Einstein & Noah

See Einstein sleep.
He just looks so peaceful. So content. So relaxed.



But his afternoon naps don't ever last long.

Einstein has grown accustomed to life with a toddler.



Personal space for Einstein no long exists.



But he doesn't mind.



Well, sometimes he doesn't mind.

Einstein puts up with a lot for sure, but you can see why he does:

Melt my heart.

Belly Button

This is what Noah does when I ask him where his belly button is:



He lifts his shirt up, looks down at his belly,
and then sticks his little finger in his belly button.

It is cute. Really cute.

But my favorite is when I catch him
admiring his belly button in front of the oven.
Kind of like this:

I don't think I could ever get tired of watching him do that!
Oh, I just love that little boy!

Night on the Town

For a while I thought dating was a thing of the past, and really it kind of was for the first six months we lived here. Josh and I didn't go on a single date for six whole months! But things have changed; we are dating again, and it sure feels good. Since January we have been on 3 dates {one of those was an overnight date!}, and there is no stopping us now. Date nights are now a luxury, and when we do get to go out together we definitely cherish the time we have together...just the two of us.

A couple weeks ago, my parents came in town for one reason. Well, they actually came for two reasons. Noah is always a reason grandparents come visit. But the main reason they came was so Josh and I could go on a date. An overnight date. 24 hours of dating! Doesn't get better than that, right?

Before we left, we went to Kincaid's with my parents for lunch so we could catch up a little bit. We really enjoyed that time with my parents.

And then we were on our way! Bye-bye sweet Noah. Have fun with Granddad & Mimi!

Downtown Dallas is not a place we often visit, so we thought it would be fun to stay there for the evening. We booked a room at the Magnolia hotel, and loved it! It was a very elegant hotel with a historic feel to it. I think it is one of the older hotels in downtown.

The entry way where the elevators were located. Beautiful.



Our room. It was nice and cozy.

After we dropped our stuff off in our room and settled in, we decided to get out and have some fun! Our first stop was the Bodies Exhibition. Josh wanted to go to the John F. Kennedy museum, so I had to bat my eyelashes and work a little magic on Josh to persuade him to go to Bodies. Of course he couldn't resist my charm, so he gave in. So we decided to walk because it was so beautiful outside, and the exhibit was only only about 10 blocks away. We had a lot of fun walking along the streets of Dallas. Downtown Dallas is completely different than even Downtown Fort Worth. We finally arrived, and I was so so excited. What can I say, I am a nurse. The human body is so amazing!

The Bodies Exhibition was amazing. AMAZING! The depth of knowledge that exists in that building is unreal. The exhibit consists of 20 human cadavers and 260 body parts that have undergone a process called plastination.

The Exhibition allows people to learn about their own bodies and, ultimately, teaches them how to take better care of their health and make positive lifestyle choices. The Exhibition enables them to see and understand the medical conditions friends and family members face in a whole new way – by highlighting pressing health concerns, including obesity, breast cancer, colon cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, ectopic pregnancy, arthritis, osteoporosis and bone fractures. The Exhibition also highlights damage done to organs due to the perils of smoking and dietary excesses. -- Bodies Webpage

We definitely left with a better understanding of the human body; it was very informative. But I think what we gained from it the most is how truly intricate and detailed the human body is. We were left in awe at what an intricate Designer and Creator our awesome God is. If you haven't been to the Bodies Exhibit I encourage you to go! You will not be disappointed.

After we left the Bodies Exhibit, we decided to walk back to the hotel to take advantage of the free happy hour! We thought we would rest our feet, get a Coke, and talk about what we wanted to do next. So we started our 10 block journey back to the hotel. As we were walking we came across the original Spaghetti Warehouse! I had to take a picture. That place is one of our favorites!

Almost immediately after I took the above picture and we started walking again, we were stopped by a street vendor with an armful of roses. He was feisty; there was no stopping this guy. He says to Josh, "Look at this beautiful lady you are with," as he sticks a rose in my hand. "Don't you want your beautiful lady to have some roses?" As soon as Josh starts to say no thanks and tries to take the rose from me to give back to street vendor {apparently I had a death grip on the thing, and Josh said I was smiling like there's no tomorrow}, the guy says, "Give her a kiss! Come on boy. Give your woman a kiss!" At this point, Josh is still trying to get out of it, and he isn't giving me a kiss. Ha. You should have seen the guy. He starts going off on a tangent telling him what a lucky guy he is to have such a beautiful woman... blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... and that he better lay one on me. Josh then realizes he has lost the battle and leans over and plants one on me as the guy says to him, "Just give me whatever you want as a donation for the flowers."

Josh gets his wallet out, and the guy leans in and says, "That'll be $10, sir." And me, well I was just standing there happy as a june bug with my 3 red roses. Did I mention they were beautiful? Anyway, so Josh {unhappily} forks over $10, and we were on our way.

Yeah, we got ripped off. Oh well. It is a funny story to laugh about now.

Our cozy little area where we enjoyed our free Cokes. Isn't it beautiful!? It was just so nice to sit and put our feet up for a bit.

After we relaxed in the hotel for a while, we decided to go to the Butcher Shop Steakhouse for dinner. We had never heard of it before, but we thought we'd give it a try. Apparently you can cook your own steak there, but we decided to let them cook it for us. Anyway, to make a long story short, it was wonderful! We would definitely go back.

We debated whether or not to go to Simply Fondue for dinner, but we decided we would just go for dessert. And oh my, it was yummy! Another place you must try if you are in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

I'm not sure if it was a sugar rush or what, but my crazy husband was cracking me up. At one point he was going all wild with the skewers, he stabbed himself in the hand with it. Haha.

Our amazing dessert. We ordered Reeses Pieces Chocolate fondue to dip our desserts in. The plate was covered in all sorts of wonderful things to dip in our chocolate fondue: strawberries, marshmallows, bananas, brownies, cherries, and rise krispy treats. Yeah, amazing! I think we gained probably 10 pounds from everything we ate that night.

After we stuffed our faces in chocolate, we decided to go see a movie: Alice in Wonderland 3D. We weren't sure if we would like it or not {Johnny Depp is a little kooky}, but we really did enjoy it. We were diggin' our 3D glasses too.

After the movie, we went back to the hotel, put our pj's on, and watched some t.v. and then we were out! We had a busy day.

The next morning we woke up, got dressed, and decided to head over to the J.F.K. Museum. We didn't have much time before we had to get back, so we only got through about half of the museum. So sad. But the parts we did get through were very interesting. We will definitely have to go back through it again.

We had the best time together. It was so nice to spend some quality time alone where we could talk and just enjoy one another. And we did pretty good and only talked about Noah, oh maybe, 20 times total. Ha. We sure did miss the little guy, and we were so happy to see him when we came back.

So far, we are averaging one date a month. Not too bad.

Thank you so much Dad & Mom for taking the time to come down to watch Noah for us. We appreciate it so much!

Serious + Sweet = Noah

I just love this picture of Noah, so I had to post it even though I kind of already posted for the day. But you don't mind do you?



I love this picture because it portrays Noah's personality perfectly. I always wondered when Noah was a tiny little thing what his personality would be like. Well, over the past couple of months, we have really begun to see that little personality emerge.

Noah has a very passive personality. He is cautious around unfamiliar people and places; therefore, he likes to sit back and study his surroundings before jumping into a situation he is unsure of. And often he is very serious when he is doing this. He doesn't have to be the King of the Jungle when he is around other children. He will let the stronger personalities lead, and he is content to follow. Noah has a big heart; he loves to laugh and smile. He can light up a room with his sweet little smile, and I have yet to meet a person who doesn't love this little boy to pieces. He will talk to you and share his heart with you if you will listen. He is the sweetest little boy I've ever met.

Isn't it amazing how God creates each of us with our own personalities, likes/dislikes, talents, and passions? There is no one out there like our little guy. He is his own little self. He is Noah.



p.s. If you haven't read the post Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken, scroll on down. You don't want to miss out on this yummy recipe. Have a great day!

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

It has been a while since I've shared a yummy recipe with you, so I thought tonight would be a good night to do it. For dinner this evening we had Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken, and oh my gracious it was delicious! And healthy too. Oh, and did I mention it is easy, easy, easy to make? Do I have your attention now?

Who else out there loves their crock pot as much as I do? It's a gift from Heaven. A mommy's best friend. Can I get an Amen? But as much as I love my crock pot and could go on and on about how wonderful it is, I don't use mine a whole lot, and that's just crazy! That's going to change for sure.

Anyhow, let's talk about some Santa Fe Chicken. I wasn't sure how this recipe would turn out {you never know when you're cooking a healthy meal if it will taste good}, but I was pleasantly surprised. It had great flavor!



Here is the recipe from Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes:

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken:
Serve over rice with chopped scallions, fresh cilantro, fat free sour cream and reduced fat cheddar. {We ate it on top of white rice and it was so good!}

Servings: 8, Size: 9.85 oz, Prep time: 5 minutes, Weight Watchers Points: 3, Calories: 171.9, Fat: 1.6 g, Fiber: 3.8 g

- 24 oz (1 1/2) lbs chicken breast
- 14.4 oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
- 15 oz can black beans
- 8 oz frozen corn
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro {wow, that stuff is strong when you're cutting it!}
- 14.4 oz can fat free chicken broth
- 3 scallions, chopped
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper {to taste}
- salt to taste

Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in your crock pot. Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning. Serve over rice {extra points}.

Mr. Noah loved it! I was so happy to see the little guy dig into it the way he did. And he even fed himself with the new fork I got him! I am so proud of him.



Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Have a wonderful evening!

Peek-a-Boo

So we have figured out the one word
that gets Noah smiling for the camera every time.

"Peek-a-Boo!"

So simple & it works like a charm
{at least for the moment}.

Isn't he just the sweetest little thing
all dressed up in his Easter outfit?
Mommy sure thinks so!



All ready to go to church!
Such a sweet smile.

Love this one of Noah & Daddy!



What a wonderful day we had together
celebrating the Risen King!

How was your Easter?