Happy 4th Birthday to my sweet, sweet, little boy!!

Four years ago today, Noah came into this world and changed my life forever. I always knew I wanted to be a Mommy but never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined just how awesome it would be. I feel so incredibly blessed that God gave Rob and me our two precious children and can hardly put into words how much joy they bring us!

Every day with Noah is a day filled with laughter. He never ceases to amaze us with the things that come out of his mouth. At four, he is courteous, generous, hilarious, sensitive and so many other things. I am so proud of the young man that he is becoming and am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for him.

Here are a few small examples of why I'm such a proud Mommy...

- He has mastered Our Father
- He loves his sissy unconditionally
- He can write all upper and lower case letters
- He can count to 100, count by 10s to 100, count by 100s to 1,000, etc...
- He can say the Pledge of Allegiance
- He can tell you the three parts of an insect (head, thorax and abdomen...he taught me that)
- He can say more words than me in Spanish
- He proudly donated over 100 toys to Arnold Palmer (and only asked to keep a handful for himself!)

I could go on and on about him but don't want to brag :) As I tell him all day long, I love him to infinity and beyond...to the moon and back...to the sun and back...to the stars and back...all the way back to our house. I stole that line from him, actually! I used to always tell him that I loved him to the moon and back and one day he responded with that...how lucky am I?!

Happy 4th Birthday, Mr. Noah!!!

He flys; she stands!

It's been a long time since I've been able to find the time to upload pictures and take the time to post them. We are very good about taking pictures, so at least we're capturing the moments with photos even if my intention is to put words with the photos more regularly!

Everyone in our house is doing well :)

As you can see, Superman is flying high...



He LOVES to jump from the treadmill to the bed. It's quite scary for Mommy to watch and we've had a few near misses but the joy on this kid's face when he makes the leap is priceless. Today, I told him no more after about 30 jumps. So what does Noah do? He runs into his den, puts on his Batman mask, climbs up for another jump and, when I'm about to scold him, he tells me that I told NOAH he couldn't jump, not Batman. That about sums Noah up!

Some other recent highlights from Noah:

He thoroughly enjoyed Easter! He thinks the Easter Bunny is the coolest. I can't wait until the day that he puts 2 + 2 together and realizes his Mommy stayed up on Easter to mold him Superman chocolate because he was sure that is what the Easter Bunny was bringing him and his Daddy was outside in the middle of the night hiding eggs in the grass. We LOVE Easter in our house!

Preschool is going great and he continues to love it! I continue to be amazed at what they teach at this school. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I didn't learn how to decipher how many syllables are in a word in preschool. They send a 'week in review' sheet home at the end of the week that summarizes what they taught and I saw 'three syllable words' so I quizzed Noah to see what that was all about. I said "tell Mommy what a three syllable word is Noah". He thought for a few seconds and then said "Superman". Too funny, he knew exactly what it meant and went on to tell me several other words, methodically sounding out each syllable. This school rocks!


Then, we have the Princess...aka Miss Grabby Hands :) It is unreal how quickly time is flying. While I know it's only going to get more fun, it's sad at the same time because she is so sweet this small. Nine months already...crazy!

Her latest trick is standing up in her crib. Not cool. I about had a heart attack when Noah said "come here Mommy, Noelle is about to get out of her crib!". I thought to myself...oh crap...he jumped in and is about to throw her out (he's gone into the crib and picked her up before)...so I went running. Instead of finding Noah in the crib, I learned that Noelle now knows how to stand up. Lovely.

We went to the doctor on Thursday for her 9 month checkup. Here's where she's at:

Weight: 16 pounds, 12 ounces (10-25%)
Height: 27.5 inches (50%)

She's been on the same growth curve since birth which is apparently a good thing. She's doing really well except that we think she has a milk allergy :( So far she's had a reaction to mac and cheese (that was by accident...refer back to the grabby hands reference), teething biscuits (which have milk in them), yogurt melts (also have milk in them) and a fudgesicle (don't ask). Each reaction is getting worse and worse with the last one resulting in welts on her chest. I'm freaked out to try anything else with a milk product in it so I've started reading labels VERY carefully. It's amazing how many foods have milk products in them. I also had the pediatrician write an Rx for an Epi-pen since we'll be out of the country next week and the last place I'd like to be without a tool to stop a severe allergic reaction is in the middle of the Atlantic.

I have SO many pictures and other things I'd love to write about but it's almost 2 a.m. and I need to be up no later than 7 a.m. for church. I hope I'll get back into writing more often but it might be on another site. I am beyond frustrated with blogger and the way it uploads my pictures!!

Now I know my ABCs!

We definitely have a kid who loves learning on our hands. Thank God! Noah's idea of fun yesterday was writing his letters in order on his easel. That's almost as good as him saying to my mom and I last weekend as we were driving home from dinner, "let's do something fun...let's count by tens to one hundred!". We both looked at each other and burst out laughing.



This is the typical look I get when I ask him to smile:



Once in a while he comes through for me and gives me a real smile. Isn't it amazing how much he looks like his Uncle Kyle/Grandpa?!

It's so much fun being a big brother!

A few days ago, Noelle was sitting in her high chair playing while I was doing something in the kitchen (I can't even remember what it was...it certainly wasn't cooking!). Noah walked over to her, without any prompting, and said "I'm so glad you came out of Mommy's belly baby Noelle". This kid melts my heart several times a day. He always knows how to say the right thing...he's going to be dangerous if we don't channel that properly!

Having a baby sister means having a whole new set of toys and gadgets to play with. It amazes me how he uses his imagination to find a way to play with her toys. Yesterday, he asked me if he could use her Robeez (they're shoes for anyone who doesn't know!). I would normally tell him no but was intrigued to see what he would possibly do with a pair of baby shoes. Hide his superheroes in them, of course. Duh.

After I pulled Noelle out of her bathtub, he decided it would be fun to try to fit in it. Let's just say the bathroom floor got cleaned when I wasn't planning on cleaning it.



Noah decided yesterday that it was time to measure Noelle's head. He and I have a little game where I measure his head and he didn't want Noelle to miss out on the fun.

Unsuspecting of what's about to come:

Noelle being very tolerant:

See? It's so much fun having a little sister!

Pearly Whites :)

I am crossing my fingers that Noelle gets her 'teeth genes' from Rob and not me. After all we went through with Noah's baby teeth (our $2,500 out of pocket expenditure...that was fun), it would be nice to have one out of two without any problems! In Noah's defense, we're not convinced that all of the dental procedures he went through were necessary. We did get two different opinions with pediatric dentists but they both agreed. I'm pretty certain they're in cahoots with each other, though. Amazingly, since he's been seeing our regular family dentist, he's had no further problems. Go figure...

She loves to chew on the toothbrush...then again, what doesn't she like to chew on!?



We have to brush our teeth after we eat junk like popsicles (which she loves!!):

She goes straight for her two bottom teeth with the toothbrush:

Sleeping on the job

I'd fire the Friday nanny if she didn't work for free!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I intended for this to be the last picture but, yet again, I can't figure out how to manipulate the pictures to go where I want them to go (ERIN?!?! KYLE?!?!). I swear up and down that cut and paste does NOT work! Neither does trying to upload them in a certain order or using a different internet browser. It is so random and so frustrating! I can calculate pensions and code calculation engines but I can't figure out how to get pictures in the right flippin' order...agh!

I was pretty proud of this idea this morning. I didn't even see it in a magazine or anything. I was looking for a heart shaped cookie cutter at the same time as I was making Noah scrambled eggs and lo and behold we ended up with this:


Here is where I really wanted to start this post...

When Noelle was born, I heard from several people that my reign as princess was over. I didn't need to be told...the moment Rob saw her I knew it! Her continuous and infectious smile doesn't help me have any chance of getting my crown back. Oh well, I treasure her just as much and I had an extra three years of reign whereas Rob lost his title on 8/17/05 :)

In past years, I'd be showered with jewels. This year, Noelle was the only one who got a little sparkly something:








As always, the box was the biggest hit:

Noah was so precious helping her open it and explaining that boys buy for girls and girls buy for boys on Valentine's Day. We haven't taught him about the inequality in our house where the boys get shafted on Valentine's Day and he was quite pleased with a $2.99 heart balloon and a box of chocolate (which I must add he flipped over to make sure it was "Made is the USA"...that's my boy!) so no need to go there!

(Noah just came over to the computer and said "hey, that's a picture of me trying to take Noelle's gift from her"...that's a better caption than "Noah helping his sister open her gift"!)

By 8:00 a.m., we had already delivered a dozen roses and Valentine's gifts (since when did Valentine's Day become the new Christmas?) to Nana and Grams. We caused a big commotion at Grams' house because the animal farm went nuts when they heard us arrive. Oops. It was a covert operation at Nana's house because she was still sleeping and didn't hear the doorbell. I'm thinking she heard it and got scared to death because it was so early in the morning. Poor thing was probably freaked out when we let ourselves in and were whispering as to not wake her up. The goodies were left by the coffee pot so she'd be sure to find them first thing. I can't wait to hear if she was up and freaked out or if she was really able to sleep through all of the giggling!

Rob has to work today but he wanted to try and visit with the moms before he had to go open the park...unfortunately that meant that it had to all be accomplished before 8:00 a.m. I've always heard that the way that a guy treats his mother is a really good indication for how he will treat his wife and that is so true of my husband. This morning was a great illustration of that!

Hope everyone enjoys this Hallmark holiday :) I'm going to enjoy hanging out with the kids and Uncle Kyle/Aunt Erin are coming to visit for the day so I'm sure it'll be an adventure (for Noah, most of all!). We've had 3 offers for free babysitting so maybe Rob and I will sneak out tonight!

Two quick Noah 'funnies'

Noah and I were talking about God yesterday and I told him that he was one of the best gifts that God ever gave to me. To that, he responded "did I come in a box?".

Then, I was typing an email and I shouted to Rob "how do I spell 'clout'?" (Yes, I know that is an easy one but it just didn't look right...) Noah came running to me and said "It starts with letter 'c' Mommy". How precious is he?!

In unrelated news...Noelle has bronchitis (so does Aunt Jen...) so we're having a grand old time. Rob and I took her into the pediatrician this morning and he gave us lots of medicine which I detest giving her but I know she needs it this time around. The next few days should be a load of fun with the 4x/day breathing treatments. She's her happy little self, except when you go near her with the nasal aspirator :) Good times!

Siblings...

Noelle is really starting to look at Noah with adoring eyes. It's absolutely precious to watch the expressions on her face when she looks at him. It's pure love, for sure! He does such a wonderful job entertaining her (when he's asked) but mostly just tolerates her at this point. It won't be long before they really start interacting and we are anxiously awaiting it. I pray that they will always be close :)

She's going to have to learn to love video games in order to further their bond! She does enjoy watching him play as I witnessed today:



Who needs Disney World when you have your own character appearances at home?



Spiderman made another appearance sans the mask:

Just a quick update!

It's almost 9:30 on a Saturday morning and I feel totally in control, haha! That doesn't happen often these days.

I've already showered, given Noelle a bath, fed both kids breakfast, eaten breakfast myself, gotten Noah dressed and spent a fair amount of time playing with both kids. Amazing. When I can actually find the time to update this blog without feeling like it's at the detriment of something else, you know it's a good day! Let's see if the pattern can continue...I'm taking both kids out to lunch (Bene Breadstick...aka Olive Garden...does Noah like to go anywhere else?) with a friend and her two little ones who are the same age as Noah and Noelle. Should be a fun time! I remember thinking that our eating out days were over when Noelle came along. How naive I was!

I need to post pictures more often. I have about 300 on my camera right now so it was hard to narrow it down. Here are some random ones!

Noelle loves to play with this toy! It was Noah's and I'm glad we saved it as she is getting WAY more use out of it than he did.



Noelle loves her food! The only vegetable she isn't a fan of is peas and that's okay because Mommy thinks they're nasty too and would rather pass on feeding her them! Noah and Daddy could live on peas. Go figure. Her first tooth broke through so it won't be long until we're onto to bigger and better foods!



No, we've never hit or abused him! He manages these injuries all on his own. Let's see...the black eye was from running straight into the corner of the counter. We were just getting over being super sick and wham! I almost had a mental breakdown when it happened because it looked horrible and I thought for sure he did irreparable damage. The human body is amazing, though! The picture is a few weeks after the accident so the black eye looks much better. Rob likes to joke that he's glad these injuries always happen on my "shift" because I would never let him hear the end of it if it happened while I was away. Good thing for him, I'm with them 95% of the time.

Then, the "tape" looking thing on the side of his eye is a steri-strip with Dermabond over it where he should have had stitches. Unbelievable. It was a freak accident at Chick-Fil-A where he tripped running up rubber padded stairs. Only our child could manage to get a huge gash on rubber. We learned that we have a very nice Children's ER close by that we never knew about. It's the same hospital that Noah was born at and they built an ER there about two years ago. Good to know but I pray that was our last visit there. Thankfully, Mommy and Daddy were on "shift" when this one happened or else I might have finished off my mental breakdown!



And here are a few cutes ones of our little buddy!

Happy New Year!

Well, we started the new year off with a bang!

I wish it was an exciting bang but it really wasn't. Noah caught the virus that I had right before Christmas and it may very well have been the worst week of my life last week! My poor baby had a 103 degree fever for five straight days. He was such a trooper though. Took his medicine like a champ (well, the eye drops are excluded from that statement) and didn't really slow down. It's so scary when your kids are that sick. I'm so relieved that it was just a virus and his body was able to fight it. Now Grams has it and she can attest to the fact that it is an awful strain of virus. I distinctly remember her telling me to stop acting like a baby when she was bringing me to the ER a few weeks ago because I thought I was dying! She's no longer singing that tune...

Of course, Rob didn't get sick. His immune system continues to amaze me. It must be the bowl of Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream every night...

And, thank our good Lord, Noelle hasn't presented any symptoms. Mommy's milk does a body good!

We had a very relaxing Christmas and everyone was healthy at that point. When I have some free time, I will upload some pictures!

We wish everyone a blessed new year and hope that 2009 is the best one yet!