Dear Noah

Dear Noah,

Happy 1st birthday! I am so glad we have you in our lives. You have been such a joy to have around. I love seeing how wonderful everything is through your eyes. I get so excited for you to experience new things because I know how excited you will be.

Watching your personality develop has been so fun for me. You were quite an easy-going baby, but as you neared your first birthday, a feisty side began to emerge. You can sure let out a holler when we take something away from you or try to change your diaper or get you dressed. You are still pretty easy to please most of the time, and for that I am forever grateful. I guess you've learned that as child number two, you have to make your wants and needs known so you don't get left behind.

Your favorite way to move around is still that army crawl. You are pretty fast at it with two months' practice. I have seen you crawl on your hands and knees a few times (like when you are totally naked), but once your clothes are on, your belly hits the floor and you take off. I don't think you'll be walking anytime soon. When we try to help you walk, you have no idea what to do with those legs. But you still know how to get around to whatever it is you want.

I love how you and Jason are best friends already. Jason absolutely adores you. He takes care of you by letting me know when you are spitting up on the carpet, eating something you shouldn't be, or heading for the stairs (he lies on top of you so you can't go any farther, which makes you hollar, and I have to come rescue you from both Jason and the stairs). Jason also lets me know when you wreck his train tracks or try to take Jason's special race cars. But for the most part you two get along well because you love each other's company.

Having an older brother certainly has its advantages. You already know how to push cars and trains around and make car and train sounds. You also know how to dog pile on top of your brother. Jason loves to say your name, "Noah," over and over until you repeat it back to him by saying "Oah." You also try to say hi, ball, and of course, mama.

love always,

mama

Noah's First Birthday

A year ago Noah looked like this:

And now he looks like this:

Happy First Birthday Noah! Noah's favorite thing about being one is sitting in a big boy car seat. It's one of my favorite things, too. 

It's a good thing Noah didn't have a clue what birthdays are supposed to be like, otherwise he probably would have been disappointed. Remember how the day he came into the world fit horribly with Kyle's work schedule? It appears as though this will be a problem with Noah's birthdays, too. Kyle sadly could not take off any work to come home, meaning, he left at 7:30 am on Wednesday and came back at noon on Thursday. Killer deadline. I am sooooo done with busy season and we are not even half way through. 

To help Kyle celebrate with Noah on the actual birthday, we drove to Salt Lake to meet Kyle for lunch at Roula's Cafe. I brought along cupcakes, candles, and a lighter so we could sing to Noah. Jason also got a candle to blow out as well. 

After Jason helped Noah blow out the candle, Noah just stuck his fingers in and played around for a bit.

 I finally lifted the cupcake up to his face so he could have a bite. And then a few more.

 It was delicious!

Jason, Noah, and I spent the rest of the day at home together. Jason was starting to feel crummy from a cold. We did have pizza for dinner, and Jason happily opened all of Noah's presents (Jason had helped wrap all of them so he had been dying for the chance to open them). Noah didn't care about the presents at all, and I can't blame him since they were mostly clothes. He just wanted the video camera.

Anticipating that Kyle's schedule would be hectic, we planned a family birthday party for Saturday. Unfortunately, Noah started getting the cold Saturday and so he wasn't the happiest birthday boy. In attendance were both sets of grandparents, Heather and Mitch, Kelli and Tom, and Karren. 

Noah loves his new zoo train, cars, and stuffed frog. I am excited to start listening to the primary songs on CD in the car.

Noah was cheered by the sight of another cake. Just like with the cupcake, he spent the first little while just feeling the cake with his fingers before taking a bite.

And we finally got a smile out of him. We love you, Noah!

Construction Workers

I had an fun conversation with Jason on the car ride home from my sister's house. He was asking me who built things. He started by asking who built the road and I told him the construction workers built the road. He then asked what else construction workers build. I said that they also build buildings and houses.

He then asked, "Daddy, who built the sky?" I told him that Jesus and Heavenly Father built the sky. Jason asked, "Did they use ladders to build the sky?" I said that they didn't use ladders to build the sky. He said, "Then how did they get up there?" I'm not sure how I responded to that question, but I went on to tell him that they also built the mountains. He then made an interesting connection "Yeah Dad, they built the mountains so they could get up high to build the sky."

Christmas Trimmings

We spent the rest of Christmas day at Kyle's parents' house. Linda is also an amazing seamstress and she made this quilt for Noah. We are also grateful to the Robbins for giving us our first flat-screen TV. Now we can ditch our tube TV.

After an early Christmas dinner, Linda gave Noah his first hair cut. Yes, it broke my heart to do it, but I felt bad that his hair was constantly falling into his eyes. I was quite surprised at how content and happy Noah was throughout the haircut. He stayed entertained by the squirt bottle, whether it was holding it or letting it be sprayed into his mouth. He looks older now, but he still is dang cute.

before

after

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning

We were so blessed to have a happy, wonderful Christmas. Christmas Eve and Christmas morning were spent with my family. The events started with a lunch of yummy appetizers, followed by some great sledding. Even Noah got to try the sledding, and he loved it.

After sledding a few of us went to the cemetery where we placed a luminary on Anne's and a neighbor's graves.

After the cemetery we finished getting dinner ready-- ham and twice baked potatoes. My mom always decorates the dinner table beautifully with her china, silver, and candles. It's something I want to do in the future when I'm not afraid of the boys destroying it all.

Following dinner we played another traditional Christmas favorite: Christmas BINGO. My dad calls out the squares, and we use M & Ms as markers on the cards. Kyle and I actually won big this year, taking home $150. Thanks, Dad!

Diane and Paul

My mom appropriately called this our African Christmas. My dad has been to Africa 10 times in the past 6 years helping with vision projects for the LDS Humanitarian Services. My mom has accompanied him on several of the the trips. Four years ago she brought home stacks of African fabric. She has spent the last four years making seven quilts-- one for each of her children. The quilts are beautiful, and all are unique in patterns and colors. She also made African dolls for all of her daughters and granddaughters, and snakes for the grandsons. I am amazed with her sewing skills, and I hope some day to be better at sewing.

We spent the night at my mom's and woke up to find that Santa had visited us there. Jason was thrilled with his new trains-- Noah was too. Fortunately, Jason is awesome about sharing them with him.

I love this picture because it shows how long Noah's hair got. We gave him his first cut later on Christmas day at Grandma Linda's.

12.15.2012

We made it to temple square again to see the lights. We went with Curtis, Linda, Valerie, and Sienna. Before we saw the lights we had dinner at the City Creek food court. We made sure to fit in a train ride on Trax for Jason. We had a great time, and we stayed warm enough all bundled up.

This is our first snow man of the season.

Noah and  cousin Sienna had fun getting acquainted. She was visiting from California.

Jason said to me the other day, "Mom, why do you forget everything?" Sorry Jason. It happened sooner than I thought it would.

12.6.2012

Pictures from the first snow day of the year:

Jason sledding with Ashton

Kyle and Noah

We spent Thanksgiving at the Hunsaker's. The meal was amazing, of course. I decided that Thanksgiving dinner is made especially for those with few teeth. Noah and I were in heaven with how many table foods he could eat: mashed potatoes, yams, rolls, green bean casserole, and stuffing. And he loved all of it! I am so glad Noah likes mashed potatoes, because it is my favorite, but Jason does not like it.

Thanks, mom and dad, for having us over. I know it is a lot of work to host, but you do a fabulous job!

Thanks, Kyle, for watching the kids so I could do a sewing project upstairs with my mom.

Jason often says, "Mom, take a picture of me and Noah doing _____". Here are some of the pictures we've taken, per Jason's request. You can see how Noah's hair is coming down into his eyes, and how Jason likes to put his hand on Noah's head.

I sometimes call Kyle "Hottie" as a nick-name. But lately when Jason hears me say that to Kyle, he says, "Dad is NOT a Hottie!". That always makes me laugh.

Noah is ten months old today. So big! We are so grateful for our easy-going baby.