A Louisiana Weekend

Two weekends ago we took a trip home to visit both of our families. Some family members had not met our newest addition and we hadn't travelled home since early June for dad's surprise 50th b-day. In 2 1/2 days we managed to visit Clint, Amanda, and Jack in Alexandria, eat dinner at KK, Jake and Carson's new house, attend my cousin's baby shower, enjoy a yummy bbq courteousy of Pops, go to church in Dry Creek, and actually get a Sunday afternoon nap!! WOW! The boys did great through it all. Everyone loved hearing Noah say all his new words and holding baby Jude and watching him smile.

jack and noah riding in the wagon

They also enjoyed playing in Jack's new room!

carson and noah watching barney, also known as "bop" to noah and "bapoo" to carson, while riding in pop's truck
grammie and aunt tiger's grandkids- Haylie, Carson, Noah, Amber, Jude, and Dean

It's rare that these kiddos are all together. My mom has 3 grandkids and so does my Aunt Tiger. My cousin, Michelle, is expecting a girl in November and that will add a fourth grandchild to my aunt's family! All the cousins and my mom enjoyed getting together for a baby shower for Michelle on Saturday.

pops scratching noah's back

This was our first trip home since Noah has been in a big boy bed. He slept in Uncle Landon's bed at my parents house. One night Pops went in and scratched Noah's back while he fell asleep. Dad used to do the same for us when we were little and now he's doing it for our kids. What a good Pops!

Papa and the boys

The boys enjoyed spending time in Dry Creek. We went to church and then spent a relaxing afternoon and evening around the house. GranDee cooked yummy meals and PaPa took both boys outside. We enjoyed visits from MeMe, The Glasers, and the Campbells. GranDee and PaPa both helped in the middle of the night when Noah was very sick :(

What a wonderful Louisiana visit!

Jude is 2 months!

Our baby Jude is 2 months old today! WOW! At 2 months he is:

* rolling over from stomach to back

* holding is head up very well

*eating once during the night

*smiling back at us

*a very happy baby

jude loves to lay on the floor and play
look at this chunk!
he's enjoying wearing cousin carson's cute outfits!
sweet smile :)
both of my sweet boys

a little update

We have been having lots of fun with the boys this week. Here are a few pictures of our time together...

Look at this beautiful smile from Jude. He has been smiling and cooing a lot lately. We see a lot of personality coming out in him!
The boys and I were at Walmart this week and saw all the cute school supplies. Since we weren't buying anything to start school with, I decided to get Noah some fingerpaints and drawing paper. Here he is enjoying his first experience with paint.
oh so proud of his artwork!
It's so hard to capture Jude's cuteness when he's so little, but he looked absolutely adorable in this outfit on Friday. He looks like a little man to me in his khaki shorts and button up shirt!
This is where Noah was while I was cooking dinner Friday night. He said, "Hey Mama" and I turned around to see this beautiful smile! What a funny kid!

Ode to the lamb

Frequent visitors to this blog may have noticed that a good friend of Noah's known as, "the lamb", has been looking quite shabby these days. We had banished this good friend to only be present at bedtime because of his sad shape. He couldn't even be washed these days. His head would have surely completely come off since it was only holding on by a thread.

There is good news to all germaphobes out there. Among the many presents Noah received for his birthday, he received a new friend in the mail known as, "lamb #2"! My cousin, Jenny, has been searching for months and came across one for sale online and sent it to Noah for his birthday. Anyone living at this house would have thought that the other lamb never existed the way a certain little boy carries the new lamb around. We're not sure if it's because of the new lamb's bright color or if it's because he's a lot fluffier, but that certain little boy is having a tough time giving him up when he wakes up in the morning!

a very surprised noah after opening up the new lamb
the old versus the new
both lambs being carted around

*Since these pictures were taken, the old lamb has been completely forgotten. He survived Noah's friendship from Christmas of 2006 until August of 2008. He had a good life.

Family time

Pops, Grammie, Uncle Landon, Kaykie, and Carson came to town for the weekend to celebrate Noah's birthday. Friday night we had fried shrimp, french fries, and peach cobbler for dinner. The boys enjoyed a pre-party swim and we all enjoyed being together and visiting. On Saturday everyone pitched in to get the party together. The men worked outside while us ladies did the decorating and food preparing.

We are so thankful for my family. They loaded all the pools and outside stuff we needed and brought it all the way from LA. KK had all her leftover table wear and party favors from Carson's party and shared it with me. So the party was at a minimal cost!! Thanks everybody!

pops and jude
grammie and noah
aunt kaykie and carson
carson, landon, jude, and noah
me, grammie, and kk

Party time

Saturday was Noah's birthday party! He and his friends had so much fun splashing in the pools and the slip-n-slide. It was the hottest day of the summer, so I was pretty worried because I picked the crazy time of 5:00 to begin the shindig! However, everyone sat around the pools that were in the shade and it turned out quite nice. The kids of course were cooled off from the pool water and the adults got a little mist from all the activity surrounding them :)

pool fun
cake and presents
cookie cake
"cheese!"jude happily slept throughout the party

Say Uncle

Last weekend Uncle T, or as Noah refers to him, Uncle Teeth, came for a visit. Terry spent the summer in India as a summer missionary, so he had lots of cool stories and great pictures to share of his journey. He also cooked us some Indian food! We enjoyed him being around. It was 3 on 2 for a few days, which made taking care of the kiddos much easier! Noah loved playing outside with Uncle Teeth and Jude just loved being held. We're already looking forward to the next time he comes for a visit, but next time we want him to bring Sarah with him!

Noah and Uncle Teeth
Terry sporting his authentic Indian apparel