Happy Valentine's!

Happy Valentine's Day! We have had a really great day. I have been recovering from pneumonia and Noah a tummy bug, but today we are all doing fantastic! The boys worked hard on their Valentine's for their school party today. Andy was so cute. As he worked on them he said "Mama, look at my Thanksgivingtimes!" Oh it cracked me up! Andy worked so hard on his Valentine's. He wrote his name on many and truly made from scratch nine Valentine's! He loves crafty things and it is just so fun to see him pay so much attention to something. He normally has a very short attention span, so it was really fun!

On Sunday night Noah went to sleep sad that my roses he and Josh got me were dying. He was sound asleep when Andy and Josh got home with more roses. Josh said Andy saw them at the store and said "Mama's roses are dead, more will make her feel better!" Andy picked gorgeous roses...Noah was so excited to see the new ones. He told me all girls should have roses:) Josh is teaching them well:)

Today at school drop off I got to see a sweet cousin/friend that I have missed while I have been sick! I got to snuggle her new baby girl for a couple of minutes. On the way home from school Noah said "Mama, baby C is just so cute! She is so cute that it makes my blue eyes into a heart!" Oh he comes up with some doozies! Then while looking through all his fun Valentine's he got one from a certain little girl in class. He seriously clutched it to his little chest and said "Oh Mama, I am going to keep it forever!" Then as I sit on the couch he looked over and said "Mama, your tummy is getting so big! I guess soon your shirt will not cover your tummy and your belly will be hanging out like Mr. Smee!" I definitely reassured him I WILL buy bigger shirts as his baby sister continues to grow. Ha!

I am sitting here now with my two littlest Valentine's, waiting for Daddy to come home to celebrate! So fun!

Funny things...

I think every day about blogging, but then choose to rest instead! But now I realize how many cute and funny things I am forgetting to write down that the boys say. They have been cracking me up lately!

Yesterday Andy had a bad earache. We laid down together on his bed and he said "Mama, you're the best cuddler ever!" Then he said "You're the pwettiest Mama ever." Oh man, that makes a Mommy feel good! As we lay there he said Mama, does your back have itches? Since my back has been itching constantly since found out I was pregnant, my answer was definitely YES! He laid and scratched my back til we both fell asleep. It was so sweet. I got up a couple of minutes later to find Noah, who was playing toys VERY loudly in the living room. I really was in need of a nap and some Noah cuddles too. We laid down in bed and he was so wiggly. Every breath he jumped or twitched. I asked him to just be still for twenty minutes. It was cute, a couple of minutes later he said "Has it been twenty?" I said no. He said "Nineteen or eighteen?" I loved that! He is just learning so much and to be able to think of numbers backwards cracks me up.

On car rides lately all Noah wants to do is count. He loves that he can count to 100 and does it as often as he thinks about it. He asked Josh "Can you count to a million, what about a billion?" We did not even know he knew about a billion!

Noah is also full of really good questions. He was asking me the other day "How long does it take the coral in the ocean to grow? And do scuba dibers (divers) get scared under the water?" Sometimes his questions blow me away. Truthfully I did not know he knew about coral!

We are all super duper excited. We find out Friday if our little one is a boy or a girl. Noah is pretty adamant it is a girl, he wants to call her sissy, and he always says her or she in referring to the baby. I really would love another boy or a girl. I will be happy with whatever little one God decided was right for our family, but it is hard to hear someone saying her and she so often and not think of the baby as that gender yourself! Funny!! Josh took Friday off and he, the boys and I will all get to see the big ultrasound. I am so excited to have all three of them there. I truly cannot imagine how special that will be!

So many updates!

Well, where do I start? So much has changed since I last posted:)

First things first....

We are expecting our third little one! We are SO super excited! Josh and I feel so blessed to have this little one on the way, this upcoming June. The boys are SO excited too. Andy lays his sweet little hand on my tummy often wanting to know if the baby is still in there. Noah talks about it all the time too. I love how excited they are and I know they will be fantastic to this little bean!

My first trimester is over. I a tad relieved. The exhaustion and nausea were a little overwhelming. On top of that Josh had knee surgery in October and could not drive for eight weeks, so I drove him a lot to appointments, work some (thankfully some sweet work friends stepped in and help a TON with that) and then to Oklahoma and Louisiana for his work. Josh can now drive and I can now go most days without feeling like a walking zombie! I still have a few major food aversions. I hope they go away, because it really limits what our family is eating in the meat department. But I just cannot handle the smell or the thought!

Andy has learned now how to write almost all of his letters. He is so proud of himself about it too. Noah's 5th birthday is next month and that just blows me away! Where has the time gone?! He has such a sweet heart. If he starts getting over excited or hyper all I have to do is just visit with him quietly about how I know he wants to be behaving and he usually starts acting nicely. It is so neat to see that change in him and how badly he wants to please me. What a good boy! Andy is so funny. He LOVES reading now, which is amazing, because he does not sit still for much. One of his favorite books is Going on a Bear Hunt. It is so sweet to hear Noah and Andy both saying the words "Going on a bear hunt. Gonna catch a big one. Such a beautiful day. We're not scared!" But my favorite is when they say the over it, under and then say with a hand motion "We've gotta go through it!" SO cute!

Andy also really loves the book Guess How Much I Love You. He ALWAYS reads along with me miling and at the end says "Mama, I love you to a cannon ball and back!" SOOOO funny and SO cute:)

Well...working on Christmas gifts today. Resting on the couch while my folks have the boys. Wishing the house was clean, but figuring someday I will get it that way again:) Happy Holidays!

Happy 3rd Birthday Andy!

Our dear sweet Andy. You are truly one of the two brightest apples of my eye. You and your brother both are so important to me. Each and every moment of every day I get to spend with you is such a blessing. I miss you terribly for the couple of hours a week you are at school and my heart swells when you run into my arms saying you missed me and are ready to go home. Each day as we get in the car you ask me "Mama, what was your day like?" You truly care. You have such a big heart and such a caring personality. It is so obvious how much you love your Mama and your Daddy. Or lately, as you have been saying your Mommy and your Dad.

The years have blown by. I look at how quickly you have reached three, how quickly Noah has reached four and realize these are truly the best days of my life. Having you two home with me. I am so lucky. I am so blessed. All because of you two and your Daddy. Thank you for that sweet pea!

Your favorite things lately are legos, anything chocolate, drawing and coloring, practicing writing your letters (A, H, T, F, X, and O) and riding on the toys in the yard. Most of all though, you love your red crab sandbox. You could stay in it all day if I let you. Your favorite foods are pizza, fettuccine alfredo, goldfish, and tiny oranges. Your favorite color is yellow. You have a yellow room, yellow shoes, yellow clothes, and you say you even have yellow hair:) I love that about you! You decide you want or like something and you stick with it! It is adorable! Tonight you were sitting on the couch with your Daddy and I. We were looking through your baby things. Your bracelet from the hospital. Your take home outfit, the sweet little hat, shirt and blanket from the hospital. After seeing the tiny diaper, you looked at me and said "Oh, I was just a little baby doll." It was such a sweet thought you had, and such a true statement. Our sweet baby doll.

When out taking your picture the other day, you saw flowers. You just KNEW your Mama needed a yellow flower. I love that every time you see flowers you pick them for me:)

You just think I am still so funny! I love that! I love laughing with you and playing with you. You have such an infectious and fun laugh!

You are so handsome!!! You have grown so much in the last year and I just love you absolutely to pieces! I wish I could pause time and enjoy this time with you even longer, but am so blessed to get to spend each day with you:)

Just thinking back to the past year, it amazes me how much you have grown and changed! Our sweet Andy at age. 2.

Age 1...so tiny!!!

We love you so much our sweet three year old! Words cannot express how much we love you and how much we love spending time with you!!! HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY ANDY!

It's Raining It's Pouring!

About a week ago we got a few droplets of rain. Noah quickly ran outside to see if he could feel it hitting his face:) A couple of nights before that we had a brief downpour, but Josh, the boys and I were at the movies seeing the Lion King. (that was SO fun!) We were all a tad sad we had missed the highly anticipated rain, but were so pleased to have a few droplets to enjoy!!!!

Last night was super exciting though! I had just put the boys in bed and heard a loud crash, boom, smack on the back porch. The boys flew out of bed and I flipped on the light to see a big gust of wind had flipped over our two rocking chairs and the hanging swing was smacking the post on our porch. The lightning was wild and the storm lasted for about an hour! We were super excited to finally have a bit of rain. Driving through the neighborhood this morning we were amazed how tall all the weeds in the yards had grown just overnight! They must have really wanted rain too:)

When brother is away Andy will play....

This fall has brought about a big change in our household. Noah has started pre-K three mornings a week. Andy goes two mornings a week, meaning each Wednesday is just a Mama and Andy day. Each Wednesday we go to storytime, then we come home and Andy plays and plays and plays. There is such a difference in his personality. He seems much more independent and has a ton of confidence in himself. He really loves driving McQueen around the yard with his Super Why cape on:) That cape has made many trips to HEB and Target! He is such a fun almost three year old!

Mr. Andy Man

Oh Andy. It is hard to believe our sweet Anderson is about to be 3. I am seriously emotional over this. H.O.W. in the world is my baby almost three? Where has the time gone? Why do I feel like it flew by and I want to slow the time down? It seriously makes my heart skip a beat to think of him as a 3 year old. I just love him so much and want him home forever. BUT I know that will not happen, but man alive I love this kid!

Our little Andy man. Man of many names. Andyman, Andypants, Anderson, Andy, And (which is the ONLY name Noah really calls him!), buster, lovebug, sweetie pie, and cutie. This little Andy man is seriously determined. I love that about him. It can be trying, but it is such an amazing part of his personality. Josh and I noticed this about him from the moment he could show us what he wanted. From the throwing up in his crib the MOMENT the door shut. No crying had even happened, it was like he just willed himself to throw up because he just KNEW I would open that door and rescue him. (he was seriously not even a year old!) Then he started talking...and anytime he would want something he would say it over and over. For example... "Milk. Milk. Milk. Milk" until he was acknowledged. Or he would repeat Thank You over and over til her heard a 'You're Welcome.' And now, this persistence is even more prevalent. A big part of that rubs Noah the wrong way, but another big part of it just amazes me. Take for instance tonight.... we had a big day. Noah had a soccer game (he scored his FIRST goal today! He ran down the whole length of the field with that ball, tripped and his head butted it right into the other teams net! It was so exciting to see him get that kind of control over the ball, I was SO proud!) we also went to lunch with my Dad, ran an errand, and did a bunch of projects and chores around the house. Andy took a nap, but even with that still falls asleep around 8:30 or so normally. Well...I mentioned Josh was coming home. He had been out of town with his Dad and he was on his way back. I slipped and mentioned his coming home in front of Andy before he went to sleep. Andy seriously is still awake at 10:58. Josh got home 15 minutes ago and Andy was waiting up for him. Singing songs, looking at books, anything he could do so he would not fall asleep because he wanted his Daddy. That is SO late for a little guy, it is amazing the will it took and the determination to stay up! Although at times I get frustrated by his persistence, I really need to focus on the amazing qualities of it. Plus, it is just an integral part of who our little Andy man is!