Constant Change

I feel as though I have been slacking when it comes to the blog. We have been enjoying some much needed family time at home! YEA! Aaron has finally been grounded, so its been really nice to know he won't be traveling anytime soon!

Noah has become such a fun, outgoing, growing, changing little boy. Its hard to believe he is about to turn 2!!! He is very communicative-I actually think he uses up the daily allotment in the first 10 minutes he's awake! But I love that I can understand him and he is definitely getting his points across...over and over and over again! He has a sudden fascination with light switches, his new hot wheels "trah truh" (trash truck-it goes every where!), guac-mole (from Chipotle, of course!), and books. We are working on his demandingness in that he trys to tell you what to do...i.e. telling me to read a book at the same time as he is and when I don't turn the pages in my own book fast enough..."turn page, Mama" and if I'm still not fast enough for him, he'll reach over and turn the page himself!

I'm forever finding myself in the dark, with the door shut and everything closed up while he goes around the house "taking care of it for me"!

He has such a good memory too! Last night, I told him we would give him his dessert (dates) when we went out to run our errands but he would have to wait until we got to the store. I jokingly told him to remind Mama and Daddy so they wouldn't forget and sure enough, we pull into the parking lot, get out of the car and before we've even made it into the store..."Mama, dates!!" YIKES, thats scary! What else is he remembering?!?!?

Making sure Daddy is getting his quota of reading for the week.

Noah's showing you his "trah truh" (trash truck)

We are full blown into project mode over here...(thank goodness, that nesting feeling was starting to get pretty bad!) Aaron finished up organizing his garage last weekend so the work on the guestroom/office downstairs can begin. We finished cleaning out the room at the beginning of the week and were finally ready to paint Wednesday night. I love the color. I love painting because you can see an instant change! I love seeing my envisionments come to life on the wall.

So below are the 'before' pics of the rooms...and you'll just have to wait for the 'after' photos until the rooms are completed:)

The 'before' pic of what is currently the office/guestroom and what will soon by Poohba's room:) (and yes, it is definitely messier than normal as we prepare to make the switch)

Pics of the 'before' guestroom/office downstairs-a clean slate!

Pregnancy #2 is going so smoothly that there are moments I forget I'm even pregnant. And then I have to get up off the floor, or Noah runs into my belly and I remember all over again:) This little boy is a kicker. Noah was definitely a stretcher. I used to joke that he did yoga in my belly. Well, then this one must be practicing karate!

When we ask Noah where baby brother is, he points of my belly and then promptly points to Daddy's belly too!! Uh-oh...maybe that one isn't so clear to him yet:)

I'm starting to really envision this next little one and I have to tell you, I'm pretty excited. I know it will be a lot of work. I know I will have more moments of exhaustion than I can count. But holding that little bundle, a combination of what Aaron and I are together-okay, so Aaron hogs more of the looks department than I do:)-just sounds wonderful! And I can't wait until these 2 little boys start playing together. Noah will make a great big brother and I can't wait to see him in that role as Poohba's protector, guide and friend.

Whew! I think that's all!!! Hope you enjoyed the super-long, very late update:)

Tag-I'm it...

Okay, so I have been tagged by Christine and I thought it would be fun to try it out. Surprisingly, this was harder for me than I initially thought it would be.

Here are the rules:

Tell everyone three things you like about yourself.

Tag three people to play along.

Go on in peace.

So here are the 3 things I like about myself:

1. I'm organized and clean-to a fault. My house is always ready for company, I know where to find anything and it I love that clean feeling I get when I get something organized.

2. I'm flexible (no, not the bendy type...the no matter what I'm doing, I'll have some fun type). It doesn't take much to relax, enjoy myself and when things change, I can roll with the punches.

3. My devotion and loyalty to God, my family and friends. I am always looking for ways to grow and improve so that I might bring more glory to God in each of these areas.

And now to the fun...the three people I tag are:

Sarah

Steph

Kristin

RIBBIT!!!!

Hi there! I told Mommy I wanted to show you all what animal I got to be yesterday...can you guess? I like to be silly with Daddy! Here we are all ready to go trick-or-treating.

Its pretty crazy...you walk up to strange houses and strange people (even though Mommy tells me not to every other time) and they give you candy!! What could be better than tons of candy!?!?!

But don't worry, I'll share some with Mommy and Daddy.

After we went around to all the houses, we went and had dinner with Pat and Lori. They're our neighbors and really good friends. We even got to have pizza!!!

(Mommy side notes: Noah did so well...he would even say trick-or-treat at every house we went to but often he was so quiet, they didn't hear him! Several times, we would stop and talk and while the adults were busy, Noah would be in the background filling up his little pumpkin!! He actually walked the whole circle around our neighborhood and had a lot of fun. The weather made it a perfect evening of family fun!)

And of course, I wanted to show you what Mommy and I did today...I can't wait to jump in the big pile we make!!!

(Mommy side note: WHEW! Let me tell you how much more tiring it is to rake leaves when you're pregnant! I'll have no trouble sleeping tonight...thank goodness for my little helper!)

Hide and Seek

Where did Noah go??!?!?! (he really thought he was hiding here!)

Oh, wait...there he is!!!

And here's a where's Waldo...I mean...where's Noah for you:

He loved it when I piled the clothes on him fresh out of the dryer...now we just need to work on folding them and putting them away!!:)

Mr. Fishlips

And did you know this was the latest fashion...apparently it is:) (don't they make his feet look really little?)

Now & Then

One month old

23 months old!! WOW! What a difference! (and while it may look like it, I really haven't used the fake tanning stuff on him...he just holds that tan color really well, lucky duck!!)

My silly little boy:)

Noah has been growing and changing so much recently! He is talking more than ever and putting more words together, to the point where he is really communicating his wants, needs and anything else that runs through his mind. I'm also more aware than ever of what I say since every time I'm on the phone, he is in the background repeating everything I say!!

Just last night, we were going to have dessert with some friends and he could not understand why he had to wait for dessert...he was crying and kept saying "apple pie" over and over and over again. Apparently delayed gratification hasn't sunk in yet!:)

And I wish I would have gotten a picture of this...but I'll just have to explain it.

I was working in the office while Noah was at the kitchen table playing with his cars. It was pretty quiet, but I didn't think much of it at first. I decided after some time that I should probably go check on him and sure enough...he was standing on a kitchen chair, practically laying on the table to reach the candy corn. He was stuffing them into his mouth as fast as his little fingers would allow and by the time I found him, his little cheeks looked like a chipmunks cheeks! Needless to say, the candy corn has been moved, some discipline was given and he spent the next 15 minutes trying to chew it all up!

And finally...gone are my days of security! Just this morning, Noah proved he can open our locked front door!!! YIKES! Looks like we'll be making a run to the store tonight to find someway to keep Mr. Clever from escaping into the great unknowns!

Baby # 2

As I'm sure many of you know by now...we know this next baby's gender. I spent a lot of time agonizing over whether we should find out or not. In the end, I decided that Aaron did things my way the first time, so we should do things his way this time. And it didn't hurt to know so we could know which way to make the baby bedding.:)

At the ultrasound, the technician was very thorough and even explained that where you might find problems, our baby was healthy and growing very well. We decided that she would write the baby's gender on a card and we would open it later together. I know that may sound a little weird, but it made it more intimate and fun. We opened it the next night at dinner with friends.

So, for those of you who don't know, and for the blogs scrapbooking purposes, Noah is going to reveal the baby's gender...if I can hold him down long enough to say it:)

Trip to see Grandma GG

We just got back from taking a trip to see my grandma in Arizona. We had so much fun and it was nice to introduce Aaron and Noah to Grandma. I know Grandma had a lot of fun too...she kept talking about hiding Noah when it came time for us to leave. Thank goodness we kept Noah in our sights the whole time, I don't know what I would have done if she would have kept him:) We spent the weekend relaxing, enjoying some quality time together, eating some great food and even finding some time to play too. Here are the pics from our weekend...

3 generations

I love my little boy!!!

No one I know is sillier than this little boy:)

It was a little strange seeing so many cactuses...cacti?!?!

So, go figure...it was warmer in Indiana than it was in Arizona!!?!?!!

Goofing around with Grandma

The 2 men of my life:)

And who knew...even Daddy's can be silly

See any family resemblence?

What a happy group!

Indianapolis Zoo in Sept with Aaron's family

I was pulling some pictures off of Aaron's camera from our trip to AZ and saw some from way back when...Labor Day with Aaron's brothers and sister-in-law. So here's a blast to the past (atleast a few months:)) We took a trip to Indianapolis and visited their zoo...

...who knew seals could be snobby!

Checking out the Lions, and hear the Noah roar!

The world is definitely a better place from Uncle Flip-Flop's shoulders

And what could be cooler than getting so close to a shark. You could even pet them!

This picture cracks me up! This is Uncle J & Auntie Mary's dog, Reese. These two had some moments of real bonding. They were barking and growling at each other, fighting over toys and this dog pillow:) They were the best of buddies...and I still hear Noah talking about Reese the dog and reminding me how she barks!:)

Busyness

Whew! We are finally done with our travels for a while! Atleast Noah and I are! We have had a busy couple of months, but hopefully life will start to settle down to our normal routine again!

We arrived home from Colorado at the end of Sept and Aaron arrived a day later, sick! He had strep! So, while he was unfortunately sick, it actually was nice because Aaron didn't go into work for the rest of the week. We enjoyed some nice family time, even if we did have to maintain a distance from Daddy.

Then last weekend we went to spend some time with my grandma. It was a fun time and Noah had a blast, enjoying all the attention from all the elderly people living in grandma's complex. He is definitely Mr. Social, but we did have to remind him not to slap their hands, that they need a more delicate pat...didn't work so well:) Grandma repeatedly told Noah that she would be hiding him when it was time for us to leave...but something tells me she wouldn't have been able to keep up with this little boy for very long!

Noah is getting to be more communicative and more of a parrot all the time. He is constantly saying what I just said and just yesterday, as we were driving around, I pointed out an ambulance to him asking him if he say it and he replied, "yes, mama" (twice!)

Playing with Daddy from a distance:( during Daddy's strep days at home...

Watching a movie together:)

Chief No Clothes with an important message...

Noah is always trying new things. He found these goggles in the hall closet and wanted to try them on...now he wants to wear them all the time!

And of course, the start of fall is here...the slippers have emerged!!

Okay, Mama...I'm done taking pictures now...I'm going to play! (this picture makes him look so big!!!)

Vacation to see Family & Friends, part 1

Vacation; Part 1~ We had such a good time on vacation, but we did so much, its hard to remember it all. Aaron could only be with us for the first week and then it was just Noah and I. The time with Aaron there, we really didn't see him. Between work and golf and friends, he kept himself pretty busy. Noah and I tried to take it a little slower. Being pregnant puts a whole different spin on things. We were able to see lots of people, spend some quality time with family, enjoy all my favorite foods and spend LOTS of time drooling over Papa's go-go (motorcycle). The first week after Aaron left, we hung out with friends, spent the days at my parents house and enjoyed just being in Colorado. The second week, my mom took the week off of work and we worked on projects. We were able to get a lot done-including organizing my parents pantry, shopping for presents, and working on stuff for the new baby's room. I found a baby set on ebay that I liked so we bought that and decided to make the missing pieces for the room ourselves. The lady that sold us the set had made the bumper, bedskirt, comforter and a floor blanket. So my mom and I made the curtain, diaper stacker and recovered the mobile so that it matches the rest of the room. The trip home was relatively smooth, thank goodness! This was the first trip I had been on where I had both seats to myself for both flights. The Lord knew I would need the extra space to spread out and give both children PLENTY of room:) I was wondering how I was going to make it work with my big belly, a small confined space and an active and overly tired toddler. He slept the whole first flight and the time in the airport was spent on the train that went from one end to the other while Noah serenaded our fellow travelers with various sound levels of the phrase "Moe choo-choo". Needless to say, Noah is definitely not my shy child!!!!! The second flight consisted of Noah insisting on "own seat" the whole time while trying to see how far his cars would fly when launched and oogling over a couple of motorcycle sale magazines. All in all, we made it home in one piece without any major catastrophes. Below are the pics from the beginning of our time there:

Noah's always thinking up new ways to use various items...Something tells me the security person who opened this suitcase would be in for quite a surprise:):)

Cuddling with Papa

And of course, what better way to watch the news with Papa than all bundled up and warm!!!

Like Papa, like Noah.

Noah and his go-go (motorcycle)-"faster, Uncle Danny, faster!"

My little boy shrunk!!!

Noah gets his focus and deep thinking from not only his daddy, but Uncle J too.

Like father, like son! Everytime we take a picture now, this is the face we get out of Noah. Its like he's sucking in air while opening his mouth as wide as it will go.

Okay, now I can love on my Daddy...

Miss Steph and I had so much fun on the trampoline together.

How much weight can Uncle Robb handle?

My old biblestudy group got together again and Evan is a month younger than Noah. They had so much fun playing together.