Let the Celebration continue...

A few more pictures of the big birthday weekend and our gathering at my in-laws house to celebrate my wonderful husband and youngest son!  We are a blessed family!

Noah's Second Birthday...

We celebrated Noah's birthday with my side of the family at our family cabin in the mountains!  The celebration was a week early due to the fact that the AHA heart walk that we were walking for in honor of my niece, Reese, was on his birthday!  It was a big event and we felt like celebrating early might allow us to focus more attention on the birthday boy!  I think it was a wise move and besides who doesn't like a week long birthday celebration !?! 

Davis & Gigi made Noah the super attractive cake below!  (It was also Davis' weekend to bring home the class dog, Freddie, as seen below).  Noah was pretty darn cute the whole way through the night!

At one point during the weekend, we had put him in the pack-n-play for a nap only for him to escape (for who knows how long?) and he crept upstairs with the biggest, sly smile on his face- so proud of himself!

 I love those boys!

 Clapping during the singing of "Happy Birthday"



Happy Birthday my sweet Noah!  You are a handful & a heart full!  I adore you and your cute ways! 

Pumpkin Patch 2011

The boys and I met my in-laws at a pumpkin patch during the middle of October (Matt was on a fishing trip).  It was really a great day and I would say the highlight of the day was the hayride we all went on!  The boys loved it!  We also saw pumpkins galore and countless GIGANTIC ones!  Always so much fun!

 My nephew T-Man....

 Davis was pumped about the hayride and loved that he got a ticket!

 Noah was upset when he saw Davis had a ticket and he didn't.  This was his reaction as soon as we handed him his very own ticket!  All was right with the world again!

 Davis got some good snuggles with his G-Mama on the hayride.  Noah almost seemed to fall asleep on the hayride he was so over stimulated and exhausted!

Such a fun day!  I would love to make it annual tradition!

State Fair- The Joys & Sorrows....

Davis went to the fair last year with Gigi & Grandaddy and had a blast!  So he couldn't wait to go back this year when it rolled into town!  My hubby and I are not fair going people but having kids will make you do things you would normally never do (can i get an AMEN?)  ;)

My timid 4 year old isn't scared at all when it comes to riding rides (and FAIR rides, at that- ignorance is bliss my friends)!  It is wonderful to see him be so brave and excited!  We didn't now how Noah would react so when Davis said the first ride he wanted to go on was Nemo- we though it looked like a nice tame ride to start Noah (typically our wild man) out on.  Below is an accurate documentation of his reaction....

Complete Melt Down about 45 seconds into it!  After Nemo, Noah made it clear he was D.O.N.E with rides.  So Davis had A LOT of tickets to blow through all afternoon.  With that being said, I still think Noah had a good time people watching and inhaling drink after drink (it was really warm that Sunday afternoon in September)!  He also liked the animal exhibit but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of that because he was trying to keep him from jumping in the cage with the donkeys- minor details.

I love the look on Noah's face below.  I think he thought people were crazy to be riding such rides!

 Nothing like a blue slushie to provide a great photo op!  I think Davis' favorite ride of the day was this HUGE inflatable shark/slide.  He LOVED it!  We were thinking he might not be able to climb up to the top by himself, or that perhaps he would get scared but we were totally wrong.  In fact, he decided it was worth repeating several times.

Once again, our boys proved to be opposites that day!  However, each is so endearing and I'm going to say something I never thought I'd say.... I had a GREAT day at the Fair!

First "Camp Out"...

Over the summer Davis found a new interest in camping!  We wanted to try an take him sometime this fall but logistics were quite difficult for some reason.  Therefore, we decided one Saturday night to camp out in the backyard.  We started the evening with a little game of red light, green light that got a little out of control as you can see below...

 The we started setting up "camp".  Davis was very impressed we actually owned a tent- I'm going to miss when he isn't so easily impressed.

 You can't go camping without cooking over an open fire quickly followed by smores!  Unfortunately, Noah does not have quite enough fear of fire (I'm praying that it comes... soon)!  So we had to actually put him to bed inside the house (yes, camping at home does have it's conveniences) before smores.  Next time Noah, next time, I promise!  In the meantime enjoy these cute pictures of 2 out of 3 of my favorite boys!

 Since Noah was inside sleeping, Davis and I slept outside and Matt slept inside and came out to check on us a few times!  Surprisingly, it didn't take Davis long to fall asleep after I showed him my mad shadow puppet skills!

Though it was a bit more work than usual, it was worth every moment!  I can't wait to have countless more camp outs with ALL my boys!

Just Keep Swimming....

A few pictures from Davis' swim party!  He has such a love of swimming and has really enjoyed taking swim lessons this past summer!  He capped off the summer by jumping off the diving board!  A summer birthday just begs for a party at the pool.  We kept it small this year by just inviting family and my little 4 year old loved the intimate setting.

The Shark watermelon carved by yours truely!  Fairly easy but a little more time consuming than I orginally anticpated.

His very own buzz and woody sleeping bag!  Very excited!

My sweet hubby stepped up and made the cupcakes (long story about how this evolved but D was very satisified with the fish cupcakes)!

Davis' 4th Birthday Morning!

 Have you ever started a tradition that you think, why did we ever start that?  Well, we have!  Every year the night before Davis' birthday we blow up balloon, after balloon, so our gowing boy can wake up to a sea of balloons covering his floor.  I think we used approximatly 80 balloons this year!  That's a lot of air!  Fortunatly, we have an air compressor but its still rather time consuming.  And of course, what you do for one, you need to do for the other.

 However, the smiles we get when they wake up, and the joy that the boys have playing in the balloons for days afterwards is more than enough reward! 

Blueberry Birthday Muffins before going to school and celebrating his birthday among friends!  Not quite ure who is more excited, Davis or Noah!  ;)

More pictures to come from the big 4th Birthday!

Noah's First- "First Day of School"....

We have now survived two first days of school days this week... yesterday Davis', today Noah's!  Not only did we survive but I think we can chalk them up as a success!

 This little guy was in a good mood this morning, until we walked into the doorway of his school and crouched down like I'm not going a step further.  So after a few tears- I'm told he calmed down quite nicely and had a good day! 

 In fact, when I went to pick him up he and this other little boy were the only ones not crying!  They were playing cars in the back of the room.  However, upon seeing me Noah burst into tears but stopped once he was in my arms.  For some reason, I seem to find this endearing!

 I remember Davis doing the same thing close to that age, only I think Noah gets over it a little bit quicker.  He is a pretty jolly little fellow for the most part and a little less serious than his older brother (though you can't tell in the picture below).

 And he is ALWAYS on the move!

 And I ADORE him!  I'm so grateful that he has this opportunity to spend some time away from home with other kids, in a structured loving environment. 

We are blessed... and he is a mess! :)

Back to School....

Guess who started 4 year old Preschool today? 

You guessed it....

 Davis did!  He was pretty excited!  I was pretty emotional excited too.. no really it's time for some routine again!  However, I would like to suggest to the school systems that they avoid making the first day of school coincide with the children's birthday weeks- for the mother's sake.  Is that too much to ask?

Its just a double dose of the classic "My child is growing up way to fast" syndrome.  And that can be a pretty serious thing.  Especially if your child admittedly announces that he doesn't want his mother to walk him in on the very first day. Little Stinker....

It wasn't until I happened to tell him that other little boys and girls were being walked in the first day that he "allowed" me to do so too.  For once, peer pressure is my friend but I'm no fool- it won't be for long.

At one point this morning, I found Davis standing in front of Noah strutting his stuff with his chest puffed out, I asked him what he was doing.  He said "showing Noah my handsome first day of school outfit."  He picked out the shirt himself the night before :0)

So he was excited and confident.  He walked into his new teacher's room (who I happen to have fond memories of from my childhood because she worked the preschool I went too ages ago) and never looked back.  He had a pretty good day from what I could tell this afternoon and "can't wait to go back again tomorrow."  What more can i ask for?

And this little one simply enjoyed the murals on the wall- he was especially drawn to the elephant! :) 

He has his first day of Mother's Morning out tomorrow and I'm trying my hardest not to over think that one as well! Fortunately, it is required that I walk him in! :)

Lucky me- I now know to savor it!