Noah at Three months

Today Noah has been in our lives for 12 weeks...where has the time gone? He is so alert and ready to go, holding his head up and cooing a lot! He is 16 lbs now, I guess you can see it in his chubby kissable cheeks :-)

Walt Disney World Trip 2009

Here are some pictures from our family Walt Disney World trip 2009, in no particular order. The trip was fantastic, the kids did great on the plane (thanks for the prayers), I had a lot of family help, and it seemed to be the quickest week of my life so far. I am trying to remember on what day what we did, but they are all blending together right now.

Here is Noah after his first plane ride, he did great! We couldn't fit all five of us in one row, but on the way down the DVD player worked well, and the kids slept on the ride back.

Me and my brother Joe and sister Beau...
Renee and Daniel enjoying a some time at Magic Kingdom
A good photo of Kevin and me!
Daniel seemed to enjoy the different modes of transportation, the buses, trains, monorails, boats, cars, walking, running, and strollering.
Lightning McQueen...kachow!
Rachel had a bunch of cute Mickey ears photos.
Noah and Buddy...

It was a great trip, and there is a lot for us to take back with us, besides all the Disney stuff. We need to work better at getting Daniel to listen to us the first time, there were a few situations that he got hurt because he didn't listen the first time, and Rachel is on the eve of her 2nd birthday, so we are working through the tantrumy two stage with her.

And now onto fall, the putting away of the summer clothes, and the joy of the cooler weather, and apples and pumpkins. I will miss the days of just going outside without the jacket, but we have some nice jackets and fall clothes to go through so bring it on.

Me Too!!

We signed Daniel up for gymnastics again for the next few weeks. I found that he remembered a lot of the stuff he learned from it, and he even said it made him feel special. Wednesday the lessons started again, and when we got there the coach asked why I didn't sign Rachel up for it too. With my two month old in tow I said I didn't know if I could help out with Rachel and watch the little one, and she mentioned that they would help out and it wouldn't be a problem. So we tried it out and Rachel was a pro! She listened to the instructor, and was all over the different apparatus, jumping, crawling, running, just like the rest of them! Rachel's catch phrase is "Me Too", and it still surprises me how much she picks up and is able to do.

Rachel in the block pit.
I have been wanting to get back into jogging, so last weekend we bought a double jogging stroller off of Craigslist, to add to our single one, so we could take all three kids for a jog. We got this idea from the Thorson's, and we just run in the local cemeteries. We did it a few time this week after work, and it is a fun thing we can do with the kids without driving anywhere. The kids seem to enjoy it too, but it is getting a little cooler so we are going to need to bundle the kids up!

In the mean time Noah is now two months old, and really starting to show his personality. He has a little curl that forms on the top of his head, and he just wants to be a part of what the other two are doing. After Daniel and Rachel go to bed, I notice that Noah tends to coo and interact more, he finally gets a chance to talk!
Here are the kids playing at gymnastics, Rachel is in the lower right hand corner.

We have a very low key next few days, the quiet before our trip to Disney World. The plan is to pack this weekend, we need to start putting away the summer clothes anyways, and the countdown for the trip is on (I got that idea from the Libby's, we have the number of days left on the refrigerator so the kids hopefully have some concept of when the trip will happen). I am actually looking forward to the plane ride, yes it won't be easy, but Daniel and Rachel have their carry on luggage, and it is a joy to watch the new experiences through their eyes. But still, if you think of us next Thursday, send up a prayer for the family with three seat, and five people, on the early flight heading to Florida!

Making Up For Last Week

We all recovered from last week's sickness, and went full force into this week. I saw my friend Lisa who was in town visiting family, and hung out with her daughter and family for a little on Monday:

We visited with Olivia on Tuesday:

We got Rachel's hair cut and some great professional pictures taken on Wednesday. Noah's baby pictures were taken, we got a good one of all three kids, and we were able to squeeze in Rachel's 2 year old picture, I was so happy I almost cried.
Took a baking break on Thursday, and went to the zoo today!
Kevin is currently en route and will be home tonight. It was hard with Kevin away, but the time sure did fly by, and Diane helped me with so much, the time really did go quickly!

Diane leaves on Sunday and we will have a pretty relaxing Labor Day weekend. Daniel's gymnastics will start again next week, and we are in preparation for the next trip, so here's to another quick two weeks!

Kid's Commentary

I went to get a little video of just Noah, and it turned into a family affair. My voice was pretty raspy last week anyway, but it is funny to hear Daniel and Rachel interact without seeing them, and also just to see how Noah just takes it all in.

Weekly update

Here is a quick update from the week. We were surprised with a visit from our college friend Rex. He lives in Houston now with his family, and was in town for work. His wife is expecting a little boy early next year, so we gave him some baby boy practice.

The rest of the week we focused on getting over the colds and just relaxed after a very productive early part of the week.
Here is a movie time before bed. Lately Daniel has done better napping in a sleeping bag in the livingroom then in his bed, so that has been a good change this week. I am also picking up some time management tricks from Diane and feel a little less overwhelmed with the three of them, let's hope it lasts :-).
Here is Noah in a cute new outfit. It felt a little Fall-y this weekend, and with school starting back up and pumpkin flavored coffee out there no question that it is that time of year again.

Last week was the working week this week is the social one. We are meeting up with another college friend tomorrow, and have a few play dates set up now that we are feeling better. We miss you though Kevin, and can't wait to see you Friday!

Seven Weeks, Two Weeks, and One Cold

Noah is seven weeks old today, Kevin is gone for two weeks, and he left us with a cold that Rachel has and we are trying not to spread. It was a good weekend with Kevin's parents, we went to the beach with them, and Diane and I are having a very productive week so far. We made a whole bunch of meals, organized the kids clothes (very big), went through closets, and plan on organizing the kids toys next. Not to mention I have been able to nap, and am able to recharge a little while she is here.

Here are some pictures of the kids, it is looking like Noah's hair has a wave to it...and could it be that he will have blue eyes?!

We got the kids new underwear, and are still at the beginning stages of potty training Rachel. If we catch her, she will go in the potty, and of course she needed the princess underwear.

I just thought this was a cute pose. As we were organizing the kids clothes we found a winter hat that went with her summer outfit, so of course she put it on and we went for a walk. She is at the scrape your knees daily stage, but getting faster and faster every day. Do I have another little runner on my hands? Talking about running, I tried to go for a jog this morning, and it hurt, but it is a start.
Here is a peaceful Noah...and he weighs 13 lbs now. He is not in the 0-3 month clothes anymore, which is bittersweet, but he is such a good kid, it is fun to watch him develop his own personality and smile at us.
I know the kids miss daddy, but they go downstairs and look for Memere every morning, and it helps out a lot. I have a lot of things on my laundry list of things to do, and I may actually get a bunch of stuff done this week!