A Little {Sibiling} Love

This afternoon, Noah was coloring and I was walking back and forth between him {he was in the kitchen} and Ellie {who was enjoying some Tummy Time in the living room}. Ellie was repeatedly rolling over, nearly every time I went back into the kitchen to check on Big Brother. Finally, after about six times, I decided I might try to capture it on tape {I've been trying to no avail for a while now}. And, of course, as usual, she didn't want to perform for the camera.

But I did catch a little sibiling love:

I love when he tries to put her sock on himself before he tries to put it on her.

Sunny Days

Chasin' the clouds away...

Today was BEAUTIFUL. It got up to at least 63F! We took advantage of the sunny skies and slightly warmer weather by going to the park after everyone got a nap. Noah simply loves slides and cried hysterically when it was time to leave so that we could get dinner ready. I'm sure we were a sight when we were leaving with Ellie strapped on and me struggling to get Noah to the car! {Maybe I should have taken a video of that instead.}

Makes us miss Daddy all the more!

N-O-A-H

This afternoon, I pulled out some foam letter stickers that we had bought and Noah and I sat down at his little table to color. Noah was super excited about the letter stickers {as he is about anything to do with letters or stickers}. He continually pointed them out, "N! A! H! O!" and repeatedly asked me to write them and to draw his favorite shape: a heart.

I think I'm just as excited about this new phase of toddlerhood as he is.

3 Things

Three things that are making me happy today:

{a happy, no-longer-sickly, and sleeping-like-she's-suppose-to Ellie}

{sharing some ice tream with my favorite two-year-old}

{receiving a free Becky Higgins Project Life kit}

Jiggity, Jig.

We made it home this afternoon. And seriously. If I hadn't seen the photos, I would not have believed that we had had 4-6 inches of snow yesterday. But I'm still glad we waited. I'm tired of snow. And I hate driving in snow.


The whole drive home {when he was awake}, Noah was constantly talking about going to "Papa house. Nana. Buh-buh-BB house. 'Dess. Bown. Pemmy. House." The one {and, subsequently, only} time that I told him that we were going to Mommy and Daddy's house, he frantically shook his head and shouted "NO!".

When he started talking about it again during his bath, I took this video... and then had to encourage the dialogue to capture it on tape!

Snowed Out

We were suppose to head home today. We took a few last minute photos.

Mom went to work late so she could take care of the kiddos while I loaded up the Sequoia.

I filled the car with gas and filled my cup with Starbucks. Luckily, Ben called just as I was getting on the highway and highly encouraged me to call a friend to check the weather. So, I called and was shocked to hear that there was 4-5 inches of snow on the ground!

Needless to say, we turned around.

But, at least that meant we got to spend a little time with Miss Mae-Mae and her Momma!

And I was cracking up this evening when I came into Mom and Daddy-Man's room to see Noah helping his Nana play the BrainAge game on Papa's Nintendo DS.

Mall Madness

Aunt BB took today off to spend with us and I'm pretty sure we completely wore her out. And, sadly, I didn't get a single photo while we were out and about... sorry BB. But we did have a blast with you today!

Noah received a new book today, "No, No, Noah" and immediately sat down to read it. The boy loves books. And monkeys. {Thanks Marlene!}

{Oh, and even when away from home, Noah rarely wears pants. Or socks. ha!}

Before bedtime, both of the kiddos got some extra play and snuggle time in with Nana and Papa:

We'll miss you guys - come visit soon and thanks for everything!!

{Just Another} Lazy Sunday

I love Lazy Sundays.

Especially ones spent in the company of family.

Saturday Fun

Even though I didn't post any {current} pictures for yesterday, let it be known that the kids and I had a fun day "celebrating" Ben's birthday in Oklahoma - we even ate a Chick-fil-a in honor of him. :) Nana took the day off of work so that she could spend some time with us... which really meant that she got to run a bunch of errands with us! But we had fun and she had fun, and Noah even got another haircut, which he did not think was fun. It {almost} makes me feel bad....

for the hair stylist.

So today was a little more laid-back. I got to go get my hair done {Stacy, you are the best!} this morning and the rest of the day was spent entertaining the kiddos:

Thirty.

Happy Birthday, Dear One!

I wish you were here with us to celebrate your 30th birthday, but I'm praising God that you are at least in an American desert! :) {And sorry the photos have spots on them - I didn't realize that there was something on the scanner until after I finished scanning all of them!}

30 Things that I love about You at 30:

1. I love the way you love our kids. And the way that Noah and Ellie light up when they see you.
2. I love your honesty. And your wisdom in knowing exactly how to share it.
3. I love your silliness. And your ability to freely let your freak flag fly.
4. I love your business-oriented mind. And how you put it to work for you.
5. I love how you keep me sane.
6. I love your creative side. And how you can envision things that I can't even fathom.
7. I love how you want only the best for the kids and I. And how you'll go out of your way to make sure we have it.
8. I love your teaching spirit.
9. I love your work ethic. And your stick-to-it-ness, even when it's tough.
10. I love living under your protection.
11. I love your snuggly-ness. And I especially love seeing you snuggle with the Little Ones.
12. I love how brave you are. And courageous. And strong.
13. I love how you stick up for me. And how you fight for me. And for our kids.
14. I love {and appreciate} how you encourage me. And how you make me want to be a better person. A better wife and a better mom.
15. I love our late night talks.
16. I love your love for monkeys. And for our little Monkeys.
17. I love your hugs. And kisses.
18. I love that you'll do just about anything for my classroom. Including, but not limited to, dressing up as Uncle Sam for the Book Fair and rounding up a group of officers to speak to the entire First Grade.

    

19. I love that even after nearly six years of marriage, I still have to stop and think about whether or not you are teasing me.
20. I love that you love Jesus. And how you remind me how much He loves us.
21. I love your giving spirit. And how you love to share with all those around you.
22. I love your vision for our family. And for our future together.
23. I love that you don't sweat the small stuff. Or the big stuff.
24. I love that you are always willing to try new things. At least once.
25. I love that you love to travel. And I love taking fun road trips with you and all the memories that we make along the way.
26. I love that you are a planner. And that you indulge my OCD-planning ways.
27. I love that you find the humor in pestering and scaring me and the kids. And love to see the mischievous grin you always have when retelling a "When I scared Sam" story.
28. I love how you still love on my former students. And how you go out of your way to make things special for them, like with "Flat Ashley" {in picture below}.
29. I love that we don't have secrets. And how you make me feel so comfortable that I never fear you'll judge me.
30. I love you. And everything single little thing about you.
    

I hope you like your present:

{Click here to see what all is in it}

Happy 30th Birthday. I love you more today than yesterday.... but not {nearly} as much as tomorrow.

Hmmm... Let's See.

We {the kids and I} made it up to Oklahoma today. And we were all glad to get out of the car. Ellie was especially happy to see her Nana, Papa, and the Aunts. Noah was especially excited to get to play with all of his "Oklahoma" toys. I was especially giggly when Noah started wondering with Nana how to {re}build his garage with the Megablocks:

A {very} Long Day

The kids and I dropped Ben off at the base last night a little after midnight. Ellie and her cough kept waking me up during the little sleep that I did get before Noah woke up for the day. Between taking Ellie back to the doctor {this time, we got some meds} and getting ready for our trip up to Oklahoma, not a single photo was taken today.

Miss You Already

Ben leaves for Red Flag tonight. We already miss him.

{And don't let Ellie's smiling face fool you - just as Noah is feeling better, she's getting sick... we went to the doctor yesterday and will probably be going back tomorrow.}


Dear One, have fun, be safe, and because I know you'll be checking the blog while you are gone, check back on Friday for a special post, just for you. I love you.
{More!}

New Toys

Both Noah and I have received new "toys" in the last couple of days. And I'm super excited about BOTH of them!

We had already planned on getting Noah a Tag for next Christmas. But when we recently got a chance to "play" with a Tag, I realized I wanted to get one for him now. And, because I wanted to get the age-appropriate one, we got Noah the Tag Junior....

I love it. Ben loves it. And Noah likes it. I think it kinda scares him just a little when it says his name. {Which is weird, since he loved his Elmo phone!} It's an amazing little reading system that reads {special} books to your toddler. Things I love about it include {but are not limited to}: you can link it up the computer to see your toddler's progress, what pages and items they are repeatedly "tagging", and even print out coloring pages that coordinate with the book. I don't always just wholeheartedly recommend a product, but as a mommy, teacher, and reading specialist, I'd recommend this product to ANY one with a young child. If your child doesn't enjoy reading, this will engage them. And if your child does enjoy reading, like Noah does, then the Tag Junior will give them the chance to really read the book on their own.

And my new toy? My just-arrived Brother Serger. SO excited to try this bad boy out!

{Thanks for my Christmas present!! ;) }

'Tines

Happy 'Tines Day!

I'm realizing all the more, especially now that I have kids of my own, how important traditions are {and were, growing up} to me. One thing I remember is having tinted pancakes on special occasions: pink on Valentine's Day, green on St. Patrick's, etc. {Mom, I always thought that was so cool.} I want our kids to remember and enjoy the little things like that as well... so this morning, we had pink, heart-shaped pancakes {with pink yogurt instead of syrup on Noah's}.

Noah kept calling it his "tine gogurt".

Little Miss Ellie had her first taste of rice cereal today...

...she wasn't a fan. And so we'll just try again in another week or two.

Cookie Tuesday was postponed this week thanks to a little boy being sick. I ended up making the cookies by myself during the week and today we finally decorated them. I think Noah ate more icing and sprinkles than he did actual cookie, but at least he enjoyed himself!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Don't Do it.

I dare you not to laugh. Don't even crack a smile.

I love hearing her laugh - it's so infectious!

Ellie @ 5 months

One dose of antibiotics {of 20} in him, and he's a new kid, ready to work on "tines" {Valentine's cards}.

And, since I'm late in mailing this off...

...I figured I ought to post a picture. The Sisterhood of the Traveling OU Shirt will soon be on it's way to the Birthday Girl. ;)

And, the star of the day, Miss Ellie, turned 5 months old today.

Happy Five Months Ellie-Belly!

Things Ellie loves @ 5 Months:

• Watching Big Brother play and attempting to play with him
• Smiling and laughing at the baby in the mirror
• Smiling and laughing at Brother when he tries to give her the pacifier
• Eating and sleeping {most of the time}
• Tummy Time on the playmat when she can try to pick up the cheetah off the mat
• Sitting in the bumbo with us while we eat our meals
• Chewing on things to help alleviate the teething pain
• When Daddy tickles her in just the right spot
• Reading stories with Mommy and Big Brother
  
  Little Dear One, Mommy, Daddy, and Brother love you - more than you could ever know. We can't imagine our lives without you and are simply amazed at the little woman you are already becoming.

Double Trouble

I've had my fill of snow for this year. Seriously.

And because of all that lovely precipitation, the base clinic cancelled the afternoon appointments and closed down for the day. Which left us having to go to the Walk-in Clinic once Ben got home. Causing us to be there for nearly 2.5 hours. Only to find out that poor little Noah had a double ear infection. I've had my fill of ear infections... for the year forever. And this is only his second time to have one ever.

I'm praying it's the last.


Especially since it looks like this time Daddy-Ben might be getting sick too.

{Still} Sickly

We're headed to the doctor tomorrow for well baby check ups...

and to hopefully get some medicine to help this little one feel better.

Sick & Teething

One is sick.

One is teething.

Miraculously, both are happy

{but one of them only if Dinosaur Train or Word World is on}.

{Just a little} Busy

No post yesterday - we were busy having fun with company {Life Group} and dealing with a slightly feverish little guy.

And today, well, we were still pretty busy... with a {still} slightly feverish little guy and getting Ben started on his Six Sigma Green Belt class.

Both of the kids are learning about it too.

The {Big Boy} Cowboy Room

So today, we finally finished up Noah's room. All we've had left to do for months a while now is hang a few more items. Time {and energy} just kept getting away from us and most of the time, every time I thought about it or had the time, Noah was asleep. In the room that I needed to work in.

The cutest thing of the day? Noah helping Daddy-Ben hang up his name over his bed:

Such a helpful little man.

Without further ado {and with many, many photos}, I present Noah's Big Boy Cowboy Room:

Looking into the room from the hallway

The cactus has hooks on it to hang his things on! {Totally Ben's idea - creative genius my guy is!}

His closet when open for playing.

Here's a few up-close shots of some of my favorite things about his room:

The toybox that my Daddy-man made for him - I love once we outgrow the cowboy room, we can just repaint it and recover it with different fabric.

The horse shelf that my Mom found at a garage sale... seriously so adorable.

His flannel board and cowboy bean bag chair that I made.

The horse-shoe curtain rods that my Daddy-man made. {Seriously, I'm telling you, I get my creative genes from my parents!}

This John Wayne quote... however, I'm not loving the fact that I can't seem to get the vinyl lettering to stay on when I try to remove the transfer paper. So I might have to re-cut it on the Silhouette. Boo.

And I especially like this little wild man who just loves his cowboy room.