Happy Turkey Day!

October Beach Trip

So we forgot to mention that for Noah's actual birthday, we took a trip to Canon Beach. It was a beautiful day and the it was actually comfortably warm (I'm talking t-shirt weather). Dad was kind enough to pull the battery out of mom's camera to recharge it before we left. We packed up some snacks and headed out on the road early to let Noah take his nap while we drove. When we got there, it was picture perfect... Right up to the point when we realized that no one bothered to put the battery back in the camera after the charge.

Mom was devastated... I mean, what parent (what crazed photo taking parent, I should say) misses their only child's first birthday.

To make up for the tragedy, we made a second trip in October. Here are some priceless shots of Noah's battle with the sand (needless to say it was not his favorite).

What.... is.... this.... stuff!?


He quickly realized that no means of mobility was going to get him away from this stuff, so he just sat down and cried. But has a cure all solution to tears...



Me also made a trip to the Tillamook Cheese factory. It was a first for mom and Noah but everyone had a blast... I mean what's not to love about tasting great cheese and finishing it off with some delicious ice cream.

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.