9 Months

I guess I got seriously blogged out from the month of June. I have heard many a complaint about my lack of posts, specifically my negligence in failing to post Olivia's 9th and 10th month updates. I did take her official pictures to document the milestones, I just never got around to writing about it. Here are some of her 9 month pictures.  She started clapping and putting her arms above her head when we ask "how big is Olivia?". Which we immediately regretted once football season started. We should have been saying "touchdown"! She is eating almost everything now, which is so much easier! We just feed her whatever we have for dinner and she gets to experience so many different flavors. She really has yet to turn down a specific food. This month she was taking 2 naps a day and sleeping through the night except when teething. She cut one of her upper a teethwhile we were at Alpine Lake with everyone over Labor Day. Ok, let me go on and post 10 months while I have a second at the computer!

Best of the Best

Here are some of my favorite pictures since May.

 I got my iPod only 2 months ago and already have over 600 pictures on it.

 99.9% are of Olivia. 

July Means 8 Months!

Dear Olivia,

My sweet little girl! You are 8 months old already this week. Where oh where is the time going? I am going to turn around and you are going to be asking me for my car keys! This month marked a big milestone.... mobility! You took off crawling like you had known how to do it all along and were just patiently waiting for the right moment to show off. It's been so much fun to watch you discover the world around you in your own unique way.  You've even started pulling up on things and we had to put your crib to the lowest setting so that you don't topple over the side rails at night. 

We went to Smith Mountain Lake with the Iskow side of the family.  You went swimming in the lake, rode on the boat and managed to execute an amazing escape plan from your pack n play that terrified your Mother and Father. While we were there you learned how to say bye bye (ok, it really sounds just like ba) and give a cute little wave. You started eating toast with a little bit of butter, yogurt and chicken. Strawberries and blueberries are a favorite morning snack too. I have been trying to teach you some signs to make it easier to ask for what you want. We are learning "eat" and "more" right now.

During the rare times you are quiet and happy to sit in my arms calmly, usually after a nap, I love to stare at all your features. You have beautiful long eyelashes and perfectly shaped almond eyes. They say eye color is pretty much set at 6 months, so it seems like you have a grey/hazel color. Your lips are so sweet and I try to kiss them every day and tell you "kiss!" so that maybe one day you will turn to me and want a kiss of your own! Your hands and feet are are deliciously pudgy and I could kiss your stubby little toes all day long. Not gonna lie, I totally suck on them and it makes you laugh like crazy. Everyone says you have the cutest thighs, which cracks me up. One lady called them "juicy thighs". Like you were a yummy piece of chicken!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Test it. Blog it. Win it. THE RESULTS....

Us! We won!!! Su Casa posted on facebook this morning that we have been chosen as the Test it. Blog it. Win it. WINNER! This is so crazy, we can't believe we actually get to keep our couch for free.

Su Casa, thank you for letting us be involved in such a cool opportunity.  We had a blast coming up with ideas and we are beyond thrilled to now be the owners of this incredible sectional. Our entire experience with your in store staff, delivery men and those that responded to our many email questions was a pleasure.  Hopefully we managed to convey that to our audience and we will continue to spread the word when people come over to visit and ask where on earth we got this wonderful couch?!

One of the coolest things of this whole experience was seeing how many friends and families dedicated themselves to commenting on our blog and facebook for an entire 30 days.  We could not have won without your help. It was so motivating to know that all the hard work we did was being viewed and enjoyed.  A million thank you's to all of you for your amazing contributions to our contest efforts! I am surprised you didn't shut down Su Casa'a facebook site with all of you demands for us to win! lol  We are incredibly blessed to have so many people that love and support us and we are very grateful to you. You are all welcome to come over and cop a squat on the sectional anytime!

There might be a brief break from blogging for a few days. But then we will be back with lots of pictures and videos of Livy. She started crawling this morning so it's been a very exciting day!!

Thank you!!

No Word Yet

We have been anxiously waiting to hear the results of the contest. I have never hit refresh so many times in one day on my gmail and facebook accounts to see if they had sent anything. We got an email last night telling us that the winner would be announced on facebook on Monday. So we have to waiiiitttt just a little longer! Thanks for all the posts you guys put on their facebook page!

Thank You Su Casa!

We made it to June 30th! The last day of the Su Casa blog contest.  We hope you have enjoyed reading our experiences with our sectional sofa over the past month. We certainly had more fun than we expected I have to admit.  It seemed daunting to have to come up with 30 or so ideas on how to convey the Su Casa experience, but Joe and I both really got into it. We have been emailing each other back and forth since March making suggestions for blogs and then we both would help the other edit and fine tune the idea. The coolest thing out of the whole experience was to see how supportive our family and friends have been.  They have logged on every day to read our stories, go to Su Casa's webpage, make comments on facebook and send comments to the store itself. We have had friends visit Su Casa and make some purchases of their own.    We even spread across the pond to our family and friends in the UK.  They alone have had 138 pageviews.  Now the Brits even know about Su Casa! We are so grateful for all that you readers have done to help us.

I think these stats say it all....
Since June 1st
Number of page views  6,489
Number of comments 345
Number of video views 359

In closing, if we haven't beat the point to death by now, this contest was about more than just winning a nice couch. We genuinely like Su Casa and have had an amazing experience the entire time. Friends and family who trust our opinion also have expressed that next time they need a piece of furniture, Su Casa will be the first place they look. Anyway, thanks again and enjoy one last video!


 

Blogging is Such Sweet Sorrow

A big part of our ability to generate traffic in this Su Casa blog contest was of course Facebook. When you're able to say in a quick statement what you're trying to do and also provide an immediate link to your blog, people (lazy as we are), will gladly exert the 1/2 ounce of energy to right click. So from time to time, Jamie and I would kindly remind everyone what we were doing and we tried to do so in a humorous manner. I rather enjoyed parodying some famous pop culture references for my Facebook reminders. Below are my favorites;

Bill Pulman addressing the Nation in "Independence Day"

(Actually waiting until today to post this one concurrent with this blog post). Good morning. Good morning. In less than a day, bloggers from here will join others from around the state, and you will be launching the largest blog contest in the history of Baltimore. Baltimore, that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences any more. We will be united in our common interest in Su Casa. Perhaps it's fate that today is the 29th of June, and you will once again be fighting for our furniture. Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution, but from other bloggers. We're fighting for our right to win, to blog, and should we win the contest, the 29th of June will no longer be known as nothing, but as the day when Baltimore declared in one voice, 'We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to blog, we're going to win.' Today we celebrate the end of the ‘Test It, Blog it, Win it Contest!’

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The Rifleman's Creed

This is my blog. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My blog is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I master my life. My blog, without me, is useless. Without my blog, I am useless. I must type my blog true. I must blog faster than my competition who is trying to beat me. I must blog them before they blog me. I will… My blog and myself know that what counts in this contest is not the words we type, the comments we get, nor the views we generate. We know it is the blogs that count. We will blog… My blog is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weakness, its strength, its options, its accessories, its homepage, and its backlinks. I will keep my blog clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become a part of each other. We will… Before God I swear this creed. My blog and myself are the defenders of this couch. We are the masters of our competition. We are the saviors of my life. So be it, until victory is the Iskow’s and there is no competition, but couch.

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Old Spice Commercial

Hello, friends, look at your couch, now back to mine, now back at your couch, now back to mine. Sadly, yours isn’t mine, but if you stopped shopping at big retail stores and switched to Su Casa, you could be like us. Look down, back up, where are you? You’re on the couch with us that you wished you owned. What’s in your hand, back at me. I have it, it’s the remote and we’re watching your favoriteshow in unbelievable comfort. Look again, the remote is now an iPhone and you’ve got the President on the line. Anything is possible when you shop at Su Casa and not the other guy. I’m on a dog.

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Andy DuFrane's letter to Red in "The Shawshank Redemption"

Dear Friend, if you're reading this, you've got some time. And if you've come this far, maybe you're willing to read a little further. You remember the name of the store, don't you? (Su Casa) We could use a good friend to help us win our couch this month. I'll keep an eye out for you and the seat cushion ready. Remember, Friend, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever loses. I will be hoping that this status finds you, and finds you well. Your friends, Joe & Jamie.

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Direct TV "Don't Have a Grandson with a Dog Collar" Commercial

ATTENTION: Jamie and I are in a contest to win a couch. If you could go to our blog www.joeandjamieiskow.blogspot.com and leave comments, and click on the provided Su Casa links just to check out the store, that will help us win. And if we win, that means you can sit comfortably when you come to visit us. And when you’re comfortable, you’re relaxed. And when you’re relaxed, you have a clear mind. And when you have a clear mind, you have million dollar ideas. And when you have million dollar ideas, you become a millionaire. Help us win our couch so you can become a millionaire.

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And if you didn't like any of our blogs this month, Livy has one thing to say....