Lots of Birthday Parties!

It seems like these posts just get farther and farther apart. I'm not really sure why... it's not like we have a lot going on or anything!! :-)

Actually, this week and next week are kind of extra crazy because I'm working a full week and none of us are used to that! Next Friday will be my last day at my current job so we are trying to cram in as much as possible before I'm done. My contract has run up at my current job and they are not able to renew it at this time. After next Friday, we'll pull the kids out of daycare on Wednesdays (they will still go on Tuesday and Thursdays) and I'll spend those days searching for a job - along with dealing with any house stuff that may come up. Hopefully something will work out soon.

Just a cute shot of Kylie from that week.

Going back a few weeks to my last post. It looks like my last post was on the 10th which was a Monday, so I guess that week was a pretty typical week. I think that Friday and Saturday, we tagged teamed for a guys night on Friday and a girls night on Saturday. Waylon had to work that Sunday morning so that kids and I just played at home and then I had a baby shower to attend - our friends Sharon and Michael are going to have a baby girl soon! - and after that, I met the kids and Waylon at his parents house. Kylie had had a slight fever a few days before so we missed seeing Savannah that time... but we managed to have a great time anyway! :-)

Playtime!

An unprompted hug forGrandaddy

And an impromptu concert by Noah! :-)

Of course a bedtime story from Nana before heading home in PJs for bed.

Monday was Martin Luther King Day so the kids and I met my co-worker Deirdre and her kids, Owen and Griffin at Marbles Kids Museum. I was a little nervous about handling both kids by myself there but we did great and had a blast!!

Griffin, Owen, Kylie and Noah

Time for fishing!

Owen and Griffin decided to put on a play. Noah wanted a behind-the-scenes job and was the curtain opener. :-)

Kylie loved the command center in the submarine

This scared me but the kids loved it. It was a cage structure that stuck out of the wall on the second floor! I was standing on a balcony taking their picture. Pretty crazy.

Another highlight was the hockey rink. This prompted me to find a team sport for Noah to join so we start soccer tomorrow!! He's so excited!

Another pretty typical week except I worked Friday so that following weekend felt (and really was) pretty jam packed. Noah had two birthday parties to attend on Saturday so he and I went to those while Waylon and Kylie had a father/daughter day.

First up, Meredith's party at Monkey Joe's.... Noah and his friend, Tyler bumped heads early on and Noah got a little fat lip so it was a rough start and he was a little emotional through this one but still had lots of fun as you can see!

Wrestling with Tyler - the birthday girl, Meredith is looking on.

lunch time!

And cake time

Monkey Joe visits... Noah was really excited.

This was hilarious. They were playing this game where they'd hug and then fall on the ground. We all thought it was a recipe for disaster but they had a blast and somehow managed not to hurt themselves!

When we left there, we were planning to meet Waylon and Kylie at the mall but Noah seemed really tired. So we had pulled into a parking spot at the mall and I asked Noah if he wanted to go in or if he wanted to drive around and nap. He paused and said, 'Well, I'm a little bit tired.' so we drove around. It was pretty cute. So I drove around for about 45 minutes while he napped and then it was on to Marlowe's party at The Little Gym!

Trying out the parallel bars with Luckie

This was cute. They had all the kids lay on this while they blew it up. So fun!!

Then they got to jump across it.

And of course, more cake time!!

After all the kids activities, I needed a night out so some girlfriends and I went out to a really nice dinner downtown. Our friend Anise was back in town so it was nice to have her there!

Sunday morning, we all loaded up and went to our old stomping grounds and had a playdate with Maddie, Mason and Stella Dot. So much fun!!!

Kylie trying out their new toys!

Amy brought a pin the tail on the squirrel game and they older kids had fun doing that.

Then lunch time!!

Maddie's birthday was this week and they had had an early party the day before, so we had more cake!!

After nap on Sunday, we went over to our friends', Megan and Dave's house for some football. The kids had a blast and so did we!

Kylie cuddled up in a blanket. :-) Love this picture!

Ryan and Kylie. They are going to be buds!!

Noah tried on Megan's boots. :-)

I drove by the house on the way to work one day this week - the outside hasn't changed too much but they are working on drywall. We actually went by there today and it's amazing how much it's changed inside!! We are getting there!

It won't be long and we'll be out of this 'in-between house'. :-)

This weekend is another jam packed on - tomorrow is soccer and Maddie's birthday party and Sunday we'll head back to Nana and Grandad's to visit! So fun!

A Much Needed Update

So it's been a long time since my last update. I'll have to update through pictures cause there's no way I'll remember everything! :-)

We got back from MD on the 27th - the kids were great in the car and when we got home, they went crazy unloading their presents that evening. Everything was all over the place. A few days of work and school and then we were all off together again on the 31st. We had a nice day at home together and decided to give Noah a new bed! We had planned on getting him a big boy bed when we moved into our new house but he was really getting too big for the toddler bed, so we decided to give him our old double sized guest bed to sleep in. He was super excited and has been doing great in it since then....

Speaking of sleeping, Kylie had been having lots of trouble with Kylie for a few weeks. It started the night we got to MD but continued after we got home for about a week or two. I even took her to the doctor to check her ears cause it was so abnormal for her (no infections - still has yet to have any ear infections in her life! - strange considering Noah had tubes at 11 months but I'm not complaining at all!). Anyway, she sometimes wakes up in the night but goes back to sleep pretty easily. This was different though. She didn't want to be left and ended up in our bed a few nights because we just couldn't get her to stay in her bed! It finally stopped once we saw a tooth pop through. She's now fighting a cold, too so sleeping still isn't great but at least she's able to stay in her bed!

So back to New Year's Eve.... we decided to head downtown for First Night. They had a children's celebration in the afternoon that ended with an early acorn drop (the ball drop of Raleigh) at 7pm. We met up with Kate, Chris and the triplets (Rory, Maddy and Brendan) down there, watched a circus performance, played in a music room, fed the kids fair food and watched the acorn drop and fireworks. It was nice!!

Noah put his hand print on a big piece of paper. I'm actually not sure where this is going! Should have found that out, I guess! :-)

Brendan, Chris and Noah in the music room

Maddy and Rory

Waiting for dinner. :-)

Family photo time! :-)

We got the kids in jammies before heading home and put them to bed. Then Waylon went back out and picked us up mexican food and a bottle of wine. :-) We were determined to stay up to see the ball drop on TV but I was asleep on the couch by 11 or so. I woke up at 5 till midnight to Kylie screaming. Waylon went to try to get her back to sleep but she wouldn't go so he was in with her at midnight. Happy New Year to us! :-) It's just typical for parenthood, huh? :-)

Saturday night, I got a night out and went to dinner with my friend Jenn. A very nice night out! Luckily, the kids were good for Waylon. I was feeling bad leaving him since Kylie had been so fussy but she was good.

Kylie is big into showing off her new belly button these days. Here she combines it with Peek-a-boo. :-)

She's really becoming vocal and expressive. She knows what she wants and when she wants it - and what she doesn't and how to tell you. She's really good and nodding and shaking her head to let us know yes or no and combines shaking the head with 'uh -uh'. :-) Last night, we had a 10-15 minute 'disagreement' about chicken and bananas. We told her she had to eat one more piece of chicken before she got her banana and she lost it. It was clear that she understood and it went on and on and in the end, she kind of sighed and put the chicken in her mouth. It was pretty funny. :-) We have two stubborn girls here - the teenage years should be interesting. :-)

She uses lots of words, too - dog, ball, banana, thank you, mama, dada, nana, papa, noah, more, (can't think of any more off the top of my head. She loves her baby doll and loves books.

On Sunday morning, we went out to check out the new house. It's really coming along!!

A cute pic of Kylie checking out the attic.

On Sunday afternoon, Nana and Grandad came over to see the kids new presents (we hadn't seen them since before Christmas). We just played all afternoon and ordered pizza for dinner.

I was able to get a really great picture of them!

Grandaddy and Kylie

Kylie got this camera from Aunt Andrea, Sean and Savannah and she loves to press the button over and over again and dance to the music. So cute.

Nana reading to Noah

On Monday, we went to the doctor's office to check Kylie's ears and then met Jacque, Elizabeth and Jacob at Monkey Joe's. Both Noah and Kylie had a great time there. It's been a while since we've been and Noah could do everything there now. It's a good confidence builder for him also cause he kept telling me that he didn't think he could do it and then when he did, he was very proud. :-)

Jacque came down a slide with both Jacob and Elizabeth!

Kylie wanted Jacque to hold her, too! :-)

On Monday afternoon, we were coloring and Noah said he wanted to write his name! He did this all by himself with no coaching from me. Pretty cool!

Tuesday was back to work for me. Our cleaning lady came that evening so when I picked up the kids, we went to the mall to play and have dinner. After dinner, the kids wanted ice cream and when Kylie finished hers, she reached for Noah's. I told her she couldn't have his cause she already had his own, but then my sweet boy said, 'it's okay, she can share mine!' :-)

The rest of the week was pretty typical. Just busy and a little crazy trying to get back into our 'normal' routine. Friday, we had a playdate with Kate, Maddy, Rory, and Brendan and Megan and Ryan. I got a few cute pictures of the kids before they got here....

Lots of playtime and then lunchtime for all. I thought this was a pretty cute picture of them all sitting at the table for lunch! :-)

Then some classic couch jumping before naptime. :-)

Friday afternoon, Kylie demonstrated her new favorite thing - hiding behind the blinds. :-)

Friday night was a treat for Noah. We went to dinner with Frank, Janet, Maddie, and Mason and Megan, Ryan and Jason. Noah was sooooo excited to see Maddie. It's been way too long! After dinner, we went outside and all the kids were running circles on the porch. They were having so much fun and we only had a few minor wipe-outs.

Ryan watched for a while but then wanted in on the action and made Megan walk around with him. :-)

Saturday morning, we met my parents at our new house. They were coming back into town for our last Christmas get together with my aunt and uncle that afternoon. So we met them there so they could see the progress. There was even more done since the previous weekend! It's so fun watching the quick changes.

This is not the color of the house, it's just pre-primed hardiplank siding. The house will be green when it is painted.

Noah had fun wearing a hard hat (they were actually working so we had to wear them this time)

After naps, Papa tried out Noah's new bed. :-)

Then it was time to get ready for our last 'Christmas' party of the season. :-)

Aunt Leah got Kylie this outfit for Christmas and I think it's super cute.

Noah was very excited about seeing Uncle Michael and as we were driving down their road, he said, 'Uncle Michael, here we come!!' :-) We had fun visiting all afternoon and had a great dinner, too!

Papa and Kylie

Noah loved their dog, Josie.

Grammy and Kylie

Kylie loved Josie also but preferred to be a safe distance away. :-)

Noah had fun playing with Katie - she was so good with him!

Kylie doing some yoga or something. :-)

Dinner time!

Cutie Patootie

Kylie loves bananas and also likes making this funny face.

Here is a combination of the two! :-)

After dinner, Noah wanted to stand on the 'stage' and sing Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. :-)

Time to get into PJs :-)

The kids got a cool book from Aunt Karen

Noah told Michael he wanted to have a sleepover at their house. :-)

Love Cousin Katie!

Silly Papa!!

Sunday morning, my parents came back (they stayed in a hotel this time since we don't have much extra space in our 'in-between house') and played until naptime when they took off back home. The kids took a good nap and I relaxed a bit while they slept and Waylon ran some errands.

We had a good family night that evening - went to WalMart and let the kids pick out presents from Uncle Royal and Aunt Danita (they gave each kid a WalMart gift card). Noah got two more 'Cars' cars (surprise!) and Kylie picked out a Dora book with a music player. It's perfect for her since she loves books and also loves things that sing so she can dance to it! :-) Then I made enchiladas for dinner and we all watched Shrek! Very fun.

Yesterday, the kids and I had a good morning but around 11:15, it because evident that we needed to get out of the house so we just went across the street to Chick-fil-a for lunch. After they ate, they had a blast in the play area. Kylie even wanted to go up, so I let her. There were a bunch of really sweet older boys up there and they helped her out. One of them even took her down the slide with him! :-)

Today, we have an ice day! It snowed a little yesterday but then we had freezing rain all night and the roads are pretty icy so we are home today. Waylon made it into work but it will hopefully be a short day for him. Noah was really excited this morning - at first we thought we were just going in late but then my work was closed so when I told him 'No school', he started jumping up and down and saying, 'This is going to be the best day EVER!' It was cute. Then he got a little sad and said he misses his friends and he wanted to go to school. :-) I told him he'd see them tomorrow and he was okay with that. It was a good morning for a movie so we just finished watching Horton Hears a Who (which is why I had time to update the blog!). :-) Kylie is back to sleep early - she's worn out from this cold right now so it's probably good that she's getting an extra day at home today.

Hope you all are having a safe ice day too (if you are in this area anyway). :-)