2 year pics!

Just before his birthday, I took Noah in for his 2 year pictures at JCPenney's. I did not have high expectations, because you just never know how cooperative a toddler will be. It turned out to be a great experience. There were a bunch of cancellations that day at the studio, so we were the only ones there. Noah hammed it up so much, the photographer was laughing the entire time. We got some great shots of my big boy. It is strange to think that the next time we do professional pics, Noah will be posing with his little brother! The second picture is him doing his spiderman pose (a popular move of late). Hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Easter Egg Fun

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter Weekend, we certainly did! We celebrated Easter on Saturday for a variety of scheduling reasons. We went to my parents house and Noah received 2 Easter baskets from Bamma and Bampa with Spiderman Eggs and a Thomas the Train DVD, sweet! Noah hunted for his superhero colored eggs in the backyard (his first actual easter egg hunt). And we had yet another birthday celebration! He was lumped in with Daddy (apr 9), Bampa (apr 10), Uncle Josh (apr 14) and Uncle Dave (apr 17). He was excited about the Diego big wheel he got from the Grandparents. Uncle Josh yet again managed to find great/annoying gifts. I don't know which is worse, the Thomas the Train book that plays this LONG song, or the Spiderman bouncy ball with handle that's just a head injury waiting to happen. All in all, a great Easter!

Choo-Choo to Chicago

This past Friday (Good Friday) my mom and I were both off school, so we decided to take Noah on the train into the city to meet my dad for lunch. The train was late and packed, but the weather was beautiful and Noah thoroughly enjoyed himself. He kepted yelling "faster, Faster, FASTER!" on the train, much to the delight of the gaggle of teenaged girls that were sitting near us. My dad's office is a half block away from union station, so we got to see his professional digs and headed to the nearby Potbelly's for lunch. All in all, it was a great day!

Spiderman turns 2!

Well, it's a good thing that I'm on spring break this week because we are recovering from many fun birthday experiences from the past weekend. On Friday (his actual birthday) we had special blueberry pancakes with daddy before he left for work. Then it was off to the zoo with Fred and Philie. No pictures from the zoo because it was cold and the boys preferred just cozying up in the double stroller. Fred gave Noah some spiderman pjs which he LOVES. For whatever reason Noah is big into spiderman lately. The pjs (see the first picture) have web wings on the shirt that flap in the breeze. You can also see the lime green color of his big boy room in that picture. We actually let him watch part of the spiderman movie for his birthday, during dinner, what a night! Then on Saturday the Rodriguez crew came over. Noah got some spiderman shirts, no surprise there, and lots of other cute clothes. He also got an inflatable sponge bob sleeping bag that he adores. He snuggled with his cousins in there for awhile. We wrapped up the weekend yesterday by decorating eggs with a kit that was another gift from Fred. It had all marvel superhero decorations, which he loved. Whew. So today we're going to take it easy and head to the doctor for his 2 year check up!

Happy Cake #2!

This weekend Noah and I drove out to Cedar Rapids, IA to meet up with Andrea, Nic, and their girls as well as Bob and Michelle at Andrea's brother Tyler and his wife Suzanne's house. Mike stayed home to paint Noah's big boy room. Noah had an awesome time playing with Ayla, who is 2 months older than him. He didn't know quite what to make of Kyndal (the 10 mos old), but he tried to sing to her a few times when she cried. He was beat after going to a play place and playing with Ayla in her "fort." He was very interested in Ayla's hair bows and helped Bob with his video games. We also got to celebrate Noah's birthday again. Of course my kid is the one that refers to birthdays as "Happy Cake." As opposed to his buddy Fred who refers to them more endearingly as "Happy Days." Of course for Noah it's all about the sugary treat, and Andrea did not disappoint with a great Spiderman cake. We had a wonderful time and look forward to seeing them all again soon!

Oh boy, Oh boy!

The much anticipated ultrasound was this past week. And, taadaa, we're having another boy! I suspected as much, so I wasn't shocked. We're all thrilled of course and most importantly the baby is healthy and normal (10 oz right now). It will be fun for Noah to have a little brother and it will be interesting for us, to say the least. For those who don't have degrees in radiology, the first 2 pictures are the 3D images that show the baby while looking down on him. The 3rd picture is the creepy face forward look. The 4th picture (my favorite) is the profile with him sucking on his fingers. The 5th picture is the hand, giving us the thumbs up. The 6th is the little feet and the last one is the zoomed in profile shot. I can assure you all, he is most certainly a boy, but we don't have any pictures to document that fact. The due date is somewhere around August 3rd, though it's still up for debate. So there you have it!

The Noah & CJ show

Last weekend, Noah and I headed up to the lake (mike had to stay home because of a family event) for another extended family weekend. This time there was an appetizer cookoff, I did not place booo! But Noah had a wonderful time hanging out with his cousin CJ. They were pretty much inseparable the whole weekend. They got to go sledding with the grandparents and had lots of play time at the house. It was fun to see how much more interactive they are now in comparison with just this past summer. We also celebrated Noah's birthday early. He had his favorite treats, donuts, incorporated into cake form, which he was happy about. The most special present was a handmade train from Uncle Lou (aka Pops). It was made from wood gathered on the island at the Lake. Noah loves it and CJ, of course, got a matching one. All in all, a great weekend!