A Baby shower for two

A couple of weekends ago, my friends and I hosted a baby shower for Dionne, a friend of ours from work. It turned out to be a cute little shower and Dionne got some of the things she needed for those TWO boys she's expecting in just a few short weeks... and check out how fabulous she looks! We love you, Dionne - I can't wait to meet those sweet baby boys!

The Spread

Visiting with friends

Dionne, Amaya and the Hostesses

A banner I made to celebrate those precious boys!

My smarty pants musician

Isaac is becoming quite the expert sitter upper these days, which has made play time so much fun. He loves his stacking rings and has recently discovered that he can clap the rings together to make noise just like Mommy and Daddy have shown him. He and Brandon were practicing this skill just the other day, and Isaac was even clapping the rings together the same number of times as Brandon. What a little smarty pants we have on our hands. :)

Playing in my room

These blocks are awesome!I did it... I picked it up, Mommy!
This thing is so cool.

My Daddy is so fun.

Isaac has also become a huge fan of music. His absolute favorite thing is singing. He can be instantly calmed with the most ridiculous of Mommy or Daddy's made up songs. He especially loves the silly songs I sing to him during bath time. Sometimes I even manage to work a rhyme or two into the mix! Much to Cooper's shagrin, Isaac loves the piano almost as much as he loves singing. It's so much fun to sit at the piano and "play" together. He really gets into it, working his chubby little hands up and down the pearly whites, moving to the music and putting in a rest here and there for dramatic effect. I hope that his love of music continues to grow and that he will become a little musician in his own right- whatever his instrument of choice may be. It is in his blood, afterall...

This song is so easy.

Easter weekend

We spent Easter at my parents house, and the entire Rhodes clan was in attendance! It was the first time that my brother and his family were able to meet Isaac, so it was very exciting for us. I had so much fun getting to visit with everyone and see my niece and nephews that I only get to see a precious few times each year. We had an Easter egg hunt, which was really fun, and also did Ressurection Eggs with the kids before bed on Saturday night. I loved both, and intend to make both traditions with Isaac. We also took advantage of my parents gorgeous backyard and took individual family and full Rhodes family pictures. YAY! Thanks so much, Ben and Mel, for making the trek from Minneapolis to B'ville for Easter weekend!! Thanks, also, to Mike and Steph for making the trip from OKC. Thanks, Mom, for spoiling us with your cooking and for managing to find a place for all of us to sleep! We had so much fun. :)

Ben, Melissa, Madelyn and Greyson

Mike, Stephanie and Sam

Grandad, Grandmama, and all the grandkids
Must find more eggs!!

YAY!! Easter eggs!!

Sweet Sam finds some eggs, too!

A day in the park

Isaac is getting to be such a big boy and oh - so much fun! This week is Spring Break for Brandon and I, so we actually had the time to do some leisurely things today. While we always have intentions of doing leisurely things on the weekends, we typically wind up cleaning the house, running errands, tackling the laundry, or doing whatever else we've had to leave un-done throughout the work week. So, needless to say, our day of leisure activities was a blast! We went for a long walk and wound up at the neighborhood playground. We'd thought we would take Isaac there to swing for the first time, so we were looking forward to it. Upon arrival at said playground, however, we were overwhelmed by how much the playground.... uh.... sucketh. There wasn't a baby swing. Actually, there wasn't a swing at all! I mean, c'mon... can you really call that a playground?

Here's what Isaac thought of the neighborhood playground:

Once we got home from our walk, I quickly began searching the internet for playgrounds in our area. I found one not too far from the house, so we loaded up the car and headed for the park after lunch. Much to our delight, this playground had many swings, including a baby swing. And, as you can see by the pictures, Isaac loved it! I look forward to going back to the park *many* times this summer. :)

Fun with Mom & Dad in the Park

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!