A glimpse of Spring

Last Sunday, we had a BEAUTIFUL day and it got us all so ready for spring! We are so done with all of the winter weather and just want the 60's to be here soon! Lysee and Blake enjoyed an afternoon of play at nana and pops' house. It is going to be a fun spring and summer!!

Winter fun

Last weekend, we got our second big snowfall of the winter and had a ball playing in it with cousin Blake, Amanda, and Brad. The kids loved going on the sled, although Blake was a bit concerned every time someone fell off. Elyse loved watching her Daddy fall in the snow and needless to say, they definitely didn't want to go inside.

On a different note, we did Elyse's first pacemaker check over the phone last weekend, using a transmitter. She did great and we got a great report over the phone! Technology is amazing.

Snow day fun!

We LOVED our snow days! We were so happy that Ryan was out of school last Thursday and Friday too. That makes it even better. We only played outside for about 15 minutes b/c it was so cold. Ryan took his girls for a sleigh ride and we brought snow back inside to play with... which was a huge highlight of the day! Elyse immediately began building small snowmen in the snow (in a pan) and dressed them with some Minnie mouse clothes. We stayed inside for the whole weekend practically and the only downfall... it was very hard for all of us to go back to school on Monday. Getting back into a routine is hard!

Christmas break fun

Christmas break could not have been better! We have had so much fun spending time with family and friends. Elyse got to play with her cousin Hayden, whom she adores! If only Hayden lived closer... :-(

Elyse also got to play with her beloved Maher friends, Emery, Marley, Tarenne, and Darrah. They are so sweet and genuinely love Elyse so much. They just smother her with attention and love, and she can't get enough of it! This was a very fun play date for us!

Elyse also go to spend time playing with her friend Kylie! They are so sweet when they play together and Elyse actually shared her toys with her... I think because Kylie is smaller than her, she doesn't feel threatened. :-)

What a wonderful break filled with blessings!

Elyse's 3rd Christmas!

We can't believe it was Elyse's 3rd Christmas this year. Time has flown by and it just gets more fun each year! We began a new tradition this year in an effort to really teach Elyse about the true meaning of Christmas. We began the morning with a birthday party for Jesus! It was complete with plates, balloons, candles, singing Happy Birthday, etc. She was so interested in the nativity set up in our living room this season and I think that really helped in her understanding of Jesus' birth. I am excited to continue this tradition for years to come!

And of course, there were the presents! She loved her 4-in-1 nursery for her babies, her McDonalds drive-thru, disney play figures, ...! And the new Disney monorail at Pops and Nana's house was a big hit with she and Blake. What she didn't like were clothes! She would throw them behind her, digging deeper into the box to find something more, then move on quickly when she realized it was only clothes. This attitude drove me crazy but my family kept reassuring me this was natural for a 2 year old. I can only pray that we will raise her to be grateful for everything she receives. She may get spoiled but I refuse to let her get rotten! :-)

Christmas cookie making!!

First things first, Elyse checked out perfectly at the surgeon on Monday. They did an EKG, x-rays, checked her incision, and all was great! The pacemaker technician came and checked hers and it's working great too. Our surgeon Dr. Kozick (who we think is fabulous) said they won't see her again until it is time for battery replacement surgery. She said, "She'll almost be a teenager by then!" These words brought tears to my eyes. I can't believe this is all over and behind us and that everything went so beautifully. We feel so incredibly blessed and thankful for all of the prayer for Elyse during this time. Elyse is recovering so nicely. She really does seem back to her normal self, besides the occasional "I'm hurting Mommy. I need tylenol." :-) She was telling her cousin Blake about the surgery a few nights ago and said, "They put a pacemaker in my tummy and it makes me feel better and tylenol." :-)
Blake, who cried for Lysee when Amanda told him she had surgery just kept reassuring himself, "Lysee's ok now. Her tummy doesn't hurt anymore." Oh.... the words of two year olds are SO cute!

We did our annual cookie decorating at nana and pops' house on Tuesday. Elyse and Blake were much more into it this year and Alex even got to sit on his bumbo and watch all the action. It was a lot of fun!

To God be the Glory, great things He has done!

I can't believe I am just now posting about surgery. :( I didn't take a computer to the hospital so all I had was Ryan's iphone and it drives me crazy to type a lot on there. But I'm HOME now so I can type. :-)

Elyse's surgery went beautifully on Tuesday morning. The plan was to cut her breastbone in half and put the pacemaker in the upper abdomen and put the leads (wires) up to the heart. When they got in there, they saw that the heart was in a "perfect place" and they didn't even have to cut the breastbone. They simply had to separate the bottom part to put the leads on the heart. This was wonderful news to us because this cut her recovery time from 6-8 weeks to 2-3 weeks. After surgery, Elyse went to ICU and we got to go be with her. She was in a lot of pain for the first 24 hours after surgery. She had a tube draining excess blood out of her abdomen, had oxygen hooked up to her and IV's for her meds. She was a pitiful sight BUT... after 24 hours, she had all of that taken out and she was a brand new person... kinda literally! Her heart rate went from 50 (before surgery) to around 110, now. An average heart rate for a normal 2 year old is 90-130 so you can imagine how amazed we are to see this heart rate for our girl. Her pacemaker was checked by technicians and it is working perfectly. (That is one amazing piece of technology!)
We moved out of ICU to the floor Wednesday afternoon and at that time, she was wanting Daddy to "go for a little walk" with her around the hospital and she was eating food eating normal food! And Wednesday night, she was sitting up in bed for two hours in the middle of the night wanting to play with mommy. Fun! ;)
To say the least, her recovery has been just miraculous. We were discharged this morning and can't believe that we are home two days after the surgery. If all of this isn't an answer to prayer, I'm not sure what is. :-) God is so amazing and the strength He gives our little girl is absolutely amazing too!

Check out the changes in these pictures below...