The Noe Family

Summer '09

2009-08-24T23:29:00.009-04:00

Playing with cousins!
The cousins, minus 3 of them!
My brothers and the spouses!
Doesn't he clean up nice!
My big 4 year old!!
Typical day in the life of Carson!
The best family picture we got at the beach!
The sexy dads!
Chillaxin'!
The sexy Mommas!
Good thing he has his floaties on in that deep water!
Piddlin'!
A quiet dinner at the Gaylord!
Lookin' good for 10 years:-)
My favorite picture of the summer!
Not sure what this is?
Just playing in the sprinkler!
Oh me oh my, where do I begin? It's been forever since I've been motivated to update this blog! I noticed on my front page of the blog that I've posted something 192 times! I've been blogging since Hayden was born in 2005 and I feel like I've been having a bit of a brain fart! With an almost 4 year old and one nearing 2, you'd think I'd have tons to blog about! So where do I begin? I'll start in April/May with Matt being involved in his 5th MS 150. He wanted to raise a lot of money this year and set his goals high! $5,000 was his goal. With the help of Facebook and a casino party fundraiser, he raised around $5500! We didn't even send out fundraising letters this year! Matt wanted to think of a unique fundraiser this year and with the help of my dear friend Kimberly, we hired a casino company, dressed in our fanciest get ups and raised a lot of money! After the MS 150, we started looking forward to our annual Galveston trip with friends. This year was a blast! Yes, even with 10 adults and 9 kids under 5, we survived! In June, Matt and I celebrated 10 years of marriage at the Gaylord while the kids were at Mimi and Pawpaw camp with the cousins. Then the rest of the summer has been spent trying to stay cool, going to the pool and all that jazz. I start teacher inservice on Wednesday and Thursday, have meet the teacher on Thursday night and school starts on the 1st. Carson is in a class this year instead of the teacher's infant room and he's so excited about having a back pack, lunch box, and nap mat! Hayden will be in the big 4 year old class and he's excited that his bud Noah will be in his class. I'm teaching the oldest 13 kids in the school and I've been getting stuff together for that. Hayden also turns 4 on Friday so we are having the big Chuck E Cheese party that they all have to have! So, there's the past 4 months in a small nut shell. On to a ton of pictures.......

Bueller? Bueller??

2009-08-18T23:50:00.002-04:00

Ok, I do still stalk blogs even though I'm obsessed with Facebook. Before I do a marathon post....is anyone out there still dropping by the Noe Wonder blog? Give me a shout if you are. If I get zero comments, back to FB I go:-)

Vacation!!

2009-05-28T17:43:00.004-04:00

We will be on vacation in 3 weeks...from today!! I'm so excited. We need a vacation, but doesn't everyone? Hayden is really excited to go to the beach and he can swim this year too. I think Carson will have a blast this year. He was only 7 months old last year when we went! So here's some pictures of last year's vacation, at the same place, and here's to summer vacation. Woo Hoo!!!!

He's Still the Man!!

2009-05-06T00:01:00.004-04:00

Even though the MS 150 was cut to 86 miles this year, he's still the man! For the first time ever, the MS Society canceled day 2 of the race b/c severe weather was forecasted for Sunday. I don't think it rained a drop on Sunday!! Matt did, however, give a great, quick speech at the award dinner Friday night and ride 86 miles in 5 hours on Saturday!! In years past, I've watched that ride and always thought "man, all these people riding for folks they don't even know, like Matt's mom!" This year I looked at 3,000 strangers and thought "wow, they are doing this for ME and they don't even know who I am!!" That's a pretty good feeling that there are that many people out there who will raise thousands of dollars for MS research and THEN go out and ride miles and miles on a bike! One of my favorite thing about the MS 150 is Matt's team he rides with. Our friend Alyce was diagnosed with MS about 8 years ago and she and her husband decided to do the MS 150 with about 6 friends. They called their team the Feisty Devils. Their team now has about 300 people and have raised 1.2 million dollars!! Here's to my amazing husband and all the people out there I don't even know. Thank you!! And here's to the Feisty Devils....Riding Like Hell to Fight MS!!

What a man!

2009-04-20T23:17:00.005-04:00

150 miles....done!
Finishing day two at Sundance Square
Matt and his mom Valorie
Our family at the end of day one
Half way there!

I have a husband who is more amazing than most people will ever know! I've always said that if he met you one time and your car broke down an hour away and you called, he'd go get you!

We met in 1996 at ACU because we moved in next to each other at UP (For you ACU folks). The rest is history! I remember meeting his parents for the first time and Matt later telling me that his mom had MS. I honestly had no idea what that was. I could tell that he worried about her but that's still all I really knew.

Once we married and moved to the metroplex, we were eating at Subway one day and we saw a flyer for something called the MS150. It was a 150 mile, two day bike ride that raised money for the MS Society. He said "I can do that!" So he bought a used bike, joined a team called the Feisty Devils and began raising money. His first year he raised enough money to be in the "100 Club" which means he was in the top 100 fundraisers that year! The night before the ride, all the teams have a pasta party aka carb load dinner. The team captains, Doug and Alyce (she's the founder of the team. She was diagnosed with MS about 8 years ago) asked Matt if he'd like to give a speech about why he rides. Well, he got up there and gave the most heart felt, tear jerking speech about his mom. People came up to him the day of the race introducing themselves and telling him they heard about his speech. It was almost like I was married to a celebrity:-)

Well, he's since then participated in 4 MS 150's, given even more speeches about his mom, and raised about $6,000. People know his name at that event b/c of his passion for finding a cure for MS....and there are 3,000 riders!

The speech is going to change quite a bit this year b/c one week after last year's MS150, I was diagnosed with MS! He has told me that in years past, he's given a tear jerker speech but this year he's pissed! I love that!!

The MS150 is May 2-3 and it's not too late to donate since donations are not due until June 3rd. If you would like donate any amount, please click here. His goal for fundraising this year is $5,000. He's so ready to ride for his mom AND wife. I'm so proud of him and the support he gives me. You have no idea what he does for me! This isn't the path I would've chosen for myself at the age of 32, but I couldn't think of a better man to go down it with me!! Be thinking of my man next weekend!

If you're still reading.....

2009-04-13T01:01:00.007-04:00

I haven't updated this blog since March 7th!! I think since I've been blogging since Aug '05, I'm finding it hard to motivate myself to update. And there's also that thing called Facebook! I do have some new pictures though so what better time to update, right? We went to the Grapevine Botanical Gardens with some friends on Friday and I actually got some pretty decent pictures! Candid shots, not staged are the name of the game at this phase in the boys life! Matt also gave Carson a little haircut at home and he looks really cute! And finally, some Easter pictures. It rained so the Easter bunny just left their baskets on the front porch and we had an indoor egg hunt with some friends. Ok, so there's my monthly update, if you're still checking this blog:-)

Just updating....b/c I need to!

2009-03-07T00:27:00.005-05:00

I love playing outside!!
He shoots, he scores!
Sweet brotherly love!
Peek a boo!
Oh, it hurts when I smile!
Little monkey!
Hmmm, don't think I've met those neighbors!
Looks are so deceiving!!
My little Chris Farley!
Handsome Hayden, in a very feminine pose!
My men!
You know, with my Facebook addiction, I can't find the time to blog stalk anymore! I took some pictures of the boys this week just so I could update my blog. Nothing new is going on around here. We've had the usual February/March sickness around here. I was in the hospital, both boys have had the stomach bug, and now Carson is getting over a cold. Ugh. I'm so ready for Spring!! Here's some pics of the boys playing on a beautiful Spring day this week and of all three of my boys looking handsome in their ties before church. Take note of Carson's resemblance to Chris Farley in his shirt and tie! Hilarious.

There's a Monster Living in my house!!

2009-02-20T00:10:00.003-05:00

So my status on Facebook two days ago was that I was thinking about buying a Tazer for my 15 month old!! One night, about 3 days ago, I think something came in to Carson's bedroom and stole my baby and replaced him with a monkey!!! At preschool today his teachers said "can you bring Carson back on Tuesday?" This child is like no other! He's an animal. In one of these pictures, you will see why we don't have kitchen or dining room chairs in our house anymore. They are now in the garage!! He unrolled 12 new rolls of toilet paper this week, 3 rolls of wrapping paper, and has stood on every table in my house at least 5 times. Let me just show you who I'm working with.....

BUBBA (.....with just a few pics!)

2009-02-09T11:25:00.010-05:00

I thought I'd do a post about my boys sweet brotherly love! Well, it's not always sweet love but they are definitely typical brothers! The thing that triggered this is that last night I was cleaning the kitchen after our small groups were here and Matt and the boys were laying on our bed watching TV. Matt called me in there and asked Carson "who is this," pointing to Hayden. He patted Hayden and said "Bubba!" It was so stinkin cute. I've teared up so many times watching them interact with each other. I love that they are so close in age, although it almost made me lose my mind in the beginning, and that they will hopefully be best friends. Here's a little tribute to their brotherly love.

My Carson

2009-01-17T00:09:00.003-05:00

Since I've been blogging since 2005, I've realized I obviously have tons of Hayden posts but not very many "just Carson" posts. I guess that's the way it goes as you add more kiddos to the fam! So, this post is just about my Carson. Carson has a very special place in my heart. One that is different than the one I have for Hayden. I think, looking back now, that I've been "sick" since before I had Hayden. Knowing the symptoms I have now, I think I've been working on this disease for a while! It wasn't until about 6 weeks after having Carson that I finally had enough symptoms to get a diagnosis! My neurologist has told me that child birth, many times, triggers your symptoms. I'm thankful that Carson's birth "triggered" everything, even though it has sucked, because if all of this had gone untreated much longer, I'd be in a really bad place further down the road. Although I feel like Carson got cheated a little bit b/c I had to quit nursing him so abruptly and spent a good 6 months of his life in a dark place, I'm so thankful for that little guy. I can't, or shouldn't, have anymore kids so Carson is my little baby that I baby!! I know, from raising Hayden, that they grow up way too fast. I'm trying to enjoy every second with Carson and every phase he goes through. I think God knew that I needed a baby like Carson to put a smile on my face on days that I need one. This kid cracks us up all the time. We always joke about how different the boys are. We said when they go to college, Hayden will come home and when I ask if he has laundry, he'll say "oh no mom....I do my laundry every week" as he hands me his 4.0 grade report! Then he'll say "Carson hasn't been to class all semester and I don't think he's washed his clothes or sheets either!!" Carson's hair is always messy, he stays in a pajama top and diaper almost all day b/c he's like wrestling an alligator to dress him. If you don't know where Carson is, you better go look for him!! More than likely he's splashing in the toilet! He's all boy and is so obsessed with balls! Sometimes he comes around the corner with a ball in each hand and one under his chin! When I go in his room when he wakes up, he doesn't say "Momma" (well, sometimes he does) but he says "BALL." Hayden could go days with just eating a few crackers! You better have pancakes waiting for Carson when he wakes up!! Carson puts a smile on my face every minute of the day and I just want to bite him he's so sweet!! Carson has been a blessing in my life in so many ways!! Here's to my little stinker bug.....

We had a Holly Jolly Christmas!!

2008-12-30T23:29:00.007-05:00

David and Larissa's Ugly outfits!
Kurt and Carrie's ugly Christmas sweaters
Mom and Dad
I thought we were the ugliest!
Playing at the park

The "UPS" guy:-)
Carson "helping" dad build something
Hayden hammering the new guest bed
Christmas morning at home
For Santa
For the reindeer
Are the cookies ready yet?
Santa loves chocolate chip cookies
Hayden lookin' like an Okie
What a cute couple!

Carson on his Daddy's horse
Carson ate three cupcakes at his school party!!
Mmmmmm
Hayden's class pj party
Look what I made Mom!
Well, it's over! Christmas is almost like your wedding. You work, work, work and have all this anticipation and in the blink of an eye it's over! I guess the only difference is that you get to do Christmas all over again the next year:-) We've been celebrating since the 19th! We went to see Matt's family in Oklahoma first and had a great time. The boys got lots of fun presents and Hayden's favorite was definitely his cowboy boots! We came home the Monday before Christmas and did our "thing," just the four of us. It was so much fun this year b/c Hayden "got it." After a few days to relax and do laundry, we headed to my parents. My brother Kurt is kind of a quiet guy, if you don't really know him. If you do know him, he's hilarious. My mom was cooking one afternoon and the doorbell rang. When she answered it, it was the UPS guy who sounded very "slow," if you know what I mean! After having her sign for her package, he came in to the house and grabbed her and told her she was "lookin' good." Well, she freaked out!! Come to find out, Kurt had made a UPS shirt and hat, got a wig and glasses and was tricking her. It was soooo funny! We also had an Ugly Christmas Sweater competition. That was a blast. The votes came down to my dad and Kurt and Kurt won. He borrowed some white band pants from the school he coaches at and wore his wig. It was awesome! We are home now and I'm uploading pictures, updating my blog, checking email etc. So here are the pictures. Hope you all had a Holly Jolly Christmas too!

Tis the Season....not to be doing these!!!!

2008-12-23T16:30:00.002-05:00

I had been saving my blog energy to do a marathon Christmas post but since I've been "tagged" by every human with a blog........,,

8 things I did today...
1. Woke up! (anyone take Willard Tate's class at ACU?)

2. Drank coffee with my husband!

3. Made pancakes for my kids!

4. Cleaned the house!

5. Unpacked and laundry for Christmas trip #2!

6. Talked on the phone to Jennifer, Mom, brother Kurt, and sister in law Larissa!

7. Bought a Wii for Jones Family entertainment this weekend!

8. Thought about getting dressed!

8 of my favorite restaurants...
1. Chipotle

2. Anamia's

3. PF Changs

4. Genghis Grill

5. Chili's

6. Pappadeaux's

7. Taco Bueno

8. Haven't gone to nice restaurants in so long I can't list any more!

8 shows I watch...

1. Lost

2. The Office

3. Grey's Anatomy

4. Desperate Housewives

5. Days of Our Lives

6. Caillou

7. Dora and Diego (those go together)

8. Barney (I know....it took him 3.5 years to discover it. I tried!!)

8 Things I wish for...
1. A cure for MS!

2. For my boys to grow up good Christian men!

3. For my family to be happy and healthy!

4. For Hayden to sleep past 7 a.m!

5. For Hayden and Carson to grow up and be just like their Dad!

6. For the economy to quit going downhill!

7. To have my awesome friends raise their families with mine!

8. For Matt and I to always be best friends!

8 things I look forward to...
1. Christmas

2. Hayden and Carson becoming best friends

3. Our families ugly Christmas sweater competition this weekend!

4. Mine and Matt's 10 year anniversary in 6 months!

5. To be finished Christmas shopping! (um yeah, it's the 23rd!)

6. Opening my Christmas presents from Matt!

7. Watching Hayden wake up Christmas morning!

8. Going to the beach with our friends! (and not having a 6 month old)

Let the fun begin!!

2008-12-03T12:41:00.003-05:00

Here's a few pictures of Christmas Fun in the Noe household (and a few at Mimi's). I'm sure I'll do quite a few Christmas posts. I love Christmas!! The stockings are now hung by the chimney with care and my whack tree is in the living room. I say whack b/c we tried not to hang ornaments too low b/c of my little "I get into everything" Carson. Hayden stayed up late last night and helped us decorate the tree and some places has one ornament and some branches have three. I guess this is the beginning of making the statement every year "the kids decorated the tree!" My mom has said when the day came that she decorated the tree again and there were no more homemade school ornaments, it made her so sad! So I'll enjoy my "whack" tree! Here's some of my favorite pictures....so far!

"Get yourself somethin' real nice Clark!"

2008-11-29T23:01:00.006-05:00

So, some of you might think after reading this that I'm a cold, empty person inside! I'm hoping that I get a few shout outs on the comment section of this post and a few "holla's." Ok, we went to see my parents for Thanksgiving this year. We haven't been to my parents house for Thanksgiving in 9 years! The whole time we've been married we've either gone with Matt's parents, been in NC or at home with a newborn. Now that we are staying home with our kids for Christmas, we go see grandparents the weekend before Christmas and the weekend after. So, I told Matt that we needed to start trading out Thanksgiving with our parents. One of my brother's went to Abilene with his in laws and the other was still playing in the high school football playoffs. So, we're gonna have a relaxing Wednesday-Sunday with all the attention, a little relaxation and maybe a date night right? WRONG! Thanksgiving Day was fine but my mom had to work Friday. Matt and my sister in law decided to wake up Friday morning, b/c she stopped to spend the night Thursday night, and go to Super Walmart at 5am for Black Friday sales on some toys they were eye balling. If any of you live in a small town that ONLY has a Walmart, don't weather that storm with a bunch of rednecks that have been camping out since midnight!! Remember that Friends episode when Rachel and Phoebe go with Monica to find her wedding dress and Rachel sits down and just blows her whistle? Matt said he got trapped by crazy folks and four shopping carts and all he could do was sit down! Later that morning, Matt, my dad and sister in law and her kids decide they're all gonna go to my brother's football game at Texas Stadium. So, I stay home with Hayden, Carson, and my nephew Chance. I spend all day with three kids, with my oldest being the biggest terd ever. Lovely day! Oh, and did I tell you that my brother and sister in law brought their 105lb lab? "Just make sure he has water and food and let him out to pee throughout the day.....and whatever you do, make sure he has his leash on or he'll run away." Two hours into me "babysitting" the dog, my grandmother comes over and Chance and Hayden run out to greet her and leave the front door open. Who gets out? Yes, Bear the dog starts running around the culdesac my parents live on. I can't gimp around and chase him down so I call my sister in law and she tells me to get in the car b/c he loves car rides. I'm standing at the door keeping Carson in the house yelling "Bear, you come back Bear!" My 82 yr old grandmother gets in her Suburban with the drivers side open and is doing donuts in the culdesac trying to catch the dog! (Matt said "Andrea, that's why you have a camera phone!") Our neighbor down the street comes and catches him and drags him inside! A few hours pass and I have the kids asleep and decide to take Bear out to go to the bathroom. When you have a hard time walking from the couch to the kitchen, putting a 105lb dog on a leash isn't a good idea! Bear took off b/c he heard some dogs barking and drug me through the leaves in the yard but I didn't let go!!! Matt comes home Friday night late with me draped across my bed crying because I'm so tired and mad at Hayden, who has been so bad at bed time that he woke Carson 4 times!! Does anyone else think it's the biggest pain to have your children out of their element at bedtime? When my whole family is home at Christmas, me, Matt and the two boys sleep in one room, 4 people in another room, three in the other bedroom and the two oldest kids sleep on couches. No fun at bedtime!! To make this Thanksgiving even a little more "interesting," we've started to realize my parents get on our nerves! Don't get me wrong, I love my family. It's a blast when everyone's home and when we lived 1400 miles away I missed them so much. My parents are about to be 60 and I swear they act like they're 85! We sat in my bedroom and said "ya wanna go home?" So, we packed up and came home. I think maybe we realize the older we are getting and now that we have our own family, that our parents aren't so normal anymore. We can drive 2 and half hours from my parents house and talk about all the things they do that drives us crazy! I'm sure there's some of you out there who love hanging out with their parents and are thinking "poor Andrea, her family must be really bad." Honestly they aren't bad, we're just starting to feel like we are messing up their routines a little. When we got home to our humble abode, I did snow angels on the carpet b/c I was so excited to put the boys in their beds, watch the Sooners play on myTV, then sleep in my comfy bed. So come on folks, be honest....anyone else's parents drive them a little crazy? (Note: this picture isn't really my family!)

Carson's Party (pictures are out of order)

2008-11-10T10:01:00.008-05:00

The party's over!!
My very own presents....tell my brother!
Mmmmm
What? There's something on my face?
The fam.....Hayden's head is in there:-)
I guess I'll try it.
Big Cookout Daddy
My personal baker!!
Cutest cake EVER!
The cheeseburger family

We had Carson's first birthday party on Saturday. Let me explain why we had a cheeseburger party! I was looking online one day at first birthday shirts and found one that was all Carson! I emailed it to Matt and he said "buy it now!!" It said "For my 1st birthday I want a HUGE cheeseburger." We have joked in our family since Carson was born that he'd eat a cheeseburger if you gave him one. So, the cheeseburger shirt was bought, the family cheeseburger shirts were soon to follow and the cookout idea came soon after. My fabulous friend Kimberly aka "Bree Vandekamp" made a cheeseburger cake for Carson. I asked her if she could do it and she said "sure." She blows my mind!! I searched and searched for invitations and couldn't find what I wanted. I remembered my Little Sis in club at ACU owns a paper place and I emailed her and asked what she could throw together for me. Within 20 minutes she had proofs for me and I loved everything she did....thank you notes too! It may not be the "norm" for 1st birthday party's, but it fit Carson. We had a ball and thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate his first year!

Happy 1st Birthday Carson!!

2008-11-05T22:56:00.006-05:00

Happy Birthday Sweet Carson!!! What a year it's been and it's been a fast one. Matt and I always say "I don't want him to do____ b/c that means he won't be our baby anymore!" I love Carson Jones Noe to pieces! I just want to bite him!! Saturday is his birthday party and I'll post pictures when it's over. It's gonna be a good time:-)

I used to walk to school in the snow...uphill both ways!!

2008-10-27T12:20:00.005-04:00

I was going to wait and post pictures from the Fall Festival and Halloween, but I feel like I have been a bad blogger. I feel like I've been living in 1945 for the past week. Our laptop broke and let me tell you, that makes for a long day!! On top of that, our DVR was out for four days. What did we do before? Thank goodness my cell phone wasn't on the outs and I could still text:-) So, I'm back and have completely neglected my children all day!! Here are a few Fall Festival pictures from our church festival this past Saturday. Hayden had a ball. Stay tuned for the full family costume pictures. Matt will be quite a man to see!!

Fall Pictures....through the years

2008-10-15T09:37:00.011-04:00

Carson's first pumpkin patch!
This was the best I could do!
Sweet Carson!
Presley and Hayden this year....3 yrs old!
Presley and Hayden last year.
The kiddos last year
And this year.

The fam in NC when Hayden was one.
Last year with Carson in fat Momma's tummy!
Hayden's first pumpkin patch.
Hayden last year.
And this year...(thanks for getting in my cute picture women I don't know!)

I was looking at fall pictures from when Hayden was little and decided I'd just do a "through the years" post. It is crazy how fast they grow in just one year!! Happy Fall to everyone and I hope you find your way to the Pumpkin Patch for a few precious pictures of your own!

A day at the park!

2008-10-06T00:03:00.005-04:00

Carson 11 months
Hayden 8 months

We took the boys to the park on Saturday afternoon and they had so much fun! I'm embarrassed to say that it was Carson's first time to play at the park! It was too hot this summer for me to be in the heat so this was Carson's first park play time, without being confined to a stroller. We got some really cute pictures and then went to feed the ducks. I'm also posting a picture of Hayden as a baby b/c we got a picture of Carson that was similar to the one of Hayden from a park in NC. We didn't do it on purpose but when I got home I thought, "I feel like I've seen a picture like this before." It will show you how different they look! Not much is going on so I'm just gonna say this is a picture post. Enjoy!

I Could Go On and On.....

2008-09-30T23:05:00.005-04:00

20 Things I LOVE about Hayden and Carson......

1.) I love Carson's giggle!
2.) I love Hayden's naked hiney when he goes pee-pee!
3.) I love Carson's chubby thighs!
4.) I love when Hayden "tries" to dance!
5.) I love Carson's smile!
6.) I love when Hayden sings church songs!
7.) I love walking into Carson's room in the morning and he's standing up in his crib waiting for me to get him!
8.) I love that Hayden calls Carson his little "brudder" and his little "stinker bug!"
9.) I love when Carson crawls to me and puts his head on my shoulder to cuddle!
10.) I love that Hayden has eaten a Nutri Grain bar every morning for 2 years and WILL NOT have it any other way!
11.) I love to watch Carson splash his bubba in the bathtub!
12.) I love that Hayden has a favorite bedtime story that you must read every night and that he has it memorized!
13.) I love that you can ask Carson where Hayden is and he'll crawl through the house looking for him!
14.) I love that Hayden is obsessed with his dad!
15.) I love that Carson is obsessed with his mom!
16.) I love that Hayden can entertain himself for hours!
17.) I love that Carson can't!
18.) I love that Hayden reminds us to pray every night so God will protect us while we sleep!
19.) I love that my two boys are so close in age and will be best friends!
20.) I love that God chose me to be Hayden and Carson's Momma!!!

My little David Beckham!!

2008-09-20T22:47:00.006-04:00

Coach Michael pumping them up!
Hayden, I think the ball's the other way!
Go Bees, Go!!

This is the uniform for next week...
Hayden, we don't have goalies!
Good game!!
Noah, I saw you almost score! Yeah, Hayden...I'm good!
Aiden told Hayden "that was fun wasn't it?" So cute!!

Well, we haven't taken the "C" pictures yet but Hayden did have his first soccer game today! We weren't sure how he'd do because his two practices have been pointless! The first one, he dribbled the ball for about 5 minutes and then was done. Thursday, Matt took him to practice and I stayed home because Carson was asleep. I called Matt and asked if he was practicing. He said "if running up and down a hill chasing Mason is practicing, then yes...he's doing great!" When he got home he told us there were too many people watching. Then on Friday, I kept talking about his soccer game and I said "aren't you excited?" His response was "nah, I've already played." So, we woke up this morning and bribed him and talked about how exciting it was gonna be and that he'd get a uniform etc. and he did it! He didn't really come in contact with the ball, but he stayed on the field and ran with everyone and made it through the entire game without fussing, whining, running to us, or quitting! Now that's pretty good for a little three year old. So, was it a fluke? We'll see next Saturday. Here's the little cutie pie in his giant uniform. (we all got black shorts and matching socks that they'll all be sporting next week)

My "C" and My Soccer Player!!

2008-09-10T23:41:00.002-04:00

Just sending out a "stay tuned" post for what's to come in the near future. My little Hayden is starting soccer tomorrow! They have their first muddy practice tomorrow and their first game next Saturday. He and his friends Mason, Aiden, Camille, and Noah from church are all playing in the 3-4 year old, boy/girl league at the YMCA. I don't know if Hayden will be in to it or will be the butterfly chaser but I'm sure I'm gonna get some super cute pictures of him to post on here:-) And as for my "C".....Well, it always seems like someone is pregnant or having a baby at our church. In the past year we have had lots of baby boys and their names all start with "C" (except for Brayden and Beau). So, being the creative moms that we are, we are taking all the "C" boys to the botanical gardens in Grapevine in a few weekends for pictures. We are all having shirts made that say their names on the front. Here are the "C boys"....Cohen, Carson, Caleb, Carter, Caden, Cason, Colton.
So stayed tuned my friends. I'm about to have some really cute pictures of my boys on here. (I'm sure you'll all be sitting on the edge of your computer desk chair waiting!)

First Week of School

2008-09-04T23:32:00.002-04:00

This week was our first week of school. I was a little nervous about Hayden because he's been going through a weird separation thing but he actually has the same teachers this year as he had last year and most of the same friends from his old class. He was so excited and did great both days! Sadly, I think he was so tired of being in the house all summer with his crippled mom that I think he would have had fun spending the day at Walmart!! Carson goes to the nursery, just for teachers kids, and he was named "the bruiser" today! Out of about 6 "baby's," he's the second youngest and they are all boys. Pretty sad that he's the bruiser! They just said he's not afraid of anything and just go-go-go's all the time! That's my Carson:-) I think this is going to be a great preschool year. Here's a few pictures from their first day.

Was the party that bad?

2008-08-28T23:10:00.004-04:00

Hey boys, don't smile ok?
I like your hat!
Ok, this one did turn out pretty cute. Just cut Matt and Rick out??
Hello? Boys, I'm over here. Cheese...over here guys.
Are you really picking your nose for our picture together?
Say cheese Christa! Angie, Kimberly is that you? I can't tell.
I'm guessing this is Hayden?
Don't be scared Noah. My mom just doesn't know how to take pics!
You want us to wear these hats?
Was the party that bad Camille and Vivi?
Ok, I did a birthday post before this one so make sure you scroll down and see the sweet post before this funny one. Last Saturday we had Hayden's 3rd birthday party at Let's Jump. It didn't go as I had planned but I don't think anyone knew that but family. We were 5 minutes late (to HIS party!!!), Matt blew up 20 balloons at Walmart the morning of the party so we could decorate and then give one to each kid at the party and they happened to stay in Matt's car.....at home!! We also bought a new camera that we paid extra for 2 day delivery to make sure we had it in time for the party b/c my camera has been broken. Well, I knew I put it in Carson's diaper bag, I knew it! When it came time to take pictures of the kids jumping on the bounce houses, for Hayden to blow his candles out etc etc, I couldn't find the camera. I sent my parents on a wild goose chase, they drove to my house and turned it upside down looking for the camera....that was in the floorboard of my car the whole time!! Well, once I got the camera, with about 20 minutes of party time left, it was on some weird setting that was delaying every picture I took. So, lots of people's heads were cut off and the kids would smile then look away right when the picture would take. Anyways, the pictures that I got have cracked us up because they kind of represent how "out of whack" we felt during the party. Here's a few of the funny ones.....

Happy 3rd Birthday Hayden!!

2008-08-28T22:42:00.004-04:00

Kind of like the Lion King movie huh?
Hayden's 1st birthday in North Carolina
Hayden's 2nd birthday
Hayden sportin' his new Batman pj's and scooter he got for his 3rd!

Today was Hayden's 3rd birthday! What an exciting 3 years it has been with him. He makes me laugh every day and even though he's turning in to a little boy, I still see him as my little baby. He is so polite, he loves his Daddy more than anything in this world, he tells me I look pretty all the time, he's a great big brother and loves Carson to pieces, his personality brings so much joy to Matt and I every day, he loves Jesus and Mr. Charlie's class at church, and he is obsessed with all things transportation. I could go on and on about my sweet little boy but I'll just post some pictures of him and move on to a hilarious birthday party post. I love you Hayden Thomas!! (isn't it funny that when we all do "tributes"
to our kids, we sign it with "I love you____" like they are reading our blogs?!)

Mason and Hayden.....Two Peas in a Pod!

2008-08-26T23:58:00.005-04:00

I haven't posted in forever!! My camera has been broken for almost a month and I finally got a new one. I'm going to do a post about Hayden's birthday party but I think I'll wait until his birthday on Thursday. Christa posted some pictures of Mason and Hayden on her blog and it made me want to compare pictures of those two little monkeys too. I guess this is as good a time as ever to do posts about them since Mason's birthday is Wednesday and Hayden's is Thursday. Here's a few pictures from them playing last year and some from right after Brayden was born and from last Saturday. Crazy how much they change in just one year. They looked like babies and now they look like three year old boys!! I love these two little guys to death!

Addiction

2008-08-11T10:08:00.002-04:00

I have to confess something. I have a horrible addiction. I think I need help because I'm no longer in denial. I know I have a problem. It started off small and now it is consuming my days and nights. My addiction is Facebook!! I was just addicted to blogspot and now I've added Facebook. I'm sick. A few nights ago I dreamed in "facebook." Instead of having conversations with people, I invited people to be my friend and confirmed other people's requests and when I talked, I actually wrote on peoples walls. (you have to be on facebook to understand all of this) In about 24 hours, I managed to find over 100 friends from my present and past to be friends with. Now I will say that I'm not "close" to all of these people but a good majority of them I added to my friends list just so I could stalk them. As if I needed to lurk around another "social utility" like blogspot!! Help me....no wait, don't help me. Honestly, I LOVE it. Curious now? I won't be surprised if I get a friend request from you soon.....go ahead, check it out:-)

Haydenisms

2008-08-06T10:14:00.003-04:00

We are at such a fun stage in Hayden's life right now. He will be turning 3 in about 3 weeks and I think this is going to be a great year! Two was definitely "terrible" for Hayden. I could begin listing the reasons why it was so terrible, but I have chosen to forget a good portion of the past year:-) Lately he has been so enjoyable. Really for the past few months. He talks constantly and there are times when Matt and I look at each other and say "we are having a conversation with our baby!" Last year he was pretty shy and I feel like he's really started coming out of his shell. We always say we wish others could know the Hayden we know at home. Well now I think people are starting to meet our Hayden! The one thing he still refuses to do is sing church songs during Childrens Worship or VBS etc. Trust me, he knows them...or so he thinks! He walks around and sings the songs all the time and it is so cute. Sometimes the words don't come out exactly right though. For example, during VBS they sang a song and one part they say "ooo ah, sock it to the devil" and yesterday he was walking around singing "ooo ah, sock it to the dessert!" Maybe he feels like we're living in the dessert right now? He also sings the Lords Army like this "I may never march in the calvary, ride in the calvary, shoot the calvary...." Yikes, beware calvary!! Another song he sings is "If you're happy in your nose, clap your hands..." I try not to laugh so it doesn't discourage him from singing the songs but it is so funny. He's really into firemen right now too (that's the theme for his bday party) and after VBS we asked him what he learned and he told us "about Jesus." Good answer Hayden! I asked if he learned about Jesus dying for us. His answers was "yes, he died at the firestation!" They must not have had very good Medics on hand at that firestation! So, there's a few cute stories about my Hayden. I thought it'd be appropriate to post some silly pictures of Hayden. They aren't recent but they fit!

You went Poo....Here's a sticker!

2008-08-01T13:22:00.004-04:00

I always swore to myself that I wouldn't be one of those people who talked about my kids tee-tee and poo-poo. Well, I'm going to be one of those people right now. I guess when you're potty training, number one and number two is a BIG DEAL. I've never hugged and kissed and high fived for someone going poo, but I have this week!! Can you imagine if someone gave you a sticker and a starburst and a high five for going to the bathroom? Wouldn't that be great? Matt and Mimi have had lots of phone calls this week about going potty! Right after my last post, Hayden decided he could stand up to go tee-tee and he goes number two in the potty too!! I was a nervous wreck about potty training and my boy did it in two weeks with only about three accidents! He even wore underwear to school yesterday!! Ok, no more potty posts....until it's Carson's turn. Good job Hayden!! Love you buddy!

On A Mission!!

2008-07-29T11:05:00.002-04:00

We're on a mission in our house! We are potty training Hayden finally. We are on week two and he has only had about two accidents so far! (that's tee-tee, not poo!) Here's the new mission.....trying to convince him that boys stand up when they tee-tee!!! I don't know if he's more relaxed sitting down or what, but we're kind of wondering what we're going to do about that when he needs to go at school or out in public! He's watched Matt go, we had him watch my nephew (he even showed him it's ok to go in the backyard!), and we've explained what girls do and what boys do. He just can't make tee-tee come out when he stands up. Maybe it's stage fright? So, if anyone has any pointers for the standing up thing AND what you did when you ventured out of the house in the beginning, it would be much appreciated. Hooray forno more Size 3 AND Size 5 diapers in my house!!!!

Sweet Baby Carson Jones Noe

2008-07-27T22:34:00.006-04:00

I wanted to do a post just about my Carson!! I've been blogging since 2005 when Hayden was born, so he has a lot more tributes to him than Carson does! Of course he makes it in all my recent posts, but his brother is always with him. So, this is for Carson. Carson is definitely completely different than Hayden. I just knew when I had my second child that I would do things just like I did the first time and all would just "flow." Not so much! Hayden slept through the night for the first time when he was 6 weeks old and pretty much has every night since. Carson woke up numerous times through the night for at least 4 months! I could lay Hayden in his crib at 10:00 am for a nap and then again at 2:00 for his second nap. I could definitely get two, two hour naps out of him each day!! Carson slept IN MY ARMS for probably 6 months. He would sleep about once a day and for maybe an hour and a half. You would also think that getting him to sleep with a two year old in the house wouldn't be that hard because he's heard the "noise" since we brought him home from the hospital. Wrong! Carson now goes to sleep about 8:30pm and sleeps all night long. Getting him to sleep, though, requires complete silence in the room he's falling asleep in. (ask the families who stayed in our condo at Galveston!) He also takes two naps a day but he has to be back in my bedroom, in his pack n play, with a loud fan on! How I figured that out, I'm not sure. I could do things one time with Hayden and he did it. It's taken us almost 9 months to figure this other little guy out. Maybe it's just the second child who has a wild and crazy big brother. I know that with Hayden, we woke up every morning and I showered and got dressed and put a cute outfit on him. These days, Dada comes home and I'm in a grungy tshirt, shorts, hair pulled back in a clip and the only "clean" thing I've done all day is put deodorant on, brushed my teeth, and washed my cereal bowl out. Hayden still has pj's on most days when Matt gets home and poor little second child just crawls around in a diaper all day. But, he is such a doll. He's lovable (completely happy sitting in someone's lap all day), has the cutest smile in the world, and is so curious! He also loves his big brother to death! With all his little quirks, I still think he's so yummy!!

Things I love about my boys.....

2008-07-21T00:38:00.006-04:00

I'll start with Matt....
I love his smell, especially the smell of his underarms! (when I do laundry, I sniff his shirts)
I love how active he is. For example....today after church, the boys and I napped and he swam laps at the pool!
I love how hard he works. He puts in so much hard work all day then comes home and works even harder! (may be the reason why he sets his reminder on his phone to "take my B12")
I love that he is so involved in his boys lives. He's always said "they're half mine...why would I make you do everything." He loves them more than anything in this world.
I love that every night before we go to sleep I say "sleep good" and he says "you too sweetie." We've said that every night for the past nine years!!
I could keep going with Matt, but I'll move on to Hayden.....
I love that he tells me every night to have happy dreams.
I love that he calls Carson his little "stinker bug."
I love that he calls coyotes "karate's" and tilts his head back and howls like one.
I love that he is one of the most polite little kids around! ( he says please and thank you etc. way more than I do!)
And on to my Carson.....
I love that he is so curious that when you tell him "no-no" he just looks and grins b/c he's gonna keep doing it no matter what!
I love that when I say "give me kisses" he gives me the best little kiss and slips me the tongue!
I love that he has so many rolls in his leg that he gets "chapped."
I love that he's so chubby, he sweats like a fat man!
I don't know what spurred this post but since I had such a cute picture of my boys right before church this morning, I thought I'd send a little shout out to them! I've got the best guys around. My favorite thing Hayden tells me is "I'm a silly goose, Dadda's a silly goose, Carson's a silly goose...but you're a princess Momma." Here's to my boys....I love all three of you!!

Momma said there'd be days like this......

2008-07-15T23:37:00.002-04:00

Let me just start this off with saying I'm about to pull my hair out!! You know, you get your baby and yourself through the sleepless nights stage and you think "it's all good now!" WRONG!! Even though my children are only 26 months apart, I have forgotten about all the stages they go through. And the two stages we're in right now....teething and crawling! On Monday morning, I hear Hayden wake up (his usual time which is about 6:45) and does he come to my room? Nope, he goes in to his brothers room and I hear "wake up you little stinker bug." What? Please tell me he didn't just do what I think he did. Oh yes, both boys awake before the 7 o'clock hour. About 9:00 I got Carson down for his nap. A 30 minute nap. Wow Carson, you must feel so rested! So, we make it to the afternoon nap and Hayden's down and it's Carson's turn to go down for a long nap. Well, he fights me for about an hour and finally gives up. I lay him down and go to the couch for my afternoon nap (that just kills me if I don't have) and right about the time I dose off, I hear Hayden say "wake up Momma, I need a snack." As I stumble to the kitchen, I hear Hayden go to Carson's room. I felt like I was running in slow motion (which is really the way I look anyways). I get to Carson's door and he's screaming. So, I pick him up and start rocking him and tell Hayden to go to the living room to play. I almost have Carson asleep again when I hear Hayden go out the front door!! I lay Carson down in his crib (screaming now) and run out to get him. I give him the talk about someone stealing him from us etc and give him goldfish, turn Dora on and tell him to stay on the couch. Start rocking Carson again.....and out the front door Hayden goes again!! He had two popsicles and was going outside to eat them. Now the wooden spoon comes out and I go back to rocking Carson again. I get him to sleep and right as I'm laying him down I hear "Andrea...Andrea??" My neighbor Sarah found Hayden in the front yard again!! When she yelled my name, guess who woke up? I give up at this point and Hayden goes to time out, with a spanking, for what felt like 30 minutes. I was so mad!! Day two...today! Hayden goes down for his nap and who decides to fight me from 1:15 until 3:45?? Carson Jones Noe!! He gets to sleep and my MS chronic fatigue feeling is in full effect at this point. I lay on the couch and hear "Momma, I need a snack." Oh my gosh!!!!! Luckily Carson slept for two hours and I needed that break from him. He's into everything and I have just completely forgotten what this "stage" feels like. Is it worse to have a baby who just lays there but wakes up through the night or one that sleeps all night but during the day cries b/c his gums hurt and you have to pull them out from under the table every 2.5 seconds? I always think back to Angie's blog when she wrote about that song "You're Gonna Miss This" and I try to tell myself that very thing and then I start thinking....really? I'm gonna miss this?? Ha,ha!! Hope you all are having a better start to your week than we are in the Noe house!

4th of July

2008-07-08T09:38:00.005-04:00

My sweet little boys
Hayden and Grant
Jordan, Chance, Trenton
Wish I had a better pic of the boys....they matched!
Hayden and MiMi
Carson was tired of the fireworks
Kurt, Carrie, Mady, and Grant
Mimi and PawPaw
David and Larissa
The cutest couple in the family
Hayden taking care of his brother
I guess I should post my 4th of July pictures before it's the 4th of August huh? My whole family came to stay with us this year. My parents came, my brother Kurt and his wife Carrie Beth and their kids Mady and Grant and my brother David and his family drove down from Corinth. Kurt lives in Burnet and his little boy is just two months younger than Hayden. They have so much fun together. As soon as everyone got here, we sent the men to the grocery store and the girls took the kids to our pool. 4th of July morning, mom cooked a huge breakfast for everyone and then we all went to NRH2O water park. Mom and dad stayed home with Carson. It was nice to just have Hayden to watch after. We cooked out that evening and then went to Trophy Club to see fireworks. It wasn't crowded at all and it was a really good fireworks show. I love being with my family because we have so much fun hanging out together and just talking. It's definitely a zoo with 8 adults and 7 kids but it's a blast!! Here's some pictures from the weekend.

Happy Anniversary Buster!

2008-06-26T23:58:00.003-04:00

Today Matt and I are celebrating 9 years of wedded bliss! A little tribute here to the Grateful Dead, but What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been!! In 9 years, we have moved 7 times!! We started in Abilene, moved to Haltom City, then to North Dallas, Coppell, North Carolina, back to Euless and now we live in Keller! When we walked down the aisle after being pronounced "Mr and Mrs Matt "Buster" Noe", we walked to James Taylor's "How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You." It has been very sweet to be loved by Matt. We've been a lot of places together, some good and some not so good. When we first were married, I was finishing up school at ACU and he had graduated and was selling cell phones in a kiosk at Walmart on Judge Ely!! He made $6.50/hour!! We did still have my dad's Texaco card though and we used that for many things, not just gas. (oh to have that card today!!) We moved to the metroplex for a "better life" if you will, and stayed in the area until I came home from work one day and Matt was shooting baskets outside...at lunch!! His company had laid everyone off that morning when he went to work. About two months later we found ourselves 1400 miles from home in a town called Cary, North Carolina!! If he had not been by my side through that move, I couldn't have made it. To this day we will tell people it was the best move we ever made. We bought our first house there, had our first baby, and really found ourselves! Now here we are back in Texas, a family of four, living a great life!! We've been poor as dirt, we've been through deaths in the family, infertility, the miracle of life x two, a leap of faith move that changed our life forever, and recently a diagnosis of a life altering disease! When I was diagnosed with MS almost two months ago, my mom told me that she knows now, more than ever, that God gave me the most amazing man to be by my side! I agree. Thanks for 9 unbelievable years Buster. Here's to our future........

Summatime!!

2008-06-22T22:39:00.004-04:00

We just had our first "family of four" vacation a few weeks ago and we had a blast!! We went to Galveston and stayed at Pointe West with some of our fabulous friends. If you go to Galveston in the near future, go to this place!! Before we left we were already talking to the place about how far in advance we should book for next year! We were there for a long Father's Day weekend and had a ball. Here's some super cute pictures I got while we were there.....

Birthday Weekend

2008-06-11T10:00:00.004-04:00

We had a weekend full of birthday celebrations! Matt's birthday is the 7th, but we celebrated it on Friday night with some friends. Central Market here has the neatest set up. In the summer, they have live bands that perform. We sat at the picnic tables by the playground for the kids to play and ate and enjoyed the band. On Saturday we did the Blake's circus theme birthday....I won't write about it b/c other people have already. So, happy birthday to Matt, Camille, and Olivia!!

Oh my gosh, you're gonna barf aren't you?

2008-06-05T09:59:00.003-04:00

I think I'm having a creativity block. I used to write funny posts every now and then or have something somewhat important to talk about. Now I stare at this Create a New Post and think "I need to update, but what about. Still staying home with Hayden and Carson. Hayden still loves cars and trucks. Carson is still a baby who's now crawling! I could beat you down with boring stuff that only Matt and I really care about, but do you want that? I don't think so. (I'll save that stuff for another post:-) So, here's what we'll talk about on this edition of "I'm so boring." Add comments to this post and tell me what you are most terrified of. Of course all of us are terrified of losing a family member or child etc. Tell me if cochroaches scare the pants off of you. I'll tell you mine....vomit. Anyone who knows me fairly well will tell you that I should honestly be hypnotized about this problem. Going into the restroom at Target scares me because I'm afraid I'm gonna be using the bathroom and someone is going to come in the stall next to me and vomit and I'm not gonna be able to get out! Since I was a little girl, I have thrown up outside. Something about being confined to a small space with your head down in the toilet...it's just not right! The great outdoors brings fresh air and a breeze and there is no clean up! Here's why all of this is fresh on my mind. The hubby barfed a few days ago at 3 in the morning. And where you might ask....in the yard. Can you imagine driving by my house and seeing a grown man, in his underwear, throwing up on the side of the house? Ok, enough details about my weird phobia. What are you afraid of?

Carson, the only child

2008-05-27T22:32:00.004-04:00

For those of you with more than one child, do you remember what your life was like with one baby? We got to experience that this past weekend. Hayden went to Oklahoma with his Aunt Melissa and Uncle Eric on Friday to visit Grams and Papa and didn't return until late Monday afternoon!! I was a little worried that we, and when I say "we" I mean Matt, would be making a trip to Oklahoma to pick him up! He did so good though. He was spoiled rotten. We could barely get him to talk to us on the phone. I'm happy that they all got to spend a long weekend with him without Momma breathing down their necks:-) Carson, on the otherhand, probably didn't know what to do with himself. Friday night we rented some movies....which never happens....and when we got home, Matt, Carson, and I all layed on his floor and talked and laughed, and played. You know, like when you just have one baby and you just spend hours staring at them. We slept late on Saturday b/c the 6:30a.m. kid was gone!! When 8:00 feels late, you know you have an early riser in the house. Sunday morning we played Matt's ipod over the surround sound speakers in the living room when we were getting ready for church. What a difference it was from our normal "river, forest, Pablos Mountain" we hear Dora yelling every other day. We went out to eat after church with friends...and ate!! Monday we went to the Holmes house for a little Memorial Day cookout and splash day. I actually layed out!! By late afternoon, we were very ready to see our little Hayden though. Is he spoiled today...absolutely. Would I trade the weekend we/he had for un-spoiled Hayden today...not a chance! Am I glad to have my whole family back together? You betcha!

I just wanna be a sheep...Baa, Baa, Baa

2008-05-21T11:55:00.002-04:00

Hayden's class at school had their program last night. He has been singing his "I just wanna be a sheep" song for a month now. Kind of figured he would just stare at the audience because he's a little bit shy. Yep, that's exactly what he did! At least he didn't run off the stage to Matt, who was sitting on the second row taking pictures! He was a pretty cute sheep though, don't you think?

Two posts today!

2008-05-18T00:23:00.003-04:00

Ok, this really isn't a post about anything but I was going through pictures and found a baby picture of Hayden in the exersaucer. I took one of Carson a few days ago and Matt and I couldn't believe how different our boys look. Here's the comparisons....

Time Flies!

2008-05-18T00:07:00.004-04:00

Alright, so this post is just a few weeks late, but I wanted to post some cute pictures of my little 6 month old! Carson is such a joy to have in our family. He is the sweetest, easiest baby (not counting his bad sleep habits) and he is growing up way to fast. He rolls all over our house and I can already tell that he's gonna be busy, busy, busy! His favorite thing is his big brother. Hayden can entertain him and make him smile without doing a thing. They love each other so much and I can't wait to watch them grow even closer as the days go by. When I had Carson I told Matt that this baby was mine. Let me explain why....Hayden is the biggest Daddy's boy ever. He "tolerates" me during the day because I'm the one who keeps him until his Daddy gets home:-) He's been a Daddy's boy since he was born. I was looking through his baby book the other day and he said Dadda 2 months before he said Momma. Well, Carson started saying Momma this week! Woo-Hoo. He likes me better! ha,ha. He says it all the time and it just melts my heart. Matt started trying to get him to say Dadda today and I told him to back off! Here's some of my favorite pictures from the past two weeks.

The greatest friends ever!!

2008-05-14T11:24:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to give a "shout out" to some of the greatest friends ever! Most of my readers know that I was diagnosed with MS last week. I'm not gonna go into my long sob story b/c I'm passed that. I am going to share with you what kind of support I have backing me as we begin this "journey." I found out the news on Friday morning. By Friday night my friend Jennifer and her husband Zac were at our house with Chili's!! Saturday afternoon my doorbell rang and when I went outside no one was there. I did, however, have beautiful flowers and notes of encouragement on my front porch. I just sat in my front yard and read them all and cried a little. Each of those notes are now on my mirror in my bathroom so I can see them every day. By Sunday I had an Evite from my friends Nikki and Jennifer inviting me to "Andrea Day" this coming Saturday. Andrea day will involve pedicures, lunch, and topped off with talking at Starbucks. (stay tuned for those pictures!) Sunday evening we met friends for snowcones...mmmmm! Last night my girls met me for dinner and gave me the most unbelievable necklace that says "Rockstar" on it. I could go on and on about my friends. I'll just sum it all up with how lucky I feel to have so many girls to love!! Here's to the greatest friends ever!!!

MS 150

2008-05-04T21:01:00.004-04:00

We just got home from a very exciting weekend in the Noe family. The first weekend of May is always the MS 150 bike race (150 miles in two days!). Matt's mom suffers from MS and Matt and his brother in law ride in her honor every year. They both ride with a cycling team called the Feisty Devils. Their team motto is "Ride Like Hell to Fight MS." Most of the teams that ride together in the race are corporate teams, therefore they are huge. The Feisty Devils are a "friends and family" team that was formed by the guy who owns the company Matt works for. His wife Alyce was diagnosed 10 years ago and they decided to do something about it. They formed a team with about 10 members and raised money and rode in the MS 150 for the first time in '03. This year the Feisty Devils had 215 members and in just 6 years as a team, they have almost raised one million dollars together!! They are the second largest team in the whole race and there are about 3300 riders total. They have so much fun together and they really make this weekend amazing! Here are a few pictures from Saturday and Sunday. Good job babe! We are so proud of you!!

Life Is Good!

2008-04-22T23:47:00.004-04:00

Two of my great friends, Kimberly B and Angie, told me when Carson was just a few weeks old that by the time he's about 6 months old that life would be good! Not that I've been wishing away my time with my sweet baby, but we're coming upon 6 months and they were so right!! About a month ago we took Hayden off all his allergy medicines. He has been on Zyrtec, Singulair, and Flonase since September. He does have really bad allergies and his flare ups always turn into sinus infections, which turn into ear infections, but we've felt like we were over drugging him. We also thought we were experiencing the worst case of terrible two's ever!! Well, once the news broke that the FDA was investing Singulair because people were having suicidal tendencies, we decided to take him off of everything. (of course without thinking Hayden had suicidal tendencies but wondering if it had something to do with his fits) We are now a month into taking him off everything and he is a new kid. He's funny, happy, and seems like my precious little boy again. Is it a fluke...maybe. All I know is that life in our household is good! Carson is the sweetest baby on earth too and so easy. He just plays on the floor and smiles and coos and watches his brother all the time. I look at them and think about how much fun they are about to start having together. Of course Hayden's been "playing" with him since we brought him home from the hospital. We'd find Carson's little hands clasping hot wheels pretty often! Hilarious!! I watch them interact throughout the day and they just melt my heart. Who knows, in a month my post might be titled "I'm about to pull my hair out," but for now Life is Good. I love these two brothers to pieces!

7 Random, Crazy, Weird Things About Me

2008-04-14T23:40:00.003-04:00

I've been tagged by Melanie to list 7 random things about me....

1. I am OCD when it comes to irons and ovens etc...even if I haven't used them, I always have to check twice before leaving the house!!
2. One of my thumbs actually looks like a toe!!
3. My favorite smell is Matt's underarms!!
4. My friend Jennifer and I lived with a girl in college who turned out to be gay!! Jennifer and I slept in the same room for months because we were afraid she was going to come onto us!!
5. I don't pump my own gas. My dad pumped it for me when I was younger and my husband does it for me now!!
6. I pretended to workout for a month when Matt and I were first married. I actually put workout clothes on every day so when he came home, he'd think I had worked out!!
7. I am like Rain Man with numbers. I can tell you my parents license plates from when I was a kid, my first car's license plate, I can remember birthdays without looking at a calendar, and I know most people's phone numbers by heart!!

Now I’m supposed to tag 7 other people. Here are the rules…

–Link to the person who tagged you.
–Post the rules in your blog entry.
–Share 7 random, or weird, facts about yourself.
–Tag 7 random people at the end of the post, linking to them.
–Leave a comment on their blog so that they know they’ve been tagged.

I tag.....Angie, Kimberly Blake, Shara, Christa, Cara, Kendra, and Summer Walters.

Botanical Gardens..FINALLY!

2008-04-07T22:35:00.002-04:00

Well, we finally made it to the Botanical Gardens. Not the one we tried to go to over a week ago though! Our mom's group at church decided we were going to dress our kiddos up in pretty spring clothes and go to the Dallas Blooms botanical gardens. Kimberly Holmes had it all planned out for us. We had probably 10 mom's and I'll just say tons of kids in tow. We all met at Grapevine Mills at 8:45 and were going to pull out of the parking lot at 9:00. Surprisingly, we were only 3 minutes late! We started the caravan and made it to Dallas just in time for the rain to start! We all pulled over and decided that pictures and a picnic outside wasn't the best plan at this point. We decided on the Dallas World Aquarium. We all paid our $20 and joined 700 kids on a field trip!! I won't go into more details because so many of the mom's have already told the whole story on their blogs, but I'll just say that the $20 was not well spent! We were going to try again last Friday and it stormed Thursday night. So...today was going to be the big day. BUT, our event planner went into labor Saturday morning, 3 weeks early! Sunday a few of us decided we'd just make it a day at the Grapevine Botanical Gardens and eat lunch at Chik Fil A. So...here are the Spring pictures, finally! I kept telling Hayden all morning that he needed to be a good boy and say cheese and hold his brother so mom could get some good pictures. He was an angel for me and in most pictures he held Carson, but in the head lock. The ones of him by himself have beautiful backgrounds with all the gorgeous flowers, but he's making the silliest "Cheese" face. He did just what I told him to do:-) We've discussed a day at the zoo in the near future and I'm just hoping that outing works out for us. Luckily, this group of mom's are amazing. We all love each other to death and love each others kids too. If a two year old runs off, someone's going to grab them. If you need to stop and breastfeed, no worries because at least three other people need to do the same and about 5 others can always stop and change a diaper! We are so blessed to have such cute kids and even more blessed to have such an amazing church!

Where's my Hayden?

2008-04-01T23:08:00.003-04:00

My friend Kendra sparked this post.... We had a long talk at dinner Sunday night about our "terrible two year olds." Matt and I said that the day after Hayden's second birthday, he became a different kid. I was the worst two year old ever, per my parents! They have always said "you'll get paid back one of these days!" Well, I am. My trouble is not with my 5 month old...it's my 2 year old. In public, Hayden is a doll. People tell me all the time how sweet and good he is. The moment he steps foot in our door, he turns into a little devil. I guess I'd rather have him good in public than a little devil everywhere! His "thing" right now is to do the complete opposite of what we want him to do. He throws fits like I've never seen and cries all the time!! Poor little Carson rarely naps because his brother wakes him up all day. We spank, we do timeout, we try to reason with him, we've ignored him, we've flipped out on him, we've remained calm, you name it and we've done it. Nothing is working. I will say that he has been struggling with horrible allergies since about September and is on THREE allergy medicines. I don't know if he just always feels bad or if this is our life with a toddler. We are 5 months away from turning three and we are just hoping that year is better than this one! I'm not sure it could get much worse. If anyone has advice, please give it to me!!! I posted a few pictures that shows the sweet side of Hayden Thomas. I guess I need to look back on pictures like this just to remind myself that he can bring a smile to my face...it just doesn't happen very often:-(

Hippity Hoppity!!

2008-03-24T16:47:00.003-04:00

I couldn't think of anything else to title my post but Happy Easter has been taken by other people already! I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. We went to my parents house and my two brothers and their families went too. We always have so much fun together and it's a zoo at MiMi and PawPaw's house when we're all there! I won't get too wordy because I have lots of cute pictures to share....

I'm down in my back....

2008-03-19T15:22:00.002-04:00

Well, today I'm 31 years old. I never really believed I was in my 30's this whole past year, but I'm now "officially" in my 30's. My mom keeps telling me the 30's will be the greatest years. I can see her point. I know we have soccer games and school plays etc to look forward to. She also now says "what I'd give to be 40 again" and most recently she said "being 50 again wouldn't even be that bad." So, look at who I'm listening to! Some days I still feel like I'm 21 years old and other days I feel like the woman in this picture. Not much I can do about my age, so....HERE'S TO OUR 30's.

Away the Germs Go....and Texas has Snow!

2008-03-11T18:39:00.004-04:00

We are all well in the Noe household!! I'm sure I just jinxed us, but for now we're all good. I feel like for the first time in Carson's life, we're starting to see a happy baby! He is all grins most of the time. Here's a sad story about him though. Last Thursday (snow day) our neighbor called and asked if I had cooked dinner. Of course I hadn't so she invited us over for spaghetti. Anyways, Carson was laying on their living room floor and started crying. He pretty much cried all through dinner so we came home soon after. (probably scared them to death...pregnant with their first!) When we got home he was still crying so Matt decided to get him ready for bed. When Matt changed his diaper, poor guy had an ant in his diaper!! He had a tiny little bite. Bless his little heart! So, besides having ants in his pants, Carson is so cute and happy. He's really started cooing a lot too. I love this stage. As for Hayden, he's a mess! Typical two and a half year old boy. He's just like me, and not in a good way. He can throw a fit like no other but you'd never know if you didn't live in our house. Out and about he's a doll. He's actually really shy (that part's not from me). My parents always said I was a pill for them but was always great out in public. I guess I'll deal with him here as long as he's good for other people. So, there's my updates on the kids. On to the Texas snow day. I know most people have already posted their pictures of their kids playing in the snow but better late than never right? Let me explain the corny hat and scarf on the snowman. Matt's parents gave us a snowman in a box kit at Thanksgiving...never knew they existed, but we have one! We kind of wondered what we would do with a snowman in a box, but we used it within 4 months!! I think it's from about 1970, so that will explain the hat and scarf for ya. Sorry my posts have been so boring lately. I need to think of something unique and entertaining to write about soon. Stay tuned....

Living in a world of GERMS

2008-02-26T22:22:00.003-05:00

Well, not a whole lot is going on in our world...just doctor visits! I know everyone knows what I'm talking about right now. I swear this has been the worst sick season ever!! Maybe I am noticing it more now that I have two kids. Let me start from the beginning. Hayden went to the doctor just before Christmas because his allergies were acting up. So, the doctor changed his medicine and sent us on our way. It was kind of too late because two weeks later, and the day after Christmas, we were back at the doctor and his allergies had turned into a sinus infection! (miserable Christmas!) Two weeks after we went back to school, Carson was at the doctor with an ear infection. Four days later we were back at the doctor with Carson, a double ear infection and bronchiolitis! (Jan.21st and Jan 25th) On the 28th of January, Carson was scheduled for his two month shots but couldn't get them because one ear was clear and the other ear was still infected....antibiotic number three for him. February 8th Carson finally got his two month shots, even though he was already 3 months old. Yesterday, the 25th, Carson had his check up and his ears are clear but now he has a mild case of thrush because of all the antibiotics he's been on. Got another antibiotic to clear that up! I went ahead and had the doctor check Hayden out because his allergies were bothering him and guess what he had...another sinus infection! I feel like I should own stock in Walgreens!! Hayden goes back to the doctor for his check up on March 10th and Carson gets his second round of shots three weeks after that. Dr Scott is really getting to know us very well this year! I called one day and when he returned my call he said "did you miss seeing me over the weekend so now you're just calling me!!" Pretty funny. I almost feel like Carson doesn't even know what life is like when you feel good. Poor guy. So, despite all our dr's visits and drugs, my boys still manage to pose for pictures and keep on trucking day after day. Here's a few cute pictures from the past two weeks. Hope you all are well....someone needs to be:-)

My Little Sweethearts!

2008-02-15T10:47:00.003-05:00

I know this is already old since Valentine's Day is only one day, but I had to share pictures of Hayden and Carson. They were adorable yesterday and I'm so thankful for my sweet boys. Hayden and Carson both promised me yesterday that they were never going to fall in love and were just going to live with me forever!! (pretty sure that would make them freaks, but for now, I like the idea!) We hope you all had a love filled Valentine's Day!!

Wow, 2 posts today!!

2008-02-04T20:28:00.000-05:00

I forgot to post pictures of Hayden and Carson at Western Day at school last Thursday. I must say, Hayden was one of the cutest cowboys there!! I managed to find one of Hayden's old outfits with cowboys on it for Carson too. Here are my cute little cowpokes!!

Brothers!

2008-02-04T20:17:00.000-05:00

I just had to post these cute pictures of Hayden and Carson in their matching shirts. My friend Angie had her neighbor make them for the boys. I've had them since Carson's shower and just now took pictures of them in the shirts. I thought I better pretty soon because Carson is huge! He's 3 months tomorrow and the outfit he wore yesterday to church was 6 months! On another note...isn't my page cute? I feel so hip in the blogging world now.(I know almost every blog I click on has a cute background...I'm just a little slow people!) My friend Shara showed me how to make my page cute:-) Thanks Shara!! Little did I know though, it deleted everything linked to my blog, therefore I had to go find everyone's blog address and type them back in. It took me about an hour and a half today to find everyone's and put them on my blog. If you are stalking my blog and don't see yourself linked to mine anymore, leave me a comment so I can put yours back on my page. Sorry for the boring post....I really just wanted to post these pictures.

No More Treading, I'm doing the breast stroke now

2008-01-30T16:29:00.000-05:00

Well, things are looking up in the Noe household. Carson seems to be on the road to recovery and I am no longer suicidal!! (totally kidding) I did, however, find the most hilarious t-shirt for Hayden that fits so many people's lives I know of right now! I just know so many people who have or have had sick kids in their houses this whole month. It's just horrible when it's winter time and you're stuck in your house. That's why I love the spring. Everyone starts feeling better, we come out of hibernation and get to play outside in gorgeous weather. That puts a huge smile on my face! I don't have a whole lot more to talk about but I took some cute pictures of the boys and thought I better share them. (the one of the boys on their tummy cracks me up...it's like they are saying "Duh...huh?") Carson is now officially a thumb sucker! We've been trying to force the pacifier on him for 12 weeks but he has preferred his fist. I told Matt that once he finds his thumb, it's all over!! He found it on Monday and I actually heard him sucking his thumb about 2:30 a.m last night, over the monitor! I guess it's soothing him and I'll just cross "the task of breaking him from it" road when it comes time! For now, it's pretty cute though:-)

Just treading water....

2008-01-27T22:10:00.000-05:00

So I feel like I could write a short story right now about my life! I've tried to sit down and write a new post numerous times this past week but am just now getting around to it. What's crazy is that I was reading Summer Walters blog the other day and felt like she took the words right out of my mouth!! You know how when you're going through a rough time, you feel like no one else in the world is going through something similar or that no one has ever been through something that remotely relates to your situation? I've felt like that this whole week. I guess it started a week ago, Wednesday, when Matt had to take Hayden to the doctor. He keeps getting sinus infections because of his allergies and I just knew he had another one. Come to find out it was just his allergies acting up and they put him on another allergy medicine. So, for a little over a week I have wiped his nose and eyes non stop and he has not been a happy two year old to have around! Last Saturday guess who started coughing? Carson!! By Monday I had him at the doctors office and he had a "cold" and it went into his ears....double ear infection! Thursday morning he woke up about 6:00a.m crying and he didn't stop until we got him to sleep around noon. Luckily Matt worked from home to help me out. I took Carson back to the doctor that afternoon and I'm so glad I did. The doctor took him off the meds he gave me Monday, gave us something stronger and told me he was glad I brought him in because he was a sick little baby. His ears were way worse and his cough was borderline RSV!! Talk about an overwhelming week! I told Matt that for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm drowning. Luckily he sent me to a one hour massage after that comment:-) Like Summer said, I feel like all I contribute is milk. Thank goodness Hayden is much better and I think Carson is on the road to recovery. I have to take Carson back to the doctor tomorrow (which will be our 5th visit in a little over a month). Hopefully he'll get a good report. So, after all that....here's some recent pictures. You'd never know by the cute smiles that our household has been turned upside down!!

Time Flies!

2008-01-14T10:54:00.000-05:00

Well, I don't really have anything important to post but I just thought I should get my Christmas pictures off here. If you're anything like me, you have a daily blog routine. I wake up and get my coffee (very important step!!) then check email and then go through everyone's blogs. When I've been seeing the same post over and over again, day after day, I start getting frustrated. Like "come on people, update your blog.....my blog checking session took three seconds because no one updated!!" Then I look at mine and think "wow, mine's been sitting on the same post for weeks now!" Nothing big is going on in our household really. Carson feels like he's 6 months old already. Time is flying by faster this time than it did with Hayden! He's going to be 10 weeks this week!! He's a chubby bunny and the cutest thing I've ever seen. (not biased at all:-) He was a little high maintenance in the beginning, but he is so good now. He sleeps just about every night from 10:30-5:30 then goes back to sleep, after I feed him, until about 8:30! I can handle that!! He still likes to be held a lot but he's getting better about entertaining himself! We all started back to school last week and everyone did great. Hayden went while I was on maternity leave, but Carson and I started back and it was nice to have a small break twice last week. I missed them by the end of the day but it felt good being out in society:-) So, that's about all I have for ya. I'll find some cute pictures to post because that's what we all care about anyways, right?

Ho Ho Ho!!!

2007-12-25T11:40:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!

Meltdown #1 down, how many more to go???

2007-12-10T16:56:00.000-05:00

So I said I would continue blogging with child #2. I also said I would never bribe my child with candy, never let him eat chicken nuggets and french fries for almost every meal, and never ever spank him in Target! So I lie. I've been barely keeping my head above water the past few weeks! Actually a few weeks ago, I probably was really close to trying to keep my head below the water, if you know what I mean! Most of my friends who have two kids really close in age have told me I had my four week meltdown. It was exactly four weeks when I called Matt with all three of us crying! Good news is, I'm doing much better and kind of starting to figure this thing out. Until my next post....hopefully sooner than later....here's a few pictures.

I'm Thankful for.....

2007-11-18T17:23:00.000-05:00

Brotherly love! I already love to watch my boys together. I'm very thankful that Hayden has accepted his baby Carson! I'm thankful for all three of my boys.....

I Will Keep Blogging with Child #2!!!

2007-11-12T20:54:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that I started this blog two years ago! I did it, mainly for family, while we were living in North Carolina and we had just had Hayden. Now here we are back in Texas with two kids! I can't believe I have two children. It's wild, but great. Hayden is in love with his Baby Carson and we're enjoying every moment with him too....except for the feedings every two hours in the middle of the night! I'm determined not to treat Carson like the second child and forget to take pictures for two months or something. Carson is one week old today and I think I've done a pretty good job of taking pictures so far. Here's a few, and a glance at two years ago too....(Noe, party of three and the last picture is Noe, party of four!)

Baby Carson is here!

2007-11-05T22:12:00.000-05:00

After months of waiting and guessing, our newest edition has arrived. Baby Carson Jones Noe has entered the world at 8lbs 4oz, 20.5 inches. He and mom are doing great. We're at Baylor Grapevine in Rm 259 in case you'd like to send a singing telegram, pizza deliveries, or something simple like cold, hard cash. Now you didn't come here to read what I wrote, so let the oooing and awing begin...

catching a little shut eye

quiet and curious...for now

stop tapping on the glass freaks!

Champs of the Day

Yeah, we're going to have to work on Hayden's appreciation of his brother.

The happy Noe family... and I mean happy!

Happy Halloween!!

2007-11-03T00:22:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween from our sweet little Koala Bear and his buddies!!

Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-18T23:07:00.000-04:00

We've been to the Pumpkin Patch twice now....the same one in 4 days! No, it was fun both times. Saturday Matt and I took Hayden and then Wednesday we went with our church buddies! Here's some cute pictures.....

Halloween 05-07

2007-10-13T18:14:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to post a few pictures of the three Halloween's we've had with Hayden. I was looking at our pumpkin patch pictures from this year and comparing them to past pumpkin patch family photos and was going to post those, but I can't find the one from the year he was only about 6 weeks old. So, I thought it'd be cute to compare our little guy in his Halloween costumes. We don't have an "official" October 31st picture of him this year, but I do have one of him in his costume already. My, my how times flies!!!

Carson's Shower

2007-10-11T22:07:00.001-04:00

Here's some pictures from my baby shower last weekend. (sorry I look like a beached whale. I thought my outfit was going to be a little more flattering...WRONG.) The greatest gals in the world threw a brunch shower on Saturday and it was so cute! The greatest thing about having number 2 be the same sex as number one is that number 2's gifts are all fun, not necessities! I love monogrammed burp cloths etc and I got some of the cutest ones around. I also got a sling this time and I can't wait to put that little ball in it and carry him around. I think we're all set and just ready for Carson to arrive. The countdown continues......

My Belly, My Bear, and My Boy!

2007-10-02T23:55:00.000-04:00

Here's the most recent picture of my big ole' belly! I've got 6 weeks left and I swear I think I'm gonna have him almost every day. I wish Carson was a little more ripe because I'd ask my doctor to induce! I'm just done, ya know?

And here's a picture of the cutest Koala Bear you'll ever see. I got Hayden's Halloween costume in the mail yesterday and he wore it around the house until he finally came and told me he was hot. Good thing he likes it because I'm pretty sure he's gonna be hot in it!!

And I think this last picture of Matt and Hayden is really cute. They go for a jog most evenings when Matt gets off work. Matt and a group from our church are running in the White Rock Half Marathon in December and he's been running quite a bit further than normal in recent weeks. Good for you babe. I'll just be here at the house, eating cookies and watching Extra or Entertainment Tonight. You go boy!!

Blog Fart

2007-09-17T23:22:00.000-04:00

You know, they say you're having a brain fart...can you have a blog fart? I'm just stumped. I get so frustrated when I check people's blogs and they haven't updated in forever, but I can't find things to talk about to keep mine updated! I feel like a lot has been going on in our lives but I can't write a good post. Hayden is now officially a "terrible two." Honestly, the day after his second birthday he started being bad. Everything in this house is "mine!!" He throws fits and gets frustrated at the drop of a hat. Wonderful attitude change....just in time for a new baby in the house! I'm trying to get things ready for Carson to be here in 8 weeks. Can you really be ready? I feel like this pregnancy has flown. I know the worst is yet to come though. I've already started having cramps in my hips in the middle of the night and numerous times throughout the day I feel like he's going to fall out! I started "nesting" on Saturday and got a lot done in his room. I hung up clothes, organized his drawers, toys, linen closet etc. I still need to get some things to hang on the walls in his room, but I just haven't found anything I like yet. Well, I will work on my blogging...in the meantime, here's my Hayden and some pictures of Carson's unfinished room.

Home Sweet Home

2007-08-30T23:16:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's taken me this long to post about our new house! Maybe I've been super busy getting everything in it's place. I had some serious motivation to get everything unpacked and get the decorations unpacked. The weekend after we moved in I hosted my friend Jennifer's 30th b-day party and the next weekend was Hayden's 2nd b-day party here!! We finally feel settled though and all three of us are so happy. Honestly, so many people have asked us since we moved back from NC if we felt like we were home and we kept saying no. Well, we do now. I've been busy getting my classroom ready too. I'm teaching at Heritage Church of Christ this year. I'm really excited. It's just down the road, it's only open Tue/Thur from 9-2, Hayden goes for free!!!, and they have an infant room just for the teachers babies!! I've needed to get out of the house and feel like I was in the real world for a long time. This is just perfect for us. Along with moving and starting work, my grandad has been in the hospital for two weeks now. That's pretty emotionally draining too. Don't worry about pregnant me though....I get a nap everyday:-) Well, here's some pictures of the house, finally. Thanks for being patient!

Happy birthday Hayden Thomas!

2007-08-28T10:38:00.000-04:00

Today is my little baby's second birthday! I just can't believe it. If you ask him how old he is, he'll say "Five." This must be a common thing because my friend Jennifer's little boy Hudson used to say that, and he's two also. Weirdos:-) We had a lady over here this morning measuring our house for solar screens and Hayden was "swimming" on the hard wood floors. She said "what's he doing." I told her "he's swimming!" She just kind of looked at me strangely. Then she asked him how old he was and he said "Five." Duh lady, he's five years old and he's swimming! Do you not see the obvious? ha,ha! Anyways, today's Hayden's actual birthday but we had his party this past Saturday. It was a great time and he's a very loved little boy! I just can't believe how big my "five year old" is getting and I really can't believe that he's gonna be someone's big brother in 11 short weeks. Crazy! So, here's a few pictures of the birthday boy. I love you doodle bug!

100 Things about me.....

2007-08-17T22:51:00.000-04:00

1. I'm 30 and drive a minivan
2. I'm terrified of vomit
3. My toenails are always painted
4. I love unsweet tea
5. I can't do any type of measurements
6. I love cereal (the little kid kinds)
7. I don't like to drink alcohol
8. I don't have a sweet tooth
9. I love to snow ski
10. I'm a good slalom water skier
11. I lived in the same town, same house my whole life...and my parents and grandparents have always lived there too!
12. I have a degree in education but teaching in public schools scares me to death
13. I'm like rain man with numbers...phone numbers, license plates, addresses, birthdays etc
14. Strange patterns give me the creeps
15. I love entertaining in my home
16. I'm a very lazy person but grew up very athletic and active
17. I hate standing up....I'll find a seat anywhere (see #16)
18. I'm a horrible baker
19. My son likes his Dada waaaaay more than me
20. I hate to be late but am rarely on time
21. I've broken my ankle, big toe, and two fingers
22. I don't like summer
23. I love the winter
24. I'm in love with Justin Timberlake
25. I'm addicted to junk magazines like US Weekly and OK magazine
26. I can't stand road trips
27. I'm blind as a bat but rarely wear my glasses b/c I don't like myself in them
28. I'm a "to-do" list maker
29. I slept with a teddy bear named Honey Joe for 28 years
30. I love naps
31. My mom's maiden name is Jones and she married a Jones....both sides of my family is Jones and I'm literally the only person with a different last name:-(
32. One of my thumbs looks like a toe
33. My favorite color is black
34. I love going to church
35. I'm not a private person...obviously
36. I can drive a standard
37. I don't like milk
38. My favorite food is Mexican
39. I went to Abilene Christian University
40. I went to public school K-12
41. I was baptized when I was 12
42. I like planning parties
43. I love decorating my house
44. I take WAY too many pictures of my child
45. I'm going to give birth in 13 weeks
46. I don't like gardening
47. I'm addicted to email
48. I like to talk on the phone
49. I'm not a big fan of the beach...don't like being sandy
50. I've bungee jumped
51. I can't stand onions but I like onion rings
52. I've been the same height since the 6th grade
53. My foot grew 1/2 a size with my first pregnancy
54. My middle name is Jill but I've had a lot of people through the years tell me it doesn't go with Andrea.
55. My husband's nickname is Buster....some people may not even know his real name is Matt
56. I have two brothers
57. I have two nieces and three nephews
58. I don't care that much about music
59. I gain weight very easily
60. My eyes are blue with brown spots
61. I was arrested once when I was in high school
62. I make friends easily
63. It scares me to cook chicken....I only do it a few times a year
64. I'm addicted to plucking my eyebrows and they are hideous!!
65. I've never mowed a yard
66. I take Super short showers
67. I like to Swiffer sweep my floors
68. I went to the NSYNC concert when I was 25 and to Justin Timberlake when I was 30....with the same person!
69. I love to blog stalk
70. I sleep with the fan on high even in the winter
71. I'm a HUGE bargain shopper....borderline cheapskate
72. I can tap dance
73. I love to wear sports bras
74. I love Roseanne re runs
75. I'm not a very big movie fan
76. I watch Days of Our Lives every day
77. I love buying plates
78. My second son, due in November, will be named Carson
79. I don't like Krispy Kreme Donuts
80. My favorite "meal" is chips and dip
81. I can't stand cats
82. I draw like a three year old
83. I'm not a big fan of medicine....I barely take Tylenol when I have a headache
84. We recycle!
85. We don't balance our checkbook
86. I still don't have my wisdom teeth (could explain some of my stupidity)
87. I'm a horrible singer
88. I'm a really good basketball player and most people would never guess that
89. I get sea sick
90. We flew with Hayden 6 times in his first year of life!
91. We lived in North Carolina for almost three years
92. I sleep with three pillows...one under my head, one between my knees, and one to hug
93. I love salad
94. Sometimes I think I'm psychic
95. I don't shave my legs every day but I do shave my underarms every day
96. I like granny panties
97. I love pajamas but usually sleep in a t-shirt
98. My hair was curly until I had a baby
99. I like doing things for other people but struggle with letting people do things for me
100. I will never do this again!

Move That Bus!!!

2007-08-07T11:48:00.000-04:00

I feel like I'm on Extreme Makeover Home Edition!! Of course I didn't lose my house in a hurricane or from a massive fire, but I think I'm going to be as excited as the people you see on tv!.....oh, and I'm actually still sitting in my duplex packing, not hanging out at Disney World. Matt and I said we'd love to have one of the guys helping us move, pull our minivan (yes I'm 30 and I drive a minivan) away from our house when we yell "Move that Bus....." maybe it would be "Move that Minivan!" I would fall to the ground and scream and Matt would tear up while Hayden runs inside to see his room. Stay tuned....it's the final countdown!

One More Week as a Duplex Dweller!!!

2007-08-03T09:33:00.000-04:00

Today is the countdown to move in!! We close on our house next Friday. WOO HOO!! We had our walk through on Wednesday and other than some paint touch ups, everything looked great. You have no idea how ready we are to move in. I think I've forgotten what all my stuff looks like! We pretty much just unpacked a little bit of stuff and left everything else packed in the garage. I actually hosted a Southern Living at Home party in December before we left NC and I don't even remember what I ordered. We just kept all the stuff in boxes when it got mailed to me. It'll be kind of like I just had the party. Jennifer, Nikki, and I are also going to Canton all day tomorrow. We are doing the all day thing, starting with Carbo-loading at Cracker Barrel before the day begins! ha,ha! I've got a pretty long list going for the house. Hopefully I'll come back with some gems! Hayden and I are going today to try and find a new couch. It's finally here and now the chaos begins!!

As far as what else has been going on with us, not a ton. We did go to my parents for a week b/c we were bored here in the duplex. When we got back, we drove to Oklahoma to see Matt's parents for the weekend.

We've been to the waterpark again, Chuck E Cheese, to a church playdate, and that's about it! Oh, and I went to another 30th b-day bash. I hate those things...ha,ha! I love seeing my college gal pals, but I hate that it's because we're turning 30!

Sorry this is such a boring post. I just knew I needed to update....here's some pics.

Water park, VBS, and mi Casa!

2007-07-18T23:33:00.000-04:00

Jennifer, Nikki, and I took the kids to another water park on Tuesday. The kids have so much fun and it gets us out of the house for many many hours!! We've had a lot of sunny days lately and it's been nice to have options.
We've also had VBS at our church this week. Hayden went to the 2 year old class even though he doesn't turn two until the end of August. He seemed to really enjoy himself.
We also are seeing more and more progress on our house. I have probably been the most anxious about my counter tops. I just didn't know what they would look like on a big space. The samples you choose from are tiny. I'm very pleased though!
That's about all that's happening right now. Just thought I'd share some pictures.

Busy, busy, busy!!

2007-07-16T09:32:00.000-04:00

We had a busy weekend!! We drove Friday afternoon to Kurt and Carrie Beth's house (bro and sis n law) and boy did we walk into a mess! They live in a 1970's house and they are gutting it. I mean, ripping out cabinets and counters, tearing out bathroom vanities, tearing off old paneling, resheet rocking, new floors, windows and doors etc etc. With two kids in their house, who get into more things than you can imagine and who don't nap, it's interesting living quarters right now. We went and had dinner then Matt and Kurt started the demolition. Our main reason for staying with them was because we had some of our best friends from NC come to Austin this weekend with her parents. My friend Sharah was in a wedding. With us only being about 3 and a half hours away, we had to go see them! So, we left Kurt with a big mess Saturday morning to head to Austin. We met our friends for lunch and stayed about an hour longer to visit with them. It was great to see them and how much their little girl Kendall has grown. We were gonna just drive back to DFW Saturday afternoon, but we decided to go back and help Kurt. Kurt and Carrie are taking Mady and Grant to Galveston this week, so he had to have everything demolished by Sunday night so the workers could begin Monday morning. I'll tell you if Matt hadn't been there, there's no way he would've finished! I think the guys had fun though. I even got to stick a hammer through a wall! It felt great:-) They finished things up Sunday morning and we headed back home. We stopped by our house for a quick glance and then came home to get ready for our first night of VBS. Hayden doesn't turn two until next month, but I wanted him to go to the two year old class. I just felt like he was going to be really bored in the nursery! He ended up doing great and even told us when we got home and looked at his art that it was Joseph and his coat. I almost cried b/c he really knew his first Bible story! I know he's learned things in the cradle roll, but he really must've listened to his teachers. I'm excited for him to go back now! Wow, I think I'm done. So, here's my pictures....

Hooray...a new post!

2007-07-10T09:27:00.000-04:00

Long time no see! Something has been wrong with Google on our computer and that's the account I have to use when I log in to update my blog! We're up and running now, so I thought I'd post some new pictures. We haven't been too busy lately because of all the rain. My friends Jennifer, Nikki, and I had great plans this summer. On Monday's we were gonna try to take the kids to the park or zoo etc. On Tuesdays we were gonna do NRH2O water park. Wednesdays were free movie day, Thursdays library storytime, and Fridays the neighborhood pool. The only thing we've been consistent in doing is the Thursday storytime at NRH library.....indoors! Today our plans are to go to the park and let the kids play and then have a picnic. I'm sure the storm clouds will roll in about 10:30!

Anyways, we did enjoy our 4th of July this year. I was really sad that we weren't in NC for the fourth this year b/c we go to a fabulous party there every year! But, we ended up hanging out in Rockwall with my friend Jayme at a pool party/cookout and then we came over this way to the Bedford Boys ranch. Her mom lives a few blocks from the festivities, so we played on bounce houses etc then had dinner and watched fireworks from her front yard. Hayden ate so much at dinner that we were so blessed with our first "vomit in the middle of the night in the middle of the bed" experience!!! No fun, but thank goodness for husbands! ha,ha.

On another note, our house is actually a house now. We are just a few weeks away from move in. It looks great so far and we are just chompin' at the bit to move in. So here's some recent pictures......

The Fam

2007-06-23T23:21:00.000-04:00

We got family portraits made today. I wanted to get pictures of the three of us, as it's been for almost 2 years, and before I really started getting a big tummy! You can't tell in these pictures, but Hayden was HORRIBLE. There was a Lego table there and that's all he wanted to do!! I thought I'd share my favorites with everyone........

Manu Ginobili??

2007-06-21T13:15:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd post something a little different today. About 4 years ago, we got a phone call one night from someone that said Matt looked just like the NBA basketball player, Manu Ginobili. We agreed and went on. Well, this season, because the Spurs were obviously on TV a lot, you would not believe how many people have mentioned to us "has anyone ever told you you look like Manu Ginobili." It's kind of getting funny now b/c I hear this about once a week. I'm gonna post a few pictures and see what you all think. I was going to send their pictures into Regis and Kelly's look alike contest this year but missed the deadline! I think they'd win, what about you?

Water Park

2007-06-14T10:43:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, Hayden and I got to spend some time with a few of my college girlfriends and their precious kids. We took all five of them to NRH2O Water Park. We ended up staying 6 hours!! It is such a kid friendly place and they all just played right past their naps without a fuss from any of them. Of course I didn't put sunscreen on my back and I am a tomato!! You know when you're really pregnant and it takes an act of God to roll over in bed? That's what it's like for me right now b/c of this sunburn. I just love it when you go somewhere and they say "oh honey, your back is so sunburned." I feel like saying "Really, my back is? That's weird. I didn't know!" I told my "no sunscreen" story a thousand times at church last night and repeated it again this morning when I took Hayden back to church this morning for Mother's Day Out. I'm just ready for some relief! Hayden has his Daddy's skin tone and just got tan! For those of you who live in the Metroplex, I highly recommend a day at Nrh2o!! Here's just a few pictures of the kids. (Jack's the only one missing....he must've been sliding head first down a slide. He was the oldest)

Just a little "what not " for ya....

2007-06-10T22:00:00.000-04:00

Hayden's always really been into his Dada...way more than me. He tolerates me because he has to be with me everyday, but he's a man's man! His favorite thing (and Matt's too) is to go jogging with Matt every evening in his jogging stroller. Lately, he's wanted to take a shower with Dada when they get back. It's so cute. The other day he was hollering at me and when I went into the bathroom, this is what I saw. How cute is that?

We've also been spending a lot of time outside. I think Hayden is going to take after Matt and be a swimmer in high school and a lifeguard. We probably spend three hours each day in his pool...at least!! Here's a few "summertime" pictures too.

And here's another update on our house. They are flying!! Here's the pictures from this weekend. It's amazing what they can do in one week!

Come on over to the dark side!

2007-06-06T23:24:00.001-04:00

Happy 30th Birthday to my sweet hubby! Man we're old. (b-day is actually June 7th, but I posted this too early and it says June 6th...sorry!)

Is that a house I see??

2007-06-06T23:14:00.000-04:00

We're beginning to see some progress! As of Sunday, this is what they had done. It's insane how quickly they move because they called last Thursday and said they just decided to bring in a truck to suck out all the standing water so they could pour the foundation...while the sun was out. Friday they called and said they had ordered the lumber and they'd start framing early this week. Wrong! They got the lumber in early and had this much framed by Sunday afternoon. I'm sure by now it's completely framed with a roof and everything. I can't wait to go check it out this weekend. I'm still crossing my fingers for an early August move in date. Looks like it could happen my friends!!!!

Belly Shot!

2007-06-04T23:00:00.000-04:00

Definitely showing now!! Still lookin' a little like a beer gut, but there is a sweet little boy in there. Soon enough I'll look like I'm hiding a basketball! Here's me at 17 weeks. (Well, just a few days shy of 17, but who's counting?)

Oh Boy!!

2007-05-31T19:34:00.000-04:00

We found out today that Hayden's gonna have a baby brother to beat up on! I had been thinking for many weeks that I was having a girl because this pregnancy has been so different. About a week ago I started referring to "it" as "he" and "him" and I realized that I had changed my gut feeling. So today at our ultrasound, the doctor asked us what we thought and I said boy but Matt said girl. Once again, mothers instinct won! I honestly didn't care one way or the other, but I'm really excited now...probably more for Hayden. I just think it's going to be so neat for him to grow up with a best friend and they'll only be two years apart. We're struggling with names right now, so don't ask! ha,ha. Hayden did pick out some footed pajamas for his brother today. I layed a few different packages down and he chose the blue one...even though he said "RED." I knew what he meant:-) This is a picture of Hayden in his big brother t-shirt. It's the best shot I've gotten so far and if you can't read it, it says Big Brother: Baby's Idol, Mom's Helper, Mischief Maker

I thought that fit a 2 year old with a newborn in the house! Oh, and by the way, they poured our foundation today!!!!!

Duplex Life Forever??

2007-05-24T22:22:00.000-04:00

Well, I said I'd post pictures of our house as things progress. If you live in the metroplex, you know how much rain we've been getting. If I hear the phrase "man, we needed this rain!" one more time, I'm gonna scream!!! Rain doesn't bother me most of the time. I mean, it is a pain to run to the car so you don't get too wet, or if you have a kid, that means no outside time. But, we do need rain. I've learned the one time in your life that you pray every day and night for no rain is when you're building a house. I just want my foundation to be poured. I feel like we've been waiting for this step for the past 3 weeks. Optimistic Matt says "that's probably the most important step in this whole process. The ground needs to be just right." That's fine, but when our sales lady says "you watch, once they pour that foundation, they get busy and get the job done!!" It's torture. I just want my foundation to be poured. Here's the pictures of what our "house" looks like. What great improvements huh?

A day at the park

2007-05-18T15:24:00.000-04:00

Today we went with my friend Jennifer and her two boys, Jack and Hudson, and my friend Nikki and her daughter Kendall to the Grapevine Botanical Gardens. I didn't even know such a place existed, but Jennifer had been there. It was gorgeous! There were butterfly gardens, fish ponds, and a big playground. We actually spent more time walking the trails of the garden than playing on the playground! Then we loaded up the kiddos and headed to Celebrity for lunch! Yum Yum!! So, here's a few pictures of our day.

Posting, just because

2007-05-08T19:01:00.000-04:00

I'm telling ya, my life is pretty boring right now. I'm just posting b/c I hate it when I check someone's blog everyday and they won't update! I guess I need to enjoy my boring life b/c before long it will be chaotic! I had my doctor's appt last week and he took me off the medicine that was making me sick. Woo-Hoo. I feel awesome now. We also get to find out what we're having on May 31st. This pregnancy is going by so fast. I already look like I'm about 20 weeks pregnant. ha,ha!! Matt finished his MS 150 bike ride this weekend and he did great. I just respect he and the other 3,000 riders so much for riding 150 miles in two days for such a wonderful cause. I'll post a picture of our house too. Well, you'll see it's not really a house yet! Still waiting for a dumb city permit. I'm going crazy here. Instead, I'll post a picture of our real nice lot! And, I'll throw in just a mix match of pictures....mainly b/c my posts lately haven't had a topic or point. I'll work on something exciting for my next post. Maybe I'll make up a story....stay tuned!

(Ok, I need to figure out how to post a picture with a caption underneath, like I see a lot of people do. Until I figure that out, I'll explain the pics. Matt at the MS 150, The cute Noe couple...b/c I never post pictures of us, Hayden trying on Matt's cycling helmet, Hayden "mowing" with Matt, Hayden trying so hard to do a somersault...he's been working on this!, Hayden holding ice on one of his many bumps, and our "house."

Nothing new, just pics

2007-04-24T21:56:00.000-04:00

I don't have anything new to report or anything exciting happening so I'm just gonna post pictures. The first three pics are of Hayden and his cousin Chance. Hayden just usually plays beside other kids and doesn't even really know they're in the room with him. When he's with Chance, he actually plays with him. Chance is three and Hayden does everything Chance does. It's so cute! The next picture is of Hayden asleep on our couch....at 9:30 in the morning!! He fell asleep that early because since Hayden has been sleeping in a twin bed, he gets up between 6:00 and 6:30 every morning!!!! This hasn't set well with me since I'm pregnant and really need my sleep! The next three pictures are of some of our church friends. The men had a retreat this past weekend, so Friday night us girls got together to let the kids play and we ate pizza and cookies. I love this next picture. This is of Hayden at the mall play area, that I think he'd go to everyday and never get sick of it! I just think he looks just like Matt in it. The last picture shows Hayden's personality...at home. We bought him a dog "pack pack" that's actually a leash. He's not a fan of using it for that, but he loves to wear it at home. He calls the leash part his tail! The funny part to me is that if you click on the picture to make it larger, you can see what this child has on...by choice. A white under shirt, sweat pants, flip flops, and a waffle in his hand! He likes to walk around in different shoes in the house. Too cute. Well, sorry I just had to brag about my cute kid here. Nothing new to report. I'll report some baby news after my next doctors appointment in a little over a week and I'll post pictures of the house once there's something to post other than dirt!

The MS150

2007-04-17T22:13:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to tell you all to check out Matt's MS 150 blog. (The link "Matt's MS150 blog" is to the right)

For those of you who don't know, Matt's mom Valorie has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). She's had it for about 20 years and as long as I've known her, she's been sick with severe symptoms of this devastating disease. It's a very helpless feeling to be around her. It almost seems like every time we see her, she has a new symptom and her health has declined in some way.

Matt wants to do something to help so he does the MS150, a 2-day, 150 mile bike ride sponsored by the MS Society. It's the coolest event I've ever been a part of. There are easily over 3,000 riders and they are all there for the same reason. Some people ride by themselves, while others form teams with people they know and/or work with. Matt rides with one of the largest teams in the nation called the Feisty Devils and their motto is "Ride Like Hell to Fight MS."

In the 2 years he's ridden, he's raised over $5700 that has been put toward finding a cure for MS. Matt rides for his mom every year and the support he receives from friends and family is amazing. The first year (2003) he participated, we were just hoping to raise the minimum $300 donation. He ended up raising over $2500 and was the 17th best fundraiser (out of 2500 riders) in the entire ride! The following year he was asked to make a speech about his mom at the pre-ride pasta dinner and it touched people we didn't even know! Once again he raised almost $3000 and rode in 40 degree weather with rain coming down sideways!! This year we're hoping to raise even more money (and hoping for sunny weather too!!) If you'd like to donate to the MS Society, there's a link on Matt's blog and you can donate specifically to his fundraising efforts.

We've said this to a lot of people and I'll say it again. I know many of you have something you already donate to and we respect that. I just wanted to share with you all what my fabulous husband is doing for his mom and others with MS. If nothing else, just check out his blog...just because!! Go Feisty Devils!

Two posts in one day!

2007-04-02T12:51:00.000-04:00

I guess I've had excitement in my life this past week. Enough to write two new posts in one day!! I'm sure I'll have more Easter pictures to post after this coming weekend, but these are some pictures from our church picnic and Easter egg hunt yesterday. I guess we did it a week early b/c so many people leave town on Easter weekend. We had the festivities at Grapevine Lake with Spring Creek BBQ, homemade side dishes and desserts, bounce houses, the Easter bunny came, and egg hunts for all ages. The adults even had an egg hunt with great prizes in the eggs...Mavs tickets, money, gift cards etc. Hayden needed a lot of help from Matt since he's one handed for the time being, but he got some yummy candy! I just love our church and all the young families. You can get a small glimpse of all the kids we have in the pictures. This wasn't even everyone with kids and we have so many newborns and babies on the way it's insane!! It's a great place to raise a family!

Way to Go...MOM!!

2007-04-02T12:42:00.000-04:00

We had our first big accident last Tuesday. Hayden went crib diving and broke his arm! Of course I was the one putting him back in it over and over telling him "that's a No-No...we don't jump out of our crib...you get back in there and take your nap! etc. etc" Well, about the 4th time I put him back in, he jumped and screamed. I'm pretty sure that was the moment it happened. We spent about 4 hours in the ER that night and then met with a pediatric orthopedic surgeon Wednesday, who then scheduled it to be "fixed" on Thursday. They put Hayden under, put his bones back into place, then put a cast on it that he'll wear for about 4 weeks. It hasn't phased him one bit. He figures out how to pick everything up one handed, he goes 90 miles an hour still and if he needs some help doing something, he just lets us know. We'll see what his attitude is like around week 3 or 4, but as of right now, he's doing great. Here are some pictures of the little guy!.....oh, and one of them is of our first "trash bag on the arm bath!!" Good times.

Oh Baby!!

2007-03-25T22:08:00.000-04:00

Most of you already know our wonderful news, but for those of you who don't, we're expecting baby Noe #2!! After quite a few weeks of feeling very "car sick" from the time I woke up until bedtime, I decided I better break down and buy a pregnancy test. It was positive and a little bit of a surprise. We weren't going to start "trying" until March, but we learned when we were trying to get pregnant with Hayden for 2 and a half years that God has a plan and it will all happen when He's ready, not us! Well, He was ready for us to get pregnant before March :) Everything seems to be going good so far, other than being very nauteous all day. I never felt bad a single day with Hayden, so this is a change for me that's hard to get used to. I really don't think I want to get used to it!! I'm getting girl vibes since this pregnancy is so different, but I read today that's an old wives tale. We'll see I guess. That's really all the news I have right now. I'll keep everyone posted on the little bean.

Bringing Sexy Back...at 30!!!

2007-03-06T13:34:00.000-05:00

Well, it's not actually my 30th birthday until the 19th, but my unbelievable husband surprised me with an early birthday present last night. If you know me at all, you know that I'm obsessed with Justin Timberlake. I have been since his NSync days. Actually for my 25th birthday, Matt sent Jennifer and I to the NSync concert in San Antonio. It was a blast and I didn't think he could ever beat that surprise. He did, he beat it! Matt sent Jennifer and I to the Justin Timberlake concert last night at the American Airlines Center. It was fun from beginning to end because we rode the train to Dallas. That was pretty cool too. Other than the fact that we were on a three story train with a bunch of twenty-something girls in hoochie outfits:) Jenn and I picked up Taco Bueno on the way and were chomping away at our tacos and bean burritos and I told Jenn that most of those girls probably hadn't eaten in three days to get into those outfits. I'm pretty sure we looked 30 compared to them. We also decided to go the "comfortable" route with our clothes and especially shoes but they didn't. Every one of them had tall heels on and I had my "no heel" brown boots on and Jennifer had on black sneakers! Still lookin' like 30 year olds. But hey, we were comfortable! Pink opened for him and she did a great job too. Justin sang from about 8:45-11:00 and Timbaland was with him on a few of the songs too. He is such an amazing performer and so talented. He danced, played the guitar, piano, and keyboard. Jennifer and I stood up practically the whole time and never stopped dancing. We were only about 15 or 16 rows up from the stage. I could see the sweat on that mans face we were so close! Mmm, Mmmm I love that man! Now that I've seen JT in concert, I can face my 30's with a smile!

Why buy new?

2007-02-28T11:14:00.000-05:00

So, my friend Jennifer and I were in consignment heaven last night!! We both love places like Kid 2 Kid and Once Upon a Child, so to learn about the most enormous consignment sale in the metroplex, we were fired up! There's a company, I guess you can call it that, called Just Between Friends, and they host really big consignment sales throughout the US. This week the one in Ft. Worth is at the Will Rogers Center downtown. It actually starts today and runs through Friday, but we got a little VIP treatment. Last night was the "sneak peek" for the consigners (those are the people selling their kids clothes), the volunteers, and first time moms. Well, since I'm a first time mom, I qualified to go last night and I could bring a friend. It was from 8-!0:30....18,000 sq.ft of "stuff." I'm telling you they had 50 strollers, beds, dressers, rocking chairs, every toy that Toys R Us carries, clothes clothes and more clothes, shoes, books, DVD's...you name it, they had it. I'm not sure how little girls are with their clothes, but boys are rough! Hayden spills things, gets dirt all over his shirts, wipes his hands on his pants etc etc. So, I basically buy Hayden nice clothes for church and going places with friends or just for being out and about, but day to day clothes and school clothes....Consignment stores baby! Let me just tell you what I got last night (and keep in mind everything I got was Gap, Ralph Lauren, Old Navy, and Gymboree). 12 shirts, 15 pair of shorts, wind pants and jeans, one pair of shoes (you know those Adidas sandals you can buy that you just slide on your feet....his shoes are like that with a strap on the back) and 4 big toys. (a Little Tykes rocking horse..actually a dog, Little People roller coaster type toy, Leap Frog Learning Drum, and a 3 in 1 sport toy (basketball goal, golf set, and baseball all in one toy) Go ahead, guess in your head how much I spent.........................$124! That's right. I am so excited. This child has his entire spring/summer wardrobe and it's only February. Even better news is that the fall/winter sale is in September. You can guarantee Jennifer and I will be there. So, if you've never been to any of the stores I've mentioned...go... or would like to check out the jbfsale.com website to see if there's a sale like this close to you....do it! You might think Jenn and I are white trash, you may think "I only buy my child brand new clothes." That's fine, but my friends wise up, take the consignment plunge, and when you finally do, you'll never look back. If your child spills red Kool-Aid down the front of that cute white polo you bought him, who cares...it only cost THREE DOLLARS.

Maybe I'm a tease!

2007-02-24T00:17:00.000-05:00

Maybe I'm back, maybe I'm not. I have had several requests by email to continue blogging. Back in the fall I did a post asking if anyone was reading my blog. Surprisingly I had people comment and say yes they read it. Here's the deal though....I LOVE to read people's blogs. Some of them I know, a lot of them I don't. I really try to comment on people's blogs where I see fit and I have even commented on some of those people's blogs I don't know! Do I do it because I ALWAYS have something to say? Maybe. Do I do it because I want them to know someone is reading their blog? Maybe. Do I do it because I don't want them to think they are just keeping a little journal about their own life and the only time it's being read is when they proof read it before they publish it? Probably so! I know my blog isn't very interesting (exactly why I tried to mix it up a little with the whole Valentine's day post...thanks for commenting Magan and Jenn, thanks for nothing. You said you were going to comment) I think I decided no one was reading my little "journal" so it was a waste of my time. Since I had some comments on the blog and some emails too, I'm gonna give it another shot. Please leave comments on my blog. I'd love to read your feedback. I've told my friend Jennifer that maybe I should start a real journal...."A Day in the Life of a Stay at Home Mom." I tell her stories of things I do during the day and most of the time she can't believe the things I do. For instance, the other day while Hayden was at school, I heard something on his monitor. Since we're renting a duplex until we find a house, and there's apartments across the street, we pick up a lot of phone calls if the monitor is on the wrong channel. Well the other day I layed on my bed and listened to about a 20 minute phone call and just laughed my tail off. Oh my it was hilarious. Or here's an oldie that some of you know...When we were still in NC, one day I noticed our neighbor mowing her lawn. Now let me tell you that our neighbors were three African-American women. The mother, her daughter, and her daughter. Well, the one who was mowing was Magnolia, yes that's her real name. The funny thing was, she was mowing in a MuMu, without her wig on, with tennis shoes and no socks, with an ELECTRIC MOWER. It was so funny, I hid at our living room window and video taped her with my digital camera. I emailed it to tons of people and I've had people tell me they kept that for the longest time, just to get a good laugh. Here's one more for ya. Back when Hayden was probably 9 months old, we were talking with our friends The Brabble's and The Collier's in NC one night. We were talking about how you send out all these pictures of your "beautiful" baby in the hospital when they're born, and even more the first few months of their life. Now don't you look back now and think "Oh my, we sent these to people?" Wow! So, while talking to them I said I was going to send them all an email one day that week with the "Best of Hayden" pictures....the scariest and ugliest newborn pictures I could find of him. I did it and I really think they got a kick out of it. Who does that? Now you might say "we watch birdies out the window during the day." Or "I'm a member of a SAHM club and we have a playgroup twice a week." Been there, done that...that's two journal entries right there!! I'm not one of those people. I love my little Hayden more than anything in this world, BUT I'm a people person. You keep me in a house, day after day, with someone who says "gibagoba umenips hokitlmsers 'Mama' humdners 'Dog' veopldmrto 'Juice'" I'm gonna go a little wacko. Obviously. The stories go on and on. So, maybe I'm going to change this blog to my personal, online journal. Maybe the problem has been that I haven't been interesting or worthy of any comments. Well, game on. I'm about to rock your blog-stalking world. Hold on to your seats b/c the journal of a semi-sane mother of an 18 month old is about to begin. (I will still include random pictures of my precious little boy though...whether they have anything to do with my entry or not.) Enjoy the ride!

Signing off

2007-02-16T11:47:00.000-05:00

Well, I set this blog up in the beginning for our families to read while we lived in North Carolina. I love lurking around at other people's blogs etc, but I think I'm done here. I don't blog a ton, but when I do I feel like I'm blogging to one person. ha,ha. I thought maybe people were tired of reading about Hayden, so for Valentine's Day I did a different post. I had two responses....both from Magan who entered her comment twice:) I guess until my life becomes a little more exciting, I'll sign off for now.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2007-02-13T23:27:00.000-05:00

All my posts are usually about Hayden. Today, I thought I'd post something different. Although Hayden's my favorite little sweetheart and I could talk all about his Valentine Party at school yesterday and the precious gift he gave Matt and I, I won't. ha,ha! I thought I'd see how many people are out there reading my blog. I've posted this before and had a few comments. I guess as time has passed, more people may be out there lurking around on people's blogs like I do everyday. I actually posted a comment on a girl's blog (hi Holly) ,who I went to ACU with, the other day and she commented on my blog and said she reads mine too. It's pretty funny when you realize you thought you were being sneaky and reading about people's lives, some you don't even know, and other people are doing the same thing to you. So, here's my question to everyone. I guess it's a two part question. Number one is What has been your most memorable Valentine's Day? This could be with your husband, boyfriend, your high school sweetheart, from your Dad...whatever. I guess my favorite was from Matt when we were in college and he sent me on a scavenger hunt to find all my gift. I had to go to my linen closet in my bathroom and there was bath and body works stuff, then there was a note that lead me to another place, and another etc etc. The last place I went to, he was waiting with flowers. It was so neat! My other isn't neccesarily a memory, because it happens every year. I have been my dad's Valentine's Day "sweetheart" since I was a little girl. I can remember getting stuffed animals when I was a little girl etc... and when I was in high school, I'd get out of the shower in the morning and go to my room and there was my Valentine's Day present laying on my bed. He'd sneak in my room and put it on the bed right before he'd leave for work. My junior year in college, I thought he had forgotten. I remember telling my roomate Jennifer that I guess I outgrew it. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the doorbell rang and he had sent me roses. He still sends me something every year. My dad and I weren't super close when I was a teenager because I was so rebellious and our personalities clashed so bad. Even through our rough times, I was still his sweety on February 14th. Ok, for the second question....If your sweety "whisked" you away for Valentine's day (money's not an object, of course), where would you like to go? My answer is pretty simple. I have always wanted to go to Hawaii. I guess I'm not interested in Paris or going to an exotic tropical island or anything. Just Hawaii. Matt and I have said we'd like to do that for our 10th wedding anniversary. Which is actually only 2 years away. CRAZY!! I'm getting old, but that's another post! Well, I look forward to reading everyone's comments. Please take the time to answer the questions. I'd love to read everyone's responses and see who all is sneaking around and reading my blog:)

What a big boy!

2007-01-30T11:16:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'm gonna give it another shot. Mainly b/c I'm so proud of our "big boy" and wanted to share what all is going on in our world. Hayden has made the transition to his toddler bed. We did it Sunday night, after Hayden had spent a few days climbing out of his crib. So many people told us their child went to their toddler bed at the same age, so we bit the bullet and did it. I really was sweating it Sunday night because I just felt like he was too little and I just knew he'd be up all night. Well, two nights later and he hasn't gotten out of his bed once! Not even when he wakes up in the mornings. He just yells "Mamma!" Just as I was adjusting to the fact that my baby isn't a baby anymore, he moved up to the 18-24 month class today at Rainbow School. He just turned 17 months on Sunday, but they felt that he would enjoy the older class better than being with the "babies." Drop off was very easy this morning and I'm just crossing my fingers that I'll get a good report this afternoon when I pick him up. Big changes going on right now, but I love it!

Angry!!

2007-01-26T09:57:00.000-05:00

Well, blogspot let me write two new entries with pictures and when I was finishing up my last one, it got jacked up again. So...my continuation of what's going on with us is saved as a draft until I can upload pictures again. If you click on our blog one day and it's gone, it will be because I'm angry and I've just about had it with blogspot! Grrr....