Update, finally

I guess we have been a little busy lately because I have this wonderful new baby to show off and a great two year-old and haven't managed to put up pics yet. I still won't get it done today but at least I can write what we've been up to. Maybe tonight I will try to download them from my camera. Anyway, we went home for a week to see family, spent about 3 days in Kansas City and 3 days in Topeka. Isaac was so good in the car and Luke just slept the whole time of course. It is difficult traveling with two kids but I think we are pros now at the long drives =) At least Mike is. We left at 5:30pm from Grand Rapids and got in Kansas City at 4:30am our time. The nice thing is that Isaac took a late nap for about 2 hours since he was too excited to nap at home, then we took a good dinner break while I fed Luke and Mike and Isaac went to Bass Pro shop. After that it was hockey video time! Mike gets this hockey video from the library that is instructinoal hockey tips, totally boring (sorry Isaac) but that Isaac just loves. So they entertained themselves in the back with that and veggies tales for awhile and then Isaac just slept til we got to KS. People always ask how we do it so thought i'd share.

It has been a little more challenging than normal lately which is probably why I haven't written. Luke got sick in KS and is waking up all night and we are dealing with Isaac's "needs". He is a super great boy but is of course, two years old, which means there is a lot to get upset or worked up over. Mike and I are taking shifts at night getting up with the kids so that helps. I honestly can't imagine how it would be if he was working! I am so thankful that we made that decision as it makes life so much better.

Someone said to us when we were in KS that this is the busiest time in our lives, having little ones, and I definitely believe it. But then I think, well I'm making it so we'll just keep plugging along! It's also one of the most amazing times. Luke is such a beautiful baby and is smiling now. It is one of God's greatest inventions, the smile of a baby. So precious and innocent. That's always a fun reward during the day to make Luke smile. Isaac is also talking so much and seeing him put words together amazes us each day. He saw a blow-up santa in Lowe's and said "ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas". We have no idea where he got that from, it wasn't from us!

I started back taking ENT call last week. It's nice to take it now for November and not have to make it up later. I don't start back to surgery until the week of Thanksgiving though which is nice to have 7 full weeks off. This week was a little extra challenging. I had surgery on my foot on Wednesday and am recovering now. I have a lovely boot on my foot. I had a ganglion cyst that was causing some problems and I'm hoping that when I heal I will be able to run again because it has prevented me from doing that for a long time. I am soooo thankful that it was able to be done during my maternity leave because otherwise I would have to take about 2 weeks off from doing surgery. Now I just am being forced to sit and rest. It's probably good for me, I am just sitting all day enjoying looking at Luke and being waited on =)

So that was a lot! If you made it this far, thanks for "listening"! We are doing Thanksgiving at our house this year and we are spending the day with our close friends and making dinner together. It's one of my favorite holidays, even if I turn 30 over the Thanksgiving weekend . . . .

Lots of love to our friends and family!!!!

Cats Meow

Mike was asking Isaac the other day, "what does a (K-state) wildcat say?" He goes "Meow". Mike was quick to correct him, that a wildcat actually says "Roar" and I found it hilarious. Isaac gets it right now and I thought the Jayhawk fans on here would appreciate that.

Luke Kent Manion

Born 4:43PM 9-22-10
Weight: 8 pounds
Length: 19.5 inches

He's a cutie! We were in the hospital for about 28 hours and then were excited to bring Luke home to hang out with Isaac. The birth went perfectly and without complications. My good friends, Jen and Christine are both residents in OB/GYN and they delivered Isaac and managed my birth which made everything just so relaxing and wonderful. I am so lucky to get to have friends deliver Luke (pictured). Isaac held him for the first time at our home and the reaction was priceless. He just giggled and started calling him Lukie over and over. He just wouldn't stop laughing and kind of poking and inspecting him which is shown below in one of our photos. We got the reaction on video and hopefully Mike will have time someday to post it, I'm so glad we captured that moment. He's been a good big brother and helps out a lot, giving a pacifier, helping to get him a diaper (not realizing Isaac's are a tad bit bigger than Luke's), and gave him "Mun". Mun is a special frog in Isaac's world and Luke has a similar stuffed animal that Isaac calls Mun and gives it to Luke frequently. I think it will be Luke's little lovie someday too. My parents have been here since last Friday and have been a big help. We will miss them when they leave terribly tomorrow but my freezer is stocked with some yummy meals thanks to them =)

Here are a few photos:

Ode to Kansas

I planted some sunflower seeds that Baker University sent me this summer. To my surprise they actually grew! They are so pretty and it reminds me of Kansas =) So enjoy!

mommy's athletic skills

I've never quite been known for my athletic skills though I am the only one in my family who actually did athletics in college. What I mean is that I can run in a straight line fairly well at a good pace, but if I have to make contact with a ball, I'm in trouble. My two year old son has now noticed this. We were playing catch together as a family and I kept missing the ball. I would like to point out that I am not quite as mobile at 39 weeks pregnant as I could be, and I am SURE that is part of the problem. Anyway, last night Isaac took the glove away from Mike and gave it to me because "mommy need help". Thanks Isaac =)

photo update!

Here is a lovely picture of myself, posted only by popular demand, this was about a week ago when I was 37 weeks. My friends took me out to dinner for my "baby shower" which was wonderful. It was super great just to have a night out with my friends and go out to a fun Tapas restaurant downtown. My friend, Sarah, had the cutest baby cupcakes made and they were yuuummmmy!

One of Isaac's favorite things is playing in the dirt in our frontyard. I'm pretty sure some people think we are weird for letting him do this but it keeps him occupied and then we can actually have a real conversation while he entertains himself. The dirt pile will soon go away b/c we had all of the landscaping removed and then we are just going to plant grass. The landscaping was ugly and too much upkeep so we ripped it out! Life is to short to have ugly, time-consuming plants =)

Oh baby!

I had a baby shower for my friend and I thought I would show the cake I made. It's far from perfect but I am trying to start learning how to make cakes, just simple ones, so here is my first attempt at covering a cake with fondant. Isaac's cake was made with fondant, just the red part though, this cake was completely out of fondant. It was only slightly stressful =) I would do it differently when I do it again. My neighbor is a pastry chef so she has been super helpful with good advice.

Few Birthday Pics

The Great Hockey Cake (Nice Work Mommy!)


Practicing Happy Birthday to Me (Notice Hockey Guy on the Piano)


OHHHH....A Hockey Puzzle

More Pics to come...

A Day with I-ya

So I've(Mike) been hiding out for the past month or so in the basement trying to finish it before Dosito arrives and the beautiful Michigan winter weather graces us. Its been tough to find time to work during Isaac's naps and at night (why can't I use a circular saw at 2 am?). Eventually I'll get the before and after pics up, but we're pretty happy with the way it has turned out.

The rest of the time I'm not working, I get to enjoy some pretty funny moments with Isaac (I-ya) that I thought I would share:

-So whenever he wants to do something he always says OK or ohhhhhh. Best example was when Kristi and I were driving and we saw a ferris wheel in the distance, Isaac immediately sees it and says OK, thinking that if he answers the question before we ask, he will get to go.

-Some of his favorite toys are little 2 inch baseball players that are actually cake decorations that I used to have. He makes sure that they travel everywhere we go and will often hold 3 in one hand while riding in the car or inside the stores. He also likes to line them up on the piano bench so that they can "watch" us play hockey, or line them up in front of the goal and use them as target practice.

-Some kids get excited about Toys'R Us...Isaac loves the hockey store. Yes in Michigan there are stores solely devoted to hockey and Isaac thinks its his playground. The people in the store think he is cute so it is a little easier to let him try on all the gear as he walks around saying the proper terms for the equipment. A minor tragedy struck about a month ago though as the store was locked and Isaac started bawling, he had to get out of the car and physically shake the door to make sure it was locked!

-Thankfully he also likes and is pretty decent at a more southern sport....baseball. It was fun when Kristi's parents were here and he hit off his tee outside for about an hour. Grandpa was most amazed at his ability to hit it where he was told to hit, with the exception of drilling Daddy in the mouth when he tried to hit it over my head.

-Random thing that happened yesterday; I had to tell Isaac not to put his tank and motorcycle in the toilet! I just thought it was a funny thing that I get to deal with on a daily basis, and have another boy on the way!

-Isaac and I try to make a daily trip to somewhere in the car, which is always fun to hear what random things he sees. For example, every time we get on the highway, he knows there is a certain silo which is on the way to the hockey game which then leads to the following conversation every time.
--Isaac "Ahgee, Ahgee"
--Daddy "What about hockey buddy?"
--Isaac "Ahgee see all duh" (which is hockey season is all done)
--Daddy "When do we get to go to hockey games again?"
--Isaac "Nose" (which is his cute word for"snows")
I had to come up with the snow explanation bc he used to get really sad knowing we were going over by the arena and not going to a game, so I really hope it doesn't snow before Oct. 8.

-Continuing with the car stories, he often wants me to turn up the "meek" (music). One day I was listening to some Spanish song and he started speaking his equivalent of Spanish (sounds like gillallliillilillll). Most of the time I listen to 80's and classic rock, and the other day I changed the station to something else, and Isaac says "aseydesy" (which meant he wanted me to turn back to AC/DC... ie drums and guitars)

-He loves to ride his tricycle up and down our sidewalk. We are quite well known to our neighbors now, since he takes about 30 minutes to go about a tenth of a mile. He does get a chance to go see his little friend Claire on the way which is always a fun time since they are the same age. One of my favorite moments though was after we had been to the Harley store (Isaac loves motorcycles!). He stopped his trike and was making his motorcycle sound, "mmm-MMMM", I wondered if he saw one in the distance , but when I turned around I realized he was trying to kickstart his trike, like some motorcycles do!

So after almost 2 years I have realized that we have a motorcycle riding, guitar loving, hockey playing, analytical observer (ie engineer), who never stops laughing. That could be one interesting teenager, huh!?!?!

Deal of the Day

Our neighbor told me about this block garage sale that sounded kind of promising and Isaac and I decided to go today. It was a perfect day for it, not too hot, and he had a rough night (we are trying to get him to sleep in a toddler bed and he keeps getting up in the middle of the night). It was good for him just to ride around in the stroller since he was kind of tired.


Anyway, I just posted about our pink carpet and wasn't really planning on doing much about it but they had this at a garage sale for $20!!! and I couldn't pass it up! All I really needed was the rug which originally was hundreds at Pottery Barn and she had it for $10. The rest of the stuff, a custom made lampshade to match, crib bumper, bedskirt, and valance was all thrown in for $10. I'm super excited to have some "new" stuff for Dosito's room, especially excited about the five foot round rug. This picture is from ebay and it was selling for $599 but included a quilt and mobile which we don't have (or need).



Oh, and I also managed to pick up some brand new tall black leather boots from Ann Taylor for $10!! Very fun!!

Snips, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails

I can't believe I forgot to update this! I was just talking to my friend on my the phone and realized I never posted. But we are having another boy, yay! God's going to keep me on my toes with all of these boys running around =) We are keeping Dosito's real name a surprise until he is born but definitely couldn't keep the gender a secret, we are too excited! It will be nice though b/c he can share most of Isaac's stuff since he will be born in September and Isaac was born in August. The only difference is that its a little colder here. We also have some lovely pink carpet in Dosito's current room but I think it just might have to be that way for a little while. Hopefully it won't scar him forever to be in a pink room =) Isaac's nanny, Miss Carole, had him in a pink room when he was a baby and he seems okay =)

We just had a wonderful time with Mike's sister, Kristi, and niece visiting from Kansas! Her daughter is just a couple of months younger than Isaac and they had a great time together. Isaac actually cried when she left and I think it's the first person he has cried about leaving him besides Mike. It made me sad that he was so sad. I ended up with a great schedule while they were here and got to see them a lot too. It was rainy but Kristi said it was a nice change from the 90 degree KS heat.

Green Thumb

Or at least I hope so. Again, one of my goals this year was to plant a garden. I've always wanted to and just never have. So Isaac and I got up this morning and worked on it. I don't really know what I'm doing. I'll actually be pretty proud of myself if something green sprouts up out of all of this. My friend had some leftover seeds she gave to me yesterday so I decided there's no time like the present! I planted some heirloom tomatoes, roma tomatoes, zucchini, watermelon, green beans, and various lettuces. I'm pretty sure I planted it all too close together but we'll see. I'm going to wait to invest in a wire cage for my tomatoes before I actually see if it starts to grow!

I'll keep you posted!

Raise the Roof!

Or ceiling that is. Mike just finished putting up the drywall on our ceiling using one of those fancy drywall lifter things you rent from Home Depot. Now he is going to tackle the mudding/taping part of it which we hear is not too much fun. So if any of your home improvement gurus out there have suggestions, we'll take 'em!

I think they should invent paint that smells like the new house smell. I like the way our basement smells now with all of the lumber in it, reminds me of a new house. Maybe we'll just stick some random pieces of lumber around our house or under the couches to get the effect . . .

Saving the world, one milk jug at a time. . .

My effort to participate in saving the world started today. I made a resolution this year to start recycling and I've been saving all of my lovely trash so that I can drive 20 minutes to drop such lovely trash off to a place where they will make it into something better (hopefully). I'm hoping the fuel requirements don't discount my efforts. I have a million excuses as to why I've never recycled before, mainly where to store it. Now I found a place in Kent County who will take my used plastic/paper/glass for free!!!

Less trash for me, more recycled plastic benches for you and your kids in the park. How lovely.

Missing My Boys

Mike and Isaac have been in Kansas now for about a week and are coming home on Sunday. I'm VERY excited to see them! It was a good decision b/c I basically come home sleep til 4:30 in the afternoon, get up, and go to work at 5:00 so I'm glad Isaac is getting to see his grandparents/greatgrandpa/and cousins.

Last night was a pretty easy night at work and I had lots of time to myself. Sometimes as a mom, it just seems like kids grow up so fast. I was really thinking about that last night and had a lot of time to just pray too, and it was perfectly quiet, peaceful, and I didn't even get any interrupting pages.

I know people always say kids grow up fast and they really do. I feel like all I can do as a mom is pray that Isaac knows how much I love him and hope that he grows up to love the Lord. I think that is my strongest desire for my children. No matter what they do, where they live, what job they have, as long as they are happy, love others, and love God, I think that is the only thing important in life. We spend so much time doing things that aren't to glorify God, that sometimes it's hard for me to realize that me working is important and what God wants me to do. I guess somebody has to work in our family =) But really, I think for any working mom, it's a struggle to find a balance between working and being at home.

It's nice to have this time to recollect and make sure my life and my family's life decisions are focused on Jesus. I have to say, it's very hard. It's hard when I get grumpy being on call, hard when I miss my kid(s), hard when I feel like Isaac wants to spend more time with Mike b/c he's home more, and just finding a couple of seconds to myself to read the Bible and try to grow in someway. I know many people can relate, including stay-at-home moms/dads. Anyway, these are a lot of ramblings but it sure is nice in a busy, loud world, to appreciate a quiet moment and I certainly did last night.

I still can't wait for my boys to come home though- I wouldn't want it quiet for too long!

Photo Time!

Here are some new photos. Mike and Isaac went to the Whitecaps baseball game together. Isaac seems to like hockey more though . . . but daddy's working on that =) Hockey is more interesting for little bears b/c of the fast pace but I'm not a huge fan of Isaac playing hockey b/c I don't find it that interesting to watch! Maybe if my own boy was playing I would like it?

"Mother's Day"

Our little family has such a wonderful weekend. I am so happy with how it turned out. I was really grumpy going to call on Friday night b/c I knew that I was going to be missing my family for the next couple of weeks and was trying to get ready for Mike's 30th birthday party on Saturday night. Fortunately, I had the best call night ever and actually laid down for a bit so I was up by 11:00am on Saturday, enjoyed the day and had time to get ready for the party.

The party was so fun. I made a few things but the highlights were smoked cheddar burgers wrapped in applewood bacon, goat cheese and roma appetizers (yum!), and german chocolate cake. The cake was new for me but it is probably my new favorite recipe, though it used about 12 eggs to make the cake! My frosting was a little dry but I will try it again and I think I can make it better next time. It was so nice to get together with our friends. I have a few good friends from my intern class who are married and who Mike (and Isaac) have gotten to know really well. We also had our neighbors over and they have a little girl Isaac's age so it was fun to see them play together and get to know them better.

Today (sunday) was an absolutely beautiful day. Mike worked on the basement today a bit and Isaac and I played outside, reading books outside, playing ball, and just having fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it. We then all went to Holland for the Tulip Festival. It was nice just to be outside and the tulips were pretty, not quite as many as I was expecting to have a whole festival named after it, but a fun experience. I pretended like it was my Mother's day because Mike and Isaac will be in Kansas on Mother's day. I really wanted to do a Mother's Day run pushing Isaac and carrying Dosito but maybe next year =)

Mike and Isaac are going home because I start block nights this month (actually I'm on nights right now), so if you feel like praying for us, you can pray for me to have a good attitude, get sleep during the day, and not get depressed about working so much. Block nights are hard for lots of reasons. It's lonely. It's ~ 80 hour work week, which isn't out of the ordinary, but it's packed into 5 days so I basically go home and sleep and go back to work. So since I don't see my family during this time they are using the opportunity to go home and see extended family which is great! It's also just not fun, handling call and admissions all night. Additionally, I have 6 other calls this month on top of my 10 nights so it's just kind of a lot to have ahead of me this month. Oh well, only 2 weeks and then never again!!

So onto more happy stuff! When we put Isaac down to bed and he thinks it's so funny to roar like a lion at me when we leave the room and then I have to pretend that I'm scared. He started doing this at lunch and loves watching me jump at the scary lion! He's also a pretty sweet boy. Of course, he's testing his limits as he should but the other day we were getting into the car which he was not happy about. (He wanted to play at "hard worker store" a little longer, that being Lowe's) He kind of hit me on the face and I said, Isaac that hurt mommy, that's not very nice. So he said "Sor" and then patted me on the cheek and gave me a kiss. He was so sweet to me =) We are working on the sorry word and I think he's getting it. He's kind of a tough boy and he has a lot of war wounds today to prove it. Today he fell down the deck steps, fell on the steps on the shed, I accidentally popped him in the head with my foot, Mike dropped a 2x4 on him (seriously!), and he cut his lip and nose on something else. You would think we were bad parents but he's just quite the explorer!!

Anyway, I could probably keep typing since I'm just trying to keep myself awake now. At least when Mike drives home at 3am on Friday morning, I'll have somebody to talk to.

Have a happy day!

Kristi and Dosito

Isaacisms

It's fun to see the world through a child's eye sometimes. I was cutting off the tops of the strawberries and Isaac kept repeating a work and pointing to them. The word kind of sounds like "umbiga". Then I realized he thought the tops of the strawberries looked like umbrellas =) What cute way to view a strawberry top.

He got a hair cut this week and was so proud. He could say the word "haircut" perfectly clearly and loves his new word. He does look like an older bear now with shorter hair. We'll have to put up a picture soon.

He can point to my belly now and say "Dosito" and doesn't quite understand what's going on but it's still cute to hear him say it.

I'll write some more down when I think of it =)

Public Service Announcement

This is to save all guys from being hit over the head by another female or for other socially inept individuals. The title of this is,"what not to say to a pregnant woman".

"Yeah, I wondered if you were pregnant b/c you were looking kind of "fuller" in the face."
The above has been said to me by THREE DIFFERENT people. Okay, so maybe it's so but come on, really, is that necessary? Just say, congratulations. Now I almost want to tell people I'm pregnant so they don't think I just randomly started gaining weight the end of my intern year. Trust me, I get it, I have a round face. Sheesh people.

"You are going to be one of those pregnant people who gets really big all over, aren't you?"
That one takes the cake. Um, no, I'm going to be one of those pregnant people who struts around in a bikini at 8 mos and has my picture in a magazine-"of course I"m going to get big and by the way, you're not so small yourself"! Of course, that's only what I was thinking. Is that bad? Surely God would understand.

People, people. And it's been such a good week too, I only puked in my surgical mask once this week . . . Good thing babies are so wonderful and it makes it all worth it!! We just can't wait to meet Dosito!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

I hope you all are having wonderful family time and celebrating the resurrection today! I am in spirit-I'm at work today from 7a Sunday to 7a Monday and I worked til Midnight on Good Friday so I completely missed our Easter services. We only have to work like 5 holidays a year or so and this is one of mine but it's the last holiday I work so that's great!

Mike and Isaac just came by after church and we had lunch together. It's nice now that it's a little warmer and Isaac can run around in the garden we have out by our cafeteria. This hospital really is great for things like that, good for families.

So what have we been up to? Well, I've enjoyed working the later shift the past week b/c the weather has been so nice and Isaac and I can play outside. I also have to take an on-line stats course this month-ick!! Mike just finished putting up guttering on the outside of our house. I'm still amazed with what he can figure out how to do and it sure was needed. It's crazy how a lot of houses here don't have guttering, it's bad for our foundation and leave huge trenches a couple of feet away from the wall of the house in the yard. Weird. Mike's working on figuring out how to finish studding off the basement to start refinishing it. We are going to just put in a family room and guest bedroom since our new baby will be in our current guest bedroom =) We want to encourage visitors!!! Isaac constantly asks to play hockey with Mike's two friends, Joe and Eddy (and us of course). I was even in the grocery store yesterday with Isaac, he turns the the guy behind me and says "hockey, joe". They all went to a hockey game one night when all us wives were working (Joe and Eddy's wives are OB/GYN interns). He has a huge vocabulary now, definitely about 200 words, too many to count, and is starting to put a couple of words together. Isaac loves playing outside, of course, street hockey, but also tee baseball, and with sidewalk chalk.

So that's us in a nutshell in the past week! Thanks for all the e-mails. I love to hear how everyone is doing and thanks for the prayers for out little one on the way! Of course, let me know how we can pray for you too!