A Big Boy Haircut {in Oklahoma}

We've been needing to give Noah a haircut for a while now. A real haircut. Not just the "trims" that Mommy has been giving him for the past year. {I seriously haven't had the heart to truly cut off his beautiful auburn locks.} But, it was time and since we're hoping to {re}take our Christmas pictures while we're here, I figured we'd better take him to get his hair cut by a professional. So, off to Snip-its Noah, Papa, and I went. {Ben stayed at home to help take care of Ellie - I don't think he was nearly as sentimental about it as I was.}

The before hair-do

Waiting with Papa to be called by his hair stylist.

He wasn't too sure about it all at first.

But, she was quick, patient, and quick with the animal crackers!

And, I realized after we got home {it was late, time for dinner, and then bed} that I never took a picture of the after hair-do, so I'll post some tomorrow! Thanks for going with us Papa/Daddy-Man - Ben would have just laughed when I got a little choked up!

{And FYI, we're in Oklahoma. :) We left this morning and, after six hours of travel time, we made it.}

Sibling Bathtime

Tonight, we had our first {of many, I'm sure} joint bath for Noah and Ellie. It actually went pretty well, minus Noah "going crazy" a couple of times.

Despite the look on her face, she does like bath time!

Noah is learning to share!

Ellie doesn't seem too impressed with his favorite bath toys though.

{Sew} Smiley

This afternoon, while Noah was napping, I pulled the swing into the craft room so that I could work on a few Christmas presents.... and Ellie was in an exceptionally smiley mood:

But then she reminded me that there was only

5 weeks until Christmas and I needed to get back to work:

Concentration {Part 2}

One of the best parts about being his Mommy...

is daily getting to watch him grow, learn, and develop his amazing skills.

Keeping an "Eye" on the Kiddos

Reason # 427 Why I should have a video monitor in every room:

Noah took this with my DSLR camera.... while I was out of the room getting dinner ready. I came around the corner {because it was quiet... and everyone knows that a quiet child = an ensuing mess/destruction} to find him staring around the corner with his finger on the button.

{{sigh}}

I'm in for it. And am also now keeping my camera far out of his reach.

So, this little gem couldn't have arrived a moment too soon:

I'm way excited to finally have a video monitor in Noah's room and the nursery {FYI, it was FINALLY on Woot! so we got a second camera/receiver}.

Let's just hope this Little One isn't as big of a trouble maker as her brother is becoming.

{Ellie's} Two Month Well-Baby Check-Up

I love the Kurth's. But this little guy....

....not so much. It's on, Kurth's. It's on.

***

Ellie had her two month Well-Baby appointment this afternoon and I have to say, that while it was no big deal planning WB appointments in the afternoon when it was just Noah, planning them smack-dab in the middle of BOTH kids nap times is just plain silly. And I won't be doing that again anytime soon.

Miss Eleanor is doing well though - she's now weighing in at 12lbs 3 oz {80%}, measuring 23.5in long {80%}, and has a head circumference of 15.8in {80%}. She's just a little smaller than Noah was at this point in his life... which I think is kinda funny since she was bigger than him at birth.

Poor little thing had to get three shots today...

and has been sleeping them off most of the day.

A PJ Morning {and Afternoon}

I've got to say, I love it that we all {all SEVEN!} of us stayed in our PJs until after lunch! Which, I suppose is bound to happen when you are playing with two little boys {and one sleepy little girl} who are as cute as these two:

Nick, Lendy, and Mack, we can't wait to see you again soon... and if I ever find that second Oompa Loompa, well, it'll be finding its' way back to you soon!

The Kurth's

This afternoon, Nick, Lendy and Baby Mack came out for a visit. We hadn't seen them in a couple of months and they hadn't been able to see Ellie in person yet, so it was a ton of fun to get to see them. Noah enjoyed having a buddy who was a little smaller than him and Lendy and I had fun planning Mack and Ellie's wedding {kidding.... well, sort of}. After the kids woke up from their naps, we loaded up the Sequoia and went out to run a few errands and eat dinner. Noah loved having a buddy to sit with at dinner and kept tempting and teasing Mack with his crayons, sippy cup, and french fries. I guess he's just practicing for when Ellie gets a little older.

Mack, the big boy! It was his first time in a restaurant highchair!

Mmmmm.... tortilla chips!

Thanks-giving

This afternoon was Ben's squadron Thanksgiving lunch. So the kids and I {plus one ham} loaded into the car and headed up to eat enjoy the feast and spend some time with Ben and the rest of the squadron. And, while everyone else ate turkey and ham... Noah, the picky eater, had McDonald's:

At least he was eating.

***

In other news, we {finally} sold the Jeep. And, while we've been anxious to get it sold, I realized why we were "dragging our feet" - we both were a little attached to it. It was the first car that we "bought" together {we were just dating, but he went with me when I bought it}, we left our wedding and went on our honeymoon in it, it was the first car we paid off, we moved across country in it, brought home our first child in it, and moved back across the country in it.

Little Jeep, we'll miss you.

Ellie @ Two Months

Happy Two Months Dear Ellie!

Things Ellie Loves at Two Months:

• Eating
• Sleeping {thankfully she sleeps through the night!}
• Smiling at Mommy, Daddy, and Big Brother
• Reading books with Mommy
• Snuggle time in the evenings with Daddy
• Watching Noah while he {carefully} points out her nose, eyes, and belly
• Holding her head up to see what else is going on

We love you Little One!

Halloween Candy

We've really limited the amount of candy and sweets that Noah has had - primarily because we felt like he was a little young to have it, but also because the boy is such a picky eater and I didn't want to make it worse by introducing candy! And truthfully, the few times that we have offered him candy, he all but refused it until we either showed him that we were eating it too, or made him take a bite.

The one piece of candy that he knows by sight {and loves} are KitKats. We had bought some KitKat minis during all the after-Halloween candy sales and, well, the pictures tell it all:

If you are eating one {and don't want to share}, you'd better hide it and hide it well - he even recognizes the wrapper!

23 Months... and a {Decorated} Tree

Happy 23 Months Dear Noah!!

It's hard to believe that he has just one mere month left of being only one-year-old!

Clearly the kid didn't want to take pictures - for the Christmas cards or for his 23 month post.

Things Noah loves at 23 Months:

• Wrestle-mania pit with Daddy
• Cars, cars, and more cars
• Snuggle-time with Mommy while reading bedtime books
• Bringing Ellie her "pil" {pillow} and "ppa" {pacifier}

We love you Buddy. And are amazed everyday at the new things that you are doing and saying!

***

We finally got our tree decorated tonight after the kids went to sleep. We started a tradition before we even got married of buying a new ornament each year. And I love Noah and Ellie's ornaments this year:

We were going to get Noah one that said he was two... until we saw the Cars one. It's a much better fit for where he is at this Christmas! And I just adore Ellie's - it called "Little Sweet Pea".

And I love the fact that it was Ben who wanted to make sure that his new ornament for this year was next to one of my older ones.

Evidently Captain America has a thing for Sleeping Beauty.

Hard to Believe

One month from tomorrow....

this little guys is going to be two.

It's just a little hard to believe.

Christmas Train

We've been slowly, but surely, getting the house decorated for Christmas. It might be a *tad* early for some people, but we're loving how excited Noah is about it all, so we're just as excited. This afternoon Ben put up some of the lights outside and this evening he got out his train.

I'm not sure though, who was more excited about it: Noah or Ben.

Brewing, Fall, and Friends

This morning, the guys from small group all came over so that they could brew a new batch of beer.


I've no clue the "technicalities" beer brewing... all I know is that I'm glad that Ben has a fun hobby now and even happier that they didn't have to brew in the house {in the words of "Big" Noah, "It's stinky."}.

While Ellie was down for a nap, I brought "Little" Noah out to spend some time with the rest of the guys.

And, boys can't play outside without finding the biggest leaf pile to play in.

After the boys finished brewing, my good friends Michelle and Craig, came out to meet Miss Ellie, spoil Noah, and to spend some quality time with us.

{We're so glad you came out... and next time, you simply HAVE to stay longer!}

Getting Closer...

to capturing that smile.

"Tteee!"

All day long today, all I've heard is "EEee!" and "Teee!". What is a "Teee!", you ask? Watch and see:

Ben put it up last night and Noah has been running over to it all day long, making sure that I "luk" at the "Teee!".

Ellie likes the Christmas tree too... but I still haven't caught a full smile with the camera yet:

And, I realized as I was packing up the Halloween stuff, that I had yet to take a picture of the two new pumpkins that Ben carved this year. Like last year, he carved fake ones so that all his hard work wouldn't just go in the trash. I'm sure next year though, he'll get talked into carving a real one with Noah!