Pics from the week

This sparkler represents one big step for Hope. Hope hates fireworks. All fireworks. Even the snakes that are just black foamy things that make no noise. John was determined to break her this week. He lit sparklers every night as she watched (and cried) from the window. On Friday he lit sparkler after sparkler, until she finally held one herself!!! I think she probably did at least 10 sparklers that night. The best part was hearing her just squeal with excitement. Good times!
Noah was 10 weeks old this week. Question, when do you stop counting in weeks? And why does 2 months sound older than 10 weeks? I am just trying to hold on to the little baby stage for as long as I possibly can. But, if I ever say "Noah is 93 weeks old today," please promise me that you will tell me it's time to stop!

I laughed out loud when I saw Hope's face in this picture!

Dodson Studio

John's good friend Adam is an amazing photographer. The wedding pictures he takes are always awesome. When I was pregnant with Noah, I really wanted to do one of his "Baby Mama" sessions, but didn't for 2 reasons. One is that Adam lives in Northwest Arkansa, and two, I wasn't sure I wanted to document the "giganticness" that was me.

When we headed to NWA a few weeks ago, I begged John to beg Adam to take some pictures of Noah. They are now posted to his blog! I am pretty sure it is illegal for me to copy his pictures to put on the blog, and I am pretty sure he checks this blog....so please go to his blog to see them! His link, Dodson Studio Blog is listed to the right, or go to www.dodsonstudioblog.com. Thanks Adam! I cracked up at the one with Noah's arm. Too funny. I can't wait to see more!

Oh, and if you are ever in Northwest Arkansas and need some photos taken, or if you are getting married soon, give Adam a call! He really is amazing!

These are a few of my favorite things

Warning: This is a very random post!



First of all, I love this new feature of blogger. I have my friends and favorite blogs listed to the right. Now, it also shows the title of their latest post, and (this is my favorite part) if lists them in the order that they were updated, so now I don't have to click on every blog on the list just to check to see if they have been updated! And it's kind of like a little competition to see who is on the top of the list. Surely you all know how competitive I am.



John and I have been talking about having a garage sale. We moved into a smaller house than what we had in Texas, so we have a lot of clutter. With the move plus the addition of Noah, we lost a lot of rooms. We lost our Guest Room,Office, the pantry, the dining room, and most importantly, the playroom. We love living where we are living, but still, we lost some space. You get the picture. Okay, back to the clutter. I have been feeling the need to simplify. We have too many pots, too many clothes, too many toys, too many desks, too many sippy cups. In thinking about all we could get rid of, I started thinking about everything I actually wanted to keep. So here is a list of my favorite material possessions (in no particular order.)

1. Pictures
2. Home videos
3. My Mama Lou's Bible (actually, we just discovered I had this, but I love it and it won't be misplaced again!)
4. The Bible John gave me the night before our wedding
5. The baptism gown and slip
6. The babies' coming home outfits
7. My camera I bought myself when I was having a pity party about moving to Texas
8. My favorite nursing bra (hey, it's hard to find a good one)
9. Hope's Ooh Ooh monkey (it's really hers, but I love that she loves him so)
10. The Peanut Shell (ok, it really belongs to Andrea)
11. My Yellow Box Flip Flops
12. My gray yoga pants that are soo thin because I wear them all the time. I have had them for about 12 years now.

I told you this post was random. Really random. Most of my things are sentimental things. I think this just confirms to me that stuff is just stuff. Stuff we can live without. Someone remind me of this if you see me checking out at Target!

Here is a picture of our VERY favorite things!

Now, those are the things John and I can't live without!

Happy 4th of July!

We have had a laid back 4th of July. Ross, you have not been far from our thoughts all day. We are very proud of you! Whenever you ask Hope what Uncle Ross is, she says "He's a Hero!" We love you and are counting down the days till you head home (~66!)

2 Month Check Up

Here are Noah's 2 Month Stats:

9 lbs 15 oz

22 and 1/4 inches

25th percentile for both height and weight

50th percentile for head circumference

Everything else looked great! He was not happy about the shots, and still seems to be hurting a little today. We have snuggled with him all day.

Hope got in a little sprinkler time this afternoon.

We went peach picking with "the cousins," Nenny, and Papa Paul this morning. It was so much fun. I am waiting for the pictures from Nenny's camera. She ate at least 5 whole peaches while we were picking them. At one point, she had three in her hand and was snack on all of them at the same time!

Kissy my Sissy

They really do seem to love eachother! Despite being woken up by eachother (they are both guilty of waking the other up!), stolen blankets, playing too rough, and swiped pacies! Let's pray they stay close as the number of offenses grows!

2 Months Old!

One Month

Two MonthsOne Month
Two Months

Crazy Crazy Crazy! Time has never flown so fast! This sweet boy is growing way too fast. I just want to slow time down! Here are some comparison pictures from one month old to two months old. It looks like the bear and "pretend Noah" are shrinking! I will update after his two month checkup on Tuesday!

A Noah-less outing

This afternoon we were trying to decide who wanted to take Hope to the pool, and who wanted to stay home with Noah. We really both wanted to go, but didn't want to take Noah out in the sun. So...Mimi to the rescue! She watched Noah while the three of us had a blast at the pool. Nenny taught Hope how to swim, really swim last week, and she was swimming like a fish today! She was so excited to show her daddy her new tricks! She would swim to us and then go right back under and swim again. We would have to stop her to make her catch her breath! She was so proud of herself! She enjoyed all the attention, and we all got a chuckle out of daddy's dive off the high dive! (Seriously, where is the camera when I need it?!) This is the only picture I got today, but trust me, we all really enjoyed our outing! And Noah enjoyed a little peace and quiet himself! We all missed him though, so it might be a while before we leave him again!

Thanks Michele

Thank You to my dear friend Michele for the new header for the blog! She is so good with those things! Check out the Bonewell blog on the links to the right. We miss you guys!

Over Stimulated?!

Noah's first time "playing" with his baby gym thing didn't last long! I walked away for a minute and came back to find him completely zonked! This was about 8:45 p.m. I put him to bed and he slept until 5 a.m.!

Sibling Rivalry

In a pinch, I used Hope's Little Mermaid Blanket to swaddle Noah. It was in the middle of the night, it was one of "Mimi's Perfect Swaddling Blankets" and most importantly, it was clean. When Hope woke up, she lost it! Totally flipped out. She could not believe Noah would take her blanket. I have since promised her that I will not use her special blankets without asking her first.

I think somehow he knows what just happened! Who could stay mad at a face like this?
By the way, You will soon be able to purchase Mimi's Perfect Swaddling Blankets, Nursing Cover-Ups, and Tutus...stay tuned for more details!

Real Smiles!

Fingers, Toes, A Sweet Face and One Super-Long Eyelash!

You can't make this stuff up

I took the kids to see John in North West Arkansas this week. We had fun swimming in the pool, getting to hang out with Adam, Cyndi and Jaxon, and a little shopping. Unfortunately, John got sick Friday night. Really sick. When he felt well enough to get on the road, we did. We made it about an hour before he got sick again. Outside of a gas station. He then went into the gas station, passed out, and a vending machine fell on top of him. Seriously. He is ok, just a little scraped up, which gives you all permission to laugh now. Including myself. He will come around to laughing about it soon enough.

On to much cuter subjects...here are some pictures of the kiddos this week. Noah is growing some chunky cheeks! Hope definitely has her own fashion sense with Daddy's basketball shoes and her swimsuit. She could barely pick her feet up in them!

Cinderella

Every Daddy with a little girl needs to watch this video by Steven Curtis Chapman.

We Are Back To Work!

Father's Day video 2007

Father's Day 2007

I made this video for John last Father's Day. I was not good enough to make a new one for this year...maybe next year!

Two Ladybug Friends

Our Little Ladybug found a little ladybug friend. She named her new friend "Sam."

Trip to VB

Saturday we went to wish Papa Roy a Happy Father's Day one day early. There were plans to ride a big train, and when they fell through, we decided to take Hope to Creekmore Park to ride the little train. It was a fun park and the best part was that you could ride the train for only 25 cents! I realize I didn't get any pictures of the actual train. Just pictures at the park!
















Here's Noah Red with the original RED! We think Papa Roy is pretty proud of his grandson.