Noah Daniel: 1 Year Old

 Noah. you turned one on Saturday. This year has flown immensely fast and I'm sad to see it go. You are a sweet, sweet baby. You like to cuddle and wrestle and play chase. You're shy so making you laugh and smile means WE are the special ones, because you love us. You are quite the play-er as you hunt and explore and climb.  The girls will squawk at you because you climb into their toy bucket and plop right down. Almost like "I'm here, now what should we do?!" It is adorable.

 You talk and make a "doo doo doo" sound as you purse your little lips together. I think it is you repeating "tickle, tickle, tickle" but we'll never know.  You say mama, dada, and gooh gooh for your sisters. You talk gibberish often and its so cute to hear. You can repeat beats and sounds and will dance and bob your head if we are talking or dancing or singing.

 You make us laugh as you make the cutest faces. You're serious but funny and know how to make us laugh with your antics. You like to eat: sweet potatoes, ham, eggs, blueberries, toast, almond butter on bananas, raisins and other fun kid things. You climb the stairs and disappear or hide (scary and funny sometimes). You suck your thumb, have 8 teeth and love your lovie Elephant.

 

We love you Bud!

Who Knew?

 Who knew this would be life's new normal?

 

 If someone would have walked up to me at Taylor and told me that I'd wake up and live this crazy life, I would have laughed, turned red and gotten all sweaty. This life was not what I had in mind.

Am I happy? Most days, Yes! Would I trade it in for another life? Maybe for a few minutes but I'd miss these loonies too much.

(Thanks Barb for taking these pics last weekend)

Sunny Disposition

 I am so dang grateful that its sunny and warm outside! We play out back almost everyday. I'm so glad I can open the screen door, shoo them out there and call them inside for meals. The girls dig for worms and rolly pollies and overturn all the rocks in search of creatures. 

 Easter came and went with little fuss (I'm sorta anti-Santa/EasterBunny/Valentines). We went to church and had friends over for dinner and a fire.

 Ashlyn's curls were beautifully displayed for church on Sunday!

 Noah is a cute little explorer and dirt-eater! He bear crawls (no knees touching) and is starting to stand! So sweet.

The girls posed for a little hug. They have their moments of scratching/hitting/screaming but this was sweet.

(Look I posted!)

Quick Updates

I'm not going to let myself feel like a failure that I don't blog often enough. It was a fun priority that has been long ago pushed behind three kids, a home, a marriage, laundry, gardening and sleep.  Since those OTHER things have become grandeur in scale, the blog has been sadly, severely neglected. Apologies from the depth of my sleep -deprived, chore-battered soul (Not really, I don't feel guilty)

(Noah's dedication a few Sundays ago; settings were a little bright on my camera)

Ari, Ashlyn and Noah are thriving, to say the least. They are happy, healthy rambunctious little mess-makers who make Dan and me laugh all dang day.  They are growing, learning, exploring and coming into their own personalities and quirks.

In the old days when I could take a few HOURS to myself and journal, I would do 'updates' on myself and the things in my life. I'd very type-A categorize them into mental (happy or sad; in love or in denial etc), physical (how many 3 pointers or how far I've been running), spiritual (what God was doing and what I was struggling with), and relational (who I've been crushing, loving, hating and obsessing).  Seemed easy enough to do monthly "evaluations" or updates and when I reread my old journals, I LAUGH and cry at what was sooo vitally important back then. Oh the naivety.

Anyway. I'm not sure who reads this ole blog anymore but HI! I'm sorry we've been absent. Out making memories not remembering to document them. 

I've made it a goal to pull out the 'real' camera each week. Silly that I'm so blessed to have an I Phone that takes okay pictures and Instagram to document those said pictures in a very timely fashion.  But I also like taking real pictures and need to dust off the Canon once a week. So, this is my vow, I will try to take pictures once a week and post once a week. Ambitious?  A little.... But hold me to it! 

So, My quick updates. We'll go backwards

Noah Daniel- 10.5 months, 29.5 inches, 22 pounds, 8 teeth, a climber, explorer, great sleeper (except the month those teeth came thru), ticklish, sturdy, opinionated (read: loud when unhappy), adorable.  He's the star of the show sometimes as he sits and plays and giggles when you chase him. He's a little shy and definitely a mamas boy right now (no complaints, I love it) as he wants to be held or worn often.  Noah sleeps really well now that his teeth have come through, sometimes thru the night (hooray!) and if not, just waking once.  He is very tall (95th percentile) and loves to climb. I keep moving furniture to minimize his injuries but to no avail, he's received numerous face and head bruises.  He likes sweet potatoes, ham, blueberries, toast with almond butter and green smoothies (thankfully he figured out the straw thing). He naps on his tummy with his elephant "lovie" and smiles all day. Sweet Sweet boy.

Ashlyn Claire- 2 years, 9 months, 34lbs, 31inches?. Sooo dang funny. Fiesty, sturdy, rambunctious, rebellious, sweet, soft and gentle, exploring, quick thinker (faster than she can talk sometimes), smart. One word: "bunpaci". Whiny (!), such a cuddler, makes me laugh all day, plays so well by herself and is very creative about her play. She's the one who volunteers to get craft and draw or paint (much to her mother's dismay about the messes :/ )  Ashlyn is more cautious about doing daring things and is a tiny bit more dramatic about sickness and injury. She likes to dance and be crazy and make the silliest faces.  She likes to push her babies around and be a pretend mama. She asks to be prayed for and prays for others. The heart of compassion I see is wonderful.  She is a tiny bit shy, especially in new places but follows along with Ari's lead in talking to strangers without fear. Ashlyn loves movies and books and small objects (ha). She will hoard and carry around beads and babies for days without losing them. She's starting to go on the potty but we are taking a more hands off approach because of my failures with Ari (another post, another time). Ash is my fantastic sleeper. She sleeps 10 hours at night and a 2+ hour each afternoon!  She is becoming a big girl too fast though and when I see pics of her chunky baby self, I get really sad. 

Ari Taylor- 4 years 3 months. 36 lbs, 42 inches tall. Brave, smart, inquisitive, serious, explorer, argumentative, realistic, outgoing, thoughtful, kind, generous, a leader, a thinker who takes her time making decisions and doing things (could be age but I think its a personality trait too), a great alone-time player. She is *this close* to reading. Sounding out letters and doing her lessons each week. I'm learning not to push, she'll read when she's ready. We butt heads often; similar personalities. Both of us like to be right and get our way (humbling, I tell ya).  She's a sponge too, in those "Parrot Years" of learning facts and wanting to know ALL THE THINGS. There's very little quiet when it comes to her, she's always playing, creating, imagining, laughing, story telling, leading and bossing around. She will talk to ANYONE. Literally. A one-legged-homeless woman in the city...Ari walks up and says "Why do you only have one leg? And why does your dog have a muzzle?" (Insert embarrassed mother emoticon here).  I actually love hearing what she says to other people. I'm a homeschooling mom now and there is NO lack of socialization here. I take her places sometimes just to see what she will say to other people. Ari loves to dig for bugs and collect flowers and findings out back in the woods. She will spend hours digging up under rocks for bugs and creatures. She likes to play games, do puzzles, build forts, read/look at books, pretend everything from fairy unicorns to pirates to dead cats in a fire.  She is just at an amazing age. 

Noah 6 and 7 months!

(You are 8 months now but here's a quick update!)

Sorry buddy, we love you so much that we'd rather spend a few minutes extra with you than write a b
blog post!  I took pictures and wrote a few things down but time is flying so fast and I am stretched thin with responsibilities that my blogging seems to have taken a major break.

 You had no teeth at 6 months. I could tell you were teething and we all had colds and you got it and then got an ear infection.  We were laying low for a while, hanging out late at night and early in the morning.  You were rolling all over and scooting on your tummy. You started to eat solids and your favorites were bananas and sweet potatoes.  I let you chew on green beans a lot too! You were eager to eat anything that was on my plate!

At 7 months, you all of a sudden had two teeth and were crawling! Not yet a full crawl but enough to get around chasing the girls! After we overcame your colds and infections, you perked up and napped and slept better. Continued to eat more food and two more teeth popped on the bottom!

 You are a calm and somewhat shy baby, which I find immensely adorable.  You are starting to say dadda and other blabber words. You LOVE your sisters. Ari especially but I think its because she shows more interest in you than Ash.  You are extremely ticklish and love to crawl all over the place. You are a little stinker when it comes to eating paper, bouncy balls and beads...Yes, Ashlyn tugged on my leg the other day and said "Mommy, baby Noah ate my bead in his tummy all gone!"  Oh dear.

 I'm not sure of your stats... I know at the last appointment you were 18 pounds maybe? I'm not sure! It doesnt mean I love you less! I actually love you more because you sleep through the night most of the time ;) ;)

You are damn cute too. jeesh

Happy February! (Late Holiday Post)

Okay, I know I am way behind on updating and I debated whether to update or just start new with whatever was happening at the moment. It is hard to decipher the priority of my kids or my blog, ya know?! ;)

 Thanksgiving AND Christmas were in Charlotte this year! How convenient and lucky are we to not have to drive far!! It was crazy fun both times. 17 people for turkey, bonfires, food and laughter and 13 people for presents, games, food and popcorn!

In between the Holidays, we had inside days and sweet moments like this: 

Hallers and DeGeyters, we were glad you came! 

Ari's viewpoint

Last Sunday we were doing some house projects when Ari said she wanted to use my camera.  Fearing much but thinking she could, I let her have it for a little while. Here are some of her shots.  (I deleted the many pictures of the carpet and a stool).  

(I truly believe this is a perfect portrait of Ashlyn, secretly and sleepily sucking her paci downstairs):

Fall festivities

Halloween has come and gone. Thankfully. I do enjoy seeing the kids have fun dressing up and telling everyone about their costumes. I hate dislike the massive amounts of candy, the decorations and the hoopla. But whatever... Aren't they so cute in that picture above? Ashlyn loves to wear a lot of jewelry and outrageous outfits. Channeling her inner Fancy Nancy. Its adorable. AND Ari looks so grown up in those jeans.  Gosh, she'll be FOUR in like 50 some days. WHAT?!

First we had Laine's party at the Eakers where we dressed up (I don't think I took a single picture with my camera). Oops. Then we had croup and hospital stays. Then a brisk visit to the pumpkin patch and then home to carve them. Then a trip to Renovatus for our fall festival where we probably over did it in the cold weather being sick because Monday Ari slept until 1pm on the couch with a mild fever.  Then Tuesday rolled around and we were back in business, mostly. And we saved enough energy for two hours of trick or treating Thursday night.

So, here are some pics of the pumpkin patch.... Boring, I know. My typing time is limited around here.  I plan on taking a photo sesh of the girls in their costumes. My grandma did an amazing job on these huge tutus and we put them in all black and added wings and antennae.  Some people thought they were butterflies and some thought they were fairies. I just thought they were cute.  More pics to come, I hope!

 

Noah 5 months (Late)

This cutie turned 5 months old on Halloween.  We were busy eating candy and recovering from illnesses the past week so we got a tad behind. He was 5 months and four days in these pics! I apologize that Instagram has smothered my blog with a blanket.  It is much easier to post snippets of my daily life than it is to update this blog when my computer is very finicky and slow not to mention I'm missing the IKU letters on my keyboard. :)

But back to Noah... He's so stinking cute and calm.  Sweet and squrimy. Easy and predictable.  I'm a blessed mom of three.  He weighs in at more than 15 1/2 lbs and is over 27 inches tall.  He is chewing and slobbering on everything.  He likes to roll around on the floor and play with wooden chew toys.

He is getting much better about being in the car seat except when he wants to take a nap or is hungry. But hey, thats understandable!  We are all a bit cranky when we're hungry or tired.

He is currently recovering from a right inner ear infection.  It was difficult to tell the difference between teething symptoms (whiny, clingy, runny nose, diaper rash, low grade fever, eating less/frustrated eating) so when he finally started pulling on an ear, I took him in. Sure enough, pink amoxicillin for a few more days. Phew, glad he's starting to feel better. We've had someone sick in our house for 21 days now!  Seasons like this are great birth control.  :)

He is starting an amazing new trick and I'm so thrilled to watch him grow. He's mobile! I will set him down in one area and a few minutes later, through a series of rolls, scoots and crawls, he will be on the other side of the room!  He's "advanced" for his age in that he wants to keep up with his sisters!  Video below!