Fun Inside!

Since gone are the days when we can go outside and play almost all day every day without freezing our buns off, we've had to start doing fun things inside.

Glowsticks in the bathtub....

Playing in the beans....
(remember this table? we do water outside in the summer, beans inside in the winter) ;)Chillin' on the couch watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.... Writing on the windows....

Bathtub Crayons!!!Enjoying his new chair, waiting for breakfast....

Playing with his trains and new train table!Enjoying a quick moment of fresh air outside.... Coloring....Being pulled around in the laundry basket....Colored baths!!!Playing with the new slide....

FINGERPAINTING!!!!


We're off to a good start..... wonder how many more things we can come up with? =)

** Quick side note: as of about a week now, Noah has transitioned from diapers to PullUps! All because..... out of the blue last week, he refused to wear a diaper - threw MAJOR hissy fits. So.... since he seems to be getting more serious about this potty training thing, we let him run around naked when possible and wear his PullUps the rest of the time. =)

** He also has LOVED (no more crying, hesitations and clingy-ness - yay!) playing with the kids when Jen has Bible Study or women's social get-togethers during the week! Even runs to his Sunday School classroom on Sunday mornings now! He's growing up...... =(

Weekend Away!

We had such a fabulous time!!!! =) =) =)

We packed up and went to Glenwood Springs, CO for the 3-day weekend! To get away from "normal." To relax. To have fun. To be alone - just the 3 of us. We don't have many pictures to show for it, and most of the ones we do were taken on our phones, but regardless, we had fun. =)

Somebody......

...... got new markers for his birthday. Very nice ones. Ones that weren't all smashed up and dried out.

Somebody...... found out that some of them were scented.

Somebody...... wanted to smell ALL the ones that were scented......





LOL!! Good thing they're washable. ;)

Party Hearty!

What a whirlwind these past 2 months have been for us - we have been going absolutely non-stop! We are exhausted and definitely looking forward to some time away.

This past weekend was kinda like the "last hurrah" in the string of busy-ness for us. We had Noah's second birthday party and made him "officially" two years old. His party theme was trains since he is absolutely crazy about trains (and is obsessed with all things related to trains). It was a pretty big party for a two-year-old, even though we whittled down the guest list quite a bit, but everyone seemed to have fun and we tried to make it as relaxed as possible! We got rave reviews from a 5-year-old, BIG smiles and laughs from the birthday boy, and almost everyone commented on how cute/fun his party theme was.


We deemed the party a success. =)

We "put away" more than half of his toys in the basement before the party guests arrived - it helped free up a LOT of room to play in his playroom and allowed for much less of a mess to clean up when it was all said and done. ;) Here is a picture after the party with all of his old toys AND new toys back in his playroom. Goodness - this kid is set for hours upon hours of fun playtime! =) Who's ready for a playdate?? =)

Two Years Old!

And we thought ONE year went fast.....

WHERE IN THE WORLD DOES THE TIME GO????

This little boy of ours is truly a marvel. It's hard coming up with the right words to convey just how wonderful and amazing this little boy really is!! We love him more than we ever thought possible, and the joy in our lives, because of him, is off the charts!!

So what's going on with Noah in his new year of life? Who is he? What is he like? What does he do? We'll tell you! =)

** He can put together puzzles so fast without any help. It's crazy, he knows just exactly where the pieces and shapes go! He was even doing this before he was 2! ** He can count to 10 and can do quite a few of his abc's in a row! He can even identify some letters in the alphabet as well with his LeapFrog refrigerator magnet set! He also knows most of his colors! ** He goes to Sunday School at church and actually stays there the whole time! Yay! He plays, colors, does group activities and we have yet to get the text that says, "hey, come get your crying kid!" ;) ** He is VERY independent. Don't EVER try to help him unless he asks. Whoa! ;) ** He's quite the little chatterbox, especially when we're in the car - he knows landmarks and what all is around. He has the most impeccable memory and remembers routes we take and what all is along those routes. Crazy! ** He talks ALL the time now - you can hold small conversations with him too. SO fun!! =) ** He can identify all of the people in his little life who are in pictures - and he especially LOVED getting Christmas cards with photos in them. ("Shelby!" "Erynn!" "Jon!" "Nathan!" "Mason!" "Gammy!" "Emma!" "Trisha!") ** He sits and watches full episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - he can even do the "roll call" all on his own and the "hot dog dance." It's hilarious! ** He can pretty much verbalize 100% now what's wrong and what he needs. We are appreciating that like never before! ** He is totally into trains, cars and all big boy things (such as his little Black and Decker tool set and his little motorized 4-wheeler). ** He responds now with a "yep" or a "no" when you ask him a question - and he means it and knows it too! ** The doctor doesn't freak him out anymore. He's such an angel there! ** He eats pretty much anything as long as he has a "sauce" to dip it in - if not, then he's just an OK eater. Oh the funny stories we have..... ;) ** He is still FIERCLY attached to his binky. Good thing we get one more year with that thing - and we learned the best trick EVER when it comes time to helping him give it up! ** He still sleeps great throughout the night - even asks to go to bed! He still sleeps about 13 hours. Sure hope the next one loves his bed as much as Noah does! ** He is a LOT smarter than we give him credit for and amazes us every day with the things he says and does. ** He can hop, skip and jump. No one taught him this - just started doing it all on his own one day! ** It's about time to start shifting out all the baby toys and replacing them with his newer "big boy" toys. =( We hate this.... he should always just stay little. =(

Even though it seems like we covered it all, there's probably a lot more we're missing about him. It's hard to cover it all when one is so fantastic in every way, shape and form. =) Yeah, we're bragging - but he really IS something to brag about!

Here's a few pictures of our precious 2-year-old.

All bundled up, ready to go play outside in the snow!

CHEESE!!!

How he eats olives these days.
Who do I look like?
Lookin' snazzy for a playdate.
Cute jammies. =)
Beautiful....
Crazy kid!! =)
Daddy and Noah.

More CHEESE!!!

Loves his fire hat.

On a coffee date with Mommy and Daddy - chocolate milk for him though! ;)

Noah and Auntie.
He did this himself one Sunday after church. Silly.... =)
LOVING his new 4-wheeler!

Talking on his cell phone while driving. Oh great....

Fun with Play-Doh!

Tonight we celebrated his birthday at "Yo-Yogurt." He loves fro-yo, so we decided that would be a fun place to celebrate. =)