Rain, rain, go away!

A phrase no one uttered this weekend though it rained all day today and off and on for the past couple of days.  We really needed the rain here in Austin, though it grounded us for most of the day.  We did manage to make it to church and Steve and Joshua went to Costco later.  Otherwise, we had a fun weekend with Joshua making two new friends on Fri.  Joshua loved playing with the twins and stayed up late at their house watching Thomas videos.  We were treated to several homemade pizzas and wine.  On Sat. Steve went to celebrate a friend's B-day with ziplining and later both of us joined everyone at Uncle Billy's for dinner while Mom babysat. 

Noah turned 8 months on Sat. and he does not sit still anymore.  He's able to sit and play without support, roll from back to stomach and stomach to back, come up to sitting, and now he's trying to pull up to stand.  Too fast!  He crawls to the nearest cord, doorstop, remote control, or anything else he shouldn't have.  I think we'll have to actually babyproof the house now since we never had to do it with Joshua.  Noah got his first cold/allergies last week.  He's still not recovered, though you'd never know it with him since he smiles and laughs all the time.  He is getting a tad bit needy; I have to be holding him or near him most of the time or he starts to cry.  I'm not sure, but I think I've spoiled him.  He's still on 2nd Stage Foods, I need to start Puffs or something else with him.  I'm also thinking of a sippy cup soon.

Joshua will be turning 2 1/2 tomorrow and he's a funny little boy.  He is doing well with potty training; we have the potty seat over the toilet and that works well.  He will tell us when he has to go, but he is leery of doing #2 in the potty so he waits till he gets a diaper on.  He rides his tricycle nonstop around the house and he's into Tball  more than any other sport.  Believe it or not, he's not even interested in golf now.  Go figure.   He rarely takes a nap which I'm trying to find a way for him to even do quiet time.  He's still a picky eater but I'm not as worried anymore.  He loves to make you laugh.  His favorite things now:  Thomas the Train, Sid the Sciene Kid, Word World.

Here are some pics:

                                                          Daddy being funny!

                                                              Noah's 1st time in the high chair 9/15

Joshua painted a cat on his face and wanted a pic taken

 

9/15 - 8 months old

Labor Day weekend

Aug. 26 - Noah is almost 7 1/2 mo. and just this past week has started to maintain sitting upright. He's able to play for about a minute sitting up and then will slowly lean to one side. He started to belly crawl about a week ago and can get from one side of a room to another esp. if he sees something he wants. He loves to grab hair and he loves to pinch. He's always opened and closed his fists and will grab your nose or arm and grab and pinch. I'm trying to gently tell him not to do that. Guess I need to be a little more firm. He has been teething for the past couple of months and will put anything in his mouth.  He still doesn't have any teeth and will hopefully get teeth before Joshua who got his first tooth at 13 mo.  He's constantly drooling so his clothes are always wet. He has the longest hair but I don't want Steve to cut it yet. I've let him cry for a few minutes but inevitably he ends up in our bed around midnight and I love snuggling next to him. He is the sweetest baby and smiles and laughs constantly.

Sept. 3 - Labor Day - We had a fun filled long weekend since we were both off.  We went to the mall like we usually did on Fri.  On Sat., Steve and Joshua went to the Y for a Beach Bash party while Noah and I got groceries.  In the afternoon, we went down south to Lick and got ice cream.  In the evening, we went to Mom and Dad's to celebrate Steve's upcoming B-day.  Sunday we went to church, ate at Pluckers and later went to Barton Creek Mall. (Let's say it's been almost 2 years since I'd been there)  Today, Steve and Joshua went to the splash pad while Noah and I went to Target.  We dropped the boys off and went to lunch at Second Bar and Kitchen.

Noah started crawling, really crawling this past weekend.  He even tries to put both feet on the ground and push up to stand.  He is moving around fast, rocking back and forth on his knees.  So so cute.  Here are some recent pics:

                                                                                    

                                                                                    

                                                                                

The Annual Samuel Trip

So much has happened since my last post.  We've had lots of fun with Scott, Betsy and the kids since their arrival on Aug. 10 in Austin.  Ethan and Joshua hit it off pretty quickly with Joshua looking up to him and following him around everywhere.  Ethan is so intelligent and could rattle off facts about plants, dinosaurs, rocks and other various topics.   Mia would always look after Noah and Eva and was playful and fun-loving.  I was so amazed at how she could play independently and often entertained herself.  Eva who is 4 months old loves to smile and watch all the siblings play with each other.

Since we had 2 full weeks we were able to relax and visit more and we did some fun stuff in between.  Steve and I took 2 Mondays off during their visit.  Some of the highlights:  Safari Champ, McDonald's (try it with 5 kids), Ethan's B-day, BBQ at Babu Uncle and Lena Aunty's, the Park at the Domain,  my Rudy's B-day dinner at the house.  Though it doesn't seem like a lot, we spent some part of the day everyday for 2 weeks and had lots of fun.  Joshua definitely had a blast and is already missing everybody.  Here are a few pics:

 

 

 

8/15 - Ethan's 5th B-day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 mo. pic. of Noah and 2yr. 4 mo. of Joshua

Here are some pics we took on Sat. July 28:

My two sweet boys

It's been almost a month since I've written on this blog.  I'm amazed at how fast time is flying by.  Every day I think of how this time in our lives has to be the best time and how I really try to thoroughly enjoy every second of every day.  I feel so blessed to have a 2 year old that is so fun to be around -athletic, musically inclined, funny, mischievious, loving, and affectionate.  And at the same time we also have an almost 6 month old that is happy, sweet, and an absolute joy to be around.

Noah rolled over for the first time on June 8 (one week before he turned 5 months)  Since then, he's been rolling from one end of the room to the other.  He loves to pat my face while he drinks milk and he's always grabbing my nose or trying to pinch me by grasping with his little hand.  He definitely grabs at toys or teethers much more than Joshua did at his age.  He loves to "talk" by saying "Ohhhhh" for as long as his breath will last.  He is very ticklish and laughs when you kiss his stomach or his neck.  He laughs when Joshua is playing with him or trying to kiss him.  Just like Joshua, he loves to play peek a boo in the mirror.  He loves looking at his reflection, but not as much as Joshua. :)    We used to give him a bath on our bathroom counter but he splashes so much that this week we put his little tub in the garden tub and give him a bath in there.  He drinks about 5 oz every 3 hours and I just switched him to a fast nipple.  He also just started getting rice cereal twice a day today.  I only started the rice cereal about a week ago.  With Joshua, I started at 4 months. 

Joshua got a Tball set this weekend and has already mastered how to hit the ball with the bat.  I do think he is going to be a pretty good athlete since his coordination and motor skills surpass most in his age group.  When we are in town on the weekend, Steve usually takes Joshua to the library and the bounce house which he loves.  On July 4, we both had the day off and we all went to the splash pad and he loved all the fountains and the slide.  We also got to watch some fireworks that our neighbors were doing and Joshua got to hold a sparkler for the first time.  He was mesmerized by all the different colors that were shooting out of it. 
Here are some pics:

                                                                     5 months

                                                                              Father's Day

                                                                Kavi and Subin's wedding 6/23

                                                                            July 4

Sunil is married!

So much has happened since our last post!  Wedding bells were ringing in Hawaii on Fri., June 1st for my brother, Sunil, and our new sister, Julie.  It was a beautiful wedding in a chapel off of Waikiki Beach with 38 of our close family and friends.  Subin, Steve, Jackie (Julie's sister) and I were all in the wedding party.  Julie wore a beautiful strapless gown and Jackie and I had on purple and gold saris.  The service started at 5 and the reception started at 7 at the Westin Hotel.  The cocktail hour was set off two separate balconies that overlooked the beach.  The reception was a small intimate room that held 4 round tables.  Sunil's friend Reji emceed with the program consisting of mostly speeches.  Steve said the prayer, while the rest of us had a short speech.  The reception lasted till midnight and some stayed out later while some (me and my reluctant husband) went back to the hotel.

We had such a great time in beautiful Hawaii.  The weather was absolutely perfect, meaning 70s to low 80s the whole time with 1-2 sporadic showers.  We loved eating at restaurants overlooking the beach and just watching the view.  Our hotel, the Trump, was modern and spacious with a kitchenette and a huge bathroom.  Subin, who stayed at the Trump, was upgraded to a room bigger than my apartment in Dallas. 

Thursday night we had rehearsal dinner and Friday I managed to get my hair done and eat at a huge buffet before we had to do wedding prep.  Saturday we went to the Honolulu Zoo ( which was amazing) and then went to a beautiful luau in the evening.  Sunday we trekked up Diamond Head Mountain ( my calves hurt for a week) and then relaxed on the beach and the infinity pool the rest of the day.  We ended the day with great sushi before we went to bed for 4 hours only to report down at the lobby for our 3:30 am ride to the airport :( 

While we had a blast in Hawaii, we missed our precious boys the whole time.  I really don't know what Steve and I used to talk about before the kids.  We both concluded that we will not be able to take another trip without them for a long long time.  We called them twice a day everyday and made sure Joshua knew we were coming back soon.  He didn't seem like he was missing us too much  with all the fun he was having at Granny and Grandpa's house :)

Congrats to Sunil and Julie!!  Sorry, but I wasn't able to take too many pics on wedding day.  Hopefully, we'll get professional pics soon.

Noah is 4 months old!

Noah turned 4 months on Tue. and is so much fun to be around.  He laughs and smiles all the time and also makes high pitched screaming noises to get attention.  He is still sleeping in his bassinett beside our bed which is now way too small for him.  The pack and play, however, is too big for him and he didn't sleep well the one night we tried him in it. 

For now, I will post some pics but will return to finish this blog tomorrow.