While we were away...

from the computer, that is.

It's been a while since I've had a chance to sit down and share all the fun things we've been up to.

Jacob has been busy growing, and I mean really growing. He is now just 13 weeks old and he weighed in at 13 lbs. 15 oz. at his 2 month well child appointment! He has been so much fun with his little personality emerging more each day. He loves to smile at us and is such a good little guy. He only cries or fusses when he needs something like feeding, diaper change, etc. It seems that he really has a sense of humor already - we've even caught him nearly laughing several times already. He loves to look around and gets really excited when he can look over mommy's shoulder.

He recently has discovered his big brother and loves to watch as Isaac plays. Jacob follows Isaac's every movement around the room and smiles and laughs at things that Isaac does. Isaac is catching on to this as well and sometimes will act silly just for Jacob! It's so cute to see them already starting to interact with each other. Ben and I hadn't really thought about what fun it would be to watch that relationship develop. Having children is so amazing!

Isaac is an awesome big brother and he absolutely loves Jacob. He is so gentle and careful with him always and he is very sensitive to the fact that he is little-er than he is. He also loves to help Mommy with any little errand or chore. Isaac runs and gets diapers for me, throws things in the trash, almost anything that I ask that he can manage he loves to do. He can even open the fridge and get himself his own drink. He is just a delight! We are constantly amazed at how smart he is and what a sweet disposition he has. Just today he discovered that he could run! It was so cute, he has been walking really fast for a while, but today it was like he realized this was different and that he could go really fast! He started at one end of the kitchen and ran back and forth from the kitchen to the living room over and over, just to see how fast he could go! It was one of those moments I really wish I'd gotten on video. So cute!

We are doing great as a family. I am having the time of my life. Even with all the challenges that life holds for us right now, I feel truly privileged every day when I look at my darling little boys. I get to play with them, snuggle them to sleep, take them to the park, teach them new things, listen to their laughter, tickle their soft little tummies, kiss their sweet little cheeks and watch as they grow and make new discoveries! It is so incredible - I never imagined how much joy having little ones would bring.

I have been very busy with being a mommy of two. Both Jacob and Isaac have been wonderful babies, so easy to take everywhere with me. We have a little play group once a week and Isaac loves to play with his "buddies". A friend of ours has an organic farm and I have been working on the farm each week in exchange for freshly grown organic veggies. Ben has started playing on a men's league softball team whose season began last week. They had a great game this week with a 13 to 1 win. We love going and watching Daddy play.

We also just had a visit from Grama and Zeyda Sandler, Ben's parents from Philly. They were here for a week over Memorial Day weekend and it was a fun filled time. While they were here we had our 5th anniversary and Jacob's dedication, which was again led by his Zeyda. It was a wonderful long weekend with lots of fun family time.

So, our life is full and wonderful. We know it will only get better... Check out some new PHOTOS of our family. Love to all!

We are excited to announce...

JACOB DALTON SANDLER

(Jacob's Hebrew name is Yacov)

Born: Saturday, March 15, 2008 at 10:17am
Weight: 8 lbs. 4.5 oz. / Length: 20 in.

We are thrilled to welcome our new little boy into our family and into the world! The birth experience itself was incredible as it was so much shorter, more positive (a lot less complications) and completely drug free this time! My labor started early Saturday morning and we were at the hospital in the next few hours after that. We had decided to do a water birth at a different hospital than we were at last time, so our trip to the hospital was about 20 min. instead of 7 min. - but I did just fine. The total labor to delivery time was 8 hrs. 45 min. and Jacob was born into the water. The only little scare we had was that the cord was wrapped around his neck when he first came out and so we had to quickly get him onto the "baby warmer" and get some oxygen flowing for him. So, those first moments on my chest weren't quite as calm as we'd planned, but overall the whole experience was truly amazing!

Isaac has been adjusting well to this new little person in our home. The first few days were definitely rough, though. We had a friend bring him up to the hospital to be with us as soon as we could after the birth and he stayed the night with us in the hospital room the night we were there. Unfortunately, he was still sick with a cough and had just gotten over a fever, so he was not exactly in the best mood to start. And then he had this new little guy in the picture - taking mommy and daddy's time and attention. But now, about a week later, he has definitely taken to Jacob and is interested when he is around. He watches as I feed him and when Jacob cries he comes and tells me, pointing in Jacob's direction. He also has started to try to rock the little bouncer chair that Jacob is often in. Of course, I love this - it's so sweet the way he knows that he needs to be taken care of. We are working on the concept of "gentle" a lot right now, too! :o)

Ben was able to take almost the entire week off following the birth and my mom was here for about 5 days as well, so it was a wonderful week of bonding -- and cleaning and laundry and re-arranging the house and the boys' room (you know, the practical stuff, too). I am healing well and really feel pretty much back to normal already at only 9 days post partum! What a change from last time! Baruch Hashem!

New family pics HERE. We'll be adding more as soon as we can.

He gives and takes away...

We haven't posted in a while and so I wanted to catch you all up on our family happenings. Unfortunately, some of those happenings of late have been sad ones. My (Ellie) father passed away (after 7 long years of battling cancer) two weeks ago this past Wednesday. And so this last week was a whirlwind for us as we spent most of the week in Helena with my mom preparing for and attending the funeral.

I am truly amazed though, that in my grief and all that losing a loved one means, that God has brought so much joy to temper it all - in the form of our sweet babies. Even though our littlest is not yet born, I am so excited for his coming and appreciate more and more each day the gift that he is to our family. And then Isaac, of course, is an amazing source of comfort and joy - that in the times of loss the gift and newness of life that he possesses is so sweet to me! This was most real when as I sat and watched the pallbearers bring my dad's casket to the graveside and I was suddenly overcome with emotion and cried and cried, I buried my face in Isaac's little head as he sat on my lap and I smelled his baby hair and thought - only you, Lord, could give me such comfort in this way. I am so thankful that He never leaves us alone. The rest of the day of the funeral I had such strength and hope for the future and joy in knowing where my Daddy is that all the grief just seemed to melt away in the waves of His mercy. This is what a life with Him is all about. Knowing He is right there with you!

On a brighter note, Isaac is doing just great. He had a bout with a pretty nasty virus about 4 weeks ago and ran a fever that made us pretty nervous. But he is through it and bounced back just fine. He was the delight of his grandma and great grandma and great aunts this last week as his sweet personality just warms to most everyone he meets. He loves to play with any dog he meets and is quite "talkative" in his baby babble. He is walking so fast now, it's practically a run and it's always with much determination - he knows just where he's going and what he wants. He has figured out that the fridge holds food as well as one particular cupboard and shows me when he wants food. He has figured out how to turn the TV on and off and delights in doing this at his whim. He now knows how to climb onto the sofa with the assistance of his little "bucket-stool" which he also sits on to watch TV occasionally. It's just the right height for him. He also can climb up and back down any stairs and loves doing this just for fun. He can also back himself off the sofa and our bed - and the bed is a feat since it is quite tall. He's pretty fearless all around and so much fun to watch! He also loves to play outside in the snow especially if Avi comes out in the yard with him.

In pregnany news: I am now 32 weeks along and really getting excited. Just today I pulled out some "coming home" clothes for our new little guy. The thrill of imagining this new little one coming into our lives washed over me again as it did with Isaac and I realized just how soon it will be. We do have a name picked out now and we'll share it with you all very soon. In the meantime, here are a few "belly pics" to show just how big a boy we have coming!

Our best to all our friends and family - we love you! For lots more recent pics click HERE

Happy Hanukkah 2007!

We really enjoyed celebrating Hanukkah this year with Isaac. He was so cute as he watched with delight as Ben lit the candles each night and we said the blessings. By the third or fourth night he deinitely knew what was going on and reached right for the shamas to help daddy light the other candles. Also, he received his very first yarmulka from his Zeyda and Grama, just for the occasion.

We also played dreidel and Isaac even tried to spin the dreidel himself. He figured out that it was supposed to spin, but didn't quite know how to make it do that. Daddy, of course, is the dreidel pro and even came up with fun variations on the basic game that we can play with all our nieces and nephews when we celebrate with them this weekend. He's got a wicked spin!

In other news, we are enoying the little bit of snow we've had so far - that is when we're not disliking it for the fact that Ben has to drive in it every weekday. Isaac still absolutely loves being outside and now the snow is a whole new adventure. We can't wait to build snow forts and snow men in he yard! Isaac has also recently discovered how to climb up on things using the assistance of a little bucket that he has claimed as his own. This afternoon, he put it upside down next to the couch and then climbed up on it like a step and then onto the couch. Voila! He was soooo proud of himself. So cute!

I am now 27 weeks along with Bun2 and here are a few more pics of him from a recent ultrasound I had. I love the detail of his little face in the first one. To me he already looks like his big brother. Hey, a mommy can dream! I am loving how "fast" this pregnancy seems to be going by. However, I feel as big as a house already and I've still 3 months to go! YIKES!

Our love to all of you. Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate and Merry Christmas to everyone else! Have a warm and lovely holiday season!

MORE PICS HERE

Chicken Little

We had a little "Harvest Party" with our congregation at the end of October and we dressed Isaac up as Chicken Little. He won the prize for "Cutest Costume" of course! It wasn't a hard decision especially since one of the judges was his aunt. A friend and I coordinated the whole event for the kids and everyone had a blast!

Happy Fall and Happy Thanksgiving to all!

More Chicken Little pics HERE.

Baby Boy 2...the Sandler way!

Well, if that's not enough to give it away, then, yes we are having another little boy. We are very excited and even though we'd loved to have had a little girl next as well, it will be great for Isaac to have a playmate so close in age. The official due date is: March 17, 2008.

Here is "Bun the 2nd's" first photograph...

Be sure to check out more recent pics of Isaac!

Baby Steps!

Isaac took his first step (it was really more like a tiny little shuffle) about 3-4 weeks ago and he is now (after experimenting with it for several days) fully walking! He has become so fond of his new found skill that he has transferred most of his mobile time from crawling to walking. He can go pretty decent distances now and loves to follow mommy and daddy around!

We ventured outside with his new skill and he now loves to walk from the house to the car holding onto mommy's hand!

A little Isaac update: Isaac is growing and changing so much. We get to see more of his personality all the time. And he is such a little boy. He loves funny or loud noises - he laughs hysterically when we reproduce them for him. He loves playing "pound on the puppy" (not really, he's actually pretty gentle). It goes something like this: he follows Avi (our little dog) around or just comes over to him when he's napping and just pats and pats on him, on his head, on his belly and maybe tries to climb over him until Avi eventually has had enough. Isaac thinks it's great fun and it again makes him laugh. He really has the greatest laugh. I know we're biased, but I have really never heard a laugh that makes me laugh every time! He is named so well!

Isaac's other favorite thing is to play "climb on daddy". He's already wrestling at just over a year old! He is very boy in this way too. He loves standing up tall and then letting himself just "fall" onto Ben. They can play like this for a long time. He also gets so excited when daddy comes home for the day. He wants to be held right away by Ben and reaches for him until he does so. We are loving seeing how he is emotionally connecting with us more and more.

So, we are enjoying all the new adventures of toddler-hood. I am excited to get Isaac outside more to explore now that he is walking - I just know he will love the piles of leaves laying everywhere. Those are some of my favorite fall memories and I can't wait watch him enjoy them as well!

Lastly, a little pregnancy update: I am now 21 weeks along and we will announce in a soon coming blog update if Isaac will have a little brother or sister! This time has been a bit more suspenseful since we knew from the beginning with Isaac. I'll post some prego pics here pretty soon, I promise.

Check out Isaac's latest pics HERE.