Fun with Family

In May, the boys and I were able to spend 3 weeks in Utah and Idaho with family. Sean unfortunately had to stay for finals. He did get to meet up with us for about 5 days of the trip...it was definitely way fun seeing family, but so hard being away from Sean for so long. I'm so glad I am not a single mom. Even though I don't see Sean much with medical school going on, I still have his support and help. I gained a new appreciation for those single moms out there. It's hard! and I only had to do it for 2 1/2 weeks!

Flying alone is quite a challenge. Gratefully they were pretty amazing and even happy at some points!

I don't look forward to flying alone ever again. It's exhausting! And you get a lot of bad looks...."oh no, there's a mom with two kids BY HER SELF!!! Please don't let her seat be next to mine!" Yeah...I knew what they were all thinking...their faces said it all. But, they were surprisingly good. Aben was great for the most part...going through security was quit traumatic. But once we were settled on the plane, he loved it. Noah struggled at times, but luckily slept a lot!

First we went to Rupert to visit the Rutschkes:

He immediately found his favorite toy and went driving around. He loved mowing the lawn with Grandpa Rutschke and talked about it for about a week too! He loves playing with all his cousins there and they all had a blast.

Next we went to Salt Lake for my best friend from college, Erica's wedding:

 And we got to spend time with the Taylor cousins in Mapleton and Provo!:

 And of course enjoy some Rita's! 

Next we headed to Nampa to visit my parents:

Aben got to play with the cool toy lawn mower that blows bubbles and help Grandpa Taylor mow the lawn.

 We read stories with Grammy Taylor

We played with our friends really cool ginormous dog,

 Noah made silly faces, as he wasn't quite sure if he liked the big dog or not,

 We played at the Boise Zoo...

 and pretended we were turtles,

 and played on the merry-go-round. Aben loved that he got to ride the lion.

 Noah discovered is love of french fries.

 And Aben got to drive a cool jeep. The trip to the zoo was a definite success!

Noah just loves his grandparents!

We had such a fun trip, but next time... I don't think we will drive around quite so much! Next time, everyone will just have to come see us!! :)

Noah: 10 and 11 months!

 Noah at 10 months

Noah at 11 months

First of all, I cannot believe my little baby is already almost one! Why can't the time go this fast when you're pregnant?

Noah is such a joy. He is such a happy boy and has such a sweet disposition. He is happy to see everyone. He doesn't have much stranger-danger in him...except with men. :) When I went home Noah would go to just about anyone and would go happily. He loves people! But he is still a mama's boy and shows his love for me everyday. Oh how grateful I am for him!

Some of my favorite things he does now is:

• He loves when we say "Yay!" so he can smile and clap and bounce up and down. 
• Still prefers army crawling to regular crawling :). He has started to do a regular crawl if the toy he wants is close, but if he is going across the room... he chooses to army crawl.
• Loves food...especially if he can feed it to himself. 
• Is very sensitive to cold food...like cold fruit or cold water. He makes such a face and hates it!
• Loves his milk and knows how to sign for it. 
• Knows the sign for "more" but can't quite do the sign himself yet.
• Talks non stop still. He usually sticks with "dadadada" and "yayayaya" but I have got him to say "mamama" a handful of times finally!
• Can drink from a straw. I love it when they can finally do this!
• Can stand up using something to balance with. 
• Loves to take baths, especially if big brother is taking a bath too. They love playing together and splashing as much as possible! 

 This is how I found him after his nap one Sunday. What a silly boy!

 He had to come play peek-a-boo with me while I was eating breakfast. I was trying to eat a quiet and peaceful breakfast..I waited until after the kids ate so I could eat in peace and the kids could play. This little one had to come and disrupt my 'alone' time. I guess I can handle this face disturbing any quiet time of mine! 

 Loves watching the water fill up in the tub and loves his daddy!

 Needless to say, we now keep the bathroom door closed. 

 First time he stood up on his own. I guess with the right motivation, he will finally do something! ;)

Happy 11 months to this handsome fellow!