Birthday Exchange "Zent"

For the past two years, we {Noah and I} have participated in an online shower/birthday exchange with the Mommas and Babies from FF. I love these Mommas and their babies and know that if we all lived near one another that we would have some awesome playdates! This year we went with a "Bedtime" theme for the gifts.... and I'd dare say that Rylee and her Momma couldn't have picked out a more perfect gift for my little car-lovin' dude:

Thank you Rylee and Momma!

Happy Birthday January Babies!

"zents"!

It's been pretty nice having Ben home in the mornings. This morning, we Skyped with Grandma and Poppa Haze so that Noah could open up his birthday "zents" from them. {Thank you!}

He was way excited....

...and then wanted to open up the other "zents" under the tree. It must be hard being a little kid at Christmas time.

It seems like Ellie has it pretty tough too.

Dinner Dates

These two little ones have been my dinner dates for the last couple of weeks... and thanks to Ben having to work the night shift this week, they are my dinner dates this week as well:

{Though, Ellie usually sleeps through mine and Noah's dinner.}

How did I get so lucky? :)

{Another} Lazy Sunday

Life-Group Christmas

This afternoon, we had {a portion of} our Life Group over for a Christmas get-together. We had lunch, desserts, a couple of presents for the little ones, and a couple of fun games for the adults.

{A sneak peek at what all the "little" girls in our life are getting this year for Christmas!}

Included in those games for the adults was a rousing game of Dirty Santa.... one that I had been waiting for quite a while to happen. Last year, Ben somehow acquired some, um... pipes. Let's just say we got them back to the original owner this year. Blind Dog was re-gifted to the Lyons {doesn't Jordan look excited about that?}. And a garage sale treasure was reunited with it's rightful owner. All-in-all, a pretty successful get-together!

And, of course, Ellie was rockin' it with her Christmas Lights BabyLegs.

{Finally} Home

Ben finished up a three-week training today in Wichita Falls. Which meant that Noah got to open up a couple of presents {birthday and a Christmas one} that I've been saving until Ben made it home.

{Thank you for the new book GiGi and Grandpa Smith!}

{Ethan [and Mommy and Daddy], he LOVES his new "twuc car" set! Thank you!}

But, I think his favorite "zent" of all was Daddy coming home.

I know it was mine!

Recovering

Lucky for us, Noah is starting to feel just a little bit better.

A Hard Day's Night

It's been an exceptionally long day.

Noah officially has his first ever ear infection {and hopefully his LAST}.

He had a slight fever yesterday afternoon, but when he started whining late last night, I knew something was up. And a quick check on him revealed a very hot-to-the-touch forehead. And a very elevated fever. Noah and I were up from 11pm until 1:30am trying to bring it down. I thought the fever was gone this morning, but when the Motrin started wearing off and the fever started rising again, I made an appointment with the pediatrician. Ear infection.

Oh, how I hate you EI. And I don't like to use the word hate, but for you, EI, I will.

I. hate. ear. infections.

Lucky for me though, Noah is not a crier. When he doesn't feel well, he simply wants to be where you are and be held. And he mostly wants to just lay down and rest. Which means that most of our day looked like this:

And we've watched Cars. Twice in the past twenty-four hours.

Ellie, on the other hand, is doing just fine. Doesn't she just look darling in Noah's old onesie {made girly with some BabyLegs}?

The onesie says, "Drink at Mom's: Guaranteed Fresh"!

She thinks the onesie is just as funny as Mommy does.

Getting Back to It

We're all a little happy to be home and back into our routines:

{Notice WoF in the background? That's what he was watching while he was laying on the floor by me and Ellie. }

The Monday Blues

We left Oklahoma City this morning. Amazingly enough, I didn't take a single picture. Probably because I know we're going to be back soon, but also because I was half-asleep when everyone left for work. I also didn't take a single picture while we were at lunch with Ben in Wichita Falls. Probably because I know he'll be home with us soon, but also because I was busy eating and feeding the kids. I didn't even take a single picture once we got home. And I know that is because I was more than exhausted! Thanks for all the fun Oklahoma... see you again soon!

Well-Loved

Noah is pretty spoiled {I mean, well-loved}. There is little doubt about it. Need proof? Ben found this amazing tent {on clearance, of course - my Hubby is phenomenal, I tell ya!} and we gave it to Noah as one of his birthday presents. Noah loves the forts Ben builds for him, so he figured that Noah would love a fun tent. But he {nor I} realized that it was going to be so big.

At one point, Ben, Ellie, and I were all in it, encouraging Noah to join us!


Good thing it folds up easily {and compactly!}.

Grami and Papa Snow came by for a quick visit. Ellie is pretty spoiled {I mean, well-loved} too.

And Noah got a fun ride from Ben in one of his birthday presents.

Yep... these kiddos are well-loved.

November/December Birthday Party

**This is a really, really, picture heavy post - I simply couldn't narrow it down from the multitude of pictures taken today. So the text is short. You can thank me later.**

"Paw tuck!"

***

We had the November/December family birthday party this afternoon at Mom and Daddy-Man's house. And, as usual, it was fun, loud, and full of laughter:

Part of Jessie's present from us - I made her shirt with my Christmas present! :)

Noah was way excited about his new clothes!

In lieu of a regular birthday cake, we got Noah a cookie cake... which Ben had to force him to try.

Then he remembered that he likes cookies - he just doesn't get them often enough to remember what they are.

He's such a sweet boy, he even shares his treats.

Uncle Bud - the sole November birthday!

Uncle T will be heading back to Germany for a month this next weekend to spend some time with his family before his next semester of school starts... so he got in some extra special Noah and Ellie time.

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!!!