Monday, January 9, 2012
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
christmas 2011
christmas time has come and gone already, but we will certainly be taking some sweet memories with us into the new year. noah seemed to thoroughly enjoy his first holiday season and all that came with it. as mentioned in his 10 month post, the boy couldn't get enough of taking the bows off his presents -- or anyone else's, for that matter -- and enjoyed seeing all the different christmas trees and watching christmas cartoons at home.
on christmas eve we spent the day at my parent's house where we met up with my siblings and their families and we enjoyed dinner before heading to church. after the service we took some family photos at home, then let the three youngest quickly unwrap their gifts before bedtime. noah and brie were both celebrating their first christmases this year, but because of the late hour (it was already past bedtime by the time we were opening gifts), they probably didn't enjoy it as much as they will in the years to come. noah was a trooper though and took all the bows off his gifts before allowing me to unwrap them for him.
the next day we loaded up in the armada with uncle jared and my parents for a trip to waco to visit the extended family including the great-grandparents. we enjoyed *lots* of tasty food and noah spent the better part of his day chasing around several of the small dogs -- something he's not used to since lexi is practically his own personal pony. our trooper slept on the way down and on the way home and was so sacked out by the time we got back that he went to bed in his "regular" clothes and slept all night. he obviously didn't care about being in pajamas ;)
the next morning we celebrated christmas again, this time opening the presents from the grandparents in ohio and the few gifts that matt and i had purchased for him. the plan had initially been to open these gifts on christmas morning before leaving for waco, but thanks to the late-night festivities on christmas eve, noah slept until 9am! that didn't leave much time for opening presents christmas morning, so instead we enjoyed spending the leisurely monday morning opening gifts and then assembling and playing with them until it was noah's naptime.
noah wanted to make sure i said a big "thank you" to all the grandparents for his wonderful gifts! we have already enjoyed playing with most of them and the clothes have been washed and are ready for wear! thank you for helping to make our christmas special, not just with gifts but with your presence! we love you and merry christmas!!!
10 months
christmas time!!!
another month come and gone, and with it the holiday season has passed us by in a rush! noah's first christmas seemed to come and go all too quickly, but we did get to enjoy some time off work and spend the holiday with family. christmas eve also marked noah's 10th month in this world, and looking back it's hard to believe that it's been that long ago that he made his debut in our family. he has grown so much since then, of course, but i still look at him and see a sweet little boy who does things in very much his own way.
another month come and gone, and with it the holiday season has passed us by in a rush! noah's first christmas seemed to come and go all too quickly, but we did get to enjoy some time off work and spend the holiday with family. christmas eve also marked noah's 10th month in this world, and looking back it's hard to believe that it's been that long ago that he made his debut in our family. he has grown so much since then, of course, but i still look at him and see a sweet little boy who does things in very much his own way.
before christmas, we celebrated the november birthdays -- a 4 of them -- with the traditional dinner and several desserts at my parents house. a few weeks later, noah spent the holiday enjoying extra time with both myself and his daddy, since we somehow (?!) managed to have several days off together during the week of christmas. we spent christmas eve with my parents and christmas day in waco with the extended family. noah did fabulously both days, despite being away from things familiar and staying up (too) late on christmas eve, you can see more in the christmas post.
happy, happy boy!
in developmental news, noah spent the majority of the month attempting to remove *all* the bows from his christmas presents under the tree, and enjoying seeing the christmas tree lights twinkling at him throughout the day. we did not attempt to take him to see santa (partly because this was never a tradition in our family and partly because matt and i hate fighting crowds), but we did enjoy other christmas activities including baking cookies, watching christmas movies (hello, grinch, garfield, and charlie brown!), and decorating the tree. noah even helped me wrap a few gifts, which was an interesting experience for all -- including some gift recipients! noah continues to chatter on throughout the day, entice us to "get him" during playtime and snuggle before nap time. his favorite songs of late are 5 pumpkin pies, the ABC's, 5 little monkeys (swingin' from a tree), and thanks to his father, the 12 days of christmas. other favorite things include cell phones and remote controls, eating blueberries and standing in his highchair. that last one won him the honor of being buckled in with the 5-point harness system in the highchair to prevent tumbles. he still isn't a fan of getting strapped in, but he no longer attempts to crawl out of his dinner seat and once the straps are on, he doesn't seem to notice them at all. he also looks like a little astronaut, which is darn near hilarious to us as parents. oh, the little things :)
i'm a little surprised we don't have a walker on our hands yet, with as anxious as he seems to move around on his own, but i know that when he's ready there will be no turning back. and, according to every parent i've ever known, i should be in no rush to have him walking. but, like every new mom, i want to see him reach and succeed at this developmental milestone...the struggles of knowing too much with no personal experience! despite his unsteadiness in the walking department, noah has begun to tentatively wave to us and occasionally he will clap if he gets excited, too. he doesn't always associate these actions with the correct times, and it's hit-or-miss as to whether he will do them on request, but we're still making strides in non-verbal communication. i forgot to mention it in the last post, but noah has also gotten pretty good at shaking his head "no" when he doesn't want something. hopefully the signs we have been teaching him will start to sink in, too and our big boy will finally be able to ask for "more" blueberries, "please" :)
a family pic
other exciting news this month? noah got to stay home with grandma sharon while matt and i went out to celebrate our 4th anniversary. we both worked on the actual day, so we celebrated on a sunday instead and enjoyed a leisurely dinner out followed by drinks at a bar. it might not sound that interesting, but it was a nice change of pace and we enjoyed spending the time together as "grown ups." :)
as this year rapidly draws to a close, i find myself looking forward to milestones, struggles and triumphs next year and (or including?) planning a first birthday party, as well as bringing in the new year with my two favorite guys.
we hope you enjoyed a fabulous holiday season, see you in the new year!
even more pics are included below:
Friday, December 16, 2011
cookie fest 2011
time for the annual miller cookie fest! and by "miller" i mean miller-childers-proctor-king, of course ;)
uncle jared and noah talking with aunt shari and cousin gabriella
as we have done for the last several years, we got together at my parent's house to bake some tasty christmas-time treats. on the menu this year? m&m cookies, snickerdoodles, sugar cookies, haystacks, puppy chow, sugared pecans and banana bread. despite the increasing number of grandchildren and all those tasty treats, we actually did a better job of starting on time and finishing up our baking before it got too late, which is especially nice with little people who have early bedtimes and several kiddos who had school early the next morning! we were actually able to finish everything before dinner! it was a great chance to get together, spend some time in the kitchen with my sisters and mom (which is what always makes it feel the most like the holidays) and let all the cousins and "brothers" get together (jared, ray and matt always enjoy some guy time while we're in the kitchen).
noah keeping lookout in the kitchen
part of the kitchen crew
noah gets some love from liv
lunch with alia
practicing walking with liv
we ended up with a ton of sweets and some really sweet memories, too. happy holidays, everyone!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
first thanksgiving
part of the food
it's holiday time and that means noah is enjoying another round of firsts, including his first thanksgiving. we celebrated with the extended family at ray & sarah's house and enjoyed a day of food, fun and the opportunity to count our many blessings. noah had a great time seeing great aunts and uncles and playing with cousins. matt and i enjoyed ourselves too, even though this year wasn't nearly as much fun for me since i couldn't attribute all the eating to being pregnant, or enjoy the comfort of maternity pants ;) i did, unfortunately, have to work at 7pm, but since i don't have to drive downtown anymore i didn't have to leave the celebration *too* early.
we hope you enjoyed your thanksgiving with family and friends and had the opportunity to thank God for all your blessings, too. happy turkey day!
the guys...
busy in the kitchen
girls!
my mom and sister
noah enjoys playtime with daddy in a borrowed hat
football!
turkey comas and football
Saturday, November 26, 2011
9 months
thanks to his eagerness to join us on this side of the womb, our sweet son noah has already been living in this world longer than he was in utero! while this is a milestone in itself, noah has been making strides in developmental ways, also. the biggest news? this month noah learned to feed himself! per the pediatrician's recommendations, we started noah on cheerios and even though it took him a while to come around to the new texture and taste, in no time at all noah was learning to shovel the little o's into his mouth by the handful. much to lexi's liking, a few always tend to fall to the floor for her taking, also. consequently, as we've added more foods to noah's meals, lexi has had to cut back on her kibble intake. we've added a number of fruits and vegetables to his menu, but we rapidly discovered that our sweet son has one favorite food: blueberries. the child would eat an entire crate of them if we let him! i promise i'm not exaggerating, as anyone who has witnessed him eating can verify this fact. other favorites include grapes, peas, and bananas, but he also eats bread, turkey, green beans and sweet potatoes.
mobility-wise noah has continued to improve his crawling speed and has grown more confident in his standing and cruising abilities. he's not quite ready to let go of whatever is steadying him, but he will use just one hand or simply lean against something so he can use both hands for a toy. this is strides away from his white-knuckle grasp that was previously employed when standing. i'm sure we will have a walker on our hands in no time.
noah on the move, with his own signature crawl:
noah has also become much more verbal, chatting constantly while playing and especially while eating. he strings together phrases of syllables and stops to smile every so often when he realizes you are in on his conversation. he continues to have a love for his rubber-tipped spoon as a teething aid, but also loves calculators and phones and is always a little jealous if we try to check something on the computer and don't give him a turn at the keyboard. noah has also developed a love of vacuuming, or maybe more appropriately, the vacuum itself. i can only assume this has to do with the fact that, thanks to lexi, we vacuum nearly every day. he now squeals with excitement when he sees me wheel the vacuum out of the closet and when it's sitting unused between rooms noah crawls up to it and acts like it's his favorite toy. so funny! he has also developed a fascination with the dishwasher and is eager to crawl up to (and onto) it whenever we are doing dishes. i can only hope that this attitude carries over into the coming years when it's time for him to do chores! :)
socially, noah was busy again this month, spending time with his cousins on halloween and for the pumpkin carving just before. we also celebrated his daddy's birthday at home and thanksgiving (exactly 9 months after his birth) with the extended family. these events are more and more fun for him as he gets better at interacting with people and playing with his cousins. i can't wait to see what the next few months have in store for us...before our sweet "little baby" turns ONE! this year has flown by and it's been quite a ride!
and to end on a happy note, some noah giggles from november 16th:
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