Oh my goodness do I ever have a backlog of things to catch up on!!!  Most of you have seen these pictures on Facebook so I'm zooming through them... forgive me if this is a repeat for you but there are some who haven't seen them!

When we were back home in Phoenix this fall my family threw me a birthday party.  Yes they did... because I turned 30! 

Funny how it feels the same to be 30 as it did for my whole 20's... except that I'm suddenly bone weary all the time.  I never have enough sleep and my muscles and joints are in a perpetual state of overtaxed and achy... Oh wait... that's probably because I have a six month old kiddo!

So here I am showing off my kiddo!  (There were several family members that had yet to meet him!)  This is my Aunt Susan... well her hand!

This is Isaac's cousin, Malaki.  (Malaki is Josie's son.  Josie is Ryan's little sister.)

Me and the kiddo!

This is my baby sister, Becky, with her two littles... Savannah and Dylan!

Isaac blowing raspberries at daddy!  So funny!

This is Mimi (Ryan's mom) with Isaac's newest cousin Andie.  (Malaki's little sister)

Isaac meeting his great grandma Fern!  Did I say meeting her?  More like EATING HER!

The other Laubes!  My sister Charly and her husband Zach (who is also Ryan's younger brother) and their son Aaron!

My cousin Lucas (who was the ring bearer in my wedding!) holding his cousin for the first time!

Savannah wanted to play bikes and wanted Uncle Ryan to tag along.

CHEESE!

Everyone eating!

The great grandparents!

We had a great time in Phoenix showing off our kiddo!  It was fun to see family though we didn't get to see everyone...  Guess we'll be taking another trip!!!

We got home just in time for Halloween and the base does a real 50's throwback kind of thing.  No one on base is allowed to drive in housing and the Security forces patrol the streets to make sure everyone is safe and to pick up lost kiddos and take them to a meeting spot so parent's can find them.  Everyone participates and it's a lot of fun!

Daddy was a ninja!  LOL  We had parents giggling!

 

And Isaac was Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise!  (Yes I'm that much of a Trekkie that I just happen to have the Original Star Trek seasons and could easily find a place in a show to pause the Enterprise over a planet so we could stag this shot! LOL)

"Momma shouldn't I be ON the ship?"  (Everyone's a critic!)

Okay one last set of pictures for you!  On November 9th Isaac hit his six month milestone and with it came solid foods. 

Here is our very first attempt at them!

"What's going on Dad?"

"Okay what is this thing?"

Hmmmm what's all the fuss?

Okay I'm game...

What is THAT!?

Ummmm NO!

Seriously mom, WHY!?

You could stop this right now daddy...

WHY DO YOU HATE ME!?

Oh mommy it's in my mouth...

Okay that's all I have for you today!  I have so much more to catch up on but the kiddo calls and life awaits!  I'll be back again soon!

Have a beautiful December day!

Courtney

Good Morning and Happy December! 

Before I share our 'exciting' evening with you I have to show you Isaac's new hat. 

How cute is that? 

Yep we need to live somewhere cold so he can wear it all the time! 

So...  Last night when Ryan got home from work we packed the kiddo into his stroller and headed out as a family for the chapel here on base.  

The base was hosting a Christmas tree lighting complete with cider, hot chocolate and cookies.  We walked in the brisk evening air full of anticipation with beautiful images of post card Christmas tree lightings in our head... 

We got there and remembered that this is Texas... 

Yep that juniper bush over Ryan's shoulder is our Christmas tree... 

No worries we would just enjoy some family time...  

It drew quite a crowd...  We sang Christmas carols and visited.... 

Then the chaplain said a prayer... 

 Isaac enjoyed all there was to see and hear. 

Hey blue eyes!

Then the wing commander gave a speech about community and feeling as if this base were our home. 

 Then he went over to the tree and gathered all the little kiddos to help him light it up.  There was quite a lot of anticipation.  Even if it was a juniper tree everyone likes a pretty Christmas tree! 

 AND 

Blink... the one strand of standard white lights shined on...  Instead of a crowd going "Oooooo ahhhhh"  you heard something more along the lines of "HUH?" 

Bit of a let down after all the hype but still fun... 

(It's moments like these that I miss Germany so badly that my heart hurts a little...) 

 But then down the street there arose such a clatter!  

"What's that daddy?" 

"What are all those lights and sounds?" 

"Police cars and firetrucks?" 

"It's Santa on a firetruck!" 

And then the firetruck let loose it's sirens and my guy just plain let loose! 

Because of the small guy emergency and the quick pass off to mommy we got just this one picture of Santa!  LOL 

"All better and my ears are warm now too!" 

Tucking my buddy all in... 

When the tree lighting was all over we walked to the club for 'Dinner with Santa' 

 And got to check out Santa's 'sleigh' a little more closely! 

They did a good job decorating the truck! 

Here we are in the very most southern north pole! 

Cold noses and rosy cheeks! 

All toasty warm and ready to have dinner with Santa. 

 After we ate we stood in line for Isaac's first picture with Santa.  He wasn't exactly sure... 

Then he made up his mind... We discovered later that he had a fistful of Santa beard...  Guess he found out the imposter! 

 No worries... in between these two pictures there was a good one (I hope) taken by the photographer... we should get that on Friday. 

They we bundled up and walked home in the quite dark with a million stars overhead...  It was actually a really fun evening and I'm glad that the base puts on things like this...  

When we arrived home it was to find this guy...  sugar plumbs and all... 

I hope your Christmas season is filled with memories and laughter and time with family.

 Courtney

This year was our first Thanksgiving as a family of three!

It was a wonderful day and we have so very much to be thankful for.

It started with a very happy and smiley boy!

"Okay mom take your picture... oooo what's that!?"

"Okay I'm lookin'!"

"Look mom it's my elephant!"

Then we got everyone up and dressed for the day...  I LOVE those ears!

"Whatcha talkin' about momma?"

Then we watched Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade! 

"Look momma it's starting!"

"Whoa... that's really far down!"

My boys settled in to watch it...  It's amazing how much they don't look alike... I mean... you would just never know that Ryan was his daddy unless I told you right?

Isaac found his favorite part of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.  Tom the Turkey!  (He is sponsored by The Food Network and we do watch it quite a bit!)

"Get in my belly turkey boy!"

"No really, I mean it!"

Isaac took a nap and then was up and ready to eat Thanksgiving dinner... See his shirt?  It says "Baby's 1st Thanksgiving turkey carrots sweet potatoes peas."

He and daddy came out to find mommy hard at work in the kitchen... It takes a lot of time and effort to make a tasty Thanksgiving feast without a bit of dairy... Just think about that... no butter, cream, heavy whipping cream, ice cream, whipped cream, milk, sour cream...  It was a feat!

A few hours later they came back to find one tired momma with one monster mess on her hands.

But my turkey came out beautifully!  I couldn't be more pleased!

Just look at the beautiful bird! 

Sage stuffing with fresh herbs, carrots, parsnips, celery, sausage and a pinch of this and that.  It was amazing!

Roasted garlic mashed potatoes.  I had to make these with olive oil butter and non dairy coffee creamer.  They were pretty good too!

Herb gravy... eh... not so hot... I'm a very bad gravy maker.  Too bad all the cheater packs have milk in them because this is not a strong suit of mine in the kitchen!

Our feast...

Of course there was a home made pecan pie for dessert... not my favorite but the only dessert in my bag of tricks that doesn't use milk or butter!

Mommy showing off her turkey to her turkey!

"Say hi baby!" (And yes he's changed into a Star Trek shirt that says "I Just Boldly Went" because he did and we lost his cute Thanksgiving shirt to day old peas... *snort*)

Time for Isaac's Thanksgiving feast!  He isn't too sure... 

Does this set up look familiar?  Yep it's just like his shirt...  turkey carrots sweet potatoes peas

"Okay momma... Give it to me!"

We decided his food for the day would be turkey.  In goes the spoon.... he isn't too sure...

MIND MADE UP!  NO MORE!!!!  Shortly after we switched back to squash and all was well... the meats will have to wait for a while...  We tasted it out of curiosity and let's just say I don't blame him... YUCK!

After dinner we decorated for Christmas! 

Pretty! 

Somewhere in there Isaac went down for his afternoon nap and mommy and daddy pulled the wishbone in front of the Christmas tree...

Then we had pie! (Well Ryan had this pie as that is home made vanilla lemon whipped cream on top!)

Ooooo good pie! (And good down time... I'm exhausted!)

Stay away from my pie!

We spent the next few days enjoying each other and leftovers... It was a lovely holiday weekend!  

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday with family and friends.  Take care!

Courtney

P.S.  Now I can say it... MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

I know it's been so long since I've written... so much has been going on and the thing that I need to post before anything else is the thing I've been avoiding...

Most of you know already through Facebook but I need to write about it anyhow...

We lost Yoda on October 7th, just three months after we lost Gandalf. 

He was just shy of his 14th birthday and he'd been with us for almost 11 years.

I can still remember the first time I saw him…  Ryan and I went to the pound six months before our wedding to pick out a dog…  We wanted to have a dog together and just couldn't wait.  It turned out to be destiny.

 

 

 

We walked down all the aisles and looked at the small dogs because we knew we would be living in an apartment for at least that first year.   And then I saw him.  He was so shaggy and dirty.  His hair literally dragged the ground all over his body and his fur was brown with dirt.  He was way too skinny and you couldn't even see his face.  Honestly, you couldn't even tell he was a pure bred schnauzer, but I knew.  I walked over to him and said,

 

“Ryan this is the one!  It’s a miniature Schnauzer." 

 

Ryan looked at me like I was crazy and said

 

“No it’s a poop brown sheepdog!  I don’t want that!” 

 

I told Ryan to look closer and as he approached the cage Yoda stuck his little nose as far through the chain link as he could, so far that he couldn't open his mouth and licked Ryan’s hand and whined…

 

 

That was it.  Boy and dog bonded for life.

 

 

 

We went and asked about him and found out that he would not be released for adoption until Wednesday and I would have to come when they opened and if anyone else wanted him there would be a drawing.  On Wednesday I showed up and there was one other lady who wanted him… I was crushed, I never win anything… I put my name in the drawing and ….. I WON!  The other lady was so mad at me that she actually got in my face and said that some little teenager didn’t deserve to win against her.. I probably wouldn't take care of him anyway and she stomped out!  I didn’t care I was so happy!

 

 

 

They led me back and let me hold him and then told me his story.

 

 

 

He was approximately three years old.  He had been abused they said, probably hit by a car at one point.  He had a bad hip and coward away from men….  They also informed me that the level of his abuse was unknown however they could tell me that I could take him home today since he did not need to be neutered.  He had already been neutered with a hot pair of scissors.  I can still remember the look on the guys face when he told me this. 

 

Who could do that to this baby?

 

 

 

Over the first few months he was in and out of the vet a lot.  He was sick and malnourished and just plain beaten down…. But in the years since that time he became the most amazing dog!

 

Sweet and smart... playful and loving.  He was Ryan's best friend, my baby, and big brother to a dog that was 90 pounds bigger than him.  He was king of our castle... a precious little life that changed ours forever.

 

 

Getting Gandalf made him young again... He was five at the time his 'little' brother entered our lives and already slowing down.  Gandalf put new life in him.

They went everywhere together...

Did everything the same...

Our home was filled with images of the casual companionship that just defined these two...

Their world was constant play...

Gandalf's twilight was the beginning of Yoda's...  His world was just not the same without his brother...

 ...and with a new baby in the house Mommy and Daddy were busy... 

We did our best to include him but it was just too much change...  I think he just wanted to go home and be with his brother again... where they could run together through all the grass they could handle.  No pain in Gandalf's legs and no sick feeling for Yoda. 

I miss his shaggy eyebrows...

Finding him sunbathing on a cold winter's day...

I grieve that I will never see him prance again through snow...

Or watch him burst with joy at the first signs of spring after a long winter...  

 

Look at my funny bunny old man...

 

My heart aches with the thought that I'll never again cuddle up to my old man and fall asleep...

 

Or hear his grumpy old man voice talking back to me...

We woke up in the middle of the night to him wheezing and vomiting... 

(Let me take a moment to say that he got sick right after we lost Gandalf.  We chalked to up to the stress and the change... but it got progressivly worse...)

As the day went on he just got worse and so we took him into the vet...  They did some testing and he had super high liver enzymes and a few other things wrong with him... so much so that they couldn't pinpoint what exactly was the problem.  He was so sick... They kept him overnight pumped fluids and meds into him and saw an improvement.  So they sent him home the next day...  That very night he was sick again and declining... He couldn't keep down food, water, or any of his meds...

Ryan and I knew it was time.  We talked to the vet and the consensus was that without hundreds of dollars of testing there was nothing else they could do and with his age and how sick he was they didn't know if he would recover... 13 was just so old and he was so sick.  So we made, again, an impossible choice to not let him suffer. 

We said goodbye... 

I had hoped over my 11 years of dog ownership to never have to make that choice.  I had hoped they would go in their sleep happy and old. 

We had to make the decision twice in three months. 

And we came home to a home without dogs for the first time in our marriage. 

I said goodbye to my first two sons...  Because that's what they were to me for 10 years... my babies.

 

I'll never forget you Yodaman.  I don't believe we'll ever have dogs quite as special as you were to us ever again... 

You can believe what you want but I know in my heart that my babies will be waiting for me in heaven... they're just wearing tracks in my mansion's yard and keeping the hearth rug warm...

And frolicking with the angels.

Goodnight sweet prince... We'll see you again someday... 

One last time...

"Go get your brother!"

Your mommy and daddy

 

I thought today would be a good day to give you a tour of our new home as well as Isaac's three month pictures.  It's so much smaller than Ryan and I have gotten used to what with our three story German cottage and then our 2100 square foot nightmare of a rental but we really like it and we love living on base.  As you will see though we are shoehorned in and have used every nook and cranny!

This is what you see when you walk in our front door. 

The rest of the room.  You're looking at the front entry, the living room, the dining room, the side entry way, and the office.  YIKES!

When you walk in the front door my china hutch is immediately to your right behind the couch.

Here is the little office nook that we carved out for Ryan.  I love having a place to finally hang all his awards and plaques!

Dining room and carport entry way.

From the dining room into the kitchen.

The kitchen with the laundry closet at the end.

Left side of the kitchen... (please excuse the dishes!)

Right side of the kitchen.

The hallway which you can get to from the front door beside the china hutch or from the kitchen by the laundry closet.  The first door on the left is a pantry and then the second door on the left is...

The only bathroom in the whole house.  It's dinky!!!

The door at the very end of the hallway is the guest bedroom.  So if you're coming to visit here's where we'll stick you! 

The rest of it...

Moving back up the other side of the hallway... the last door on the right is our room...

Other side...

And then last but certainly not least is my favorite room in the house... Isaac's room!  We went with a cool caribbean blue for the backdrop of his red Pirate nursery and I love how it turned out!

Here is his diaper changer wall finally complete with his 'Poop Deck' sign from Mimi! 

Seriously how cute is that to have 'Poop Deck' over the diaper changer?!

She even made a little 'The Plank' sign to go over his diaper champ... This one was Aunt Charly's idea...  You know... make the dirty diapers walk the plank?  Har har har!

Here is the crib wall...  Notice anything?

We finally got his wheel done!  This is the piece I'm most excited about!  How cute is that!!!?  (Thanks Mom for making it happen while you were here... You know it would never have been finished if you hadn't done it right?)

Even Isaac loves his pirate wheel already!

Here he is taking his very first nap in his very own room...

Such a sweet boy...

Well there you have it.  That's our new home!  I think we're going to be really happy here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay...  On to the three month pictures of the kiddo!

We decided to gather in front of our new house on Sunday after church since we were all dressed up... Daddy loves his boy!

Greetings from Texas!

Isaac is bored with pictures and Daddy is trying to figure out how to hold him without damaging that finger!

Our happy family!

Me with my little guy!

 

My favorite shot of the three of us.  I love his little gator sweater vest! 

Okay dad I'm done...

So we took him inside and changed him into something a bit cooler...  Totally Handsome!

He knows you know it too...

Look how long he's getting!

Nothing makes Isaac smile like daddy making goofy faces off camera!

His poop face... Yeah that's classic!

How cute are those chubby cheeks!  You should see them with a full dimply smile... One of these days I'll catch one! 

Well that's it for me today.  Isaac is napping and I have to get the house ready.  I have a nurse from the clinic coming to do his three month home visit today! 

Auf Wiedersehen!

Courtney

I honestly can't believe it's been almost a month since I wrote.  What a month it has been!

As you saw in my last we lost Gandalf and we are missing him terribly.  He's left a big hole in our lives and hearts but we know he's enjoying a freedom in heaven that we couldn't give him here with us.

Ryan and I (with the essential help of my mother) have moved on base. 

Ryan went on a two week training course on desert warfare and in the process had part of his left ring finger cut off...  but that's a story for another email. 

And the next few months will be just as busy!

My mom is gone now and we are finishing up the few things left to finish moving in and waiting for Ryan to be deployed to Iraq sometime during this month.

This next weekend Ryan's parents are going to be coming for a visit it say goodbye to Ryan and to meet Isaac for the first time.  (Up until now no one but my mom has met him!  I'm excited to show him off to his Mimi and Papa!!!)

Then a few weeks after Ryan deploys my best friend Emily is coming for a visit.

Just a few weeks after that my mom and dad will be here to pick me, Isaac, and Yoda up and we'll be caravanning back to Phoenix.  I'll be there until after Christmas so that Isaac gets to meet everyone and spend his first Christmas with family.

It's going to be a nutty fall!

I know that I owe you so many pictures of things!  Oh my goodness am I ever behind...  So I'll start with these and try really hard to catch up over the next week or so....

The day before we lost Gandalf we unexpectedly got to have Isaac dedicated at our new church.  We are now attending Grace Community Church here in Del Rio, Texas and we love it!!!  It's just like coming home.  We went this day with my mom and were surprised when the pastor approached and asked if we would like to have Isaac dedicated as he was dedicating another baby.  We jumped at the chance just glad that we could do it while Ryan was home!  Unfortunately without warning we were not all dressed up and Isaac didn't have a super cute outfit on but you can't win em all! 

Here we all are being introduced... (We were only at the church for a month before Isaac was born and we had to take an 8 week break because he was a preemie... this was only our second week back and he was 10 weeks old.)

Here is the pastor's wife holding him for prayer... He didn't exactly cooperate.

Here we all are.

She had to hand him back to me because he decided he wasn't happy at all and made it known!

Prayer...

All done!

I can't believe looking back at those pictures just how much he has grown!!!!  Isaac is exactly three months old today.  I'll give you one preview picture of his three month pictures which I'll try to get up in the next few days.

Here we are in front of our new house!

Isn't his little gator outfit cute!?

Until next time,

Courtney

Eight years ago Ryan gave me a wonderful gift for our anniversary.

He took me to the pound and let me pick out a puppy! 

The moment I saw him I knew he was mine...  A rambunctious black and white ball of fur and teeth that I knew would be enormous and shed like it was going out a style...  A puppy that made every single one of our family members think to themselves "What were they thinking!?"

I was thinking that I was in love and that my life would never be the same.

We named him Gandalf... and our lives never were close to the same.  (And yes, that's me.)

He chewed EVERYTHING!  Curtains off the rods, the tablecloth off the table, the table leg, laundry off the line, he unraveled a whole crocheted blanket about two rows before I finished it (and that was back when I was just learning and it took me almost 3 months to make it!) the couch pillows, walls, and Ryan's two hundred dollar steel toed work boots. 

But I loved him...  we all did.

He grew to monstrous proportions!  And still believed he was a lap dog!  Oh the laughes we had!

He would walk with me wherever I went and lay out with me when I gardened... He was my shadow...  I know God made him just for me.

He loved to run and play in the grass and enjoyed everything about life... Oh how shiny and good the world looks through the eyes of a dog!

He thought he was people and even attempted to take Grandpa's RV for a spin!    You just couldn't be sad around the G-man.

He walked beside me for eight years... He moved with me to Germany and back again to Texas... He's seen almost as much of the world as I have.

He always had a smile for anyone that took the time to notice...

He was beautiful and sweet....

He loved his daddy and his mommy and his brother with all of his heart and protected us all no matter how scared he was.

When I was sad he cuddled with me... He kept watch over me when I was sick, when Ryan was deployed, when I lost my babies, when my heart was breaking... And he stayed by my side for my whole pregnancy as if he knew that something joyful was happening!

He has been a part of so much of my life that I can't imagine the rest of my life without him...

He's people... he's family...

He's a son, a big brother...

And as of today he's gone...

Ryan and I said goodbye to Gandalf today.  His hips and legs just wouldn't hold the big guy anymore.  

I'll never forget those beautiful brown eyes that seemed to know just what you were thinking... I'll miss talking to him on lonely nights and just knowing that he got it.

I'll miss the begging every night for his rawhide treat.  I'll miss the big happy face smiles when he got his favorite thing... FOOD!  His toothy grin and his snuffly nose...

I'll miss him...

My world just lost a little sunshine today and heaven got a little bit brighter...

"No the journey doesn't end here.  Death is just another path, one that we all must take.  The grey rain curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass and then you see it.  White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise."

~Gandalf the White from Return of the King~

Goodbye my sweet boy, you know how much we love you, for always.

Mommy

Thank you for all of you that loved him with us...  you know that he loved you back... because nothing about Gandalf was small... especially his heart.

Just when I was beginning to believe that life was settling down into a schedule again... Just when I was beginning to believe that my sanity was settling back over me...

LIFE HAPPENS!

 

Things are going okay around here.  Isaac is having some pretty bad tummy issues, as in, he basically has an ulcer.  He's been fussy when he eats for weeks...  We knew he was gassy but when we talked to the nurse about it they said it was probably just trauma from his hospital stay... They were probably right... but I think it was on top of other issues.  As the weeks have gone on and he hasn't gotten better we started to worry.  

Then a few days ago we noticed some very unusual poop.    (Ah parenthood)  We took him in because better safe than sorry right?  RIGHT!  Turns out he has dried blood in his stool which means he's bleeding in his stomach...  So he's on Prevacid and I spent the morning with a dietician making a plan for my diet to try to eliminate what it is that's bothering him...

Poor pitiful little guy... 

Say a prayer for him if you think of it... In other news... He's now up to 9 pounds and 10 ounces!!!  He gained almost 2 pounds in the past 17 days!  WOW!!! 

But that isn't the big news going down around here...

Gandalf hurt himself while we were in the hospital for Isaac a few weeks ago.  He also had to go without his pain meds...  When we came home he could barely walk... It's been three weeks and he's not getting any better...  With all that's going on we can't afford more in depth vet visits...  Things aren't looking good for the big guy and I'm heartbroken over it...

That's still not the biggest news...

We need to buy a new car and due to some circumstances that I'll explain later we need to do it in the next 5 weeks.  We have simply outgrown the Scion as a trip car and as I do so many long trips with the dogs, luggage, and now a baby we need to upgrade.  The timing is bad.  We really can't afford it right now but we absolutely can't afford not to right now.

Still not the biggest news...

We found out just a few short days ago that we are finally getting a house on base.  It's a few hundred square feet smaller than we were promised but we have to take it or we get bumped... that's only mildly annoying compared to the fact that they are giving it to us (and therefore charging us for it) a full three weeks early.  This means that for the month of July we will be paying double rent... Just the financial strain we needed right now. 

Here is a picture of the dumpy little 50's house we'll be calling home for the next 3 years. 

I know it's a blessing and so much more than what so many have so I'm over it but it was just sudden and it's always disappointing to have a promise broken. 

 We're actually really excited about it.  This house doesn't have mold or snakes or plumbing issues ect... and if anything like that comes up there is a 24 hour on call free maintenance service...  Not to mention we'll save some money and be so close to Ryan's office and all the amenities that the base has to offer.  The clinic is only a three minute walk away along with they gym!  This is going to simplify our lives in a big way!

However, we have to pack out the whole house and move ourselves too which was not part of the plan.  We were supposed to have movers, but circumstances make it the only option...  This is going to be very difficult to do with a sick baby and serious dietary restrictions for me...

So in about ten days my mom will be coming to Texas once again to help us pack up and move because all that needs to be accomplished will be impossible with only two of us and one car. 

Now for the biggest news...

We just found out that Ryan is deploying.  He leaves sometime mid August for 7 months.  I can't give you exact dates and locations. 

So in three weeks I'm moving and in a little more than five weeks I'm saying goodbye to Ryan for 7 months... This will be the first time he's ever missed Christmas (don't know how that's worked out!) and it will be Isaac's first Christmas... He'll also miss Thanksgiving and my 30th birthday... Not to mention rolling over, sitting up, smiling, babbling, crawling, possibly walking and first words...  I'm heartbroken for him.

This is our life, and we know it, I'm fine just a bit overwhelmed... That's an awful lot to deal with in 24 hours. 

I'll let you know as we get more details... but as a result of all of this I probably won't be around for a while longer... I'm doing my best to stay caught up with you and I miss you all so much! 

Thanks for letting me vent a little...

All my love,

Courtney

Just for fun and to lighten the mood... Here is a slideshow I made to the song "Me" by Plumb. 

 

And suddenly time is flying by...

Actually I have a theory about that...  I don't think time is going any faster than it usually goes but I DO believe that having a child makes it seem faster because they mark the time with how quickly they change...

Sorry, bit of a tangent there.  Can you believe that Isaac is a month old?  Actually he's a little over five weeks old...  I find it a bit hard to get online in MY time there days! 

So I of course, being me, have a few pictures... the first few are from when Isaac was just a week old...

Baby toes...

 As my Aunt Francine put it...  "I am a shining star... I am a shining star!"

 Gummy baby faces...

 Little old man face... It's amazing how much he's changed in just a few short weeks...

Grumpy old man face...  so sweet...

 My handsome little guy.

 Okay now on to his four week pictures.  This first one is just so you can see his little outfit.  This onesie was bought for him by my mom.  She bought it years ago and kept it just for this little guy...  How cute is that?

Tummy time!  Don't you love those tipped out ears?  He gets those from me... poor little guy... At least I can hide them with my hair! 

 Did I mention that he hates tummy time?  See him straining to lift his whole head with his face?

What's up?

Getting a bit irritated...

Working really hard to move... 

 Why lift your head when you can just roll over... Yep, that's right... He hates tummy time so much that he's learned to just roll over...  Oh boy...

 Don't you dare flip my back over mom! 

I love this little dude...  

Hmmm...  Look at those beautiful eyes!

 

"Hey Aunt Charly, Uncle Zach, look at my hair-o-cane!"

A Dream is a... 

 Wish your heart makes...

 Tiny little guy...

We decided to take a few pictures of him with his little crocodile. 

"Look it's eating my foot!"

"Now I'm eating his foot! 

Awww who am I kidding...  I'm looking for some food... what a croc!" 

Sweet little guy... 

 

Cute baby fingers!

 Okay, there is one thing I am so excited to share with you guys!  Ever since Isaac was born he has done something that is just so cute and I finally got it on film!

Whenever he eats or sucks on his pacifier or sucks his thumb (yes, he's a thumb sucker) he grabs his ear.  Not just any ear... his right ear and he makes mmm mmm mmm noises...  Why is this important you might ask?  Because he looks just like this guy... only much cuter!

"Mmm mmm mmm mommy... I have a dirty thumb!"

Don't you think!?  (Poor little bruises from his IV) 

All my love,

Courtney

The past week has been a doozy in our little family...

It all started on Monday of last week.  Isaac was not quite himself.  He was fussy and irritated and wouldn't sleep without crying inconsolably.  We decided that it would be a good idea to call the pediatrician and almost the moment the decision was made Isaac got a fever.  By 11am on Wednesday we had an appointment for 3:30 that afternoon and Isaac was running a full out fever.  We couldn't tell how high because 3 thermometers gave three different readings and we decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

We arrived just in time for our appointment frazzled and harried from a very stressful day.  Within about 5 minutes of going back we were told that he had a fever of 100.5 and in babies this young this meant an immediate admission.  The hospital here in Del Rio does not do the testing required for an infant with a fever (read they don't take it seriously and will just send you home) so the base called in an ambulance to transport us to Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio.  We had 30 minutes while we were waiting for transport so Ryan rushed home and threw some things together in a bag for us in case we had to stay overnight. 

By 5:00pm my 3 week old son was strapped on a gurney in the back of an ambulance on the way to BAMC more than 2.5 hours away. 

When we arrived at the hospital we were admitted to the pediatrics ward and Isaac was immediately rushed into a treatment (read torture) room.  They needed to take blood and urine samples and also needed to do a lumbar puncture to obtain a sample of spinal fluid for culture. 

They said it would take 20 to 30 minutes before he was back with us. 

Two hours later we were still waiting for him to come back...

It turns out that our son is a fighter.  It took them a full hour to do the lumbar puncture and even then they were only able to obtain just enough fluid to do a culture and they were worried that it wouldn't be quite enough.  (Thank goodness it was!)  Then while they were in there his IV went bad so they needed to start a new one.  By that time Isaac was so completely done that it took another full hour to get a solid IV in his little arm.

He returned so exhausted that he slept almost the moment they gave him to me.  I had to wake him up to get him to eat.  Poor baby...

We had a long night of nurses and technicians coming in to give him antibiotics through his IV, of checking vitals and diaper changes.

The next morning the IV went bad.  We knew they hadn't been lying to us about how much of a fighter he was when the nurse, two technicians, and two huge male medics all trooped in the room, wrapped our baby in a full size bed sheet to immobilize him and started trying to get an IV.  They had to stop in the middle to let him nurse and calm down. 

After 11 failed attempts including 5 blown veins they finally got a good vein in his other hand and were able to begin administering his antibiotics again.  They strapped his poor little arm down really well because they said there was no way they were going to get another IV in if this one went bad.  In the end he had two attempts in each hand, one in each ankle, one in each foot, one in each arm and one in his scalp.  If this IV went bad the only option would be shots which would be extremely painful. 

We ended up staying at BAMC until Friday evening.  The final cultures came back normal.  When we were first admitted his white blood cell count was a little high so they were worried but they were fine in the later cultures.  They think he had an infection that was knocked out by the meds so it was a great thing that we went in!  We were released after about 42 hours in the hospital.  Isaac was quite ready to have his IV come out!!!  Have you ever seen anyone look quite so DONE as this little guy?

We've been home for a few days now and he seems to be returning quickly to his normal self. 

I just have to say how incredible it is to have the support system we have.  Within hours of the beginning of this journey we had hundreds of people literally around the world on their knees praying for us.  It is the most amazing feeling to have that many people storming the gates of heaven for our child whom they have never met but have spent years praying for.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your support and prayers... they mean more than words can ever express.  Your prayers were felt and answered. 

All our love,

Ryan, Courtney, and Isaac.