Pool party, big helper and bugs

This week has been an interesting week of just hanging out at home. There were a couple of days I wasn't feeling good and trying to rest and take care of one active 1 year old don't really go together. But thankfully I'm feeling much better and still struggling to keep up with said little boy.

We had a pool party last week with a bunch of moms and had a great time. Noah wasn't so sure of the water at first but once he was in for a few minutes he really started to enjoy himself and see this as one giant bath tub. He was splashing and kicking and generally having a ball. I was teaching him to kick his legs and the whole rest of the day, all I heard was "kick, kick, kick!"

Having fun with some of the other boys.

All of us Moms even had a deal going that we all had to go down the slide. After lots of joking, teasing and antogonizing, I got up the guts, went to the slide and said that after I went, all the other moms had to go too! And we all did!!! It was fun to be a kid for just a few seconds.

So, after Noah fell out of the bed, we decided it was time to move it down to the lowest setting. We had to take the mattress out and Noah enjoyed showing us how he sleeps. He also got out his tool box and proceeded to help daddy fix the crib:)

A couple of weeks ago, I mowed the whole yard with Noah in the back pack. Very tiring, but you have to be resourceful as a mom and Noah LOVED it. He tends to lean towards one side though, so he can see the mower. So, Noah finally talked Daddy into letting him ride along for at least a little of the mowing last week.

Our big helper! He wants to be right there helping out all the time:)

Noah ate a bug this week. Yes, you heard me right. He asked me to open his window so he could talk to the outside world. I saw a bug on the sill, but didn't think much of it since he hasn't shown interest in the past and is (supposedly) past the putting everything into the mouth stage. I went back into the office to do some work while he played in his room. A few minutes later, he came out all hunched over and coughing into his hands. I came over to see what was wrong only to see bug guts all over his hands and shirt and mouth. YUCK!!! I guess he got the extra protein he needed!


I walked by his room the other day to see him like this...little daredevil!!! He was so proud of himself.

And finally, a sidenote: when you need to keep a little boy clean...don't give him a crumbly muffin. :)

A quick laugh at my naivety

Funny story:

The town we live in, in fact all the towns around where we live have very few parks. There are none in my area. And I have really wished to have something nearby. One time, I wanted to surprise Aaron with a picnic and we drove around for an hour and a half trying to find something. We finally settled on the pond/island area in the middle of a nearby subdivision.

So, fast forward...I am constantly on the lookout for anything nearby. One day a couple of months ago, I thought I saw a sign for a state park, but didn't have the time to investigate. I finally made some time to go and check it out. Sure enough, it had all of the normal signs you would see for a park...camping, boating, picnicking...so I decided to go in for a look. After a little drive, I was met with a huge gate and fencing all the way around. (what kind of park would do that?!??!)

I turned around, went back out to the entrance and looked at the sign again...it said....

family naturist park!!!!!

Thank goodness for the fencing or I would have gotten the show of my life!

Looks like I'll just have to keep looking.

Bumps, bruises and large shoes

Well, it happened. It actually really happened. I was getting ready this morning and heard a thud and then little Noah whimpers. I run into the room to find he has found a way to climb out of bed and fall to the ground! HE FELL OUT OF THE CRIB!!! I guess its time to move it down to its lowest setting. He is very adventurous and he isn't fazed by much. So, except for a little sore bottom, he managed to walk away unscathed as I'm sure he will many times in the future too. I am really learning to relax and not freak out at all the crazy things he's doing. He was learning to climb up on the couch the other day and every time, he'd kick his little leg all the way up onto the cushion, start to pull himself up and then teeter between actually getting a grip on getting up and falling down again. Luckily, he was pretty good figuring out how to keep pulling himself up.

Mommy got a new pillow and Noah had to try it out to make sure it was a good buy:)

Because of his new "smile" (sucking in while opening his mouth as big as he can), its really hard to get an actual smile. I finally managed to capture one!

Noah is really enjoying trying on all of Daddy's stuff...his hats, shoes, bracelets, and now his necklaces, although he has a new use for them. Add to that the big belly that leads him whereever he goes and he has the making of a little warrior when he walks around with this on his head:)

This outfit made Noah look so old! His shorts are too big, so they are constantly falling down and I finally bought a belt to help keep them up. Needless to say, I think the belt was really holding the belly up:)

Noah has really started to enjoy playing with the play dough. I think he really just likes to squish it between his fingers. (it all ends up in a pile of little pieces)

He came running out the other morning so proud of himself that he had found Daddy's hat and even put it on by himself....he looks like a little model in the picture above!

What a cutie!!!

I'm not sure how much you can see, but Noah gave himself a spike the other day at dinner. He has really enjoyed watching us react as he runs his hands through his hair during any meal.

Playing with his best friend, Bo-Bo

And now he's trying on Mommy's shoes. I sure wish I could attach a noise to this picture. The whole time he is trying to get into the shoes, he is grunting, groaning, sometimes even crying. But it all gets better then minute he finally figures out how to get his little feet in the shoes.

Happy Daddy's, Papa's and Poppi's day!!!

This one little boy started it all...the opportunities to be daddy, Papa and Poppi all began Dec. 4th, 2006 with one certain little boy. And I couldn't have chosen any better examples for Noah of father and grandfather. Each one is dedicated in his love, devotion and training of Noah in the ways a little boy needs to grow.

Aaron-I love how good you are with Noah. How you don't hesitate to include him in whatever you are doing. I am so thankful that I have someone so dedicated to raising an obedient, politeful, kind little boy. Thank you for all your hard work and help. And know that Noah will be calling for you all week long while you're away!!!!

Papa-Noah has so much fun with you! I know he really enjoyed the time we got to spend with you recently and wish we could do it more often. Thank you for showing Noah how to be diligent in whatever he does, your example as a parent and what it means to be a Doerksen:):)

Poppi-You are Noah's ultimate phone buddy! He loves to walk around the house with you on the phone! Thank you for the prized pictures of the back hoes, the love you give Noah and the encouragement you give Aaron and I as parents. May we raise Noah to understand the honor and respect that comes with the last name Langness

We love you Daddy, Papa and Poppi!!

Happy Father's day!

The art of imitation

Noah is obsessed with mowers. And I think he's learning the best techniques from the professional across the street :)

Summer fun

We decided to play in the sprinklers last week with Lai and Bowen. Noah wasn't so sure it was a good idea. He wouldn't go anywhere near the water on his own. So, Mommy helped to enlighten him on why sprinklers are such a great idea on a hot summer day!

I also got my hair cut...pretty short. More short than I really wanted, but I figured if I was going to cut it, I would cut it for a good cause. So I cut it for Pantene's Beautiful Lengths, kind of like Locks of Love, but you only need 8 inches as opposed to the 10 inches for Locks of Love. And so even though it is so short, I really enjoy it. Less maintenance and much cooler!!!

Bowen sure enjoyed the sprinklers!

Noah really did not!

My big helper! He loves to be right in the middle of things helping me out. Sometimes...its just easier to let him get the "work" done:):)

I'll have to save this picture for the future to remind me someday when he is mad at me for making him help around the house that at one point, he WANTED to help:)

Our old stove is out in the garage waiting to go to stove heaven and we took off a knob for something and pretty soon Noah found it. There are some days a dial like this would be nice to have for him:)

How can you resist a face like this?!?!

Aaron and I were cleaning out the garage this weekend and I turned to find Noah totally engrossed in his wagon. He was getting in and out, opening the door, sitting on each seat, bringing rocks in and out...he kept himself completely entertained for quite a while.

This blanket is Noah's first love. He is constantly asking for it, wanting it. And whenever he finally finds it, he has to check to make sure it really is his beloved blanket with a test sleep. Here, he is demonstrating that for you:)

Mr. Personality! When I was growing up, my little brother would wake up and the first thing he would do is put on his cowboy hat and boots. I think Noah is trying to follow in his footsteps:) This morning, when we were picking out Noah's clothes, he saw his hat and insisted that I get it for him. He put it on and actually left it on for quite a while.

We also went strawberry picking yesterday. It was so much fun. Noah had a blast with the 2 other boys that went with us. And at first, he avoided the strawberries but soon started to warm up. Pretty soon, he was handed a piece of strawberry to eat and suddenly he couldn't get enough!!! He kept eating and eating and eating!!! He had strawberry juice all over his face, dripping down his chin, all over his hands, down to his elbows and all over his clothes! It was hysterical! Unfortunately, I couldn't bring the camera (too much for me to keep track of at the same time), but a friend did. When I get the pics from her, I'll post them because they were just too funny! (BTW-for those of you who don't know...Noah does not like fruit! For him to be eating this much fruit was a miracle and I wasn't about to let a couple of stains interfere with his sudden interest!)
Blast from the past!!!

I took this picture yesterday and it reminded me so much of a picture taken not so long ago, okay almost a year and a half (Dec. 2006)...but how alike they are. And really how different! Noah looks HUGE now. (the upper pic is supposed to be in the same direction as the lower pic, but for some reason it will only post it like this, so you'll just have to turn your head:))

Okay, so I found a better pic of Noah in his Tux. This is definitely better than mine, but still not his whole body:) What a cutie!!!

Don't change that channel!!

WAIT!! Don't go anywhere!

If you are here to check out the lastest in the life of Noah and his mommy and daddy...don't change the channel. We're still here. We were just in need of a change. I have been trying to find a new blog background and finally found a site that could actually be applied to my blog. SO...TA DA! What do you think? There are some crazy options out there (who honestly wants a row of beer cans at the bottom, or a picture of Brittany Spears?!?!?) Hopefully this allows my creative side to show while still being fitting for 2 boys:) Hey-I could have had butterflies...

Things have been slowly getting back to normal for us...although we have had a sick little boy. And he is turning into a little whiner when he is sick:) He has had temperatures floating between 100 and 104 since Friday. It finally broke this morning and go figure...its under normal temperature at 96.5! Noah just enjoys keeping me on my toes. He has discovered the word "hold" although it sounds a bit more like "hole" and then reaches up his arms to us. He pretty much did this the whole weekend. My arms have had quite the workout recently.

Our stove broke 4 weeks ago and I have been without one ever since. You never appreciate something until you don't have it anymore! And I defintely didn't give my stove enough credit! Half way through the 4 weeks, we had a new stove delivered only to discover that it was damaged on top. I could have handled a scratch or dent on the side, but a dent on the top with paint missing would really bug me. So, we had to wait an extra couple of weeks to finally get a new one...and it came today!!! Thank goodness!!! Unfortunately, Aaron can't hook it up for a couple of days, so we'll still have to go without it, but knowing that we are so close makes it easier to be patient!

Side note: As I'm typing this out...complaining about my lack of stove...it hit me that I am so spoiled by living in America! I'm sure there are people who go without a stove all the time...or even food. I need to be thankful that we can afford to replace the one that broke! Thank you Lord for this blessing!!

We are enjoying life at a much slower speed. The weather has been beautiful and it has been so much fun having friends so close. I'm really looking forward to a fun summer!

Noah brought this to me one day and wanted to put it on. He wore it the whole afternoon and evening!:)

Playdough was a staple at our house growing up and so of course, it will be a staple in my house. This was our first time making it for Noah and he wasn't quite sure what to think about it. He tried licking it and when he found it to hot (you make it with boiling water) he started blowing on it (see pic below). The faces were so funny, but I think he is finally getting the hang out it and actually enjoying it. (looking at this picture...he is getting so big...sitting on a stool all by himself!)

This was the way Noah felt all weekend...needless to say, we are thankful he is feeling better

Playing with his tools...He's ready to build his first project, Papa!

He LOVES the cars. He could sit in them for hours if we let him.