Bi-ble

Noah is a man of few words.  I chalk it up to being the sibling proceeding a child who does.not.stop.talking.ever (I'll give you one guess who that is!).  He is okay with not saying much.  And we are too. 

It's really hard not to compare...especially since they are both boys.  But I haven't cracked open Caleb's baby book since Noah was born in order to rid myself of that temptation.  But still...I remember by 14 months, Caleb was saying about 10 words or so.  Not Noah.  He says "Uh-oh" and that's about it.  Noah, however, is such a steady walker.  I think he is almost steadier than Caleb is now (the child inherited my lack of grace).  They both have their different strengths and I am so thankful for that!

Today was a special day for Noah, though...2 new words in one day!  This morning, when leaving the nursery at church, he said, "Bye, bye" as clear as day.  And then tonight as I was putting him to bed and reading him his Bible story, he said "Bi-ble" with the cutest little twang I've ever heard.  It was absolutely precious. 

The only problem is...he is a stubborn child (which I can most assuredly tell you he didn't get from me) and won't repeat the words unless he wants to.

Oh well, we'll take what we can get! 

PS-He got a haircut this week.  Like the forgetful mother that I am, I forgot the camera for his first "official" haircut.  But it's really cute.  Much cuter than the crazy hair in the picture above.  :)

3 Years Old

I can't believe it.  How in the world has three years already gone by since I first held this precious blonde-haired baby in my arms for the first time??? 

This energetic little boy has brought so much love and joy into our lives.  He loves life to the fullest and is as affectionate and loving as he is ornery!  Not a minute goes by where he doesn't have a smile on his face!  He has truly taught us what it means to be joyful.

As Caleb grows, our prayer for him is that he will honor the meaning of his name, "faithful and bold", as a servant of Christ.  Using his enthusiasm and zeal for life, this little boy will spread the love of Jesus around the world!

The birthday boy on the morning of his birthday with a special treat...donuts!

Every kid's gotta have a birthday hat and an "It's my birthday!" sticker (leftover from my classroom).

Pushing cousin Ethan in the firetruck

Blowing out the candles

He was CRAZY about the ice cream (like his daddy)!  :)

And Noah was crazy about the cake!

Opening his presents

His very own Veggie Tales blanket from Bumba and Peepaw.

Kissing his Veggie Tales blanket...he really liked it!

Happy boy!

(I had to do a bit of "letting go" for his already-extremely-simple-party (since both Kevin and I had the stomach flu the day before), but he was as happy as could be with a store-bought cake, ice cream, balloons, and presents!)



Happy 3rd Birthday, Caleb!  We love you!!!

Keystone, CO

My family rented a house in Keystone for about 4 days just last weekend.  The trip started bad and ended horribly, but while we were there we had an amazing time!

We were supposed to leave on Wednesday and ended up not leaving until Thursday because Noah came down with a mild case of pneumonia.  Once we felt like that was under control, we felt comfortable making the 10-hour journey.  The boys were AMAZING in the car.  They watched movies on our portable DVD player, sang LOTS of songs, played with a few toys, and slept (just a little bit). 

We packed a lot of fun into 2 short days...a trip to the top of the mountain for lunch, a sleigh-ride dinner (complete with a REAL horse-drawn sleigh to a secluded cabin), skiing for me and Kevin, and ice-skating!

Playing in the snow right outside of the house.

Noah wasn't crazy about all the extra clothes.

Caleb liked to hear the snow "crunch, crunch, crunch" under his feet.

Eating snow (don't worry...not the yellow kind)  :)

Couldn't hardly keep up with this little snow bunny!

Love those big blue eyes!

On the gondola on the way to the top of the mountain

Caleb kept pointing to all the mountains and saying, "I want to go to THAT mountain next!"

Noah taking it all in

At the mountain house

And the snow fort on the top of the mountain

sliding down!

Noah wanted to walk everywhere on top of the mountain.  We had to keep a close eye out or he would have been down the ski slopes in an instant!

Our attempted family photo while staring directly into the sun.

Just getting on the sleigh...

Bundling up for the ride

Petting the horses that pulled the sleigh

I love this picture!  We're in the cabin getting ready for dinner.

Caleb and Jenni dancing

Chris and Jenni

On the sleigh on the way back...the stars were so bright!

Getting ready for a fun day of skiing!  My parents watched the boys so we could get out by ourselves for the day.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

It's been over 5 years...but I didn't forget!

Chris and Jenni {snowboarding}

We had so much fun together!

We got to ice skate and Caleb got to ride in the sleigh on the ice.

Jenni gave Caleb a super-fun ride!

Caleb and Uncle Chris skating

A good photo to end on...diggin' for gold!

We fought slick, icy, and snowy roads the whole way home.  We thought we were in the clear when we got close to home.  It turns out, we weren't.  We were in a bad car accident just 30 minutes north of town.  God's hand of protection was on us--all 4 of us walked away without a scratch.  Not an ideal way to end an amazing weekend...but we are so thankful everyone is safe!