My Sweet Boys...

Is this not the cutest painting ever?!?

http://deborah-thomas.blogspot.com/2009/07/untitled-for-now_29.html

Deborah is so amazingly talented and look at what she did! I love it!!!

Awhile back she painted Noah...

http://deborah-thomas.blogspot.com/2009/03/bozo-clown.html

So cute, huh? I would have purchased that one, but Josh is just too afraid of clowns and said no:)

She is just soooo good at what she does! You should really check out her site, because some of her paintings are for sale on there!!!

Fore!

We had a visit yesterday from Josh's folks and the boys had a lot of fun!

Noah and Granddaddy had their first golf lesson! They got Noah the cutest little clubs and he thought he was so cool to be playing golf!

Andy enjoyed his time showing off his newest skill - pushing the Elmo car! He can go all the way from the playroom into the living room, running over other toys or whatever is in his way as he goes!

It was a fun day!

To update everyone on what my mention of my new crazy idea was a couple of posts back....I am doing this running program called C25K. Basically, couch to 5k! I did not want to mention too much about it until I knew if I really would follow through, but so far so good! I am excited to get out and get moving again and Josh is being so supportive and excited for me! I have gone out three nights in a row, am kind of sore, but just keep hoping I will continue to enjoy this as much as I am now! If I can continue this and keep up the training my first 5k will be in September! Wish me luck!

I love our boys!

This past month has been the busiest we have ever experienced. Getting settled in a new house with two boys is a huge chore. Thank you so much to everyone that helped us get moved and settled! We have just a handful of boxes left and I cannot wait to get pictures hung, etc. It is nice to feel like we are home again!

Since I have not posted that many pictures, mainly because of my lack of picture taking in the last month...here are some of my favorites off of my parents camera....

Andy playing in our new playroom with some new toys!

Andy swinging at camp ground playground where my folks stayed in their new RV
WOW, that is cold! Keeping Andy busy at our old house with a hunk of ice:)

That was not so bad!

Such a sweet face on such a sweet boy. He is such a joy!

OUR TWO BOYS! Playing in our old house...

Swinging together at the playground!

Noah, he has grown so much! Catching yet another fish! He is getting so good!

Playing in Lightning McQueen at Toys R Us! He LOVES Cars!

He was so excited over his Grampy's baseball cake - yum!

Noah on Lake Belton. I LOVE him so much and I love how he loves the outdoors! I think he would live outside if we let him:)

Thanks Mom & Dad for letting me steal your camera so I can update everyone on our sweet boys! We have been having a fun time the past couple of days! Late yesterday afternoon we went to the splash park and met some girls from a playgroup we joined, it was so nice to get to visit with other Mom's and let Noah play. This morning we went back to the splash park with Daddy and Andy got to get wet too! We had so much fun. Andy was very hesitant at first, but definitely got into it and totally soaked by the time we left!

I hope that you are all enjoying your weekend as much as we are!

Lately...

One of my all time favorite bloggers, MckMama, posted yesterday and I loved the format, so I thought I would do the same! If you do not read her blog, you should! She is so encouraging and has the cutest kids!

Lately I have been...

...slacking in the picture taking/posting department

...feeling a lot of Mommy Guilt over the lack of pictures!

...wishing that pile of boxes would magically disappear...but feels like there may finally be an end in sight!

...staying up way too late, my second born is too much like his Mama and is a major night owl

...anxious to restart weight watchers

...looking forward to my newest hair brained idea...more on that one later!

...playing in the sprinklers

...wearing clips in my hair and having a lot of fun with it!

...reading my favorite blogs and looking forward to decorating our house!

Now...if only we could find all our camera chargers...then I could take some pictures... sigh.

Mama Darren...

Noah really is cracking me up lately! I most often call Josh by his whole name, Joshua Darren. I always have. So Noah is big into what everything and everyone is named lately. At lunch yesterday, he was munching away and looked up and said something to me and followed it with "Okay, Mama Darren?" I wanted so bad to bust out laughing, but Noah is very sensitive at times to being laughed "at" so I just smiled and told him how cute he was, but that yes, his Daddy is named Joshua Darren, but Mama is Amy Jo....so then it was Mama Jo. SO funny.

We went to the mall to play and I met two really nice Mom's. Noah decided one of the ladies adorable little girls should be called Baby Tiny....I guess because she is a baby and is tiny? Funny kiddo!

His Name is Soup...

I get such a laugh over Noah. He truly could not be funnier if he tried! Yesterday we went to a pot luck lunch after church. Josh was sitting with Noah and Andy and I were together. One of the hostesses kiddos was sitting across the table from Josh and Noah eating soup. Noah kept pointing at the little boy saying "What's that?" Josh responded multiple times to the question with the answer of "Soup," thinking Noah was referring to the bowl and not the kid. After leaving I asked Noah, did you have fun? He said, "Yes, Mama, soup fun!" I thought, huh? I did not know he ate the soup! Josh said, nope, Noah did not eat the soup. I asked a couple more questions and Noah finally said "Boy fun, boy named Soup!" I seriously could not make these things up if I tried!

Cupcakes!

We have had a VERY busy weekend, which has been a lot of fun! We had some of our close friends and their kiddos over on Friday, which totally wore Noah out, then yesterday time at Josh's folks house, then this morning church and then a pot luck with more kids to play with! Noah slept for four hours this afternoon. When he woke up and we fixed his dinner he was not too happy. He finally calmed down and ate, but kept rubbing his eyes and whining. After he ate his dinner, I gave him one of the left over cupcakes from a batch he helped make for Darren's party yesterday. Noah took one bite, looked up at me with those big blue eyes as wide as they could go and said "Mama, look all better!!!" in the sweetest, happiest voice I have ever heard!!! Josh and I both busted out laughing. It was the cutest thing! That cupcake cured all his woes:)

A bit of news about Andy! Last night at dinner he only wanted my rice, not his pureed food. So tonight I boiled him some chicken and steamed some carrots...he ate those chopped up really tiny along with some more rice! It is hard to believe he is just nine months old. He is growing up way too fast!

Swimming good time!

We have had lots of birthday celebrations lately, from my Dad's 60th on the 13th to a belated celebration yesterday for Darren's birthday!

Happy Birthday to both our Dad's!!!

Our celebrations yesterday included swimming, which was a blast! Thankfully Noah slept great in his big boy bed and was rested enough to thoroughly enjoy himself!

Noah and Granddaddy getting ready for a nap!

Andy cuddling Grandma Judy!
Noah surprised everyone by showing some manners...like saying excuse me and thank you for dinner, and knowing things like the color turquoise and what a motorcycle is! You really never know what he will do, say or know! Makes me think daily of the song "Be Careful Little Eyes What You See!"

So much new!!!

I barely know where to begin!!! I will start with the newest news! Andy turned nine months old!!! He is such a sweetheart. LOVES to eat. His favorite things are perky-o's (gluten free cheerios) broken into bits and crackers, followed closely by ALL his fruits and veggies. He can pull up with absolute ease, take ten steps behind a push car, clapped once, just broke through with his fifth tooth, and says "What's that?" "ball" "Mama" and "duck" fairly regularly...with an occasional clock and book thrown in:) He is learning so fast and at least a hundred times a day he points and says "what's that?" I have a feeling he will be talking in sentences before long! He is definitely a Mama's boy. He does not like for me to get out of his sight, which is great for my ego, but definitely hard when I am trying to get things done! He is such an easy going kiddo, who rarely cries and tries so hard to get us to laugh!


AND....On to some HUGE news! Here is Noah, just a couple of hours ago!!!

I can hardly believe it...my big boy, in a big boy bed. Sheesh. He was so excited and so proud of himself! It is hard to believe that he is two and a half and sleeping in a toddler bed. Sigh. I love the second picture of him, so proud, under his Cars blanket laying on my black and cream toile pillow. He HAS to sleep with "Mama's" pillow. He is absolutely adamant. It does not matter which of my pillow cases it is, as long as it is floral...because that is how he knows it is mine. SO sweet.

I realize I have not even posted since Noah's surgery! Too much has been going on! We got to the hospital that morning and checked in. We went and sat in a waiting room made my the Ronald McDonald foundation. It was amazing. I feel like everytime I have a big scary moment in my life, I find myself in a Ronald McDonald sponsored place and I get comfort now from those surroundings. First, when I was a Senior in HS and went to Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and stayed at the house for a week, second when Noah was in the NICU at Texas Children's as a newborn and Josh and I stayed at Ronald McDonald...and now. They really had a nice facility to relax in. Once they called Noah back they gave him some versed. He immediately got very loopy and SO silly. He was hilarious! He was wearing the sweetest hospital gown with an adorable circus theme on it and would lay back, start laughing hysterically and would say "get down, be right back" attempt to sit up to fall back sleepily and bust out laughing again. It was so funny. They had the coolest toy, called the distractor, and he was enamored! It had huge lights and bubbles and a projector with fish. It was a life saver. He was loopy enough when they took him back that he went easily. They called Josh and I periodically throughout the surgery on our cell phone with updates from the ER, which was so nice. He did great and finished faster than was anticipated! They ended up putting one coil in his artery, but a small amount of blood is still getting by. We will go back on December 18th for a follow up echo to see if the tissue in that artery has closed around the coil. The doctor feels very certain that it will close up on its own in the next couple of years and another surgery will not be necessary! We really feel like our prayers have been answered!

We finally sold our house and moved out of both it and the apartment last week! We are renting a house in our new city and it is SO nice to get settled and unpacked after so many months of being between places! Noah has taken to the new house very quickly and tells everyone he "likes it" and his favorite rooms are "the playroom and Mama Daddy's room."

I have been TERRIBLE about taking pictures the last couple of weeks...so I will have to take some more to show how much these boys have grown! More updates coming soon!!!