Visitors- Round 3

THANKSGIVING

Our third round of house guests (Matt's parents) arrived Wednesday night to spend Thanksgiving with us.

Isaac, Kaylee and the Bapas
Is there anything more precious than a sleeping baby?



Matt carves the bird (which I cooked to perfection by the way!)

Chef Mandy

It looks like Isaac couldn't wait to get started


Poor Kaylee, you'll get some turkey next year...

After we all recovered from the big meal (and I had my nap) we set up the Christmas tree.

Visitors- Round 2

On Sat. November18 Matt left in the morning to drop Jon, Jodi and their kids off at Logan Airport (Boston) and on his way back he picked my sister Amanda up in Portland. So the fun continued!

At church on Sunday EVERYBODY commented on how much we look alike. I never thought we looked that similiar, but just in case you can't tell us apart, she's the one holding Kaylee.





I have to say a big THANK YOU to Amanda for all the help she gave me while she was here. She basically spent the week being a cook, housecleaner, nanny, and personal shopper. What a great Aunt!!

Visitors- Round 1 cont.

The Children's Museum of Maine

A great place to spend a rainy day

Isaac and Nathan- atuo technicians

Is that under warenty?

All wet- Isaac floats his boat on the Cascade Stream

The Dog Whisperer

Little Maine Lumberjack

Uncle Jon assists the junior firemen as they slide down (and try to climb up) the pole

Visitors- Round 1

The DeWitte house has enjoyed a steady stream of visitors for the past two weeks. The first to arrive were Jon, Jodi, Nathan, and Katie. Here are some highlights of the cousins spending time together:

Isaac & Katie
Kaylee & Katie in their matching outfits
Isaac & Nathan- Bubble Boys

Bath time- Nathan & Isaac chew on basketballs, while Katie prefers a comb

Jodi gets the boys ready for our favorite time of the day: BEDTIME!

all dressed up & no place to go

Today I tried a dress on Kaylee for the first time. I thought she looked pretty cute, and I was kinda bummed that we didn't have anywhere to go so I could show her off. So I I decided to just take a bunch of pictures of her instead. Plus, after all the hassel of getting the whole ensamble on her, I really didn't feel like taking it off her and then redressing her in something different.

Matt came home and said she looked like "Pop 'n Fresh"

Hmm... I wonder what Isaac is doing

It looks like he's reading the e-toys catalog and picking out his Christmas presents.

I think he decided on the Power Wheels Ulitmate Terrain Traction Jeep Hurricane. ($389.99)

Keep dreaming Isaac!

Halloween

So I thought for Halloween it would be really cute to have Isaac dressed up as Elmo and Kaylee dressed as Zoe (also a sesame street character, for those of who are not up on kid's t.v.) And, it was cute, but the sad truth is they have no idea what is going on, and they really don't care. I think the reality of this hit me when I was practically wrestling with Isaac to get him to keep his Elmo head on.

Although, once we got to the parade he was so distracted (or maybe tired becuase he missed his nap) that he gave up fighting and did wear it.
Isaac was supposed to have a different Elmo
costume, but ended up with this home-made
version at the last minute. He still looked cute
though!


Kaylee in her Zoe outfit .

Our tradion of carving a pumpkin to match their costume

Isaac really got into the pumpkin carving (almost literally)

He's listening!

Now, I'm not trying to blame anything on anyone. I'm just telling you how it happend.

Last weekend Matt had Isaac "helping" him in the basement. Mostly Isaac was hitting the hammer against the fuel oil tank and riding his bike in circles, but while he was was down there he did learn 2 new words- wrench and darn it.

Today (almost a week later) Isaac was geting frustrated with me. He wanted to take Kaylee's hat off, and I wasn't letting him. After a few minutes of whining and trying to pull it off her head he said "darn-it, darn-it, darn-it."

I guess it could have been worse, but with my luck he'll start saying in the nursery on Sunday.

This amused me

Just so Matt doesn't think I am at home all day doing nothing, I try to make a point of letting him know all the new words, etc. our son is learning when he's with me during the day. That being said, this was the "conversation" in our bathroom last night:

Emily: (holding a washcloth) Isaac, tell Daddy what this is.

Isaac: baushcough

Matt: butt floss?

Isaac (very seriously) No, baushcough

I'm not sure if anyone else finds it amusing, but I'm laughing again as I type it. Maybe you had to be there...

Isaac likes to help mommy give Kaylee a bath (this is in fact how he learned the word washcloth)

Just for fun- Isaac pretending to go "night-night" in the bathtub

Just when you think you have things under control...

So yesterday (Monday the 16th) was my first day home all day by myself with 2 kids. I was a little nervous about how the day would go, but by 7:00 pm I was feeling really good about myself. The house was pretty clean, everyone had been fed, both kids had been bathed (hey- I'd even taken a shower) and Isaac had played really well all day. All was well. I'll admitt the words super mom crossed my mind.

Then...

At 8:00 I put Isaac to bed. I went into our bedroom to nurse Kaylee. At about 8:05 I heard the pitter patter of little footsteps in the hall. Isaac. Hmm. I thought I'd put him to bed. Matt was in the bonus room working on a paper so he didn't get him up. OH MY GOSH! Isaac just climbed out of his crib!

The next 2 hours at the DeWitte house were spent trying to figure out how to keep a stubborn 18-month old in his crib. Let's just say there was a lot of screaming. Finally Matt got him settled down and we turned on his tape player. There's nothing like a little wee sing praise songs to make you drowsy. By 10:00 all was finally quiet.

Then to top it all off today Isaac learned a new trick. Now he not only knows how to climb out of his crib, but he figured out how to climb into Kaylee's. For some reason he still thinks of her room as his personal playground and the crib is his trampoline. Oh yeah- then he bounced himself out of it and almost landed on his head ( I was sitting on the floor and was able to break the fall so at least we didn't have to make a trip to the hospital)

Maybe I am a super mom after all!!

Kaylee's first 8 days

As most of you know, Kaylee Elisabeth DeWitte arrived rather suddenly in the early morning hours of October 6. We are so excited that she is here. Here's what she has been up to this past week...

Kaylee makes a call from the hospital. Good thing we have the family plan.

October 7- her first day home. Time to nap.

Sunday October 8- Kaylee sleeps while Isaac plays on the playground at the lcoal elementary school.

Monday October 9- Kaylee's first trip to the Bean store (it's never too early to learn how to shop!)

Friday October 13- Kaylee's first trip to the pumpkin patch

All Ready!!

OK- baby girl DeWitte can arrive anytime now. Her room is finally ready for her! It only took 3 coats of paint (plus 1 coat of primer) to cover the green that was originally on the walls. We really hope the baby doesn't turn out to be a boy because neither Matt nor I feel like repainting. Yes, I helped paint- it was well ventilated! (I painted our bedroom when I was pregnant with Isaac and he seems fine....)
There are no curtains or pictures on the walls, but at least everything is painted and her crib is set up.

pretty in pink -which was the first color Isaac learned, (Matt quickly taught him blue)

Isaac is looking out the window at the "big trucks" next door- the neighbors are building a sunroom which has offered many hours of entertainment for him!

Grandpa- I painted the cradle you made white- it looks so cute with her other furniture!

Isaac wonders why his chair has been moved to a different room.

Don't worry we are planning on replacing it with a blue couch- the one I had in college- I'm sure he'll be thrilled!

We are now a 2 crib family!!
Isaac knows that this is where the baby will sleep, but for right now he likes us to put him in it so he can use it as a trampoline

Sunglasses

Isaac's newest word is glasses.

Isn't he so cute?

So is his daddy!

He tells it like it is

Even with his limited vocabulary, Isaac has been getting quite good at putting his ideas together. Most of his talking still constists of pointing at objects and naming them, but here are a few things he's said lately that have been cute:


1. OK- I will admitt that in the mornings I like to sleep in as long as possible. I often let Isaac play in our room so I can get a few more minutes of rest. I also enjoy a good afternoon nap when I can sneak one in. And being 37 weeks pregnant- I don't feel guilty. That is until every time Isaac comes in our bedroom now he looks at the bed and says "mommy, night-night. "


2. Isaac has this adorable duck towel (made by Aunt Jodi) that he obviously uses after his bath. The other day Matt accidentally ripped one of the duck feet off the towel. Now when Isaac sees the towel he says: "guck, broken, dada"

3. Last night Isaac was bouncing on our bed. I was laying there watching the news ("mommy, night-night") All of the sudden he bounced a little too close to the edge, fell off, and hit his head on the window frame. Ouch!! For the rest of the night he would touch his head and say "owie, fall, bouncie" and sometimes he would add "Dutch"- who of course was also laying on the bed at the time.

Happy Grandparent's Day!

That's right- in case you didn't know today is Grandparent's Day. Sorry- I didn't send out any cards, but Isaac would like to give a big shout out to all his Bapas! He loves you and looks at pictures of you every day!!

Grandpa DeWitte- Portland, ME
Grandma DeWitte- Stone Ridge, VA
Grandpa Sternberg & Great Grandpa and Grandma Sternberg- Overisel, MI
Grandma Sternberg- Portland, ME

Grandma Sprick-Hamilton, MI

"Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. " Deuteronomy 4:6

Say What?

On Friday we went to Panera for lunch. Sadly, this in itself was actually an exciting experience for me. The closest Panera being over a half an hour hour away doesn't exactly make going there very convienent. Ahh, how I miss Northern Virginia. Anyway, while we were there Isaac wanted to try some of our "juice". Up to this point, I have not been able to get the kid to drink from a straw, but apparently all he needed was little motivation. I guess the desire to have some Dr. Pepper was all the inspiration he needed. After he took a nice long drink, he looked up and said "pop." Now, since we moved away from Michigan 6 years ago I have pretty much stopped saying pop (its way cooler to say soda...) so I have no idea where how he knew that. I guess he's a mid-west boy at heart!

I was looking through some old pictures with Isaac today and I think I answered the question about who taught him about pop!

Cartoon Day

When I was growing up my neighbor used to call Saturday "cartoon day." I don't think he even knew the day had another name. I'm afraid Isaac may be headed down the same track. Matt introduced Isaac to the Disney channel on Sat. morning. I must say things were pretty peaceful around here. Although I'm sure this also had something to do with the fact that we let him keep
Josh (his stuffed shark- he pronounces it so it sounds like Josh) and his pacifier- his two greatest loves.




















Ahh, this is the life


For the rest of the day Isaac would go to the TV and ask for Mickey. Watch out Elmo- it looks like you have some competition!!