I'm the Incredible Hulk!!!

Noah remains the sweetest little boy and big brother on the planet.  Lately he's gotten really into superheroes.  Here's a sampling of the questions I get asked on a regular basis (as best I can remember, they probably aren't all word for word, but you'll get the gist).


Is the Green Lantern faster or is Superman faster?


Can Iron Man fly into outer space?


Why is he (Thor) naked?


What else can Superman do?


Can the Hulk fly?


Is (Thor, Superman, Iron Man, Spiderman, etc) faster than the Flash?  (I finally convinced him that The Flash is the fastest, so I haven't gotten that one in a while.)

Noah also likes to pretend to be all of these superheroes (he usually picks based on which one is on the underwear he's wearing that day). Things overheard while he's a superhero (always with his "serious superhero face" on and he usually deepens his voice and gets to just below a shout):

I will hammer you down!

No Chloe!  The bad guys are out there, stay inside, I'll fight them!  (He has Chloe stay in their room while he goes out in the hallway to fight the bad guys).

I got the bad guys, it's safe now...oh wait...now there's Transformers!  I'll save you Chloe!!!


Take that Shaggy Man!! (As he jumps on top of Matt full force)

Okay Mommy, you're safe, I threw the Shaggy Man onto the moon.

I absolutely love watching him pretend to be a superhero.  And I love that he always wants to protect his little sister.  Chloe, on the other hand will usually run right after him declaring "I'm vunna vumman!" (Wonder Woman). 

Big Boy Craft Time

I saw this great idea on another blog sometime back in the summer.  Of course I bought the materials back then, and just got around to actually doing it this week.  I'm glad I waited so that Noah could do it with me.  We started out with a few boxes of crayons (I removed the white, black and gray).

Noah's job was to arrange the colors in the order he wanted them in.  This took a lot of self control on my part, cause if you know me, you know I'm very particular about all things crafty.  (Okay, maybe all things in general...but especially all things crafty.) 

My job was to hot glue them to a canvas board in the order Noah chose.  I then rigged up some foil to catch any drippings...

...and put it in the oven at 185.  I checked on it about every 5 minutes.  Below is after the first 5 - Noah loved seeing the progression. 

While we waited Noah did "magic tricks" with the leftover crayons. 

Here's the finished product while it's still cooling off.  I had to use a flash, so the colors are a little distorted, but I think it looks so great.  This will be the first art down in the basement.  I'm so glad that Noah and I did this together, he is SO proud of it (as am I). 

I'd love to give credit to the blog that inspired this, but I can't remember which one it was.  I thought I found it at Come Together Kids, but the link I found there wasn't the one I had originally seen.  Anyway, thanks whoever first thought of this for the great idea!

Yesterday Chloe said one word that brought tears to my eyes.  "Noah."  She's been calling her big brother "Wawa" since she first started talking.  We think it's cute, so while I never call Noah "Wawa," I also never try to get her to stop.  All the sudden yesterday, she just started calling him by his proper name...and she did it all day.  She even corrected Matt when he asked her if she had had fun with Wawa, "No Daddy, No-ah!"  I'm not completely sure where the tears came from.  There are so many new things she says or does these days.  This particular one just blind-sided me.  My Chloe is a little girl.  Not a baby.  Uh-oh, the tears are a-comin again. 

I guess Noah couldn't be outdone by his sister.  Yesterday he looked at me and said, "Mommy, I think you need to take me to preschool." 

This growing up thing is just happening way too fast for my taste.

Here's a few semi-recent pics of the kiddos...since they make the blog so much prettier:)  We had a picnic outside at a nearby playground earlier this month (yes, it was warm enough even in Wyoming in January to have a picnic outside...at least for one day).  I took a ton of pics but I didn't have the settings right to get good shots in the bright sun.  These were the ones that turned out the best. 

Ten Weeks in...Wyoming

Today is cold and yucky. Wind chill is supposed to get in the -30s tonight and the roads are already slippery. BUT...I'm home with my babies and I don't have to leave (ever) if I don't want to. So I love it. From the warmth of the living room, I can see the snow blowing around and it's a nice picture (only because I don't have to go out in it). We had some new friends come over this morning for a playdate which was so fun. N and C play so well together, but there's something really sweet about seeing them get to know new little ones. Noah asked immediately after they left for another playdate soon:). So here are some more quick takes on our new state.

-When Wyoming applied for statehood, they had to count cattle since the state wasn't populated with enough people to gain statehood. At the time there was more cattle than people.

-We received a phone book the other day for "Northeastern Wyoming and the surrounding area" and it's half the size that our Hburg/Rockingham county one was.

-People talk about places that are 2-3 hours away as if they're just up the street. I'll have to live here a long time to get used to that...

-We paid our babysitter what we would have paid in VA...and the next day her mom (who works with Matt) returned half the money and laughed at how much babysitters must charge in VA. Works for me:)

-This has supposedly been a "mild winter." Thank you God for easing me in...

-Most people here are Broncos fans. It's rubbed off...I just can't help liking Tebow. (No worries, my loyalty remains with the Giants. I can't help but wonder if Matt will be upset if Noah ends up a Broncos fan??)

Another Girl...

We had our first ultrasound yesterday and found out that Baby 3 is most likely a girl. The cord was between her legs the entire time, so it's possible that in four weeks at the next ultrasound we'll have a little surprise. In the meantime the hardest thing for me will be to NOT buy anything yet...just in case. The reason we had to have this ultrasound was mostly because Matt and I didn't have a firm grasp on how pregnant I might be. You know the typical questions...
"When was the first day of your last period?"
"8.31.11...I think."
"How sure are you?"
"Not at all..."
So according to the date I gave them, they thought I could be at about 19 weeks, but after the US, they bumped me back to 17.5 weeks putting my due date at 6.16.12. I'm really glad about the date change since they won't let me go past 39 weeks anyway. The date bump also means that Baby wasn't big enough yet for the typical full anatomy ultrasound...so I have to have another one in 4 weeks. Those of you that know me know how much I hate having any type of extra medical anything done to me...but I am glad that we'll get a more definitive look so we can be sure that she is in fact a girl.
The only concern the doctor had was that the placenta was covering my cervix. I'm praying and believing that it will move up out of the way as Baby grows. Specifically, that it's implanted in the endometrial lining and NOT in my uterus. For now, please pray with me that that is the case. There could be other complications down the road if it's not...but I don't want to talk about worst case scenarios right now. Either way, Baby was looking great and this won't effect her. God is the author of life and is in control of this situation - thanks so much for your prayers.
On a lighter note, Chloe and Noah are very excited to have a little sister. They both love babies so much - I'm so excited to see their little faces when they finally get to meet her for the first time. Here are some names they've suggested since yesterday (in parenthesis, the kid that suggested it):
Matthew (Noah)
Chloe (Noah)
Anya (Noah)
Atti (Noah)
Like (Chloe)
Watch (Chloe)
Eden (Chloe)

And here's Chloe changing her baby's diaper.

Another First...Christmas

Our first Christmas in Wyoming has already come and gone.  Matt had to work six days a week almost all of December, and until after 7 for the week leading up to the 25th.  We're all so glad that his schedule will only be like that one time a year...and now we have him back! 

We spent a lot of time leading up to Christmas talking about Jesus's Birthday...and the main question that Noah kept coming up with was, "How are we going to give Jesus his presents?"  It gave us lots of opportunities to explain and demonstrate to Noah how we can give Him gifts (I just love seeing things click in his little head).  I think that it did confuse him a little that he received gifts on Christmas, (and not just Jesus), but I think by next year he'll be able to understand more clearly.  Chloe has become a big prayer warrior in the family, she loves talking to Jesus and reminds us to pray daily.  I did intend to make a "Happy Birthday Jesus" birthday cake, but just ran out of time (good thing the kids were too young to notice). 

It was a very different Christmas for us, but it was nice to have a low key day and enjoy time together.  We were able to have a relaxing morning (if that's possible with a 2 and 3 year old surrounded by presents) and go to church.  We let Noah stay up through his nap so he could have "big boy" time to play with some of his more time consuming and Chloe-unfriendly toys.  We got to skype with a lot of family, but missed being able to actually spend time with them.  I guess in a way we've been spoiled by all the holidays we have spent with family.  It's hard to believe that it was 7 years ago that we had our first Christmas with a Micah as a baby.  Since then we've watched him, Riley and Uriah grow up with Noah and Chloe through holidays, birthdays, and many family nights.  They adore each other and it's so sad to be so far away from them.  

Here are some pictures from our much quieter than usual Christmas Day.  

2 years with Coco

Chloe turned 2 on December 10th.  I was in a little bit of denial at first, but this girl is definitely a 2 year old, and sometimes more like a 13 year old...so I guess I've had to let it sink in.  Sometimes when she's in the right mood, she'll snuggle up with me or Matt and it seems like just yesterday she was this sweet little newborn...

Now look at her.  Two years later and she's definitely not a baby anymore.  She picks out her own clothes, and usually asks to change outfits 2-3 times a day.  She picks out hair clips and says "thank you" more than most adults I know.  I confess, it's so hard to say no to that sweet little face when she wants something.
  Truly, could you resist this face?

Obviously we tell her no plenty, but she really does make it difficult.  She's so super sweet, especially when she wants something.  She absolutely adores her brother, and if he's not giving her the attention she wants she provokes otherwise even-tempered Noah into hysterics (but then she gets attention...smart girl).  She's quick to say "sah-wy" and give hugs and kisses (which happens a lot).  She talks practically non-stop, most of which Matt and I understand, but much of which others couldn't.  She loves to spin...and she can spin for a long time without falling down, it's kind of amazing really.  She is very stubborn (no clue where she got that from) - when she gets her mind set on something it will take an act of God to change it.  She thinks that she's Noah's age and gets very upset when we treat her any differently than her brother. She is very expressive, so much so that she leaves you in no doubt of what she's thinking.  It makes for some pretty funny, and sometimes downright mean looks she shoots at people.  When she's happy and laughing, you have to laugh with her...there's no way you'd be able to keep a smile off your face when Chloe's smiling at you. 

I just love this girl.  The past two years with her have been such a gift...and I know that the year ahead will be full of lots of laughter, and probably lots of time-outs too.

Oh, and for those of you wondering (stop reading if you don't want to hear about breastfeeding)..Chloe is FINALLY fully weaned.  And yes, it did happen before her 2nd birthday.  My goal was to have her weaned at 18 months, and she was except for the occasional middle of the night sick baby nursing and the right before bed (nightly) nursing.  But she held on to that last one for a long time.  I'm really glad that I didn't force her to stop sooner, cause with all the transition we've had going on, I know that it was a big comfort to her to have that time.  It was also nice for me to have those peaceful moments with her.  So we had been talking about how Chloe is a big girl and nursing is for babies for several weeks and I finally decided to cut her off about a week before her birthday.  She cried (the screaming in agony kind) for about 35 minutes and then settled down.  She only fussed about it one other time, and has only asked to nurse a handful of times after that.  So the first day was rough, but it needed to be done.  I wanted to make sure she had a good break before she saw me nursing Baby 3 (and hello...it'll be nice for me to have a break too).

Here are some photos from her birthday.  I ran out of space on the memory card about half way through and did get some good video...but can't figure out how to get the video off the camcorder...so for now, just pictures.