Home Sweet Home

We are back from our trip to Oklahoma and Texas and it feels soooooo good to be in our own beds! We had a great trip but it always makes it so hard to come back to NC after being with friends and family. We spent about 4 days with Matt's parents in Oklahoma and even spent some good times with our friends who live there. Sunday night we ate dinner at Neil and Jeny's after church and our ACU friends the Bedichek's and their little baby Avery came too. Then Monday night Josh and Sarah hosted us and Neil and Jeny at their house. We had 5 boys running around that house....and they were 3 years old and under! It was pretty neat to see Matt and his high school buddies hang out and watch their children play together. (they were all in the youth group together too) Josh bought a big blazer on ebay, and of course the three guys had to go "mudding" in a field behind their house. We are all getting so old b/c they were only out there for about 5 minutes. I guess they just don't have much adventure left in them. Ha,Ha! We spent some good, quality time with his folks too. Valorie even let me rearrange her house. I'm talking big time rearranging! We moved the formal sitting room into the office, made the living room set up different, moved a desk into the office and set up the computer...and I even redecorated a little for her. Isn't she so lucky to have a daughter in law like me? After Oklahoma, we spent one day and one night with my brother and sister in law and neice and two nephews. It was fast, but good to see them. Then Friday and Saturday we stayed with Jennifer and Zac in their new house in Keller. We went to a soccer game, had a birthday party with my college girlfriends and their babies, cooked out at Jenn's house with my friend Nikki, then left early Sunday morning. Good thing we left when we did b/c Hayden started running a fever Saturday...come to find out he has an ear infection in both ears....and Jennifer and her two boys started vomiting Saturday night. She said "yall got out of our house just in time!" It's good to be home, but sometimes you need a week of vacation after your vacation. And today we had lunch with friends from Texas that came through NC, Matt and Hayden have dinner with friends tonight while I go to a party, tomorrow is church, Thursday I have Bunko, and Saturday is our Young Married costume party. Our costumes are a secret, but if they turn out like we hope, I'll post pictures Sunday or morning. So, we're not getting much rest this week. Maybe next week will be our recuperating week. Well, that's all the news from the Noe's. Here's some pictures of our trip.

We have hair!!

Here's a few pictures of Hayden...with hair! It's been 13 months of waiting, but he has really started sprouting hair the past couple of weeks. Last night for church we decided to spike it up like a mohawk. Matt said " I feel like this is wrong, tricking him up like this for church!" He was a big hit though. His Bible class teachers thought he was cute and he had a lot of compliments. It really fits his personality, so I think I'll keep it spiked up. The other pictures are of us playing with it during bath time. In other news, we are going to Oklahoma in a week to see Matt's parents. After that, we're staying with our friends Jenn and Zac and their boys for the weekend. We are really excited. Of course I've already been having nightmares of what could go wrong on the flight. He's flown (is that how you spell that?) about 5 or 6 times, but I could nurse him and he'd go to sleep. Now that he's a wild toddler, I don't know what's gonna happen. I can't decide between Baby Einstein or Benadryl. Ha!Ha! My dreams lately have also involved terrorists on our plane. The dream had alternate endings one night. One ending was that one blew up the plane and I was soaring through the air and realized Hayden wasn't in my arms. The other ending was that Matt and the other men tackled the terrorists and took them down so we could land. Sound familiar? That could be a 9/11 story if Matt had said "Let's Roll!" Maybe if I decide on Benadryl over Baby Einstein my dreams will start being of me watching Pretty Woman on the DVD player, sipping a Diet Coke with Hayden sound asleep. That sounds more pleasant!!

Favorite Things

Two of Hayden's favorite things are "building" things with his daddy and being naked. This past weekend, Matt taught a class at our youth rally and he built a cross so the kid's could "nail" a sin they wrote on a piece of paper to the cross. Well, Hayden "helped" him build the cross! I would be holding two of the pieces together for Matt to nail them in and Hayden would come sit on the boards and they'd fall. Then he'd hit us over the head with the empty apple juice bottle he was playing with. Then he almost snapped his fingers in the tape measurer. So, we decided that it was time for a little nap:) He loves the tools and I really think he believes he's helping. I told Matt when Hayden gets older, they'll have to go up to Home Depot on Saturdays and build stuff together. As far as these naked pictures go, Hayden loves to have naked time every night. When he gets out of the bathtub, just before he goes to bed he gets to play naked. Matt and I just sit and laugh at him. I just want to bite that cute little hiney! (ok, sometimes we do bite it!) Yesterday he got to play naked downstairs. Sometimes the "toy" he decides to play with while naked isn't really a toy! (ya know what I mean??) So, here's some pictures of Hayden's favorite things.

This is for you Jenn!!

Ok Jennifer. You wanted me to update my blog. I don't have anything new to talk about right now, so this blog entry is for my favorite person in the world...I mean, besides Buster and Hayden:)

Big Boy!

Matt and I took Hayden to get his first birthday pictures made. Here's a few of my favorites!! He looks so big in all of them. He's started acting like a toddler and not so much like a baby lately. He's really been trying to talk a lot! He can say Mama, Dada, Bye, dog, duck, ball, light, bath, and "Da-Da-Den" for Hayden. He's been so much fun the past month and we are excited to see what this year brings us!

Happy Birthday Hayden!!

This weekend we had Hayden's first birthday party. My mom flew in from Texas and it's been so good having her here. We did a banana split theme, so the extra hand in the serving line was wonderful. I kind of figured Hayden wouldn't eat his cake, so we just gave him a small cupcake. Of course once he got it on his hands, he hated it! He's not a big fan of being dirty. Maybe this is why my one year old still won't eat table food. He hates for his hands to be dirty! We had about 20 people over and Hayden got so many toys. Mom kept him last night for us so Matt and I could go on a date. Our first one since we had Hayden!! It was awesome. She said out of all the new toys he got, he chose to play with his fire truck he's had for probably 6 months. We bought him a Turbo Coupe car and he LOVES it. We haven't been outside in it yet, but he really digs cruising through the house in it. We were going to go get his first birthday pictures made on Monday while Mom was still here, but of course the place is closed on Monday's. She'll head back to Texas on Tuesday and then the Noe's are off to the beach! I'm so excited. I'm sure pictures will follow soon after we return. So, here's some pictures from Hayden's party. My how time has flown by this first year. It's been awesome though and I'm so glad God chose me to be his Mommy!

Me, Crazy..??

Well, I guess I haven't sat down and just written a long blog entry in a while. Since I know people read my blog now, I'll go for it! Hayden's only 11 days away from being one. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. There's a place in his baby book that says "Letter from Mommy" and "Letter from Daddy." Neither one of us felt like we could write a letter to Hayden when he was only one month old. We barely knew him. So, Matt and I both sat down a few nights ago and wrote our letters to Hayden. It was pretty hard to sum up your feelings for your child in just a short letter. Of course Matt's was better than mine, but they both ended up good. He's really turning into a little boy now. He's walking and really close to just taking off and running! He's played with some other kids in a playgroup and loved the interaction. I was in the playgroup, I believe, a total of three weeks. I'll tell you right now, Stay at Home Mom's are nuts! Now I'm a stay at home mom and yes, I am going nuts staring at my child all day and the four walls are closing in on me. Here's a little example of what I'm talking about...because my hubby is cheapo, we only have 13 channels. So, when Days of Our Lives is over at 2:00, I don't have anything to watch until 5:00. Hayden takes about a 2 and a half hour nap in the afternoon, so I've got some time on my hands. Well, two weeks ago Matt was working from home one day and looked over at me and I was laying on the couch watching the ceiling fan spin round, round, round.... Now I'm sure you're thinking "you're the crazy one Andrea." Yes I am, but these mom's in this playgroup are nuts. I'm not gonna go into the middle school details, but I'm not in the group anymore. Maybe I'll get Hayden a dog. Oh wait, we already have two that we hate. Maybe I'll take him to our church preschool...oh wait, we don't have one. Maybe I'll go for walks more often...oh wait, it's 2,000 degrees outside. Well, I guess I'll just blog more often. Stay tuned folks. This could get interesting. Here's some pictures for ya...

I knew I was loved!!

So, I do have readers on this blog. That makes me happy! And the Hayden saga continues.........

Testing, Testing 1,2,3

Is there anyone out there? Does anyone read the NoeWonder blog? I'm starting to wonder if I should start using this thing as a personal diary....the only person that seems to comment is my sis-in-law. It would be kind of like she was sneaking in my room and reading my diary or something! (Melissa, I promise not to write details of my love life with your brother, ha ha) So, I guess before I post another entry, I'd like to see a show of hands of who reads this darn blog. I guess if no one posts a comment, my question will be answered! Have a good day.........Melissa.

Mimi & PawPaw Visit

Hayden's Mimi and PawPaw (my mom and dad) were here this past week. We mainly relaxed and let them love on Hayden. Mom took us shopping for some fall clothes, dad and Matt played golf Monday night, and we went to the zoo. Everything else was eating out and hanging out at thepool. Here's a few pictures from their visit. We even got a family picture b/c someone was here to take one. It was sad to see them go (mainly b/c it was great to have extra hands for baths,diaper changes, feeding, play time, temper tantrums etc.) but my mom is coming back for Hayden's first b-day banana split party next month. So, until then, here's some new pics.

Almost Walking!!

Well, Hayden is 10 and a half months old and is sooooo close to walking. He's taking some tiny steps here and there. I honestly think he could take off and walk, he just doesn't know that yet! I just planned his first birthday this past weekend. We're doing a banana split party. I ordered lots of really cute decorations, banana split bowls, great invitations etc... My parents will be here on the 23rd of this month, but my mom is getting to come back for his birthday. I'm really excited, and the extra hand will be nice. When I'm scooping ice cream for 30 people I'll be really glad! We've also started the "weaning" process. Hayden's doing surprisingly well. I'm determined to be finished with all that by his first birthday...which I can't believe I'm already talking about. My, my how time flies. So many people told us to enjoy every second because it goes by so fast. They were right!! We were looking at some videos the other night when he was a newborn and a few months old and he was so tiny with a little quiet "waa-waa." Now this child is an animal! Our house doesn't even look like a cute little home with everything in the perfect place. The fire place has a safety latch, there's gates everywhere, and now our dining room table has been moved in front of my china hutch. He couldn't quite understand that the pretty glass doors weren't drums! I wouldn't trade this for the world though!

Happy 4th !!

Here's a few of our 4th of July pictures. We went to a friends house on Saturday and let the babies swim in Will's wading pool. Hayden was cracking everyone up because he is such a fish. The other babies wanted out or cried when water splashed in their face, but Hayden was dunking his head under the water. Once all the babies got out and Hayden was the only one in the pool, he took advantage of the wide open space. And, even though there was sunscreen and grass in the water, he decided to lap up the water like a dog! We just laughed. What do ya do? Then on Tuesday, we went to the big Fourth of July party that some friends throw every year with about 40 people. They have a gorgeous home with a great pool and deck. Only two of my pictures there turned out because of the humidity. I got home and looked at them and about 6 were just blurs...kind of like when your mirror fogs up in the bathroom when you're in the shower. Oh well...here's what I got. (oh, and there's not even a picture of Hayden in his 4th outfit. Not sure why I didn't take one. I'll put him in it later and "pretend" it's the fourth)