Remembering

As most of you know, Mike's mom passed away late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning. We have been through the wringer of emotions this week, but we have had the fortune of being surrounded by wonderful family and friends to support us during this difficult time. Mike and I both feel the responsibility of helping the boys know her, even though she isn't here. So as part of that, I want to write down Noah's responses to everything to help him remember all the wonderful things he has said and done this week in regard to his Abba Abba (grandma).

5/18/11: As we were explaining to Noah what had happened to Mike's mom, he asked if she would come home to her house again. We said no that now she’s in heaven with God. He said, “Oh, that’s where she belongs now.” Then he told us that he would take care of us because we were sad and hugged us both.

5/19/11: We were talking over breakfast about what we remembered about Abba Abba and Noah said, “she was a little bit crazy.”

5/20/11: At the wake we were having a family moment at the casket, Mike and I were teary eyed and explaining to Noah what the casket was and how we should pray for Abba Abba. It was a very sad moment and then Noah turned to Mike and asked, “Is Abba Abba going to heaven in this box!” incredulously as if we were sending her via UPS.

5/21/11: At the end of the funeral for Abba Abba, Noah was very concerned about who was going in which car. He noted that Daddy was going in the big black car (the limo) and he was going in the car with Mommy, and that Bamma and Bampa were going in their car, etc. Then he asked, “Is Abba Abba walking to heaven?” Indeed she is Noah, or knowing her she's doing the electric slide all the way there with margarita in hand.

Again, a big THANKS to everyone for all their support. To those who emailed, facebooked, texted, called, came to some or all of the services, and helped out with the boys. We thank you each and everyone, it means the world to all of us.

Stats Update for Sammy

Whew, we just got home from the morning of appointments. Sam went to see the pediatrician where he weighed in at 18 lbs 13 oz and 27.5 inches. Both around 30th percentile, which is surprising considering his apparent chubbiness. She offered some helpful suggestions to get him crawling, but was not concerned that he isn't moving around yet. So that went well. Then we were down the hall to the dentist for Noah. It was his first trip to see Dr. Diane and he was amazing. He sat in the chair, opened his mouth, allowed for some scraping to remove plaque, used the suction on his own, and got polished up. I was amazed how well he did! So woohoo for well behaved, healthy boys!

In other news, Ms. Evie now has her own blog, so feel free to slide on over there to check her out. Just click on "The Princess" link on my list of friends' blogs. And yes, we call her the princess because she is our princess. Even if you ask Noah, "who is the princess?" he'll respond with "baby evie" every time :) Enjoy and have a great weekend! Sorry for the lack of pictures (mom!).

Teeth....finally!

Our resident "chunker" as we like to call him finally has some chompers! We've been waiting for what seems like MONTHS for this sleepy fellow to finally pop some teeth.

He actually sprouted BOTH his top two front teeth over the last week. At the rate this kid downs solid foods, these things are going to come in handy!
I know, you can't really see the teeth here, but isn't he just so stinkin' cute!
It's hard to capture little tooth buds on camera, but I wanted to make sure I marked the occasion for myself so that when I go to do his baby book (you know, after he turns one because I'm a slacker) I can actually know when he got his first tooth.
And what has #1 been up to lately? Well he's been really "sad" going to bed at night, so recently daddy promised him a surprise if he went to bed like a good boy. Can you see what it was?
The boy's first twinkie!
It was finger lickin' good!
Reminiscent of some donut devouring of days past, isn't it?

9 Months, Haircut, Easter, and more haircut...

Sammy is officially 9 months old now! Hard to believe this little guy has been out longer than he was in (depending on how you do your math)! He's stinkin' adorable, eating solids like a maniac, rolling and scootching around (still working on crawling), sleeping like a prince, laughing like a goofball and nodding/shaking his head for yes and no sometimes. Love it!

Noah was super excited for the hunting of eggs this year. So we did several egg hunts on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. He loved having different people hide them. The Elmo basket was a gift from my mom last Easter, he still adores it.

Hum... where could they be...?

Noah's hair was looking a bit shaggy for the Easter weekend. So Mike decided to tackle the 3 year old on his own this time. Here's the before...
He sat fairly well but needed some entertainment towards the end of the session.
Easter Sunday! The boys actually spent Saturday night at my parents house so Mike and I could get a much needed date night. Then I took Noah to church with my family while Mike stayed at my folks house with Sammy (it was his nap/bottle time). Noah did well at church and then we had a nice lunch with my family during which he snuck LOTS of candy.
Upon our arrival back home, Mike decided he was dissatisfied with Noah's haircut. So he took out the clippers and buzzed him down. I think he looks like a bully, but a cute bully. I love the snarky smile too!

Spring, PLEASE!

So how rude is it when you are teased with one lonely 80 degree day in April and then slammed with 2 weeks of rain and 40s? We managed to enjoy our one day in the wagon...

Noah has been busy gathering rocks on our recent walks and washed them diligently in the sink.

Meanwhile Sam is channeling his inner super hero by flipping his bib (the kid drools like no other and still no teeth) around so it looks like a cape.
His super power? Masterful eyebrow control and tongue dexterity!
So spring, whenever you are ready we have 2 boys that are looking forward to getting out more... Anytime now!

3 Kids, 33 year old, 3 year old!

We had a busy week! On Thursday we had Evie as usual, but for a longer day. Noah has an ear infection, so Mike took him to the doctor in the afternoon. I took advantage of the alone time with the babies to give them a co-ed bath. Evie wasn't so sure about this plan...

Nothing cuter than clean babies in nuthin but diapers! Evie is still unsure about this whole plan as you can see!
Yesterday (Saturday) was Mike's 33rd birthday. We waited outside for him to get home from work. Noah cruised around in his car.
Sam relaxed in the sunshine in his stroller.
And Ellie patiently waited in the bushes.
I'm pretty sure Noah was more excited that Mike. We made him a much less complicated Wolverine cake that was yellow and blue. And we did some decorating around the house. My gift to Mike? 2 bags of dog poop. Well, I cleaned up the backyard from all the winter's stock of Ellie poop. Nothing says I love you like dog poop, right?
And here are the big 3 year old pictures from Penney's. The Captain America mask was a gift from Aunt Philie. I can't believe how big he is!

Operation: Get Moving!

So our mission this week has been to get moving more! Since I am not breastfeeding Sam anymore, I have no more "I NEED to eat" excuses... I need to take off some pounds. That, and we've noticed that over the winter some certain 3 year old has become a bit of a couch potato. Playing action figures is fun, but it doesn't really get the body moving much. So mommy has decided to try to get us all a bit more active. It will be great when the weather actually cooperates and allows us to be outside more. Since Noah got his bike for his birthday we decided to try it out... Daddy is in dire need of a "backiotomy" after spending at least 20 minutes hunched over.

Noah feebly attempted to pedal, but much preferred to be pushed around and kept pointing to me and Sam (in the stroller) saying, "Follow those guys!"

So hopefully we will keep up the trend and be a more healthy, active family! I should note that Noah and I took his bike to the gas station to fill up the tires after his failed attempts at pedaling. I feel a bit guilty, since the tires were pretty flat. Maybe he'll have more success now the wheels are actually inflated appropriately!