birthday celebrations...

I had a great Birthday! Celebrated Tuesday night with my wonderful hubby. We had dinner at Matthews in San Marco thanks to a generous friend who hooked us up with a free dinner!! The food was absolutely amazing! Not much can compare in my book.
On my birthday, I had an early doctor's appointment to check on Miss. Naomi, who is doing great. Then enjoyed breakfast at The Fox with Adam and Noah, and rounded up the afternoon with a relaxing mani/pedi, thanks to my husband! Celebrated wednesday night with some family, and still have another family party tonight. It's like birthday week for me!

One of my favorite childhood memories I can vividly recall, is my Barbie princess party. I actually can't even remember how old I was turning, but since Blair is not in this picture, she was not born yet, so I am probably around 6. I remember the heart-shaped cake I asked for that my mom made herself. I remember the decorations, the dress I have on (that I picked out), the Barbie I got...really great childhood memories!
I love the first picture because it brings to my mind the sacrifice of a mother. She had worked hard on that heart-shaped cake, worked hard to provide gifts and a party for me. We did not have much money growing up, so every party or gift was a huge sacrifice. And to have children now, I understand the love of a mother, that you would sacrifice anything and work as hard as you possibly could to give your child the desires of their heart. I want this picture enlarged and framed in my new house, one because I just love pictures of me and my mom together, and I don't have that many, and also, because it will constantly remind me of her love for me, and the love I want to shower on my children. They may not always have the nicest or best things, but my desire is for them to always know that I love them tremendously. I was blessed to have more than one "mother" role in my life, especially after my mom passed away, and I thank God that they have always loved me through every stage of my life. They have been wonderful examples of mothers to me, and I know their demonstrations of sacrificial love will be passed down through me to my children.

me and my mother

me, Erika and Alex

with my birthday loot! (I still have that Bible and doll I am holding!)

toy of the week...

We've only recently watched Toy Story, and for Noah's birthday, we took him to see Toy Story 3. He has actually gotten into the movie, calls it "Toys". (we watch movies over and over again in our house!) I was wanting to get him Buzz and Woody characters soon and came across these guys on Toys R Us website. This Buzz is 12 inches tall and Woody, 16 inches. There are 3 different interactive modes to choose from and they can say over 100 phrases. You can press a button to start one figure talking and the other will respond! Pretty impressive huh? And with a hefty price tag of $99, these two guys can be your child's to play with, throw across the room and probably potentially break or lose! haha Needless to say, Noah will not be getting the $99 Buzz and Woody, but I will do want to get him them soon.

Funny story, I always ask Noah where the baby is, he either points to his own belly and giggles or lifts up my shirt and touches my belly. Lately I have been trying to teach him to call her "Mimi", which is the shortened version of her name we knew he would be able to say. But, ever since watching Toy Story, when I ask him the baby's name he responds with "Udy", which is how he says Woody. I'm getting a bit concerned that he is going to be very disappointed when she is born and is not a skinny cowboy!! =)

____ of the week...

So I have no toy of the week, no book of the week, so instead, here are some amazingly cute clothes I want for Naomi! =) All from Baby Gap which is going to be my absolute weakness!

How cute can it get?!

boo boos

This past week, I tagged along with my husband as he took our youth to Student Life camp in Daytona Beach. I basically just chased Noah around the camp and hotel all week, but we still had a fun time! (we are already planning on definitely taking a sitter next year!)

During the week though, as I was busy doing something, (probably picking up toys), Noah was pushing his stroller around the hotel living room. All the sudden I heard him start crying and went over to get him. I picked him up as I would usually do when he falls and normally he stops crying after a minute or so. Only this time, he was seriously sobbing, HARD, and almost shaking. So I knew he had really hurt himself. I tried to look him over from head to toe to see what was hurt, his head looked fine, no blood, and he started to calm down. But throughout the next hour, he would just all of the sudden start crying, and then I noticed he was holding his right arm funny. I asked him if he had a boo boo and he immediately pointed to him arm. He held it with the other hand and wouldn't let it go or even try to use it. Rather then waiting it out and having a crying child for the rest of the day, Adam and I decided to take him to the ER a few minutes away from the hotel. It turns out, he thankfully did not break anything, but had what they call "nursemaid's elbow". He basically fell pretty hard on that arm, and temporarily dislocated his elbow joint (at least that's what I understand happened. The doctor spoke incredibly fast!) It went back into place on it's own which I was relieved for, I don't think I could have taken them putting it back in place! So, several doses of motrin and one ace bandage later, he was completely fine! He didn't use the arm much for that day, and I could tell it was sore the following, but it is back to normal now.

It was so stinkin cute to see his arm in the ace bandage even though it was breaking my heart that he was hurt. He kept pointing to it saying "boo boo" all night!

the hurt little boy got a lollie pop for being so good in the ER.

toy of the week...

B. Brand Toys

I recently came across this brand of toys at Target. Adam says I'm a sucker for good marketing, and I guess so because I was drawn to the colors, the cool packaging, etc. But, also, the toys are fun! So for Noah's birthday we bought him this cool Meowsic Keyboard. He also got the Fish and Splash, Bristol Block Stackadoos, and the Whacky Ball, from other people. (you cannot take pictures off of their website, which is why I put links instead of pictures).
So since I am running out of books, for the book of the week, I'll start sharing a Toy of the Week instead! So this week, it's the B. Brand Toys, which can be found at Target only. Here are a few facts about B. Brand, which made me like them more! All packaging is made with recycled materials, and the bags can be re-used to store the toys itself. I always need more storage!
A quote from their website: "B. POWERFUL. Every B. toy you buy gives 10¢ to
Free the Children. May not sound like a lot, but as dimes add up they change the world."
This, of course, suckered me into liking them even more! =)
So check out B. Brand toys, if you haven't already. They are very affordable and make great bday gifts!

Noah singing with his keyboard!

2nd bday party

I really can't believe Noah's 2nd birthday has come and gone. We had such a fun day celebrating with him! Our original plan was to head to the beach, but because of the weather, we decided to attempt taking him to his first movie. After a pit stop at the Disney store to pick out a Mickey doll, we headed to see Toy Story 3. Surprisingly, he did very well. He sat through almost the whole movie, eating snacks and popcorn most of the time! He is actually pretty into watching movies.
That night, we celebrating his day with dinner at our house with both sides of the family. I had baked up a storm the day before and I am pretty happy with my creations! Noah didn't care too much about his cake, all he wanted was the Mickey Mouse "too-ties", in which he demolished!
So the day was a blast! He walked around all day saying "a bir-day", probably because we had told him about a bazillion times that it was his birthday. I think he felt very special!

picking out his mickey although he was much more interested in a ball, which we had to buy as well!

the cake!

Mickey cookies

hard to tell in the picture, but the oreos are supposed to be mickey ears

cream cheese cupcakes

the best shot together we could get!

blowing out his candles

eating his Mickey cookie

checking out his new potty we got him!

my beautiful birthday boy-he has stolen my heart!

TWO!

Adam and I were not planning on having children for a few years. Shortly after our one year anniversary, I got sick. And I mean SICK. Two weeks after throwing up and being treated for several different things, I decided to take a pregnancy test. Adam and I were out of town in Atlanta and I told him if I didn't feel better soon, he was going to have to take me to the hospital. I was completely shocked to see 2 pink lines (or were they blue?) on the pregnancy test. I honestly did not think there was any way I was pregnant, but we were completely over-joyed. Shocked, but thrilled! We both wanted to be parents and this was God's timing for us to become them!

On July 2 2008, at 4:38pm, 9 loooong months and 55lbs later, I gave birth to my sweet, wonderful Noah Thomas, coming in at 8lbs 14 oz. I was induced at 7am, and pushing around 3pm. It was a pretty quick labor and after less than 2 hours of pushing, my big boy finally was here! He was a little bruised and purple, but when they gave him to me, all I could focus on was that he was here and he was perfect. 

 I seriously can't believe my baby is 2 already. It has been amazing to watch him grow, and enjoy every stage. He is such a sweet boy and has been a wonderful son. I honestly never imagined I could love him so much. He has changed tremendously over the past 2 years. Here are just a few of my favorite pictures of him.

less than a day old!

around 2 months

first birthday!

one year pictures

my little frog

Noah-you have no idea how you have changed me as a person. You made me a mother and have taught me so much. My heart bursts with love for you. Happy 2nd Birthday Baby!

book of the week...

This is a neat picture book with every animal imaginable in it! The book is giant, probably 2 feet tall!