Boo!

He's from New Orleans.  His team is undefeated.  It's the next best thing to being an LSU football player. 

It's Peyton Manning.  What did you think... I was talking about a Saint?  I know it is kind of a cop out to once again dress Noah as a little football player.  In my defense, I did make a last ditch effort to pick up a more creative costume, but Noah emphatically turned down a fireman costume, an astronaut costume, and a pirate costume.  Thanks everyone for the ideas.  He did however tolerate this pair of football pants, and I do have two backup Colts t-shirts in case he bails on the jersey tonight.  He wore it to school this week, so I have a feeling all systems are a go for our first foray into trick or treating tonight.   

I have been practicing knocking on the door and saying "trick or treat" with Noah, so I hope to take him out to knock on a few doors tonight.  Our new neighborhood is extremely family centric, so I have a feeling we will be getting lots of trick or treaters tonight.  We went out to pick up some more candy today, defintely don't want to be the house that runs out.  Look what we found on our doorstep. 

We got BOO-ed.  How exciting is that.  We know so few people in the neighborhood that I seriously have NO idea who did it.  Anyway, we are going to enjoy our loot, and we look forward to seeing all the kiddies in costume tonight.  I wonder what will happen when Noah figures out there is straight sugar in that pixie stick. 

Happy Halloween!

**Update:  We've been BOO-ed twice.  How fun is that?!?

Family Friends

The thing about living away is that trips back home are usually pretty hectic.  It always seems like there is never enough time to visit everyone and the trips are always too short.  This time Dean took a couple extra days off work, so we got a chance to see some family that we haven't seen in quite a while.

This is Dean and his godfather, Parrin Don. 

This is Dean and his godchild, Don Jr.  It has been several years since we have seen them.  I thought about scrounging up an old photo, but Don is an 11-year old now, so I didn't want to embarass him.  But, I will tell you that I hear from Dean, he is a great football player and a terrific musician.  And, I can tell you that he is an awesome big brother.  His little sister calls him "My Don."  How cute is that?

This is his little sister Jenna.  She is six months older than Noah, and amazingly enough, we've only met her once.  Although, I did learn an awful lot about her in one day.  She likes chicken nuggets, no ketchup.  She likes to "drink high" (lift her sippy cup way up and tilt her head way back,) and she and I are friends.

She is super cute and can give Noah a run for his money in the action department. 

We are so glad we were able to catch up with you guys this weekend, and we can't wait for you to visit us in Texas. 

See Saw Marjorie Daw

The weather was beautiful this weekend in Louisiana, and we spent a lot of time outside.  Uncle Dean pulled himself away from the first half of the Saints game on Sunday to prove to his nieces and nephews that even though he doesn't see them all that often, he is still a ton of fun.

Who says grown men can't see saw?

The big boys finally found someone to give them a run for their money on the see saw.

Who is ready to go flying?

Pick me.  My turn.  I want to go again.  You just had a turn.  Please.  One more time.

Sorry Noah... you're a bit too little to fly like the big kids.  Better luck next time.

Tired of Birthdays

This weekend Dean and I celebrated our 30-plus birthdays.  We spent the weekend in Louisiana where we had a lot of late nights, a lot of early mornings, a lot of yummy food, a lot of catching up with family and friends and a lot of beautiful weather.  I am too tired from all the fun to finish sorting through all the pictures I took.  I am definitely too tired to come up with a cute and clever blog post.  But, at first glance, here are some of my favorites shots of the weekend.

I love this face.

I love seeing Noah with his cousins.  Noah's face is great in this picture.  Planning to do a little Photoshop with Katie and Seth.  Thanks for taking one for the team on the blog, guys!

I love how excited Noah is watching Morgan on the glider.

Mmmm... I loved these yummy steaks.  Thanks Dad!

I love this picture of Dean and his godson, Don.

I love this picture of Don's sweet sister Jenna who I begged all afternoon to let me take her picture until finally at about 9:30 PM, she said, "ok... you can take my picture now."

I love this picture of me and my BFF Care.  Thanks for coming to my birthday lunch.

I love this picture of Noah having so much fun being outside.

Grammy and the Greats

Noah had some special visitors this weekend. His Grammy along with his two great-grandmothers. It was a great visit. We did a little shopping. We did a little decorating. And, we did a lot of eating. I am still full after all the goodies that arrived with our guests. A dozen loaves of French bread from the best bakery. A dozen "shoe sole" pastries again from the best bakery. Several pounds of shrimp which soon turned into fried shrimp po-boys. Homemade cheesecake with pecan crust. A huge pot of beef stew courtesy of Uncle D. I need a nap just talking about it all. It was a really fun weekend. Thanks to all the Maws for making the drive.

Ready for shopping with his two "greats." Mama Gladys and Mama Ellen.

Grammy also encouraged Dean and I to take advantage and get out of the house... not once, but twice. Friday night we went out for dinner and Saturday night, it was dinner and a movie. Thanks Grammy for the push out the door.

It is also great to be around some fresh faces who can see the big changes our little man has been going through lately. I mean, is this great eye contact or what?!?

Wild Thing

Something is amiss in the sleep department at our house, and it is starting to disrupt our daytime routine. Noah has been having trouble going to sleep lately. Whether it is day or night, it is taking him anywhere between an hour and an hour and a half to actually fall asleep. Naptime has been hit or miss. I usually give him about an hour to try to work it out for naps, but after that I just call it a loss. So, either one of two things happens. 1. He doesn’t nap. He goes to bed that night super early, like six. He wakes up the next day super early, like six. Then, he is exhausted the next day. 2. He does nap, but not until late in the afternoon. He isn’t sleepy for bed until really late, like ten. He still wakes up super early, like six. Then he is exhausted the next day. Let me just put this out there… HE IS NOT DROPPING A NAP.

The result of this arbitrary sleep schedule is at times an extremely grumpy little boy. Tonight was a perfect example. Today was a nap day. An early morning wakeup call. An early morning nap. So, by early evening, Noah was done. I was trying to keep him up in time to hang with Daddy for a little while. He was having a snack of Cheese Its while sitting on one of the barstools in the kitchen. He scooted forward on the seat, and he slide off falling between the counter and the chair. He didn’t hit his head on the counter. He landed on his feet, then fell backwards onto his butt. He immediately got upset. Upset with the floor. Upset with his butt that hit the floor. Upset with the chair. Upset with me. I mean what did I do. So, he doesn’t just get upset, he gets upset and starts hitting. Well, it was more like swatting, but anyway, he hits the floor. He hits his butt. He hits the chair. He hits me. So, now that his anger has gone on for about five minutes, I am thinking it has more to do with the impulse of being upset than that he actually is hurt. He is now just a big ball of mad. I tried comforting him. I tried fussing him. I tried distracting him with a toy. A snack. I tried walking away from him. Nothing worked. So, I picked him up, put him in his room, and closed the door. He calmed down by himself, and I went in to see him. He was still mad at me, so bath time was fun. Sarcasm. Bedtime was early, but he still took about 1.5 to fall asleep.

It was one of those afternoons/evenings that I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know the best way to handle it. I didn’t know if I was doing the right thing. I was FRUSTRATED. So, I was really planning to do some web surfing, call some friends, get a game plan, and figure it out somehow. So, of course, I logged into Facebook. And, someone had posted this article.

Not to go all Oprah on you, but it was a total ah-ha moment. Not to mention how I love good writing, and it oh so cleverly ties into the “Where the Wild Things Are” theatre release. Which for the record, I have commented to Dean multiple times, “what is the big deal about this movie?” So judgmental, especially since I never even read the book. Maybe there is something to it after all. Anyway, I loved the excerpt from the book by Dr. Anthony Rao. In fact, it is already in my Amazon.com shopping cart.

Pictures From the Point & Shoot

Noah is 1 inch and 4.5 pounds from being over the weight/height limit for his big boy carseat. Who would have thought at 12 months that my 28 month old baby boy would be so big.

No it's not Christmas, but I figured my little boy deserved his very own bicycle. Noah is loving practicing riding up and down the hallways while Momma serenades him with "Bicycle Race" by Queen.

We spent some time catching up with old friends earlier this week. After lunch at Chick-fil-A, Noah, Aidan, and Olivia did some playing in the kiddie area. After feeling out the ground level, he ventured up to the upper level. Although, I don't think he liked it that much, I was so proud of my little guy for giving it a try all by himself.

In an effort to get into the Halloween spirit, Noah and I decorated pumpkin cookies this week. Here is Noah examining his handiwork. He was way more interested in the candy corns than the actual cookie. Momma was too. OK... there is something I like about Halloween.

Noah is so good about sitting down for mealtime lately, but he does like to choose where he eats. Lately, he likes to sit on the barstools at the counter. It is just about the cutest thing ever. Almost as cute as him drinking out of a juice box. Precious.

The Pressure of Halloween

I am not a huge Halloween fan. First, I hate all scary movies and I will even go as far to say I hate "it can happen to you" scary movies. Also, my birthday is in October, and growing up I can always remember wishing I could have a summer themed birthday party instead costume and pumpkin painting parties.

So, this year is still kind of a freebie year in terms of trick or treating. I am pretty sure that Noah will not quite get the whole thing. But, then there is school. Oh, dear sweet school. You are killing me. Singing songs about Halloween which Noah loves. Making spider arts and crafts which comes home in Noah's backpack. Planning a Halloween party which the little ones get to wear costumes.

Costumes. There you have it. The reason for all the pressure. I was going to take the easy way out and dress him as an LSU football player... again. The costume from last year is a 2T, and it was slightly big last Halloween, so I thought it had a chance. But, it doesn't, plus Noah tried to rip the paints from his body when he felt the slinky jersey material on his legs. Sigh.

I did some brainstorming over the weekend, and finally decided to order an astronaut costume complete with boots. I also found another LSU uniform as a back up. You can image my excitement today when all the packages arrived on my doorstep. Halloween costume. Check. I opened them all. Ready to try them out on Noah. Total disappointment. The astronaut costume is way too small, not too mention the windiest of windbreaker materials which is a big fat NO in Noah's book no matter what size. (I think he inherited this trait from his Uncle Jeff.) The boots are way to big. The LSU backup uniform is a 3T, but the t-shirt is way too small and the pants are way too big. Aarrgghh. Not only do I still have no Halloween costume, I have to return three separate items to three separate vendors IN THE MAIL. Double Aaarrgghh.

If you are possibly still reading at the end of this pointless and lengthy rant. Any ideas for costumes? Keep in mind the following list of criteria compiled by Momma and Noah. Must be suitable for 80 degree temperatures. No hats. No slinky, stretchy, uncomfortable material. Ok... the end.

Five Things Friday 10.2.09 - Totally Random

1. I have blog envy. My sister started a blog, and it's great. You can visit her here. 365 people who've made up her first 40 years. A countdown to forty. Not to toot my own horn, but I totally gave her the idea. Full disclosure. I didn't come up with the idea myself, but found it on another blog. What a great excercise in self expression. I am loving her posts, and I can't wait to see when I pop up on the list. You should follow along, maybe you'll be on it too.

2. Date night tonight. Woo hoo!

3. Our neighborhood is all new construction, so everyone has just moved here in the last couple years. Our house is on the corner, and just happens to be the bus stop. The school bus, not the metro. You wouldn't think I'd need to clarify, but my sister was confused. Did I mention you could check out her blog here. Anyway, I heard talking outside, peeked out the window, and saw about five ladies waiting for their kiddies to get off the bus. I didn't give myself time to think about it, I just opened the door, and said, "I figured since you hang out in front of my house every day, I might as well introduce myself." It was a little awkward, but they didn't seem to mind. And, I met some nice ladies.

4. I observed Noah at school this week. I felt like I was getting some mixed messages since on his paperwork being sent home every day, I was getting notes like... Noah was happy. Noah loved the playground. Noah loved playing trains. So, in my mind, he was doing better at rule following and less of a handful for his teachers. This wasn't the case. It was a great experience to observe him. I got to give some tips about using shorter phrasing and speaking more firmly to get him to understand and listen better. The highlight. I got to see Noah sitting down for snack and singing the prayer with all his classmates. It was so awesome, and if those teachers only knew how far he has progressed. Well, it was awesome. After spending the morning peeking through the classroom window, I can definitely say that Noah loves school, and really the hugs and kisses I get when I pick him up are totally worth the price of admission.

5. My camera is broken. Again. I think that the Nikon people really did not mean for their D40 to be tossed in a diaper bag or carried around on hips like a messenger bag on a daily basis. With all the bumping and jostling this baby has gone through...well, it's off to the shop again. I think I may have to invest in a point and shoot to tied me over. Any suggestions?