10 Things.....

(By Jen)

It was requested on a friend's blog that I do this "10 things about me" thing, so here it goes....

1. I am NOT a morning person. There is absolutely nothing to be happy about or to talk about first thing in the morning. I need an hour to wake up, and a cup of coffee. Not necessarily in that order. ;)

2. I think it's the most ridiculous thing when people put fake animals in their yards. Birds, deer, etc. I don't understand the point. I also hate it when people put fake plants inside their house. I just don't get it.

3. I LOVE my heated towel warmer. Nothing feels better than stepping out of the shower and having a nice, warm, fluffy towel to wrap up in. Now.... in our next house, we will be installing heated flooring and a heated toilet seat. Can you tell I love to be warm? =)

4. I hate my eyes being messed with. I hate hearing about other people's eyes being messed with. That being said, I can't even imagine having contacts of any kind or eye surgery of any kind. That's just crazy talk in my mind.

5. If I can't see my feet, I don't swim in it. End of story. Blegh!

6. When (and if) I decide to grow my hair out, I plan on getting hair extensions so I don't have to go through that awkward transition phase.

7. I am OCD about cleanliness and being sanitary. Anyone can tell you I am quite the meticulous housekeeper. "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" is what I always say!

8. I have addictions: lattes, corn nuts, those little chocolate waxy donuts, chicken caesar salad (and wraps), fruit, being in the sun, time with Noah, vacationing, and my BlackBerry.

9. I have been getting into this "do it yourself" thing lately. I have been making my own jewelry, things for Noah's room, and an odd assortment of other things. I feel like quite the little housewife.

10. I am picky about my syrup. I can only eat one kind of syrup. I politely decline anything with syrup at anyone else's house since chances are they don't use the same kind we use. =) I don't even order anything at restaurants that might need syrup!

OK, that's it. Hopefully that wasn't TOO boring. And now I have to pick some blogging friends to do the same....... Brian Kelly, you need to do it since I saw you finally updated your blog and have your own website. =) Erynn O'Brien, you are my FAVORITE blogger and have THE BEST blog out there, so you most definitely need to do this. Ali Farmer, it's fun to read about your life, and I am sure it has gotten more interesting these past 3 weeks. Kristen Crowe, I KNOW you read our blog, and it's about time you updated YOUR blog. =)

Whew! What a Week!

And we thought life would slow down once we had a baby..... huh!

Monday
We woke up tired..... it had been a loooooooong night the night before. Noah got up quite a few times during the night, probably because it was so hot in the house. After everyone was up, had breakfast and showers, Jen, her Mom, and Noah immediately hit the road and ran a TON of errands. They got back just in time for Jen and her Dad to go on a date. Dinner and a movie! They went and saw Shrek3 in 3D. It was awesome! Had they remembered to take a picture, here is what they would have looked like with their 3D glasses on:

Haha.... ;)

Greg and Noah had "guys night" at home, spending quite a bit of time outside. MUCH later that night, after putting Noah to bed and cleaning up from the whirlwind of a day, Greg ran out and got us Blizzards from Dairy Queen. One of our summer favorites. We definitely needed a nice cool treat to cool off that night. Plus we had a sweet tooth. ;)


Tuesday
It was birthday night! We celebrated Becca's birthday with a fun dinner, presents, and yummy birthday cake! The weather was even SO nice that we took a nice looooooong walk after dinner. The neighbors down the street from Mom and Dad Kelly got goats, so of course we had to go over and see them. Jen wants a goat..... maybe someday. ;) We also went to the next door neighbors to Mom and Dad Kelly to show off Noah. They've been waiting like crazy to see him and we finally got to go over and introduce him! They just got their pool all ready for summer, so maybe we can take him over one of these sweltering hot days - or maybe next year instead when he's bigger. ;)

Noah visiting the goats. =)

Wednesday
Such a FUN day! Jen went and played Ultimate Frisbee with Becca and her work mates. Brian plays too, so it was fun for her to be able to hang out with the both of them. A good friend of Jen's from high school works with Becca and plays on the team, so it was fun for her to catch up with him and reconnect. (It's crazy how small this world REALLY is.) Mom Kelly, Auntie Cheryl and Noah watched from the sidelines and cheered them on. Afterwards, they were supposed to go on a picnic, but the wind was blowing 8 million miles an hour, AND it was cloudy - what do you know though, that as they were coming out of the restaurant after lunch, the sun was shining. ;) That night, we went and bought Noah an exersaucer. He won't get it until we get back from Arkansas though since we just got him a door jumperoo. Don't want to spoil him TOO much within a short period of time. ;) He's getting more and more mobile, and less content with his same ol' toys. So what were we to do but get him the next step up in toys! =)

Playing Ultimate Frisbee!
How Noah watched half of the time. =)

Thursday
Another busy day spent cleaning, preparing for the trip, and appointments and etc. That night was kinda supposed to be a date night alone for us since Jen's heading out of town for 2 weeks next week, but we decided to have dinner and dessert back at the house with our good friends Matt and Trisha. =) They live about 3 minutes from us and will be moving at the end of the month to Monument. After dinner they took us to see their new house that's almost done being built - we hope to be their "neighbors" again by next year at this time and show them OUR newly built house.

Noah in Papa and Mimi's bed. He slept. We "partied." =)

Friday
Jen worked half a day (she's really getting into this "working only when it's convenient for her" deal). The other half of the day she spent doing laundry, cleaning, and getting ready for the trip. Needless to say, since neither of us wanted to make dinner after working that evening, we picked up pizza and garlic knots from our favorite pizza place here in town (Boriello Brothers) and enjoyed dinner while watching the lightning show and listening to the thunder. We had quite the rain and hail too and were under a tornado watch for quite some time!


Saturday
We did nothing but pack and spend time together alone as a family. It was a gross, dreary day, so we didn't mind staying in and hanging out in our jammies all day.

All packed and ready to go! Bye, Daddy!

Whew!

Five Months Old!

Yes, believe it or not, we are the proud parents of a 5-month-old. Is it as hard for YOU to imagine as it is for US? Can you believe we've had Noah in our lives for 5 months now? He sure is growing up SO fast. We try to savor every moment and soak it in so as not to forget each and every little milestone since everyone has told us how fast babies grow up. It's amazing - you don't truly believe it until you have one of your very own.

What a precious gift we've been given. He truly is THE smartest, THE cutest, THE most fun, THE sweetest, THE most loved, THE most spoiled, THE most well-behaved........ =)

Here's some of his best pics lately......

His favorite way to sleep lately. It looks like it would hurt.......

Fun in the bath with daddy! Standing up! =)
His OTHER favorite way to sleep lately.
Chillin' in his Bumbo!
Fun with his play mat.
Snuggles with Aunt Becca.
Tummy time!
Playing with his new stuffed animal.... it's almost as big as he is!
Boys are the best! =)
SO adorable when he sleeps. =)

We're also seeing a "boy" theme in our life lately. Noah's gonna have LOTS of little guy friends to grow up with. Sister-friend Erynn is having a boy (Nathan). Our friend Ali is having a boy (Elijah). Jen's childhood friend is having a boy (name TBD). Our friend Ryann just had a boy (Riley). Jen's friend Laura just had a boy (Tanner). Jen's high-school choir teacher's son just had a boy (name unknown)...... this choir teacher also said she had a theory as to why so many women lately are having boys - because we are in desperate need in this world for some strong Christian men to be raised up in the Lord to lead us, so He is having these women have boys so they can do just that! So if you are pregnant, and don't know the sex (which we know of about 5 people right now who fit into that category), think about that. You are probably going to have a boy. ;) Just sayin'....... =)

(By Greg)

Saturday, June 5th, (tomorrow) is my test day for Level 2 of the CFA exam (http://www.testprepreview.com/cfa_practice.htm), finally! I've been studying since October ('09) and it seems like the studying is never-ending. Since this is my second time around on Level 2 (I failed Level 2 last June), you'd think it would be a little easier, but it's not. I've been able to recall a lot of stuff, but it's still difficult! With 4,000 pages worth of material to study from and only a 120-question test, the questions can be from anywhere. On the bad side, if I fail again tomorrow, I'll know what to focus on next year and what to do different and how to study better.

Please pray for me as the exam starts at 9:00 AM and goes until 5:00 PM! And please pray that I pass this time around!

Estes Park

Yes..... we seem to be traveling fools lately. Every weekend, for the past few months, we've either been on vacation, out running the roads, hanging out with friends, or busy doing something big around the house. THIS past weekend, we got to go to Estes Park, Colorado. We've had this trip planned for quite some time now - it's one of our MOST favorite places to go. It never gets old. We generally go in September/October, but this year, we also wanted to go when it was warm out as well! It was the best weekend get-away. MUCH needed too. Condo by the river in the mountains, eating world-famous hamburgers , being with family, seeing the sights (and the wildlife) at Rocky Mountain National Park, shopping, and just relaxing. Life doesn't get any better than this! =)

Elk everywhere!

Noah's first Elk sighting. =)
ALWAYS look to the left and right before exiting your condo......
Sittin' by the river. (Greg's new favorite picture)
All dressed up and ready to go into the park!
"Trusty."
Noah LOVES his Bjorn..... he also loved to shop and people watch!
Downtown Estes.
Noah loves to look at the cute boy in the mirror. ;) (Himself, not Greg - LOL)
All that walking around wore him out at the end of the day...... he was SO good.