Frank

Meet Frank. Aben's best friend. Frank goes all sorts of places with Aben and always travels with him in his pockets. :)  It is frequently Frank's birthday and is needing us to sing him Happy Birthday. Frank likes to take a lot of naps too.

Aben one day found this gem on his dad's desk. It is a rubber holder for ear buds. He came up to me and said, "Mom, it is Frank's birthday." And then proceeded to sing to him. At first I was really confused and had to ask who he was singing to. He then showed me Frank, and said "Well, this is Frank. Of course. He is my friend!"

I just love the imagination of a 3 1/2 year old! He comes up with the cutest and silliest stories. But this one is one of my favorites. Frank has been a part of our family for over a month now. :) I'm curious to see how long Aben remembers Frank and continues to be his friend!

Noah: 18 months!!

I can't believe Noah is already 18 months old! He is a crazy kid and has definitely given us a run for our money. I remember when Aben was this age and thinking how grown up and big Aben was. Noah just seems so little still to me. But I guess that's because Aben is 3 1/2 and so Noah really is pretty little compared to Abe. I'm glad he still feels like my little baby because I am definitely not ready for a real little baby. With Aben, I was already 2 months pregnant. That just seems so overwhelming to me right now! I guess baby #3 will just have to wait a little longer. :)

Noah:

• Loves to sing "let it go"

• Really tries to repeat just about any word...he can usually get the sound about right with most words. He learns knew words everyday!
• Loves bath time still.
• Apparently really likes getting sick. He has been sick or teething pretty much since Halloween.
• One thing I love that he does is shrug his shoulders when he's trying to be cute. He also waves "hello" like they do on Little Rascals, with their hand under their chin. Cutest thing ever! 
• One of my, if not the absolute favorite thing Noah does is how he says "yeah". Whenever we ask if he wants to do this, or eat this, or that and he does, he says "yeah" will all the energy and happiness an 18 month old can offer. Every single time. He throws his arms up, yells "yeah", and usually jumps or turns in a circle. It is so cute and never gets old. My goal is to get his on video somehow! 
•  He loves playing and copying Aben. He especially loves sitting on Aben and wrestling with him.
• Is still a stink about sleeping. He started sleeping really good and all night, but then of course with getting sick all the time, he is off an on and now wakes up way too early and won't go back to sleep! (Unless you sleep with him....which is not something I enjoy). 
• I will admit...he has slept fairly well this last week. Knock on wood!!
• Is so picky about eating. The last week he has started to do better...but we'll see how long that lasts. I can usually get him to eat about 4 bites, and then he is done. 
• He loves loves loves milk. Likes water. And hates anything else, even juice or chocolate milk.
• He loves trying to jump. He's almost able to get off the ground now. :)
• Loves playing with cousins. We had so much fun over Christmas playing with everyone! He especially loves his grandmas and grandpas!
• He is really really shy. If he doesn't know you, don't talk to him. He will throw himself on the ground and cry. You know how when you go grocery shopping and you are checking out, the cashier will try to talk to you and your kids. Well, I hate it. Because the kids are usually pretty spent by then anyways, and then of course...Stranger danger! Noah starts crying and throws his head back, which then smacks into the cart so he cries harder. And I'm just sitting there amazed they are still trying to talk to him. Ha ha. I know they mean well, but man, it makes going out hard!
• He refuses to sit in a high chair, even when we go out to eat. He has to sit in a regular chair if we want him to eat at all. Plus, if forced into a high chair, he just screams the whole time and tries to climb out and usually just gets himself hurt or stuck. So we've given up on high chairs. Aben hated them, and Noah now hates them.
• Noah has definitely been a difficult kiddo in some aspects but he is just too dang cute to stay frustrated with. :) I guess we'll keep him! 

Here are some of my favorite pics since his birthday:

 I just love how Noah is layin' on his tummy propped up on his elbow like a big boy!

 Noah's favorite activity...getting into my fridge! (Sorry about how messy it was...I was just about to clean it out when this little guy took over the fridge).

 He absolutely loves playing with his brother at the park.

 We get a lot of snuggle time with daddy gone so much for school! I sure love my boys!

 We had so much fun at the pumpkin patch. The boys loved the train and Noah felt pretty cool and big sitting by himself next to Aben.

 You know how your kids never leave you alone when you want...like when you need to go to the bathroom. Well, this is Noah's favorite spot to sit and watch you use the restroom. He's too cute to kick out though, so I guess he can stay.

 Noah started walking in September and the big old knot on his head is from his first collision while walking on the sidewalk. Learning to walk is so hard! 

 He loves his apples but refuses to stay in the kitchen to eat them. He will just grab the whole apple and start eating it while he walks around the house. 

 This past fall, we went to a kids museum and the kiddos loved it! Noah loved sitting on these huge foam blocks. It was one of his favorite things to do. :)

This was probably his favorite though. They loved throwing the golf balls down this and watching them spin all the way down. I think we played at this spot for about 30 mins and then I had to pry the kids away from it. Good thing the foam blocks were close by! 

 This is Noah's 'snack' spot. Whenever he gets a snack...he wants to sit here. On our step stool. My silly boy!

 When daddy is home, they are both glued to his hip. They love reading stories and wrestling and just being crazy. They are always so happy to see him come home!

Happy Birthday: Noah 12 months!!!

Happy Birthday to this sweet boy!!!! He is such a fun and loving kiddo. We did a combined birthday party for him and Aben (those pictures will be posted another day :) ). We had a blast with good friends, good food, good cake, and fun in the water. Can't get much better than that!

Noah is now up to lots of trouble :). He loves finding new things to get into and thinks he's pretty cool doing it! He:

• Walks along furniture. He still doesn't stand up on his own in the middle of a room, but rather crawls to something to stand up with. He can stand on his own for a couple seconds...but as soon as he notices he isn't holding on to something and no one is holding on to him...he sits down. :) I think he will get a hang of walking quickly though. 
• He loves walking with his push toys
• Loves bath time still....but only for a  limited amount of time. :)
• Loves playing in the pool and doing 'swim lessons'. As soon as we get to the pool he starts crawling out as far as he can before going under. He actually doesn't mind getting his head in the water either so we definitely have to pay close attention to him. :) 
• Loves apples and bananas. Still will not eat any cheese though. Still loves his milk too!
• Is hit and miss with food. Some days he eats like a crazy kid and others he is as picky as can be.
• Is a great nap taker. His naps last about 2 hours if not longer sometimes. I love it! 
• Still wakes up at 6 to eat, but then will go back to sleep until 8:30 usually. Every now and then he won't go back to sleep. 
• Is always laughing, and those dimples are just to die for!
• Finally gives kisses! 
• Loves giving high fives
• Occasionally, when we ask Noah how old he is, he holds up one finger and smiles really big. It's so cute when we can get him to do it.
• Says: momma, dada, ya, shakes his head no, more (signing). 
• Can climb up the stairs...and thinks this is a hilarious game
• Can climb up onto the couch and can usually get off without diving head first. :)

I'm sure there are more 'new tricks', but that's plenty for now. :) He is a sweet little boy...and little being a key word :). He is only 19 pounds- 9% for weight and 20% for height. But I love my active, healthy, little boy! I guess Sean and I are bound to have the little kiddos...no Roley Polly kids for us! :)

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!