I Finally Did It!

Noah has always enjoyed his birthday parties, but they tend to end up being more for the adults than for the kids. His first birthday we had an outdoor picnic. I think everyone had a good time, but Noah fell asleep half way into the party. His second birthday was an oyster roast complete with fireworks. Once again, more for the adults than the kids. His third birthday we took a group of his friends to see Charlotte's Web at the theater and then to the park for cupcakes and presents. He enjoyed this, but our timing was off and because he missed his nap, was very grumpy. Last year we had a small family gathering at our house and that seemed to work well but wasn't anything spectacular.
I almost killed myself in the process, but this year I finally scored a hit with Noah's Birthday Party. He said he wanted a "Friend Party", so I planned an open house day Friday where kids could come over and play from 2:00 until 8:00. Okay, so maybe a six hour party was a bit much, but everyone sure did have fun. I think in total we ended up having about forty people over. I had lots of games planned for the kids. They had a silly string fight, made s'mores, ate snow cones, popped balloons, played on the swing set, shot confetti fireworks, jumped on the trampoline, dug in the dirt, hunted for hidden treasure, played charades, decorated cupcakes, performed on instruments, (drums, guitar, keyboard, violin, flute, saxophone, trumpet, and kazoo) and ate more hot dogs than I can count. Hopefully I will soon be able to post some pictures of the event.
Noah was so excited about his party and has talked about it constantly since Friday. He is already planning next year's party to be more of the same, but I sure am glad that I have a year to recover before attempting it again.
The best part? I had planned a Rainbow Vacuum cleaner demonstration that same weekend, so when the salesman came to demonstrate, he cleaned up all the spills from the party!

Happy Birthday Noah

Today Noah turns five years old. I have no idea where the time has gone. It seems like only yesterday I was waking up from anesthesia to have a nurse tell me that I had a healthy baby boy. On the other hand, Noah is such a big part of our lives now that I can't imagine what I found happiness in before he came along. I don't think I ever imagined the joy that he would bring into our lives.


To My Noah:
You have grown into an amazing boy with your own giant personality. You are such an interesting combination of both your Dad and myself with a bit of some other unknown substance thrown in for good measure. I don't know where the other unknown substance comes from, but it sure does make you unique!
This past year you have been a great big brother and a wonderful oldest son. You have learned so many new things and continue to amaze me every day with your imagination.
So Happy Birthday to my grits eating, tractor driving, mud bogging, constantly chattering, animal loving Noah. Mommy loves you!

E-Mail

Attention to all of my e-mail buddies:
I have been having trouble with my e-mail account and right now I can not receive any e-mails. I am not ignoring you, I really can't get to them! Hopefully we will have the problem fixed before long. Unfortunately, until then any e-mails you send me will be returned to you. I will keep you updated from here and will let you know when the problem has been solved.

Our Baby This Week

This week, our baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four large navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He is moving a lot, too, so I am having trouble sleeping because his kicks and somersaults keep me up. The doctor says to take comfort because all this moving is a sign that our baby is active and healthy.
I just have this strange feeling that I will never make it to March before I deliver. Next week I will start the weekly non-stress tests to monitor the baby and determine when the perfect time is to take the baby.

First Missing Tooth

Noah had been complaining about his tooth hurting and a few days before Christmas, I finally took him seriously and looked at what he was talking about. My son had his first loose tooth! We had a long talk about loose teeth and the fact that it would soon fall out. I thought Noah would be a little scared of this, but as it turns out, he thought it was great. He was so excited about his first loose tooth. He had to tell everyone he saw about his tooth and he wiggled it constantly. It was really loose and I was afraid it would fall out before his fifth birthday (this Friday), so I took him the Saturday after Christmas to have his five year old pictures taken. I wanted one more photo of my baby with all of his teeth!

Today, as we were getting back from grocery shopping, Noah all of a sudden starts screaming, "My tooth, my tooth!" He was wiggling it when it just fell out in his hand. Very little bleeding was involved and he says it did not hurt at all. He is excited about the tooth fairy visiting tonight and says that he thinks it is worth at least five dollars. (Mommy is not so sure about that!) Noah came up with the idea that the tooth fairy takes the teeth and gives them to babies that need them but he is unsure of whether Jonah will get this tooth, or if it will be saved for our new baby.

I guess this means my baby is growing up. It is happening so fast. It seems like just yesterday he was struggling to get that very same tooth to break through. Where does the time go?

Pee-Pee Guns

This is just too funny not to share. On our way back home from buying groceries, Noah informed me that we forgot to buy a big bottle of Sprite. Since we are not big soda drinkers at our house, I asked him why we needed a big bottle of Sprite. To this he replied, "So I can shoot it with the pee-pee gun." Now I don't know about you, but I had NO IDEA what a pee-pee gun was and I was almost afraid to ask him to explain himself. (Those of you who have small children understand my fear.) I gathered up my courage and finally asked what a pee-pee gun was. He then says, "You know, the gun Daddy had when he was a boy that shoots little round balls."
Ah ha! "You mean a BB gun?" I ask.
"No, it is a pee-pee gun" he says.
When I finally stopped laughing, I called Joe to tell him about our conversation. Joe says he had been telling Noah about how he used to shoot soda bottles with his BB gun when he was younger and told Noah that he would show him sometime when we had an extra bottle lying around, thus the need for the big bottle of Sprite. Unfortunately, Noah now is convinced that everyone else says it wrong and it truly is called a pee-pee gun.

Name Our Baby Poll

We get asked all the time what we are going to name our new little baby boy. The answer you get depends on the person that you ask. I have a definite name in mind as well as a secondary name that I like. Joe also has a definite name in mind as well as a secondary name that he likes. Unfortunately, none of those names are the same. Now is your chance to vote for the name you like best in the poll on the right hand side of the screen. You have two weeks and can vote as often as you like (preferably for my pick) ... GO!