Day 3

Everyone enjoyed our near 80 degree weather.

Mom and Krista visit day 2

What a wonderful day for a birthday party! We had pizza, Eli opened presents, we had cake, and everyone played outside. Eli has been having fun playing with all of his new presents. He even got to try out his new bike today after spending the morning in his pj's playing leapster.

Mom and Sister visit

Mom, Krista, and the boys got here around 4:00 on Sunday afternoon, and brought beautiful weather. As soon as they got here, we went straight to the park. Yesterday we spent the morning at an indoor park, and the afternoon outside again. Noah LOVED swinging! Then it was time for Eli's birthday party.

Noah napping

He looks so cute and comfy. One might think he could take a nap that lasts longer than 45 minutes!

Noah's Happy Places

The kitchen and the discovery dome are the two places Noah will actually sit and play by himself. The whole teething thing, stuffy nose, snotty nose, and frustration from not being able to crawl, are turning this once happy baby into quite a crab!! He sure does know how to turn it on for the camera! He was crying right before I took the picture of him by the kitchen.

My babies

What is it about balloons anyway????

24 hours later

Here's the snow!!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Joel and I were supposed to go to a concert and stay in a hotel tonight while the boys stayed home with Aunt Jennifer. Waking up to freezing rain and conditions only getting worse as the day went on, made us decide to stay put. I don't know why I plan to go anywhere in the winter that doesn't involve an airplane and warm weather. This is the second time in a month that I have changed plans due to weather, and trust me. I don't make many plans!!!!

Noah

7 months old already. Can you believe it????? He has started giving 5's and kisses and loves any real people food he can get someone to feed him (notice how he is busting out of another 12 month outfit). I took him to the doctor before we went out of town last weekend to see what we could do about this cold that he's had for 2 months. Turns out he had an ear infection. It's amazing what a little antibiotic can do!

family fun

We spent the weekend with my family at a hotel in Roseville. We arrived at the hotel around 3:00 on Saturday, and went right to the pool. I couldn't believe how much Eli loved swimming. He wanted to do it all by himself, and he could've spent hours going back and forth in the pool. In fact, it seemed to take him an hour just to get from one side to the other. Grandma got a lot of swim time with him! Noah didn't really care for the swimming pool, but he liked the hot tub. On Sunday morning we went to Edinbourough Park which was fun for everyone! The adults had as much fun on the slides as the kids did! Sunday afternoon was spent in the pool for most. Eli took a marathon nap, but it was much needed. Our friends Sean and Tonya stopped to see us, and my aunt Cindy and her two kids got a room for Sunday night to join the fun. Cindy made us a delicious dinner. We did a little more swimming before we left this morning. Everyone had a great time. Things we'll remember or hopefully forget: -Noah getting woken up both nights as his loud brother was supposed to be going to sleep. Joel spent most of the weekend with Noah in his arms, -Katelynn falling off her bed and rolling under Craig and Jen's bed -Drew crawling around the bed all night, so Krista and Brent did not sleep Saturday night, -me getting locked out of our room and having to call Craig's cell phone at 2:00 am to let me back in.

Valentine's Shmalentine's

I'm reading about everyone's Valentines Day, and I thought I would write a little something about mine (okay- a lot of something). I left the house for an hour on Tuesday night, and when I got home, Eli said "where's mom's card?" Needless to say, I ended up getting my card and present that night. I decided to give Joel his present later that night, and he said, "Why are you giving this to me now?" I said, "Because we don't really see each other in the mornings". Well- here's how the day went. I always get up at least a half hour before Joel (someone has to stay in the bed with Noah). I knew Joel was going into work a little early, but he got out of the shower and said, "I have to go", to which I replied, "I don't even get to take a shower?" He said, "Hurry up!" During my 5 second shower, Eli joined Noah in the bed, and as soon as I got out, Joel said, "Eli's with Noah; they're fine", and he left. As we're walking down the stairs, Grandma Cathy and Don are at the door with our Valentine's (which we loved very much). As I was giving Noah his bottle and changing his clothes, Eli ate a sucker and a KitKat. The next hour was a blur. Mom calling, kids coming, breakfast.... and yeah! Jennifer comes. I ran to Target to get our family pictures that were supposed to be in; found out they wouldn't be there until 3:00. Stopped at Walgreens to pick up pictures I had taken for parent Valentines; realized the pictures were too big for the frames. The boys all took pretty good naps which means I had a pretty good afternoon. When Joel got home from work, I went back to Target to get my pictures. They didn't come in which I was told never happens, so I left and got our fabulous Valentine dinner at Taco John's. Joel had basketball practice from 7-8. When he got home, I relaxed and watched One Tree Hill. I stayed up late to watch American Idol because it wasn't going to be on until 10:30- after the Iowa basketball game. I turned it to Fox at 10:30- no American Idol. Joel informs me that the basketball game wasn't on, so I missed American Idol. I went to bed with a headache, and it was still there when I woke up this morning.

Suns shirts

Here are the boys in their new Phoenix Suns shirts that Grandpa Jim sent. I decided they better wear them before Noah does his Hulk move. Who would've known that he'd be busting out of a 12 month t-shirt? His name is no longer Bubba. Now, we just call him "the fat kid". Thanks for the shirts Grandpa!!!!

Do they need a new mini cheerleader?

family picture

I look a little out of place at Tyler's Hawkeye birthday party.

Now that Chase is crawling, I decided it was time to put up the peek and play discovery dome that Noah got for Christmas. As you can see, it was a hit for everyone! Noah got mad that he couldn't get in there. He lays on his tummy and turns in circles. I don't know if he'll ever get that tummy off the ground! He was 19lbs, 26 inches at his 6 month appointment last week. As my doctor says, "he's short and fat". I don't know how we're going to get any more toys in our living room! We might have to get rid of the couch and chair next!

Eli's new room

Here's Eli helping Daddy put together a new book shelf for his room. We moved Eli from his toddler bed into a full-sized bed this weekend. It's winter, and I need to find things to move around and organize!!!!! I'll post more pictures when I decided what else I need to do in there!Next, I'm going to tackle the front room and the basement!

clapping

Noah learned how to clap this weekend. I've been trying to get him to do it for a month, but of course he'll only do it when daddy tells him to!

Peek a boo

This is how we get greeted when we go to get Noah up from a nap. Sometimes he even plays this little game BEFORE he takes his nap. I've had to retrieve the pacifier from the floor several times already! Now...if he could just figure out how to put it in his mouth in the middle of the night, we'd be set!

brothers

Do they look alike or what??

6 months old

Noah was all about getting his picture taken today! The picture on the top is him being silly. Whenever we say silly, he leans to the side. The picture on the bottom is "so big" Lets hope he's this cooperative when I take him to get his 6 months pictures done!

Big Boy Food

Noah is loving all of the new foods he gets to try, but he really wants to feed himself. I have to wrestle with him to get the spoon back.

Christmas toys

Noah checking himself out in the mirror

Eli and Daddy playing bugs

I realize it's been a long time since I've posted anything. We've been busy trying to get everyone well. Eli was sick for a week, Joel and I were sick for a week, and now Noah has been sick for the past week. FUN TIMES!!!!

I just wanted to share a some pictures of the boys playing with their new toys. The only thing Eli asked for from Santa was bugs and spiders.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Looks like everyone had fun at Grandma Cathy's New Years party! Eli even spent the night, and here's a photo of his first poop in the toilet! Joel and I enjoyed a nice dinner out. Thanks Cathy and Don!

hawkeye hats

My Grandma made these hats for the boys for Christmas. Maybe they should have been wearing them today!

Big Boy!!

Because he's sitting up, not because he's fat.

Christmas Day

Santa found us at our house too, so we opened presents when we woke up this morning. Noah is getting very good!!!! Then in the afternoon, we went over to Grandma Cathy's house. I wish I would've taken a picture of the pile of presents. We need a bigger house to hold all of the new toys! Thanks to everyone! We have had a lot of fun this past week!

Christmas Eve

We went to my Grandparents on my Dad's side for Christmas Eve. This is a picture of the grandkids, and great-grandkids. Add the parents, spouses, and significant others, and you have quite a house full. We were planning to stay at Krista and Brent's afterwards, but we decided to head home. We arrived at our house at 2:45am. Eli went back to sleep, but Noah had other plans. Needless to say, we did not get much sleep last night!

santa

Friday night we went to visit Santa, and Saturday night Santa came to Grandma and Grandpa's. Eli and Zach loved Santa. Katelynn and Drew were not fans. Noah kept pulling Santa's beard off.

sledding with Grandpa

There wasn't much snow, but the kids had fun sledding on the lake. Eli was a little scared of being on the ice. I think someone has watched Ice Age one too many times. His favorite thing to do outside was play in the woods!

baking cookies with Grandma

Grandma was thinking and bought colored dough, so they didn't even have to frost them.

Grandpa babysitting

We were supposed to go up North on Thursday, but the weather was not sounding good, so with some help from Jennifer, Rhonda and Erica, we were able to leave Tuesday night. Thanks again Jen! The boys slept the whole way there, but it was not fun trying to get them back to sleep at 2:30am. Here are some highlights of our week at Grandma and Grandpa's

Eli's new look

Eli does not like to wear pants when he has underwear on, so I bought him some boxer briefs to cover him a little. We're still accident free. He has learned to poop when he has a diaper on, so yesterday he sat in a poopy diaper all during nap.

BUBBA

Gotta love potty training!

I've been very lazy with my camera. I even bought a new one last week, and I haven't really taken any pictures. No- I'm not depressed, just busy!!!! I wanted to share the highlight of my day, and I didn't think pictures would be appropriate! Eli has been doing very well in his big boy underwear the past few days, but he has yet to poop on the toilet. This afternoon I was changing Chase's diaper and Eli was playing on the couch. I heard Eli say something about mud. I looked over to see what he was talking about, and there it was. Mud on his hand. Oh yeah- it wasn't mud. It was poop. Needless to say, the next 10 minutes in my house were not much fun for anyone.

I have to watch what I say!

Yesterday Eli was playing with a sticker, so it wasn't sticking very well anymore. I was standing in the kitchen, and he was playing in the living room. All of a sudden I heard him say, "I told you three times to stay on my elbow". He was talking to his sticker. They don't miss a beat do they? I haven't even used that phrase very much!