac every day, and as we near our final goodbyes in Juneau, it all seems more precious!

Here are just a few shots of him from the past week:

Having dinner with our friends Corey and Sarah before they say goodbye to Juneau as well...

Chillin' with his favorite furry friend...

And basking in the soft, fuzzy fleece...  He loves to just nestle in and rest on any soft, cozy texture.  It's kind of adorable.

Happy ONE YEAR, Isaac!

If you would have told me a year ago that we would be celebrating Isaac's 1-year birthday amidst moving boxes, I wouldn't have believed you!  What a year of big blessings it has been…

For his birthday (which was June 2nd), we invited all of his birth team to come together to celebrate.  Midwives, doulas, and RN's alike, all were thrilled to join in the party.  Our family has been so blessed with support in all forms over the past year.  It definitely takes a village, and we are sooooo gonna miss this village.  

Isaac's favorite bud, Henry, showed up with a birthday present first thing in the morning.  It was so sweet!

Birthday table: muffins, fruit, chia pudding, gifts, and a slide show of birth and first-year pics.

Isaac's ready to party.

Enjoying all the attention :)

This is nurse Ami.  We love nurse Ami.  She is the one who really spoke up at the hospital that we should have Isaac looked at because of his color and rapid breathing.  Like I said, we love nurse Ami.

Isaac's mama across the alley, Shayna.  This woman is made of gold, I'm convinced.  We love her like crazy.

Jesse & Ingrid.  These two angels got 2-day-post-partum-hormonal-separated-from-her-boys mama packed, to the airport, in the wheelchair, and on the plane.  We love them big time.

Happy 1st Birthday, Isaac/Birth Team Reunion  

Birthday Boy

So thankful for this photo: June 2, 2015, 1:52pm
 Intense Love right from the start…and always!

Sale Pending!

We posted our house on our neighborhood's private Facebook page last Sunday.  The buyers looked at it Monday evening, made an offer Wednesday, we countered once each and we accepted their offer on Friday.  

We feel great about the price we got and the couple moving in.  

Love our small town market!

Happy 11 Months, Isaac

At 11 months, Isaac is beginning to stand for longer spurts and has slowly begun to take tiny steps here and there.  

He can also climb on and off the couch, up and down the stairs, and in and out of the laundry basket all on his own - and safely!  He knows "feet first" and is quite pleased with himself when he does it.  Of course, we are cheering him on the whole time. 

He likes to throw the ball and play "catch" with us and appears to be a southpaw, which makes Brian very proud.  

He LOVES animals and will squeal loudly at all dogs and cats that cross his path.

He also LOVES bananas, and will squeal loudly at the mere sight of them, whether at home or the grocery store.

Yesterday, while standing on the couch, he saw his buddy Henry through the window and started waving, smiling, and making excited sounds.  I opened the window and caught Henry's attention and he waved back to Isaac.  They just stood there waving at each other and smiling for maybe 10 solid seconds and it was adorable.  We sure are gonna miss our neighborhood!

Isaac's accessories

Lately Isaac has taken to quickly removing any hat we put on his head - except for this one:  

When we went for a sunny jog the other day, we both donned sunglasses for the first time in a long time!

He prefers no shades, as evidenced by his quick removal of his glasses and this smile: