Noah has an announcement!

He is going to be a big brother!!! The newest little Bailey is due in January. I know that a lot of you have been waiting for this post and/or wondering why I haven't been blogging in months...well now you know. We are so excited about our new addition! Hopefully some of the yucky 1st trimester stuff will end soon, and I will get better about posting about Noah's fun adventures. I know that I have a lot of catching up to do. :-) So here is the baby's blog debut. This picture is from my Dr's visit this past Monday.

Third of the March Posts...Smoke monsters

Noah got pretty sick in March. He was coughing, wheezing, and his asthma was acting up a bit...so he had to use his breathing machine 3 times a day for a while. Well, it has been a while since we've had to pull out the torture machine. I had to basically wrestle with Noah for 10 minutes to do 1 treatment...fyi wrestling isn't so good for coughing and wheezing. When Chris got home I told him that I just didn't know how I was going to make Noah do the machine 3 times a day. Well, of course, leave it to Daddy to make a "torture machine" fun. That's how Chris and Noah invented the Smoke Monster. While on the nebulizer, they will sit on the couch and be very calm until someone (me) walks into the room. Then Chris counts to 3 and they ROAR at the person. Smoke comes out of the mask...of course a little medicine is lost, but a lot more gets in than with my wrestling technique. It's really funny to have a masked 2 year old roaring at you.

Second of the March Posts...big trucks and beautiful grass

We also sodded our front yard in the month of March. Most of the yard was dead and our front and back yards were different types of grass, and the list goes on, but anyway...

Noah thought it was the best time of his life. We had a Bobcat at our house for 2 days, a dump truck for a morning, and a yard full of dirt for a whole day. There is nothing cooler for a 2 year old boy. I actually picked Noah up early from school so that he wouldn't miss the dump truck. :-) He sat on the front porch for hours. I brought him his lunch out there because he didn't want to miss a thing. Needless to say, there were no naps those 2 days. Here are some pictures from the big event, and thanks to the large amounts of rain that we have been getting, it still looks great!

Before and After...actually the grass is even greener now!

First of the March Posts...time with friends

We spend a lot of our time playing with friends...always a good time.

Noah and Sajan enjoying the ducks and geese at the nearby park .

Noah, Sajan and Libby at the Aquarium.

Seema is showing Sajan and Noah the cool fish.
If you can't tell, we are pretty much regulars at the Georgia Aquarium. It is such a priviledge to have it nearby.

February fun...

Well, since we have had so much going on and I haven't been blogging as I should. (the story of my life...) I thought that I would do Feb. and March as 1 post each with a brief glimpse of the events from those months. I will try to give a little more attention to the events over the last couple of weeks. I hope that you don't mind...

The 2nd half of February was kind of a blur. Abby was sick for most of February, which was pretty draining on all of us, physically and emotionally. (not to mention financially ;-) ) We did have fun in February as well... We went over to South Carolina to celebrate Ninen and Grandaddy's 60th anniversary and 80th birthdays. (That was Valentine's Day/ President's Day weekend.) It was a great time...here is a little slide show of the fun we had at the celebration.

Also, Noah turned 2 1/2 in February. He had his "Special Day" at school! Chris and I brought cupcakes to the class and stayed to hangout for a bit. They do a "Special Day Dance" with streamers...so cute. Apparently Noah really gets into it. He's such a funny little man.

Noah cheesing for the camera

This is the beginning of the "Special Day Dance." Everybody has streamers and runs in a circle. Noah thinks it's the best thing ever.

Noah's new aquatic friend...

I just thought that this picture was too cute not to post. We go to the Georgia Aquarium quite a bit; I think Noah is beginning to make friends.

I'll work on getting the other pictures from the last month posted.

Abby is finally back to her crazy self again.

We have been through a pretty crazy couple of weeks. The Abby portion of our craziness has been pretty trying on all of us. She was actually so sick that the vet didn't tell me how to get her back to normal life because he said that he didn't think that she was going to make it that long. Not very comforting words, but at lease he didn't tell me until after the fact when I was ready to reintroduce her normal dog food. All that to say, now Abby (as well as Noah) has a really special relationship with her vet, all the vet techs, and the receptionists. (we've been there many times over the past 2 weeks.) Noah has managed to make a receptionist tear up numerous times because of his love of his dog. Poor Abby has overcome hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (sp?), an allergic reaction to her anti nausea meds, and a couple of other nasty infections. Abby has finally re-entered her normal life. As of this morning, she is completely back on her dog food, and she only has 4 more antibiotic pills...woo hoo! ...such a little fighter.

This is Noah giving Abby one of his many pep talks.

If it's not one thing...

Our last 3 days have been jam packed.

1st the happy news...

I'm so proud of Noah and the way he has adjusted to his "big boy" bed. It has been a very difficult couple of days for all of us. Friday night, Noah got about 9 hours of sleep from 10pm-7am. (Chris and I were patting ourselves on the back. :-)) Saturday night, Noah only got 6-7 hours of sleep. (Noah and I ended up having a non-slumber party from 1am to 5am...not as fun as it sounds) After Saturday night, we decided that maybe the big boy bed just wasn't for us and thought we would try the brilliant idea of turning around the crib so that the lower side of the crib faced the wall. (We really did think it was a great idea!) Well, apparently Noah didn't get the memo that the tall side was now unclimbable because it took him less than 1 minute to get out. Oh well. The big boy bed was back. Chris and I were ready to hold our ground on Sunday night. Noah did fantastic. It only took 10 minutes to get him to bed (He did wake up from 4am to 6am, but that wasn't his fault...more on that in the next paragraph), and tonight I didn't even have to go and put him back into his bed. I have no idea how much sleep we will get tonight, but I'm hopeful. Here is a picture from last weekend of our big boy. I'll post pictures of his new bed later. Right now I need to get some sleep.

Now for the other...

Abby is very sick and will be staying at the vet's office tonight. She started getting sick Sat evening and still hasn't stopped getting sick. The worst of it was probably Sunday night. (around 4am...see previous paragraph) I spent the morning with Abby at our vet's office, and they couldn't figure out what is wrong. After blood work, X-rays, an IV, and an anti nausea injection Noah and I went to pick our sweet dog up. Only an hour after we got home she continued to be just as sick if not worse than before. The vet will be doing a Barium swallow test tomorrow morning. (unless she is suddenly better) The scene when we dropped Abby off this evening was just as bad as last week. Noah actually made the receptionist tear up because he kept saying "Abby don't go" Then I started tearing up because he was so broken hearted. I offered Ice Cream, and he said, "No, I want Abby." It was horrible! We are hoping that Abby is okay. Noah even said a prayer for her before he went to bed. (without me prompting him) He truly loves that dog!

Advice welcome...even if i hardly know you.

So, Noah learned a new trick yesterday. It was absolutely precious the first time, the second time it was pretty funny, the third time it was a little annoying, around the 20th time it was just down right rude.

Drumroll please...Noah climbed out of his crib. I know most 2 year olds have been doing this for some time, but we were very thankful that ours didn't see the need. His first escape was around 3:30 yesterday afternoon after his nap. I went upstairs to get him, and there he was with his blankey over his shoulder and a big grin on his face trying to close his bedroom door behind him. He looked at me with a huge grin and said, "I did it, momma! I got bankey and open door!" (yeah, that's not all you did little man.) Now he thinks it is a fantastic game. Another problem is that he can't get back into the crib, so my first attempts of telling him to get back into bed from the hall were met with "help, momma, help!" That was after I had already returned him to his bed countless times. (and I do mean countless) Once he got to sleep around 11 o'clock (way past my bedtime and his), he did stay there; so I am thankful for that.

Any ideas of how to get a 2 year old to stay in bed??? Does this mean the crib is a thing of the past?

Day 10...Valentine's Party

Noah went to Kendall and Rhett's house today for a little Valentine's celebration. He had lots of fun. Thank you, Melissa, for having us all over.

Here are pictures of Noah and his new friend Carter with Kendall checking things out and Noah and Grace getting ready to eat lunch. Good friends, good food, good fun! Sorry I didn't get better pictures of everybody.

Day 9...It was the worst of times; it was the best of times...

I know I said minimal words, but here is what happened today...

So, today was an emotional roller coaster for Noah. We dropped Abby off at the vet on our way to mother's morning out this morning. She needed her teeth cleaned and her yearly shots...no big deal right??? Well, apparently it was a HUGE deal to Noah. Honestly I thought that he would think it was really cool to have Abby in the car with us (which he did) and to take Abby to the doctor's (which he did) and that there were other doggies in the waiting room (which he did). That's about where the coolness stopped...
The very sweet vet tech took Abby back while I was signing her in because other dogs were arriving, and let's just say Abby doesn't make the best 1st impression with other dogs. Noah stood there staring at the door that Abby went into in what looked like panicked disbelief. Then he started crying uncontrollably and screaming, "Don't hurt Abby" and "Don't take Abby away" It was horrible. He really thought that they were taking his best friend from him. The receptionist then took Noah to the back to see that Abby was fine. He believed them that she was fine, but I think he still didn't trust that they were going to give her back. It actually took me 10-15 minutes to calm him down from the whole thing. I even handed him over to his teacher crying. Luckily they were celebrating Valentine's today and Noah is really into Valentine's Day, so the second he saw the bags for his cards he calmed down.

We finally picked Abby up from the vet around 5:00, and I have never seen a happier little boy or a happier dog. Noah actually danced circles around Abby while the vet tech was desperately trying to hold onto the leash. Too funny!

Here is a picture of Abby's homecoming. (You would think that she had been gone for a week.)

The doctor told us that Abby would be very thirsty when she got home. I think that Noah really took this to heart because he kept pointing to the water saying, "Drink, Abby, Drink." He's going to be a great Veterinarian one day. :-)

And the moral of this story, "Don't mess with a dog and her boy."

Day 8...Spring is just around the corner

Just some evidence that winter isn't here to stay! Can you believe that I have flowers in my front flower beds in February?!? Only in Georgia...

Day 7...Jumping with friends

We went to the "jumpy place" (as Noah calls it) with some friends. Noah always has a great time there. It has been a true life saver during some of these colder days.

When we first started going, Noah needed help climbing and wouldn't go down the big slide alone, but now he wants to do everything all by himself.

Noah still likes to go down the slide with friends if possible. Here are Treece, Libby and Noah going down the BIG slide with no help from the grown ups.

Day 6...Sunday morning comics

This is how we spend our early Sunday mornings. You should hear his commentaries. I love my little buddy!

Day 5...Noah and the Ladies

Sorry about the delay...We haven't had internet since Friday afternoon. ...so happy to be back online... These pictures should more than make up for it. :-)

Last Wednesday, Emma and Grace (and their mommas) came over to hang out. It was a really nice visit. The kids played, and the moms got to chat a bit over lunch. Apparently Noah has a real way with the ladies...such a little Romeo. :-) As long as a girl can play cars, she is in. I think the pictures pretty much speak for themselves. Check out the look on Emma's face as Noah puts the moves on Grace. I think I'm in for it with this one...

Day 4...Jammin' with Dad

This is actually a pretty common occurrence in my house, but I still smile everytime I see it.

My 2 favorite guys jammin' together.

Day 3...Noah's obsession

We found Stephen's and my old marble run while in Baltimore. Noah LOVED it! I was going to say that it bordered on obsession, but that would be an understatement. He dropped the marbles into the shoot over and over and over again. It occupied him for more than 30 minutes at a time...amazing for a 2 year old.

Day 2...the Baltimore update/ Christmas #2 continues...

After making Christmas cookies with Momma and Grammie, Noah couldn't wait to make cookies again with Nana.

Noah had to take a quick snack break before making the cookies. That boy REALLY loves oranges.

Ready to go...Apron...check. Stool...check. Big Smile...check.

The cookies are finally ready to eat. Nana and Noah display their beautiful cookies. (I'm loving Noah's new "cheese" face.)

Noah and Nana serving their special treats to Papa. Did I mention that we are so happy to have Dad home?!