This is nap #2 not taken in the swing today, and he actually did a 5 1/2 hour stretch during the night last night. Maybe I will get to sleep again someday!

Check out the outfit!

Susy thinks Noah looks like a Schwantz....must be those eyes!!
Isn't his outfit funny??? It came from Joel's Canada office. What's not so funny is what happenend the first night that he wore it. After a middle of the night feeding and diaper change, Noah was SCREAMING. I walked with him for a minute, and he acted like he was going back to sleep. However, I just knew something was wrong. He had never gotten that upset. My first thought was that a piece of my hair was wrapped around his toe. (I've always been scared of that happening. I read a story about it when Eli was born, and I would always check his toes while I was putting on his pj's). I took Noah downstairs and undressed him. There was something around his toe. It wasn't my hair; it was a string from his sleeper. SCARY!!!

A weekend of firsts

Noah laughed out loud today. I know it may be too early, but I'm pretty sure that's what it was. Joel even got it on video tape because of course I was at the grocery store. Noah was in the swing, and he was cooing and smiling. Joel started video taping and thats when it happened. Maybe he was just cooing while he was smiling, but it sure sounded like a laugh!


After watching Monsters Inc. non-stop for 4 days, Joel and I decided to take Eli to his first movie. Noah stayed with aunt Jennifer, and we took cousin Grace with us to see Barnyard yesterday afternoon. I don't know how much the kids got out of the movie, but they were both very good. We asked Eli if he would like to go to the movie theater again sometime and of course he said "yes". He was ready to go to the movie theater first thing this morning!!!!!

Eli took his first shower last night. He was pretty excited about that too!

1 month old

Can you believe that I couldn't find 5 minutes yesterday to get a good picture? I only took one, and it was terrible. Noah was either sleeping or I was trying to get him to sleep all day. I think it was mostly me TRYING to get him to sleep. Joel took these last night while I was giving Eli a bath. What a good daddy!

JUST SAY NO!

So, Joel had his first "talk" with Eli last night. He said, "Eli, don't do drugs." Eli said, "No, I'm not doing the drums".

Had to add one more!

Noah- 3 weeks and 2 days old!

photo shoot #2

Noah was much more patient with me yesterday. I even got Eli to cooperate with a little help from a bowl of m&m's. As you can see, Noah has started getting his baby acne. He also had scratches all over his face. I think his face looked a little better today, so I thought about taking some more pictures. Then I decided that the poor kids had suffered enough.

For My Godmother

My aunt Connie sent an email wondering why I'm not in any photos, so I thought I'd find one for her. This was me at 7:00 this morning. Noah ate at 2:30 and 5:30. Then, he was crying at 6:45, so I brought him into bed with me. These are the moments that Joel decides to capture.

Pictures from Adventureland

On Monday, Joel's aunt Carol, Uncle Dale, Cousin Jeff, his wife Kim, and their three kids came to visit from Wisconsin. Adding our family and Jennifer, Rich, and their four kids made a housefull at Grandma's every night. The days were filled with activities and the evenings ended with dinner at Grandma's and Matt trying to get everyone to play croquet. (Joel and I decided that we could get used to someone cooking dinner for us every night!)
Eli got to go to the Science Center with everyone on Tuesday while I stayed home with Noah. On Wednesday afternoon we girls and Noah headed to the mall. Yesterday Grandma stayed with Noah, so Eli and I could go to Adventureland with the rest of the crew. We were there from 11:30-5:00, and we had a lot of fun! This morning as I was wetting Eli's hair down during breakfast he said, "Where are we going today?" He had to settle for a trip to Blockbuster.
Thanks Cathy for opening your house to everyone! It was a fun week!

Two weeks old

I took this picture of Noah on Saturday. I was trying to get a cute one for a birth announcement, but he wasn't too thrilled about his photo shoot. I thought I'd wait and try again sometime this week. We had his two week check-up yesterday. He weighs 8lbs. 20z. and is doing well. The doctor thinks he may have a little reflux, so we had to prop up the crib matress. He seemed to sleep better last night. I know I did!

Move Over Tiger!

This is Eli's favorite thing to do outside! Its an expensive hobby even at this age. We've already gone through two sets of golf clubs this summer. I would suggest not buying the $5 sets at Walmart. Even with duct tape (which I'm pretty sure my friend Andy from high school said would fix anything), these clubs do not stay together.


**Our sign worked! Jen and Craig got circled at the Twins game!

Go Twins!

Craig and Jen got to our house around 11:30 on Friday night. Joel and I were busy making a "Circle Me Bert" sign for them to take to the Twins game in Kansas City tonight. We were their first stop on their annual baseball trip. They are heading to Atlanta before returning to Moorhead, and they are going to 5 baseball games. Oh- and they are sneaking in a wedding in Milwaukee. They really look forward to their trips every year. Craig probably doesn't even get home before he starts planning next year's adventure. I'm sure this is how everyone would like to spend their anniversaries! I'm just glad that it worked out that they could stop here!! Have a safe trip!

Do they look alike?

Everyone keeps asking if Noah looks like Eli. What do you think? I'll have to find some better pictures to compare. (Noah is on top and Eli is on the bottom)

How many children do I have?

Seriously- I changed 6 poopy diapers before 1:00 today. Oh- and Grandma Cathy was with the boys from 10:00 until 12:00. She changed at least one too. After Eli's 3rd (he's only pooped one other time all week), he started laughing and said, "Is that funny mama?" Oh I find lots of humor in it especially when he can practically change his own diaper. He has also stopped peeing in the potty, so it could be a LONG TIME before I am done changing his diapers. Maybe I should just let him sit in his poop for a while. Last week, Don took him to the park, and he pooped at the park. He refused to sit in the stroller on the way home. That was a long walk- for both of them! However, I got dandelions and some other pretty weeds out of their adventure!

Happy Birthday Krista!

Happy birthday sister! Doesn't she look like she's ready for another baby??

a note from my Grandma

This is a copy of an email that my Grandma Mona sent me after Noah was born.

"I am impressed with the way you chose the middle name. I was wondering
about the middle name when you have a girl. Will you combine Mona and
Betty somehow? Like Bona? or Metty? or maybe Betona? I'm sure Joel
could put together a few more. I just thought I'd make a few
suggestions."

I responded by saying that she just gave me another good reason not to have another baby. Plus as you can see by the picture, I don't have room in the living room for another boy!

Mr. Mom

Today Eli tried to put nursing pads on his "nipples", and here he is changing a stuffed lady bug's diaper.

BIG BROTHER

How is Eli doing with all of this??? He likes to hold Noah, and say "hi sweetie". When Noah cries, Eli says "its okay baby". Oh- and he peed in the potty for the first time yesterday and has gone twice today. We'll see how it goes next week when Joel's back to work, but I would say that Eli is doing pretty well!

sleeping baby

Isn't he cute sleeping so peacefully??? Of course this is 1:00 in the afternoon and not 1:00 in the morning. Noah has decided playtime should be right about the time I want to go to bed.

Home Alone

We were sad to see Grandma Connie, Grandpa Steve, Auntie Krista, and Cousin Zach go home today! We really appreciated the help over the past few days, and Eli had a lot of fun playing with Zach! Tonight Eli went to the pool and splash park with his cousins, so the house was REALLY quiet! Joel and I didn't quite know what to do, but we took the opportunity to clean up the house a little bit. Thanks Jen and Rich!
By the way- does anyone know how we can get Eli to stop doing that CHEESE smile???? We've tried saying many different words, but the smile is still there.