Concentration

I just love the look of concentration on his face when he's really working hard on a masterpiece.

Good Deal

I love a good deal. And yesterday, while we were shopping at Target, we {once again} came across this adorable little storage bench that we've had our eyes on for the entryway. But, I told Ben that I hated to pay full price for it, so we'd just wait until it went on sale/clearance to purchase it. And wouldn't you know....

.... it went on sale today.

Christmas in August {Part 2}

A couple of weeks ago, we bought Ben's Christmas present... and trust me, he's been enjoying it! Because of the deployment, we're going to be celebrating Christmas a little early. And because of Ellie and training, we really needed to go ahead and get our shopping done now. Even though we're planning to do a mostly "handmade" Christmas, we still had gifts to buy for the kiddos, including Noah's birthday present {holy cow - my little buddy is going to be TWO!}. Luckily we're Dave Ramsey-folk and we start saving for Christmas the December before! ;) But, sorry, I won't reveal what all we got for them!

While I was getting ready, Ben was getting Noah ready for the shopping trip and OH. MY. GOODNESS. My hubby knows how to dress the boy cute. And he even took some pictures for me in case I forgot {which I did - way to go honey!!}!

Brought to You By the Letter "T"

For some reason or another, Noah loves {I mean, LOVES} the letter "T". It's the first letter that he wants to watch on Starfall. It's the first foam letter that he looks for in the bathtub. It's the first letter block that he'll grab when we go over to the Carroll's {and he always knows exactly where it is}. He'll point it out anytime he sees one. And if you ask him to find one, this is what he does:

Yep. My kid is a genius. :)

3 Photos : Not a Single One Taken by Me.

I didn't take a single picture today! BUT, lucky for everyone, someone else did!

I had my weekly NST appointment this morning with Dr. Maberry {still contracting and still have a healthy, albeit big, baby in the belly} and thankfully, our friends Erin and Josh were able to watch Noah while I was at the appointment. And, of course, it goes without saying that Noah had a BLAST while he was there, playing with Jadyn and Hannah, and the pictures that Josh took say it all:

Noah and Hannah "playing" Street Fighter - it wasn't plugged in, the TV wasn't on, and yet there they were, sitting there, pushing the buttons! I'm sure they've never seen their Daddy's play video games! ;)

Noah loves the computer, so when he saw that Josh was working on his laptop, he climbed up onto the couch and decided to "help" him... which meant that when I got home, I had not one email, but TWO emails with pictures.

Thank you Josh for the pictures!! And thank you BOTH for watching Noah!!

And, just because I'm sure everyone is dying to know what we are doing with the pumpkins, here's where one of them ended up - being painted by Jadyn! Ben sent her home with one of them after Small Group on Sunday and Erin sent me this picture in return.... I think that is probably one of the cutest pumpkins I've ever seen {and so is the little orange one sitting on the table}!

{Wordless} Wednesday

Hiding Places

Noah's most recent favorite "hiding" places:

Under the chairs - he gets himself underneath them and then just laughs and claps! Silly boy!

And inside ANY box that he can find. Sometimes he'll even try to pull the lid on or close it if he can.

I'm dreading the day that he decides to jump out at me when he's completely hidden!

It's About Time

Ever since the first time I cut Noah's hair, his hair has grown like cRaZY! I'm honestly not even sure how many times I've cut it now {five or six, maybe?}, but the last haircut made me a little nervous to attempt it again. I literally have not taken any scissors to it since MAY! And, as much as I threatened to just take him to Cool Kuts 4 Kids, there is little chance that I would actually do it. So, since Ben got to come home a little early {which was only fair since he had a SIX o'clock meeting this morning!} and it is a "Crockpot Monday", we had plenty of time and energy to get his hair cut. Ben kept him entertained with a water cup, a comb and Cheetos while I attempted to tame the mop-headed kid's hair.

In the end, it turned out pretty good.....

.... despite the huge mess.

A SuperHero Kind of Day

We had a slightly lazy Sunday morning, just enjoying some time together and letting everyone get in some extra rest before they started the drive back home.

Mom and Aunt BB overseeing Noah's lunch - I think he spent more time showing off than he did actually eating.

When they came down Friday night, they brought along a new gate for the kitchen that we had them pick up at Babies R' Us. I guess it goes without saying that we love it and Noah doesn't. I just need to practice opening it with only one hand!

When BB and Jessie went to ComicCon back in July, they got Noah a Captain America shirt, much like the one that my parents got for Ben. {Ben LOVES Captain America, in case you were wondering.} I think he looked pretty darn cute in it!

Aunt BB and "Captain" Noah

Aunt Jessie and Noah

We're not sure if this is the last time the girls will see Ben before he leaves or not {we are hoping that it isn't, but you never know}, but I figured I'd better get another picture of Ben and his favorite sisters-in-law.

And one more of him and his favorite In-Laws.

{They call him their favorite son-in-law too! ;) }

And, despite trying to get him to just smile, all Noah would do during his picture with Nana and Papa was point at Aunt Jessie.

We love you guys and can't wait to see you again soon.

***

And, just because they were so darn cute {and because I know of at least four people who will want to see this picture}, after Noah woke up from his nap, Ben changed into his Captain America shirt too so we could snap a couple of pictures.

New Lights and Family Time

Late last night, my Mom, Daddy-man, and sisters arrived to spend some quality time with us before Ellie arrives and Ben leaves for training. It was a rough drive down, but they made it safely and we are so glad that they were able to spend the weekend with us!

This morning, Mom, Noah, BB, Jessie and I all left the house so that Ben and Daddy-man could hang the new chandeliers in the dining room and the entryway. We figured if we were out of the way, they would be able to get it finished up faster! So, we did what it seems like everyone else in Abilene does on a rainy Saturday morning - we headed out to the mall.

It was so crowded though, at the indoor playground, that Noah didn't get to play long.

{Soapbox rant: Parents, make sure that you either teach your children to be aware of smaller kids OR ACTUALLY watch them!! Ugh.}

The new dining room chandelier - it completely changes the look of the entire dining room/kitchen!

The new entryway chandelier.

Thank you for all your help Daddy-Man!!


***

After dinner and then Noah's bath, we got to have some family play time:

A Word of {unsolicited} Advice

Normally, I hate giving {and also recieving} unsolicited advice. But, I have found, that there are occasions when it is called for. For example:

Let's just say that your Little One, over time, comes to be very attached to a particular item... let's just say, for example, a blanket. And on several occasions, you and your significant other talk about how you ought to get another one {or two}, just in case something happens to said item. {Here comes the unsolicited advice:} DON'T DELAY IN GETTING IT!! If it was a gift, check with the person who gave it to your Little One {which also means, never throw out the shower gift lists.... even when you have a second child and are clearing out the "Baby Binder" for her}. Purchase or order a back-up before it has been washed so many times that you can't read the tag, that way you don't have to spend hours on Google searching images for said item. And go ahead and buy two. You likely won't regret it.

I guess it goes without saying that we finally bought back-up blankies... waiting for blankie to be washed so that Noah would be comforted when sick was just torture - for him and for us. And, I truly, TRULY, wish I could remember who gave us this blankie for him {I'm fairly sure it was at one of the Bunco showers....} so I could send them yet another thank you note along with a picture - just so they would know how much the boy loves his blankie.

Saying Goodbye

Being a "military" family, we're usually the ones who are saying "Goodbye" and moving away from our friends and families. Off the top of my head, I can only think of one of our friends or any of our family that has moved away from us {but then we followed them here to Texas, didn't we Nick and Lendy??!}! But, tonight, we are the ones who are being left behind as our friends move on to their next great adventure. David and Stephanie are moving to D.C. and we are SO sad to see them go, even though we know that it is all in God's plan for them. Josh and Erin hosted a "Farewell/Congratulations" get-together for them tonight at their house.

Noah was dancing and singing as Brady was playing the piano... but as soon as I got my camera ready, they both stopped!

Steph and April

Some of the sushi {that the pregnant and non-fish food girl didn't eat.... but it sure looked pretty!}

A few last minute kisses from Steph for Noah.

David, you are totally rocking that sweater-vest.

Knock 'em dead in D.C. you two! We'll miss you bunches!!

A Quick Ellie Update

We had our weekly NST and {every other week} growth ultrasound today.... I'm still have contractions {which I knew and could have told them}, but thankfully I didn't get sent back to Labor and Delivery. Dr. Maberry says that Ellie is still looking good and is measuring at around 6lbs 15oz... and is predicting, that if she makes it to our scheduled c-section, she'll be another 10-pounder like her brother. I guess we'll see!

My Expert

As part of his requirements for getting ready for deployment training and for the deployment itself, Ben had to qualify on both the M4 and the M9. He had the M4 training on Monday and did pretty well, though he was a little bummed that he didn't have quite enough shots to qualify as "Expert". Today, he had the training for the M9 and, wouldn't you know it, my sharpshooter qualified at "Expert" level!

I guess it just runs in his blood - his Grandpa Crews qualified at "Marksman" and "Sharpshooter" {the Army equivalents of Air Force "Expert"}.

Ben asked me if this makes me feel a little better about him deploying... Sorry babe. Not quite.

I am though, EXTREMELY proud of you.

Getting Ready for Ellie

First, I have to show you this:

PUMPKINS! In AUGUST! Haha... and here we thought that Ben wouldn't be able to enjoy the "fruits" of our garden and we've already got pumpkins and have had tons of cucumbers. But we're still waiting on those tomatoes!

***

Last night, Ben got all the baby gear down from the attic. Today I've been slowly getting everything out of the bags, washing the covers, and setting them up. Noah's favorite item that I put up today was the bouncy chair. It's funny to me because obviously he doesn't really remember it, but I remember when the kiddo would play and fall asleep in it.

He was very curious about it and within no time at all had climbed into the seat itself.

But it's this response that I'm not sure whether to laugh at or worry about:

Our Budding Bookworm

Sometimes, when it gets really quiet around the house, I just know that Noah is into something he shouldn't be in. And sometimes, he's into something that he should be in:

***

Since the boy is in desperate need of a haircut before we take any 20 month pictures, I'm just going to go ahead and do his "20 Month Likes" post now....

Things Noah likes at 20 Months:

• watching "Cars", reading about "Cars" and playing with anything with wheels.
• playing the "cute" card when he knows he's done {or about to do} something he shouldn't.
• coloring and drawing.
• playing chase and building forts with Daddy.
• snuggling with Mommy just before bed/naptime.
  

Lazy Sunday

I love days like this. Days where everyone {even our guests!} stays in their PJs until well past lunch and where fun and relaxation are the only requirements.

Since Nick was here for one last visit before Ben leaves for training/deploys, we decided that we'd skip church this morning and just enjoy some fun time. Ben and Nick spent a good portion of the morning and the majority of the afternoon playing Civilization:

I *think* Ben won.... even though they only made it through one era!




We missed you Lendy and Mack and hopefully we'll get to see all three of you again soon!!

Friends or Family?

We have quite a few friends that have really become more like family. Some are friends that we've known for years, some we've just recently met. Today we've been lucky enough to spend some time with TWO of those friends!

This morning, Ben, Noah, and I headed out to Weatherford for a lunch date with the McDaniel's, our good friend Dennis' parents. Often while they were in college, Lanelle would come down to visit the guys at Baylor or the whole gang would head out to Weatherford to spend some time there. We had an amazing time getting caught up, eating, and watching Noah play with Dennis' niece and nephew.

And of course, Noah found Claire's baby stroller and was immediately fascinated: it was pink AND it had wheels!

Ms. Lanelle and Ben - two of the most ornery {but still loveable!} people I've ever met!

Claire, Lanelle, and Noah - Claire is a mere six days older than Noah!

***

After we left the McDaniel's house, we met Nick over at Cracker Barrel for a quick stock up on drinks and driving snacks, and headed back to Abilene.

Noah quickly roped Nick into reading {yet again!} his new favorite "Cars" book.

And then afterwards, Ben set up a Beer Taste-Testing for Nick...

can you guess which one is the home-brew?