The Merger

Ok, so I decided I can't do 2 blogs. I'm not a waffles kind of person. I'm a woman. I'm spaghetti. (It's a take on the whole women-are-from-venus-men-are-from-mars thing). I can't keep my "personal life" and my "professional life" in two separate boxes (like waffles have separate compartments). My life is all overlapping... like spaghetti.

I love taking photographs and I want to share them on my blog... but then I get confused about if I took them as a "job" or just for fun... and which blog do I put them on?

So I'm combining them both here: www.illuminatephotos.blogspot.com.

The Hackbarth Family blog and my Illuminate Photography blog UNITE! Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce GO!

Gift idea for Jonah

Text from ad:

Baby Mops: Make your children work for their keep

After the birth of a child there's always the temptation to say "Yes, it's cute, but what can it do?" Until recently the answer was simply "lie there and cry", but now babies can be put on the payroll, so to speak, almost as soon as they're born.

Just dress your young one in Baby Mops and set him or her down on any hard wood or tile floor that needs cleaning. You may at first need to get things started by calling to the infant from across the room, but pretty soon they'll be doing it all by themselves.

There's no child exploitation involved. The kid is doing what he does best anyway, crawling. But with Baby Mops he's also learning responsibility and a healthy work ethic.


See other un-useless inventions here.

"Photograph" by Michael Salerno

A very talented friend of ours from church wrote this poem for us when Jonah was born...


Photograph

You are our little photograph
A memory every day
A promise of the hope ahead
And dreams along the way

Black and white or full of hue
You fill us with your smile
A glossy image of ourselves
We'll stare for just a while

As you develop through the years
Our eyes will get to see
The masterpiece of hope and joy
A tiny mystery

We'd like to place you in a book
And keep you safe inside
But God will one day give you wings
And you'll be free to fly

More precious than a work of art
Our gift from God above
A glimpse of Faith to fill our lives
Our photograph of love

By: Michael Salerno


I don't have words to describe how much this poem means to me and it just becomes more touching and relevant every time I read it.

Was Chicago this crazy in '85?

Dave's Birthday

Dave's birthday was pretty quiet this year... well no pirate party anyway. Jonah wanted to dress like his daddy so he put on some jeans and a t-shirt over a long-sleeve shirt (his shirt said "It seemed like a good idea at the time"... he looks like trouble, but it's all just for show) and his camo bib ("daddy's little side kick"). Dave wore his tough guy camo shirt. They even both had on white socks with gray toes. It was way cute! Er... I mean... they looked tough!


We went out to dinner at Red Lobster - yummo! Then we all stopped by my Aunt Pat's birthday party. Here's some of my family on my dad's side...

Pictured: (back row left to right) Uncle Dave, Josh, Rosie, Aunt Becky, my dad Dan, sister-in-law Sheridan (Jeff's wife), brother Tony, brother Jeff, niece Kylee, sister Molly, Aunt MaryAnn, (bottom row) Dave, me, Jonah, my mom Peggy, cousin Jennifer, Aunt Pat and Uncle John

After Aunt Pat's party we went out to Colonial with the Noes for Dave's all-time favorite dessert... the E.T. Sundae! It's scoopin' fun!

Here are the Noe boys... Zack, Allan & Jake. 2 out of 3 got gummy worms in their ice cream. Can you guess which 2?

Jonah and Aunt Rachey cuddled for a bit...

Then Dave and Jonah posed with the Colonial cow...

Happy 31st birthday daddy/Dave! I hope you had a good day!

Weather update

Just wanted to give everyone this update on a fierce storm taking shape in the Gulf of Mexico which is heading for the state of Florida. Here's the latest Doppler imaging...

Jonah's 4 month doctor's visit

Jonah had his 4 month doctor's appointment yesterday. He had to get 4 shots (poor baby!), but he was a real trooper. Mommy on the other hand... I did cry a little. I could tell his 1st two shots hurt by how he grasped my fingers and did a little sit-up, but he didn't start crying until the 2nd two. That's when I lost it. I was trying my hardest to keep it together in order to comfort him, but his face was just so sad and he tensed up right when they pricked him. I hate shots and so does Jonah.

Now for those of you who have seen our little boy lately you're probably curious about where he falls on those infamous growth charts, right? Well don't worry, our doctor joked when he came in about what a big off-the-chart boy we have, but he's not really off the charts. He weighed 16 lbs. 8 oz. which puts him in the 80th percentile for weight. He's 25 inches long (50th percentile). And his head circumference measured at 17 inches (75th percentile). I guess he's gonna be a little tank just like his cousin Jack! Now it's no wonder he's already fitting into 9 month clothes!

We also got the ok to start him on rice cereal... so come back soon for those pictures! Time to bust out the high chair! Oh boy!

Roger that!

Welcome to the Hackbarth's blog!

Greetings from Sugar Grove!

I've decided to start a blog for our family. I just wanted a place to be able to record stuff that's going on in our lives... milestones, events, that kind of thing. Like for example... Jonah rolled over today! I laid him on our bed on him tummy this morning for some all-important tummy time. I walked into the bathroom to finish getting ready. A couple minutes later I heard Dave let out an excited gasp... I looked and Jonah was just rolling onto his back! What a big boy he is! 4 months old today already!

Here he is after he just woke up yesterday morning...

It was Dave's 31st birthday yesterday. What a wonderful sound to wake up to. Dave and I just laid in bed for about a half hour listening to Jonah-boy sing and coo. When we walked into his room we found him with all of his covers kicked off and one sock missing... he's a crazy kicker!

Well that's all for now!

Thanks for visiting!
Lisa, Dave and Jonah