the hwangest time

this is a typical view of mine on road trips! thanks pappy for the dvd player!

i haven't posted anything lately on noah, poor kid! i think i've been obsessing over joshua because i just LOVE his age! that 12-18 month period is so fun. anyways, here is noah building the tallest tower yet! whenever i go out at night and leave the boys alone for more than an hour, i typically come home to a tall tower!

noah is loving preschool, his new bike (that will have to be a post soon!), and pretending he is superman. he flies around the yard, arms out and all, screaming, 'suuuupermaaannnnnn!' oh, and he loves this thing called a 'rody' that he bounces on all around the house.

good night! off to eat the final remants of my birthday cake. (i think i've eaten two bricks of cream cheese with this cake, so it's probably good it's gone!)

joshua gets hysterical when he gets to play on the floor with pillows and blankets!

just had to share........

(can anyone tell me how to put captions on photos? i still can't believe i'm blogging as technologically unsound as i am!)

so here are some new cute pictures. joshua has learned to climb up on the train table...yikes! and he's also loving books. some sweet photos that had to be shared.

have a great saturday!

"happy birthday mommy!"

i turned 31 today. i guess it was fitting that the cake did say mommy because i was overwhelmed with thankfulness over my two sweet boys.

another year has passed. this time last year i had a newborn and had no idea how i would survive the breastfeeding, sleeplessness, and neediness of TWO kids. i survived and even had fun, and now i just LOVE this second little boy (what a great age!) and ADORE my growing-older-all-the-time noah. he's such a funny kid.

so over coffee and the berenstain bears i smiled. married life isn't always easy, beginning a new career (jeff) isn't usually fun, and i often feel tired and lacking in purpose. BUT! overall we are so blessed! on days like today i remember the preciousness of life. God made me, even made me this way for a reason, and He likes me! Wow!!! there is great joy in remembering this. And, i must say, there is even a warmth and homeyness in folding laundry and playing chutes and ladders on one's birthday!

so even though joshua (poor guy!) got a 103 temperature this afternoon, and our plans were to eat pizza and drink a beer at my kitchen table for a birthday dinner, it's all good. growing older truly doesn't concern me in the least! each year brings clarity and added sweetness to my life. thank you God for another year. may i learn so much more in the next.

maybe a more proper introduction to this photo would be, 'my coffee PLEASE!' joshua looks so tired here.

we had all just woken up when i took this picture. it was our usual morning...plopping on the couch with joshua's warmed milk bottle, noah under a blanket with his bowl of dry 'big' cereal (quaker oatmeal squares) watching curious george, and me trying to wake up. after his bottle i plop joshua on the floor and he starts his begging for some of big brother's dry 'big' cereal and playing with his toys (this kid is SO easy!). he's starting to love books, so he had one of his faves today, 'goodnight moon.'

today was a little different, though! it's so cool outside--maybe even cold. for some reason i get a little giddy on the inside feeling the cool of the morning air outside blowing in. i love fall, and it's almost here. time for bear slippers and cozy turtle pajamas. thank you, dear Lord, for all of the seasons. it's amazing how i'm always ready for each new one to arrive.

i meant to add this to joshua's birthday post. as he's attacking his first ever cupcake, these adoring fans were cheering him on! so cute!
happy day!

so we had such a fun time yesterday at joshua's party! (i was feeling a little bit better though not as perky as i usually do.) yah-yah and aunt stephanie, along with daddy and noah made the party a hit! joshua enjoyed all his new toys and loved the balloons all over the house. friends came and hung out with us. pappy and lucius drove from charlotte to celebrate too. we're so excited that we've past the year mark, that joshua is so healthy and happy, and we are eager for the days ahead to watch him grow.

unfortunately we don't have many great photos from the party, but here is one of mommy and joshua (since we had such a bonding experience a year ago!) and here is one of us singing to him.

we start our new small group tonight so off to make homemade salsa (thanks clare!) for that rendez-vous. a blessed sunday to you all.

so i'm officially one of those moms that buys their children matching clothes. i have to admit...i never thought it would happen to me! but i saw these sweaters at target, in both of their sizes and had to get them! aren't they the cutest?

joshua will be one on friday so we're gearing up for a big celebration! we also had noah's first day of preschool today. he only went for an hour (ease-in schedule) but he's on his way home now. i'm sure it was a blast!

have a happy day!