Our Little Boy is Growing Up...

So, today was Mike's last day off from his mini-vacation! We enjoyed the day and did a quick errand in the morning with the intention of stopping at the learning center to play on the way home. We went to a different Walmart than normal because they had what we thought we wanted in stock (we went with something slightly different). Anyway, there is a Toys-R-Us next to this Walmart, we pull up and Noah goes, "R, Go R, I want R!" Okay to clarify, there is not a Toys-R-Us that close to us, it is not a store we frequent, we've maybe been 3 times in the last year. How does he know that? He doesn't see many cartoons (we watch Disney or movies mostly without commercials!). We had on Friday during our outings to look at a couple of more preschoolers, gone in search of pull back cars cause Noah and Josh love them, so do mommy and daddy honestly! So we did decide to go and see if we could find some since we hadn't found any at Walmart or Target on Friday. What a smart boy, clever!
Today we turned Josh's carseat around so he is facing forward. We could have technically done it at his first birthday, he was just over 20lbs then. The thing was he was just barely over 20lbs, so we waited. I am not sure just how much weight he has gained, but know that he has gained some in the last month and some and he's getting longer and no longer seemed comfortable. He had the widest eyes on our drive and was pointing and saying "that" often on our drive. They are both growing up so quickly!
And one more little tidbit about Mr. Josh cause it is just too cute not to share. I guess today at his nap (Mike put him down, I was working on the newsletter) Mike gave Josh his bear, his special bear that Aunt Lauren bought him before he was born and he had his picture taken with every month. Josh grabbed onto and held tight. So sweet, but then it gets sweeter! Tonight when checking on the boys Josh again had his bear that had been left from nap. He had that bear wrapped snuggly under his arm and hadn't moved at all, which is unusual because usually he's all over the place. Guess we know he needs his bear now - I love that he may have a comfort object to grow up with. So thanks Aunt Lauren for such a special bear!

Some Pictures and Happenings

Sunday afternoon and evening we hung out watching football with some friends. It was a great time and there was lots of good food and plenty of laughs of course - check out some of the pictures! There was hot chocolate by all, Mike got to share his chips with all the bigger boys, and some mishaps with a pink stamp!

Monday Mike and 3 of the other husbands of those in MOPS steering watched some of the kids so that we could have a meeting - what a nice way to spend their day off! We got much accomplished thanks to their help. They had a few hiccups but tackled everything like the super dads we know them to be. We also went to Home Depot - who really seems to be doing well thanks to us lately! Ugh! We bought a new garage door opener and more wood for projects Mike is working on, hopefully the garage door opener won't be too much of a pain and he can get it in sometime soon. Today we went and looked at a preschool (we're looking for the fall) and then the boys and I went to the learning center to play until it was time to pick Mike up from work. We were there 2 hours - running and running and singing songs and playing, still Noah has not napped! Josh is an eating machine the past few days, he seems to be constantly hungry but thankfully still has a great appetite for lots of variety in his diet. This morning he also signed please! We have been showing him the sign for it, but he hadn't done it until today and now he continues to use it. Smart cookie! He's also been pointing to himself when you refer to him as "you" It's great to see him making strides in his communication, he has several words now (up, done, dog, Noah (it sounds close to Noah), no (of course), momma, dadda, and words that are sounding closer to things like book, ball, block, juice) and he's picking up some of the signs. We'll have to introduce some more signs soon.

Friday Adventures

Well - Thursday I chickened out and refused to go out because well it was - 12 and got colder as the day wore on. We didn't have to be out and that is just beyond cold and I saw no reason to drag the boys out in that (they are a good excuse on days like this, cause really it was true no need for them to be out, but if I didn't have to I was happy to stay home) To tell you how cold it was, Mike got out his parka - which he has never worn the whole time we've been here but he got it out and found his hat!


Our adventures today were good, so nice to have a good day all day. Noah needs nap, but he has not napped most days - we have the same routine, the same time we try to get him to nap - all the things "they" say you should have but he has not napped. By 330 on these days he has been crabby - so whiney and crabby! It has worn us all down. Anyway, today we dropped Mike off at work, headed to the grocery store (I wish I understood why it takes us almost 1 1/2 hours !) and then after unloading groceries headed to the Y. After that we met Mike at work for lunch with him at work, which was very yummy and a nice treat. After a trip to Target Noah fell asleep and then took an awesome nap! Oh it was lovely!

After picking Mike up from work and having dinner we decided to give in to Noah's request for the Y pool. Unfortunately after we got there, got Mike and the boys their ids and got everyone changed into swimgear the pool got closed because someone got a bloody nose in the pool. Thankfully whoever it was was okay, not hurt badly. That was devasting to Noah though, he was so looking forward to getting to swim tonight. Mike had him and said he was upset and kept saying "no pool closed, I want pool" but calmed down slowly as they got dressed again and heard that we could go and get some ice cream instead. So we stopped and got some ice cream on the way home. Josh didn't want the bites of ice cream, he was thrilled getting to share a drink with us all. Noah enjoyed chocolate shake and also tried a few times to drink both his drink and chocolate shake at the same time. Josh got to try the chocolate shake right before we left and didn't want to stop drinking it, so apparently it wasn't that he didn't like the ice cream he just wanted to drink his ice cream. It made for a fun night though despite the disappointment of not swimming.

A Little Bit Crazy?

Yes - I am going a little bit crazy, this time probably seriously a little bit crazy. Alexis and another friend are training to run a half marathon...Alexis has a very persuasive personality - very persuasive. So there's a book - apparently it is helpful and can help you achieve running a full marathon. So there you have it - all the world can read...I'm crazy, officially crazy. I'm going to try this. There is a local half marathon in May - that probably will not work with our schedules but there's another local one in September so that is my official goal. I have to go through the pre-training training for the non-runners cause well I am NOT a runner! So that is about 11 weeks I believe and then you start 16 weeks of training. That should be plenty of time. I am not even at this point worried that I would actually RUN the whole half-marathon, just finish, get across the finish line. Mike is very supportive of course, encouraging that it is a great goal and that I work very well when I have a set goal and friends to go through the experience with! However, when I tried to convince him to train with me - he laughed he never wants to run more than 3 miles apparently...hmmmm....not sure what to think about that!

Josh's new talents (or at least his new efforts)

So tonight at dinner Josh got the hang of using his fork! He was jabbing away at his hot dog (we were having leftovers, the last 2 or 3 times we've had steak this week - think dinner and then lunch leftovers the boys haven't touched it...so we ate the steak and they had hotdogs! ha!) He also decided he should start spinning and that the table was the best place for it!

And just so you can see for yourself - Noah really does still needs his naps, he was asleep at 530 sitting on the couch!

Snowy Day

Well it is definitely snowing here today. Not too bad, but the wind has picked up. I'm glad that it wasn't a day the boys and I needed to be out and about. Mike went to work so he had to face the cold and the snow though. We did get to enjoy lunch together though, that is always nice. After declaring that we needed cookies and reinforcing he didn't mean today (I still am under the weather) Mike found some M&Ms. Noah immediately said "Me, too, me, too! Please M" So Mike and Noah sat down to share M&Ms, of course Josh found his way over to them and signed "more" while pointing excitedly at the bowl of M&Ms. Mike actually asked what I was teaching the boys, they have a love of chocolate already - ha it doesn't take any teaching it's just good! Other than that we have had a very laid back day with me trying to recoup and gain some energy. Tomorrow will be a busy day if the weather allows but should be lots of fun!

Noah is still trying to decide if naps are good for him - I think he still needs them but there have been days that he will spend an hour in his room and play quietly and not sleep. I can't make him sleep of course, but wish he would nap. Today I did not have the energy to battle with getting him to lay down and just gave up (yes for today we gave up that battle!). He's been pretty good but has his mind set on certain things today, one of those is that he doesn't want pants on. Really, it's below freezing outside and you don't want pants on? Crazy child, crazy! Now of course the house is not that cold, it's actually a warm 70 in here so don't worry too much about him. He has also insisted on putting his underwear on himself - this is a very good thing though today he wouldn't let me help him get them on at all and they ended up on inside out and backwards as he used one of his toy buckets as a boat to row across the living room. Boys are so fun! The other day I had to convince him there was not a bear in the hallway before nap. I am not sure where the bear idea came from, he's had this idea a couple of times recently.

For all of you in VA who claim it is cold when it's in the 30s...here's a little video of snow so you see winter. (Now if you are north of us then I realize this isn't too bad compared to the blizzards...)

And here's Noah being silly in his "boat"

Weekend Review

Noah wanted to pull Mike down the hall - Josh wanted to tackle him

four handsome boys - Noah, Simon, Josh, Ryder

It has been a wonderful weekend despite a few colds that have been lingering and finding homes in our house. Noah has had a cold the past several days but this morning seems to be feeling much better. However, he decided to share his cold with mommy, thankfully it didn't really start hitting me until dessert last night. Mike and I got to spend the afternoon and evening on a wonderful date - we went to an art museum, walked around downtown looking in some of the little shops and found a great little Italian resturaunt. FINALLY! One of the stores was a used book store that had lots of little treasures in it, we found a pizza cookbook that had lots of good recipes in it and Mike is excited as we've been trying to find a good crust recipe for some time and now have some options to try (though I'm sure some of it is our skill in the kitchen needs a little fine tuning) My only disappointment in the day (other than a cold hitting me) was that I didn't get the alfredo - my meal was great, but Mike got a salmon alfredo and that was some of the yummiest alfredo I've had in a long time. The boys hung out and played with Ken and Alexis - thankfully Noah was in a good mood despite being woken up from his nap and they had a great time. We are very grateful for such good friends!

Friday night I had a good dinner out with the girls despite our horrible service - the food was yummy and the company great so it was still a good time. Noah and Josh got to hang out at home with Daddy and also Ken, Simon and Ryder. Saturday morning was spent playing with Daddy, lots and lots of playing. Mike was tired by the afternoon - the boys sure know how to run and wrestle! Now we are going to have a laid back Sunday, we'll make one service at church - I just cannot get moving fast enough and don't feel well enough to sit through both hours. Mike is going to head out to the hardware store after church with one of the boys to get some more wood for some new projects. We finally were able to get a recycling bin - so he's building a home for 2 trashcans - one for trash and one for recycling and also a new shelf for the living room.

Random Bits Today

Well I am really going to try to update more regularly - I promise. So a few pictures and a few little new things the boys are doing. They are not feeling super duper today, they are both actually napping at 930 in the morning. We are taking it somewhat easy today and have the last few days so that they can rest.

They are still loving on each other though and have so much fun playing together! They crack me up, Noah will get Josh to chase him and act like he is scared of Josh as they run around together. Josh loves this and makes random funny noises as he chases Noah. Josh has also mastered drinking out of a straw - not too bad since we haven't really tried long. It makes going out to eat a little nicer and easier on us since of course Josh wants to have everything that Noah has. Noah is still continuing to use sentences more often and they are getting longer, he is also really showing his sense of humor and loves to make us laugh. We are having a busy weekend, hopefully if the boys continue to be well enough. Tonight I'm going out with some of the gals from MOPS (whoohoo!) and Mike is hanging out with the boys and some friends, tomorrow we'll head to the Y early and hopefully the museum and then home for naps so the boys are rested for when Mike and I get to go out on a date!

We also decided it was time to get a second tv - splurged a little for us and are enjoying the new tv. Noah was thrilled to see it up when he got up this morning. That's really about it though. Pictures will be added later today, we are meeting Mike at the gym and need to be heading out.

It's Been too Long...

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted last, sorry! There are a loads and loads of photos on Kodak though that have been updated pretty quickly so I don't feel too awful. We had a wonderful and abudant Christmas - I must say these boys are spoiled =) by all those who love them! Noah was definitely into opening presents this year and we even tried to do the webcam/Skype thing but it didn't work with both sets of grandparents being able to watch at once, so it got recorded instead and I am going to mail them cds of the video - notice I said I am going to - sorry it hasn't gotten done yet! We spent Christmas at home and had a great day remembering among all the gifts what the best gift ever was - Jesus! I kept asking Noah who's birthday it was - he kept saying Santa - ugh! Really? I know he's only 2, but I feel like we have talked lots and lots and lots about why we really have Christmas and it has not included Santa. We are not against Santa, but those discussions were about Jesus's birthday not Santa - it bummed me out. I'm sure next year will be better though.
We have also had lots of time with friends since the last post, Mike and Ken did some building before New Year's Eve to get a birthday present built for Simon - Mike was just helping and providing the tools and garage =) and Simon now has a new train table too, Mike said before he took it over that he was thinking of just swapping them out - it turned out great Ken did a wonderful job! We also spent New Year's Eve having a kid perfect day and celebrating Simon's birthday with them. We went to the Children's Museum in the am and then a buffet for lunch - perfect for the 2 year old crowd - no waiting and if you don't like what you got try something new. Also less stressful on parents' nerves with the no waiting. We had a great morning and lunch and then went home for naps - or tried for naps. Noah didn't nap at all! Josh got a super nap though and then we spent the evening at a pizza/play place - think something along the lines of Chuckee Cheese though I like this much better and it's buffet as well. My goodness the boys (I mean all 4 of the 2 and over boys - that would include the daddies!) had a grand time on the rides and playing video games and racing cars. Josh enjoyed himself as well but was tuckered out by the end of it.
Then on Friday the 2nd we had a combination birthday party to celebrate Josh's first birthday and Simon's 2nd birthday. We have so many of the same friends and I really wanted Mike to be home for the party so since we were waiting it made since to do the combination party. What a great time we had, we had it at the community center on base and I must say that was super nice. I feel like it was the most relaxed I have been before a party in a very long time. I'm sure it had something to do with not feeling the need to get and keep a house spotless before the party while the boys still wanted to play. There was tons of space for the kids to run and play and lots for them to do. We did crock-pot buffet style food and it was delicious - and also low stress. Mike liked the BBQ pulled pork sandwiches that he is demanding them again at our next gathering - which is fine cause it was not stressful at all and I agree very yummy. The theme was trains and planes and each of the boys had a cake to celebrate the theme - they turned out well and were eaten up. It was great to see everyone again and know that the kids had a super time. Both Simon and Josh got plenty of presents and Josh had two helpers to make sure his all got opened. We have such generous friends. Since then we have started to wind back down and are trying to get into a routine for the next several weeks. Mike went back to work on Monday and I am trying to not be too grouchy and selfish about not liking having just one vehicle, it just makes for a broken morning if we have anything to do - throws off the routine a bit and you all know how I love routine. It's not really that big of a deal - just need to get back into it I think and we will only have to do this for until April because the van has been ordered and will be delivered in the beginning of April! I will post pictures later this afternoon - but we are off now to get to kickboxing just wanted you to know that no we have not fallen off the face of the earth!