Rinn Reflections

The day before we got Isaac (Friday, October 30) was one of the lowest days I'd had in the 2 weeks that we'd been home without Isaac.  I remember sitting on my bathroom floor and sobbing.  I actuallly felt my heart hurting...the pain over losing Isaac was so intense.  That evening, Dave & I went out to eat at Pappasitos with Dave's parents.  (Pappasitos is one of my favorite restaurants, and everyone was trying whatever they could to put a smile--no matter how small--on my face.)  During dinner, I was lamenting on and on to Dave & my in-laws about what a horrible month October is for our family: our first baby was due on October 19, 2007, and then we lost Isaac in October of 2009.  My father-in-law said, "I believe October is going to be a month of victory for your family."  Little did ANY of us know what was about to happen the next day!  But, he was right--October has turned out to be the best month on the calendar for us! 

The entire story of Isaac's homecoming is here.  We are still humbled and honored that God chose to work so miraculously in giving Isaac back to our family!  This past year has been overflowing with joy with having Isaac as a part of our forever family! 

We definitely experienced the truth of this verse one year ago...our hearts were beyond heavy, but we came home LAUGHING with Isaac in our arms.  Isaac's name means "laughter," and his story and his little developing personality have caused us to laugh and laugh this past year...it's been wonderful.  Thank you, Jesus!

One year ago, we first held Isaac in our arms. 

Even though we had to leave the hospital without him, we will always be thankful that we were able to care for Isaac for the first 3 days of his life.

The poem on Isaac's birthday invitation says it all....he's brought us joy & laughter, just like his name means.  I can't IMAGINE life without Isaac...this past year has been incredible!  My only complaint is that it has gone WAY too fast!  How is he already one?!?!

 We had a few friends over for lunch to celebrate Isaac's birthday!

YUM!

After we all took a long nap, we had another party!  Our family came over for supper and more cake!

Highlights of the Past Month:

~Learning how to crawl down the stairs! Dave spent a lot of time teaching Isaac how to crawl down stairs correctly, and he started doing it on his own a few days before his birthday!  He's also doing a good job on the "turn" in our stairway.  It's so cute to see him try to angle his body correctly on the turn.  He even climbed down the brick stairs into our garage the other day to see Dave the other day when he got home from work! 

~First trip to pumpkin patch! 

~Moving into a bigger carseat!  We thought Isaac's infant carseat went up to 30 lbs., but it only went to 22.  He was close enough to that for us to purchase his new carseat!  I admit I was a little sad to put the infant carseat up into the attic.  But, Isaac seems to like sitting up higher in this one, even though he still has to face backwards. 

Here are just a few of my favorite pictures from our visit to the pumpkin patch last Friday! 

Taking my baby to the pumpkin patch was one of those memory-making events that I've looked forward to doing for many years while waiting for a baby.

And, going to the pumpkin patch with Isaac was just as fun as I'd always hoped it'd be!