Odds and Ends

Things have picked up for us significantly. Aaron has been super busy with work and now his trip to Japan. It really hit me this week that this is a lot different than his normal trips. Normally, he's within reach and if something were to happen he could be home in a few hours if necessary. Now, he inaccessible and it feels so far away. I am happy for him and all the new experiences he is gaining. Hopefully someday I can go with him!!!

Things on the home front are good. Surprisingly I have been really busy this week. Which is helpful because it makes the days fly by, but there is so much to still get done! Hopefully I'll manage to finish it all before Aaron's family comes in next week. That I am definitely looking forward to. I love the Labor Day trip with the family here.

Here are a couple of photos from the last week...enjoy

Our good friend and neighbor Lilly. She is moving next week and I know it will be hard for a while until Noah really understands that Lilly isn't just across the street. Whenever he thinks about or sees a horse he sees Lilly because we went to watch her horseback riding lessons. They've been great neighbors, I hate to lose them!

We inherited a swing set a few weeks ago. God is so good! (and all it cost us was the paint!)Because there are no parks close, Noah hasn't had many opportunities to go down the slide or swing. And now we can finally go just outside our door! WAHOO! Before I know it, he'll be running out there on his own to play.

He is quite the character. He has a cowboy hat and found it the other day in his closet. He mashed it down on his head and walked around the house. He loved wearing it! Now we just need to teach him that its supposed to look like a cowboy hat and not a pilgrims hat, we'll be doing good:)

He also acquired a slide this week off of Craigslist (I love that place!) It was a deal I couldn't pass up and Noah has had a blast. I think it will be a great winter toy for him. He wants to drag it around the house though, so that could become a problem. And we've been having a bit of difficulty understanding that it is for sliding down, not running down, jumping off or falling down. I've had a few scares and he's been pretty upset with me since I've had to take it away half way through the day these last 2 days. Hopefully we'll get a day soon where he can play with the slide the whole day:)

Noah the ringbear

What a day-This is a day that will forever be remembered!!! Noah did such a good job!! When it was their turn, Lilly and Noah walked down the aisle. (It was a really long aisle from the clubhouse to the green where they had the chairs all set up.) So, they walked down hand in hand, or should I say run. Lilly was walking so fast that Noah was running to keep up and almost fell several times:)

They got to the end of the chairs and Lilly had to let go of Noah's hand to drop her petals. Noah stayed glued to the very spot where she let go and just stared at all the people. He looked really unsure and I kept trying to call out to him from my place in the front, but he just wasn't listening.

Dahmane (the groom) knelt down and held out the Nutri-grain bar for Noah and called out his name. As soon as Noah saw him, he got this big grin on his face and thrust out the pillow and ran to Dahmane, ready to exchange it for the nutri-grain bar.

Whew! He made it!

Our neighbors Pat & Lori. We had so much fun with them! (and of course, Aaron had to have all the pictures taken out on the t-box of the 10th hole!) Mr. Debonair!

Dancing with his best friend, (and the flower girl) Lilly. He was a big hit with the ladies!

The best part of the night though was definitely the reception! After Dahmane and Calie had their first dance, the DJ opened the dance floor to everyone but no one got up. We had let Noah down to play and all of a sudden, he is grabbing my hand, dragging me to the dance floor! Of course, we were pointed out as being the first couple out there and from that moment, Noah hardly stopped dancing!

He was on the dance floor, dancing his little heart out almost the entire time! He was such a big hit and I joke that the DJ should be adding him to the team since he really got the party started. At one point, all four of us:Me, Aaron, Pat & Lori were all a bit tired, so we sat down to catch our breath. Pretty soon, Noah came over and pulled each of us out of our chairs and back onto the dance floor!!!! I'm not joking! It was the funniest thing!

My little dance star and show stealer!!!

Whew! Had to take a little break Mom!

Aaron and I even snuck in a dance or two...

but most of the time, we were too busy laughing and watching Noah and all of his dance moves.

And then, suddenly, he was tired. So he grabbed his blanket and laid down right next to the dance floor!

But the best part of the night for me...was the cuddling at the end! He slept great that night!!

Blueberries, just like Daddy and friends

We have enjoyed a really quiet week. I think we had better soak it all up while we still can. Things are about to become crazy for the next few months!! Noah has been so much fun and so much of a challenge lately. He is really starting to communicate and understand us, but he is also starting to test us and we are getting full force into the world of discipline. Ughh! I just keep reminding myself that there is a reason and purpose behind all this hard work!:) And parenting has been such a reminder to me of my relationship with God and his role as a parent in my life.

Tomorrow, Noah will be in his second wedding. Hopefully this time, we'll be aware enough to get some pics of Noah in his little tux! Its fun to see him all dressed up, but I'm a little nervous about his role in this wedding. There is the prideful side of me that wants him to be on his best behavior the whole time and do exactly what he needs to do. But all you parents out there know that that is not always the case. And its the times when you are hoping for the best behavior when the temper tantrums always occur! I suppose I should really pray that however Noah acts tomorrow, we can be examples of Godly parents in dealing with him around everyone.

Noah has a love/hate relationship with fruit. He will love them for a while and then not want anymore for a while. He came into his room with me the other day, and then went back to the kitchen and brought back this whole bowl of blueberries! I suppose he's getting all his antioxidants all at one time...no need to spread it out:)

Noah is such a Daddy's boy. I think he brings up Daddy atleast every hour until Aaron comes home from work. So of course, whatever Daddy is doing, Noah needs to be doing too. He wears a bandana around outside just like Daddy and LOVES to wear Daddy's earplugs. Half the time they aren't even on his ears, but he doesn't care.

Noah is really into dipping his food. I have FINALLY figured out that he will eat alot more of the stuff if he can only dip it. Last night, though, he went a little crazy with the pasta sauce...This isn't the end picture, but it gives you an idea...the sauce ends up everywhere and it takes quite a while to clean all the places it ends up!:)

And finally, where would we be without friends! Noah has a buddy in Jake, a frieds 10 year old. They play together so well and Jake really looks out for Noah. They came over to play today and Noah has an obesssion with this go-go (aka motercycle). The only problem is that the battery isn't working right now. But thankfully, (for me!) Jake pushed/pulled him all around the yard. Noah was in 7th heaven!

Noah's addiction

Noah has an addiction...to muffins! He can't get enough of them and its the only thing he wants for breakfast every morning. Anytime I ask him what he wants to eat, he says, "mu-mins"! I suppose there are worse things to be addicted to, but we only have so many more muffins and he really does need to branch out into the food world:)