Merry Christmas!

This past week was a lot of fun! We went back to Houston to work around our house and took the time to do some shopping, see Santa, play in the backyard and eat gluten free pizza!

I was a bit nervous about going to see Santa. Noah's experience last year was not the greatest. This year he was so excited! After sitting in Santa's lap he ran back up to him and gave him a hug and a kiss. He is still telling me, a whole week later, "Mama, I kiss Santa." So sweet. Andy slept from the moment we left home until the moment we returned back home!
We had so much fun playing in the yard! Noah really seemed to enjoy running around and playing. His new favorite phrase is 'I fast." And he is right, he is VERY fast. He swang for a long time, played with his Grampy with a ball and bat for even longer. I took this picture while he was out in the yard. It is one of my new favorites.

Our sweet little Andy loves to laugh, coo and say "agoo." Noah loves to kiss him and say "agoo agoo" over and over to him. Or when Andy sneezes, Noah says "Achoo baby, achoo." Andy smiles when we go to pick him up now. It is one of the best feelings in the world!

And yes...I had to take a picture of this awesome sticker on the pizza box! I LOVE that it says, this pizza is gluten free!! SO danged cool. AND yummy too!
Noah is loving all the Christmas lights everywhere. We took him to the BLORA Nature in Lights in Belton and he was hilarious - he kept saying "lights, mores lights. choo choo train, santa, bear, ooooh lights." SO cute.

If I do not get a chance to post before Christmas, I truly hope that everyone enjoys their families and has a wonderful time!

"V V Hot Mama!"

Well, we are here in central Texas! It is hard to believe how much we have done and how much has changed in just the last few weeks! We listed our house for sale, moved, Josh started a new job and started looking for a new house while living in an apartment! Our apartment is much better than we all expected. Is plenty big and has plenty of storage. Allie is adjusting to life tethered to a leash and Noah has asked many times for "Out. Bat. Ball. House." Meaning he wants to go out in our backyard to play with his bat, ball and little house. We have quickly taken to water colors, markers, crayons, flashcards, and train sets to keep us busy! We have even learned some new songs! Noah's new favorites are Skidamarink a dink a dink, BINGO, and of course his old favorites of Bumble Bees, Wheels on the bus, BIBLE, etc.

Last week both boys got pretty sick and we made our first trip into town to find a pediatrician. 30 miles to the nearest pedi and 16 to the closest Wal-Mart is strange for this city girl. The offices were very nice and the staff very helpful, but not the same as Dr. Rahman...I even ended up calling her office for her opinion after getting an RSV diagnosis on both boys. Noah is doing almost 100% better and Andy is doing a lot better too. Andy is still very congested and has a huge cough, but I took him back today and they said his lungs sound nice and clear. And he is over 12 pounds and is over 23 inches!!! WOW!

So this past week has been an adventure. The first day here I decided that the 32 miles round trip to Wal-Mart would not happen often. I would stock up and then go as needed. I could use the local small store for perishables. I went to the Brookshire Brothers here in town and was SHOCKED to find GF pantry items and our tinkyada rice pasta!!! It is the small things in life that make me happy, and I practically did a dance in the middle of the aisle! I did go find the manager and said "thanks for carrying these items!" After checking out the sacker immediately started wheeling my cart out to the car. I was so surprised. Back home they only do that if you ask. So - I got out my tip money and he opened my car, unloaded the groceries and went to walk off. I stopped him, handed him the tip, and he looked at me like I had grown horns! I guess that is not customary here, but for this girl, tipping sackers is...I did marry someone that used to rely on them!!! Another pleasant surprise was at the CVS. Which I was shocked to find out this town had!!! They do not have a drive through, and the boys were sick and sleeping...so I was not going to go in to drop off the prescriptions. So when I called the lady to find out which town nearby has a drive thru pharmacy, she said she would come out and get it from me! I LOVE small town hospitality!

THEN...the mother of all amazing stories. I drive the boys to the big town 30 miles away this morning so Andy can see the pediatrician. We meet Josh in the parking lot so he can watch Noah and I can take Andy in. (since Noah was on the well side of this, we figured he did not need to go in and catch something else!) I go in and start registering Andy and the girl in front of me is doing the same. I just made small talk and asked if they were new in town. I noticed her boy was not much older than Noah and thought..."potential friend?... Through talking, I found out she not only had moved to the area just two weeks ago, but also moved thirty miles from where we were to the same small town we are in AND lives just four apartments down from us!!! UNBELIEVABLE! I was truly in the right place at the right time. We exchanged numbers and I cannot wait for our first playdate!

Now...for photos of our sweeties!!!!

Noah and Andy playing on the tummy time mat in our house prior to moving!

We have been so blessed to have visits with both sets of grandparents since we moved in! We truly enjoyed that time with everyone. I know Noah enjoyed it especially!!!

Last night we decided it was time to bake sugar cookies with Noah!!! He was such a big helper! He dumped the mix, tossed in the butter, poured in the milk and vanilla, cut out the shapes and picked the colors! We made gingerbread men, christmas trees, and stars...as Noah said "man, trees, and stars!"

I was so thankful the mix did not call for eggs! Noah decided the mix was VERY good and wanted to taste each cookie prior to baking!

Once we finished our decorating Josh and Noah went for a bath and the cookies finished before they did. When Noah got out I told him he had to wait a minute because the cookies were "Very Very Hot." Here is one of his beautiful creations. Note the finger swipe through the middle!!!

YUM! The finished product was TASTY!!!!
The best part was this morning. Josh got Noah out of bed and he came running to me saying "Cookie, Star, PLEASE!" Absolutely I thought! I have had many breakfasts of chocolate cake or brownies, so why not a cookie! The funniest part was when we took the cold container of cookies out of the fridge and handed one to Noah and he looked at me and said "V V hot Mama!" Yes Noah, very very hot:)

And a last picture of our sweet Andy to end this note. He was two months old yesterday!!! He has slept through the night four times now and is doing so well! He is laughing and cooing and loves peak a boo!

Happy Tuesday!