Isaac's 3rd Birthday!

The weekend before Thanksgiving we celebrated Isaac's 3rd birthday. On Saturday (the day before his actual birthday), we took him to Discovery Place Kids with my parents. He and Elise both had a blast. This place is designed for kids aged 3 months to 8 years, so it was perfect for our kids. (We ended up getting an annual pass so that we can go again and again!)


Can you tell Isaac is excited about seeing Gramps and Nana and going to Discovery Place?

Our first stop was the water station, where both kids loved splashing around and playing in the water: (check out this super cool attached seat for the little ones!)

Elise loved rocking inside the little house for toddlers:


Then we went to the "grocery store" where Isaac loved pushing around a miniature shopping cart and filling it with all kinds of goodies.


Gramps helped him out, and they had such fun together!


Isaac also learned to scan his items and calculate their total cost on the cash register!


While Isaac was shopping, Elise was exploring the stage and got into the props behind it:


Then both kids hopped into their convertible and took a drive to the bank, where their Daddy was the teller: (look really closely and you'll see Steven's face on the little teller screen; well, mostly his forehead, but it's him alright!)


After lots and lots of fun, our last stop was the build-a-car station, where Isaac and Steven worked hard to build a car that would go down the ramp with the perfect blend of speed and precision:


What fun! After our adventures at Discovery Place Kids, we headed to Five Guys for lunch, cake and presents. Here is Gramps talking to Isaac about the colors of the balloons on his cake:


And here's our little THREE year old!


Yummy cheeseburgers were devoured and then came present time! Isaac got some very special gifts, including a Thomas the Train battery-powered train set, a remote-controlled monster truck, and a work bench. It was so fun to watch him open his gifts! With most of them he would say, "Is this a... train? It, it, it is a train!!!" (or monster truck, etc.)


Here's Mommy, Daddy, and Big Boy Three-Year-Old Isaac: (he's totally thinking "can we stop with the pictures and have cake already?!")


We had such a fun time celebrating the life of such a fun little man! We love you Isaac Ryan!

A Birthday Concert!

Last Sunday night, Steven and I went out on the town to celebrate my birthday (again!) Steven's gift to me was two tickets to see Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas Show. We got dressed up and headed downtown, leaving Isaac and Elise in the great care of Kati and Ray (thanks y'all! The kids had a blast!!)

Before the show, we had a delicious meal at Basil Thai Restaurant, one of our favorite places to eat Thai food. It's in the middle of downtown Charlotte, and the Pad Thai can't be beaten (at least in our opinion!) Then we headed to Belk Theatre for the show.

We were completely dazzled. Our expectations of this concert were blown out of the water! The musicians who make up Mannheim Steamroller were incredibly talented, and the entire show was mesmerizing.

Thanks sweetie for a GREAT birthday gift and an awesome time! And again a very special thanks to Ray and Kati for keeping our sweet babies!

Elise in Gymboree

Here is a picture of our little princess in the Gymboree store, taken on Steven's iPhone. :) Thanks to our friends Lauren and Brian, we had a gift card there (YAY! FUN!!) While I was shopping, Elise enjoyed walking around the store and also watching the little TV. Isaac walked around picking several outfits out for both him and Elise. ;) Since Isaac has a cute orange puffer jacket that we love, we ended up getting a pink puffer jacket for Elise. She'll grow into it next year, but should be able to use it from ages 2-4. Thanks Lauren and Brian!

Happy Birthday Isaac!

Today Isaac is three years old! We are in the midst of celebrating his life by doing all sorts of fun things this weekend (which we'll blog about soon!)

To honor Isaac Ryan Mauney on our blog, we've included several pictures of our amazing little man. These pictures truly capture Isaac's spirit - his sweetness right along with his silliness. Enjoy!











YAY for Isaac! May this fourth year of your life be filled with adventure, fun, laughter, learning, and more understanding of the incredible love God has for you, sweet one! Mommy and Daddy love you so much and we are so thankful for your life!

Daddy's Girl...

Almost a Birthday Boy!

Can you believe our precious boy will be three years old in two days (on Sunday)?! I can't believe it, but I sure am thankful for the three years we've had with such an awesome little man. He truly is a great treasure in our lives and we are blessed every day by his presence in our home. He is growing up so fast right in front of us, and it seems that the past month he has grown even more exponentionally. He seems to be experiencing less tantrums and emotional frustrations. Maybe that is because he has recently developed much more abstract understanding of feelings and emotions. For example, he says things like "I don't like that" or "I like that" or "I love them" or "I not want to do that". He also seems to be able to communicate with us in more mature ways these days. His sentences are longer, and he works hard to get his point across before fussing or getting frustrated.

Our little man enjoys preschool - all of it! Playground time, art time (he's made some pretty sweet art projects!), music time, lunch time... We do think he might still be taking it all in because he seems a little clingy to me at dropoff. But when I pick him up, he's all smiles and can't wait to get into the van to "help" me drive (I let him sit in front with me as we pull into a parking space to secure him into the carseat.) He then proceeds to tell me that he "played" at preschool and had a good time.

Another thing Isaac loves to do is spend one-on-one time with his close friends and family. Days with Gramps and Nanna are extra special for Isaac. He would spend every single day with those two if he could. He also warms up to most anyone who we visit or who spends time in our home, and he is quite the ham (just like his Daddy!)

Over the past few weeks, Isaac has started singing when he wakes up in the morning. Instead of calling out for us immediately, we'll hear him singing the Alphabet or Baa Baa Black Sheep (which is another of his favorite songs right now.) He also likes to sing Jesus Loves Me and Jingle Bells (which he is learning at preschool).

When we put him to bed at night, one part of our routine is hugs and kisses. For a while, Isaac wasn't into kisses, so we taught him how to do "Eskimo" and "Butterfly" kisses. He loved them, so now every night he asks for an "Essimo tiss, Bud-a-fy tiss"! He also gives kisses and hugs to Elise, which is super sweet.

Earlier this week, I was taking some pictures of Isaac and he wasn't smiling:


So I asked him to smile, and here's what he did: (his famous silly smile!)


So then I asked him to do a "Sweet smile", and here's what I got: (makes me laugh every time!)


Here's his "Big boy" smile because he just made a "truck" with his blocks (which we thought was quite impressive!)


Here's a closeup on Isaac's first block "truck": (he came up with the idea that he was going to make a truck with the blocks, and then he developed it completely by himself! The cylindrical blocks are the wheels, by the way.)



We love you little man and are so thrilled you're in our lives! We can't wait to celebrate your third birthday with you in a few days!

Overwhelmed by blessings!

Words can't even describe how much I love my kids. I am completely overtaken by them! Tonight as I was watching them play and laugh together I was so thankful that God chose me to be their mother. What an incredible honor and gift from above.

I love to go in their rooms in the morning and see them after they've slept peacefully all night and hear Isaac say, "Hey Mommy!" and Elise say "Uh oh!" because she dropped her passy. I love to grab up my little girl and hold her tight, knowing she'll be too big to grab up sooner than I can blink both eyes. I love to swing my little man out of his crib knowing, too, that he will be too big for a crib sooner than I like to admit.

I love to feed those babies breakfast, lunch and dinner frankly because they love to eat. I love watching them devour a plate of food that I took time to prepare. I also love the craziness right before mealtime when their blood sugar is a little low and they are screaming and clinging to my legs while I get their food prepared. Then when I place it in front of them, I love the beautiful silence that comes with their mouths being full.

I love sitting in the floor to play with them and hearing Isaac say, "Mommy play? Mommy play!!!"

I love to watch Isaac tickle Elise and hear her break into full on belly laughs. Tonight as Elise was eating in her high chair, Isaac was touching her face and then backing away from her. She absolutely loved it and was laughing and squealing so loud that the sound filled our house. I love our house being full of sound. The sound of children is so beautiful. Sometimes it's cries. A lot of the time it's cries, but even those cries are beautiful to me. I know that one day my kids will be able to communicate with much less crying, so I want to embrace that form of communication while it's here. So even the tears I love.

Tears of joy flood my eyes when I think of my precious babes.

Precious little ones who love to play with each other in the van when we're driving around. Isaac headbangs while listening to the radio, Elise joins him, and then they start laughing at each other. It blesses my heart to see my kids sharing laughs and fun together.

Thank you Father for giving me the opportunity to become a mother.

The past three years have been a adventure I could have never imagined. I've learned so much about myself, my husband, and the character of our ever faithful God. These kids have rocked my world and I'll never be the same. I have a quote on my desktop that says "God declares in His Word that your kids are a blessing and a gift. They are not an interruption, a mistake, or a hindrance to God's will in your life. They are God's will for your life."

Father, I love my little (ahem, huge!) gifts from you. Help me to be the best Momma I can be to them. And to embrace every moment of this rockin' awesome journey I'm on, thanks to You!

Playtime!

Elise at 13 months
Isaac at 35 months (just one week shy of three years old!)

A baby and a broom and a sweet big brother...

Elise has just discovered our broom (along with the toy vacuum). On Sunday after "vacuuming" our kitchen, she got the broom out and "swept" for us. It was so cute! Isaac has always loved the vacuum and broom, so it looks like his sister is following his example.




Speaking of new things, Elise has recently started saying a few more words. Here is her current list:
uh-oh
more (which she also signs)
wow
yeah
Isaac
thank you
Oreo (new last week!)
bow (new this week!)
pap (for passy; new this week!)

She and Isaac have also been playing together much more lately. Isaac is still working on sharing his toys with Elise, but in general he loves having her around. He has started taking more initiative to play with her or keep her entertained. For example, on Monday morning, while I was changing his crib sheets, Isaac went into Elise's room and woke her up. The next thing I knew, both of them were laughing hysterically, and this continued for about ten minutes. When I came into the room, Isaac asked if he could get into Elise's crib with her. I put him up there, and they had a grand time playing in her crib. Later that day while I was running the vacuum upstairs (Mondays are typically our house cleaning day), Isaac read his books to Elise while she listened attentively in her pack and play. He kept coming to me and asking me what the words said and after I told him, he'd run back to Elise and tell her. Then he actually asked if he could also join her in the pack and play for a little bit. What a sweet big brother!

Steven and I love seeing our sweet babies play together!

Early birthday present?!

This coming Sunday will be Isaac's 3rd birthday. Apparently he tried to use some of Elise's bows to wrap himself up as a present...


Isaac, you are so silly!!!

Isaac likes art!

Isaac has really taken to art and crafts recently. We think he's become more interested since he's had lots of opportunities to try out different art mediums at preschool. He loves to paint, cut, draw, glue... At home, he's been asking to draw with pens a lot more. He doesn't really like coloring with crayons, but he really does like those pens! Here he is, drawing while drinking his milk: (ahh.. already a multitasker like his Momma!)


Last week, we took a trip to Walmart with my mom to purchase some small children's scissors and some watercolor paints since he'd been specifically asking to "cut and paint". He was thrilled to get home and start cutting on some construction paper. He also had a blast painting. We'd had watercolors a while back, but they got really messy so we had to toss them. (Pretty much all the colors turned black since they were mixed together.) So he also enjoyed painting with his new colors. He also asked me to paint some, so I painted the letters "I" and "E" which he can now identify. (Very cool!)

We love you, are little artist!

Fun with bears!

Our friends Donnie and Hallel passed along a teddy bear towel to us recently. So of course Steven and Isaac had some fun with it...

What a sweet little bear!


Elise isn't sure what to think of this bear!


Thanks Donnie and Hallel! Nothin' like a cozy hooded towel! :)

A punkin' and some tears...

So we're not sure if Elise likes Isaac's pumpkin costume or not...


So Isaac reaches for the thing that usually helps take the tears away - Leese's passy!


Isn't our little pumpkin just adorable?!

I'm all better now!!

Elise's Saturday doctor visit...

Our blog has been quiet this week due to sheer exhaustion. Last weekend was a whirlwind for our family, and we are just plain tired from it!

It started out with Elise spiking a fever of 103.5 degrees on Friday and feeling pretty crummy that whole day. She and Isaac have passed colds back and forth to each other for the past month or so, but this time around she'd had a cough that didn't sound too good. The cough had gone on for almost two weeks, so I was starting to get concerned about it. I called the nurse on Friday, and she told me to watch Elise closely over the weekend and if she still had a fever to bring her in on Monday. Friday afternoon and evening were OK, but Friday night was another story. Elise woke up often and ended up only being able to sleep comfortably in Steven's arms. Poor baby!

On Saturday morning Elise still had a fever and a cough, so we decided to call the doctor again. The nurse I spoke with said that they do not like babies to go longer than 10 days of having a cough before being seen in the office again. So we went ahead and made an appointment. We were planning to take Isaac with us, but we thought that maybe my parents could keep him for a couple hours while we took Elise to get checked out. Thankfully they were available and glad for Isaac to stay. So we dropped him off with them and headed to our doctor's Huntersville office. Once we were there, the doctor examined Elise's ears and lungs, which were both perfectly fine. So, she didn't have an ear infection, which is what I always get concerned about when my babies have a hard time sleeping at night. The doctor said that it looked like Elise just had a virus, but she wanted to do a tiny finger prick to check her white blood cell count. She said that the nurse would just do a little finger prick and then we could be on our way. After a not fun finger prick, we were getting excited about leaving with our little girl and going to eat some delicious food (since my parents had said they were glad to keep Isaac long enough for us to have some lunch and because Steven nor I had eaten anything yet that day... and it was around 11:30 by then...)

The next thing us hungry folk saw was the doc peeking her head in the door and saying, "Well, Elise's white blood cell count is up, so we're going to need to run some tests. Apparently there's something going on in her little body that we can't see." To determine what that was, we were told that Elise needed to have testing for a urinary tract infection, a bloodborne pathogen, and pneumonia. After discussing this course of action with the doctor, we had some time alone in the room, so we prayed together. We asked God to take care of our little girl and heal her body of whatever it was that was attacking her. Shortly thereafter the nurse came back in the room ready to do the first two tests - a catheter to get a urine sample and drawing blood in Elise's inner elbow to check for a bloodborne pathogen. Steven and I had to hold our little girl down as they did both tests, and it was really really not fun at all! Elise was a trooper the whole time, but of course she shed many tears. We hated to see our little girl go through this. But the nurse was awesome and worked very quickly so that it was over in just a few minutes. We gave Elise a huge hug and comforted her before she had to have a shot of antibiotic in her leg (ouch again!!)

After all of this, we headed around the corner from the Pediatrics office to the Urgent Care for a chest x-ray, which would tell us if Elise had pneumonia or not. We went in and thankfully were seen almost immediately. Elise had a chest x-ray last year when she had bronchiolitis, but she was able to just lay on the table for that one. This time around, she had to be put into an infant chest x-ray apparatus that looks like a plastic cylinder and wrapped around her body and kept her arms above her head. Steven had to stand with her to hold her arms up while the x-rays were taken. I was able to step out of the room. I had been very calm during all of the tests and shot at the doctor's office, but this one was almost too much for me. I choked up a bit while Elise was screaming and the x-ray tech was working to get a good picture. Thankfully, though, we had a compassionate technician, and she worked as quickly as possible and kept checking on me. (me! I guess she knew this type of thing can be hard for the Mommas!)

After that final test, we went back to the doctor's office, which was closed for the day by then. We were able to go in, however, and watch the doctor as she interpreted the chest x-ray results. She explained the x-ray to us and helped us to understand what we were looking at. She also determined that Elise did not have pneumonia (thank you Jesus!) She did say that she thought she saw a tiny area that looked like it could be the very beginning stages of pneumonia, but after getting another doctor's opinion, they completely ruled that diagnosis out. She then said we were free to go and that we'd hear within a couple days about the blood test and urine test. By then it was almost 1 PM and we were very hungry, so we made a stop by Five Guys for some comfort food. (Well, really we are addicted to Five Guys. We have it almost once a week these days... nothing like those burgers!) Anyway, while we were there, Elise seemed like she wanted to eat and then she started shaking. Her lips and her hands were just shaking. It scared me, so I held her while I scarfed down my food. As it turns out, it was just a side effect of the antibiotic shot she'd received earlier at the doctor's office. She stopped shaking within a few minutes, but she was extremely tired, so she napped in my arms and on the way back home to get Isaac.

Whew! What an interesting adventure! We arrived back at my parents four hours later. We were SO thankful that Isaac had been able to spend all of that time with Gramps and Nana instead of in the doctor's office and Urgent Care with us. He would have surely gone stir crazy! By then, though, he was ready for a nap, and so were we! We headed home and put both kids to bed. However, at that point Elise had had enough of a nap to get a second wind. She wouldn't go to sleep in her crib, so we kept her up with us as we tried to recover from the morning's events. By supper time, we were just barely managing to stay awake. We put the kids to bed and were ready for bed ourselves.

Since Elise was still running a fever and wasn't feeling well, she woke up continually that night. Steven finally took her with him to the couch in his studio and held her so she was able to sleep the rest of the early morning.

So Sunday started out dragging for us. We stayed home and just played and rested. Steven prepared for our church service on Sunday night. I arranged for my Mom to come and watch Elise so that Isaac and I could also go. (thank you Momma!!!) Elise didn't take much of a nap at all; she was wired with the antibiotic! She was just playing and walking around everywhere. That afternoon, we all headed up to our church's final Sunday night service (woohoo!!) As of November 14th, we'll be meeting on Sunday mornings in a new location, and we are all very excited about this change. But on Sunday we were celebrating all that God has done in our lives and our church family for the past four years. It was a wonderful time! Isaac and I headed out a little early to relieve my Mom and get Elise in bed on time. Thankfully Elise went down for bed with no trouble and she slept through the night!

Her fever broke sometime through the night, and Monday she was just a happy girl all day, although wired a little bit still from the antibiotics. We learned that the urine culture was negative (thank you Lord!), but the blood culture was still pending.

We found out later in the week that Elise's blood culture was negative as well, which means she had some kind of unknown bug in her body. I guess we won't ever know if it was truly bacterial or just a virus, but either way between time and the antibiotic, our little girl is doing much better! She is as sweet as ever and feels so much better now!

We have gotten some much-needed rest this week after three partially sleepless nights, and we are thankful for that. But more than anything, we are thankful that Elise is on the mend and back to her normal spunky self!