Why do these things always happen in twos?

We had another 'incident'. A few hours ago, Noah fell yet again and banged his eye on the coffee table. I guess we just have to bubble wrap the house.

Check out his right eye. He'll probably have a nice black eye when he wakes up from his nap.

A rough 15 minutes

Noah fell last night and hit his head on the corner of the stairs.... the cut was quite deep, and I thought for sure we were going to the ER for stitches but the bleeding stopped very quickly and so did the crying. Waylon's childhood friend, Steven was just walking in the door for a weekend visit when it happened and Noah was so excited to see him, he stopped crying almost immediately. Then he'd only put ice on it if Steven put ice on his head, too! :-) It was cute. Anyway, we called the pediatrician's advice line and they said it'd probably be okay to keep an eye on it until the morning and if it was still gaping, we'd need to go in. Waylon and Steven ran out to get butterfly bandages to keep it shut and it looks much better this morning. Check it out....

Last night

This morning - too busy to even look at me.

Actually this is what happened after I took the last picture
- along with the words 'LET GO MOMMY!'

A few pics from the past week

Over the past week, we had Grammy come visit, had some rough times with sleeping (some kind of virus), got another okay on Noah's ears, pooped in the potty, bought some new patio furniture, had a playdate with Stella Dot, went to a pig pickin', dinner with Waylon's parents and Andrea and Savannah, and sold some furniture on Craigslist and got Noah's new big boy room empty and ready to decorate (as soon as we decide what to do)! Whew.

Pics and some explanations....

Reading with Grammy (or Meddie as Noah has been calling her recently - he can say Grammy but chooses to say Meddie - we'll see what she ends up being called!) :-)

Sometime last week, Noah decided he didn't want to sleep alone. We swore his ears were infected again and we had a follow up ENT appt already scheduled but when we went, his ears were fine! The next night was even worse, and the following morning we discovered he had a fever. Upon the suggestion of the nurse line, we went to the pediatrician but nothing was found... just a little virus I guess. It took a few nights (he was fine during the days) but he got over it and has been sleeping well again for a few nights now. Good news is that his ears are still fine despite one tube being out! YAY! Maybe we won't need another surgery after all! (Knock on wood!)

At 'Travapalozza' - a yearly pig pickin' our friends have in honor of Travis' birthday. :-)

In the hammock with Jennie - we told Noah we were going to see her before we left and he called for her the entire drive there - about 45 minutes!!

Playdate with Stella Dot on Sunday morning - Noah had some trouble sharing and Stella Dot got frustrated with him and knocked him a few times, so we gave up and turned on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!

On Sunday night, Noah was sitting on the potty and I was reading him a book (our normal evening ritual before bath). He has peed on it many times but this time, I heard a plop and saw he went poopy! Big step. :-) We were really excited and he was really proud. It hasn't happened again since but we're working on it slowly but surely. It would be nice to have him potty trained before October but I don't want to push him either. We'll see! Sorry to disappoint but I didn't take any pictures to commemorate this step! :-)

This morning, after being upstairs for just a few minutes, I came down to find this.... how in the world did he manage this!? :-)

On another note, today is Waylon and my 4th wedding anniversary. 4 years ago, the weather was almost exactly as it is today - perfect - sunny and not too hot. It's crazy to think of how much has happened over the past 4 years! Tonight we are going to celebrate by having a nice quiet dinner after Noah goes to bed - crabcakes, twice baked potatoes, and salad - and then we'll watch our wedding video.

I love you, Waylon! I'm so glad we are on this life journey together!

Fun with Savannah, Yard Sale, Graduation and Mother's Day! Phew!

Our weekend was jam packed - as usual I suppose. Our neighborhood was having a yard sale on Saturday that we had decided to opt out of but then we decided on Wednesday that maybe we should do it. We wanted to empty our bonus room so we can convert that to a guest room (so the current guest room can become Noah's new room), so Thursday and Friday turned into massive Spring Cleaning mode! Luckily, we got it all done in time and feel a major sense of accomplishment and in between managed to have fun, too!

First of all, here is a cute picture of Noah and Savannah playing last weekend...


Then, this past Friday, Noah and I met Andrea and Savannah for some professional pictures. We should get those back soon and I can't wait to share them here! Here's a few shots from lunch afterwards...

Believe it or not, Noah took this one!
(okay, I helped a little but he pushed the button!)

This past week - my 'little' cousin, Reeves, graduated from NC State! On Friday night, Waylon's parents came to babysit Noah and we had a nice dinner out alone and then headed to Reeves' graduation party. We had a great time visiting with family - even though they live right in Raleigh, we hardly ever see them! - we are hoping that will change.



Saturday morning was the yard sale and was a pretty big success. We had a great time hanging out outside - Noah loved it! Our little social butterfly loved saying hi and bye to everyone that came by. When we were ready to quit, we loaded everything in the car and took the rest to goodwill and then had a nice lunch. Naptime for Noah meant I got ready and headed to Reeves' graduation.


Afterwards, we all headed back to Michael and Karen's house (my aunt and uncle) for a great meal to celebrate. Waylon and Noah met us there. We had a great time and Noah really enjoyed playing with Uncle Michael. He was even talking about his time there this morning before school!


Mother's Day was great! Waylon got up, took Noah out of the house on some errands and let me sleep in a bit. I wasn't sure if I'd even be able to, but somehow I managed! :-) I slept in until 9, got a nice quiet shower and then Waylon and Noah came home with a bagel and decaf coffee for me! :-) We all enjoyed some downtime for the early afternoon (a nice change from the rest of the weekend!) and then it was off to Nana and Grandad's for dinner.



Over at Nana and Grandad's house, we had fun playing and eating and trading Mother's Day gifts with them and Andrea, Sean and Savannah. Here is Noah giving Nana his gift!


Tonight, my mom will be coming through town, so we are looking forward to celebrating Mother's Day with her, too! :-)

Meeting Mickey and Minnie

Our Trip to Florida!

We are back from Florida!! It was so much fun! I'll tell the story in pictures....

First, our flight there. Everything was on time and the flight was not full so we got a whole row to ourselves. Noah was so good and seemed really excited. He kept saying 'Florida' when asked where we were going! :-)

When we arrived in Orlando, Grammy and Papa were already there waiting for us. We got our car and headed to Disney! We checked into the Cabins at Fort Wildnerness and this is what we found on our bed (minus the little boy)...


At this point, it was almost 3:00 and Noah had still not napped! He finally laid down with me around 4:00 and I managed to get him on the bed - his first taste at sleeping alone in a big boy bed (we are hoping to transition him this summer before the next baby comes along).

Jan, Joe and Jim arrived around 5:00 and brought dinner with them. After Noah woke up, we had dinner at their cabin. After dinner, we headed over to Chip and Dale's Campfire and Marshmellow Roast. We thought marshmellows were going to be complimentary but it turns out you had to buy a s'mores kit for $9.50 and then buy sticks on which to roast them for 75 cents each!! :-) We decided Noah wouldn't care much about that, so we skipped it. :-) Noah did get to meet Chip though and he was really excited!


I learned even more on this trip that Noah is fearless. I wasn't sure what he was going to think of all the characters but he loved them and wanted to hug them all. This played out the whole weekend as you will see....

After a little late bedtime but restful night, Noah woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for Disney on Friday morning.

Heading to the boat to the Magic Kingdom

On Main Street with Grammy and Papa - Cinderella's Castle in the background.

We happened to arrive at Cinderella's Castle right in time for a show with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and many other Disney Characters. Noah was in awe and had this expression on his face most of the day....


After the show, we headed to Fantasyland and rode Peter Pan, the carosel and 'It's a Small World'. Then we headed to Toontown.

Touring Minnie's house

After touring Mickey's house, we tried to meet the mouse himself but the line was way to long, so we decided to try later. So we played around a little and then decided to stop for lunch. After lunch, as we were heading back to the campground to take a nap break, we happened upon a street party and parade! It was so fun and Noah had that same look on his face as he did during the first show of the day.

Mickey and Donald - it became obvious throughout the day that Donald is Noah's favorite :-)

Dancing with Goofy!

Waiting for the boat back to the campground. We had to get Noah a Donald stuffed animal. :-)

By the time we actually got back and laid down for our 'family nap' it was almost 2:30 again, so we didn't get going again until almost 5:30. We decided to grab a quick dinner and head back to the park for a few hours, but the dinner didn't turn out to be so quick. We didn't get back to the park until 7:30 - Noah's normal start of bedtime! We decided to just let go of the schedule and let him enjoy the park. Noah, Waylon and I went straight back to Toontown to try to meet Mickey while my parents, Jan, Joe and Jim went to ride some more grown up rides.

The line for Mickey wasn't too long this time and we actually met him - and Minnie, too! It was so amazing and fun to watch Noah's face. As we were waiting and watching a few others get their picture with them, Noah kept saying, 'Minnie - hug'. He went straight up to Minnie, gave her a hug, then went to Mickey and gave him a hug, too. Then we got pictures with them. Afterwards, he did a little dance cause we was so excited (we have video) and gave them both a hug again. It was SO great!

We met back up with Grammy, Papa, Jan, Joe and Jim and watched the Country Bear Jamboree. Afterwards, they all stayed again and we headed back for bedtime. On the way out, we caught the light show parade. By the time we actually got Noah to bed, it was 10:30!! Much later than he's ever stayed up before. He was such a trooper the whole day.

The next morning, on the other hand, was a different story. :-) Noah was a little cranky but still not too bad. We checked out and headed to downtown Disney to look around before heading to Jan's house in Melbourne.

Grammy caught a cold and lost her voice on the trip but you can't tell she feels bad here, can you?

We left after lunch and Noah got about an hour and a half nap in the car on the way to Jan, Joe and Jim's house. Once we got there, we relaxed and played in their pool. Noah loved it and just wanted to keep going outside.

As expected, bedtime was very early Saturday night - for all of us!

Noah slept in a little on Sunday morning and then we headed over to the Brevard Zoo. It was a great zoo and we saw all of it in just a few hours.

Feeding a giraffe - yet again, fearless!

We decided not to bring in Noah's stroller but he got a little tired, so Jimbo held him for a little while in the wheelchair (notice the Mickey hat that Grammy and Papa got him and the stuffed giraffe that 'Aunt' Jan got him). :-)In the petting zoo!

After the zoo, Noah got his normal nap and seemed to be getting back on schedule. In the afternoon, we went down to the beach for a short time before dinner.


Niffer (Jennifer) and Danny (Joe and Jim's sister and brother) came over on Sunday afternoon for dinner. Niffer and Noah shared some chips that afternoon!
This morning, we played in the pool for a little while again - it was pretty chilly in there since the sun was still hiding but Noah had a great time. When his little lip started quivering, we decided it was time for him to come out and he didn't argue at all. He cuddled up in my lap to warm up which was so cute. We left around 11 for our drive back to the Orlando airport and we finally made it home around 6:00 tonight.

As you can tell, it was a fabulous trip!!! We have to say a big thank you to Grammy and Papa for all the good times! They have some better pictures, so there still may be some more to come. Stay tuned!

We're off!

Tomorrow we are leaving for Florida - but before we leave, I wanted to post a few pictures from the hot dog dinner they had at Noah's school on Tuesday night. As a special treat, Nana and Grandad, surprised Noah and came to share the fun!

Before we ate, I was trying to get a few shots of Noah, Stella Dot and Maddie but Jay decided he wanted in on the action.... and you can see Tyler heading this way, too!

Then, Julianna and Abner decided to join in the fun too and I had 7 toddlers screaming 'CHEESE!'

Then Noah decided he'd had enough and it was time for a hug.

Noah and Stella Dot on their first date. :-)