daddy snuggles {big hands and little hands}

so it's not very often that get to take a few snapshots of aaron and ainsley. he's not much of a baby person. don't get me wrong- he loves her a lot but he just isn't a snuggler. in his words- he'd rather get down and play- and ains just isn't there yet. here was a sweet afternoon of football watching and snuggling.

2 months vs 2 months- what do you think?

so now what do you think? still looking alike- or not so much?

pumpkin carving time

i must say the pumpkin carving wasn't all i thought it was going to be. turns out when your parents used to actually carve it and all you had to do was clean out the guts it was pretty easy. now we know... and noah had no interest in any part of it. just wanted to hold his trains and run into the street. and it was kinda cold and windy too. so- i took a few pictures, aaron carved on pumpkin, or neighbor carved one for us (he asked- i swear we didn't ask him!) and the intricate face that aaron drew on his pumpkin was left uncarved. maybe next year will draw more interest- we'll see. however, it is difficult to do much of anything when you're carrying around 5-6 trains everywhere you go......

pumpkin patch

we went to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins and take a hay rack ride for noah's birthday. we had fun- most of the time. lots of pumpkins to choose from, fun games to play and a corn stalk maze to run through over and over and over- you get the picture. there were some tears shed after a nose dive at the bottom of the big slide. thomas joined us for the big day- in fact we have not left the house for anything without taking thomas along with us.

should have been more specific about who i wanted in the picture....

not his happiest moment

i think they both appear to be having a great time- don't you? imagine me making him miss a day of college football. what kind of wife am i??

the eckarts- our 2nd family!

we love the eckart family- they are our "other" family. we spend lots of time with them and the kiddos love playing together. ainsley always gets some extra lovin when we are there- especially from lauren. we can't wait until she can babysit!!! thanks guys for all the fun times, dinners and for hanging out with us all the time. we love you!

bye-bye kiki

what noah probably didn't realize (which is fair since i didn't tell him...) was that when he turned two- the kiki's had to go bye-bye. it was time. we (i mean me) decided to just quit cold turkey. that's right- one day they were there for nap and suddenly at night they were gone. it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be (i suppose that's easy for me to say). i had to put him back down twice the first night but since then he's done well. which is good. so anyway little man- we're really proud of you and you have done a great job!

a (cleverly cute) boy and his train table

i truly never expected him to enjoy his train table this much... i mean i know he's only had it since last weekend- but seriously- he LOVES it. and most of the time he plays well with it- except when he gets frustrated. refer to photo #2 below!

one happy camper with his train table

this is the meltdown we have anytime the "train" of trains falls apart- maybe the magnets could have been a little stronger- or maybe they're not meant to have a line of 8 cars.... try explaining that to my toddler!
nap time? no way- it's train table playing time ALL DAY- EVERY DAY

such a determined face- that's the nice way of describing this part of his personality.... wonder where he got that from??

2 months (already- how'd that happen??)

so- wow- i can't believe you're 2 months (plus a few days) old already- and tipping the scales at 10 pounds! your dr. appt tomorrow will let us know how tall you are. it has gone so fast- much faster than it did with your brother. you talk to us now in your sweet little voice and get excited when you see your brother. he makes faces at you and sticks out his tongue which makes you laugh. your smiles are so big- but you get shy when i get the camera out so i have yet to capture a good one yet. you only nap during the day in your swing- which is fine with us right now. eventually that will be something we'll have to work on i know- but for now we'll call it good. bedtime for you is a little more challenging. you start out in your crib but eventually you fuss your way into our bed (your too snuggly not to give in!) mommy goes back to work in a few weeks and she is not looking forward to it. we've got a big month coming up for you- your baptism, a thanksgiving trip and visits from family and friends. so keep growing big little one- we're having so much fun watching you.

good night from the bat cave

hey there- this is noah blogging. i have had a busy few days and mommy should be putting some pics up here soon. i had a great birthday- thanks to everyone who called, sent cards, thought of me, etc..... i love you all! thanks for keeping up with me :) tomorrow is my halloween party at school- and nope- i'm not going to be batman as displayed below. you'll have to check back on friday to see what i am. batman was fun- i may be him next year.....

ready to roll- a rescue call came in.....

back to re-fuel with teddy grams and milk- note the "train" lineup of the various sippies- shocking considering the thomas obsession...
resting comfortably- it was a rough day as a superhero......

not me monday

so this should be fun. you can all read about my proud parenting moments from the week before. this way i can look back and laugh- hopefully- about all our fun days together. there is a blog that i read regularly called "my charming kids"- and you can check it out at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/. i don't know this mckmama- but i feel like i do- and love reading her stories. and she started this. and now i am joining in. here ya go

this week i most certainly did not pretend to be asleep four out of seven mornings when noah came into the room so i could sleep in and snuggle with ains. that would be selfish. i also did not stay up way too late on those previous nights reading blogs of people i don't know- and probably never will. that would be silly.
i did not buy noah a train table for his birthday and then "have to take care of the baby" while auntie lisa and aaron put it together. nope- not me. i also did not not have a diaper for noah at my mom's house this week and attempt to put two of ainsley's diapers together to try to rig something up, and then i definitely did not put his wet diaper back on so that we could come home and change him. (also noteworthy- i did not comtemplate not changing him after he fell asleep in the car on the way home....) that would be bad.
i did not wear my jammies all day on wednesday while i ran errands because i was too cold to change in the morning. that would also be silly.
i know i did not also bail on carving pumpkins- and only draw my face on it- well actually aaron drew it. i did not just watch the entire event... from the inside of the garage... where it wasn't so windy.
i did not let noah watch thomas almost all day on tuesday since it was his "birthday week". we all know too much t.v. is bad for kids. i did not eat out more meals this weekend that i ate in. we have plenty of food at home. and lastly- i did not secretly look forward to going to church not only to worship- but so that noah could go to the nursery to play and i could enjoy some time alone. not me- i did none of these things.

you should play too- it's fun!

happy 2nd birthday noah!!

it's hard to believe that my baby is 2 today- and that he's not the baby anymore. lots more pics to come- we have had a great day so far. started with a new train table and some new trains and when this sweet boy wakes up we are off to the pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin and take a hay rack ride. happy birthday little man!!

ainsley's announcement

if you haven't gotten your announcement yet- you will soon. and i love them! we had sonya- who's website you can check out at westwillow.etsy.com- do them and she did an amazing job. we can't wait to do our christmas cards with her too. thanks sonya- you're awesome!

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hilton head part 1- lots of pics....

well- to start off- these pics are in reverse order. and this isn't even the best of them either. i have some from lisa, my mom and kate yet to upload- so beware that there will be another round here soon. we had a blast- it was so much fun and noah loves the beach/water. no surprise there as his nana and papa have been working with him in the water since birth! so- enjoy the pics- and check back for more.

ready to head back home- he looks good pushing a stroller (a.k.a. the bus)- huh?

ains and auntie lisa
what happens when daddy dresses him after spending a week at the beach- he's holding the truck from beth, andy, siena and ella- thanks guys- he loves it!
playing bocce ball with sienafun at the beach

more fun at the beach

what ainsley did while we were there

daddy drew a thomas the train in the sand for noah

more of what ainsley did while we were there

jumping in the sand pools that noah and daddy built

playing in someone else's sand pit with their shovel and pail

love this pic- he's so sweet- and such a little man

"surfing" with will in the mini beaches after the tide went out

nana and noah cruising the beachtesting out the waters

mini beach again

i hate this hat- why do you make me wear this stuff mama?

sunrise at the beach- where ainsley spent the week- sleeping of course. for my pregnant friends- this sling was the BEST investment i think i have made in awhile

learning about beach sand for the first time

auntie katy taking me into the water

look mom- i can wear her hat since it's too big for herains and her hat that's too big- here's hoping it fits next summer because it's so stinkin cute!

meeting uncle will for the first time!

auntie katy and the bus- we're pretty sure we provided her a solid week of reasons to hold out on having kiddos :) thanks auntie! we couldn't have made it without you!!!