Pumpkin Patch Fun

Mike’s mom, Nancy, was in town for a few days, so over the weekend we took the kids to a pumpkin patch.  Our next-door neighbors have a daughter, London, who is also in first grade at Noah’s school, and they have become quite the playmates.  They’re pretty much inseparable, so we invited London to go with us.  The kids had a great time; Amelia especially loved playing in a large pile of pumpkins!  

Getting fake wounds

 

Amelia Update:

She is currently getting four molars in along with her second set of bottom front teeth.  I’m never sure of what kind of mood she’ll be in when she wakes up; I think we’re both ready for the teething to be over.

"My teeth hurt!"

Her newest words are thank you, bubbles, slide, kitty and pretty.

About a month ago or so, I thought I would try getting her a potty seat and just introducing her to what it meant to sit on the toilet, and it went surprisingly well!  She now goes on the potty about 85% of the time; I am thrilled about changing a lot less diapers

Welcome Home, Daddy!

It was so wonderful to have Mike back home!  The kids and I met him at the airport last Friday night.  Noah and I had made a sign that Noah held up when we first saw Mike.  Amelia was mesmerized by Mike . . . I think she was surprised to see him in person and that he didn’t permanently live inside my phone!  We had a great weekend together and we really didn’t do anything except enjoy each other’s company.

Noah had his first Boy Scouts Den meeting and I am one of the leaders.  This was not my original plan, but there wasn’t one person who wanted the job.  So, two other dads and me are splitting the responsibility three ways; I have to admit it’s a lot more work than I had planned on, but we’re enjoying it.

Noah also had a “fun run” to raise money for his school last week.  He called family members to ask them to pledge a certain amount for each lap he ran.  The information his school sent home said that the average was 25 laps; well, Noah took this fun run quite seriously!  He was weaving in and out of other kids and his face was cherry red while he ran.  After each lap they would mark his shirt and, in total, he ran 42 laps!  I was amazed, to say the least, and his school got some good donations from Noah’s family!  Thank you to all who gave money!!!

It’s officially been over a year since I started this blog, and I have to say that I am really happy I did!  It has been an amazing year; we have had some huge changes, and it’s great to get to look back and see some of the highlights.  I’m excited to see what’s in store for this next year!

Noah's first grade class after the hat parade.

One Lucky Lady

To be honest, the last two and a half weeks have been really tough for me but thankfully I have people in my life that truly care about me and have helped out so much!  Unfortunately, I have spent all but the first day Mike was in New York pretty sick.  Currently, I am waiting to hear back on the results of a blood test I took yesterday to see if I have mono.  I am really hoping that mono isn’t the case because that would mean I couldn’t give Mike the big kiss I have been planning on when I pick him up from the airport on Friday.

Not only I have been sick but Amelia has been really sick too!  One night her breathing was so bad, that I almost took her to the ER.  It turns out that she has an ear infection and a sinus infection and she’s now on antibiotics, so I’m hoping that she’ll start feeling better very soon.

Noah’s 7^th birthday was on Saturday, September 17 and I had the biggest birthday surprise for him ever.  My friend Azra, who also happens to be Noah’s biggest crush, flew out late Friday night and surprised him on his birthday!  We had such a wonderful weekend and Azra being here made Noah’s birthday so special.  She was such a big help, especially since I wasn’t feeling well!

Azra and the birthday boy!

Noah practicing some moves on his birthday present.

Noah had his first flag football game on his birthday.

The following Wednesday, my parents flew into town so they could see our new house and the town we’re living in.  On Thursday, we drove up to Enid, Oklahoma to stay with my brother Jason, his wife Emilie and their two adorable little boys, one I’d never met before.  Early Friday we drove to my mom’s hometown of Medicine Lodge, Kansas for the Indian Peace Treaty Pageant that takes place every three years.  It was great to see so much of my family; we always have a great time when we get together!

Amelia and her cousin Preston having lunch next to each other.

So despite being sick, these last two and a half weeks have gone by quickly but I am so excited that Mike is coming home Friday.  Speaking of Mike, in the middle of writing this blog my doorbell rang and it was bouquet of flowers from the best husband in the world!

My Grandma had the top of a wedding cake made for my parents.  Apparently, the first one from their wedding 34 years ago was eating by someone else.  It was such a thoughtful gift and my parents were nice enough to share it with everyone else!

2 Down, 19 to Go

. . . days, that is, until Mike gets home from New York.  He’s doing a three-week mini MBA for his job.  Thanks to the iPad and my iPhone, we can do “face” time every day (video chatting) – we look just like an Apple commercial every time he calls and he can see Amelia and Noah.  It’s been especially fun to watch Amelia when they talk; after he hangs up, she turns the phone over and over saying “Dada”!  Today she accidently hung up on him and threw a temper tantrum . . . she clenched her fists, turned bright red and screamed at me like I was responsible.

Mike’s parents were here last week to visit.  It was nice to be able to show family where we live.  Unfortunately, Noah was really sick and it developed into bronchitis, so he had to take it easy and stay home from school for a few days.  He’s better now, which is great because he started flag football and had his first Cub Scout meeting.  I’ve always been excited about him starting into Boy Scouts; both my older brothers are Eagle Scouts.  My parents were always very involved with their packs and I always thought it was such a great program.

While Ray and Nancy were here, we took Amelia to the zoo for the first time.  She had about the best reaction to the animals that I could have hoped for.  She truly is an animal lover, so this was like heaven for her!  The coolest part about the Dallas zoo is one of the restaurants wraps around the lion exhibit and the lions lay right up against the glass walls.  The day after Mike left, I took the kids back to the zoo because Noah was in school the first day we went.  We had such a great time – they have a petting zoo and Amelia LOVED the goats!

A bird actually landed on Amelia's head, she wasn't too excited about that!

My brother Jason, who’s in the Air Force, flew into an airport only 15 miles from our house.  We met up for dinner, and it was great to see him.  Amelia really took to him.  The last time she had seen him was last Christmas, but she definitely wanted him to hold her.  We even got a tour of the aircraft he flies!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

This picture might be one of my all-time favorites: I looked down at Amelia the other day, and she was actually trying to put on my bra!  She has been imitating us so much more this past week . . . she’ll hold the phone up to her ear and babble, she’ll get a tissue and try to wipe her nose, and she’s started to try and put on shoes.  Speaking of shoes, she learned to say “shoe” this week and “turtle.”  I’ve started this thing of every time I take her downstairs,  I stop at each framed picture and say the name of the person in it – she has learned to expect it and she starts pointing and saying the name… either bubba (Noah), mommy, dada or doggie.  Last night she was flipping through a family photo album taken at Christmas, and she looked at each picture and would point out “Bubba.”

Noah started first grade last Monday and is really enjoying his new school.  After he came home the first day, I asked if he made any friends, and he said, “Oh yeah!  I made two best friends!”  So I asked what their names were; he said he didn’t know… Noah’s never been so great with names!  When his teacher asked each child in his class what they like to read, Noah responded with “The Wall Street Journal”; I got a pretty big kick out of that one.  I’m so excited to be able to help out more at his school this year; I’ll be going to the library and P.E. with his class every week. 

Noah’s been asking me if he can start playing football.  I’ve never been a fan of the idea of him playing tackle football, so we compromised and I signed him up for flag football.  (Before it starts, I really hope it cools off from the 107 degrees it’s been every day this week!)

Amelia is officially walking!  The thing that finally got her to do it was French toast made from banana bread.  That girls LOVES to eat . . . since moving to Texas, we’ve discovered some of her favorites are biscuits and gravy, cinnamon rolls, and BBQ sausage.  We went to this awesome BBQ restaurant called “Dat’s Good BBQ” last Friday and they had a blues band – Amelia was probably their biggest fan!

Whoops-a-daisey

I had a big “Mommy blunder” this week!  Since Mike started his new job on Thursday, we wanted to do something fun with the kids on Wednesday, and we thought a day in downtown Dallas would be fun.  We decided we needed something specifically Texan, so we looked up the best-rated BBQ restaurants close to where we were.  When I skimmed over the reviews, I was looking for how people had reviewed the food… forgetting about the “atmosphere reviews.” Well, I picked what looked like a promising place and we headed over.  Upon arriving and being seated, we started to notice the attire of the ALL-female staff, which to say wasn’t much.  The top of the menus read: Bone Daddy’s House of Smoke, THE OTHER REASON YOU’RE HERE.  The place opened at 11am and by 11:30am, the place was packed . . . yet I was the ONLY female there who wasn’t dressed like in a similar manner!

However, the food was amazing and, all in all, it was a fun lunch!  Noah didn’t seem to notice what the waitresses were wearing -- at least he didn’t comment on it.  I guess it’s not much different than what he sees women in at the pool every day.  It definitely made for a good laugh!

It has been a rough week for Amelia; my poor baby got Hand-foot-and-mouth disease (I’m guessing from the childcare center at the fitness club).  Luckily, it sounds a lot worse than it actually is -- she had a low-grade fever and a rash around her hands, feet and a little around her mouth.  The rash is almost all gone, and she’s back to her cheery little self.  She’s been trying to communicate much more lately; it’s so fun to watch her explore her surroundings!  She points at everything, especially dogs and lights.  Whenever I change her diaper, I give her a book to look at to distract her.  This past week, the book had a ladybug named Louella.  When I hand her the book, I always say, “Louella, Louella” and I swear she’s started repeating it.

Amelia having fun with tissues when Mommy wasn't looking!

Noah starts school this coming Monday and he gets to meet his new teacher tonight.  Mike and I went to the 1^st grade back-to-school night yesterday and got to meet her -- she’s very nice!  I think it’s going to be a great year for Noah!

The last piece of furniture we bought was delivered this week, so the house is really coming together.  I took a few photos to share (sorry for the quality… I took them on my iphone).  I also worked really hard spackling, taping and painting Amelia’s room; it’s a little more pink than I had planned, but I’m really happy with how it turned out!

Amelia's room is almost finished!

We're Back!

I apologize for how long it’s been since my last blog post, but believe it or not we have not had internet since leaving my parents’ house.   As you can imagine it has been a VERY busy few weeks!  The rest of our drive from Park City to Dallas was nice and we got to stay with one of my best friends, Christina Saunders, and then with my grandparents for two nights in Medicine Lodge, KS. 

Turns out that the week we moved here was record breaking heat!  Our car thermometer was reading up to 115 degrees for the first five days.  It wouldn’t have been so bad because our house has great A/C, but we had to run errands all over the place to get the house set-up.  The upside is we made it through the hottest week of the year so it can only get cooler…right?

We are continually pleasantly surprised by how friendly everyone is here; it truly is already feeling like home!  We joined a local club that has an indoor/outdoor water park, health spa, fitness classes, exercise equipment, basketball and racquet ball courts, even a rock climbing wall.  The best part is that they have an amazing childcare center that is ONLY $6 for both kids and they can go for two hours every day, so needless to say we have been there every day since signing up!

Noah loves it here so far; he has a great playroom and a play structure outside that he can play on at 5am ;).  He started an art camp this week and really seems to be having a great time.  He’s also made some friend in the kid’s center at the club.  Amelia had her first taste of childcare when I dropped her off to go work out. I was so happy because the next day when I brought her back she couldn’t wait to get down and start playing with the other kids!

It’s been fun unpacking and setting up the house.  The first week we had to do some furniture shopping to help fill-up the house and we’re eager to have it delivered, once it’s all set-up I’ll post some pictures.  Noah’s room colors matched perfectly to what I had in mind so we won’t need to change anything.  However, Amelia’s room is two shades of blue, so our project next week is to paint it and make it fit for a little girl. I am very excited about this project!

Here's some pictures from the last few weeks:

Noah with some of his favorite ladies.

Mike's lab goodbye lunch.

With my niece and nephew, Aria and Kia.

Our new house ; )

Noah with his great grandpa Gary and great grandma Dorothy.

I just love this picture!