Weekend with Megan & Bowser

As I mentioned the other day, my youngest sister, Megan, decided to make a quick trip to Fort Worth to visit us last weekend, and we had so much fun. After getting lost, she (and her puppy Bowser) finally made it around 8pm on Friday evening. I gave her directions, but it was dark outside, so she missed the street she was supposed to turn on. But I don't blame Megan for getting lost; I would have gotten lost too if I didn't live here. I am horrible at following directions, and I'm worse at giving them.

Anyway, once she got to our apartment Noah, Einstein, and I met her and Bowser downstairs to let the dogs run around and chase each other for a little bit. We were hoping to they would get some of their "Oh my gosh it's another dog!" energy out. It worked for Einstein, but I'm not sure it's possible to wear Bowser out. Not only is he a puppy, but he has terrier energy in him. He sure is cute though. Noah loved watching Einstein and Bowser play. He thought it was so funny. Any time Noah sees another dog playing with Einstein, he just laughs and laughs.



After we watched the dogs play for a while, we decided to grab something to eat. We went to Genghis Grill, and it was good, but not 16 dollars good. Remind me to never go there again at dinner-time. But we had a great time, and Megan and I had a chance to catch up and talk about everything (one thing girls do best). Once we got home we gave Noah a bath and got him to bed, and then we sat down to watch a chick-flick. Ha. Trying to watch a movie with two crazy maniac dogs running around was impossible. We finally had to put the the ADHD dog (bowser) in his cage because he and Einstein would. not. stop. Oh, and did I mention Bowser hiked his leg twice on my beautiful curtains!? I do not miss the puppy stage at all. But Megan and her boyfriend, Cory, are doing a really great job training Bowser. You can tell he is learning, and for the most part he obeys very well. Bowser is their baby. I asked Megan, "What would happen if you guys broke up for good?" She replied, "Well, we decided on joint custody. He would go back and forth between the two of us." I laughed so hard.

Saturday morning was wonderful because we both got to sleep in. Well, I got up with Noah for a few hours in the morning, but then laid back down while Noah took his morning nap. Josh was home with us for a little while before he had to go into work, so we all decided to go eat some Mexican food. After we finished eating Josh had to go to work, so Megan and I decided to go shopping!

I had an outfit for Noah that I needed to exchange for a bigger size, so we went to Grapevine Mills mall. Josh gave me directions to the mall, and I felt pretty confident that I knew where I was going, but apparently I didn't because we got lost. Well kinda. We just had to turn around because I took the wrong exit. I told you I'm horrible at directions! We finally made it to the mall, and we shopped til we dropped. Noah was such a good baby as always. He got a little cranky, but I think it was because he was hungry and his teeth were hurting. He has had a pretty tough time with these two or three teeth coming in. Poor baby.

Guess what we found for Noah?! Two new pairs of shoes. Yay!

They are really cute on him, but I think we're going to have to buy him a pair of those shoes made for beginning walkers because Noah doesn't seem to want to take any steps with these shoes on. But both pairs are big enough for him to grow into once he gets the hang of walking. We looked all over the mall for shoes for Noah. After going into several shoe stores and finding nothing, we went into Payless, and of course we found a bunch to choose from. Megan found a pair she liked (and she was determined that we get them), and I found a different pair that I liked. We went back and forth on which shoes to get, and just like any woman who can't make up her mind, I got both! But that is all the shopping damage I did for the day, so really, I did pretty good. Here are a few pictures of Noah and Megan at the mall. I love Noah's expressions at the end of the slideshow like, "Are we done yet?"

Megan, thanks again for coming to see us! We need to have another girls' (and Noah) weekend soon!

Carmel Apple Cider & 2 Bottomless Pits

I have been lovin' the Fall weather we have had lately. This season is definitely one of my favorites. I can't believe how cold it has been last night and today. Brrr! Great snuggling weather, right? Sadly I don't have a snuggle partner tonight. Josh is working and sweet little Noah is sound asleep. Sniff Sniff.

I'm so tired. For the past thirty minutes, I've been sitting here at the computer fighting the urge to just go ahead and jump in bed, but I'm afraid if I do then I'll be wide awake at 2 am. So I'm resisting, and I'm staying put at the computer. Well at least for another 30 minutes.

Tonight I came across a recipe for caramel apple cider. Ohhh yummo! My favorite! I think one of my favorite things about the chilly fall weather is having a cup of warm apple cider in hand.

Seriously, my mouth is watering. I wish I had all of the ingredients to make some because I sure could use a cup to warm me up. I haven't made this recipe myself, but it sure sounds tasty, so if you want to try it out click here.

I think that is all I have tonight. I know, boo! But I promise I'll be back soon. I've gotta hop in bed now. I'm not only tired, but I'm freeeezzzing cold.

Wait, I lied. I do have a picture for you. And it's pretty darn funny. Let me give you a little back ground information first. Anytime I sit down to eat, I immediately have four eyes staring at me. That's right: Noah and Einstein. I always knew Einstein was a bottomless pit, but I'm starting to think Noah is too. Haha. Anyway, so the other night I sat down with my dinner and as always I had four eyes glued on me. Then all of a sudden Noah looks at Einstein, and does this:

"Einstein, back off! There is not enough for the both of us."

I love this picture. Makes me laugh every time I look at it. They are so funny!

Goodnight.

After 15 Minutes of Trying to Think of a Title, I Got Nothing

We are about to have a storm blow in, and I am loving it! I am so thankful for the rain, and I've missed it the past couple of days. But I am also very thankful for the perfect sunny day we had last Tuesday: perfect weather to go to pumpkin patch.

What a great day we had together as a family today. Josh didn't have to work! Yippy. He got to be home with us, so after church we did nothing but rest and watch the Cowboys play (or Josh and Noah did). I was actually in a "spring" cleaning mood while Josh and Noah vegged. Actually, cleaning wasn't in my plans for the day, but something happened that forced me to get in a cleaning mood.

I'll start from the beginning. After lunch, Josh headed back to the church for afternoon Bible study, while Noah and I went home for a nap. Noah was such a tired little guy, but I managed to keep him awake for half of the trip home. When we got home, I somehow got him out of his carseat and carried him up to his room without waking him. Whew! I was going to get to take a little nap myself! But first I had to take Einstein out to go potty.

After Einstein did his business, we came upstairs, and I gave him a treat. Nap time, finally! I walked in my bedroom, but as I did, I heard a sound coming from the bathroom. It sounded like water was running either in the sink or shower. I decided I'd better check it, so I looked in and saw the shower curtain closed and the light on. I freaked out for a minute. I thought someone was in our house taking a shower. But then I looked a little more closely and saw the noise was coming from the toilet.

The toilet was overflowing, and there was already about an inch of water covering the entire bathroom floor. It was safe to say at that point I would not be getting a nap, and I was not very happy about it. I grabbed as many towels as I could find, clean or dirty, and laid them down on the bathroom floor hoping I could get some of the water up. Unsuccessful. Now I just had an inch thick of water on the ground with a bunch of completely soaked towels. To make a long story short, I got the mop, and after about an hour of mopping up the water I had the floor pretty much dry. Definitely not how I wanted to spend my Sunday afternoon. But it's not all bad because, strangely, the overflowed toilet got me in the mood to clean. Weird how that happens. Despite the toilet ordeal, we had a wonderful day together as a family.

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This weekend my sister Megan came to visit us, and we had such a great time. Josh had to work most of the weekend, so it was basically a weekend full of shopping, chick-flicks, eating, and playing with Noah and the dogs. Notice the word dogs is plural. Megan brought her crazy puppy, Bowser, along for the weekend, and it was non stop play around our apartment. Einstein could barely keep his eyes open today he was so tired. I'll post more of the weekend details (we made a MAJOR purchase for Noah) soon, because I'm super tired tonight. Thank you Meggie Mouse for coming to see us this weekend! But since it's a sin to post without pictures, I'll leave you with one of Noah and Megan.

Apple Sauce & A Spoon

Do we have some news for you! Guess what Mr. Noah is learning to do? I'm happy (and sad) to announce Noah is learning to feed himself with a spoon. I love this video of him; it's so sweet! Watch.



Can you believe it? I sure can't! One morning while Noah was eating breakfast, I decided to give him some apple sauce with a spoon to see what he would do with it. To my surprise he picked up the spoon and started feeding himself! I guess I was taken back because this was our first time to practice. Way to go Noah! I'm thinking feeding time is going to get a little bit more messy now, but practice makes perfect, right? I'm so proud of you Noah. You are growing by leaps and bounds. Will you slow down a little bit for Mommy?

Oh and a little update on walking. This past Sunday guess how many steps Noah took?! Like 4 or 5! I lost count because I was so excited he kept walking without plopping down on his bottom. He is getting so much closer every day. Maybe we will have a walking Mickey Mouse at the end of this month? We shall see.

Have a wonderful day!

Our Pumpkin Patch Adventure

Guess where we went yesterday? We went to the pumpkin patch, and we had so much fun! We have wanted to go for a while, but the past week or two it has been rainy and cold, so we waited for a perfect sunshiny day. The weather was great yesterday. It was a little windy, but it was warm and perfect for playing at the pumpkin patch.

Being new to the area, we weren't sure where to find a good pumpkin patch. We knew there would be tons to choose from, but thanks to a couple of recommendations, we found The Pumpkin Patch in Flower Mound, Texas. Flower Mound is about 45 minutes from where we live, but it was totally worth the trip. It was the best pumpkin patch we've ever been to. Of course, it would be, since our options in Amarillo have always been limited to a small pumpkin patch along Bell street. Actually, the place we always went in Amarillo was a decent little pumpkin patch, and whether we go in Amarillo or in Flower Mound, the best part of the whole trip is the time we spend together as a family.

Going to the pumpkin patch last year was really special because it was our first year to go as a family. Noah was about two months old at the time, and again, it's so hard to believe he was that little this same time last year. Oh, how he has grown! Last year we bought four pumpkins, two big ones for me and Josh to carve, and two little ones for Noah and Einstein. I love looking back at old pictures. Here are a few from last years pumpkin patch adventure.

Our carved pumpkins crack me up. Mine was the silly one-eyed monster and Josh's was the nerd pumpkin. I have to say we did do a pretty good job on them though.

At the pumpkin patch in Flower Mound there were so many pumpkins to choose from, but we decided to not buy any this year. Yep, I guess we are party poopers. We just decided to wait to carve pumpkins again when Noah is old enough to do it with us. There were so many fun things to do at the pumpkin patch in Flower Mound. There was a huge field full of hundreds of pumpkins, face painting, hay rides, mazes built from bales of hay, a petting zoo (sadly it was closed when we went), and wagons to haul around your pumpkins and/or your little ones. You want to know the best thing about it? It's all free! Well, obviously you have to pay for the pumpkins, but it's totally free to go walk around and enjoy all the fun activities. We had so much fun, and we decided to make it a family tradition to go every year.

Noah was in pumpkin heaven. There were a bunch of activities, but what fascinated Noah the most was the pumpkins. He loved playing with them, and that is pretty much what he did the whole time we were out there. It was fun watching him discover pumpkins. Pumpkins were totally new to him, and he just couldn't get enough of them. It was so cute! I made a slide show because I couldn't pick just a couple of pictures to post on the blog. There were just so many cute ones!

Noah's First Popsicle

There was no getting out of it. Our fridge and pantry were pretty much empty, so a trip to Walmart tonight was a must. Most of the time I don't mind going grocery shopping, but tonight, I just plain didn't want to go. But at least I had the sweet company of Noah. He was such a good baby. Seriously, when is he not? I had quite a long list of things to buy, but he was so patient and happy the whole time we were at Walmart. While we were there, we were walking down the frozen foods aisle, and the popsicles caught my eye. I decided to grab a box and let Noah have his first popsicle tonight. It was very, I mean veeerrrryyy messy, but it was worth it because Noah enjoyed every bite of it, and it was fun to watch him eat it too.

"Hmmm. How do you eat this thing?"

"Mom, seriously, do you have to take so many pictures?"

"I know I dropped a few pieces down there somewhere."

Sugar rush!

I bet you can guess where I put him right after he finished his Popsicle? Yep. He went straight to the bathtub. He was so sticky! Speaking of the bathtub, Noah loves to take baths. The other night Noah was taking a bath, and he was acting so silly. It was hilarious. And thankfully I had my video camera nearby to video Noah and his funny little mood he was in.

A Walk with the Boys

Lately we have been having a lot of cool, rainy days, and it has been wonderful! But today has been absolutely beautiful with clear skies and a nice cool breeze. So I got the boys together and we took a walk. As much as I have been loving the cool weather, it is nice to have a day like today to get outside for a little bit. Here is a sweet picture of happy little Noah on our walk. Einstein looks pretty happy too!

Hope you are having a great day!

Noah's Halloween Costume

It's hard to believe Noah was 9 weeks old at this time last year. We dressed him up as a chili pepper for Halloween, and after a little searching, I found this:

Awww, melt my heart!! How do they grow up so fast? He was so itty-bitty.

Well this year our little Noah is dressing up as...

Mickey Mouse!



I love his little tail. Haha.

When we were at the mall the other day, we went into the Disney Store to look around. The first thing we noticed when we walked in the store was the Mickey costume, so of course we had to put the ears on Noah. And as soon as we did, it was a done deal. How cute is he?!

So did you guess right?

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This is a little random, but I'm sure you have all heard of the children's book, Where the Wild Things Are, right? I love that book. It was one of my favorite books growing up. And did you hear? They are coming out with a movie of the book tomorrow, and I cannot wait to see it! I'm so excited. I need a date night, so I can drag Josh along with me to see it. Haha. Any volunteers to babysit? Click here if you haven't seen the trailer for the movie. It looks so good.

My Little Cookie Monster

This morning Noah and I got up early. Against all my efforts, this has become our normal routine. Like I've mentioned before I am just not a morning person, and probably never will be. But, I am adjusting, and once I'm up I just love the time Noah and I spend together. This morning while Noah was eating breakfast I decided to pull out my cookie dough and get to work on my practice batch of cookies I'm making for the Fall Festival. I planned on making them a couple of nights ago, but my dough was sticky and unmanageable, so I just decided to wait.

I pulled my dough out of the fridge; it was solid, and from the looks of it, it was ready to be cut with the cookie cutter. I got two cookies cut, and the dough was already sticky and literally impossible to work with. Did I do something wrong? I went through the list of ingredients and measurements one by one in my head, and everything was there. Hmmm. I'm sure glad I decided to practice beforehand, because I would have been one very frustrated girl with nothing but a wad of sticky dough. But since I managed to get two cookies cut, I decided to go ahead and bake and decorate them to practice. Needless to say, when I practiced again this evening, I ended up going with another recipe for the cookies, and it turned out much better. The cookies I made certainly aren't as cute as the little bats in the picture I found, but I thought they turned out pretty cute. Here they are:

I even had a little taste tester to tell me whether they were good or not.

I guess Noah liked it because he was stuffing the whole thing in his mouth. I decided it would be better if he ate the cookie in a few small pieces rather than in one big bite, so I took the cookie away from him, and, Oh. My. Gosh. That was a mistake. He was MAD.

But his frown quickly turned around after I broke the cookie up in a few pieces for him to eat (and no, I didn't give him the whole cookie).

Guess what else Noah did today?! He took two steps on his very own! We have been practicing a lot lately, and I've noticed each day he is becoming much more confident in his ability to stand without support and take those first few steps. It is so exciting and absolutely the most precious thing I've ever seen.

Have you figured out what Noah is going to be for Halloween? You will find out tomorrow! Have a wonderful day!

Noah's Costume & Grapevine Mills Family Outing

I'm not a big fan of Halloween. Nope, not really. But the month of October can be a lot of fun. Some of my favorite things are:

1. Handing out candy to the little ones. I love seeing them all dressed up in their costumes. So cute!

2. Candy! Candy! Candy! Usually during the month of October I gain a few pounds.

3. Picking out the perfect pumpkin to carve.
4. And of course, you can't forget baked pumpkin seeds! Yummy.

Well, today we found Noah the cutest costume. I went back and forth between a monkey and turtle (which were both absolutely adorable), but because I could not find either one for less than $50 (crazy!), we found something just as cute for a much cheaper price. I need to wash it first, but I will post a picture of Noah and his costume soon. I'll give you three clues to see if you can figure it out. Ready?

1. It is a Disney character
2. It's favorite sayings are, "Gosh" "Oh Boy" "That sure is swell" (Have any idea??)
3. It has a dog

If you didn't guess it with those obvious clues you should be ashamed of yourself. I tried to be easy on ya.

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Noah is a growing boy. In fact he has grown so much that he practically had nothing in his closet that fits, except for a few pajamas. It's amazing how fast babies grow! We decided it was time to take Noah to the mall and find him some new clothes, so we went to Grapevine Mills Mall. We have a few malls closer to where we live, but we decided since Noah basically needed a whole new wardrobe we'd probably better go to an outlet mall. We found a lot of great deals, and Noah came home with a bunch of really cute clothes. Here are a few pictures of Noah and Josh at the mall today. We just posed in front of the Rainforest Cafe. We considered eating there until we looked at the prices on the menu! Whoa! Expensive.

Noah was the best baby all day long. He was just so content in his stroller pretty much the whole time we were at the mall. What a sweet sweet baby. We all had so much fun together. I am always so thankful for the days we have together as a family.

Well I better go because I'm making a practice batch of my cookies for the Fall Festival. I'm anxious to see how they are going to turn out. Have a wonderful day!

I Love the Moments

I love...

... the moments when just my presence in Noah's room with a hug around his little body calms his fears when he is crying at night.

... the moments when Noah crawls to me wanting to sit in my lap and we snuggle together for as long as he will let me.

... the moments when Noah comes crawling as fast as he can when he hears me put Einstein's leash on so he can go outside with us.

... the moments when the wind blows in Noah's face and he starts laughing with a huge smile across his face.

... the moments when he crawls in Einstein's (filthy) bed without hesitation to wake Einstein up.

... the moments when he stuffs too many apples or prunes in his mouth because he loves the way they taste, and he looks like a little chipmunk.

... the moments when he pretends to be gagging just to get our attention (he knows it will work every time!)

... the moments when I arrive home after being gone for a while and Noah crawls over to me as fast as he can to meet me.

... the moments when I'm reading to him from his story Bible before bedtime, even though he loses interest as I hold the book in the air as I read to prevent him from tearing out the pages.

... the moments when he puts up a fight to prevent me from brushing his teeth or changing his diaper.

... the moments when I tell him to say, "Mama" and he proceeds to say "Dada" instead.

... the moments when he tries to put his finger in Einstein's nostrils out of curiosity.

... the moments when we put Noah down for a nap and he lies there and talks to himself for 30-45 minutes before he actually falls asleep.

... the moments when he throws every single toy he has out of the bathtub just so he can watch them drop to the ground.

... the moments when I go in his room and find his bottle on the ground after he chunked it over his crib when he was finished with it.

... the moments when he discovers new places to hide such as the dryer or the kitchen cabinets.

... the moments when I go to pick him up after my women's Bible study and I find him conked out in a swing.

... the moments when he thinks it is so funny to push Josh's face away when Josh gets real close to him. That's their little game they play. It's so funny.

... the moments when I lay him down for a nap and he doesn't protest. He just grabs his blankie and lies there calmly until he falls asleep.

... the moments when I look over at Noah while I'm feeding Josh something and Noah has his mouth open like a little birdie wanting to taste whatever Daddy is eating.

... the moments when I am sleeping and Josh brings Noah in to wake me up; Noah is always so excited to wake me up.

... the moments when I tell him to give Mommy a kiss, and he just smiles and leans forward a little bit to let me kiss his sweet face.

... the moments when Noah stuffs down Daddy's "unhealthy" breakfasts like he hasn't eaten for weeks.

... the moments when he throws the ball for Einstein to go catch it.

... the moments when Noah stares at one of us when we are eating (including Einstein) and he starts making a chewing/smacking noise with his mouth.

I don't think I could even come close to listing out all the moments I love about Noah. I can't imagine our lives without him. He brings so much joy, excitement, laughter into our lives, and I praise God for the precious child He has entrusted us with. We are truly blessed.

Mr. Cool Guy and Some Cute Cookies

I have a video I want to show you; it is quite comical.

I love it for two reasons:
1. He just makes me laugh.
2. It captures Noah's response perfectly
when he is not in the mood. (you'll see)

Watch:

Josh said it perfectly in the video, "He has a look on his face like, 'You gotta be kidding me.'" I laugh every time I watch it. Most of the time he copies me and we go back and forth making noises together, but not that day, no sirree. He was determined he was not gonna do it. He sure is a funny little guy.

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In about a week or two our church, New Life Deaf Fellowship, is having a Fall Festival. So I have been searching the past couple of days for some fun cookies to make. I wanted something different. Something a little bit more challenging than just mixing up a prepackaged cookie mix. After a little bit of looking around at different websites I came across the cutest little cookies. But I have a little bit of a problem now that I found some ideas. I can't decide which ones I like better. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions. Here are my choices:

Spider cookies from Bakerella.com. Aren't these cute?

Or... bats from Parents.com! I think they're adorable! I'm actually
leaning more towards these little guys. What do you think?

Well which ever cookies I decide to make, I sure hope they turn out as cute as the ones in the pictures.

Well I better call it a night. I'm doing a little research on the H1N1 vaccine so I can make an informed decision as to whether Noah should get it or not.

Goodnight!

I Can't Think of a Good Title...

...But I do have a good post for you. It's just a little too random to fit under one title.

I was on a roll. For the first few days of this month I posted everyday, but I'm not sure what happened the past three days. I was bragging to Josh the other day telling him I was doing good keeping the blog updated. Psh. I guess I spoke too quickly.

Well... I guess I kind of have an excuse for my absence. I posted a picture of my first diaper cake on Facebook, and not too long after that I got a message from a friend asking me if I could make one for her great nephew. Um, yeah of course I would! I was so excited to have the opportunity to create another one, especially one for a little boy this time.

I have found a new hobby: making diaper cakes! I can't get enough of it! When I am finished with one I'm ready to get started on another. I love decorating and seeing the diaper cake come together. Now every time I'm out somewhere and see something cute I catch myself thinking, "Oh that would be perfect on a diaper cake." Somehow I refrain from spending money, but it's not easy!

Of course you know I can't just go on and on about it without some pictures, right?

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Ah! I just love that little monkey. Isn't it the cutest?

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Speaking of monkeys, I have a little monkey of my own around here. A little monkey that is mischievous and silly! Earlier today I told Josh, "Noah is too quiet. He must be up to no good." And sure enough, look where I found Noah hiding today.

I caught you! His sweet smile sure does make up for his orneriness. He is so funny. I actually couldn't believe he crawled in there all by himself. What a independent little guy.

Guess what else Mr. Noah did today? He took his first step! And both Mommy and Daddy got to see him do it. Yay Noah! I'm thinking it isn't going to be long before he is chasing Einstein around the house. It will be good for Einstein though; he could stand to loose a few pounds.

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Josh was on the computer this afternoon and he yelled at me to come see something. So I walked over to the computer and squealed (no pun intended--you'll see) with giddiness as I laid my eyes on this:

I know one thing for sure: my sister, Megan, is squealing over these "teacup pigs" too. Megan and I love anything that is "teacup." Teacup pugs, pigs; you name it, we like it. Are they not the cutest little piggies you've ever laid your eyes on? I can just imagine Noah swinging that little pig by his curly tail, so for the sake of the pig we better not get one. That, and the fact that they cost a whopping $1,100 each. If you want to read more about them, click here. The article is actually pretty interesting. Apparently they are pretty good pets, but with swine flu going around I'm sure there won't be too many purchased. Haha.

One last thing before I go: would you please lift my grandmother, Gigi, up in prayer. The day before yesterday she fell down a steep flight of stairs, and thankfully has no broken bones or internal injuries, but she is very very sore as you can imagine. Thank you so much!

Have a wonderful night!