Picture Update

After all the snow last week, we were ready for some playdates! On Friday, Stella Dot came to play for the morning. She was getting over Pneumonia so Amy and Grant wanted to keep her away from daycare. They had the best time playing!!

Love the house!
Reading time
Lunch!

On Saturday afternoon, we headed over to Maddie's house to celebrate her 2nd birthday! The kids had a great time playing and loved the cupcakes, too!

Yummy cupcakes!
Checking out Maddie's new stuffed Elephant from Stella Dot - Amy made it!! So impressive.
The birthday girl!!Amy took the liberty of helping Noah play dress up, too but since we've already put 2 pictures of Noah in heels on the blog, I figured I owed it to Waylon not to post those here, too! :-)

On Sunday afternoon, I headed over to Keri and Chris' house to visit the triplets and Lydia and deliver presents and food. They are doing so well... it's amazing to see!

Abigail, Bethany and Phoebe
Hey, what'cha doin!?
Happy big sis Lydia!

Afterwards, I met Waylon and Noah at Waylon's parents house for dinner with them and Andrea, Sean, and Savannah... check it out, Savannah is sitting up on her own!

This week - pretty typical. I had my 'full' week of work (all three days!).

On different note, we've been starting with a little potty training. Really, we are just reading a book on the potty at night. Noah is getting very interested so we are starting slowly and letting him do it how he wants... here's a pic! :-)


This morning, Noah and I met Jacque and Elizabeth at Marbles Kids Museum. It was so much fun - although I'm so upset right now because I lost my GPS while there (I've only had it for a few weeks!). I'm hoping it will turn up by the end of the day, but we'll see.

It's so interesting to watch how different boys and girls play. Noah just couldn't get enough of the cars and trucks and Elizabeth just wanted to carry around the baby doll! Noah picked up a doll for just a few minutes and then dropped it again when he saw another truck. :-) The one thing they both loved though - cooking!

Yum, spaghetti and meatballs.
Walking to Roly Poly for lunch. :-)

This weekend should be fun. Our friends Tina and Tesh are coming to town! We can't wait.
I hope you all have a great weekend!

A few more snow pics...

I think we ended up with about 7 inches or so.... now comes the fun ice tomorrow morning!

More pics on Maddie's blog, too!

This shows how deep the snow is!

Attempting to sled on a trash can lid down a very small hill -
'attempting' would be the key word here!

Lots of snow and lots of babies!!

This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland! It's snowing like crazy here, so we are enjoying a snow day at home. We just measured and we have ~6 1/2 inches and it's still coming down!

This morning we played outside for a while with Maddie and her parents. Waylon went in to work for a bit this afternoon, so we are anxiously awaiting his safe return later on. Noah and I have some company though... my mom is here. She was spending some time at my Gramma's house trying to get things sorted out there this past weekend. She came through here on Thursday night and was planning to come back on her way home but came a little early because of the threat of snow. Here are some pictures!!

Sharing a snack after playing in the snow!

Working backwards in time, we had a fun low key week and weekend close to home. A few of my girlfriends get together on Thursdays to eat dinner and watch Grey's Anatomy. Last week, I hosted 'Grey's night' here, so that was fun. My mom joined us as well and helped put Noah to bed so Waylon was able to go out with some coworkers to celebrate his new job.

Friday was Noah's 18 month doctor's appointment. He got a clean bill of health except for another sty... we are on more drops and hoping to knock it out this time. If not, we have to go to an ophthalmologist... doesn't that sound fun?? Stats for those who are interested.... overall, a big boy - as usual!

28 lbs, 15 oz - 75-90th percentile
33 1/2 inches - 75th-90th percentile
head - 50 1/4 cm - >95th percentile

Some other cute pictures from the week...

Of course Grammy had to bring Noah a new toy - a Wiggles guitar!
Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - Noah now asks for this show by name!

And the big news of the week - my friend Keri had her triplets last Sunday - Abigail, Bethany, and Phoebe. Amazingly, they are all doing great and only Phoebe had to spend a few days in the NICU - only because she was a little small. They were 4lbs,3oz, 4lbs,9oz, and 5 lbs,3 oz! All came out breathing on their own, regulating their own temperatures and had a great appetite right away! And the most amazing thing - all three babies went home with Keri and Chris when they left the hospital on day 4!! Big sister, Lydia, was excited to have everyone home. I can't wait to go see them again - we are so happy for them!

Keri with Phoebe in the NICU

Abigail (left) and Bethany (right)

Today, we have been enjoying the snow and having fun watching history on TV! Noah waved and said 'Hi' to the Obamas as they were waving to the crowd and then he started cheering right after he was sworn in. :-)

Hope you all are enjoying your day - snow day or not! :-)

Some good news!

Just wanted to officially announce on here that Waylon got a new job!! It's actually still with Progress Energy and still in the same group but it's a step up - he's now a lead and will be managing 3 people! He's excited to take on new responsibilities and Noah and I couldn't be prouder!

Congratulations, babe! We love you!

Backlogged

Since the holidays, I've been enjoying 'down' time and therefore have been neglecting the blog. So here's a one to get us back on track.

For New Years Eve, we had a very last minute, small 'kids' get together at our house. Maddie and her parents, Stella Dot and her parents, and Savannah and her parents came over to celebrate. We set up pack and plays upstairs and actually got Maddie and Stella Dot to sleep here (this opens up all sorts of new possibilities!). Savannah decided she wanted to enjoy the festivities! None of us made it to midnight and everyone was gone by 11 but we had a great time! Didn't get many shots from the night but here are a few random ones....



Here's a couple pics from the morning after... :-)

Wearing Mommy's heels :-)

On New Years day, we went over to Nana and Grandad's house for a nice dinner - including black eyed peas for luck. :-) Noah got his last Christmas present and it is a huge hit! - a playhouse - which will be outside once it gets warmer (next we'll have to think more about the size of his gifts! - we are running out of room!). :-)

Playing with Savannah on New Years Day

Playing with the house in Nana and Grandad's garage

On the 2nd, we walked two doors down to Maddie's house to enjoy some yummy homemade chili and jalapeno poppers compliments of Janet and Frank! We also had a sing-along which was so fun. Frank plays banjo and Grant brought his guitar and we all sang and danced. Unfortunately, Noah was obsessed with the cat and wouldn't stop looking for it - 'cat?' 'cat?' 'cat?' 'cat?' - so we had to make and early-ish exit.


On Saturday, Waylon's parents brought the playhouse to our house. :-) Noah was so excited about it, he could hardly contain himself...


Kay and Dick stayed to play for a few hours and Waylon and I took advantage of the grandparent time to sneak out and watch the State game over at our friends', Josh and Anise's, house.

That Sunday, another playdate with Stella Dot and then a typical week for us. I got out with some girlfriends on Thursday night.

This past Saturday, Waylon had to work for part of the day, so it was another playdate for Noah and I, Maddie and Janet, Stella Dot and Amy, and Elizabeth and Jacque came over - Jacque is another girl who was in our pre-natal yoga class. Elizabeth is just a few weeks younger than Noah. So much fun! Again, didn't get many great pictures but to my credit, it's hard to get them these days!

Noah with all of his girls in his house

Elizabeth and Noah in Amy's lap

Noah had a bird beanie baby in his mouth and was putting his face right up to Stella Dot's. Stella Dot thought it was halarious, but I wasn't quite sure what was going on until Waylon saw the picture and explained...
The house has a 'stove' and Waylon was using the bird to make 'fried chicken' and pretending to eat it. Apparently Noah was just trying to share some KFC. :-)

And the last picture... Noah in my boots - do you think we need to find him some boys to play with?? :-)

Enjoy your week!

I promise I'll do a 'real' update soon - but in the meantime...

How much cooler can you get?!

Christmas in MD

We have a Christmas frame that we put away with the decorations each year and we've decided to put a new picture of Noah in there each year. Check it out!! :-) I can't believe how much he's grown over the past three years!



Okay, I've been putting off this blog update because it's so overwhelming - we have way too many pictures and did so much! Here we go!!

Tuesday - We left Raleigh in the morning... arriving in MD around 3-ish. Once there, we just relaxed. My mom made a great dinner - chicken pie, cooked apples, and salad! Yum!

Wednesday (Christmas Eve) - in the morning, we just relaxed again and enjoyed a nice fire.

Nuzzling noses with Mommy

After Noah's nap, we went down the street to my friend Julie's mom's house to visit her and her family. We fed Noah an early dinner and then got him bathed and ready for bed early. Around 6:30, we headed out to the Symphony of Lights in Columbia. I'd never been through it before... it was pretty cute. Noah actually seemed pretty interested and liked waving to all the characters.

Getting ready to go to the light show in his new PJs
(compliments of Grammy and Papa)

Noah unexpectedly stayed awake on the drive home, so when we got home, I read him 'The Night Before Christmas' and then put him to bed so that Santa could come!



After Noah went to bed, my parents, Waylon and I enjoyed a nice relaxing dinner (dining with Noah is rarely relaxing these days). We had crabcakes, twice baked potatoes, salad and bread. Yummy again!!

Thursday (Christmas) - Christmas morning was fun. When we got downstairs, Noah's train table (a gift from Grammy and Papa) was all set up and ready to go. Noah was very excited and loved playing with it! When Leah and Casey arrived, we had a great breakfast casserole and then the present opening began! Noah really got the hang of opening presents.

Coming down the stairs on Christmas morning

The train table!
Noah's reaction to the train set

Eh, I'll just take a break from playing and stand on my head for a bit.
Hat and mittens from Aunt Ditter!
Yay Christmas!!

That afternoon, we had our family friends over (my mom's family friend and her family - basically aunt/uncle/cousins). Noah was so worn out from all the morning activities that he slept for almost 4 hours that afternoon! He didn't wake up until after our company arrived. We had a full on Turkey dinner (think Thanksgiving) - yummy (are we noticing a theme here?)! :-)



Roz's (my mom's friend) mother brought those popper toy things and inside some of them were these wistle/horn things. They each had a number and if you played them in a certain order, you could play Christmas carols. We decided that we'd go to our neighbors house to 'carol' but they weren't home, so we ended up carolling to a car that was driving by and stopped to hear us!! :-) It was so funny.




Friday - In the morning, we went to the B&O train museum. Noah really loved that. My mom bought him a great hat and he really liked to wear it!



Friday evening, we went to visit our other family friends. We used to spend every Thanksgiving with them but since families are expanding and we share time now, we don't see them every year. So we decided to visit especially since one of their daughters, Laura, has 3 month old twins. It was fun to show off all the babies!




Afterwards, Leah came back with us and stayed until Sunday! It was so fun to have her there for so long!

Saturday - Saturday morning, we just played with toys and relaxed some more. Waylon was packing up and also helping my dad install his new TV!! Waylon left around noon and had a rough drive home with lots of traffic!

Playing with the TV box with Ditter

While Noah was napping, I went with Julie to visit our friend, Katie, who had just had a baby. It was so fun to catch up with her and meet her new baby girl Abbey. Unfortunately, I didn't think to pull out the camera until the very end of our visit when Abbey decided it was her lunchtime!! She's so sweet and I'm so happy for Katie and Jeff.




That afternoon, my mom, Leah, Noah and I went out shopping for a bit. Saturday night, my high school girlfriends came over for my dad's famous pizza (a tradition for us!). It was so fun to catch up with the girls. I love that we are all still very close.

Dad/Papa so tired - we wore him out!

Sunday - Another relaxing morning playing at the house. We went to get Mexican for lunch - check out Noah's messy face pic from the restaurant -


While Noah was napping, my mom, Leah, and I went shopping again. My mom decided she hadn't gotten Noah enough for Christmas, so she just had to buy him some more clothes! Man, this kid is deprived! :-) We ordered in dinner that night and Noah had an early bedtime - I think he was just about ready to be home.

Wearing Papa's boxers! :-)

Also on Sunday, Waylon left NC for Birmingham to go to the NC State bowl game with two of his friends. He just got back tonight (Tuesday) at 10:30!! The outcome of the game wasn't great but they had a good time, I think!

Monday - My parents came back home with us in order to get the train table back and to possibly babysit for New Years Eve. We left MD around 11:30 and got home around 5:00. Noah and I sat in the back and napped and watched a movie on their DVD player! That was fun.



Tuesday - This morning we had a doctor's appointment for Noah. His pink eye had cleared up, but the stye he'd been working on was not looking so great. We got another prescription and hope that works. This afternoon, I went to pick up Stella Dot from daycare since Amy and Grant have been having a rough time (see Stella Dot's blog!). Noah loved playing with her, since he hadn't had much child interaction over the past week or so.




Tonight, we went out for dinner and Noah scarfed down a bunch of pickle chips, two sliders and a bunch of green beans. His tummy was hard as a rock tonight!! :-)

Now it's time for bed!!
Hope you all had a great holiday and have a fabulous New Years as well!