Two Christmases down....

It has been a crazy week - even crazier than usual - but we are now fully in holiday mode! Last Sunday, I kinda flipped out realizing that I had so much to do. So last week was full of shopping, wrapping, doing Christmas cards, and making holiday treats. I was hoping to get it all done by Friday so we could just enjoy the weekend and we made it! Everything is done and we have been celebrating all weekend - now we are looking forward to continuing the celebration in MD this week.

First of all, I need to let you all know that I'm enjoying my Christmas present to myself right now! Waylon is at work, Noah is at school, and I'm on the couch with coffee! :-) My plan today is to do laundry and pack - but mostly just relax!

Noah had been fighting a cold and has had some goopy eyes - we took him to the pediatrician this week because of his eyes and they confirmed that he had pink eye. So we've been struggling with eye drops this week. They seem to have helped but now he has a sty or something to that effect. We are hoping it will clear up soon so we don't have to go back to the doctor.

One of the many errands Noah and I ran on Thursday was to get him new shoes. We have been so lucky to get so many hand-me-down shoes but Nana wanted to treat Noah for Christmas so we took a trip to Stride Rite. Noah was so cooperative and sweet at the store (he's still having 'moments' but it's getting better since he seems to be feeling better). We found the perfect pair - it's so fun to have NEW shoes! :-)



Our weekend started on Friday night with dinner at Red Robin with Frank, Janet, and Maddie. Dinner with two toddlers is always interesting! :-) We sat in a booth and it was Noah's first experience with a booster seat. Maddie and Noah both toppled to the side a few times but they were no worse for the wear! :-)

Saturday morning we took a trip to the mall while one of our cars was having some maintenance work done. Noah walked throughout the whole mall and played in the play area for a while. It was nice to just stroll through the mall instead of running around like mad people trying to finish shopping!

After Noah's nap, we packed up the car and headed over to Nana and Grandad's house for our first Christmas celebration! Let me just say, there is something special about a grandfather and a grandson, no?! Each grandfather has their 'thing' with Noah - with my dad it's playing 'tent' and with Waylon's dad, it's playing 'train' - this involves Noah wanting Dick to pull/push him around in ANYTHING. It's so cute to watch!

We had such a great time celebrating with two kids in the family now. Savannah wasn't too into the presents yet but was so happy and enjoyed the festivities, too. Noah is getting the hang of opening presents and LOVES all of his new toys. I think his favorite is the Little People garage - every time it's time to leave the house in the past few days, we've had to pry him away from it!

Pictures from Saturday afternoon -

This fire truck was Waylon's when he was little -
Waylon's dad cleaned it up and even waxed it for Noah!

Happy girl!
Grandad showing Noah how it works
Happy family
One of Waylon's favs -
Waylon's parents got Sidney Lowe to autograph the picture of the two of them together!
Grandaddy and his babies
(see how Noah is holding Savannah's hand?? - so sweet!)
Opening the Little People Garage
Grandad, Nana, Mickey, and Noah :-)
Playing train! - Noah has Grandaddy trained. :-)
Me and Savannah

Sunday morning, we got our other car worked on and went to Wal Mart to run some errands while we waited. Couldn't resist pulling out the camera for a few silly shots there! :-)

The hat said Miller Lite! :-)
Sunday afternoon we were back to Nana and Grandad's for a celebration with extended family. The attendees - Great Uncle Ronnie, Great Aunt Robin, and Cousin Justin, Great Uncle Royal, Great Aunt Danita, Cousin Megan and Cousin Cameron - and all of 'us' of course


Savannah in an adorable hat Megan gave to her
Sean, Savannah, Megan and Danita
Playing with some cool puzzle cards with Uncle Royal!
Wearing a homemade hat compliments of Uncle Sean
Savannah taking a break with Mom
After all the pushing and pulling on Saturday, Grandad went out to find something special for Noah - this is what he found! :-) Noah LOVEs it.

Checking under the hood before starting the engine.

This is so fun!!!

Noah wanted Grandad to read him a book before we left
(thanks to Megan and Cameron for the great book!)

So, it's been a crazy weekend and we get to start all the celebrations again soon! We leave on Tuesday for Maryland and will be there until Saturday (although Noah and I may stay a little longer, we'll see).

I'm not sure if I'll post again until after Christmas, so if not, we hope you all have a great holiday!

Noah's first Christmas play!

We've had a great week here... the highlight of which was Noah's first performance in a Christmas play last night! But first things first....

The week has been good. My work has been a little slow since our labs are down while we have some floor work done, so I've been able to take some extra time to shop and make up some hours from home after Noah goes to bed. Have I mentioned I love working part time!? :-)

Yesterday, Waylon took the day off and we finally got our Christmas tree. We found a great deal on a great tree, so we were super excited. Waylon and I did the lights and decorations while Noah was napping but let him do a few when he woke up. He was excited to see the tree and has been interested but not too interested yet! We'll see how that goes over the next few weeks!

looking for the best tree

the finished product

CHEESE!

So last night was the Christmas play put on by Noah's daycare. Before the play, we met Janet, Frank, Maddie, Amy, Grant, Stella Dot, and Nana and Grandad at Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. That was so fun. Dinner was nice but once the kids were done and out of the high chairs, they went crazy! They were running around screaming and having a great time. We were totally making a scene but we totally didn't care cause they were way too cute! :-) (and don't worry, it didn't go on that long!)



After dinner, we headed to the play. They did 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'. It was so cute. Each class came down and sang a song in between the actual 'performance'. It was such a treat to watch Noah walk in and 'sing' We Wish You A Merry Christmas'! :-) He did get really excited and clap afterwards when everyone was applauding.

Where's Waldo?

hangin' after the play with Nana and Grandad
(and thanks for the great hat, Nana!)

After the play, we enjoyed some treats, put Noah in his PJs and headed home to bed. What a great night!


As if last night weren't enough, we decided to have a 'family playdate' today. This morning, we ran errands and got some things done but after naptime, Stella Dot (and parents) and Maddie (and parents) came over to play! We ordered pizza for dinner and had the best time... kids and adults (seriously, am I an adult?).

the calm before the storm...

On a seperate note, our sweet little Noah is starting to hit a 'phase' (read: terrible twos). Right now, it's mostly just moments here and there but once he doesn't get something he wants, he just collapses into a mess or if he's in his high chair, the hands (and food) start flying. It's been quite challenging at times and I'm sure we haven't hit the apex yet... but that's just the way it goes, huh? :-)

So, all in all, a great weekend and we still have another day to go!

Just a few more sillies...

learing to undress himself

Sunday night update - and EXCITING news!!

Saturday morning started with the 5K! It went really well! Waylon pushed Noah in the jogging stroller and did great with that. Andrea and I ran together and paced ourselves pretty well although I did have to stop to walk once. Waylon's mom, Kay, and Sean and Savannah came to cheer us on. I was very proud of getting though it and will need to find another goal in order to keep up the running! :-) Pics....

Before the run

And after - notice my red face!! :-)
Noah on the way home - his poor little windburned cheeks - our little Santa in the making!

As soon as we got home, I jumped in the shower and headed back out to get my nails done with the girls. Jennie had set up appointments for all of us at a cute little salon in Holly Springs. We had the whole place to ourselves and the salon owner even got us a few bottles of wine and appetizers. It was very fun!

Saturday night was our date night. Most of the 'crew' that we hang out with a lot work for an engineering firm and last night was their annual holiday party. It's a big deal and everyone gets dressed up. Megan and Dave have people over to their house for a pre-party and we were invited! We decided to use it as an excuse to get dressed up and have a nice night and dinner out!

And here's the BIG news!!!!....

For those of you who don't know, Jennie's boyfriend, Cory, and Waylon went to high school together and have been friends forever. Jennie and I have become great friends over the past 6 years, too. Jennie and Cory have been dating for 8 years and everyone has been wondering for a long time now when they are going to get engaged... well, as you can guess, it finally happened!! We couldn't be happier for them and are so excited!

The beautiful ring

The pre-party was great and afterwards, Waylon and I went to a very nice dinner at Duck and Dumpling in downtown Raleigh.

The group (minus us - we offered to be the picture takers since we were the 'imposters'!) :-)

The girls
The boys

This morning, we stuck close to home and played here. After Noah woke up from his nap, we left for my work holiday party. It was so fun! They had two rooms at the Hilton - one was the kids room with movies playing and lots of action. Santa came and brought each child a gift, too! It was great!

Ready for the party - he's really good at saying 'CHEESE' (as you will see)
We've been talking a lot about Santa and Noah loves him in pictures... he'll even say 'Ho Ho Ho' when asked what Santa says.
He wasn't quite sure about real life Santa though! At least he didn't scream. :-)
Opening the gift he got from Santa!
Getting some help from my coworkers kids - Alli (in pink) was the best babysitter!
How did Santa know I'd love this!?
The parents having a beverage after the party
With my coworker's son, Griffin - they had just given each other a hug in this picture - Noah was thanking Griffin and his brother Owen for his wardrobe - Deirdre gives us all of their hand-me-downs!! It's been awesome! She even gave us the jogging stroller that Waylon used yesterday!

And last but certainly not least, check out this video. I thought I was just getting him being silly eating grapes but I got something much better! :-)



This was not prompted... he didn't even know I was taping him and when he saw me with the camera, he just said 'CHEESE!' Too funny!

Clearing the decks before (yet another) big weekend!

We have a big weekend coming up - tomorrow is the 5K, mani/pedi with the girls, holiday cocktail, and then a dinner date with Waylon. Then Sunday afternoon is my work holiday party!

So to review last weekend - the rest of Thanksgiving weekend was great! Waylon and I went to the NC State game on Saturday - it was very cold and even drizzled on us a little but it was so much fun. Noah had a great time with Waylon's parents while we were away all day!


On Sunday morning, Amy and Stella Dot and Janet and Maddie came over to play. We all had a great time and enjoyed leftover Thanksgiving dinner for lunch!


Here is a shot of Noah after playing hard at daycare one day this week - check out those pants!!


Hanging with Daddy
Yesterday, Noah helped me unload all the Christmas decorations - I decorated while he napped. We hope to get our tree this weekend!


This morning, we went to get Noah's haircut again - it was starting to get shaggy and needed a shape up. This time, we went to Shelly - my hairdresser. Noah had the deathgrip on my hand (notice my hand in the picture!) but otherwise did great yet again.

Shelly gave him a cookie after she finished for being such a good boy!


Hope everyone has a great weekend!!