Wordless Wednesday: Goodbye Old Friend

You served me well for 140,000 miles (plus the 63k already there) and 13 years.  We've had some adventures together and it sounds like your new owner will take you on more.  Best wishes my little Red Turtle.

Christmas Recap: Part 2

So after our pre-Christmas activities we had Christmas day with my parents...  Cory likes to help play Santa and pass out the gifts.

He also likes to make sure they get opened properly... especially when it comes to little brother...

Helping Nana.

I found the perfect shirt for my dad...

There were a few gifts still hiding under the tree so Cory went fishing for them...

My brother's gift to all 3 of my boys was Nerf ball guns... 2 of the balls were missing by the time we went home that night...

Cory can almost shoot them with decent accuracy.  Noah needs a bit more arm strength and coordination.  I'm glad they don't really hurt even at close range and we can buy more balls... we're going to need them!

Mom bought me these outfits for the girls... when we asked Cory what was on the feet he said "kittens and steering wheels!"  Yeah...

My mom's present to Brian was a remote control helicopter.  I think the boys got the coolest toys this year!

And then, to Brian's great pleasure we all played Settlers of Catan.  And my dad won!

Then we went home, packed like crazy people, and left in the morning for Oregon.  We actually made pretty good time and didn't arrive at midnight as usual.  We were even early enough for Brian to take the van out for a test drive (yes, I made him put the ribbons back on later so I could get a picture).  Although I'm not sure it would have mattered what time we arrived, he probably would have taken it out!

Cory played Santa again the next morning with Grandma and Grandpa, but Noah had the most fun opening both his and other people's presents!

Grandma got him pajamas with Mater on them (from Cars) who is his favorite character.  They're a bit too big, but he doesn't care, he doesn't ever want to take them off!

 

Helping Grandpa open his present...

Later that day ALL the family descended and we had a roaring good time.

Later in the week, Noah helping Grandma make dinner.  He was plucking the rosemary for her and said it was a "tree".  We also visited Great Grandpa and his new wife and then crashed some 3rd cousins' house for late night playing. (Beth is hilarious, you really should read her blog...)

And finally, the boys "learning" how to play Spill the Beans with Grandma and Grandpa.  We didn't get to hang out with too many other friends as there were sicknesses going around, but it was a good week with the fam!

Hope you enjoyed all the pictures... It was a lot for one post, but I didn't want to stretch this out to a third as I have other things to show you this week... :)

Snow Days!

My wish for snow last week must have stuck...

Eating snow!

because we've got lots and it keeps coming down!  The boys are loving it of course and I'm glad it's the weekend so "I" didn't have to go outside with them.  A hazard of being pregnant, your snow pants don't fit.

Yesterday was gorgeous and sunny and I really wished I could have been up at our local ski area... ah well.  I have a nasty head cold so it's probably just as well.

What's the weather like where you're at and do you like snow or not?

Vivid...

My world is slowing down. Intentionally I have less on my calendar because I can do less now. We are staying home more, but there are always things to get done.

I'm tired, but life seems to be more vivid, at least this week.  The boys in my life, loud, wild, fast, crazy.  Vivid is a good word to describe them!

Outside everything is white, the reflections more vivid.  More so now than the other day when I was wishing for snow!

When you slow down you have time to see things more clearly, time to really see with focus and clarity.

"They" all say that you'll wish you'd enjoyed these days more.  I suppose it's true, but that doesn't always make them any easier.

Whatever the outcome, I do want to have vivid memories of these days.  I'm doing just that.

This is a post prompt from The Gypsy Mama. Join in?

22 Months

After fingerpainting!

My little man!  I didn't get to a 20 month post, but here is a *hopefully* brief update on my now 22 month old Noah!

His vocabulary is growing every day although his pronunciation still isn't clear all the time.  But since we are with him we can translate most things!
Just last night Brian was talking to him about something to do with water and he said what we think was his first sentence: I like wa-ni (which is his word for water).  Also, very true!

We have discovered that if he doesn't know the rest of a word he will say the first syllable and then add "ni ni" for the rest.  Example, we sometimes sing Majesty at bed time and if he doesn't ask for "take joy" (I Love You Lord) he will ask for "Ma-ni-ni".  Also used with Hosanna - Ho-sa-ni-ni.

In the same line he has started to string more words together, finally mastering pine-apple as well as saying "more, Mama" and "apple juice".  You can tell what's important in his life... food!
But one of the first 2 word sentences was "loud lemon".  We were trying to get him to say the "L" sound and saying various words since he was being loud.  Somehow we ended up calling him a loud lemon and now he proudly says it whenever I have to say "shhh, you're being loud!"

Also, living with a big brother means you must assert yourself so he has quickly learned to say "Mah turn".  Which also sometimes simply means "I can do it myself".
The other thing he's learned from big brother is "why?"  He has the inflection and timing perfect, but I'm not entirely sure he really understands the concept behind the question yet!

In other news... If you ask him if he is stinky or made a stinky he will say "no?" and it has this cute little upswing on the end almost like a question.  Then he will blame it on someone else - bro-ah, Bama, Daddy, etc.  He's learning early...
However, he will also come and tell me "dipe-y-iper" when he really does have a stinky diaper.  Always nice to catch that before a nap or bedtime!  We're working on the potty and he will go sometimes, but only once has he initiated it himself.  We'll see if 2 months more is enough time to not have 3 in diapers...

What he lacks in pronunciation he more than makes up for in physical prowess... must be something to do with chasing an older brother...
The new bed setup is a perfect jungle gym in their room and most of the time no one gets hurt...  We like to spin and dance and jump and Noah can jump with both feet off the ground.  I think he's pretty far ahead in that area.  We measured him at Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house and he measures exactly the same height as Cory at the same age. 

Other ways he acts way older than his age: He's picked up the particular gene... Sometimes I will ask him what he wants to wear and pull the drawer open and let him choose a shirt.  Other times I will just pick up one or two and let him pick.  One night I just held up his dinosaur jammies and asked if he wanted to wear them.  No.  He wanted to wear the "no-man" jammies.  He remembered that he had some with snowmen on them.  I was impressed!

The boys both want to play with Daddy's iPad when he comes home from school.  Here Noah is playing "flip cars".  While he understands how to make the car go around the track all he really wants to do is make it "fall off".  He thinks that's funny!  Toddlers and technology... I'm a little scared!

Current favorite book: Maybe a Bear Ate It.  One of those freebies from a cereal box I think, but it's super cute and he has started saying "a Bay Aye ii" and laughing hysterically.

We're working on colors since he loves to color and paint so much.  He can count to three and frequently repeats whatever big brother is saying so I have a feeling he'll pick up counting and the alphabet pretty fast.  He will point to letters and sometimes get the correct one and sometimes it's just a random "o" or "p".

Noah has so much personality and most of the time is super fun to have around!  When he's gone to Nana and Papa's house for a couple days then he comes home and just wants to snuggle me instead of watching Sesame Street or Blue's Clues in the morning!  Those are his two favorite shows.

And one last thing... when he's hurt he will point to the spot and make kissing sounds for me to kiss it!

Look out 2, here we come!

Wordless Wednesday: Just a Light Dusting

The lack of snow this year is making me (and my boys) very sad.  We want to play!  This is all we've gotten that's even stuck since we got home at New Year's.

A Little Christmas Recap: Part 1

Yeah yeah, I'm three weeks late.  But I finally had time to edit all my pictures yesterday and there were some I just had to share!  Our Christmas season always seems to be a whirlwind, but here are a few from various events...

First up, two days before Christmas the second annual gathering of the cousins on my mom's side in po-dunk nowhere Washington (sorry, Hillary, but it is! ;)  We commandeer the breakfast room, which is conveniently next to the pool.  Everyone brings food and at this point ALL the next generation are boys so they wreak havoc on the food and the pool!

Noah was completely unafraid of the water so it was a good thing he could touch in the shallow end!

He kept wanting to go farther and farther around the pool to jump in!

My brother helping Cory swim, he's getting pretty fearless himself!

This year we had a White Elephant gift exchange... oh the hilarity!  Andrew's younger brother got these shorts and wouldn't even show them, but Andrew thought they were awesome.  Can't wait to hear if he's actually worn them for PE like he said he would...

Brinton on the other hand didn't mind wearing a cloth wreath on his head...

And then we went home and had our own Christmas Eve...

This is a recordable Night Before Christmas book I got last year.  Grandma and Grandpa recorded it and every time we turned the page Noah would look at me and tell me which of them was reading in his excited little voice.  Bama!  Baba!

Christmas morning stockings...

Cory got a Smithsonian Book which he has LOVED since we went there last summer! (there is a whole series of these books and we love them!)

And Noah got this cute little Cookie Monster book with arms that you make do things.  He calls it "cookie mahtin".

Good choice on books Auntie Allison!

Family Christmas pictures later...