How Awesome is this Photo?

At Fred's birthday party, we made the boys wear hats for about 2.8 seconds while we tried to snap photos. I wasn't fast enough, but fortunately our friend Emmett caught Noah in his moment of tears. I think this pic is like greeting card worthy, it's so awesome. We may have to use it on Noah's birthday cake or something. Thanks Emmett!

Ellie cheats on Webster!

We had another weekend with visitors! This time it was our friend Brian, Mike's roomate for many years out in Ames. Brian came with his golden doodle, Chase. So Ellie strayed from her usual bf Webster and had a romping good time with Chase. Chase is still a pup (around 11 months old) and so he had plenty of energy for our crazed dog. They had a great time tearing around the house and yard. And took some breaks here and there to cutely cuddle together. Meanwhile, Cliff came down, AJ came over and the boys proceeded to relieve our fridge of all its alcoholic beverages. Needless to say, there were some mighty pale faced, slow movers around this morning. Ellie has been exhausted since Chase left and has allowed Noah to basically climb all over her. In Noah News, his top teeth are really coming in. Mike and I are secretly afraid that they are going to make him look like a hill billy, but hopefully as they come in, they'll come together more!

Fred's First

We were honored with an invitation to Fred's birthday party this past weekend. I cannot believe that it was a year ago today (president's day '08) that I met Mr. Fred for the first time! It's amazing how time flies. Anyway, the party was fantastic. Perfectly timed for over lunch so no one had to miss naps and we were at peak cuteness (well Fred and Noah were at least). It was fun to see the boys in regular clothes, since they usually lounge about in footie PJs. Fred seemed quite concerned about fire safety, as you can see by the look on his face as he was presented his birthday cupcake. But once the flames were doused and everyone was OK, he enjoyed his first cupcake heartily. It was a lovely time and we got home just in time for naps! So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY FREDLY!

In other news, anyone who "facebooks" -- Mike has now created a facebook page for himself. I don't have much to do with it other than check on how many friends he has and laugh at him. So if you'd like to connect with him on facebook, he's there now and he has more pictures of Noah (surprise) on there as well!

Rockin' Out: Baby Style

Well, we all survived the big weekend. Britt and Quint flew in from Colorado (Britt is our friend from Mike's Iowa State days and Quint is her boyfriend). Andrea, Nic, and Ayla (Andrea is my friend from Grad school) drove in from Des Moines. Everyone arrived on Friday night and we awoke to babies ready to play on Saturday morning. We had such a blast! Noah loves his Aunt Andrea because she gives him graham crackers and such. Saturday was also my friend Kelly's 30th birthday. Kelly now lives way out in Seattle, but we honored her by having Noah wear his Ghandi shirt from Kelly on her special day. The weekend was a roaring success filled with food, baby play and Rock Band. We had lots of visitors, including Grandma Chris and Grandpa Phil who brought popsicles for the kids. It was sad when everyone had to leave, but we were pooped too! Noah's been rocking the 2 hour naps since then. Thanks to everyone that came, we had a fantastic time!

Noah Loves: Muffins and Naps

Noah has been enjoying more "solid" food as of late. No steaks yet, but he does seem to enjoy eating people food. This week, Aunt Philie brought over some lovely blueberry muffins and Noah has been devoring them since. This morning he chowed down on a whole adult sized muffin and half of a rather large banana! Noah also thoroughly enjoys his naps (must be genetically passed down from Grandpa Phil). This morning he crashed for nearly 2 hours and woke up with some impressive bedhead. We're gearing up for a big weekend with visits from Andrea, Nic, and Ayla as well as Britt and Quint. So check back early next week for some cute kid pics!

How Quickly Things Change...

Over the last week I've been working on compiling all our video from 2008. I was struck by how much Noah has changed in the 10 months he's been around. It was particularly amazing when I looked over my shoulder and saw him towering over his little playmat that he used to be such a peanut under. Look at the difference!