Spicy Things

Isaac does not like to take naps at all. Most times I put him in his bed and it takes him at least an hour if not more to calm down and actually go to sleep. He talks to his animals, tells them stories, and sings them songs. In fact, as I'm typing this I can hear him in their singing "Proud Mary". (I've made sure he knows all about mommy and Opa's favorite singer, Tina Turner. Bet you didn't know her songs make great lullabies for a little one huh?!?) Anyways, back to my story. I'm carrying Isaac into his room to take a nap (there's no way he's going to walk) and explaining to him that you have to take a nap so you can get rested and so your body can grow big and strong...and he says, "and so I can eat spicy things." To which I respond, "yes, so you can grow big and eat spicy things". I mean of course...why didn't I think of that? My child is a nut!!

EasiHorse Adventure

A few weeks ago, I searched the internet for cool things to do with kids. Isaac loves animals, so I was specifically looking for something he could do with animals. I came across a horse farm not far from the house that does horseback riding lessons for kids of all ages. I contacted the farm owner about Isaac, and today we made our adventure over to the EasiHorse farm. We kept it a surprise for him all day, so when we pulled up to the barns he was so excited just to see the horses. Little did he know what was to come!

Mr. Dave spent an hour with Isaac (Brian, Lucas and I) teaching him how to take care of, ride and enjoy a horse. Isaac had a great time!

Here he is leading his horse out to ride…

And giving her a thank you hug before he got down.

Even Lucas got to sit on the horse!

After finishing with the horses, Mr. Dave let Isaac feed some of his other animals. Isaac really like the llama.

The turkeys weren’t quite as friendly, but the were cool too.

Finally, here’s a video showing a little piece of all of Isaac’s activities on the farm today.

I wasn’t sure how things would go today. With a two year old, at least my two year old, you always take the chance that when you get to your activity they’re going to latch on to your leg and refuse to do anything. Today, with the animals and Mr. Dave that was not the case. Isaac acted like an old pro and just jumped right in. I think we would have stayed all night had we let him! We got in the truck to come home and Isaac told us unprompted “I had a good time. That was a fun adventure!” Watching him have fun made for a wonderful day!

Exhausted

I’m still working on straightening out Lucas’s sleep schedule. The first part of this week has mommy and baby pretty worn out. Lucas usually sits in his high chair during dinner, but last night he got fussy half way through dinner. I picked him up and after a minute or two he was snoring away. You have to be pretty tired to sleep like this!

February Fun

Today was another warm February day. Oma and Opa are up for a visit and we all spent the day playing outside.

This afternoon we ventured over to E Carroll Joyner Park in Wake Forest. Isaac had a good time learning to fly daddy’s trick kite.

The park has some great paved trails, so we ended our adventure with a trip around the outer loop on the bikes. Isaac rode on the back of my bike, while Lucas rode in the cart behind Brian’s bike.

Today was Lucas’s second bike ride. Here are some pictures from last Sunday on his first ride. He really seemed to enjoy riding with big brother.

I’ve got spring fever already! I’m looking forward to more outdoor time with my boys!

Medicine

Isaac seems to have a bit of a runny nose that makes him cough at night. He was so restless on Wednesday night that last night I decided to give him some benadryl at bedtime. I went and poured his dose into the little medicine cup and brought it to him to take. When I handed it to him he said "for my nose?" and I replied with a "yes". I glanced over at Brian and Lucas playing on the floor and then, thank goodness, quickly back at Isaac. He was attempting to pour the benadryl into his nose!! I was able to stop him before he actually did it and explained you drink it but it makes your nose feel better! Crazy kid. In his defense...I did say it was for his nose!

Heart of Hearts

Sometimes life throws you curve balls, and this Valentine's Day definitely started out with a big one. I got a call from my sister, Anna, at 5:45 this morning saying that my mom had taken my dad to the hospital in Hickory because he was having chest pain. Definitely NOT in my plans (or anyone else's plans) for the day. The good news...the unexpected turned into a really good day with my family in Hickory. My sister did a good job telling about our day on her blog, so check it out. In true Slivensky fashion, it's even got a few good laughs. The great news...my dad is feeling better tonight and after bloodwork and ekgs today it seems his heart is fine too. He'll have follow-up this week, but at this point everything looks good.

A special thanks to everyone out there for their thoughts, prayers, texts and phone calls today. Our family is truly blessed to have so many special people in our lives.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. Make sure you take the time today and every day to hug the ones you love.

Super Sunday!

Super Bowl Sunday turned out to be a gorgeous day in NC. We had promised Isaac that we would be having a “football party”, so we started the day making some snacks for the big game. Isaac was a great helper as always.

Since the weather was so nice, we took Isaac’s tractor over to Joyner Park and let him ride and ride and ride. The paved paths made perfect size streets for him to drive on.

We did a little geocaching or “treasure hunting” as Isaac calls it while we were in the park as well. We found 2 of 3 caches that we looked for. (Isaac informed me that the pirates took the one that we couldn’t find!) These were large caches with plenty of stuff in them. Isaac took an instant liking to a set of glasses that we just couldn’t leave in the woods. Both boys look particularly handsome in them!

We ended our day with nothing other than the Super Bowl. We didn’t really care for either team playing, but enjoyed spending the evening together watching the game and playing football in the living room with Isaac. We also managed to stuff ourselves with homemade party food!

Isaac was totally into the game. Enough that he brought his potty to the living room so he wouldn’t miss anything. There is NEVER a dull moment in this house!

Lucas … 1 month

I can’t believe my little man is one month old already! Time sure does fly by especially when you’re having fun, and we’ve definitely had fun during his first month. We’ve spent time with the house full of guests and action, followed by times of quiet and just getting to know each other. I’ve cherished every minute.

Isaac has already become a wonderful big brother too. He takes care of Lucas and wants to include him in everything. He knows Lucas is hungry when he cries and doesn’t hesitate to help him find his pacifier when he drops it. He has informed me that Lucas (who I am breastfeeding) drinks milk from the left and cranberry juice from the right…this was news to me as the lactation consultant led me to believe they were both milk! The thing I love the most though is how when Lucas starts to cry, Isaac immediately starts to sing. And believe it or not, it usually works, and Lucas calms down and listens. He loves his big brother already!

Happy 1 month birthday Lucas! We love you so much.

Brothers

Based on size, Lucas (9 lbs at birth) definitely has a head start on Isaac (6 lbs 10 oz at birth). Lucas has dark hair and nearly brown eyes, Isaac had blonde hair and blue eyes. Lucas looks like me as a baby, Isaac looked like Brian.

As different as they seem, I see many similarities in them too. A lot are probably only things a mother would notice. But one thing is for certain, these are the two cutest boys you’ll ever see!

I’ve tried to take some pictures of Lucas that match ones I’ve taken of Isaac. Here are a couple of those pictures. The difference in size still amazes me and makes me laugh.

Lucas – 3 weeks / Isaac – 2 months

Lucas and Wripley – 3 weeks

Isaac and Wripley – 1 month

Bird Hair

Fresh out of the bath, Lucas has light fluffy baby bird hair for a couple hours! It’s cute and crazy all at the same time!

Home Alone

Dan the Animal Man did a special show for the preschool at our church on Monday morning. The program was open to anyone, so I decided to keep Isaac home from school and take him to see the animals. It was my first full day home completely alone with both of my boys. Much to my surprise, it went quite well. Isaac was an absolute angel and VERY helpful!! We even managed to get to church for the program 10 minutes early. Getting places on time (which in my head means early) is my pet peeve and it’s one area that I have found to be a challenge over the first few weeks as a mother of 2!

Dan the Animal Man and his animals – Isaac’s only issue with the show was “where is the snake”? He even went up and asked Dan after the show. I was so proud of him for asking!

After the show we had lunch at Chick-Fila and then came home for naps. The boys hung out on the couch for a while. Lucas is already trying to figure out his crazy big brother!

Isaac then decided to share his lizard, Jade (not real) with Lucas. Please notice Isaac’s special lizard handling gloves. He’s an absolute nut, and such a great big brother!!

We had so much fun today! I’m looking forward to more days like this in the future.

Road Trip–Part II

On Sunday, we completed the second half of Lucas’s first weekend road trip with a day trip to Fayetteville to visit/meet Brian’s family. We met Nana and Boppa at church, and afterwards went over to Papa and Gramma’s house for lunch. Brian’s cousin Amanda was there with her husband and their son Gage. Isaac and Gage had a blast playing together on the local playground (thanks to Brian for taking all the great pictures of them playing!! note there are none!! I guess he was having too much fun playing too! oh well.)

Lucas with Papa

Lucas with Gramma

Isaac relaxing after a chocolate chip cookie

After lunch we headed back to Nana and Boppa’s house for some fun in the sandbox and riding on the golf cart.

Isaac is an expert scooper!

Driving the golf cart…looks like quite the politician to me…ready for the parade route!

Lucas first golf cart ride

Both of the boys were exhausted by the end of the day. Lucas met a lot of new people, Isaac played and played and played! It was a great weekend and the beginning of the MANY weekends of road trips that Lucas will enjoy in the years to come!