On the go

Noah just turned one...but it seems as though he should be able to stay a baby a little bit longer.

Obviously, he is fine with moving on. 

He is walking more and more...getting up from the floor and taking off. Oh boy.

He got a slide for his birthday...both boys LOVE to climb on it.

It is amazing how each day Noah seems to get a little more curious, and little more brave to climb all over it on his own, and then turn around and go down backwards. He also mastered the real stairs on his own, he turns around and promptly goes down. 

That pointer finger is starting to get used more and more to show what he wants.

There are only a couple words that he uses...."go!" and "whoa!"

....not even mama or dada. Silly guy.

They really do love to play with each other...

and it used to be Christian I'd have to remind to be gentle to Noah.

However, within the last several weeks...you really have to watch what it is Noah has to play with...because he will BANG whatever is around..even Christian's head. Ooouch.

Bathtime has become Ben's domain ever since Noah was big enough to sit up very well in the bathtub..and both Christian and him could bathe together. They love it...all the giggling and splashing that takes place is quite entertaining to listen to from the other room. I think this was one of that last times Noah used the baby tub within the big tub...he thinks he's SUCH big stuff now.

He looks WAY too grown up in this picture. He's an active, on-the-go ALL the time kind of little fella. I can count on limited personal productivity when he is awake...but I obviously wouldn't have it any other way.

Kade #7

Kade turned 7...he's getting so big!

He cracks me up often.

I love how he tries to carry on very adult-like conversations with Christian.or Noah for that matter.

He can be so sweet and sincere.

He can also be very ornery.

He has a very creative imagination.

He LOVES the outdoors.

So at his birthday party...we were able to be outside during the whole thing!

It was an absolutely beautiful day!!

We had a scavenger hunt (and went on a walk), we ate pizza and birthday cake outside, and opened up presents outside too.

Afterwards, we all went to check out/play on the new property Brent and Alyssa are getting. 

LOTS of room to roam and play :)

Happy Birthday Kade man...you indeed are quite the special and sweet young man.

We love you so much.

lovely leaves

The leaves have been so colorful lately...and abundance of them have started to fall.

Christian loves to rake. Grandma gave him the perfect size real rake...and he has been busy making piles of leaves! (There's plenty more where that came from my dear...so keep up the good work!)

This little fella just loves to watch anything his brother does..and being outside. Win-win.

Feelings about the leaves....

 playful, free, and happy.

lovely, lovely, leaves

Only down side is when they all fall off...then the trees "don't have their clothes on anymore..and they are naked!'

My big marshmallow and little pumpkin

We don't get to hyped up over halloween. 

But it is fun to get dressed up in a silly costume and go say hi (or trick-or-treat) to people we know.

This is the first year Christian had an opinion on his outfit.

At first he wanted to be a rocket ship, then an astronaut, and then...he said, "I know. I want to be a marshmallow!" Done. That was it...a roasting marshmallow it is...I think he said this at lunch when we was eating, looking out the window in our backyard where we have had several campfires including roasting marshmallows this fall. 

And as far as Noah goes...I found this at a thrift store for cheap..and that was that :)

Funny to think last year, he was 5 days old..and fit INSIDE a pumpkin..and this year he is a very active and growing pumpkin!

I must say, they were a pretty cute pair if I do say so myself..both of them had an element of soft and fluffy!

A dancing marshmallow...

I think he was dancing to the song, "Do the Twist" as we had just heard it on the radio earlier in the day. Noah thought it was pretty funny.

We went to a couple of our neighbors...we have such good neighbors. Then we went to the Villa. That was my favorite. I had no idea they would actual have the residents handing out candy...I just thought we'd go by and show off the boys in their little costumes. And to top it off..this is a picture of our dear "friend" that we see EVERYTIME we go in to D'Angelos at lunch to eat. He always has a smile on his face and says hi to us. Christian always goes up to him and shakes his hand and says "hi, how you doin' today?" It makes my heart happy. 

 We stopped by Uncle Mitch's house.

He had a GIANT gorilla at his house...both boys were very amused by him. 

 We made a few more stops...

and for our final stop we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house...

always fun treats there!!

short, but sweet

My roommate from college came Saturday afternoon and stayed over night. Her parents came for a wedidng, so she and her sweet little baby, Hudson, joined them. It was a short, but sweet visit.

They made it in time for Noah's birthday party. Afterwards, we went on a brief walk...then later went over to my parents so she could catch the ending of one of the World Series games (I didn't even realize that was taking place...her and I are similar on many things...but NOT the knowledge, nor the passion for baseball..specifically the Cardinals!).

Hudson...what a good baby! He and Noah are 8 months apart, exactly.

I wish we could go on walks routinely...too bad Iowa and Kansas aren't closer.

An attempt at the boys' picture. 

Thanks for making the trip Ranee.

I'm so glad I got to snuggle with you a little bit, Hudson...

and glad to catch up in person with you, Ranee.

Feel free to do this again..anytime!

First Birthday Bear Party

For whatever reason, we have called Noah, Noah Bear since he was very little.

In the first several months he had moments of being as grouchy as a grizzly bear...but overall, he's been as cuddly, playful, and happy as a teddy bear.

We had his first birthday party on his actual birthday.

We had mostly "bear" things for snacks...

goldfish, honeycombs, swedish fish, gummy bears, and teddy grahams

a mixture of marshmallows, chocolate chips, and teddy grahams

rainbow fruit kabobs with fruit dip

 chicken/pepper/pineapple and salmon/lemon grilled kabobs

and of course cake and ice cream...a teddy bear and a number 1 cake for Noah.

My sweet little birthday boy.

Dad with Noah and Hudson (my college roommate's 4 month old...today!)

We had quite the crew that came to celebrate...

Both sets of Grandparents, Great Gpa/Gma Hershberger, Great Gpa Bergey, Paul C. (Brenda was out of town), Sam, Brent and the kids (Alyssa had a prior commitment), Mitch, Ranee and Hudson.

Noah has an aversion to textures...including frosting.

I really thought he would want to smash it, or at least want to taste it. 

It took awhile and some prompting, but he at least touched it.

I don't think he ever really ate the cake part, he just licked a bit of the frosting...and mostly just smeared it around and put it in his hair. A new flavor of hair gel :)

Lastly, we opened up presents....

he is thankful for all the wonderful goodies he got!

Thank you for joining us in celebrating our little man's birthday. 

Happy Birthday to you Noah...and many more.

Noah [one year]

Noah Bear you turned one year old!

What a big boy!

It's hard to believe one year ago you were only 6 lb 6 oz...a little bundle in our arms.

You are now 19 lb 6 oz, and so close to walking on your own (you took a couple steps by yourself just a couple days ago!). 

You climb, crawl, and get into just about anything and everything!

You love your brother SO much. 

He can make you laugh so easy. The two of you are very funny together sometimes. You make sounds back and forth than giggle so hard. Oh, it makes my heart happy.

You love to be outside.

We go on walks, you like to look all around.

It is funny how timid you are about things with different textures....this may be food, different types of toys, grass, leaves, etc. Oh, you can make some faces about these! But it also works for having you stay in a spot for a little bit...you don't want to touch anything to move.

 

You have slept a solid 8-9 hours in a row! HOORAY! It has yet to be a running trend, but that's alright, we're getting there :) You are a good eater for the most part. You definitely know how to bat your hand at something if you don't want it...or shovel it in your mouth a little too well if you like it.

You haven't said any words yet...but you can babble and jabber a long story worth. I'm sure one of these days something that is recognizable will come out. Every now and then, it sure sounds like you try to make the noises into something...but I think that might be us just putting 'words in your mouth.'

You are getting such a sweet personality.

So lovable. So playful.

You are overall such a happy little guy!

You LOVE balls.

You actually can throw them quite well!

You love your mama..and you can give the best snuggles.

(You love your daddy too...just to be clear.)

You are growing up so fast. Hard for me to believe that you are growing out of the baby phase and into being a toddler. I love you, my little pumpkin.

We are so blessed to have you in our lives Noah. 

I am so glad God gave us such a healthy, happy little boy to join our other one.

You may add more mess and more noise...but you my dear have added even more joy too!

I excited to see what this next year holds for you Noah Benjamin.