The Birthday Week continues

This photo has little to do with what we did today, but I have to share it:

I can't keep the boy off of Ellie's gear. Maybe he knows that it use to be his, I don't know. The funniest part about it, is that if the little 24-pound-dude wasn't so tall, he could probably still fit comfortably in some of it!

***

Birthdays are a big deal with my family. The birthday person gets to choose where to eat for your birthday lunch{or dinner}. If the birthday person gets a game as a gift, usually everyone gets roped into playing it that night. Basically, it's a day when it get to be "all about you"! And it's been a while since I've actually been able to spend the day with Jessie on her actual birthday. So it was a lot of fun to be able to celebrate Noah's birthday yesterday and then Jessie's today. {Happy Birthday Little Sister!}

The Birthday Duo

We ate lunch with Jessie, Bryan, and BB at El Chico and I simply wasn't quick enough with the camera {I plead "baby"} to video the waiters singing "Happy Birthday"... bummer.

All throughout lunch, Noah had his eye on this ride... but we remembered how he had acted last night when we tried to get him to ride a ride at Chuck E. Cheese, so we didn't bother with paying the dollar to make it spin around. I don't think he minded in the least.

And, Jessie got a new game for her birthday... which Ben and I ended up not playing so that we could get the kids down for bed. Probably a good thing since I would have had a blank look on my face each time a question was read. But Jessie rocked it.

{Two}

Happy Birthday Noah!!

***

Our Little Man turned two today. And seriously, it just seems like he turned one. People aren't lying when they tell you it flies by.

He was way excited to get to open a present first thing in the morning {and continued to try to get the other presents that were under the tree for the rest of the day}.

To celebrate his birthday, we went to Chuck E. Cheese for pizza and games. Noah LOVED skee ball...

and basketball.

He also thought that more tokens should have come out of the ticket counter.

After we finished eating dinner and playing games, we came back home so that Noah could open up his presents from Nana and Papa ...

... and Aunt BB and Aunt Jessie.

I'd say he loves his new toys.

{And so does Papa.}

***

Things Noah Loves at Two Years Old

• Anything "Cars" related - he can point it out from a distance, even if you try to avoid it!
• Storytime at bedtime with Mommy and Ellie
• Being chased by, wrestling with, and building forts with Daddy
• Saying all sorts of new words daily, with some of the most recent ones being: "beast" {as in, Bare Chested Beast}, "boat", "bus", "Paw" {Papa}, and "tuck" {truck}

We love you Buddy. More than any words could ever express. Daily you amaze us with your increasing knowledge and entertain us with your silly ways. We've been so blessed by having you in our lives and simply cannot wait to see what wonderful things God has in store for you. We love you!!!

{Semi-} Wordless Wednesday

{My baby is going to be two tomorrow... and I just can't believe it.}

Back to Oklahoma

Our trip from Wichita Falls to OKC was much less eventful than the drive to Wichita Falls yesterday.

And the kids are very happy to be out of the car.

Even if they don't want to eat any dinner.

Two Stops Before We Land in OKC

We had two stops today, while we were on our way to Oklahoma. One of them, we most certainly could have done without.

Today, I got my first ever speeding ticket.

And the frustrating part is, I didn't even realize I was speeding. See, on our way up to OKC for Thanksgiving, Ben was stopped. For speeding. And he knew he was over the speed limit. But the cop saw his military ID and just gave him a warning. So, our entire drive today, because of that experience and the combination of low temperatures and a little bit of something coming from the sky, I was consistently driving 5 to 10 miles under the speed limit. About an hour outside of Wichita Falls, Ellie started whining - she needed to eat. I could have stopped at the rest stop that I saw not long after she started whining, but well, let's be honest. Stopping at a {deserted} rest stop, by myself with two kids, and getting into the back seat to feed Ellie was not my idea of fun nor does it seem very safe. I don't like scary movies and that just seems like it would be a scene straight out of one. I knew that there was a Sonic in the town just ahead, so I continued on and exited at Seymour. I couldn't remember exactly which side and how far into town the Sonic was, so I was driving slower than the last sign I saw, which was 35. I was doing 29. But, due to the now-screaming-and-hungry baby, my search for the Sonic, and my insane fear of ice, I didn't see the school zone lights. I did see the cop though. And cruised on past him doing my 29 mph, thinking I wasn't doing anything wrong - I certainly wasn't passing anyone! Just as I spotted the Sonic, I also spotted some lights in my rear view mirror... and Ellie started into full-out wails. Needless to say this was one stop along the way that I could have done without.

I wouldn't be nearly as frustrated about it if I had KNOWN that I was speeding {trust me, as an educator, I don't speed though school zones!}. I mean, I literally had NO idea why he was pulling me over. Or if the cop hadn't left me in my car with a screaming-and-hungry baby {and eventually, well..., a leaked through shirt} for ten minutes. And then made me sign it while my baby was screaming and my toddler was getting antsy because his sister was yelling in his ear.

Or if the ticket hadn't of been $180.

So much for never having had a speeding ticket.

The stop that we did enjoy though, was the stop in Wichita Falls to spend the night with Ben and then to visit our friends, the Sargent's, who recently relocated there. We hadn't seen them since about two or three weeks before we had Ellie so they were pretty excited to get to meet her. Especially Megan.

Hopefully tomorrow's trip the rest of the way to Oklahoma City will be a little less eventful.

Just for You.

Ben headed back to training today, we're getting ready for a trip to Oklahoma, trying to get Christmas gifts finished up and mailed, and was getting the house prepped for Life Group. As a result, I didn't take any pictures today.

So, instead of leaving you picture-less for the day, I have to share one that I took a couple of days ago, just for my Momma.

To most of you, well, probably everyone except for my Momma {and Daddy-Man and anyone else reading this who was there when I was this size}, this just looks like a photo of Ellie in a vintage dress... but it's Ellie in one of MY dresses from when I was a baby.

It's actually the one I came home from the hospital in... and I didn't even realize it until afterwards. {Which also explains why I couldn't button it up on Ellie!}

Happy {early} Birthday Noah!

Look who got to come home for one night:

And look who is turning two this week:

Because Ben was able to come home for the night and the kids and I are heading up to Oklahoma this week, we decided to go ahead and let Noah open up his birthday presents.

He needed little encouragement to do so.

And he was way excited about each gift. We hadn't meant to go overboard on the presents, but now that he's got something that he just loves, it's hard to not want to get it for him.

Plus, one of the gifts was more for us - a sleeping bag for Noah for when we're visiting friends. Clearly Mommy doesn't quite fit in it.

One of my favorite gifts for him though, was his "workbench". We found it on Woot! {along with the Cars sleeping bag/backack combo} for a good deal and since he loves "helping" Daddy when he is working on something, we knew he'd love it. And he most certainly does.

Happy Early Birthday Buddy - Mommy and Daddy love you SO much!

This is Why We're All Sick:

We have three runny {and at times, stopped-up} noses in our house right now, mostly due to this:

And, if Ben was here, we'd have four.
I suppose it goes without saying that we've been using lots of Kleenexes, burp cloths, and saline spray today.

And, unrelated, please tell me that I am not the only one who thinks that Ellie's hair looks a little red too?

The above kiss was unprompted and captured while I was attempting to take a picture of these:

I'm loving having a girl because it means that I can dress her in Not Sox {BabyLegs, or whatever other brand is out there} without anyone thinking I'm crazy {meaning: Ben... love you Dear One!}. I had made a couple of sets for Noah, but after receiving a "professional" pair from a friend, I'm hooked.


And I love that it means that I can take a picture or two of Ellie in a onesie that was Noah's and it adds just enough girly to ensure that I don't confuse the two.

Not that I could right now.

Noah has loved this shirt on her all day. He has continually gone over to her and told her, while pointing at the proper letters, "Aah... TTEEEE.... Eeee"

Her look of amusement though, makes me wonder if she is really interested or if she's just humoring him.

Either way, he's going to tell her all the letters that are on her socks too.

{Jealous}

I'm just a little jealous....

Yep. My youngest sister totally met Sarah Palin.

A Decorated House

This little guy wouldn't let me take a picture of him... instead, he wanted to stay in my lap, say "Cheeeez!" and look at the screen on the camera.

It almost pains me that he'll be two next week.

And, because Ellie acquired a new nickname from my sisters last week while we were in Oklahoma... meet the Mandrake:

I quickly scooped her up after snapping this shot and she was a mandrake no longer. Her aunts will likely be on her bad side when she is 15 and realizes that they called her that.


***

Luckily, Ben had decorated the house with lights long before Thanksgiving. Otherwise, with him being in training for a while, it probably wouldn't have happened. Before we left for Thanksgiving, I would turn them on each evening before he got home from work so the sparkly house would greet him when he pulled into the driveway. I figured I'd better get a photo up on the blog so that he'd still be able to see it:



Oh, and Sweetheart, don't worry... the icicles aren't out on the right side - that {blasted} tree is just blocking them.

My favorite part of the outdoor decor? The little tree that Ben found after Christmas on clearance for $2.50.

Nicely done Dear One - you are my bargain shopper and house decorator extraordinaire!

First Snow

We woke up to find snow this morning. Not "real" snow, like many of you might get, but "Texas" snow {which is much like Oklahoma snow} - the kind that quickly melts and is really more like slush than snow.

Noah was in awe. "Sso! Sso!"

So, as soon as I got Ellie down for her morning nap, Noah and I went into the backyard to explore.

He was very excited and thought it was just so amazing.

Then he tripped.

But once I helped him back up, he was fine.

Until about a minute later when he realized his pants were wet from the snow.

I think we spent a total of about three minutes outside.

A "Helpful" Big Brother

Noah and I were playing this morning when he noticed that Ellie had kicked her blanket off. He kindly gave it back to her.

Luckily, she just thinks her big brother is funny.

***

Later on this morning, Lacey brought over her Noah to stay with us while she took Mike, Lish, and Baby Ava to the airport so that they could head back home to California. The Grahams used to be members of our Life Group before we arrived in Texas and before the Air Force moved them to California. We've met them several times and I was way excited to get to meet Ava, who is almost exactly a month older Ellie and Zoe!

Me holding Miss Zoe, Lish holding Miss Ellie, and Lacey holding Miss Ava!

I just love this photo - it almost makes me wish for triplets! And, ironically, I had dressed Ellie in her pink track suit {see above pics}, but had to change her due to a very full diaper... and had put her purple one on, only to have her friends arrive in their track suits too!