Punkin Hunting

Noah rode front facing like a big boy for the first time this weekend... There were a lot of things to see. We got a break in the clouds and headed for Sauvie's Island in search of the perfect pumpkin. Uncle Curtis, Allison, Shelby and Riley joined us for a day of fun.

Boys will be boys

Strapped in an ready to go

Shelby was all smiles and came along with her cousin Riley in the wagon

Mom got a dog for the day

Aaaand we're off

There were so many choices

Noah thought they were all balls, see he's saying "Buh" for ball

Mom's favorite expression, looks something like "But if they're not balls, then what are they for?"

"You can't catch me..."

"This is fun too"

"Looking for pumpkins is hard work! Ooooo there's one."

Loaded and ready to go

We had some shoe malfunctions, 18 month old's should not walk dogs

There's that famous tongue again

My crazy monkey

Ammminals...

"Mom, that cow is HUGE mom!"

Happy 13 month birthday

Happy 1st Birthday Noah!

So the day as come and gone, but the memories will always remain. Noah's first birthday party was a hoot. Grandma Candy and grandpa Harold have a huge backyard and deck, so we asked to hose the party at their house. We had a great group of friends and family that joined us in celebration and everyone seemed to have had a good time. Noah hadn't taken any naps durring the days leading up to the party (mostly due to his new learned trick of standing up in his crib), so mom and dad were worried that he wouldn't enjoy himself. Then Noah surprised them with a two hour nap just before the party and he showed up full of smiles and excitement for everyone.

After much debate on the theme for the party, we opted to just go for a white, blue and green color scheme. The party was mostly for the adults and Noah changes his favorites on a regular basis anyway. We did get tons of balloons (one of Noah's constant favorites, he points at them and says, "Ba" every time we pass one in the grocery store). All the adults helped intertain the few older kids that we're there and passed babies around to give parents a break.

Mom spent a lot of time in the kitchen days before the big event, making food and baking 3 cakes. The meal was light being that it was in between lunch and dinner. The cakes we're my prized accomplishment. Oh for those that don't know, I don't bake, so this experience was incredibly stressful at first but I am very pleased with the result. We had 2 adult cakes, 1 vanilla, 1 lemon, both with peach glaze filling (homemade with peaches from a local farmers market) and creamcheese frosting (of course homemade as well). Noah's cake was a sugar free banana cake (it came out tasting like banana bread but the consistensy was very dense) with blue tinted creamcheese frosting. The decorations on the adult cakes was blue and green tinted fondant that I cut into different sized stars and circles.

Noah "Oooo'd" and "Ahhh'd" at the candles and danced while everyone sang but when it came time to eat the cake, Noah didn't quite know what to do. See, mom doesn't usually let us get too messy with food and as much as we love to feed ourselves, we still don't know portion control so gagging is a usual reflex when mom lets us have free reign with food.

Noah started with a poak with a finger, then he tested the texture with a whole hand, then mom plopped a big chunk of frosting on his nose and mouth and he seemed to enjoy the taste

Before you know it, we were diging in

Noah didn't get too far into the cake, it was just too dense. But boy did he enjoy the frosting.

When we were done, we went gave out kisses and shared some of our frosting with everyone

We had blocks, bubbles and toys for people big and small to play with.

.. It seems birthday parties bring out the little kid in all of us ..

Noah especially enjoyed all the fun bags and paper that everything came in.

The gifts were cool too of course

The party was short and sweet. There was a constant cool breeze that sent a few parents with little ones home early and when it started to look like rain was coming we brought the party to a close. That left a little bit of play time for Noah when we got home and then we were off to bed at our usual time without the crazy sugar rush crash we were expecting.

Wednesday Play Date

Every Wednesday we have a play date with Auntie Beth and a few other ladies with babies. The time is more for mommies to catch up but we try to visit new places and squeeze in some baby interaction. Noah is the oldest of the group but you would never be able to tell, everyone is at such a different stage of growth and milestone... We have tons of fun though, it's great to see them as they grow.

Here's the group (Izabella 6 months, Nathan 6 months, Alexander 9 months, Noah 12 months)

Alexander and Noah weren't getting along this time around, poor Noah was distraught

There's quite a love triangle between all the boys and Izabella, it's hard being the only girl

The Stroller Brigade

Noah my Noah

Noah, again you will be another month older in no time, but more than anything you will be a whole year older than when we first met you.

Gosh, I just love him more and more each day and every stage is 10 times better than the stage before. He is fun, absolutely crazy just like me, looks like Kris (although he's becoming a better mix of the both of us), hilarious, clever, fearless, determined and the joy of my life! This last month has been so much fun for us because he is just growing up and doing so many new things.

Yesterday, a second tooth started poking through and Noah wasn't too happy about it. I hope the adventure never ends.

Noah's Birthday Party

So we're trying to get things together for Noah's party and I'm still just not ready for him to be one... I know, I know, the day will come whether I want it to or not. But I just can't imagine it and in turn I can't think of where to start, plus Noah is the oldest out our group so I don't have anyone's example to live by.

Any suggestions for themes, games, well any advice at all?

1st Tooth

Well we thought this day would never come, but this morning we discovered a hint of a lower tooth coming in. YAY! Actually I'm not sure if we should be excited or scarred that more will follow and our sleep cycle (that we just got back into) will go down the drain again.

Of course Noah wont let us take any pictures to share with you, but hopefully he'll want to proudly flash his teeth by the time his birthday comes around and you can see for yourself.

Hope to see you all there!

Noah at 11 months

Noah just celebrated his 11 month birthday and is now preparing for the big ONE (oh how time flies). Mom has just finished the invites and will be sending them out first thing Monday. We would love for everyone to celebrate with us, if you happen to not get the invite please let us know (we may just not have your address).

Noah hasn't had a doctors appointment in a while so we're not sure on his progress with weight gain, but he has quite the appetite and eats just about anything you put in front of him. We still don't have any teeth but his tongue is constantly hanging out or licking at his gums, and with all the heavy drooling we're expecting them to poak though any day now. His next check up is a few days after his first birthday and we're very curious to see how much he has grown. In the mean time here are some of his other updates:

Noah's daily routine usually starts at by 7:00am (giving dad some time before he heads off for work), then he watched Sesame Street while mom makes breakfast, we eat and play for about 30 minutes and then it's nap time by 8:30am. Our naps are usually 2 hours long. Then around 10:30am we are up and ready to learn and play. This is when Noah is most active so mom takes advantage of the time by getting out to see new things. Around 1:30pm Noah is ready for lunch and his second nap. By 3:30 we're awake and ready to be on the move, this is when we practice crawling/walking and following mom around the house as she picks up and gets dinner ready. At 7:00pm, shortly after dad gets home, it's bed time.

Noah has perfected waving hi and bye (although these days it's shortly after people stopped waving). He knows how to high five, blow kisses, dance when told (even when there's no music), shake anything he is or is not holding, bounce, talk on the phone (he puts his hand to his ear, too cute). He also points out the window if you ask him where the airplane is, or at Kris' picture if you ask him where dad is. He attempts to say "all done" when he's done eating. Noah doesn't enjoy crawling the conventional way. You will usually see him rolling in the general direction he wants to go then belly crawling to get repositioned. His preferred method of getting around is walking, but he still needs a lot of help. Just yesterday though, he made his way all around our coffee table, to the couch, to the side table and the to the recliner without falling or needing any guidance (other than mom getting on her hands and knees and saying, "I'm going to get you!").

Here are a few pictures of his adventurous journey