Noah ~ 5 months

Noah's 5-month birthday was Monday. It seems like he has grown up overnight! I remember anticipating the next big milestone with Caleb with such excitement...I couldn't wait for him to smile, sit up, crawl, walk, etc. Now I know how fast time flies and I just want Noah to stay a baby forever.

Surely my little Noah isn't old enough to go to the cradle roll class at church...but he most certainly is! Caleb was a month younger when he started going. I figured someone would have to hold him, but he sat in his cubby seat throughout the whole class. And he was playing in the exersaucer when I went to pick him up...I hadn't even thought about him being ready for that! I dug ours out and cleaned it up for him to use the next day. He LOVES playing in it!

Surely my little Noah is still too young and fragile to enjoy being lovingly "tackled" by his big brother... I wish you could hear him cackling and laughing!

Surely my little Noah isn't old enough to start eating solids, but alas...he is! I cleaned up our high chair yesterday in preparation for his first rice cereal feeding in a few days.

He is old enough for all of those things...I'm just having a hard time with it!

obsessed

If you have been around my oldest at all in the last few months, you probably already know what his obsession is...Veggie Tales. After attempting to shelter Caleb from television for the first almost 2 years of his life (besides an occasional Wiggles video), he has formed a *somewhat* unhealthy obsession to Bob, Larry, and the rest of the gang. He had never seen VT 3 months ago (I thought they were a little old for him), but my brother got him some Veggie Tales board books for Christmas and he loved them. We had a Veggie Tales video hand-me-down lying around so we put it on one day and he has been hooked ever since.

I *try* to limit his television watching to 1 show in the morning, but Caleb normally attempts to take matters into his own hands. He has figured out how to turn on the television in our bedroom and push play all on his own. He has never been shown how to do this...he is SERIOUSLY motivated. He doesn't really like to watch other shows--just Veggie Tales!

I witnessed the most adorable thing yesterday. Noah was crying and Caleb went to comfort him. Caleb started telling him about Goliath the giant pickle who is THIS BIG. Noah appreciated Caleb's storytelling and calmed right down...and my heart was happy that he is actually comprehending these Bible stories. :)

I guess there are worse things he could be obsessed with...and I can actually type this post because of *Veggie Tales*.

Easter!

Palm Springs!

We had a great trip! It started off a little rough when my mom dropped Noah and me off at the airport. As I was getting out of the car, Caleb started crying and saying, "Take me, Mommy, take me." I started crying and then my mom teared up because both Caleb and I were upset! We finally made it into the airport and Noah was an absolute ANGEL on both legs of the flight.

Once we arrived in sunny Palm Springs, we went out to eat and walked around one of the MANY shopping centers there. Palm Springs is located in the desert, with mountains surrounding it. It was absolutely gorgeous. All of the flowers were blooming, so every time you walked outside it smelled like gardenias!

The next day Noah and I hung out in the hotel room until Kevin was finished with his conference for the morning. Then we drove to the aerial tram. It was so cool! We went from desert temperatures to a snow-topped mountain within a matter of minutes (all while the gondola rotated). We ate dessert at the restaurant at the top of the mountain and enjoyed a beautiful view.

The rest of our time was spent hanging out at the hotel, shopping, and eating out. It was beautiful and I really enjoyed getting to give Noah some undivided attention. However, I don't really like my family being spread out...I like us all being together. And I missed Caleb like crazy!

Caleb has been an absolute angel since we got home. I told my mom yesterday that he needs to stay with her more often...he is greeting people with a pleasant "hi" now instead of a scream (which went on for a couple of weeks) and he is saying YES! This is a huge milestone as he used to answer everything with a "no" whether he meant it or not. This week we have had so much fun playing outside in the beautiful weather, going to the zoo, and playing at the park.

My little family is such a joy and I thank God for each of them every day!

Noah ~ 4 months

I am almost 2 weeks late, but better late than never!

Noah is an absolute joy. He is getting to the really "fun" baby stage...smiling, cooing, laughing, oh my! He LOVES to be talked to, held, and tickled . At 4 months, he weighs 15 pounds and is 25 inches long! A few weeks ago he rolled from his tummy to his back and he loves to roll from his back to his side.

He has turned into quite the wiggle worm! As you can see from the picture above I was unable to get him to sit still while I took his picture; he kept wanting to flail his arms and legs! Oh, and the drool is pretty much a mainstay these days...I'm wondering if he is going to be teething soon?

He rarely spits up, which is absolutely foreign to me seeing that Caleb spit up ALL THE TIME and was on medication for it until he was a year old. Drool is much more pleasant and not nearly as disgusting when it lands in your mouth like it did in Kevin's shortly after taking this picture. :)

He is such a happy baby!!! He is so easy-going and content. He was sleeping 11 hours consecutively until our trip to California and the time change has messed him up (more on our trip later). He's been getting up around 4:00 for the last few mornings, but then nurses and goes back to sleep until around 8:00. His naps are erratic at best. He goes down easily, but will not sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time.

I feel so very blessed to see this sweet face everyday and get to love on 2 amazing boys (3 if you count Kevin, of course)!! :)

funniest. kid. ever.

Sesame Street Live

Yes, we are those people. You know, the people you promise yourself you will never be prior to becoming parents...spending a crazy amount of money so that your 2-year old can see his favorite furry red monster (I have since learned NEVER to say never--especially when it comes to parenting). To justify--it was his birthday present from us, the only other thing we got him was a puzzle.

Now that I have swallowed my pride, I'll admit we had a great time. My family took Noah to his first 4-star restaurant while we reminisced how it felt to be a family of three again for a hours. We met Kevin's entire family there and enjoyed seeing all of the Sesame Street gang dancing and singing for an hour and a half. Afterwards, we headed to Caleb's favorite restaurant--Freddy's--to enjoy "burga, fies, and dip," as Caleb says.

Here's "Bumba", Emma, and Aunt Crystal...the rest of the gang is just down the row. Man, I wish I would have gotten a picture of everyone!

It's amazing how nice it is to spend with your children individually. We both could give Caleb our undivided attention and smile at eachother when for the 15th time Caleb exclaimed, "I want to give Elmo a hug." In a few weeks, we will be going to Palm Springs, California for Kevin's conference. After much deliberation, we have decided that Caleb will stay with my parents for 3 nights and Noah and I will fly out to be with Kevin 2 days after the conference begins. I just couldn't leave Caleb for the whole week but couldn't really imagine taking care of both of them myself in a fancy-shmancy hotel room (which the company pays for) while Kevin is at his meetings. We are looking forward to getting to spend some one-on-one time with Noah. After last night, we have decided we need to give our kids some individual time with both of us more often.

I have found that being a mother of more than one child brings with it a whole new load of guilt--guilt about not being able to give your second child as much attention as your first, taking away time from your first to take care of your second, guilt about the house being a mess so that you can spend time with the baby while the older one naps, etc. And then I remember the love that I have for all 4 of my siblings. What a blessing it is to share the love of brothers and sisters! I know Caleb and Noah will grow up being best buddies and we will enjoy watching their relationship grow!