Isaac's 2nd Birthday Adventures!

Isaac's Birthday weekend has been a blast! It started off Friday night with a family party, where we had wonderful homemade chocolate pound cake (made by Granni!) and ice cream. Of course, we also had a little cake with candles and also a little doggy cake (supplied by my Pawpaw). Isaac loved licking the icing off the doggy cake and got quite a good dose of sugar. After the cake and ice cream, Isaac opened his gifts! He received a toddler drum from Kati and Ray, a My Pal Scout bear from his Grammi and Granddaddy (Steven's parents), a go-fishing puzzle game from Granni, a big-boy tool chest and tools from Gramps, a personalized book made by Gramps, and also a gift of money from Pawpaw and my Granny, who is known as Gi-gi to Isaac. He loved all his presents and has already enjoyed playing with each of them (well, except for the money. We put that up for later!)

Here he is, getting ready to blow out his candles:

Mommy and Daddy with the Birthday Boy:

After eating his cake:


Opening presents! YAY!


Playing with the rolled up wrapping paper: (so much fun!)


Learning to play his drum:


Playing with his new tool chest:

Wearing his new tool belt:

After a great night of celebrating and staying up way past bedtime, our entire family slept in on Saturday morning, which was wonderful for us all! Later in the morning, we had a visit from our friend Erin and her little ones, Nathan and Anneliese. Nathan is a bit older than Isaac, and Anneliese is a couple weeks younger than Elise. Remember our zoo trip with Erin, her husband Mark, and Nathan? Erin and the kids were in town, so we got to have some face-to-face time, which was very nice since most of our communication is online. Nathan and Isaac played around the house with Steven, and Erin and I visited while cuddling our little girls. After that, we all went out for a birthday lunch at the Sports Page. Isaac and Nathan did great, the girls slept, and Steven, Erin, and I were able to have some uplifting conversation. It was a fantastic time.

Isaac at his birthday lunch:

Erin and Nathan at lunch:


Steven and me with the Birthday Boy:


Anneliese and Elise (born just two weeks apart), sleeping soundly during lunch:


Nathan, Isaac and Steven sitting on the bench outside Sports Page:


Later in the evening on Saturday, Steven and I gave Isaac our gift to him - his first pair of in-line skates! Of course, they are made for two-year-olds and up, so they're very toddler-friendly. They have two wheels at the heel for stability and they also have three settings that "grow with your child." Isaac loved trying them out, and he did very well! He can successfully move about in our kitchen with the skates on his feet! Hopefully he'll be confident with them by the spring so that we can venture out onto the driveway. We also got him a Thomas the Train helmet and knee pads.

Steven and Isaac just after opening his skates:


Trying the skates on (Isaac was a little nervous to put them on at first. We then told him that they were just like boots, he got excited and wanted to try them out!)


First steps with the skates on:


After a few minutes of walking in the skates, we showed Isaac how to move his legs in a skating motion. He picked this up quickly and was skating across the kitchen floor in no time! Of course, he likes to hold our hand or skate a short distance between us.


With all his gear:


Doesn't he look like he had a blast on his birthay?!



Happy Birthday Isaac! We've loved every moment of the past two years with you, and we look forward to even more adventures this coming year! You are an awesome blessing in our lives, and we are so very thankful for YOU!

Happy 2nd Birthday Isaac!

We love you so much, little man, and we're having a blast celebrating your 2nd birthday today!

Trip to the playground!

Earlier this week, my dad took Isaac to the playground in our neighborhood (which Isaac calls "rides"). They had a blast together, and my dad got these pictures during their time there:

Isaac is watching the lawn guys quite intently. He could stand there all day; he loves lawn movers!


On the "rides":



So much fun!!!

On the way back from lunch...

On Saturday, our family took a trip to Don Pedro's Mexican Restaurant for lunch. This is a place that we used to go at least twice a month during our weekday lunches. However, since it's near Steven's office and he also ended up going a lot with his co-workers, he got kind of burnt out this past year. So when I was pregnant with Elise and craving ole' Don Pedro's, Steven turned his nose up to my request more than once. That brings us to this past Saturday - Steven knew I had been wanting to go there for the past six months but since he hadn't been able to stomach it earlier, he surprised me by taking our family there. :) YAY! It was so delicious and helped to satisfy that craving even though I'm not pregnant any more. On the way home, Steven sat in the back seat with Isaac to keep him from falling asleep (which would have meant no nap that afternoon!) Here are some pictures we got while they were having a blast riding together:

My sweet boys:


Nothing like holding Daddy's hand!



Isaac reaches in for a kiss:


Smackeroo: (yeah, this was worth all those sleepless nights!)

Elise is 7 weeks old!

Our sweet little Elise is 7 weeks old!

She is growing so well! We had her weighed last week, and she was 9 pounds, 6 ounces! That's a little more than two pounds more than her birth weight! She is also developing so much each day. This past week she has started swatting at the toys hanging above her play mat. She's also started smiling at us, that sweet, toothless grin. So far, Steven, my dad, and I have been fortunate enough to see this sweet smile.

Elise is still eating very well, about every 2-3 hours round the clock. She sometimes cluster feeds at night (meaning she'll eat roughly every hour for a few hours). As far as sleeping, she's started taking 2-3 naps each day and then goes to bed for the evening around 10-11. She's been waking regularly around 1 and 4, and then for the day around 7ish.

When she's not eating and sleeping, Elise likes to sit in her swing or infant seat and watch the rest of her family as we go about our day. She also loves to hang out with me in her sling. She falls right asleep when she's in there!

Overall, Elise is a very content and super-sweet baby! We love having her in our family! We have thoroughly enjoyed these first weeks of her life and can't believe how quickly they've passed!

Thank you, Father, for this precious blessing!