Four months already!

Yay for visitors!!!

Mommy's first birthday with her boy!!

Isaac has no choice as to who he's going to be a fan of. Just look at grandpa . . .

Isaac had his four month checkup today and he's a big boy! He's in 80% for height and 90%!!! for weight and head size. We have a chunker and we love it =) Isaac is so much fun right now and is laughing and smiling all of the time. We just cannot believe how much joy he has brought to our home. We had a great Thanksgiving b/c the week before the Manion grandparents came up to watch Isaac for a week and play. It was so nice for them to have that time to bond with Isaac. Then during Thanksgiving week the Anspaugh grandparents came up with Steph. That was so fun! My birthday was Thanksgiving day this year so it was nice to be able to be with family.

Ready for Spring Training

Kristi's Schedule

So I've been getting many questions about my life right now. Here is how it has been since I went back to "work":

Oct. 17th: Board exam, I took my other boards the week before in Philadelphia
Oct. 19th-22nd:Rotation in Grand Rapids, MI
Oct. 23rd-27th:Conference in Vegas (where Mike and Isaac met me there)
Oct. 28th:Back to Michigan for rotation, then drove to Ohio that night
Oct. 29th:In Dayton, OH for interview for residency
Oct. 30th-31st:Back in Grand Rapids for rotation, drove back to Dayton on Friday night
Nov. 2nd-6th: St. Louis for rotation, Isaac is coming with me and my friend is watching him!!!!
Nov. 7th-8th: Interview in Columbus, OH for residency, driving back to STL that night
Nov. 8th-14th: Finish rotation in STL and drive back to Dayton on Friday night
Nov. 17th: Interview in Grand Rapids, MI. Mike is coming with me to check it out and the in-laws are watching Isaac in Dayton. Finally, I'll have some driving company!!!

Confused??!! So maybe you will all understand if I'm slow in responding to you when you call me or something!!

Happy Turtleween!!

So the boy decided to be a turtle for Halloween (mainly b/c since he was a day old, he looks like a turtle when we burp him). We only had around 15 trick-or-treaters, but Isaac was thrilled to hand out candy.
This is what happens when Daddy is in charge...

Bless me!

Vegas Baby!

So Kristi had this great idea that Mike and Isaac fly to Vegas to meet her at a convention she was speaking at. Since our lives are always interesting, we decided why not!?! Kristi flew direct from Michigan where she was on a rotation, and the boys flew from Columbus after already spending some quality days together (sidenote; one morning Mike woke up to Isaac screaming, apparently the boy had an explosive poo and needed to have a full pit stop including a bath at 5:00 am, I'll (Mike) get him back one day for that!) As the journey began, Isaac did a great job on his first plane trip, even getting compliments on not crying. Meanwhile, I got some strange looks as the random dad taking a 3 month old to Vegas, but everybody was very willing to help (one lady even offered her breastfeeding services just in case Isaac needed a "quick pick me up"...weird!)

In Vegas, we had a fabulous time staying at the Palazzo. Kristi was very happy to see her boys and Isaac definitely missed her. He and I walked around while Kristi was at her meetings and saw the Lamborghini dealership, the shops at the Venetian, Ceasar's Palace, and lots of other cool stuff. Unfortunately they won't let you gamble with a child attached, so I saved that for later. Kristi and I also got to spend some good "date" time together and went to Spago (Wolfgang Puck's restaurant) for dessert and then to the club Tao, as we had another med student watch Isaac. The following night, all of us got to partake in dinner at one of Emeril's steakhouses, Delmonico's. Isaac did a great job of chilling in his stroller while we all ate together. It's pretty cool getting to go to different places while Kristi has to play SOMA prez.

One last tidbit, Kristi had her interview for her Dayton ENT residency tonight and we'll see how it went in a few days. Now she is off to Grand Rapids, MI for 2 days, then returns to Dayton for one day, and then off again to St. Louis for another rotation. Enjoy the pics!

I'm not afraid of heights!!!!

The little drummer boy
My first flight

1 down, 1 to go . . .

so i (kristi) just had a very interesting week. it's been hard! i had a board exam in pennsylvania wednesday. so i left Tuesday (got a $115 speeding ticket, thank you very much mr. officer of the dayton/columbus road o' many tickets, please spend your time catching REAL criminals, that's my advice) drove 9 hours to New Jersey. got to stay with some wonderful friends we met when we all lived in St. Louis AND got to see their baby which was great b/c i was missing mine!! drove 2 hours the next morning for my test in pennsylvania (craziness traffic!!) and took the test from 8-3:30. then drove another 9ish hours back home to dayton! i think God was definitely listening to my family's prayers b/c i wasn't sleepy at all. i got bored driving but i stayed awake well. i was worried about that after the stresses of driving and then taking the exam and having to think. but it went well. the hardest part were the days going up to it knowing that i was going to have to leave isaac for the first time. well, i made some dumb mistakes on this dumb test but hopefully i will just pass (it's pass/fail)!!! at least mike and isaac had some quality time. he was on call those 2 days but no patients came in so they had a nice time together at home =)

my next board exam is next friday and is in dayton, yay!

here are some 2 month pictures we took of isaac on Oct.2nd. he got his 2 month shots today (i couldn't watch) and has kind of been out of sorts. in this first one he is wearing one of mike's outfits again. we have a picture of mike at 2 months in this same outfit. isaac is a lot taller! he was in the 93rd percentile today for height at his appt. i don't think he gets that from me!!!

thanks for the cute outfit aunt steph!!

The Movie Star Returns

So here are a couple of videos that I have been waiting to put up. Enjoy!

Reggae Time!

I'm a stud runner just like my mommy!

Cuddle Bug

This is a picture of Isaac in one of Mike's outfits. The picture above him is Mike in the same outfit =) He really gets excited sometimes and flails his arms and legs like this!

Manion Grandparents

Mike and Isaac

Go K-STATE!!!!!!

dude . . . why is everybody always taking pictures? can't they see i'm tired?

Hurricane Ike Photos

One month photos!!

Here are some new photos of our boy's one month pictures! We were so happy with these pictures and the photographers were great. We went to Schwabe Studios in Vandalia for you Ohio people. We're going every month to get photos and I'm putting a one year scrapbook together for him. I got the idea from my friend Rachel when she made one for her daughter awhile ago. Hope you enjoy them!

Hurricane Ike, and we're not talking about our baby . . .

so we've had an interesting last week and a half. the other grandparents came up to meet Isaac =) Kent and June Manion came. Mike and Kent went to a Mets and a Yankees game last weekend. The game on Friday night was rained out so there were actually 2 Mets games to see that Saturday (the 13th) which is like a dream come true for 2 crazy baseball fans. I was so happy they got to see the game b/c it was one of the last games at the old Yankee stadium and Mike really wanted to see a game there. I also got a couple of cute shirts and some dark chocolate from the Hershey store.

Grandpa Manion and Isaac

While they were out galavanting around New York, June stayed home with Isaac and me. He was going through a growth spurt and was eating at 9PM, 12AM, 3AM, 5:30AM, and 7AM for awhile. I was glad she was here to help me with that! He is getting chubbier now and you can really tell he has grown a lot =) What's interesting though is that we had effects from Hurricane Ike that weekend. We lost power Sunday and Monday, it came on just before I picked the guys up at the aiport =) Isaac didn't like being in the dark. Now I realize I need to be more responsible and actually have an emergency kit or something. We need batteries, flashlights, and matches I discovered!

It was crazy here and when the manions send me pics I'll try to post them. We went to house church last night and made pizzas. Then we walked around giving out pizzas and cookies to the worker people. I even met some people from Missouri up helping =) There are still about 100 homes in Oakwood that don't have power after a week! I'm so thankful we do just for the laundry reasons b/c Isaac creates plenty of that!

He still loves his baths and gets this wonderful relaxed face during it. Ahh, warm water . . .

McCain Rally

Mike got tickets for the McCain rally. This is old news but of course, I haven't been doing a good job posting. Oh well, and now I'm procrastinating from studying. But he was glad he got to go b/c it's when McCain announced his VP. So he got to see that in person and hear Sarah Palin's speech. He was very impressed and liked her immediately! I'm glad McCain chose her and she appeals to our ideals. Anyway is a faraway photo.

yes there is a baby in here!!!

Isaac, daddy and I went to the Oakwood ice cream social. Everyone kept asking me if it was a dog in there or a baby b/c he was so tiny =)

the Yoda

Many of you know that I call my sister Yoda which is kind of a weird nickname. Her real name is actually Jodie but in college she was always giving me such great advice that I started calling her the wise Yoda and unfortunately for her . . . it stuck =) This weekend was another example of how she earned her nickname. June (mike's mom) was telling me about The Happiest Baby on the Block and Jodie started talking about it too. So she taught me some quieting techniques from the video and it was like a miracle! He stopped crying immediately and its worked multiple times so now we call her the "Yoda Whisperer". He also just seems to relax in her arms (obviously I'm talking about Isaac here). It was a super great visit and we will miss her lots and lots!!

New Visitor

Yeah! The Aunt Yoda has arrived with all her wisdom and a new play-gym for the little man. He decided to bless her with a gift in his diaper upon her arrival, but she chose to love and hug him nonetheless. We love our visitors!

Isaac Bath Time

Its bath time!!! Actually this was done a couple of days ago, so we didn't let our child wallow in his own dirt for 11 straight days. Still having fun with the late night crying spells, but he's starting to shift the cries to the 9:00 pm range which is good. More sleep for Mommy! That's all for now in the world of diapers and hiccups.

Fun times with Isaac!!

Little update for ya: Isaac didn't need any UV therapy. I think our walks helped and he's been a good eater-every 2 hours. Mommy is looking forward to this week when I can start to stretch it to 2.5 hours and even 3 hours at night!! woo-hoo!!

Isaac's Hiccups

our little bili baby =)

So he's still working on getting that yellow color out. He was in the 95% yesterday so we will see today what he is. He's gaining weight so we are positive that it will be okay. If not, the treatment is easy. His dad was under that light for 8 days when he was born so maybe it runs in the family =) What's really nice is there's a precious Beginnings group from teh hospital that does home visits so all of his blood draws have been here. I thought I'd add some pictures of our UV walks for you all!

Grandma Anspaugh and Aunt Steph (and Isaac)

Announcing Mr. Isaac!!!

Hi all!!! We wanted to share our big news! (actually it's little news!). Our baby, Isaac Thaine, was born into the world on Saturday August 2nd at 8:26am. Everything went well with the delivery and he looks good (just a little yellow but they're following that). He was 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 20 3/4 inches. So hopefully he'll be tall like his daddy and not short like me ;) Thaine is a family name from my dad and grandpa and Isaac is from Genesis 21.You can go to http://www.kmcnetwork.org/wcs/babygallerykmc/menu/showbaby.cfm?id=12931 to see a picture from the hospital.

We feel pretty blessed with this little miracle and are so excited about it. He's adorable! I'll try to keep updated on some photos and maybe write some more. Those every 2 hour feedings sure do keep me busy but his bilirubin is going down now so that's good. We had his first Dr's appt today to check him our and it all went well. We really like our pediatrician, Dr. Sorauf. I know him well b/c I did my pediatrics rotations with him.

My mom and Stephanie are still here. My mom got here last Monday and I went into labor on Friday so she helped me out here for almost a week before. I think my entire house has never been so clean and we've had some great meals. Stephanie arrived Friday when I was in labor so we really didn't get to chat much ;) But I'm so glad that they both got to be here. My mom was in the delivery room and I'm so glad. She helped us get some great pictures and helped me during labor. I'll be so sad when they leave. We wish we were closer to home and hope that our families feel that they bond well with him.

He's just so much fun right now and these moments are precious!

Love,
Kristi and Mike (and Isaac)


When we first got to the hospital

Coming home!!!
My first car ride

Isaac and Aunt Steph Grandma Anspaugh and Isaac

Looking large!

Here we are working on decorating Sprout's room late one night. We're getting excited!! I'll put photos up of the room when we get it mostly done!

June 5th-8th, 2008: FUN visitors!!!

so the next weekend, no we didn't go anywhere but even better---we had some great visitors. my mom drove up with my grandpa to Ohio. my grandpa hasn't ever seen where mike and i lived since we've been married b/c it was difficult for them to travel to STL and KC. so we were so fortunate to have them visit. i have so many stories that i need to post. the best thing was talking to my grandpa and hearing stories. i hope it was refreshing to be here since he has had the worst week ever after losing grandma. we wanted to make it relaxing for them. i will write more in a bit about what we did that weekend . . .

sad weekend trip . . .

so what i didn't mention was that on our day on Grant's Farm we found out that my wonderful little grandmother passed away. i'm glad i was with Yoda when we found out. i think it made it easier to be with family. isn't it interesting that she passed away on memorial day, May 26th, 2008? i won't ever have trouble remembering the day. those of you who know me well, know that i was very close to my grandma. it's been hard but we can rejoice that she's in heaven having REAL communion with the Lord. it was hard for her at the end of her life to not be able to attend mass and have communion. sometimes father brought things over to her house but i know that was the hardest part of her illness for her. but i'm sure the REAL communion with the big JC has to be pretty amazing =) i know she's watching out for us up there and will be smiling down when Sprout is born.

so i went home the next weekend for her funeral. we had the memorial service on thursday and the funeral friday. i went home the next day but was sooo thankful my precetor (i'm on peds rotation now) was understanding and told me to take as much time as i needed. my grandma was truly a wonderful person. the hardest part is knowing that my grandpa lost the love of his life. they were married almost 63 years and i can only hope and pray i'm that lucky someday. i think the best thing they had going for them was their faith and love for God and then their love of family.

anyway, just wanted you all to know about my little grandma =)

May 25th-26th, 2008: Memorial Day Weekend in the Lou!!

So moving on to the next weekend . . . we met up with Jodie and Andrew in the Lou (that's St. Louis folks) and Charlotte and Ethan. Mike and I went up after his work on Saturday and stayed til Monday. It was a quick trip but Mike hasn't seen them since Christmas and won't see them again unless we meet halfway again after the baby is born. So that's kind of sad. We had a lot of fun with them though and it definitely gets us excited for our boy! Sunday was spent at the zoo, probably my most favorite place in the world. I LOVE the STL zoo b/c it's huge, fun, and free! So we all had a good time even though it rained while we were there. Monday was spent at Grant's Farm which Mike and I had never been to. Basically it's an outdoor zoo owned by Anheuser-Busch (as is like everything in st louis) but used to be the former President Grant's property. It's where they have the Clydesdales an everything. That was pretty cool and of course, free b/c STL is very family friendly =) We had a blast!!

May 17th, 2008: First Baby Shower!

So I figure I better at least start writing on this thing so that when I post pictures, I won't have to do it all at once. Of course, you'll see in my posts why I haven't written in awhile. It's been a little nutty starting off as SOMA President. There's a lot to do upfront but now its getting better. Plus we were gone soo many weekends! It's been fun but this was my third weekend gone. We had a baby shower at my parents house in Kansas City. My sisters hosted it. Jodie had a cute little cake made for sprout and my mom made my favorite meal, Christmas brunch =) complete with these famous butterscotch monkeybread rolls that we could eat a million of! I had so many friends there who I hadn't seen in awhile. My Alpha Chi friends even went in together on my car seat and baby monitor-that was such a nice surprise!!

Steph and Ethan =)

Kristi Bruce, June Manion, Me, Mom, Steph, Jodie

Pennsylvania

Our hotel at night

Us at the game

Me at 28 wks, it really looks the same as the last picture to me . . .

So now we have gone on our next weekend excursion. We are working on getting Sprout used to being transported all over already =) Mike and I went to Pittsburg to see the Pirates game on Saturday. It was fun and he can cross off one more of the stadiums on his list to see. I've kind of gotten into it too and like seeing all of the stadiums, more so for that than actually watching the game. Mike made it very special and we stayed at this fancimous hotel, The Renaissance, in downtown Pittsburgh. It was absolutely beautiful, all white marble, wonderfully decorated, and built in 1876. Sunday (today) is Mother's Day and I was so thankful to be able to be an almost mom today. Mike got me a card and we went to a Mother's Day Brunch in downtown Pittsburgh. It was delicious and they gave me a flower at the restaurant. I am just so thankful for little Sprout and can't hardly believe he'll be here in a couple of months!