The Christmas Season...

I love Christmas.  I love the reason we celebrate and the fact that Noah (mostly) gets that it's Jesus's birthday.  I love a lot of the more superficial stuff too...I love that it's the season of cookies, peppermint bark, mocha mint coffee, gift buying and wrapping (that's right - I LOVE to wrap presents!) and so much more.  I've had to let go of most of the expectations I used to have for myself around the holidays.  I just had to so that I could enjoy more than stress over it.  I finished most Christmas cards.  I baked some.  I prioritized family time and gifts for kids (including neices and nephews).  Chloe's birthday falling in between Thanksgiving and Christmas definitely added some chaos to the season, but now that it's over, I can only say that it was a really fun time for our family.  And now that it's over, I can catch up on the blog!
Here's a glimpse into our holiday season...

Noah got to help me make Christmas cookies this year - SO fun for both of us!

We had a lot of hand-me-down Christmas dresses - and yes, I loved dressing Chloe up.  She mostly hates dresses though.  Since she's still refusing to walk more than a couple of steps at a time (more on that later), she constantly gets stuck in her dress as she crawls.  Then she makes these faces at us - "How dare you put me in a DRESS?!  Are you hazing me?  It's just cruel Mommy and Daddy, just cruel!"  So the dresses typically came off as soon as we got home from church.

The Santa hat on the other hand...she liked:)

So did Noah.  This is his new "smile" face.  Seriously?  Yes, it's cute...and yes, I know it sort of looks like he's trying to poop.

Confession:  I love putting dresses on Chloe so she can wear cute tights with them.  Seriously people - how cute is this??

And this dress is not torture, it's short enough that she can crawl without getting caught in the skirt. 

We made the move to one nap a day (mostly) for Chloe.  On Sundays the nap is late because of church, and on this particular day she was so tired she fell asleep in the car on the way home.  Noah would never have done this.  I know, this is par for the course for some of you...but not for me.  She was so tired, she stayed asleep as I took her out of the car, unzipped her coat, changed her diaper...

and transferred her to the pac n' play.  She did rub her nose, but she stayed asleep the entire time.   And took a good nap, especially considering that she skipped her lunch (another foreign concept with Noah). 

Last year Noah loved playing out in the snow.  This year we haven't had much, but even when it hasn't snowed its been so COLD...that Noah hasn't wanted to play outside for more than 5 minutes at a time.  He NEVER asks to go outside anymore.  :(

My handsome men.  I love dressing the kids up on Sundays.  Matt obviously wasn't dressed yet.  And he did give me a hard time for taking yet another picture of him with an undershirt on with the kids.  Not my fault that he wears them all the time and only puts on his outer layer after the camera is away. 

Chloe's Birthday Party

Yes yes, I know it was almost 2 months ago. But I just can't help it. I can't skip things. So here are some pictures form Chloe's 1st Birthday Party.

She was a big fan of the balloons...

I made carrot cake and did my best to make it look pretty.  Think of it as a gerber daisy...a very yummy one. 

Chloe was not at all familiar with the idea of blowing out a candle, but luckily Noah helped her out. 

She got a very short nap that day, so she was pretty tired...and a little overwhelmed by all the people. 

But she liked the cake!

Noah was great about Chloe's party.  He understood that the party was for her, but he still struggled a little with the fact that the gifts were all for her also. 

Tired girl + lots of sugar = Happy girl.  It could have gone either way, but Chloe was pretty hysterical and happy after the cake. 

She and Noah were playing and giggling under the dining room table together - so s
weet!  It was a great day - thanks to all the friends and family that came to celebrate with us.  We had so much fun and it's so great to be reminded of how loved our kids are. 

12 Months...

My precious Chloe turned one this month. ONE!  About two weeks ago. It really snuck up on me - and I'm pretty sure it hasn't completely hit me yet. Only a year ago, sweet Chloe was so little...

...and a few months later, she wasn't just a sweet sleepy baby.  She was a giggly, grabby, happy baby.

 

And then half way through this first year she was sitting up.  Playing with toys.  Cooing and smiling all the time...

By 9 months she was crawling.  And into everything.  She loved to sit up on her knees and scout out the best place to go play - which was pretty much always wherever Noah was. She talked even more and had gotten good at using some signs to tell us what she wanted. 

And now.  She's one.  12 entire months have flown by.  In some ways I'm so glad she's reached this milestone - but there's a sadness too.  I'm so incredibly grateful for the amazing gift she is and that I get to be in her life.  Grateful for every day though they pass too quickly.  I love that Chloe is one and that I get to see more every day, the little girl, then the teenager and then the woman that she'll become.  There are so many sweet moments that I know I'll forget.  But at least I have those moments.  I hate that so many people lose them.  I can't think about Chloe turning one without thinking about Gwen not turning one.  I'm so grateful for the moments that I spent with her - that I even got to meet her at all was such an incredible blessing.  I trust my God.  I trust Him, and I wish things were different.  I trust him and I wish I had a picture of Chloe sitting next to sweet Gwen at her party.

Giraffe and Kitty

I uploaded the pictures for this post over two weeks ago...how ridiculous is that?  Noah wasn't feeling very good for Micah's 6th Birthday (I know, I could should  do a whole post on my sweet Micah and how crazy it is that he's already 6...) and the Fall Festival (on Halloween).  We had a crazy day, Micah's pool party from 2-4 and then the Fall Festival after that.  By the time we got home it was really too late to trick or treat...and Noah was SO tired...and I forgot to buy candy to hand out.  So it was a candy-less weekend (yay!). 
Here's Noah in his giraffe costume.  Doesn't he look exhausted?

Chloe was a kitty cat.

Noah loved the petting zoo and he actually touched a calf.  (without me holding him!)  Those of you that have seen him around animals that he doesn't know understand what a big deal that is...

Chloe's costume may have been a little small...

...but she's still super cute in it!  Thanks to Anya for lending us her costume!

Noah got to go on a hayride with Matt - the highlight of the day!  He thought it was pretty cool that Dr. Marsh was driving.  Apparently he kept yelling at him though, "Don' go in da mud!  No go in da mud!"  Haha!

Chloe steals Noah's cup every chance she gets.  I love that face though.  "What?  Don't you take this cup away from me mommy!"  Haha!

Oodles of Noodles

One of Matt's newest nicknames for Chloe is "Noodle," AKA: "The Great Noodle."  Chloe continues to be an incredible joy every day.  She is so sweet and just lights up the room when she smiles. She's gotten really efficient at getting where she wants to go, so we have to be really careful with closing doors etc.  If the bathroom door gets left open, she's there in no time and has her hand on the toilet bowl.  We keep telling her how gross that is but she just thinks its funny.  Noah is usually the culprit with the open door...now that he likes to wash his hands by himself, "No, ME DO IT!" 

Chloe is still a great sleeper (most nights).  There was a time recently that she started waking up again, but we realized it was because she was still hungry, so we've been filling her up with more table food during the day and that seems to have done the trick.  She currently has an ear infection, so she had a couple of rough nights due to that...but last night was silent bliss from 8pm to 7am...so I think we're past that as well (huge sigh of relief). 
Unlike Noah, Chloe usually fusses or talks abit before going to sleep.  When it's naptime, if I don't time it just right, she'll sit up (I put her down on her back and she usually rolls over to her belly).  She gets sort of stuck sitting up and ends up just leaning over on her blanket to sleep.  She does it all the time.  Amazing how flexible her little body is. 

Most of the time Chloe's favorite person is her big brother.  She absolutely adores him.  Here she is giving him some kisses.  Unfortunately, Chloe has a hard time controlling her strength...so she scratches him and even bites him (in an effort to kiss) semi-frequently.  Noah takes it like a champ since he adores her right back. 

This is so sweet.  I was brushing Chloe's hair one night and had just handed her the brush (she loves to brush her own hair).  Matt said that he's never even gotten to brush her hair yet (okay, so I hog that job), so he took her, and took the hairbrush out of her hand.  You can see how much she likes it when you take something (especially her brush) out of her hand.  I just think it's so sweet that Matt wanted to brush her hair...she's got him wrapped around her little finger. 

Chloe is very inquisitive.  This is her response to me telling her not to play with the albums on that shelf.  "Please Mommy, I'll be gentle.  Don't you trust this face??"  She is actually very good at obeying already.  When we tell her no she almost always stops, looks at us and tries again.  The second time we say no, she almost always moves away to play with something else.  She definitely has a stubborn streak in her though...cause if her heart is really set on something she will not budge.

Poor Chloe.  Noah wanted a picture with her but she just wanted to nurse.  Also of note in this picture is that little yellow ball in her hand.  It's big enough that it doesn't fit in her mouth, but small enough for her to hold in one hand.  It's her favorite toy.  She'll hold it (or some other similar sized toy that will fit in one hand) all day if you let her.  She'll crawl on it like it's a little pegleg...it's hysterical.  She plays with it sometimes, but mostly, she just loves to hold it. 

Chloe loves Atticus!  We really do have to watch her when she's around other little ones cause she will pinch, scratch or bite hard! 

I admit it. One of the things I love about having Chloe is dressing her up in cute outfits.  I've been excited to put her in this jumper since I saw it (thank you Beth for the hand-me-downs!)  She is so cute!
Chloe also loves to laugh, but mostly loves to play with her brother.  She just started pulling herself up to standing this past weekend, so I'm sure that cruising and then walking is not far behind.  Do you believe she is 11 months today?!  In only 1 month she'll be getting her first bite of cake!

 

"Oh Mayn! What de heck iz dat?!"

Noah is such a trip these days.  He keeps us laughing a lot...and he's still just as sweet as ever too!  Don't get me wrong, he does plenty of whining (retribution I'm sure) but we have just been loving watching our little Noah become a little boy.

As is evidenced by the title of this post, he will pick up on everything we say...and repeat it in a super cute voice.  he says all kinds of crazy things and we've been trying to write them in FB or somewhere so we remember them.  He still loves being outside, especially now that we have some more neighbors with kids close to his age. Sufa (below) is 4 and just moved here with her family from Iraq.  Noah has actually tried to speak some Arabic on occasion (which is hysterical).

Noah has also gotten into looking for animals.  Especially when he has a flashlight!  He frequently finds tigers in corners and bunnies or frogs in his hand.  Oh, and speaking of the flashlight, he understands his shadow and thinks it's pretty funny too.  He tries to make shadow puppets sometimes (like his daddy does) - it's so sweet!

And he's into picking out his own clothes.  He will throw a fit if we try to put clothes on him that he didnt' pick out (shirts anyway).  He picked out that hat himself too.  And that's his new smile-for-the-camera face by the way.

I think that Noah was dancing in this picture.  He still loves to listen to music all the time and dances around like a maniac with it. 

We had gotten him a tricycle this summer and finally got a helmet and knee pads for him to use.  He didnt' want to take them off when we first got them...so we had to hid them.  And now that I think about it I have absolutely no idea where they are.  Sigh.

Any time it's nice out and Chloe is napping I try to let Noah have some Chloe-free outside time. It's just easier to play with him when I don't have to keep her from eating grass every 30 seconds...

Did I mention yet that his favorite color is orange?  No idea why, but if there's an orange item of clothing clean, that's what Noah wants to wear. 

He loves Chloe so much and has really taken to the role of big brother.  I came home from work the other day and Matt told me that Noah and Chloe had been wrestling.  Wrestling that's gentle (mostly) and that the kids love.  Below, Noah is about to gently lay Chloe on her back and then bub his head on her belly while she laughs hysterically and swats at his head with her little hands.  It's so cute...I'll work on getting a good video soon...

Noah has done amazingly well with the switch to his big boy bed.  He did have one day that he refused to stay in bed for nap.  He kept saying, "I'm awake Mommy," (so I made a mental note to next time save the cupcake for after naptime).  Anyway, after some disciplining I ended up putting him in his (now Chloe's) crib so he would stay put and sleep.  Of course every item on his bed had to come with him.  And that cup is water in case you were worried.

He's got big shoes to fill;)

I couldn't do a post about Noah without mentioning that he is still pretty car-obsessed. Even when we play with play-doh he ends up making a road with the play doh to drive trucks and cars on. 

 

This boy brings me so much joy every day.  I just wish he would stop growing up so fast!