Our budding artist

When we were with Uncle Mikey & Auntie Meghan, I got to try something new. I'm not so sure what I think about it, but here are some pictures...

I'm all ready...where's the action?!?!

What are all those spots?

EWWWW...it makes my hands all sticky.

Okay, so its not that bad, atleast not yet.

So, I'm not so happy here, but can you blame me? The paint was cold, wet and sticky. And they weren't letting me do what I wanted to do.

Luckily, Mommy stepped in to give me some pointers.

Ahh...this is much better. Now I can really get to work.

Wow, look at it now.

You want an action shot, Uncle Mikey? OK

Okay, so thats enough. I'm DONE!

Hey, why are you all laughing? How else am I supposed to get to the whole painting?

Side note: Paint does not go in the mouth and it DEFINITELY doesn't taste good!

Vacation Pre-Aaron

WOW, how time flies! Its hard to believe that it has already been 3 weeks since Noah and I stepped off the plane into the land of blue skies and mountains:)

We have kept very busy seeing friends and family, but I enjoyed every moment. Its just hard to think its over...until next time!

We started the first weekend with a first ever night for me away from Noah. My parents watched Noah while I attended Mary's bachelorette party. We had so much fun! It was a great night of girl time and relaxation. And I wasn't worried a bit about Noah! (aren't you impressed?!?) Then Noah and I went and spent the night with my little brother Mikey and his wife, Meghan. We enjoyed watching Noah try something new (which you will see in a post further down).

It seemed that during the last 3 weeks, Noah has grown up so much! He started really walking all over and words were coming out all over the place. I love watching his enthusiasm for everything and wanting to be involved in it all:):) I also loved watching everyone, my parents in particular, as they interacted with Noah. It is those moments that make it really hard to be so far away from our families. But I also wouldn't trade where God has placed us for anything. All I can say is that God has blessed us so richly!!

It was definitely hard being a single parent and this week was a great reminder of how involved Aaron really is in every area with Noah.

Below are pictures of our adventures before Aaron joined us...

Noni was such a HUGE help with Noah. Thank you Noni and Papa for enduring the hardship of watching Noah so much for us!:)

Poppi makes a great playmate!

Noah is explaining to Poppi exactly what a car sounds like:)

Noah and I spent a night with Lolli, Poppi, Aunt Carol and Uncle Flip-Flop before Lolli and Poppi left on their own trip. We enjoyed some great Mexican train:)

The table we played on was cracking me up because is was so tall, you could barelt see Noah over the top:)

Noah made sure Uncle Flip-Flop chose his tiles to be played:)

Noah was often the focus of attention at my parents house. He has so many funny antics that you can't help but laugh at him.

Noah discovered Papa's desk this trip and there were many times we would find Noah digging through Papa's drawers on his tippy toes trying to find all the fun toys Papa keeps in there.

Side note: Funny story: I WISH I had a picture to go with this story, but I just have to tell you. My parents have a piano that Noah is enthralled with. He would often go walking or crawling off in the direction of the piano. One day, after hearing him playing on the piano, the house got VERY quiet. And of course, when things are quiet, it can only mean trouble! I went looking for Noah and couldn't find him anywhere. I walked into the living room, where the piano was thinking I would find him in there. I couldn't see him, but I definitely heard him. WHERE COULD HE BE?!?!?! Finally, the mystery was solved when I heard his little head bump the top of the coffee table that he was stuck under. He had crawled under and couldn't figure out how to get back out:) Needless to say, he didn't make the same mistake twice-he didn't go under there again:) Spending time with a favorite friend, Steph!

I put some overalls on Noah one day and after playing for a while, I went to check on him. I laughed hysterically upon finding him like this. Somehow, he found his way out of his pants and decided it was fun to play in just his shirt:)

Time with Uncle Mikey & Auntie Meghan

Noah loved the magnets Uncle Mikey & Auntie Meghan kept on the fridge.

Uncle Mikey has a collection of laptops that he is hoping to piece together to make a workable computer, but he was generous enough to let Noah play with one for the evening...I'm guessing its going to be a while before Noah really knows what to do with it:)

My goofy brother:)...and his adorable wife

Noah and the Babydoll

For those of you that have been to our house, you will know that there are NO baby dolls at our house:) I was very surpised when Noah discovered this baby at my parents house. I think he is going to make a great big brother some day...he immediately rocked the baby, kissed it, and patted its back. Who knew?!?

Bonding time with Papa

Papa had many great ways to lean Noah in his direction:) One in particular was crackers. Noni & Papa have a jar of crackers they keep out on the counter and I would often find Noah and Papa sharing in a couple crackers.

Just a couple of buddies:)

Noah also loved to watch Papa build a fire and wanted to be included.

Noah in his swing...

We were organizing downstairs and finally decided to pack this away for a while. Noah found it on one of his journeys and decided to test drive it again and see how his Rhino liked it:)

Noah is taking good care of Lionel, his Rhino

This is from when Noah was a month old...check out the difference a year makes!!

New Discoveries

So, I can't attach any pictures right now, but I thought I'd atleast keep you all up to date on what we're doing. Bear with me, this is kind of long, but there is so much to tell you! Noah and I flew to CO last Wednesday and thankfully we had good flights. The flights themselves were so smooth, and I had a very small amount of time in between my flights, which was nice. Noah was great through most of it and through the 3 1/2 hours we were in flight, he only cried for 45 min!!! And thankfully, the flight he cried that much for was a flight that I was in a row by myself and had a baby in the row behind and in front of me! It makes it easier knowing that they understand:) He is showing us more and more that he is learning and taking in. It just amazes me to think that such a little person can already comprehend so much! Uncle Danny tried to disguise a piece of apple with bread, since Noah will not each fresh fruit or veggies. After stuffing it in his mouth and discovering what Uncle Danny had done, he pulled the apple back out and tried to hand it back to Uncle Danny while telling him that it was an apple. All of our mouths dropped open! Did he really just say apple?!?! He also yelled at Uncle Phil when Uncle Phil was joking with me...I told Phil not to mess with the mama and Noah promptly said "no no mama" while looking Phil. I guess he told him:) He has also been walking everywhere! It is fun to see him with this new independence! He looks a little like Frankenstein since the arms are straight out, but thats what makes it more cute! We have been keeping busy, but like the little boy he has always been, he is just going with the flow. He has really attached himself to his papa. He will often shout at papa until my Dad looks his way and then Noah will just grin:) The greatest accomplishment this week has by far been the fact that he can finally sign Please without crying and screaming. Right before we came to CO, we began working with him on signing please and he was not happy. There were 2 nights where he sat for 45 min. screaming at the top of his lungs while we waited for him to say please for something. After those 2 times, Noah decided he wanted nothing to do with the sign and would immediately start crying if I asked him to say please for something. So, Noni has been working with him since we got here and he can finally sign it without getting upset!!!! PRAISE GOD! It may seem like such a small thing, but after hearing him scream everytime the word Please was mentioned, this is a huge step! He is even signing on his own when he really wants something:) So on to Thank you:) Hopefully it won't be as big of an ordeal as Please has been:) It has been so much fun watching Noah's little brain start clicking on how things in his world work, or cause and effect of the life around him. He is constantly amazing me and I can't help but thank my heavenly Father for a wonderful little boy with an amazing brain! The way God has designed our bodies and how we grow is nothing short of a miracle! Thank you Lord, for the blessing of Noah.

Towers, animals and Laundry baskets, OH MY!

This is one of Noah's favorite things when we play together. He loves the blocks. Anytime anyone tries to build a tower, Noah is right there to knock it down. Someday soon we'll have to teach him that that is not the best way to make friends:)

Daddy is teaching Noah about the animals.

My little ham:)

Coming in to give Momma a kiss (why do you suppose baby's think that when you kiss someone, you have your mouth WIDE open?!?!)

3 Steps to making your laundry go away...

Step 1: Leave laundry basket somewhere in plain sight for the Noah.

Step 2: Noah uses the laundry basket to help him stand up.

Step 3: Watch that laundry basket disappear!

He's on the move!

Look out! He's on the move!!! Noah wanted to show you all an update of where he is on his progress of learning to walk:) (he also thought he'd show you what his temper-tantrum looks like:))

Movie time!!

This first video is of Noah standing at the top of our stairs. He does this quite frequently!

The next video is of Noah dancing! He hasn't done it this way very often, but it sure was cute when he did it:)

Swing, batter, batter, swing! This one's for Uncle J & Auntie Mary!

Noah's little quirks

We are beginning to see the REAL Noah coming through more and more. We had a battle of wills this week and we know its just the beginning. (Please give us strength, Lord!) And he clearly shows us when he does or does not want something. Below are some pics from our previous week. He is starting to walk more and more. And of course, blanket must come with!

Hello!?!?! Phones are his very favorite and he has a VERY hard time when you won't give him your REAL phone.:)

I love this smile!

Helping me fold laundry. He is becoming more and more clingy. I enjoy it sometimes, but when I'm trying to get things done, it makes things that much harder. So I am becoming creative in ways to incorporate him into what I'm doing.

Bowen is a great play buddy!