family of three...

Tomorrow is our last day as a family of three. I can hardly believe that we are heading into the hospital Tuesday morning in expectation of meeting Noah's little brother. I'm not quite sure John and I could fully prepare a 20-month-old little boy for the change he is about to experience. Wait... I don't think that John and I could adequately prepare ourselves for the change WE are about to experience!! However, Noah has been sweet to give kisses to his little brother at bedtime (aka... my belly)... so, maybe there is hope, after all, that Noah will continue to give the little guy kisses once he's on the other side of mommy's tummy!

We have been so blessed to be Noah's parents. He is one sweet, active, and loving boy. He makes us laugh... his personality is just precious... and, though, he is testing his boundaries as a toddler, he has mastered giving mommy hugs and saying "sorry" when his time in time-out is over.

I pulled out the bouncy seat and some baby toys this weekend. You would have thought that Noah was in toy-heaven. Thankfully, he didn't break the bouncy seat from his continuous climbing in and out of the chair. I guess I should be prepared to find Noah trying to climb into the chair WITH his little brother!

In these last few moments with Noah as our only son, I find myself falling even deeper in love with him... and, I look forward to seeing how my heart's capacity to love Noah and to love Noah's little brother unfolds.

Here are a few photos of our little guy... Noah, we love you!

things noah likes...

1... black beans

2... pretending to be daddy while wearing sweat bands and hitting the racketball all over the house. if i was 100% honest, i'd let you know that we spend more time retrieving the ball from underneath the couch and other pieces of furniture then we actually spend "hitting" the ball!

3... wearing shoes that belong to anyone BUT noah! we've caught him in slippers, flipflops, tennis shoes -- even daddy's cowboy boots! thankfully, noah has not attempted any high-heels... a mom has to draw the line somewhere!

4... wearing helmets and making other people wear helmets. he has been particularly interested in "buckles" lately, too. thankfully, he can snap them together but has trouble getting them open again. I'm okay with it... at least i know that he'll stay buckled in his carseat!

5... and last, but not least... climbing out of the pack-n-play. this past weekend, we went to our friends' lakehouse on Lake LBJ to celebrate the 4th of July. We came prepared hoping that Noah would actually take a nap - pack-n-play, blankee, noisemaker, books and curious george. all seemed well when john and i left noah alone in a darkened room ~ 1:20pm in the afternoon. He had even placed his head down on his blankee. Well, when I went to check on him an hour later, I certainly didn't expect to find the following... I quietly opened the door to the bedroom to find that my 20 month-old child had climbed out of the pack-n-play, turned off his noisemaker, turned ON the television, climbed into the recliner next to the queen bed and was sitting watching golf!! Really?? Maybe he didn't want to miss out on Tiger's win @ the tournament. I stood in the doorway for at least 45 seconds before he realized that Mommy was in the room. Then, he jumped down out of the recliner and came sprinting over to me with the biggest smile on his face. Yes, Noah, your parents are proud of your new-found skills... and a little nervous about what you will figure out how to do next!

happy birthday john!

To my wonderful husband...

Happy birthday! May you always know how special you are to me... to your little boy, Noah... and to all of your friends and family. You are admired, cherished and deeply loved.

my heart, always... j

graduation!!

My graduate school days have officially come to an end! :) It's been a challenging, wonderful journey to becoming a nurse practitioner... I am so thankful for all of the support and encouragement received from friends and family over the past few years!

mother's day

By now, it shouldn't surprise me that my husband is full of surprises.... however, once again, he "got me"! my sneaky husband had our babysitter take these photos while I was out running errands. when we returned from florida, the photos had been placed in a picture frame, ready for hanging! ... the perfect gift!

florida...

We were blessed to spend a few days down at Uncle Joe's condo in Naples, FL. Noah had so much fun playing in the sand... watching the boats pass by... finding seashells... and playing in the pool. Needless to say, when he woke up this morning, one of the first things he did was find his "jacket" (lifejacket, that is) and repetitively say "pool... pool... pool". I have a feeling we'll be spending quite a bit of our summer playing in the pool :) Here are photos from our weekend.

Playing at the beach...

Playing at the pool...

Dinner on Mother's Day.... we went to Tommy Bahama's in downtown Naples. There was live music which Noah loved! He was absolutely adorable to watch as he danced and clapped to the music. It was a fabulous ending to Mother's Day... I feel so loved by my 2 boys!

easter egg hunt

Our church held an Easter Egg Hunt down at Zilker Park this morning. Noah had so much fun filling his basket with eggs, and once his basket was full, he kept picking up eggs and putting them in other children's baskets! Zilker Park has a great playground where we played before and after the hunt. Noah enjoyed "driving" the old fire engine, playing with the gravel and plummeting down the slides :)

Pre-Egg Hunt Photos:

Let the hunt begin...

Our happy egg-hunter!

our little soccer player

Last weekend, John and I took Noah to the park to kick the soccer ball around. Even though Noah's first interest were the stairs at the far end of the field, as you'll see toward the end of the video, we're training up another Pele :) ...