Christmas '09

Well, Christmas was super fun to say the least, Noah was pretty into his presents (the ones he could immediately play with). He was definitely into the car that "Santa" brought him, loves his wagon (pics to come) and his Mickey toys. He has really hopped all around to a different toy each day, but is definitely keeping busy with all of them. Here are some of the highlights of this week...

Christmas Eve

the best one after like 20

so, I didn't have time to bake Santa cookies so he got Chips Ahoy!

in his new car! (with one of Santa's cookies in his mouth! Mommy forgot to hide them.)

all cozy...

silly boy...

new shades...

playing the day after Christmas...that smile!!

my handsome boy!

score!

Such a fun time! Having a child to celebrate with is such a joy. I look forward to many more with him!

Mommy Buzz

Check out the blog Mommy Buzz run by one my highschool friends, Krysten, who is a mom of 2 herself. It is a blog about all sorts of mommy related things! She is doing a giveaway this week of some awesome jewelry from Bella Bling. Check it out!

my true love gave to me...

Two great surprises! First...

this handsome guy...

I seriously love Nutcrackers.  Not only do I think they are so hilarious, but they remind me of my childhood. My mother liked them, and I still have a pack of nutcracker ornaments she gave me when I was little. So, my sweet husband surprised me our first Christmas together with a nutcracker, and he has kept the tradition going on every year. This weekend he told me to get dressed and took me to go pick one out. So now this stately fellow graces my mantel. I haven't even pulled out the others from previous years, we haven't decorated much at all in anticipation of the big move.

He needs a name right?!

ALSO, Adam also ordered me a new camera last night!! I guess this is more of a joint gift but I am so excited! I really wanted an SLR camera to take good quick pics of Noah. So thanks to my pookie, he is so good to me. (he hates it when I call him that!)

blood sweat and tears

Here are a few current renovations pictures. Still several things to be done, but it won't be much longer! We are finally ALMOST done painting! That has been one of the longest projects. We still have to complete an entirely gutted bathroom, re-do the stairs (thanks to a sweet friend who is helping us out bigtime!), and then the new up and downstairs floors can be installed and we are on our way to moving things in!

painted and new windows!

new kitchen and downstairs bath flooring

a glimpse of my tropicana cabana cabinets!

the living room, freshly painted.

we are smiling under those masks!

My crazy sweet husband and I, for some reason, decided to move the new tub upstairs on our own. It was seriously a sight to see! At one point, he actually lowered me over the tub so I could slide down it to get to the bottom. That is one NARROW staircase!

Victorious!

 

So it has been fun, crazy and way too many decisions to make to renovate a house, but I just love this house so much! I can't wait to move in!

I have officially put blood, sweat, and tears into this place!

greedy hands...

Noah loves to get into anything and everything he is not supposed to have. Often, it is something food related that is definitely not his and is almost always MINE! I ususally know when he has found something, because he has started to run and hide, lately into his "igloo" tent. I guess he thinks Mom can't get him in there!

Dove Chocolate from the candy bowl, in which he somehow, unbeknownst to me, got to. I'm guessing he climbed a chair though.

my Chicken biscuit...

pumpkin bread...

hiding with my cell under his belly...

He is a naughty, naughty boy but I love him so...

Vote for my Wreath!

I CANNOT believe it, but my crazy colorful wreath made it to the top 8 of Eddie Ross' Wreath Challange! Please go to his website and vote for mine! Number SIX!! Yay! I was so impressed that he actually commented on Taylor's blog about our wreath-making, and as soon as I sent my entry in, his partner wrote me right back! Very nice guys and such a FUN craft!

wreath making...

I had a blast last week with some of my favorite girls, making our Eddie Ross inspired wreaths, directions here. It was a much needed night after spending the previous night at the hospital with my grandfather and that entire day, I needed to laugh with friends. We had SO much fun, ate way too much pumpkin bread and got too many burns.

Eva getting mauled by Darby!

So thanks girls,

Eva, Tay, and my sis Erika (who needs to ge a blog! haha), for a great night!

this face...

...it seriously melts my heart into absolute mush. I know he is mine so I think the world of him, but he's so darn cute to me. I am actually amazed every sunday at all the beautiful children at our church. Of course, I am pretty partial to a few, but they are all little angels and I love that one of them is mine!

Advent Conspiracy

My good, no great, friend Eva posted some info on her blog this week on an idea that our church and us personally have begun to embrace,Advent Conspiracy ...check it out! You can also check out Eva's Blog, for alot more details. It's an awesome opportunity for us all to do things a little differently at Christmas time, give more meaningful gifts, and even give outside of our families and friends, to some who really need it more.

So check out the website with an open heart and think about how your family could change up Christmas this year. Even if it is just a few less gifts then you would have normally done, and with that saved money, give to someone in need, whether it be someone in your church or work, or even someone on the other side of the world. Eva suggested some great organizations you can support overseas such as Blood Water Mission, Compassion International, or World Vision. Adam and I support a beautiful little girl in Ethiopia, and I have loved getting sweet letters and updates from her. Amazing opportunities that I never even new were out there! Through World Vision you can actually purchase cows, chickens, goats and other animals for families to get their source of food from, or provide them with a fishing pond. I think that is so cool! From all the way over here, we can give food to families in need! Money is tight for our household being that we just purchased a house, but we can literally afford to do so, just by buying a few less gifts. Sometimes it doesn't take much to help others.

This is definitely something that I have not been well aquainted with growing up. It is very new, and "outside of the box" for me, and something that somedays I struggle with really grasping, but I look forward to moving forward in it, and seeing how our household can do christmas differently this year by giving to others and seeing their lives changed as a result.

la casa...

New roof, new doors, new AC, new balcony! So exciting to see all the renovations. Now if I can only decide on paint colors, the outside could be painted and we could get to work re-doing our cabinets. I can't quite get the color on the outside to be exactly what I want. And the cabinets are another story! I'm a little scared to be painting them such a bold shade, probably going to be a cross between teal and turqoise. We did pick out some awesome black and grey slate flooring for the kitchen which I LOVE because it is so different. Looking forward to how it all comes together in the kitchen. It could be one crazy room full of color!

We love the zoo!

We have an amazing zoo! So nice, tons of animals...really fun! Now that it has cooled down, we plan on several more trips to the zoo this year. It was sweet to see Noah point and stare at all the animals. He was so good the entire time we were there and crashed one minute before we made it home.

Feeding the giraffe.

He really wanted to see those things!

Love this guy!

getting sleepy...

We also got Noah his second haircut this week, which he was not too excited about but he looks so cute!

Loved the lollie-pop at the end!

Ribbit

Halloween was lots of fun! Noah was pretty crabby all day (and the days before!), too many teeth at the same time. But, he still looked adorable in his frog costume, and we had a great time hanging out with friends and their adorable children. Some of my favorite pics of the night....I had a very hard time getting Noah to actually smile in a picture...

pitter-patter

I love alot of things about my son. There actually is not much I don't love about him. But, one particular I have enjoyed lately is the surprisingly loud pitter-patter of his chunky feet throughout the house. He walks as though his feet are made of solid lead, a trait I say (and my mother-in-law agrees) is from his father.

Noah is not a big fan of shoes, so almost all of the time his feet are bare. For some odd reason, this week he has decided that he wants to wear his cowboy boots that his beloved DeDe bought him, all over the house. So the pitter-patter has changed into more of a horse's galloping. Seriously-he walks so heavy! (also, imagine a grumpy/wild little boy! he has been quite crazy lately!)

A sweet memory from my childhood was brought back to my mind. I used to love cowgirl boots. Still do really. I very vividly remember my mother taking me to Walmart to buy me cowgirl boots when I was probably around 5ish. They were black and very pointy and, I'm sure, a huge sacrifice for her to even afford to buy for me, since we did not have much money. I wore them everywhere with everything. I can specifically remember wearing them with my PJ's on and walking all over our wood floors in our little white house, that eventually burned down. I also loved that house.

So it was very sweet to see my little man galloping around the house in the boots I think he now oddly loves, totally reminding me of myself years ago, probably completely annoying my mother. It made me forget about my frustrations of raising a wild little boy, and really savor this hilarious moment with him.