Another Weekend in MD

Last Wednesday night, Noah and I jetted off to MD! I was pretty nervous about the flight but it went great! I always worry so much about how he's going to adapt to new situations and he always does great... I need to just accept the fact that he's perfect! Haha. :-) Anyway, while at the airport waiting for the flight to leave, we happened to run into a friend from middle school who also lives in the Raleigh area (who I hadn't seen in forever!). She was also flying home for the weekend, so it worked perfectly and she really helped out with keeping up with him/carrying stuff/etc. We were flying Southwest, so we were also able to sit together. The flight wasn't full, so we actually had an extra seat between the two of us to spread out and let Noah sit when he wanted. Like I said, he did great... I gave him his pacifier to help with the pressure in his ears and he was totally silent the whole time. He almost started to fall asleep but then the plane touched down and he started clapping! Everyone on the flight was very complimentary about how good he was!

Laura and Noah on the plane

On Thursday, my sister, Leah (Aunt Ditter) came out to hang out with us and we went to the mall in the morning and then Leah and I went and got manicures while Noah was napping.

Watching a children's event at the Columbia Mall

Playing with the pots and pans back at home

Thursday evening, my friend Julie and our family friends Roz and Duane (pretty much my aunt and uncle) came over for dinner and to visit Noah.

Roz and Duane playing with Noah

Reading with Aunt Julie

Friday was a low key day... we went back to another mall just to get out of the house and just relaxed in the afternoon (stipulation - we didn't have many afternoons as Noah napped from 1-4 almost every day!!).


While we were at the mall, my mom and I got Noah some new clothes and one of them was a shirt that is very similar to my Dad's - let me tell you, these two are buddies - each morning when Noah came out of his room, he immediately started yelling, "PAPA!?!"

Playing tent - REAL tent this time! :-)

Waylon left Raleigh after work on Friday and got to MD around 9 or so. Noah was so excited to see Waylon when he got up Saturday - and vice versa! Saturday was a huge day... we had our annual 'Christmas' with my dad's side of the family. It was so good to see everyone! We usually do it Thanksgiving weekend but since we were in town, we switched it to earlier. We have a huge seafood feast and it was so yummy and fun!

Holding hands with Hope.
This was right after Hope walked in - we thought they were going to be good buddies and then Hope saw food and said to Noah, 'I don't have TIME,' and pulled her hand away! :-)

Playing football with cousinsOh yeah, Christmas is going to be FUN!

Playing with Aunt Marie

On Sunday morning, we were just relaxing at the house when we started to try to think of a fun 'activity' for the morning. We decided on going down to DC just for a few hours. We went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and just looked around for a short time (we'll definitely have to go back soon) and had lunch there before heading home for another long nap for Noah.



While Noah was napping, my parents got ready for our tailgate! :-) My dad made us wings and my mom made us cookies and hot chocolate! Noah woke up in just enough time for us to say goodbye and then we headed out to pick up Tina and Tesh (Tina is a friend of mine from Middle/High School). We took all our goodies and grilled out sausages before the game. It was SOOO cold!! Unfortunately, the outcome of the game wasn't great but we still had a lot of fun.



We got home pretty late last night so we took our time getting out of town this morning. We didn't get back here unil 6:00 so it was a quick dinner and some play time and the Noah was off to bed. We are relaxing now and getting ready to get back into our week tomorrow.

Another exhausting but fun weekend......

Weekly Update

We had a great weekend yet again but before I go into that, I have to finish updating about last weekend! Last Sunday, we went over to Waylon's parents' house for most of the afternoon. We brought Noah and Savannah's Halloween costumes to get a picture of them together... they both were monkeys - we had no idea when we bought the costumes! They were so cute!!

2 Little Monkeys jumping on the... couch.

Aunt Andrea and Cousin Savannah

This week was a good week... pretty routine except that on Monday we brought Maddie home from school with us since Frank was out of town. They had a great time and Noah always loves riding in the car with his friends!


On Saturday, I went to Greensboro for my friend Jessica's baby shower. I left early and Jess and I went to get manicures and pedicures before the shower. It was so nice to spend some good quality time with her! The shower was so fun, too. Jessica's 3 friends went all out with great food, great decorations and great games. She is very lucky to have such a great network of friends so close by!

Don't think there is any need to explain how these two are related! :-)
Jessica's friends' babies - so cute!!

I got back into town around 6:00 - just in time to hang out with Noah for about an hour before bedtime. Waylon and Noah had a nice father/son day together...they don't get much alone time - without me anyway! :-) They went to walk around the mall in the morning and then went to Lake Johnson in the afternoon. I think they both really enjoyed it.

Yesterday morning Noah and I met Amy and Stella Dot at North Cary Park. It was lots of fun. They have a great slide - it's huge. Both kiddos were having the best time but Stella Dot was so into the slide and climbing all over the place... Noah could hardly keep up! See Stella Dot's blog for some good pics of the slide. We weren't able to get a good picture of Noah going down the slide because he went so fast!! I think the combination of his corduroy overalls and his overall size made him go a lot faster than Stella Dot! :-)

Too much fun!

Sunday afternoon was a quiet one - we just stayed home and played around the house... very nice!


This Wednesday, I'm taking Noah for his first airplane ride! We are going to MD this weekend for a get together with my dad's family on Saturday and another Redskins game on Sunday. Since I'm off Thursday and Friday, we decided that Noah and I would fly up on Wednesday night and then Waylon will drive up on Friday. I'm nervous about flying with a 16 month old but it's only an hour so hopefully it will be okay. :-)



Have a great week!

Happy Halloween!!

Last night, we took Noah trick-or-treating for the first time! We were a little unsure if we were going to make it or not because he had his 15 month shots on Thursday (despite being 16 months tomorrow!). They really affected him this time and he's been battling a pretty bad fever and soreness in his legs over the past few days. Luckily, the motrin schedule worked to our advantage and he was able to go out for Halloween!

We walked around the neighborhood with Maddie - Noah's friend from school. They had the best time and caught on really quick as to what to do!

Noah laughing at Maddie - after every house, Noah would take all the candy out of his basket and put it in Maddie's! :-)

Picking out the candy that Mommy - I mean Noah - wants! :-)

Us with Frank, Janet, and Maddie

Who knew puppy dogs and monkeys could love each other?
I think this is Noah's first REAL kiss!
Sorry, Stella Dot - the hard-to-get route didn't work I guess.

Showing Grammy his loot when we got home - Grammy was here to 'man' our house and give out candy while we went out.
Sooo tired at the end of the night - we were up late!

For anyone who is interested - stats from the doctor's appointment:

Height - 31 inches - 50th percentile
Weight - 27 lbs, 2 oz - 75-90th percentile
Head - 49 1/2 cm - >95th percentile (always above the curve on this one!!)

I wonder how many of my posts are entitled 'Fun Weekend'?

... but it was another fun one for sure!!

First of all, the drive home from MD on Monday was fairly uneventful, so that was good. I worked Tues, Wed, and Thurs to make up for the Monday off. On Thursday night, I met Andrea (Savannah's mom and my sister-in-law), Amy (Stella Dot's mom), and Janet (Maddie's mom) for a Mom's Night Out at the Melting Pot. That was so much fun. It's so important to spend time with other mothers to know you aren't alone!! I took my camera but forgot to get a picture! Darn.

Last week, I had an email from my friend Nicole from San Diego saying she was coming into town for a wedding and had some free time on Friday morning! I knew she was coming sometime in October but wasn't sure she'd have time to play and also had forgotten which weekend it was. So it was a nice surprise. Since she only had a few hours, we decided to meet at Marbles Museum in downtown Raleigh. I'd been wanting to try it out for a while now and it was a great opportunity! They had some great interactive exhibits perfect for little hands and Noah had the best time trying everything. Then we met Waylon for lunch and Nicole was on her way. It was a quick visit with her but was so nice to see her twice in just a few months (she was here back in August for the bachelorette party and stayed with us a couple of nights). Here are a few shots from the museum. We will definitely be going back there soon!




Friday afternoon was a day of cleaning and laundry and catch-up around the house. We hadn't been home in two weekends, so it was so nice to get some things taken care of. On Friday night, we decided to go out to dinner and called Amy to see if they wanted to meet us. They did and we had a great time! Noah just thought it was the funniest thing that Stella Dot was at the table with him and even gave her a total 'I Love You' look.... it was not reciprocated! :-) Here is a shot of what Noah wanted to look at while we were waiting for them outside the restaurant.... SURPRISE - something with wheels! :-)


On Saturday morning, we met a big crew out at the Farmer's Market for breakfast. Some of Uncle Sean's family came into town to meet Savannah for the first time - his mom, sister, and two nieces. It was so nice to meet all of them! Nana and Grandad were there, too of course!




While we were at breakfast, we had a huge surprise! Sidney Lowe and Monte Towe - the NC State basketball coach and assistant coach - showed up with some other assistant coaches and a student who has recently committed to playing for State. They sat at the table next to us, so Waylon's mom took the plunge and went to say hello. She introduced him to Waylon and Sidney thought it was so cool that Waylon had a Redskin's sweatshirt on. He even brought another guy (Pete Strickland) back to tell him that Waylon was a State fan AND a Redskins fan! That was pretty cool.

Noah loved the tractor that was out front of the restaurant. We could barely pry him off when it was time to go...



We had planned to go to a pumpkin patch after breakfast but it was raining, so we decided to just check out the Farmer's Market instead. Noah had the best time walking around there. He just laughed and laughed when we first walked in. He picked out a pumpkin and we got some fresh veggies and fruit, too.



After we got home, during nap time, I met my friend Anise for a pedicure... what a treat! Saturday evening, it was back out again to Andrea and Sean's house for a great dinner. We decided to let Noah stay up a little late so we didn't leave until 8:30. We just put him in his PJs and let him fall asleep on the way home. It was nice to be out past 7:00 with him!! :-)




Today was a great day. I got up with Noah yesterday and let Waylon sleep in a little, so he let me sleep in today. I definitely got the better deal on that one! I slept until 8:45 and then Waylon took Noah and went to the grocery store while I just lazed on the couch. At first it was hard to relax... I felt guilty doing absolutely nothing but it was sooo nice! I hadn't done that in forever.

This afternoon, we took Noah and went running at Lake Johnson! I don't think I've mentioned on here that Andrea has talked me into running a 5K in December. I wasn't quite sure if I'd be able to do it but I'm starting to feel some confidence!! :-) Most of you know that I am not a runner.... at all.... but Andrea found us a training program and I have now worked my way up to 1.75 miles! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I should be able to run 3 by Dec. 6th.

The rest of the day today, we just relaxed and played in and around the house. Travelling is so much fun but it sure is nice to be home, too!

Wow

I can't believe I already have more things to post but I do! Yesterday and today, Noah brought a friend home from school! When I picked up Noah from daycare, we brought Stella Dot home, too. Her dad, Grant, has been out of town, so we were helping Amy out a little. It worked out really well... Stella Dot was okay leaving with me the first day and today, when she saw me, she even seemed happy to go with me! They had a great time playing at our house for about an hour until Amy came to pick her up.



We also got to bring home Noah's pumpkin that he decorated at school last week. Check it out!


And lastly, here is a video of Noah's new dance. Maybe he'll be a tapdancer! :-)

Some more pictures from the weekend

These are a few from my mom's camera that I wanted to post...