Merry Christmas Eve

Just a couple of pictures from our Christmas eve today. We are trying to make sure the boys understand the real reason we celebrate Christmas - the birth of our Savior! We hope they will grow up with it always in their hearts and have a few traditions we'll continue - reading the Christmas story together the key one! We also let them get down the manger and play. We tried to have finger puppets to make the story come alive a little more, unfortunately my attempt at making them were sad, next year we'll have to try something new.

Celebrating Christmas Early and a Birthday Late

We celebrated a wonderful early Christmas present this weekend - Mike came home! We had grand plans for welcoming him home in a spectacular way. Saturday we made our welcome home poster, we had plans to meet at Burger King with a play area and let kiddos run around and play. I had pants for the boys to wear there, their fleece lined jeans to change into, we'd grab lunch for them so they could eat on the way. All was going well, the kids had a ball running around and playing, Alexis and I didn't think the morning was going quick enough...boys were getting changed into warm clothes and bundled up and phones were ringing. Yeah phones were ringing, the guys were home, they were there and we were still at Burger King cause it was early, much earlier than expected. So Mike met us outside and hopped in the truck. He did not care, he was just glad to be home but I felt disappointed that the boys didn't get to run/walk up and grab him by the legs and never let go and that he didn't get to see their poster until we got home. Still - what mattered was that he was home and just in time for Christmas! So of course there aren't a ton of pictures - but we did take some at Burger King and once home.

Tonight we celebrated Josh's birthday, again. We made cookies (Josh didn't seem super excited with his cupcake on his actual birthday but is quite the cookie monster). We were making sugar cookies (Nee-nee's recipe and they were DELICIOUS!) and made some in dinosaur shapes just for Josh's birthday. We let Josh open his presents from the grandparents - he kind of got it, the opening part of it that is. The other news though is that Josh is kicking the soccer ball around, I think the first time was an accident but he quickly did it again and then later more and more. He was kicking it around the kitchen and dining room before we had our birthday cookies. We're having a very laid back week and enjoying time with Mike again as we get ready for Christmas - hope you are all well!

At Least Someone Likes the Snow...

Kasey has wanted to be outside so much these past few days! She is loving playing in the snow, and I wish I had a picture of her dancing and prancing around the yard and just having a grand time in the snow, but I haven't even wanted to stand at the back door with the camera cause it is COLD! I don't let her stay out more than 30 minutes though, I'm afraid she'll still be too cold. I did manage to snag a few decent pictures of her inside today. She is loving her boys as always, loving the snow and playing lots of fetch. I can't wait until we can all go for walks again, I know she misses those - poor girl but it's too cold to have the boys out that long especially with the wicked wind we've had and so the walks will have to wait.

A Quick Update on Us

It is Friday - it was a whiney Friday here at our house, so be glad you didn't spend the day with us =) Noah did not nap today despite best efforts, Josh took a very short nap and only one today so it was not surprising but not a ton of fun. The boys about 30 minutes before I decided we'd head back to read stories and get to bed, they were both laughing and chasing each other around the table. Such sweet hearts, most of the time. We are snowed/iced in at the moment, we had sleet, thunder, lightening, and then snow starting last night through this morning - who knew you could have thunder and lightening with snow storms? We have had a good week, pretty low key but good. We finally were able to return to the gym now that diapers are normal - it was great to get a good workout in and the boys had fun playing. We've run errands, finished wrapping presents, I have found room in the laundry room to keep the abudance of presents that have arrived in the mail (our family is really way too generous), had the house cleaned, and then had the yucky weather. The boys are in bed tucked away, and now I have lots of things to reogranize and stock away from various projects and then Sunday school stuff to get together but I wanted to let you know how the boys are doing...

Noah is continuing to learn more and more words and his speech is getting clearer. He is also great about pointing things out to me - like wheels, stars, the moon, and trucks specifically. He has also really loved watching Charlie Brown this week (I dvr'd it from one night) - he has woken up and asked for 'harile bown" several times. He laughs so hard at Snoopy's antics. I love it! He also is pushing mommy's buttons this week and the boundaries on a regular basis. I am trying to remember that this is healthy and expected behavior from a 2 year old, he should feel confident in himself and assured of abilities and that will lead him to want to make sure I really will follow through with boundaries and consequences - I am trying, trying and praying for eyes that let me see this wonderfully active, exuberant child with the eyes like God has and understanding of how to delicately handle these situations. Because while Noah is pushing boundaries, when he is dealt a negative consequence, it has been shattering to him this week - he seems sensitive and I don't want to deal too harshly with him, I want to be firm and consistent but not squash his spirit.

Josh had his well baby visit this week - it was a 2 1/2 hour ordeal! Both boys went with me, they both did very well considering it was at 130 and that is nap time at our house. Josh is doing well, he's meeting all the milestones that he should be meeting. He weighed 20lbs 5oz (16%) and is 28.5 inches long (14%) but get this - he's got a noggin in the 90% =) He is still dealing with eczema and we aren't seeming to have great success at clearing it all up with any of the treatments we have tried so we have a referal to dermotology. It probably will just be something that we continue to deal with his entire life, but I hope the discomfort can be handled better. Josh also got his 1 year shots, got blood drawn for a lead level test and got some medicated shampoo for his eczema covered scalp. He has also begun to walk more and more, I feel confident saying that he's a walker now...he was even this evening trying to run after Noah - now he didn't have great luck and fell flat on his face but quickly crawled to get Noah.

Tomorrow we are heading out to Bass Pro Shop with Alexis and boys to have some time out of the house and burn some energy before heading home for naps and then after naps some dinner and playing. We are hoping to have a busy Saturday and Sunday and will probably update sometime Monday. Hope you are all warm and well!

Baby It's Cold Outside...

I should not complain about the cold, I know there are others who are much much colder - but man it is COLD! The temperature at a friend's house close by I was told said it was -9 outside, the news says it's -5 and the windchill is about -30! Yikes! We are going to be hanging out inside for the day playing, Noah's friend has come to play so I'm sure we'll have a great time. I even heard that Vegas was suppose to get snow today - so I am thinking it is just plain cold everywhere! hope you are all warm! I will add some more pictures and videos later on, but here are a couple from this morning

Happy 1st Birthday Josh!

So it has really been a year - really? Today Josh turned 1, I can hardly believe it has been a year - I woke up this morning at 2 am (dont' worry I went back to sleep) but kept thinking, we had welcomed Josh into the world a year ago today but had yet to hold him as he was in the NICU and had a breathing tube in. I remember how restless I slept or tried to sleep that night, how heavy my heart was - and then sighed because God is good, so good. This morning I went back to sleep knowing Josh was snug in his bed in the next room - finally sleeping through the night and doing so well. Josh is beginning to walk more and more, but he's so quick crawling if he wants to get somewhere fast he'll crawl. He's starting to jabber in sounds that are more like words than gibberish, it seems he's starting to repeat some sounds now - those tubes must be working!

We had a very busy, fun-filled day. We started the day with chocolate chip pancakes - a family favorite. Then we headed to the base for the squadron's children's Christmas party to help set up (little help I was with the boys) but we had fun. I think Noah must have been hungry, we had a few rough moments until we had lunch. AFter that he was great and enjoyed the puppet show and then seeing Santa. Josh wasn't too thrilled with Santa and was getting so sleepy.

We ended the night with dinner with friends here and then cupcake decorating for our birthday party for Jesus tonight. Josh got a cupcake to dig into - he was so entertained with the cupcake, he was touching it and pushing it and just giggled and laughed but didn't really dig in to it. I tried and tried to get him to take a bite, but he didn't want a bite. He's getting so big and growing up so much. Mike is going to be so surprised when he gets home to see this walking, laughing, jabbering boy!

Salt Dough Ornaments

Saturday night, Josh took a late nap and Noah and I started making salt dough ornaments, super easy to mix and they held together well while Noah helped me roll out the dough and cut the ornaments with cookie cutters. Tonight after dinner, I got out the craft paint and brushes and let Noah and Josh go to town on them. They are so funny, Josh at first wasn't sure what to do of course, but soon caught on and enjoyed whirling his paint brush and even got some paint on the ornaments. Noah started out using the brushes on the ornaments and after Josh had his hand in paint he wanted to paint his hand. Well at first he said "aint Mommy's hand" when I declined to take part he decided to use his own, which was quite a surprise to me. If you remember at Thanksgiving, we tried to do turkeys out of his hand prints and ended up with my handprints. Noah really enjoyed painting on his hand, then pressing his hand on all his ornaments to get them painted. They are definitely the work of a very fun-loving, exploring 2 year old! After baths and thankfully getting them both clean (craft paint not washable cause I didn't want it to come off the ornaments so easily) Noah was looking at the tree, he found the "M" ornament that Mike got from Sandy, he says M. I went to explain that the M was for Mike, Daddy's name is Mike so it's daddy's ornament. Noah persisted with "no" finally I asked him why, he said "no M - M mommy!" Well what do you know? I guess Noah knows that mommy starts with M, pretty cool what the little sponges soak up isn't it?

Santa's Jet & Storm Troopers

So the boys have no idea what Star Wars is...but still we ventured out to the SAC Museum today to see Santa in a jet and we also got to see lots of Storm Troopers, R2D3 (it wasn't R2D2 - not sure how you tell, but the guy with the remote specifically said it wasn't R2D2...so I figure he knew), Darth Vador and gang as well. Noah waited in line to see Santa in the jet fairly well, and when we got our turn was thrilled to get to push/pull all the buttons and gears in the jet. I am not sure that he cared that Santa was sitting next to him. Josh at first was just fascinated with Santa and kept staring at him and trying to grab his beard. By the time we took a picture though he was antsy and ready to be done. Oh well - at least they aren't screaming right? The boys had a blast playing in their Big Adventure exhibit. It was crowded and the area was on the smaller side, with lots of bigger kids coming and going and while the boys enjoyed themselves thoroughly, I must admit that I was a bit stressed trying to let Josh down to toddle/crawl and keep up with Noah. After that we made our way back toward our side of town, we had a quick lunch and then took Noah to "give parents a break;" Josh could not go as he is not 1 yet - well unfortunately with nap schedules being off, Josh was the crankiest/whiniest child alive it seemed and while I am glad Noah got a chance to play, I did not get a break or get anything done that needed done; oh well. I did take Josh to Target - even then he was just fussy the entire time and not content. We got what we needed (things to organize closet space in Josh's room - there is now room for more toys which I'm guessing we'll welcome with Christmas) and left to get Noah. The boys played some for the evening, still we weren't the happiest here, hopefully tomorrow we can get back on schedule a little and have happier boys! I think they had a pretty good day of playing at least even if I thought I would go insane before bedtime. Thankfully I have lots of wonderful people in my life that remind me to get rest and take time to take care of myself - I am trying to listen to that advice! I have been trying to upload pictures - but it isn't working tonight so I will post some later, but they are all on Kodak in Dec. 2008 Week 1 album....sorry!

Not Much Here...

We have had a week to recover and are getting back in the swing of things. Unfortunately I haven't been great about taking pictures this week but there are a few I will post here with bits into what we've been up too. Sunday we started the Advent Wreath with the boys, it is styrofoam covered in ribbon and some felt flames - not the most sophisticated but at least they can participated in lighting the candles with us.

Monday after taking Josh to the doctor again, we knew he wasn't contagiously sick, just still recovering from the virus and what it had done to his institines. Josh has always been a little guy but unfortunately after 2 weeks of sickness has lost just over a pound. I am hoping by his well baby 1 year check up on the 17th that he will have at least gained back the pound (he's at 18 lbs 11 oz right now). We had dinner at Sandi's for our weekly dinner with the girls and kids. Tuesday we were able to make my MOPS meeting, which was really nice and productive. Noah had a great time playing of course with all his friends while I was at my meeting. We spent Tuesday night playing cars together. That was such a blast! Wednesday was Bible study and AWANA. Thursday we stayed home and played and got odds and ends done.

Thursday evening Sandi and Elora came over and while the kids played we got some things done that needed done for AWANA. Noah and Elora were so funny playing, they had a great time. After dinner Noah heard the word bath and was ready to be in the tub - so everyone got baths and we got to bed.

Today we checked out the public library (we normally have been going to the base library - options are good) and were joined by Sandi and Elora. It had a really nice section for the children's books and included a fun alphabet rug and some puzzles. I was surprised at how well Noah and Elora did on a puzzle that didn't have places cut out for each piece, one that had all the pieces touching - if that makes sense. They are all growing so fast! Noah enjoyed being there, though of course the waiting and being quiet is often hard on busy little boys. We are working on that though and will be sure to check out some of the activities they offer. I think being a bigger library they are able to offer more specific story times - we had tried the story time on base earlier this year; it did not go well, it was more for 4 and over and well it just wasn't interactive enough or with stories that grabbed Noah's attention. I haven't tried since then, but they have a toddler story time for the 2 - 3 year old crowd so we will be sure to try that soon.

After the library and signing up for new library cards for the whole family we headed to the learning center. Josh was starting to get sleepy but was okay crawling around and standing - he stood for long periods but refused to take any steps. Noah was able to peddle the tricycle today, that was neat. He also sat and listened to one of the songs/stories with Ms. Julie. We had lunch and then ran to Target for some things. Neither of the boys cooperated to nap when we got home, Josh had napped while we were at Target so I wasn't surprised with him. Though of course now at 545 they are both sleeping...oh well I will wake them soon so we have a decent bed time!

Cheerios Don't Belong in Noses

So we have had a wonderful day, probably close to a perfect day in Noah's book. We had breakfast and played and then headed to the library. After checking out lots of new books we headed to Target - or as Noah says "O" but he did not want to go to Target - still he was good and it was a quick trip (we had to get Josh a new pair of shoes, one of the others got left outside and Kasey ate it). We then had lunch at Noah's favorite place and went to the children's museum - the boys loved it!! We had a lot of fun and it was a great change of scenery. Josh seems to be getting his appetite back and finally is okay to play. Josh was even standing on his own, he would be holding on to something and let go, stand there in awe for awhile. He also was taking some steps. I tried to get it on video - hard to do alone though.



Once we were home, Josh went to take a nap and Noah was having a snack of cheerios, fruity so they are very bright colors. Suddenly he's crying and saying "ow ow ow" well I didn't know what to think or what was wrong and when I asked him he kept pointing to his nose - sure enough he had a cheerio firmly stuck up his nose! A bright green cheerio...I tried to get him to blow it out, he still hasn't gotten the hang of blowing his nose though so that didn't work. Next we tried to suck it out with the nose sucker thing (so technical I know) and that didnt work. He was more and more upset and I called Sara finally (who I am sure is so sick of questions from me lately) who suggested to try giving Noah a popsicle to distract him and using tweezers. Most of the cheerio did come out and the rest I am pretty sure disolved as he had bright green bugers...yuck! I don't know where he gets these ideas, but certainly we are on our toes here most days with him. thankfully I didn't have to go into the Urgent care place and ask them to get the cheerio out - that would have provided quite the chuckle for everyone I'm sure but I'm glad to not have had to make the trip.

Happy Thanksgiving

Noah putting an ornament on the tree


Josh was playing while we decorated (in half his pjs)

Just a few notes about our Thanksgiving - we were so glad to all be well and be able to join Matt & Sara and their family for dinner and tons of fun. What a huge blessing they are to us always, Noah had so much fun playing with the big boys tonight, Matt, Andrew, and Sara's two brothers who were so kind and let him play along (he held a controller during video games and I'm sure felt part of the action!) Sara's mom was so gracious, she kept telling me to sit and relax and just really - wow what a blessing it was to relax today after such a rough week. We spent the morning at home, with our normal craziness (by the way if anyone knows how to teach a 2 year old boy how to be calmer, gentler, and quieter at least part of the day he is awake I want to know...) but we had fun! We watched the parade some and Noah performed on the stool during the dancing and singing parts - ha that was a hoot! Josh is clingy today and just wanting to cuddle and be close, so he spent most of the day on my hip or in my arms. We did get pictures today, Noah helped me finish decorating the tree this morning and was thrilled to have a tree in the living room - Josh didn't seem to mind but left it alone (guess being on my hip today was good in many ways). I took some videos of Noah playing and performing today - will try to get them up tomorrow. Sara took better pictures at dinner that I'll put on Kodak when I get...hope everyone had a blessed and peaceful day(note that I didn't put this on facebook like promised =) but I didn't say anything about the blog - sorry Andrew!).Matt and Noah with the ramp (how fun is that?!)
Ethan was watching the action
Noah found a mask and was having a ball "scaring us" all - even Josh was laughing!
such a funny kid!

Light at the end of the Tunnel?

So since Friday afternoon we have been sick - we have been at home and all have had some form of this nasty nasty bug. I am so tired of it, hopefully we are over it too! In the process of healing we have gone through 4 bottles of pedialite, relied on numerous friends for help with getting to the after hours clinic to make sure Josh wasn't dehydrated (he was not), getting more pedialite and bread, getting things taken and set up for MOPS. With all of that we have also had countless calls to check on us, can I just say how much we appreciate it all? THANK YOU! We are I think maybe getting better, maybe I hate to say it for fear I will be wrong but we just might be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with a turkey at Matt and Sara's on Thursday. Tomorrow we are going to stay home, we still were a bit too sickly for me to feel it would have been 24 hours without symptoms tomorrow. I am hopeful though it will be a fun day in our house tomorrow. I managed tonight to get all toys and hard surfaces completely disinfected and steam cleaned the carpets - so hopefully all those nasty germs are gone. Here is a picture, now that the living room is clean finally, of our new arrangement so we don't have any more jumping the railing!

It's Officially a Sick Day

Ugh - so yesterday was Josh's surgery, which went swimmingly but I was sick at the hospital (talk about embarassing, but what do you do?) and continued to be sick when we were home, I kept trying to pretend I was feeling better but that dream quickly faded. Josh has had a bit of a stomach issue too- not sure if it is from the sleepy stuff yesterday or he has some of what I have - poor baby, he just is exhausted. I did ask before we left about when to call in if he caught what I had, one nurse asked me if dad could just take over care when he was home from work - well yes I am sure he would be happy to but that is still some time away huh? - so it's me and the boys and we are surviving but sick. Since the stomach issues are still with Josh this morning, that means at least 24 more hours in seclusion which is going to be hardest I think on Noah who wants to run and jump and hop and play. We have had lots of calls and well wishes, and if we need anything I am thankful I know I have plenty of folks I could call and ask - but we are stocked up on things and just going to hang out. Josh is already taking his second nap for the day, it's 10 am kind of sad I know. I am going to try to keep the energy up to at least pick up and fold laundry and such - my plans of deep cleaning for the weekend are gone, but maybe I can avoid being super behind. So officially it is a sick day here!

Josh's Surgery

So it is only 1245 here - the boys are happily playing with each other so I am taking time to update now - and we are home and seem to be recovered from Josh's surgery this morning. We took Noah to Alexis this morning and headed to the hospital, where it was quick getting checked in and everyone was super nice. There was even a play room that we spent some of the time waiting - that was so much nicer than just trying to keep a little one occupied/entertained in the room or the curtained area (like we did with Noah). At 935 Josh had already fallen asleep from some medicine and also I think because it was about that time for him anyway - but they came to get him for his procedure. Within 15 minutes, the doctor came in and said everything went well, he was in recovery and should be out in 10 minutes. His left ear was probably on its way to an infection so I am very glad that we were able to do the tubes now. Josh recovered well, he was very sleepy but happy to nurse, then had a little tummy trouble but we were still able to come home after 30 minutes or so. Now that we are home, he's eating a little more and playing with Noah. He had the biggest smile when we were home for Noah - they certainly do love each other! Josh also woke up this morning with a new tooth - he now has 4 teeth, it's funny that you can even see the bottom 2 in pictures sometimes - the top 2 are still working on coming down to be seen though but they are definitely there. We'll all be taking naps soon and then hanging out to play and "rest" (as much as I can get these two to do that) for the evening.

Growing and growing...

So Josh officially had 3 teeth on Sunday, I was quite sure of this as he bit me while nursing - OUCH! He also today started taking steps, I definitely would not say that Josh is walking but he will take two full steps and then basically falls toward whatever he is going for. This morning he was going from the train table to the couch, the couch to me, etc. I will post pictures of the new living room arrangement, once the living room is cleaner (not tonight, I am tired). Today the boys also were having a snack after naps, both of them sitting at the table. Noah had a popsicle and some goldfish and Josh had goldfish. The cheerios container was on the table from breakfast (we've had quite the busy day - no judgments please =) pretty please). So Josh was getting fussy, I was cleaning up the kitchen some and Noah said "I try" and got the cheerio container to get some for Josh - what a good big brother!

What house needs that rule for a 2 year old?

That was the question Mike asked me this evening as we chatted on the phone, me retelling him of our adventures from today. The morning was great, it was wonderful and peaceful and fun as we played and enjoyed hanging out with Ryder this morning. There were only two things this morning that happened. Ryder was napping and both our boys were up, I was working on laundry and went to check on the washer (if you have ever been here you understand) so I shut the gate at the top of the stairs firmly behind me, as I'm in the laundry room I twice hear and see Noah coming downstairs to join me! I asked him how he got downstairs and Noah answers clearly, "I fall downstairs." WHAT? So then I asked him to show me, he shows me about half way up the steps where he "fell." So I told him there was no falling downstairs, we cannot fall downstairs. Mike when I was telling him about this, simply asked, who needs this rule? who with a 2 year old needs a rule that you don't fall downstairs? Thankfully this is what I needed to hear and we both laughed at the challenges ahead and the adventure-loving son we are so blessed with. I will in fact be rearranging furntiture tomorrow, we will spend most of the day out tomorrow morning and afternoon and then will have company in the evening so I don't think we'll have any chance of falling downstairs tomorrow, but tomorrow night after boys are in bed, I am going to be doing some rearranging, probably will not love the arrangement, but we are moving anything that Noah can climb on away from the banister. So pray that we do not have any broken bones in the near future - Noah it seems loves to climb and fall and we are trying to teach boundaries and hope we are safe in the process. Here are some pictures from dinner at Sandi's tonight though....

Noah wants to be just like daddy!

Josh does too!

Happy 11 months Josh!

Wow! What can I say time keeps slipping away! We are doing okay here this week, it has been a bit of a busy, then sick week which meant we relaxed today and mostly hung out at home. We did make a trip to the library cause both boys were feeling better it seemed (Josh's fever came back tonight! ugh!). We needed some new books though and I figure the boys just kind of at this point in life tag along with me, there isn't a lot of choosing by them. So we had a good day, by tonight the sickness seemed to be at bay again, we'll spend another day mostly at home tomorrow though to make sure we don't share our germs. So here are the new updates on Josh...

• He's about 19 1/2 lbs (I think he's probably 28 or 29 inches in length but I'm not sure)


• He is still jabbering a lot, which is great considering his hearing loss, I know he says dadda and mamma and it seems like he is also starting to try to say something that sounds like dog - and usually he is looking at or pointing to Kasey


• He is a pro at pushing the truck around and cruising around furniture, he's getting speedy


• He also seems to be attempting to take steps, tonight I caught him going from the train table to the couch, which meant he had to let go to get there


• He has attempted to wave a few times too, mostly he just puts his arm out toward the person.


• Tonight he ate at the big table with us, we'll stash the highchair in his room because we will need it when we have company to use but most nights we'll all be at the table

We are waiting until next week and then will be excitedly heading to the hospital for tubes in both his little ears, I hate that I am excited about him having surgery but I really am hoping he will begin to feel better after that.

Tinkerbell?

So I don't think Mike will be thrilled that I am posting this picture - but I am...

Noah was playing dress up with the girls in church while I was at Bible study. They came to get me cause he was too cute, he had been playing cars and being a dinosaur or something I think, by the time I got back there he had taken it off, but was okay to put it back on for me so I could get a picture. Quite a handsome Tinkerbell I think, but you be the judge...and I totally love that there's a football peeking out of the dressup clothes!

On another note, Josh saw the ENT doctor today, he still has an ear infection (today was the last day of antibotic and they are not starting him on a new as of yet, unless he has fever etc. and then we'll go back) but he is getting tubes in both ears! Yeah and they even managed to find room for him on the 21st of Nov.! I'm so thankful that God answers prayers and we don't have to wait another month or so to get him feeling better.