noah's 3rd birthday!

Our entertaining, charming, hilarious, sweet boy turned THREE on February 24th!  We've learned a lot about him, ourselves, and parenting in general since he showed up on that day and we've laughed and cried and suffered (uh, Acid Reflux, anyone?!) and struggled and triumphed in the meantime.  He has always wanted to do things in his own way and on his own time, which I can probably attribute partially to him being a first child, and at least partially to the character-traits of *both* of his parents.  Noah decided at conception that he was going to be on his own time frame -- because while we had decided we were "ready" for kids I really expected it to take several months before we would get pregnant -- nope! And then, of course, he arrived a full month ahead of time, ready to take on this world.  Ever since then he has been a wonderful part of our family, doing things as he sees fit, including eating, bedtime, playtime, and always being willing to speak his mind.

Then:

And now:

He is sweet and gentle, but 100% boy in the sense that he loves anything with wheels, dirt, sand, and any sort of train/truck/construction vehicle.  He loves superheroes, even though we don't really let him watch any of those movies or shows yet.  He loves Toy Story 2 and 3, Tangled, The Lorax (the new one) and he would watch "Wild Kratts" or "The Magic School Bus" all day, if we let him.  He also loves to read and sing and dance, something that he has shown to his sister, also.  And, of course, he's a wonderful big brother.  For the most part he is very willing to share his toys and play with his sister, often asking her to "come on, Sammy!" and he is very concerned about her when she cries or gets upset and he isn't sure why.

His very first picture:

Snuggled up at the hospital:

This child is amazing, and I can't wait to see the person he becomes as he continues to learn and grow.  We are so thankful for you, Noah, and we love you to the moon and back....bigger than eight entire universes, actually! ;)
Happy birthday, three-year-old!

For our birthday celebration, we went with the theme that Noah had asked for for weeks upon weeks: emergency vehicles.  I had figured I was going to use a "Cars" theme and had been planning that for a while, but it turns out it was a good thing I hadn't purchased any decorations yet.  Noah explicitly told me, repeatedly, that what he wanted for his birthday was "a blue cake with a fire truck, an ambulance, and a police car on it."  I'm not sure where this really came from, but he never wavered.  I decided that would be an easy enough theme and complied with his requests, because like I mentioned above, this kiddo knows what he wants!  We had a great time and enjoyed having friends and family over to celebrate this special day.  It was partially organized chaos, with about a dozen children under the age of 8 running around and playing, but it was wonderful!
And no worries, Noah has already started talking about his *next* birthday and what to put on that cake....

Noah is trying to convince *anyone* that is near him to give him the toys on his cake.  He wasn't thrilled that he had to wait until we sang "Happy Birthday" before he could play with those toys.

The cheetos bowl was the popular place to be.

Balloons!!!!

"Happy birthday to you..."

*Finally* cake and toys!

25 weeks

a little pregnancy update for those who are curious about our newest, littlest king...

we are 25 weeks along with our second son, who seems to be getting more active by the day.  no real complaints about this pregnancy so far.  i do feel like i'm bigger this time around, despite the fact that i'm still not requiring much in the way of maternity clothes and when i compare my previous pregnancy pictures it doesn't appear like there's a big difference (yay!).  i think part of it is probably due to the fact that i'm chasing two little ones around the house during the day and continuing to work at night, so i'm mostly just tired, but that's okay :)

our baby is now roughly 13.5 inches long and weighs about 1.5 lbs. having a sister that's a NICU nurse, i take comfort in the fact that at this point in the pregnancy our baby is getting well into the "viability" range, even though i certainly hope he decides to stay in there for another 12 weeks or so, at least!

maternity quiz
total weight gain: i honestly haven't even been tracking this this time...
maternity clothes: for some things, not in the picture above
sleep: no problems!
best moment this week: finally getting to take our family pictures...our last set as a family of 4 (even though, obviously, this baby was technically in them) ;)
cravings: wendy's frosties.  i want one. every. day. ! (but i don't)
what i miss: my energy.  it's better that it was in the first trimester, but i'm still more tired these days.
what i'm looking forward to: taking noah to the dallas auto show this week.  i get to take both my sons ;)
weekly wisdom: trying to make the most of my time with sam and noah before they have to share their mommy with another little king
milestones: NICU viable....i'll take it! 

pregnancy updates: weeks 22 - 24

so, i'm cheating a bit because i haven't been the best about doing weekly updates for this pregnancy so far.  also, there's not a ton that seems to change week-to-week in these earlier stages, so i'll just skip to the part everyone likes anyway (pictures) ;)


22 weeks: baby is now moving and kicking, and weighs about 1 pound and measures roughly 10.9 inches long.  the baby bump is definitely there, but i actually enjoy it.  i've never been one to dislike pregnancy, i actually typically enjoy it, but there's a definite bonus in not having to "suck it in." ;)

23 weeks: baby is "about the size of a mango" which translates into a little over 11 inches and just over 1 lbs.  i can't help but be excited to add another member to our family, even if i'm a little concerned, occasionally, about having a crew of "three that are three-and-under" for a while...

24 weeks: now measuring around 1 foot long and weighing about 1.3 lbs!  we have been talking about names for our little boy and haven't been able to agree on one.  we have several that we like, but out of the 3 or 4 top picks matt likes some better than others, and i tend to like the others better.  good thing we still have some time left to decide!

other tidbits from early in the pregnancy:  i had been drinking green smoothies prior to this pregnancy.  i was trying to be really healthy, since i knew we were planning on adding at least one more to our family at some point.  i had been working out and drinking my smoothies until about week 8 of this gestation.  all of the sudden i couldn't tolerate much of anything green.  kale? nope.  spinach? no way.  cucumbers? nuh uh.  i tried to change the smoothies to mostly fruit and yogurt instead of being so "green" but that didn't seem to help.  so i've had to take a break from my smoothies and try to eat what i can tolerate. unfortunately, my alternatives and what this baby seems to make me want to crave haven't been nearly as healthy.  i have really been enjoying firehouse subs, most notably their "turkey bacon ranch" and even had some cravings for chinese food (not something i usually ask for).  i feel like i've wanted more sugar this time around, but i'm blaming that on the super-cold winter and, as i explained it to matt, "humans intrinsic desire to want to store fat and hibernate when the weather is like this."  he didn't really buy that argument...
i'm still feeling tired, more tired than i remember being during my other pregnancies.  of course, i'm always told it's because of my crazy schedule (FT nights, two young kids at home, husband who works FT, etc.).  i'm sure the extra sugar in my diet hasn't been helping either.  hopefully i'll find more energy as the pregnancy progresses and my diet is less restricted by nausea and such.  :)

Perot Museum

On February 7th, we loaded the kids up and headed to meet our friends, the Otenti's, at the Perot Museum.  We got to enjoy the special exhibit "Animals Inside Out" and then let the kids run around and explore more of the museum.  We had gone before, but the kids were much younger, so this time was especially fun because everyone was able to interact with the exhibits and be involved.  I think everyone had a great time, and it was a fabulous way to spend some time with our good friends (who are also expecting their third child this spring!).
Hooray for educational fun times with family!

Animals Inside Out:

I love the reflection of the boys' faces in this picture:

"Look at the baby, mommy!  Isn't he so cuute?!"

Sam enjoys the exhibit from the comfort of the stroller

Noah's absolute favorite was this giraffe:

Mikey and Noah are best buds :)

This picture doesn't accurately show how much Sam *loved* this earthquake simulator.  She was laughing hysterically during the "worst" earthquakes and cried when we had to walk away.

Snack time!

Spending time in the children's area: