Pot of gold...

Mondays are long days. I go to work, bring kids home with me, and teach piano lessons for several hours. Between fielding students, the phone, parents, cups of water and jolly rancher requests, the time always flies by but not without it's measure of chaos. Today was no exception. I'm in full swing, teaching a lesson, when there's a knock on the door. I answer it to find that it's one of my piano Moms, and she tells me that I have to step outside to see something. I curiously stepped outside and obdediently looked in the direction of her pointing finger. It is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen! I ran back inside to get my camera and the kids... the pictures don't do it justice, but I'll never forget it!

Can you see that there are TWO rainbows?

They were the brightest rainbows I've ever seen! The arch had been fully formed and stretched completely across the sky. I couldn't even come close to getting all of it in my shot. I'm so glad that the Mom came to get us because they were almost completely gone by the time we went back inside just a few minutes later. As I walked the kids back to the house, one of the boys stopped me, grabbed my hand, and asked me "Mrs. Ritter, can we go find the pot of gold?". I asked him if he would settle for a jolly rancher... his sprint back into the house answered that question. Besides, who needs a pot of gold when we're able see God's handywork painted across the sky?

To my Angel baby...

I have a good friend who recently suffered a miscarriage. Her specialist discovered the loss when she was 13 weeks along but, sadly, the baby had passed during her 8th week of pregnancy. My friend had been stuggling with terrible morning sickness, but had been at work, teaching, every day... running to the restroom in between classes, and doing her best to eat well and stay positive.

When she found out that she would never get to see, hold or love on her baby, she called to tell me the news. She had spoken with family members who had said all of the wrong things to her, trying to "reason" the loss to her rather than grieving the loss alongside her. Since that day, she has confided in me about the things she is feeling and dealing with... things that I remember all too well after my miscarriage. I have done my best to be there for my dear friend. To listen to her, to reassure her that what she's experiencing is normal, to cry with her and to pray over her. The sadness from the loss of a child - even one you've never met - is absolutely excrutiating. I pray that the whole in her heart, the horror of her dreams, and the sea of her tears will blur in the distance of memory as quickly as possible.

Another of my friends recently suffered the loss of her 6 week old baby... a loss I cannot even begin to imagine. She came up to the school to visit last week and shared a poem with my friend that she had received in one of her condolence cards. She shared it with me, as well. The words brought about an eruption of tears, which then brought me to my knees in thanks to my God for choosing me to be Isaac's mother. I do not deserve him, but accept His precious gift with open and grateful arms. I am terribly saddened to know that there are many women out there that experience this loss time and time again, and yet are never afforded their hearts' desire. I pray for you, whomever you are, and share the words with you that were shared with me. I hope that they bring a meaure of closure to your heart, as they did mine.

"A Mother's Love cannot be measured by increments of time...an entire lifetime of love can be squeezed into a few brief miraculous moments when necessary..."

My Handy Man

As many of you know, my husband is quite the handy man. He can tackle just about any plumbing, electrical, or construction project out there. We have enjoyed the end result of many of the home improvement projects we've completed. The process, though... now that's a whole other story. We always seem to hit a major bump in the road, turning an hour long project into an all day affair.

Yesterday, Brandon decided to install a four way switch to the hallway outside of our bedroom door. The hallway is perilously dark in the early morning and evening. So dark that our dog has just about taken me down several mornings as I've made my way out of our bedroom. The hallway already has two three way switches in it, so Brandon gathered the necessary wire, junction boxes and switch to tie into the existing wiring to complete the project. It was supposed to be a simple project... until he began cutting wire in the attic, only to find that the existing three way switches had been wired in an unexpected and unconventional way. This "bump"
caused a two hour delay as Brandon and I, and my wonderful father in law, Mark, began muscling our way through analyzing the circuit to deduce how we were going to be able to tie into it and make the new switch work. I'm glad that we were able to figure it out (ok, it was Mark and Brandon... but I was nodding right along!), because the hole for the new switch had already been cut in the sheetrock.

I look forward to the luxury of turning on the hall light as I step outside our bedroom door without worry of tripping over Cooper in the process. Never fear, the new light switch is here! Check out Brandon and Mark in action, as well as the beautiful new light switch.

Toolbelts are all the rage this season...

Almost there....

Voila! C'est fin!

Good-bye, toothless grin...

Isaac has definitely been displaying the classic signs of teething - buckets of drool and chewing on EVERYTHING, but no teeth yet. Until today. When the tooth is more visible, I'll be sure to post a picture. The crazy thing is that it looks like a second tooth is about ready to make it's way into the open as well. I've gotten more than my fair share of teething bites during our nursing sessions (um... OW!!), so needless to say, I'm a little nervous about teeth actually being in the picture nowadays!

Here are some recent pictures - I just cannot believe what a big boy he's getting to be! These five months have absolutely flown by... I'll cherish them always.

Tolerating tummy time

Who needs toys... I have these things!

I see the bowl... patiently waiting for more...

Leave me alone, I'm watching Hockey.

Yes, that's drool on his chest!

Have you ever seen anything more adorable?

Jumperoo

Isaac is getting to be such a big boy. We're currently working on his sitting skills - he gets closer and closer every day. As of right now he can sit, or prop himself on his hands, for about 30 seconds before he takes the face-first dive into the floor. We do everything we can to keep him from smacking his face on the floor, but there have been a few times that we haven't been fast enough. And, at the risk of sounding like a terrible mother, it's actually pretty hilarious to watch!


Since all of his muscles are getting to be so strong, I decided to try out the jumperoo to see if he likes it. Once I finally got his chubby little legs through the holes of the seat, I was pleasantly surprised to see that his little toes were making good contact with the floor - enough for him to push off of it and have some fun. He was quite intrigued with the toys in front of him as well, studying the sliding rings and trying to push them all the way over to the other side of the arch. What a smart little boy! We had so much fun exchanging smiles, laughs and squeals of delight. And, even though I can't tell you what we talked about, we had a wonderful conversation. Isaac did most of the talking. :)


Have I mentioned that being a Mom is AWESOME?! And, if I do say so myself, so is our little man. Check out the video of him in his jumperoo... it's sure to make you smile.

For real?

I can hardly believe it... Isaac is officially eating solid food... kind of. We started him on rice cereal this weekend, and he LOVES it. The first several feedings of the cereal are supposed to be really runny - more like soup than anything, but he doesn't seem to mind! The funny part is that his favorite part of eating like a big boy seems to be sitting in his booster seat. It's so cute... he smiles and giggles the whole time!

Loving my big boy chair!

And, on another note, Isaac (ok, Mommy) has been thoroughly enjoying his new hooded towels that Aunt Melissa made for him for Christmas. These things are GREAT! The store bought hooded towels are really small, so these fluffy, oversized ones are amazing. Thanks, Mel!

Isaac post-bath, all dry and cozy.

That's all for now, folks! :)

Christmas with the fams

This Christmas was spent with my side of the family, but we always have a Ritter Christmas celebration regardless of where we spend Christmas day. It seems rare that all of us Ritters are able to get together these days. Between all of us having kids of our own now and managing our hectic schedules, and my sister in law and niece living in China, it's difficult to find a time when everyone can make a get together! Here are some pictures of our oh-so-fun gift exchange.

Alicia and Bella

Dylan can't get enough of Cars!

Mark delivering gifts to everyone

Audrey looks happy!

The whole Ritter clan

Our time at my parents house was great... although we sorely missed seeing my brother and his family. Brandon, Isaac and I made the trek to B'ville the Wednesday before Christmas, which wound up being just on the nick of time seeing as a "blizzard" came through the next day! It dumped 5 inches of snow on us and the surrounding areas, which made getting around town for the next several days a little hairy. We've not had a white Christmas since we visited Minnesota two years ago, so it was really fun! Brandon and my brother in law, Mike, made the best of the snow by getting out and making a snow man and an igloo.

Brandon, Isaac, the Snowman & me

Opening presents on Christmas morning was fun! Sam really enjoyed ripping the paper off of packages and playing with the boxes. He'll understand next year that the exciting part is supposed to be what's INSIDE of the box. We all came away with quite a loot... Brandon was barely able to squeeze us back into the Accord for our drive home! Many thanks to Mom and Dad for putting up with us all, and a special shout out to my Mom for her endless hours in the kitchen. She kept all of us full and happy with her many wonderful meals and treats.

Sam tears into his gift...
...and it's a vacuum cleaner!!

Dad's new remote for the visually impaired. :)


Isaac's hand-held keyboard... so cute!

The after-math of the gift exchange.

Hope your Christmas was full of fun with family as well!!

Isaac says HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!