Growing Up and Out

We're coming up on the 8 week mark this Friday, and a couple of weeks ago we had to start putting Noah in 3-6 month clothes. Some of his 0-3 month stuff still fits...but much of it has already been tucked away. While I'm sad that he doesn't fit into some of his outfits anymore, it's always fun putting him in new stuff. The little baseball romper below came with a hat which was definitely not made for a son of my husband. The outfit of course is adorable, but the hat got put away for a baby with smaller head. Notice too that Noah's hair is growing back now - it's beautiful hair, but it kind of looks like he has a bit of a mullet from up close (adorable).

Last week Geneva and Henry stopped by to visit with Noah and me. Henry will be turning one this summer and thought that Noah was a pretty cool toy. I'm excited for the day that Noah will be able to really play with Henry and his other friends (but I dread it too - he's growing up so fast!)

Saturday we went to visit Noah's Great-Grandma Valentine and his "Double Aunt" Bonnie.

Celebrating Mompy

I love it when things are more sweet than bitter. Two weeks ago my maternal grandmother passed away. She was really an amazing lady and had lived a very full life. She was probably without a doubt the greatest prayer warrier I will ever know and had such beautiful faith. Her passing happened pretty quickly...she was 88 but had been so healthy for so long that we really weren't expecting this at all. I think that's been the hardest thing for the family to deal with - the surprise. I have to say that I didn't even cry until the graveside service last Wednesday morning. I am so certain that she is rejoicing with Jesus...what is there to be sad about? What got me that morning was that Noah didn't get to meet her...and her faithfulness really puts me to shame. I guess she had 60 years on me, but more than that she was given such a beautiful gift of faith. She didn't know how to express love the way that most of us generally do...but the her love for her family was so evident in the way that she prayed. She really does put me to shame. So we celebrated her life last week. The Washington Post published a nice article about her yesterday, so for more on my grandmother check out this link. One of the blessings that came out of it was that Noah got to meet more of his family. Here we all are below.

Geoff & Rachel (newlyweds), Danielle & Matt (also newlyweds),Aunt Babe & Uncle Mark, Jake, Mom, Michael, Me, Noah and Matt

Noah loves his Grammie!!

Noah also loves Uncle Michael and Aunt Rachel. He was pretty enthralled by Michael...he knew that Michael is a pro with little ones (must have smelled Luke and Allison on him!)

Have I mentioned yet that Noah was AMAZING during the entire trip? Well he was incredible. We most definitely do not deserve such a good baby, but we thank God for him all the time.

Danny is even newer to the family than Noah. She married our cousin Matt last weekend and is already loved by all...and doesn't she look pretty with a baby in her arms?!

Finally!

So, like Tabitha many months ago I have been obsessing a little about finding a new template for my blog. Now this is not my favorite one by far...but I had so much trouble trying to get the ones that I liked better on here that I had to settle. It simply became a matter of my sanity. So I like this one okay...wish the print was smaller - it isn't too girly is it?? Oh well, it's done. I'm not changing the template again until I'm a stay at home mom...(unless you really think it's too girly??)

My first Mothers Day

Noah was wonderful on Mother's Day (as he is every other day). I think I was stealing kisses from him in this picture (only cause he doesn't know how to say no or to kiss back yet).

Sunday night we took Matt's mom to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner along with the rest of the fam. Here's Dawn, or " Mimi" as Micah calls her (and hopefully what Riley and Noah will call her) will all her grandbabies. For those of you that can't tell babies apart (yup, my sister said "which one is Noah?" when looking at this pic) Noah is the one on the left. Astonishing that Riley is more than 2 months older than Noah, but we're guessing that they are pretty close as far as weight goes. Yea Superchunk!

And here they all are with Uncle Silas (er, "Dad" to Riley and Micah). Noah is so chill...he loves hanging with his Uncle and cousins - I love it too!

What? How can Dad feed me?

I had a moment yesterday when I realized that Noah is now already 1/12 of the way through his first year...that's right, yesterday he was a month old! AHH that is nuts! I have a feeling I'll be having moments like that pretty frequently. Anyway, Matt and I decided to get Noah used to the bottle...so today was day one. He did really well. At first he was not happy about me handing him over to his dad since he was hungry (okay, he screamed - which he almost never does, but this kid takes his meals very seriously). So it was a bit rocky for the first couple of minutes, but then it was magical. Matt has been really looking forward to being able to feed Noah, so it was really special for both of us. One of my favorite things is watching Matt with Noah - what a gift! I have to confess that I'm also glad that now I don't have to do every feeding. Don't get me wrong, I love Noah and I love feeding him, but he eats A LOT (Matt has started calling him "Superchunk"). So it's nice to know that if I need a nap, or to run errands without Noah (cause they take at least twice as long with him), then I can.

Baby J is One!!

To top off the crazy weekend, Noah got to go to his first party. His friend J had his first birthday party at the park yesterday afternoon - again, Noah slept through the entire thing (crazy boy).

Matt with Nancy and J. He is dressed in a traditional Ethiopian outfit for the special occasion - so handsome!

The McGhees came back from Fredericksburg to celebrate with J - so fun to have some long lost homegroupers back, even if only for a couple of hours.

Time for cake! The candle got blown out with some help from Mom and Dad...but baby J wasn't a big fan of the cake. (I'm sure that will change next year!)

Here's Robbie hamming it up at the party (notice the blue teeth from the frosting)> Can you believe he's turning 4 this summer?? Ahh where does the time go?

Beach friends!!

This weekend was very exciting for Noah. Kate, Anna, Mark and Nick all came to the burg to see Josh graduate...so Noah got to hang out with his Virginia Beach aunties for the first time.

It was also a weekend of firsts for Noah. Anna is holding Noah during his first trip to Mr. J's, and later that day he had his first trip to Kline's. (BIG day!)

They all stayed at Massanutten, so we went up there for dinner. Don't Kate and Mark look so great holding a baby?! Pretty soon Noah will have a playmate at the beach and we are SUPER excited about it!

Noah pretty much slept through all the fun activities of the weekend. This picture is another first...breakfast on Sunday at the Little Grill. Notice that he's sort of holding his froggy blanket - so sweet! It was a pretty crazy weekend and Matt and I are pretty worn out from it, but it's good to know that we can (so far) do all the things we normally would have done before, we're just late to everything now!

Smiles or Gas?

So precious!!