a puppy "paw-ty"

The theme for Noah's first birthday was dogs...mostly because what he loves the most is Sage (and any other dog for that matter).  Even though we had only family for Noah's birthday, I still wanted to make it special (and equal with what we did for Caleb's birthday).  :)

Though we didn't need invitations for a family birthday party...I decided to do them anyway {if only for the baby book}.  I couldn't find any cute dog invitations on any of the "normal" websites, so I looked on Etsy late one night and found these. 

Food:  Dog-Bone Rice Krispie Treats and...

...a #1 Cake, of course!  (The stars are the Stickerz Fruit Roll-Ups)

Opening his first present with Daddy!

He's a fan of presents, aparently.  :)

More presents...yay!

Precious birthday boy

Even Caleb was brought a present to open...though he ended up opening almost all of Noah's anyway. 

Papa and his little look-alike!

Trying out the cake...

And definitely a fan!

Especially when you get to put it in your hair.

Bumba and Luke

Brad and Papa...little did they know, they were making the same face!

Noah smeared icing all over Uncle Chris' face (with a little encouragment, of course).  :)

LoLa and Caleb reading his book together

Evan and Ethan trying out Noah's new Toy Story car {from them}

Thank goodness for our in-house cleaning crew!

We had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our precious second-born!  What a blessing these boys are!!!  We love you, Noah...Happy Birthday!

Good Ol' Fashioned Family Fun

Our "old" house was new...which meant the only trees we had were those {small} ones we planted.  Our "new" house is old(er) with TONS of HUGE trees.  I love it!!!  Back when we were looking at putting an offer on this house, I envisioned doing this in the fall...

And this...{Yes, I ran and jumped into the pile of leaves.  It looked too fun to resist!}

...And this

One of my favorite pictures!!!

...And this!

...It was even more fun than I imagined it!

Happy First Birthday, Noah!

For my sweet Noah...

If I could rewind time

I’d travel way back when

You were growing in me

And another child we’d win.

If I could rewind time

I’d feel you move in me

With my belly oh so round

Feeling kicks and knees!

If I could rewind time

I’d go back to the day

At 11:55 at night

I saw your sweet, sweet face.

If I could rewind time

I’d want to hold you tight

To rock you for several hours

And love you with all my might.

If I could rewind time

I’d gaze into your eyes

While your busy nursing

And even enjoy your cries.

If I could rewind time

I’d cherish your precious smile

Watching for the very first time

Taking time to enjoy it for awhile.

If I could rewind time

I’d marvel at the swaddle

Your daddy can get you so tight

After giving you your bottle.

If I could rewind time

I’d watch you with your brother

Placing his favorite toys around you…

And then adding another.

If I could rewind time

To Palm Springs is where I’d be

There for Daddy’s business trip

Enjoying time with us three.

If I could rewind time

I’d cherish the love I see

Between these two brothers

Best friends I know you will be.

If I could rewind time

I’d listen to you coo.

I’d cherish every sound I hear

Knowing it is coming from you.

If I could rewind time

I’d watch you laying flat

With your back on the floor

At the toys your arms would bat.

If I could rewind time

And see your little chest

Scooting along the floor

As you tried to crawl your best.

If I could rewind time

Hearing “Mama” for the first time

Would be music to my ears

And I’d take the time to cry.

If I could rewind time

I’d watch you pull yourself up

Cruising along the furniture

And drinking from your brother’s cup.

If I could rewind time

I’d watch your very first step

How you cutely hobbled

And into my arms you leapt

If I could rewind time

I wouldn’t have any stress

Even without enough sleep

Your sweet face, I would continually caress.

If I could rewind time

I’d stop and take it in.

I’d enjoy every second

On my face, a permanent grin.

Since these times have come and gone

Each memory I will treasure

I’ll thank God for this precious boy

Who has brought our lives much pleasure!

No, time can’t be rewound

So I’ll enjoy today

I’ll marvel at your precious face

And get down on the floor and play!

I love you, Noah! Happy First Birthday!

Blessings

Boys,

I want you to know that I love you very much and I enjoy watching each of you grow and learn new things every day. You will most likely never remember these precious moments your mom and I witness daily however you might understand once you have kids of your own.  Noah, I enjoy each night when I feed you your bottle how you babble and try to grab my nose. Caleb, I enjoy each night how you ask for one more story and as I am leaving, your numerous questions to delay time you go to sleep. Each night I try as hard as I can to etch small little memories like these into my mind in an attempt to never forget. I absolutely love coming home each day to play with my boys. We chase each other around the house playing “get you and tickle bug.” I am crazy about you guys!

Even though the tale of two boys blog is about Caleb and Noah, we would not be who we are without their wonderful mother and wife. Your mom loves each of you with all of her heart. Jenae, thank you for all that you do and sacrifice for Caleb, Noah and me. Everything that happens in our lives shape our future and what you do on a daily basis counts, even though sometimes you may not think so.  God works in the little things of life and by doing the little things in line with Gods will for your life He can do the unexpected. Your constant search for serving others is a daily encouragement. The boys and I want to say thank you for what you do.

Friendly little fella!

We went to Sam's on Friday night.  Once we got our goods, we went to checkout.  Caleb said to the cashier (with ANY prompting from us), "Hi.  I'm Caleb.  I'm taking these pajamas home with me."

He gets his friendliness from his Daddy. 

And he got his hair cut (way too short...we'll be growing the long hair back as soon as possible).

(And because I now know that this blog can be turned into a book, I am recording every possible moment from our child's lives.  It's just way easier than scrapbooking or even filling out a baby book.  So bear with me).  :)

Noah's first word...

Noah has been saying "Dada" and "Mama" for a while (although I still don't know that he says them specifically to us), but he recently mimicked Caleb for his first word...

"Uh-oh."

I have a feeling I'm going to hearing that word a lot in the coming months.  These two boys are started to team up on me in clever, ornery ways.  :)

I think this picture is just too funny (probably something that would immediately go into his mouth)...I took something away and he was not happy!

I think this picture is just too funny (probably something that would immediately go into his mouth)...I took something away and he was not happy!

We're off the see the wizard...

There's no question what we were this Halloween.  We're still at the age where Kevin and I get to choose the Halloween costume...I'm thinking this might be the last year for that (although I am REALLY pulling for Caleb to be a Firefighter next year and Noah can be the Dalmation Dog that Caleb was last year). 

We had a fun time putting together this year's ensemble.  All of the costumes except Kevin's were borrowed.  I made his by wrapping duct tape around a sweatsuit I bought at Goodwill. 

The boys really enjoyed Trunk-or-Treat at our church.  I think the only thing Caleb had all nigth was candy!  He wouldn't eat anything for dinner.  :)

Our sweet little lion!

Yep...this is the best smile we could get out of him.  He's really into "smiling" in very strange ways.

The cousins (minus Captain America- aka Blake)