Kansas Boys

The Sunflowers are in full-bloom here, so I thought we'd take a few pictures with them.  You know I am sucker for boys in overalls...  :)

Noah wasn't so sure about sitting in an itchy field at first...but he quickly adjusted.

Noah ~ 10 months

We're into the double-digits of months, which means his first birthday is just around the corner.  Could somebody please freeze time???  He's growing up way too fast!

Not a lot has changed this last month.  He's still the sweetest, easiest, cutest baby!  It has been so fun watching he and Caleb play together.  Caleb is very protective of his little brother and always wants him to be included...if someone forgets to greet or say goodbye to Noah, Caleb most certainly lets that person know.  :)

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

In the last month, we've gotten a great up-close look at some really cool "modes" of transportation!

A Planes, Trains, and Automobiles event was put on at our local library at the beginning of August.  A few weeks later, our church had a "Hero Night" where fireman (and their trucks), policeman (and their horses), and armed forces came out to celebrate with us.  The boys had a great time at both events...but I think Caleb was slightly more interested than Noah. :)

Caleb was slightly apprehensive about the helicopter at first

A vintage war car of some kind (I'm obviously not very knowledgeable about this stuff)...

Yep...that's Noah in that stroller.  Unfortunately the sunshade is hiding his face.

They even had a cardboard train that the kids could paint!

And a barrel train...

Noah is patiently waiting (and enjoying his paci).

Caleb finally got the courage to sit in the helicopter himself.  This is one of my favorite pictures of him!

At our church's Hero night...

I'm not sure which was more interesting to Caleb...the police horse or the sucker?

Sage

There is one member of our family who rarely gets any attention--on this blog and elsewhere!  This member of our family has been a part of us since before we were technically a family...  Kevin got Sage for me right after I graduated high school when we first started dating.  She is 8 1/2 years old. 

Our Sagey is an amazing dog.  This is what she endures day-in and day-out:

Never once has she been aggressive...even when she is climbed all over, her eyes are poked, and whiskers are pulled.  She endures quite a bit around here because both of our boys are crazy about her and want to be with her all the time! 

Even though she drives me crazy sometimes, I am thankful that we have such a loving companion! 

And in case you're wondering, she is a golden retriever...they make the best family dogs!

Noah ~ 9 months

This baby is the epitome of happy...nothing gets him down!  I looked at his mouth the other day and saw a brand-new tooth had popped through on the top and I had no idea!  He has been just as happy and contented as he can be.

 

He went through a period of major fussiness back in April and May.  Now that I look back, I think the poor baby was starved!  I was still nursing and I don't think I was producing enough because of stress.  He went from 80th percentile at 2 months to 27th at 6 months.  He has been on formula since the middle of June and has started to gain more weight.  I had hoped to nurse him a little longer, but this decision was truly what was best for Noah.

At 9 months, Noah:

• Pulls up!
• Cruises around furniture
• Objects if a toy is taken away by Mommy or Daddy, but is absolutely agreeable when Caleb takes something away!  Go figure!
• Claps his hands!!  He just did this yesterday when our Small Group from church was over and we were singing a "clapping song."  I guess peer pressure really does work.  ;)
• Loves our dog Sage.

We sure do love this little guy!!!

fish out of water

We have been hosting our small group on Sunday nights for the summer.  A few weeks ago, the kids (ahem...big and little) brought their fishing poles and went to town!

Caleb caught his first fish on our trip to the lake in July, but he caught his first fish in our water that night! 

FYI- If you don't have any worms around when you go fishing, small pieces of bread on the hook seem to work just as well!

It's our prayer that these little ones will grow to be "Fishers of Men" as well!!!

Celebrate!

I've been a bit neglectful about posting on this site because I have spent so much time on this site lately.  We've had lots of celebrations since my last post.

On July 24th, we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary and one week later was Kevin's 28th birthday.  It's hard to believe sometimes that I actually married my biggest crush!  I was so silly and smitten back in high school when even a glance from Kevin would make me blush.  I don't think I hid my affections very well, but I guess that's okay seeing how it all turned out!

In all seriousness, I cannot imagine spending my life with a more loving, honorable and God-seeking man.  Where I am a major worrier, Kevin doesn't waste his thoughts or energy wondering about what could happen.  Where I can sometimes get stressed out easily, Kevin almost always remains calm and collected.  Where I can often be selfish, Kevin seems to always be thinking of others.  He truly balances me and makes me a better person.  And he is an incredible father!  I love seeing the outpouring of love he has for our boys...even if I think he's a little rough sometimes.  :) 

To celebrate, each of the kids got the spend an evening with the grandparents.  We went to KC for the day and shopped, came that evening to go out to eat, a late movie, and sleep in the next morning in our own bed.  :)  It was just what we needed and we are so thankful to both sets of grandparents for this gift!

Here are a couple pictures from our hot date.  I guess this is what you get when you ask someone to take your picture...

And here is one we took ourselves:

Happy Anniversary and Birthday, Sweet Husband!  I love you!