Seiberling House

Please read post below for details.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We enjoyed family and turkey this year in three places. Once at Grandma and Grandpa Payne's, later that day at Brian's aunt Marlene's, then again at cousin Carol's in Seville (near Akron). All of the pictures posted were taken at Carol's farm. She has plenty of animals for kids to enjoy such as chickens, cats, dogs, rabbits, ponies, a donkey, sheep, white peacocks, uhhh normal peacocks, geese, as well as farm equipment to climb on! Isaac had a great time (as did we).

While up in the area, we had some extra time, and got directions to the house my Grandma Faye was born and raised in. This house was built by her Grandfather Seiberling, and still stands (as does the barn, even after being hit by a tornado in 1999) and is still inhabited! Unfortunately the farm is no longer in the family, but when we stopped by to ask them if they would mind if we could take some pictures of the front of the house, they invited us in for a tour! The house is amazing. The staircase doesn't even creak to give you an idea of how well this house was constructed. The family that owns it is trying to collect historical information so that he can register it with the Historical Society. I don't think he should have a problem gathering tons of info considering a large amount of the family still live in the area, and we have a huge reunion every year. I guess the big claim to fame for the house is that is was also the birthplace of my Grandma's cousing Frank Seiberling, the founder of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. I'm so glad that the house is in such kind, caring hands, and I hope it will stand for another 150+ years!

Off of the Thanksgiving subject, we have ordered Isaac's big boy bed! This is a HUGE step. It means no more putting Isaac in bed and forgetting about it. It means waking up in the middle of the night with a little boy in between of us. Worrying about the possibility of him walking around the house in the middle of the night while we are sleeping. Unfortunately it has to happen. They have to grow up sometime, and a new little sister will need to take over his baby bed. Hopefully the transition will be easier on him than it will be for us.

Isaac is expecting a ...

LITTLE SISTER!!! Several pictures from the ultra sound are below. Sorry that you'll have to turn your head sideways while standing on your hands, but this is how they were scanned, so this is how you see it! My favorite is the first on on the left. We took Isaac with us for the ultra sound and he really was pretty good. We told him that she was waving at him when we saw that one! The gender shots are the third and fourth on the left. Isaac was excited to report to his grandparents and aunt and uncles (and teachers at school) that it's a little sister! Most of the time he's excited about it, but he definitely has moods where he knows she means less attention to him..."No little sister!" he'll say. I think he'll be fine and be a big help when his sister does arrive! Of course Brian and I are very excited as well!

Isaac has had a great month so far... for his Daddy's birthday we stayed in Columbus with John and Steph (and Jill who is temporarily residing with them) and then went to see Playhouse Disney Live! on stage at the Palace Theater. I mentioned in the previous post that Isaac climbs a lot. I wasn't kidding...

So he was really, really good at the theater. He enjoyed watching the great big Mickey. The next evening we went to see the Wiggles concert at the Cintas center with Grandpa Larry and Grandma Anita. He stood on his seat and boogied! We all really enjoyed that show! Isaac has really grown up! You can hold conversations with him now. He likes to talk to everyone on the phone. He can count to 11 all by himself! That was a real shocker the first time we heard him do that! Prior we'd never been able to get him to go past 3! He also loves the Ohio State Buckeyes! He won't go out of the house withouth the Ohio State hat. Brian was looking at some pictures online the other night and a picture of a football game came up. Isaac could see it from his seat in the dining room, stood up and shouted, "Ohio State Buckeyes, Ohio State Buckeyes! Go Bucks!" It really is the cutest thing!

As for me, I'm feeling pregnant. I'm big. The second and all subsequent pregnancies are supposed to be worse than the first. Worse in that you get bigger faster, the aches and pains of tendons streching, the pelvis widening, and the Braxton Hicks contractions all start sooner and hurt more since your body has already done it before and knows what to do this time. The good thing is that my blood pressure has been much lower this time. Also labor should go much faster this time. That's actually scary since the last time was only about 7 hours.

Jamie, if you haven't given up on us and our blog, Brian would like to know how to do the slide shows and video. Do you use Picasa?

The reasons it has been so long since a post:
1. Brian and I work too much.
2. Isaac gets all the time he wants with us when we get home.
3. Brian has to work the comupter and the picture program.
4. I do the typing.
5. I'm pregnant and I'm tired.

I suppose we could do better, and I'm not expecting things to get any easier, obviously, but we will try to post more often.

I Know...

Yeah, I know it's been forever. I'll try to quickly catch everyone up (Jamie). So, in October we went on vacation. We spent a couple of nights in Kentucky at Mammoth Cave National Park. We took a couple of cave tours and went on a couple of hikes. Isaac doesn't walk much anymore. He runs. And climbs. And runs more. We managed to get him to take a short break with Daddy. We couldn't believe the crazy weather! In October it was in the 90's! Isaac even had a little bead of sweat running down his forhead.

So, after the short trip to Mammoth Cave, we spent some time with family in Jackson and Vinton. Dad has been working on Grandma and Grandpa Samples' house to try to get it ready for sale. We had a good time running around and playing in the leaves while Dad and Brian were putting a new storm door on the back of the house.

And of course Halloween... We asked Isaac what he wanted to be this year. We figured he'd say Mickey Mouse or Donald or Goofy. Nope. Cowboy! Where on Earth did he get that from? Anyway, he was by far the cutest cowboy we saw all night! He would answer "YeeeHaw!" when you asked what a cowboy says. And he named his horse Bo. He was very proud of his costume!

There was one other big thing we did in October that I don't want to leave out. We visited Chris, Luciana, Talyn and Hadley for their birthday party. There were quite a few of us there and we all enjoyed each other's company, good food, a great Buckeye game (projected onto the side of the house!) and exciting activities. For the girls to get their presents, they had to go on a scavenger hunt! It was really cute. Isaac enjoyed the "Jump-o-leen" and some finger painting. Andy, Kari, Talyn, Brian, and I went out to do some climbing. Kari and I didn't really climb, but the boys and Talyn enjoyed it, and I had an opportunity to play with the camera to try to figure out how to get it to work. I'm getting better...

What was I thinking! Other big thing! Erin and I flew to Atlanta to visit and shop with Kari. We had a great time catching up- definitely something we need to be doing more often...

BIG NEWS!!!

We will let Isaac tell everybody his big news! You have to look close!

If you can't see it, scroll down. Using photoshop and some iron on sheets, we made a shirt to show everybody his news. It was quite fun.

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One more. see below for info

Here are some pictures from this weekend photo contest at hocking hills. I will add more later

Here are a few more photos- Isaac loves this box! He's been in it all day! When we told him it was time for bed, he hopped in , curled up, and started sucking his thumb!


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Easter pictures

Life has been crazy as usual. You know, the usual, plus a weekend trip to Atlanta, Easter, and Isaac's second set of PE tubes. Here are some pictures from easter. we are going to try to do a better job posting more frequently. No promises, but we're going to give it a try. Once Brian gets the pictures from our other camera onto the computer we'll post some pictures from Atlanta. For those of you who might not have known, Mom, Kathy, Jill and I stayed with Kari and Andy in Atlanta during the NCAA basketball finals. We had a great time! It was wonderful to visit with Kari and Andy, plus we're really proud of the Bucks- they did a great job in the tournament this year! While mom and Jill went to the final four game, Kathy, Kari, Andy and I went to the Olympic park to watch the game on large screens with other Buckeye (and every other College/University you can think of) fans. It was a blast! I think we may have had a better time than Mom and Jill! The guy in the family picture below that some of you may not recognize is Jill's beau Aaron. All other pictures below are from Easter.

The last post was pretty wordy, so here are just a few pictures of Isaac checking out his new buckeye buddy Will




Yeah, there he is!












His feet are smaller than mine!








Mamma, Daddy, when can we go to Montana?

Long Enough

Okay, I can't wait for my honey to put some pics on my memory stick so I can post them, so instead of showing you what's going on, I'll just tell you what's been going on...

Probably the biggest thing is problems with Isaac's ears. He had tubes put in last June. About 2 months ago, I found one of them in his crib. We took him back to his ENT he told us that the tube came out of his right ear. Well, when I found the tube, his right ear had been draining, so we're assuming that the pressure behind his eardrum was so great that even the tube wasn't enough to releive the pressure, and so the tube popped out. When at the ENT, he said that the eardrum had healed, and there was fluid in there already. We decided that if that turned into an infection, we would put a tube back in. So, a couple of weeks ago I picked Isaac up from daycare and HIS RIGHT EAR WAS DRAINING!! This could only mean one thing- that his eardrum busted. I was so upset. I called the ENT on call when I got home, and he agreed that his eardrum must be ruptured, and he called in some antibiotics- both oral and drops- and told us to call his ENT in the morning. He's not going to be seen until the 27th of this month! I really hope that the rupture wasn't too bad and that it has healed by the appointment. I am going to insist that another tube be put back in. He shouldn't have to deal with that pain and run the risk of permanently losing hearing everytime he gets an ear infection.

Brian's new job is going well, he has sold 3 and a half cars so far this month (he had to split one with one of the other guys, they both did work on it). This is great considering it is his first month, and we're just over half way through. I'm so proud of him and know that he's going to be very successful in this division.

There has been so much snow lately, and we still haven't had a chance to go skiing. Brian went for a little bit on Sunday, but he said it was so crowded and the lines for the lift were so long that it wasn't really worth it. It's not really looking like we will get a chance to go on a skiing trip this year- It's difficult with Isaac, he's stlll a little bit too small to start skiing (he'll start next year), and we'd have to have someone go with us that could stay in with him. It wouldn't really be fun to take turns skiing and watching Isaac, and I refuse to leave him either grandparents. No offense to either grandparents, but I don't get to see him often enough as it is. I'm not going to go on vacation without him! So, Brian and I are going to take a vacation day on Wednesday and go to Perfect North. I don't think there will be too many people, and the snow should still be pretty good. I hope it won't be the only chance we have this season to go!

I'll post some pictures of Isaac as soon as I can get Brian to get them for me (I'm really not digitally inclined at all). I'll also get some pictures of our recent purchases (I got a new couch and Brian got a new TV!).

So Sorry! (Holiday Update)

Yeah, so I know it's been a long time. Way too long. You know how things go though, work, work, play with Isaac, try to keep a somewhat sane house, and still manage to get some sleep.

Anyway, Christmas and Chanukah were great! Of course Isaac was the star of the show. He's definitely very loved (and very spoiled). This year he recieved many trains (all different kinds), a tricycle, a bulldozer, books, clothes, legos, clothes, a rocking giraffe... I could go on...

He has stayed pretty healthy this winter so far. Much better than last year since he has the PE tubes, though I did find one in his crib the other night. I'm hoping that they will put it back in. I really don't want him to have a lot of ear infections and pain.

This has been a very busy weekend for us. We'll explain a little bit more about that next post (I promise it won't take us a month for the next one!)

Oh Yeah! Brian got a promotion at work! He starts as an Account Executive with the Car Sales Division of Enterprise next week! We're so excited and proud of him!