Our Adventures with Noah and Kylie

Well, it's December 21st, tomorrow is 'Maryland Day' (as Noah is calling it - we are driving up tomorrow) and I feel very strangely in control!! It's a little strange but very very nice! I decided to take today and tomorrow off to try to finishing shopping/wrapping/packing/etc and I'm so glad I did! I got most things taken care of today so all I have to do is pack tomorrow and then we are off tomorrow evening! But first.... we've already had a few really fun Christmases to report on....

Going back to last week - just a few cute shots from the week...

Some playtime at the mall

Love this picture of Kylie - too bad she has drool/spit up all down the front of her shirt!! :-)

(she's getting in her 4th molar right now)

1st house update shot - taken on the 16th

I drove by there on my lunch hour and was so surprised to see a whole first floor!! Crazy!

Last Friday, I also had some time to myself cause Noah had pajama day and a Christmas party at school so we let him go and decided to put Kylie in also. I got some shopping and wrapping done that day so that was good - especially cause we had Christmas with Waylon's side of the family on Saturday and Sunday!

Since Savannah will be celebrating with Nana and Grandad on Christmas Day, we decided to head over to their house early and exchange presents with them in the morning, nap and then have another gift exchange in the afternoon with Savannah, Andrea and Sean! It was such a fun day!

Noah and Kylie both loved this decoration at Nana and Grandad's house

The first present Noah opened was 'Stinky the Garbage Truck'

He had asked for this and was SOOO excited!!!

They both got a kitchen (see behind Kylie in this picture). It was actually supposed to be Kylie's big present but we didn't make a big deal of telling Noah that cause he was having so much fun with it, too. :-) Here she is opening her first wrapped gift.

Nana and Kylie having a tea party!

Kylie helping Noah open a really fun playdoh toy.

We got Nana a bag with her name on it ('Nana') and she was really excited. :-)

Even more present opening!!! :-)

Then it was Grandaddy's turn for a tea party with Nana. :-)

Noah said, 'I love you, Stinky' and gave him a hug. :-)

After the morning activities, the kids took a very short nap and then it was back to more playtime until Andrea, Sean and Savannah arrived. Then it was just more playtime and more present opening!!

Savannah and Kylie playing with the kitchen.

We got Savannah a Barbie and a Barbie car! I was really excited about giving it to her and apparently it was a hit, so that's good. :-)

Love this picture cause it was very indicative of the day - Kylie just can't get enough to eat and drink these days! She's always been a good eater but the past week or so has been crazy. Actually, this sippy cup in the picture below is actually Savannah's! :-)

Yes, we are sitting against the garage door. Not really sure why the kids wanted to sit there.

This was the response to 'smile like something is funny' (trying to avoid the 'cheese' face)

We stayed until bedtime that night and got baths before heading home. Sunday morning, we had a lazy morning and then Noah and I (mostly I) made Christmas cookies while Waylon and Kylie ran to the grocery store. After lunch, naps and then time to head back to Nana and Grandad's for a party with Waylon's uncles and their families.

On the way there, we stopped off at the new house so Waylon could see the progress. We were surprised to see a second floor! This was the first time for Noah to see it and I think he's really getting it now. We were telling him what each room was and he just kept saying 'okay... okay...' it was cute.

Wow!!

Here is Noah standing in his room! :-)

Waylon and Kylie in our room!

Then it was off to Nana and Grandad's! We visited with Waylon's aunts and uncles and cousins. His cousin Meghan had a baby about a month and a half after Kylie was born so it was fun to watch all the kids play.

Lily Kate - check out those blue eyes!

Kylie kept giving Lily Kate hugs (when they weren't stealing toys from each other). :-)

It was so sweet to watch them play - I hope we can get together with them more often (we hadn't seen them since last year!)

I managed to get a decent shot of them all lined up!!

After everyone left, it was time to get ready for bed again and Kylie enjoyed having some time in just her diaper and we managed to get this adorable shot. :-)

Nana got some good snuggles from all three grandkids - too bad Kylie didn't have clothes on for this one! haha.

What a fun fun weekend! We had lots of present opening but more importantly, we had lots of fun family time. That's the best part of the holidays to me!!

Yesterday, the kids and I had a nice day together. We stuck close to home most of the day but did manage to get out to get Noah's hair cut. He always looks like such a big boy when he gets a haircut.

My sweet girl.

Noah and Kylie are playing together more and more every day. Yesterday, they were running back and forth from Noah's room to the family room and back just laughing and giggling. Then they started playing on Noah's chair. It was so fun to watch and I just kept snapping pictures of it.

Like I mentioned before, today I got lots of final things taken care of for Christmas and tomorrow I just have to pack - might even get to relax a little! The plan is to pick up the kids and Waylon around 5:00, grab dinner, change the kids into PJs and then head up to MD and let them sleep on the way. We are really looking forward to some more fun festivites this weekend!!

Well, the holiday season is officially among us! We have had so many fun events in the past few weeks. We are offically in the holiday spirit!

Going back to two Fridays ago, the kids and I loaded up in the morning and went to the mall for some playtime before meeting Waylon for lunch. Then we got settled in the car and took off to Maryland for the weekend. The first leg of the trip was great but then after about 2.5 hrs, Kylie threw up all over herself in the carseat!! We had to stop and get her cleaned up and changed, back on the road and then about 15 minutes later, it happened again. Fortunately, I was prepared and was able to catch it in a blanket (yes, a mother's love never fails). :-) We stopped again, cleaned up and back on the road again. It didn't happen again and she never seemed like she felt bad even the rest of the weekend so we thought maybe it was motion sickness - until we were leaving on Monday morning and my dad started throwing up!! Sorry Dad!

Anyway, we arrived around dinnertime on Friday and my aunt and my parents were there for a short time. Then they headed out to Leah's Trapeze show!! Many of you saw that I went to a class with her a while back. She's been taking classes regularly and had a show. I was really disappointed that I couldn't go but it was too late for the kids so we stayed home. Before they left, we got the kids in some new pajamas that Grammy got them (and Noah had to try on his reindeer horns which will make an appearance later in this post).

Saturday morning was some low key playtime and Kylie had to try on the horns, too! :-)

Around lunchtime, our annual Christmas Seafood Feast began! Each year, we get together with my dad's side of the family for some good food and good company! It's always a blast! Noah really had a great time this year also. My cousin, Jenni's kids were there and Noah was so into being one of the bigger kids. He was especially attached to Hope who is two years older than him. It was so cute to watch him follow her around. I think she enjoyed it, too. :-) This picture was very soon after they arrived. Hope was reading to Noah. I just loved how she had her legs crossed and he had his arm around her. :-)

More Hope snuggles but for me this time. :-)

Me, Leah and Jenni

Noah and Katelyn watching Jonathan play his video game.

The cooks in the kitchen

Marie, Dad and Eric

Kylie and Grammy

Is that Kylie or Santa??

Her teachers at school taught her to say Ho Ho Ho when asked what Santa says. She even holds her hands out in front of her like she's holding her belly. :-) She's really starting to say so many words now! Among them --

Dada

Papa

Mama

Nana

banana

Doggie

Daaaah (dog, cow, any animal)

Thank you - this one she says when asked, 'What do you say?!' :-) Too funny.

She'll say 'Quack quack' and 'Ruff Ruff' when asked what a duck or dog says.

I can't remember what else but they are starting to come so quick now.... so fun!

Anyway, back to the party... we do a funny gift exchange and this is what I got at first - it was stolen from me though! A hot commodity. :-)

During the party, my dad was showing the video of Leah doing her trapeze trick and Kylie kept wanting to see it over and over again. It was so cute!

Papa and Kylie - turns out she's a Papa's girl as well as a Daddy's girl. One night, I went to take her from him to put her to bed and she wouldn't even come to me!! So he put her to bed. :-)

The whole crew!

Sunday morning, we had another relaxing morning. Waylon left at lunchtime and took my mom's car back home. I decided to stay an extra day and my mom rode back with me on Monday to come stay with us for the week since Waylon was travelling again. She was a huge help once again!! More on that later though....

Daddy and Kylie playing on Sunday morning before he left.

I was trying to get everyone to take a walk but no one really wnated to. Good thing cause it was FREEZING outside! The kids and I played on the porch but we could only take it for about 15 minutes. :-)

Sunday afternoon, we were just playing around the house and got some cute photos...

We told her to give the reindeer a kiss. :-)

Noah practicing singing 'Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer'

Love this expression. :-)

Julie came to visit with the kids before we went to have dinner at Ali and Andrew's new house.

Leah and I showing off our new boots. :-)

While we were gone, my parents kept the kids. They turned on a show for them and they were snuggling. Apparently, Kylie kept putting her head on Noah's shoulder and saying, 'Awwww.'

I had a blast over at Ali's, catching up with her, Julie and Jessica. I should have gotten a picture of all of us but I didn't!

Monday morning, my mom and I packed up while my dad was starting his 24 hour sickness that we apparently gave him!! :-( Sorry, Dad. We took off around 9:30 and had a nice easy drive home. Noah didn't nap Saturday or Sunday (I didn't feel like fighting it), so he got caught up and slept for 3 hours on the ride home!

We had one night with Waylon and then he took off on Tuesday to go back to Houston for work again. My mom relaxed at our house on Tuesday while I was at work and the kids were at school but then on Wednesday and Thursday, she had a special one on one day with each of them. On Wednesday, she and Noah went to Marbles museum and stayed there all day. They had so much fun and Noah really loved it. Here is a shot of him 'gardening' at the museum.

I had a meeting for the new house on Wednesday and got to see the most recent progress - a foundation!! So exciting. We are starting to get really excited about the new house!!

On Thursday, Grammy and Kylie just close to home and played together. They both had a blast!

Grammy got a gingerbread kit and decided to put it together with Noah one night. He loved it - and so did Kylie!! She was obsessed with trying to get the candy. It's funny the things she gets away with - I never would have given Noah a handful of M&Ms when he was her age. :-) I finally had to put her in the bathtub to get her distracted enough so Grammy and Noah could finish.

The finished products

Friday was a fun day. We went to the mall in the morning to shop around a bit and relaxed during naptime. Soon after the kids got up, we got ready for their Christmas play!! Every year, their daycare puts on a 'play'. There is always a theme (this year it was The Night Before Christmas) and some of the older kids read the story and in between 'scenes', each class walks in and sings a song. It's always so adorable and this year Kylie got to 'participate', too. Always a fun kick-off to the holidays.

Before we left, I had to get a few shots of the kids all dressed up! I tried to choose just one picture to post but I couldn't so you get all three of these. :-)

And here's where the reindeer ears come into play. Noah's class sang Rudolf so they were asked to all wear reindeer ears. My mom ended up finding a bunch of them, so she got them for his whole class (that's why he was wearing them in MD). He was so excited and they even had red noses, too.

Here he is walking in - so excited!!

Singing!! :-)

His whole class - he's on the far right.

And here's Kylie getting ready to make her grand entrance! :-) That's Mason in there with her.

Proud parents. :-)

Kylie with one of her favorite teachers. :-)

Afterwards - Noah and Maddie being Noah and Maddie! :-)

(Notice Noah's punch face) :-)

Enjoying some refreshments.

I need to find all the pictures we have of them like this over the past few years and put them together. This year, we were missing Stella Dot. And I just realized as I was writing this that we might be missing next year. :-( If we switch daycares when we move, that might have been our last Christmas Play with that school. :-( How sad...

Noah and Liam - every day when I ask Noah who he played with, he always says, 'Liam and Tyler'. He even told Waylon one day that he asked Tyler to come over for a sleepover!! AHH are we really getting to that age!? :-)

Attempting a family photo.

We changed the kids into PJs before we left so it was an easy transition when we got home. Kylie fell asleep on the way home but I think Noah had had too many sweets!! :-) He was pretty exhausted, too though.

Saturday was another fun fun day! Grammy left first thing and then we got ready and took off to meet Nana, Grandaddy, Andrea, Sean and Savannah at Disney on Ice - Toy Story 3!!! Noah was so excited and so was I! After taking him last year and seeing how enthralled and happy he was there, I was super excited about it this year. He was very serious about it also. Savannah kept wanting to play and he was just ready for the show to start! :-) There was a curtain set up and he woudln't take his eyes of of it. At one point, I was leaning forward, and he said, 'Mommy, move back, I can't see the curtain!!' :-) Kylie really enjoyed it also. She was smiling and laughing and clapping - until she knocked out about a 1/2 hour before it was over. :-)

Waiting for the show to begin - notice how serious Noah is!? :-)