Friday, January 27, 2012

It Snowed!

After a lot of anticipation, we finally got some snow! I wasn't that excited about it, but the kids were beyond thrilled when they woke up to a winter wonderland. Noah begged to get his snow gear on after breakfast so that he could go out and play...and who am I to say no?!? After all, he has been pretty patient waiting for the snow! So, after taking about 30 minutes to get them all geared up, he and Leah were off to play! Boy, did they have fun! They were out there for a good hour! Thankfully it wasn't too cold, or I would have had them come in sooner. I wonder how many more snow storms we'll actually have this year! It'll be interesting to see, but I totally don't mind the lack of snow this year...it has been just fine with me :).

Little Isaac wasn't able to go out because he was just getting over a cold. He was not at all happy with me for not letting him go out and play...as you can tell by the one little tear coming down his face. AND that expression says it all too..."Not fair mom!". Maybe next time, little guy.Crawling around in the snow.Noah taught Leah how to make snow angels...and that's pretty much what she did the entire time she was out there! She kept running inside to have me come and look at all the angels that she had made!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Happy Birthday, Doug!

We made it a week of celebrating Doug's birthday...it was definitely fun for everyone, especially the kids :).

We started out our week by going to my parent's house for a little celebration. After some yummy dinner of Pei Wei, we sang, ate cake, and opened Doug's BIG gift...a new laptop! Now, all I can say is that he was one happy "boy" and has spent a little too much time on his new toy this week...but that's to be expected :).On Friday, we went to The Pie to celebrate with Doug's family. Noah was a bit sad that he had to miss out because he had school, but that's life, right? We had a great time sitting and chatting for two hours! Isaac was a bit grumpy, mostly due to his dang teeth, but we managed. Thanks to everyone who came!

Doug and Isaac...when he was not so grumpy and irritable :).Doug with our nieces, Elizabeth and Madison. Aren't they so cute, and they are getting so big! I remember when they were just little girls running around! Love them!The group.Yesterday was Doug's actual birthday. He wasn't feeling to well, and neither was Isaac, so Doug stayed home with our little guy while I went to church with Noah and Leah. When we got home, Doug was telling us to be quiet because Isaac was sound asleep on the couch! Now, Isaac is not one to sleep anywhere, so I was just dying at how cute he was sound asleep holding his Wii remote! Ha! Good job dad!It turned out that Doug had to still go to church to do a few things, so while he was gone we blew up a TON of balloons and made him some homemade cards...all, of which, was Noah's idea! As soon as Doug came home, Noah and Leah hid and then jumped out with such excitement on their faces! They just love surprising people :). Doug sat and read their cards, which were so cute! I'm glad that Doug appreciated his sweet little gifts from his kids :). They sure do love him a LOT!Noah was especially proud of his card because he wrote it all by himself!

We love you Doug...so much! We hope that you had a wonderful Birthday!!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Balloons!

We pulled out the Valentine's Day decor yesterday, and in the box were some balloons from last year. Leah was insistent that I blow them up...and that I did. And I'm so glad that I did because these balloons have provided HOURS of entertainment around here! Isaac can NOT get enough of throwing his in the air over, and over, and OVER again! He is just as amazed to watch it fly in the air now as he was the first time he did it. So dang cute to watch! I can't help but ask myself why I even bother to buy toys for these little muchkins, when in reality a balloon is all they want!

One happy little boy!

One silly little girl......who is just as amazed by the balloons as her little brother! Love it!Isaac amazed as he watches his balloon fly around. This kid totally cracks me up with his expressions!

Proud

Noah loves learning, and he has had such a wonderful schooling experience, thus far. He totally and completely enjoys going to school each day, which makes me so happy. I'm so thankful that he has come to enjoy school and learning...I know that it could be worse. Today we were completing his homework, and the directions said "write to 20 as neatly as you can, or higher if you want to impress your teacher!". I read this to Noah and he looked and me and said, "Mom, I think that I can write to 100!" I told him that I thought he could too, so I let him be to write his numbers, and about 10 minutes later he came to me with his paper. He did it! All by himself! Doug and I were so dang proud of him, and we let him know it too! Moments like this when you realize that your kids are really understanding something that can be really complicated is so wonderful! Definitely a "Proud Mommy {& Daddy} Moment"! I just had to share :).

Isaac Talking

Isaac has really started to talk the past few weeks. Our favorite is when he says our names...so here he is saying all of our names :). Sorry that it's so dark.

Isaac Talking from Angie Smith on Vimeo.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Lollipop

Here's Leah when she was 18 months old! I was looking for a picture to add to this post and came across this one...I love it because it reminds me of summer AND it reminds me of how incredibly adorable Leah was at this age. Man, oh man, why does the time have to go by so fast! What a cutie!

Anyway, I wanted to document a little tidbit about Leah. We have been discussing names for the baby with the kids {no, we do not have a name as of yet} and Leah has come up with the most perfect name for our new little addition...wait for it...LOLLIPOP! And the great thing is that she totally refers to the baby by this name whenever we are talking about her! She said the prayer at breakfast this morning, and as she blessed everyone in the family, she said "and please bless Lollipop"! Oh my, I think that her little heart is going to ache a little when she realizes that is not the name that we are going with...but I'll let her think what she wants now. I don't have the heart to tell her the truth!

Creating

I have been trying to come up with some fun crafts for the kids to do during the days, but the most favorite for Noah and Leah is just painting. They love getting the paint and brushes out and creating something.

Noah has been very interested in art lately and I so enjoy watching him focus and make his little masterpieces. Every one of them is so special to me! I have almost an entire box full of his little creations and I don't have the heart to get rid of any of them! Hard at work...Leah is a little more free spirited when it comes to making art...after all, she is 3! She loves it when I draw her a flower to paint...or she likes to pull out the markers and practice drawing her name. She has finally figured out the order of the letters in her name and she could write it over, and over, and OVER again...and she does!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Isaac ~18 months

This cute little guys is officially 18 months old! Crazy talk! He is such a pleasant little guy and we just love watching him learn and grow each and every day. He is quite the little character too...he cracks us all up on a regular basis. It's great! At 18 months old, Isaac...

...has the most contagious smile! Now, the thing about Isaac is that he is so happy and smiley majority of the time. It's awesome because we can't help but be the same way when he's around :).

...is a little climber and will climb up onto anything and everything. This has proven to be a problem at times...like when he pulls out all of the drawers in the kitchen to make "stairs" so he can get on the counter. Not good. Although he climbing skills do help him to get up the slide quickly :)....is starting to say lots of words as of late. His favorite word is "looooook", which is accompanied by him pointing at something. He can also say all of our names, when he wants to, which is something that Noah and Leah just LOVE! He also knows all of his animal sounds and is happy to share them with everyone!

...absolutely loves getting in the tub! He likes it so much that I have caught him sitting in the tub during the day {without water} playing. Cracks me up every time! AND, the moment that I say "let's get in the tubby", he runs to the bathroom giggling and tries to take his clothes off all by himself.

...has the best sense of humor and will purposely do things just to make us laugh. He is definitely the little comedian in our house!...is suddenly very interested in the potty, but has yet to do anything on it. I do sit him on it whenever we take a bath...only time will tell when he wants to take the next step.

...will shake his head for no AND yes. It can confuse me sometimes, but oh well. Hopefully he'll just start saying "yes" and "no" soon. Well, I guess I wouldn't mind if he waited to say "no"...ha!

...loves playing with my iPhone, or anything techy! He knows how to get into my phone and play Peek-a-Boo Barn, and a few other games. He also loves to have his own Wii remote with we're playing games. ...yells "Mammmmma" whenever he wakes up in the morning. He is pretty loud and persistent until I come and get him out of his crib. The moment I open the door, he starts laughing and bouncing around...so cute! He really is so happy in the mornings!

...LOVES ice cream, just like the rest of us. He also loves anything sweet...he's definitely my baby.

...has become somewhat of a picky eater as of late. He might like treats, but he's not a fan of "real" food anymore. He used to not be picky at all, so I hope this is just a phase! I had to deal with this with Leah when she was little and I really don't want to again. We'll see what happens.

...enjoys to have a day to day schedule. He wakes up at the same time every morning, wants to eat at the same times, gets tired for his nap at the same time, etc... If we do something during his nap time, it just isn't a good thing for anyone involved. My solution is to just stay home so that he's happy...good thing we're all home bodies!

...LOVES jumping around on my bed. He knows to only do it when I'm with him, thank goodness.

...is really obedient. If he gets into something that he shouldn't, we just have to nicely tell him not to do that, and then he just looks at us and walks away. AND he won't do it again. It's great that he doesn't throw tantrums during these moments...makes for easy parenting moments!

...is completely and totally loved by Noah and Leah, which is just awesome! They are constantly telling Doug and I how cute he is and how much they love him. Isaac is such a lucky little guy to have those two as older siblings. They will definitely always look out for him, which makes me so dang happy!We love you, Isaac...to the moon and back!

Happy New Year!

We had a pretty chill New Year's Eve...just the way I like it :). It just seems to make everyone happy if we just stay home sometimes, and I don't mind one bit. We had Alli and Spencer come over to hang out, which included eating pizza, letting the kids play, eating ice cream, and having some sparkling cider! The kids had a great time, and that's what matters! Happy New Year!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

8 Years

I love that I am able to start off every year celebrating my anniversary to this great guy! It's a great start to my year, that's for sure! Yesterday marked 8 years...we've known eachother for 11! Definitely the best years of my life, and I so look forward to what is yet to come. I love you, Doug!