Fireman Sam and Mother's Day

Uncle Sam has been visiting us this weekend. My kids always love to see Uncle Sam, but I think he and Noah really bonded this weekend. Noah's favorite show right now is "Fireman Sam." It's on Netflix, and he loooooves it. John might have mentioned to Sam about the show, because when they picked up Sam from the airport Thursday, Sam sang the theme song for Noah! From then on, Noah called Sam "Fireman Sam" all weekend. Never just Sam. It was always, "Come on Fireman Sam." "Let's go Fireman Sam." "Where's Fireman Sam?" And Uncle Sam brought Noah some fireman tools, making him the coolest Uncle Fireman Sam ever.

So, Uncle Sam was here for Mother's Day. We are pretty sure he has been with us for another Mother's Day as well. We went to the Fort Worth Zoo for the day. It was a beautiful, hot day, and clearly we were not the only ones who thought it would be a good idea. It was pretty crowded. We have never taken Noah or Emmy to the Ft. Worth Zoo, which seems crazy as much time as we used to spend there when we lived here before. Now we live about an hour from the zoo, so it is just a trek we haven't set out on since moving back. It was fun to see Hope back there and think about her being Noah's age when we were there last. There was a hippo that scared her so bad when she was 2, and she still remembers what happened. I am happy to report she is over her fear of hippos now and went right over and watched them with her daddy.

Noah. Noah, Noah, Noah. He is a runner. I would like to give him the freedom of walking beside us, but he runs away every time. I can't get through to him that it's not ok to run away. We kept putting him back in his stroller when he ran away, but he never got it, because when he would get down again, he was gone. And repeat.

Here's Noah looking up to Fireman Sam

Uncle Fireman Sam with the bigs.

 My big girl.

 Oh, Noah.

 Emmy's first Carousel ride!

 Ummm. A skunk in front of Red's doghouse? Fitting for Noah Red.

 Some alligator humor.

 My baby girl. With 2 teeth!!!

 The Men.

 Trying to get a decent pic with my 3 babies on Mother's Day. Unsuccessful.

I brought the girls home while the boys took Sam to the airport. Hope made me dinner. Wheaties! Sweet girl. She offered to make me ham and cheese roll ups, cereal, or a nutella sandwich. It was a tough choice! :)

Emmy, are you Daddy's Baby?

If you are around our family much, you might have seen us ask our kiddos in a playful way who's baby are they? Are you Mommy's Baby? Yes! or, you might have heard Noah say "I sorry to tell ya, I Mommy's Baby!" And you might even remember when Hope would say, "I regret to inform you, I'm Mommy's Baby!" Obviously we feed them these lines so much, they are ingrained! Well, Emmy has already given her answer on the matter, and I think we should just leave it at that!

Please also notice that she can completely do the spIits and check out that army crawl!

My Noah Red is THREE!

3 years ago, my life was changed when I met this baby boy. This boy has my heart. I know I have said it before, I love all my kids equally, but differently. I can't describe my relationship with Noah. I guess it's true what they say about Mommys and their boys.

 Noah, at 3 years old, you want so badly to be independent. You want to do what Hope does, you want to put your shoes on by yourself, you want to get in the car by yourself, and you want to get out on your own terms, you want "My do it." But, Noah, at the same time, you are so very dependent! You need your mommy, you want to be held and snuggled, you don't want daddy to go to work, you want "Mommy do it." It is a tough road to walk right now. And sometimes I feel like I am walking on eggshells around you!

 You love fiercely, my boy. Once someone makes it into your circle, you make them feel so special. I am so happy to be in the circle. You love your daddy, a lot too, and it's been fun to see your relationship grow with him lately. I know the two of you will soon be inseparable, so I'm happy to still be in the circle. You hug like no other. You mean it when you hug. It might be my favorite thing.

 Your sisters love you. I think you love them :) You do, you just don't want them to touch anything. Not your toys, not their toys, not your food, not their food, not each other, and certainly not your mommy. Ahhh, brings back memories of my siblings. "He's touching me!" is what Papa Paul says I used to say all the time. You, however say, "She's doing that." Which could be multiple offenses.

 You love to run! You are your happiest when you are on the loose! If you understood minded when I asked you to come back, I would let you run free a lot more. Right now, though, you run away! And I mean run! Uncle Wes says you look like a cartoon character when you run. Your upper body is still, but your legs are moving so fast they are a blurrrr!

 You love music! You have several guitars, drums, etc, and I am convinced you wouldn't mind if we got rid of every other toy you own besides those and your beloved Wiggles toys. And maybe a train or two.

 You are silly! You crack us up. You make up songs, you make up knock knock jokes (ok, knock knock joke), make funny faces, and you have the best laugh I have ever heard. It makes my heart smile.

 You are sneaky! You go wherever you aren't supposed to. We have had to Noah proof the house. You have escaped through the front door, opening both locks. You climb in the refrigerator to reach whatever your heart desires at any given moment. You ruin makeup. You write on walls. You take trash out of the trash can. You jump on the bed. You play in the potty. You climb on tables. You take off your clothes. You use your baby sister as a drum. It definitely works in your favor that you are so cute.

You are mine. I wouldn't trade you for the world. Thank you God for Noah Red.