Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Arrgghh Mateys!

This weekend Noah had his three year old birthday party! We had so much fun and most of his friends were able to come! About two months before the party I was looking for invitations. I thought we would do a cute frog or a little boy swimming since it was a pool party. Instead Noah looked at them and said, "I WANT THAT PIRATE"! I didn't even know he knew what a pirate was. Oh well, Pirate Party it would be! It turned out to be great. The ideas are endless for a Pirate Party. I ordered a HUGE pirate ship float off the Internet. Then I settled on a cake. (I always bake them myself.) We also filled up a pool with sand, hid treasure chests with gold candy in them (these were our goody bags). All in all the day was a success. Noah had so much fun that we had to drag him out of the pool along with his pirate ship that night! Here are some pictures....
























Thursday, July 23, 2009

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

Tonight Greg's company had their first company picnic at the Baron's game.




We had a really good time showing off our family to his co-workers.




Noah enjoyed playing in the kiddie park!






He also enjoyed meeting Babe Ruff and Lily Mays.





We had a fun picnic dinner!




Noah and his friends Mathew and Tyler could not get enough of Babe Ruff!




Even Cade got a little "Puppy Love."


Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Similar, Yet Oh So Very Different!

Cade is eleven weeks old! I can't even believe it! I guess it's time for me to slow down and take time to describe my precious 2 1/2 month old. Someday (I KNOW) I will want to remember these days but won't be able to.
In my opinion, Cade looks so much like Noah, but two children couldn't be more different in personalities. He is far more laid back. Noah came into the world stubborn and ready to put up a fight. He is strong willed and knows exactly what he wants and WILL NOT back down. Noah was colicky and fussy as a baby. I remember pacing the floor almost every night from about 5 until midnight trying to soothe my screaming child. Many tears were shed between the two of us. It also created a very strong bond. Oh how I adored that precious, crying baby. God has given me an extra dose of patience when it comes to dealing with Noah. He has a very creative imagination (not sure were he gets that from ;-) ) He is also cautious, but will do anything for a laugh (hmm... know anyone like that?). He is not the people pleaser that I have always been. He could care less what his daddy or I want him to do, he does what makes sense to him. I realize that right now these traits can be very trying. I am also extremely thankful for them because I believe he will be a man of tremendous character, a man that knows what is right, not because someone told him. A man that sticks to his guns. I'm so excited to watch him grow up.
On to Cade... from day one Cade has had a completely different temperament. Most of the time Cade is pretty reserved. He studies things with a worried expression. He seems to quietly sit back and take it all in. Cade soothes himself easily. He enjoys his downtime and loves for me to just lay him in his bed with his paci and let him drift quietly off to sleep. He has been easy to train and get into a schedule. When he was just two weeks old he slept through the night for the first time. This hasn't really stuck, but it does happen from time to time. Most nights he still wakes up about 4:00 to eat. These days I'm attempting to stick his paci back in and hope that he will fall back asleep. (Let me interrupt here and say that Noah didn't sleep through the night until well after his two year old birthday.) Cade is nursing very well. At his eight week checkup he weighed 13 lbs. He was in the 80th percentile for height and weight. He does not like taking a bottle. Fortunately, I am able to be there for most of his feedings, even when I am working. Cade already adores his older brother. He loves to lay in the floor on his play mat and stare over at his brother playing right beside him. Greg's mom tells me often that Cade thinks he's three too. This seems to be true seeing that he already tries to mimic his brother's behavior. One of our favorite games to play with Cade is "see what we can make brother do." Noah will raise his arm in the air and sure enough in a minute Cade's arm shoots up in the air. Noah will stick out his tongue and Cade does too. Today we discovered that when Noah shakes his head Cade also shakes his. I'm a little scared, this could get dangerous!
Cade has also already accomplished a developmental milestone. At ten weeks he rolled over for the first time. I laid him on his play mat on his tummy and then like an old pro he rolled from tummy to back. He actually did it several times for me that day, but anytime I tried to video or take a pic he didn't feel like performing. Unfortunately, Greg hasn't gotten to see him do this yet either. He's had to travel a lot lately. Hopefully, soon Cade will show off for his daddy.
Well I guess this post has gotten long enough. My sweet little one is crying (which by the way when he cries he sound like a little squealing pig.) Sorry, but he does :-)