Noah's Paw Patrol Fourth Birthday Party

I'm determined to do a better job at posting the next couple months.  I have so much to document and the pictures just sit there waiting for me.  Anyway, here is Noah's birthday party. He requested paw patrol so that's what we have him.  He was the most excited for the paw patrol masks and gave them out to everyone to wear.  Of course he had to pick who everyone got to be. We opened presents, played on the beach and shot of special rockets.  Noah was the center of attention the whole time and I'm pretty sure he loved it.

Happy Birthday Noah Bear!

Brothers

Gosh it's so crazy to see both of my kids loving on each other so much.  Peytons face lights up when Noah is around and I'm pretty sure he's perfectly content watching Noah run around the living room.  It's such entertainment for him.  Noah of course is such a little mother and wants to help with everything as long as Peyton doesn't touch him with his slobbery hands.  Noah reads him books and helps him get unstuck in the walker.  Picks up his toys when he drops them.  It's the best.  I keep saying now for sure we need to have a girl.  I mean, who wouldn't want two big brothers? ...and then part of me says another boy wouldn't be so bad as long as they all love each other as much as these two do, right?

Life with the Boys

We're finally getting to the point where Noah is slightly more interested to "play" with Peyton.  He'll give him kisses and hugs, give him a toy back when he drops it and pushes him around in the walker when he gets stuck.   That's the best.  I love seeing Noah playing with Peyton and being such a good big brother.  Peyton is also in love with Noah.  He smiles so much when he sees him and I'm pretty sure Noah is his favorite person. Even if Noah does occasionally hide from Peyton.
We've gotten in a good routine around the house.  We're finally over most of the sicknesses, everyone is sleeping at night and has a good schedule during the day and things are running smoothly most of the time. I'm already looking forward to summer.  I can't wait 'till Peyton starts walking, the weather gets warmer and we can run around in the grass, go on walks and play on the beach. For now, I'll take all the cuddles inside while we sit by the fireplace and I'll sit back while the boys play together.   Life is good.

Our First Trip to the ER

It's been quite the couple of days.  On Thursday I was getting ready to go to my barre class; I had Peyton fed and ready to go, we were all packed, and I got a call from school that Noah had bumped his head and  had to pick him up because he probably needed stitches.  Of course I didn't think it would be that bad but we stopped by school and sure enough it granted a trip to the emergency room.  I packed up both boys and spent a nice two house visit at the ER.  Luckily everything went great, the hospital staff was amazing and Noah was super brave after getting his four stitches.

Jeff worked all weekend so the boys and I kept busy with Target trips, a visit from Papa Bill and Aunt Jenny, lots of help from Noah with baking and cooking, and lots of post nap snuggles with the kids. Our week ahead is just a busy with both Jeff and I working lots.  Noah has his Fall Harvest Festival in which he'll be singing some songs with his class.  I'm super excited to watch him and he's super excited to be able to show me how good he sings.  We've been practicing around the house for the last two weeks singing the same songs over and over and he's ready to go!

Peyton keeps getting bigger and bigger every day too.  It's so much more fun this time around.  Maybe Noah hanging out and me going back to work early has made a difference but I'm really enjoying being with Peyton so much more while he's this little.  He talks and smiles and is such a happy baby.  I don't even remember what life without him was like. So here's to another busy weekend.  Hope that we all make it all in one piece and no more injuries would be great.

Noah Turns 3!

Oh Man, this little kid just isn't so little anymore.  He's grown into a child right before my eyes.  He rides his big boy bike on his own.  He talks to me about his day, tells me all his favorite things, he hugs and kisses and snuggles all day long.  He's such a mamas boy and I miss him most of the time I'm at work.  Oh how things change.   It wasn't until recently that I've really wanted time to slow down.  I'm not ready for him to keep growing up quite yet.  This third year has been my favorite.
I'm so proud of what a sweet boy Noah has become.  He's polite and nice.  He plays hard but loves to snuggle and love on us too.  He's so funny and always tries to make other people laugh as much as possible.  Noah really is the best and I just know he will be the best big brother.

Happy Birthday Noah Bear!

Noahs Birthday Weekend

My little baby is growing up and we celebrated with a low key birthday party over the weekend even though Noah's birthday isn't 'till Wednesday.  Just a couple of family members and a little cake and dinner.  We opened presents, sang happy birthday and blew out some candles.  Noah was so much  more aware this year so it made it extra fun.  I made a ridiculous Doc McStuffins cake which took me three days and way too much planning but it was all worth it since Noah loved it.  Also awesome for us that Noah is still super into Doc because I had decorations left over from last year and that's really all he wanted anyway.

Summer Days & Toddler Sleep Problems

You want to know what the great thing about summer is? Well, this summer anyway, I'm only working four days a week which means I get to skip the boring work days and spend more time at home doing things I want to do.  You know, like taking naps, and making food and snuggling with Noah.  Wait, who am I kidding.  This almost three year old wants none of that unless he's trying to keep me in bed at night just a little longer.

Remember last post when I said sleeping in his own big boy bed went amazing for the last month and we never had a problem?  I spoke too soon.  For the last week Noah refuses to go to bed, cries and cries and even one night ran out of his bed after me.  It was the worst.  Like I was laughing outside the door it was so crazy all while crying at the same time.  It makes me sad when he's sad but like, it's bed time dude, and I need my alone time so go to bed.  He's been waking up in the middle of the night once or twice almost every night this week.  The first couple of times we would go in and snuggle but realized he wasn't falling asleep while we were next to him to him plus he would try and tell us he peed his pants when he didn't.  Smart cookie.  We finally started to let him cry it out a little more and that has seemed to help as he cries less and less at night when he wakes up. Still, this sleep thing is crazy.  Who knew three year olds still had problems sleeping?   I think other parents fail to mention that when they talk about having kids.

I'm hoping he goes back to his normal sleep patterns of sleeping like a champ for twelve hours.  Maybe his teething might have something to do with it, or he might be coming down with something with his runny nose and slight coughing.  Who knows.   What I want to know is when do kids really start sleeping through the night?  Like forever.  I seem to remember sleeping in 'till the late morning in high school.  Is that really just in high school, because that sucks.

But back to the original topic; summer really is great.  I'm just waiting for the weather to get warm enough to spend some time on the beach with Noah.  Lounging on a blanket on our grass that's finally starting to look good, eating dinners on the deck so I have less kitchen to clean at night... these are the good days.

Transitioning to a Big Boy Room

So we finally did it.  It was about time and Noah needed to get his butt out of a crib so we can use it in the nursery.... soo we did it. After all the worrying I did, it worked out just fine.  Noah has been sleeping great from day one minus the random wake-up he had two nights ago.  Even then, he just cried out for us and didn't get out of his bed.

We really talked it up for Noah for about a month before he actually slept on the crib.  I had the mattress out in the nursery and had sheets on it.  We read books at night on it and just played on it during the day.  He really loved it and was excited to get to try it out for real so I think that really helped.   Jeff and I (mostly Jeff) put his room together while he was in school one day and we let him know that it would be all ready for him when he got home that day.  The first thing he did when he got home was run upstairs and check it out. Then he spent the rest of the evening testing it out and reading books.

I was a little worried the first night when I said good-night because he was definitely whiny and didn't want us to leave, but after about five minutes he conked out and that was it.  He didn't wake up 'till the morning.  I will say cuddling at night and reading books has been much more comfy for me though.  It's nice for both of us to lay in bed together and sometimes I even dose of with him I'm so tired.
I finally took some time to take pictures of the room so here it is in all it's glory.  And hoping not to have to re-decorate 'till he's in high school, right?  I'll source the items bellow.

Hemnes Dresser - Ikea | Hemnes Bed - Ikea | Quilt - Target | Circo Curtains - Target / No longer available online, in store only) | End Table - Target | Pomps - Etsy

Sunset Walks with Noah

I'm really loving these long walks with Noah.  He gets to burn some energy and I get to snap some pictures in the pretty sun.  It's a bummer it gets so dark at night, but for us, it's just before dinner time so it's perfect for our afternoon walks.  We've really been enjoying heading down to the mulch nursery.  There are so many trucks and dirt and rocks everywhere.  Perfect for Noah to run around after everyone goes home to the day.

Of course, Noah wanted nothing to do with taking pictures, but we made it work.  We couldn't resist the awesome sunset.

By the time the sun was almost down Noah was pretty tired and ready to go home.  It's tough walking around with those little legs.  I had to carry him home half way back.  I'll take the snuggles though.

Day Off Shenanigans

On Monday, Jeff and I both had the day off and I had these great plans of getting a ton done and going downtown for ArtPrize and maybe even dinner outside.  Then Jeff had to sleep in extra since he got home late from work, Noah was being a pain in my butt and of course woke up early since he always does when he knows I'm home.  I was so grumpy by the time Jeff got up I didn't want to do anything.

I'm pretty sure the fertility medicine I'm taking is making me a total mess.  This is month four and every single month while I take my medicine I'm so grumpy and moody and I just don't feel like myself.  There are times I emotionally feel out of control and just want to cry, like everything is so terrible even though I know in my head there is nothing wrong.  The feeling you get when  you're under so much pressure and stress; except I know I'm not...it just feels like it.  Sometimes I feel like I can handle not being able to get pregnant just fine.  I go about my day not really thinking about it much,  but some days, especially when I'm feeling a little extra grumpy and sad I wonder why it always seems like everyone else has such an easy time and I got stuck with all this extra work to have a little baby.

Lucky for me, I have an amazing husband who takes such good care of me. He never gets mad when I'm having a bad day and always wants to know how he can help.  Monday wasn't any different.  He hugged me, and asked me what he could do and he gave me a million options of activities for the day and told me we could do whatever I wanted to make me feel better.   So I took a shower, got myself together and went on with our day.

We stopped by a new doughnut place first that Jeff found with Noah on his daddy daycare adventures, then we ran some errands. Noah after only taking an hour nap was a total mess pretty much the whole time we were out.  Not that you would ever know that from these pictures, but there was a point in the middle of Lowes where Noah decided to lay in the middle of the floor and pound his little hands and feet in the ground because he was angry he couldn't push the cart when we didn't need it, and he couldn't bring the Halloween mickey home that they had set up, and I wouldn't pick his thirty five pound body for twenty minutes around the store.  Then I had to pick him up of the floor anyway and throw him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes to the check out lane...which of course was the sloo-wweeest lane ever.  Noah took full advantage trying to sneak out of the store and getting into do not enter areas... *sigh*

We finally made it home after a whirlwind day.  We put Noah to bed, and Jeff and I finally sat on the couch watching some TV.  Then we only talked about how great Noah is and how funny he's been and repeating all the funny words he says. Makes me think maybe this is why we had such a hard time getting Noah; so we could really appreciate all the great things he brings into our lives.   This second baby seems to be taking even more effort than the last... but maybe that's because when he's finally here we'll really appreciate having two kids and we'll be able to forget the crappy parts of parenting.