Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Happy Birthday Noah bear!  It's been one year already!  It feels like this past year has gone by so fast.  I can still remember every detail about my Noah's birth.  He has brought us so much joy and laughter and we are looking forward to much more laughs in the upcoming year.

We celebrated Noah's Bday in Dallas on New Years weekend - two weeks prior to his Bday so that Subin could celebrate with us.  We went down to Dallas on Fri Dec. 28.  We walked around Stonebriar Mall with Subin on Sat. and also hung decorations around the house.  That evening we went to Laji pappan's house for dinner.
On Sun., we went to Party City and Costco to get ready for the party that evening.  We had our close family for Noah's 1st Bday party and it was much more intimate than Joshua's 1st.  Mom and Dad came from Austin which we all appreciated.  Dickey's BBQ with all the sides and lots of snacks, fruit and punch was served.  Julie made a beautiful personalized banner with Noah's Ark on it.  It was very creative!  Sunil and Julie also got Noah his cake and I will say that Noah thoroughly enjoyed it.  We all had an enjoyable time.

Monday we took Joshua to Northpark Mall to see the trains.  He loved looking at all the miniature trains and we were in that exhibit for about an hour.  It was well worth the 45 min. it took to get there.  We left to go back to Austin around 3:30.  The boys slept for most of the trip which was nice.

Noah has been pretty sick for the past 5 days with a severe cough, congestion, and runny nose.  Thankfully Joshua hasn't picked it up yet.  We signed Joshua up for basketball last week and Dad takes him on Tues.  I had to get an overide since he's not 3 yet; I explained that he's pretty advanced for his age :)  Steve also signed him up for indoor soccer which starts this weekend.

For Noah's B-day we got him some cupcakes and we let him lick some icing.  We must have sang him "Happy B-day" 10 times today. 








                                                                        Noah's 1st B-day  (1/15/13)

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Christmas and baby news

We had a great Christmas weekend with Subin, Sunil, and Julie coming to see us on Sat. Dec. 22.  Subin flew into Dallas on the 16th for a 2 week vacation before he heads back to Germany.  Joshua and Noah got lots of presents from his uncles and aunt.  Joshua got a lighted car, Thomas trains, and clothes while Noah got a teether, a fluffy dog, and some clothes.  Steve and I received an iPad, iTunes gift cards, iphone cover.  We were a little flustered with all of our gifts esp, the iPad.  After all, we just got our iphones last month. 

Sunil and Julie broke some exciting news to us through their wedding album.  I was flipping through each picture and as I got to the end, Julie asked me a question.  I didn't even notice what I was looking at as I answered her question.  I closed the album and after a long couple of seconds realized I had just seen their baby's ultrasound pic!  Julie was 3 months pregnant!!  How exciting and blessed we all are!  Can't believe Sunil is going to be a daddy!  We are definitely going to have some fun times ahead!

Sat. night we had Mom and Dad over and we picked up BBQ.  On Sun. we went to church and that evening we dropped the kids off and met Subin, Sunil, and Julie at Jack Allen's kitchen.  We tried to take Joshua to the Holiday Light Tour in Round Rock but the line was too long.

On Mon., Steve and I had to go to work while my brothers and Julie headed back to Dallas.  We both got off work early so we could make it to the 5:00 Christmas Eve service.  Joshua liked the music and I had to stroll Noah back and forth in the corridor but I was still in the sanctuary.  I wrapped presents till about 11:00 that night.

On Christmas, we read the Bible to Joshua and Noah after breakfast and then we started to open presents.  We all took turns opening presents.  Joshua sure got a lot of Thomas stuff and Noah got mostly "used" presents (Joshua's old toys that were in the attic) 

We went over to Mom and Dad's at lunch and had roasted chicken with sides and pecan pie.  Steve and I took turns taking naps.  We went back home around 4 pm.

We feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family - immediate and extended.  Joshua and Noah are the light of our lives and they are such a delight to be around.  They keep us constantly entertained and on our toes and we thank God everyday for them.  I wish we could just slow our lives down so we could thoroughly enjoy every moment.    Thank you God for all your blessings and help me appreciate them everyday.

                                          Dec. 23 - Joshua and Noah opening Uncle Subin, Uncle Sunil and     
                                                           Aunty Julie's presents     

                                                           Christmas Eve morn.
                                                                       Christmas Day


 

Thanksgiving and more

On Thu. Nov. 22, we went to Dallas to celebrate Thanksgiving.  We usually go on Thu since the traffic is usually nonexistent.  That was not the case this Thanksgiving.  We did leave at 10:00 and thankfully, Noah slept for an hour.  We also had to stop at McDonalds for lunch (Joshua repeatedly said "I'm hungry")  At 2:30, we arrived in Frisco.  An hour longer but when you have 2 kids, seems like an eternity.

Thanksgiving dinner was at Sunil and Julie's house (their first Thanksgiving as a married couple) and they had already put up the Christmas tree.  There was so much food that I wasn't able to taste everything.  Two turkeys, ham, all the sides, and lots of dessert.  Most of the family were there - unfortunately, we had to leave early.  Joshua vomited after eating something and he kept having stomach cramps.  Unusual for him since I can't remember when he's ever vomited.  We left at 8:30 :(  but at least Joshua felt better by the end of the night.

We had fun on Friday going to Target and the mall for Black Friday sales.  Noah spent a lot of time with Mom and Dad while we took Joshua to the stores.  Later that afternoon, we went to the Jacobs house and spent time with them, Priya, and their extended family.  Sunil and Julie came over later in the evening.  We decided to leave back to Austin on Sat. evening so we could beat the Sun. traffic and it was a great decision.  We got home with both boys sleeping most of the way home.

On Dec. 8 we took our family Christmas pics at Brushy Creek Park.  It was unusually warm and we all had sweaters on and I had black pumps.  What a mistake!  By the time we got done I felt like I had done a 5 mile hike and we were all sweating profusely.  We put up the Christmas tree and the lights on Sunday and Joshua absolutely had the best time.  For an hour and a half, he stood beside me and handed me each branch and was so excited about the multi colored lights.  He kept saying how beautiful it was.  My challenge will be to see if I can keep Noah from tearing the tree down.

Noah turned 11 months today.  I should be happy that he's growing but I mostly feel sad.  I'm just being honest but I have always loved the baby stage and it is almost over.  Noah was the absolute easiest baby and I cannot believe my one year with him is slowly coming to an end.  I have so much to look forward to!  This past month he has done a lot of new things.  I was so nervous that he was slow to eat solids but he has just blossomed recently.  He is mashing and chewing anything that I give him.  I gave him chicken, brocolli, tilapia and peas this past week.  He loves banana and bread.  He clings on to me if I'm eating anything hoping I'll give him something.  He has been drinking a little here and there from his sippy cup.  He still has one tooth and I think another bottom one is coming in.  This past week I have started to give him a bath in the tub instead of his infant tub. 
He still loves to be a little rascal - he tries to unplug any cord from the outlet, chews on wires if he can, rummages through all the cabinets, puts everything in his mouth including lotion bottles, hair dryers, etc.  I literally cannot take my eyes off him.
He likes for us to take his hands and walk with him.  He can stand alone for about 2 seconds before he lowers himself down.  Noah will take Joshua's tricycle and push it across the room.  He likes to walk with the alligator walker.
He can imitate the words "mama," "dada", and "uh oh."  He is definitely a smiley happy baby and laughs at everything.  He only gets upset if he's tired, hungry, or if his big brother is pushing him around, literally.