Fun times

I thought I'd post some pics of the past couple of weeks.  The week after Noah's dedication Trisha and I went to New Orleans for Jessica's wedding.  It was a short but very fun weekend.  We went to Acme Oyster Bar for lunch where I had chargrilled oysters for the first time and then we walked around the French Quarter.  Jessica's wedding was that evening (Fri May 17) at Rosy's Jazz Hall and it was a blast.  Beautiful wedding with great food, drinks and a jazz band.  The next day we met Gloria and her son at Café Du Monde and then took a streetcar down the Garden District.  We ate lunch at Café Palace on Canal where I had the best bananas foster.  Then we went on a foot tour of the French Quarter and that evening we ate dinner at GW Fins.  We left the next morning at 5:45 to catch our flight.
BTW, it was the first time I had left both Joshua and Noah behind without Steve.  It was easier than I thought it would be but I was ready to see them by Sunday.
The very next weekend we went to Dallas for Julie's baby shower that Mom and I organized at the house.  Some of Julie's close friends and her mom flew in from Chicago.  I can't believe I didn't take one picture but I will get some to post.  Mom made a nice diaper cake and the banana cake was tasty!  Julie looked great and is now about 5 weeks away!  Baby Christian will be here soon!

On Sunday we took Joshua to the World Aquarium and he loved seeing all the different animals.  Can't believe Steve and I had one of our first dates here and 9 years later we're taking one of our sons.  We also had a great lunch at Babe's Chicken House in Frisco - such good chicken fried steak and catfish.  In the afternoon, we went to see baby Zachary and Makayla.  He was such a good baby sleeping in my arms the whole time. 
We went back to Austin Sunday night and Steve and I both had Memorial Day off.  We took the boys to the Quarry Splash Park in the morning and they had a freezing good time!  It was overcast and they both shivered the whole time with Noah laughing most of the time and Joshua being very careful which fountains to get close to.  We lasted about an hour!

The next weekend we went to Ben's graduation at Brentwood.  We were able to see Ben walk on stage and celebrate with him at the reception afterwards where Joshua and Noah ate lots of cake and cookies.  So proud of Ben!  He'll be attending Texas Tech in the fall!
The next day we went to the Chandy house for the graduation party.  Lots of people there to celebrate with Ben.  And of course the food was plentiful - Uncle's BBQ and all the sides.

                                                 Jessica's wedding

                                                Splash Park

                                              Pre-haircut

                                                     Post haircut

                                                  Dallas World Aquarium

Apr - May

This past month had had many great moments with the biggest being yesterday:  Noah was dedicated at our church, Grace Covenant on Mother's Day, May 12.  He did great, and didn't make a peep the whole time the pastor was praying.  Joshua couldn't control his excitement so he just jumped up and down a couple of times :)  The rest of the service was spent mostly in the lobby and outside since we had two energetic boys.  Both sets of parents sat in the front row and we were so blessed to have them there.  Afterwards, we went home and had Chinese take-out and peach cobbler.  What a wonderful Mother's Day!  I also got a card, a watch and bracelet that Joshua picked out on his own.

This past month has also been a month of sickness with both boys being on antibiotics and a week of anxiety with Joshua on the threshold of another seizure.  That all started around April 22 with Joshua getting sick and then of course Noah ending up with an ear infection.  It was so hard to get Joshua to take the medicine initially.

Noah has developed such a vocabulary in just the past few weeks:  this, that, car, dog, juice (which he doesn't get yet), teet, for teeth, bye, gone, baby, stawbewwy (strawberry) and of course, daddy, done, and all done.  He tries hard to repeat what you say.  Still has two teeth on top with a big gap and 3 bottom teeth.  Drooling is still evident.  He will take small bites of table food and at this time loves broccoli (go figure) and ice cream.  He still just drinks milk and water.  Loves to play with the CD player and listen to music and dance.  He "plays golf" with Joshua by taking the putter and using one hand to connect with the ball and then yells "Ayyyy" to get you to clap and praise him.  He gets into absolutely everything with the new thing being that he can reach into drawers and grab whatever out.  He is still very much my explorer.

Joshua is still enjoying school with just a couple of weeks left before they let out for the summer.  He still plays golf as much as possible and likes to go with Grandpa to the range.  He enjoys anything with trains and we try to ride some kind of train every couple of weeks.  He is slowly getting better about eating but we still have to do lots of encouraging.  Because of him being sick the past couple of weeks he has started crying again at night and we are starting to retrain again with sleep.

Here are some pics from the last month:

                                                Zilker Park - Apr. 13

                                  The new Chandy house - Apr. 28

                                   Noah's dedication - May 12

Easter, egg hunts, and wedding

We had a great past couple of weeks with the highlight of course being Easter, March 31. 
We went to a couple of Easter Egg hunts, the first at Brushy Creek Park on rainy, cold, March 23.  And then the next Sat. March 30 at our own Red Oaks Amenity Center.  Both Joshua and Noah loved carrying their Easter baskets and trying to find eggs.  
On Easter we went to church and then had Mom and Dad over for a BBQ lunch courtesy of Pokejo's.

Joshua actually started his first day of Mothers Day Out on March 21 and he did wonderful!  Steve and I took him to Round Rock Baptist on his first day and we met his teacher Ms. Michelle.   He goes now on Tue and Thu from 9 to 2 and he takes a lunch and a sleeping bag.  I think he really enjoys school.  I still can't believe he's grown up enough to go!

Last weekend, Apr.5 we went to Dallas and stayed with Sunil and Julie.  On Sat., Joshua and I went to Alex Achen's wedding where we met Mom and Dad at the reception.  Then we met up with Steve and Noah at Jason and Shawn's house, where we all later had dinner.  Avery is almost 6 months old and such a sweet, laid back baby.   Joshua and Austin, of course, had fun playing together.

On Sun, we went to see Shane, Sylvia, Selah and baby Stone who was  1 1/2 weeks old.  Can't believe I didn't think to take any pic. but I forgot how still and quiet they are at that age (at least when visitors come)

Brushy Creek Easter Egg Hunt

Red Oaks

 

 

 

Joshua's 3rd B-day

We celebrated Joshua's 3rd B-day a day early on Sat. Mar. 16 at the Little Gym.  We had so much fun, especially Joshua.  He was the star of the show and I know he felt pretty special.  There were about 28 kids and 30 adults with both sets of grandparents present.  Joshua's friend, Austin, even came all the way from Dallas :)  We definitely had lots of pizza and cupcakes left over and needless to say we won't be eating those two items for a while.  I had fun putting together Joshua's B-day party theme :Thomas the Tank Engine, of course!  He definitely had a huge hand in planning his party right down to changing the cake into a cupcake cake!  The favors included a Thomas cup, whistle, crayons, stickers, and a mini Tootsie lollipop. 

Noah had a blast at the party too - he loved climbing on the mats and falling.  He mainly stayed with grandparents while Steve and I spent time with Joshua and our guests.

On Sun, (Joshua's actual B-day) we took him to see Yo Gabba Gabba at Bass Hall while my parents watched Noah.  We caught up with Joshua's friends Jahan and Nayan and went to their house after the show for a mini playdate.

Mom and Dad stayed in town till Wed and went back to Dallas.  That night, I went to the Alicia Keys concert with Sunita, Tina, and Tiu.  She is an amazing, talented artist and it was a great concert. 

We ended this weekend by going to see Florida play Minnesota in the 2nd round of March Madness at Frank Erwin.  Fun Sunday night!  Florida won!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update for the past month

Noah is no longer holding his hands to the side when he walks.  His balance has become so much better in the past week and now he walks as if he's been doing it for years.  When I chase him, he tries to walk really fast, almost in a run, and inevitably falls.  It cracks me up everytime.  
Noah just yells "Daddy"  all the time.  He knows what he's saying and loves to hear Daddy respond to him.  He still says "Uh oh"  when he drops something or more likely throws something.  He likes to throw his food at the dinner table, which would make me so angry when Joshua did the same thing at his age.   Now, I just tell him "Don't do that" and go on my merry way.  Funny how things change with a second child.
I saw Noah pick up a remote and pretend it was a phone by putting it to his ear and he attempted to say hello.  And then tried to have a conversation.  It was the first time I've seen him pretend play.
They both have minor colds this week and Noah seems to be doing worse with his runny nose.
Joshua is still very much into golf and goes to the range with Grandpa alot.  He also lives and breathes Thomas the Tank Engine.  He loves everything to do with that show.  I just found out this week that he has been accepted to the First Baptist Round Rock's Mother's Day Out program for the remainder of this school year.  He will probably start next week.  Can't believe he's going to a school.
He will also be going to Council Oaks in the fall for their Mother's Day Out program 2 days a week.

We had a fun Feb. with Joshua and Noah giving me a cute Valentine's Day card that was really addressed to a granddaughter but Joshua liked that Minnie Mouse was on the card.  Steve got me chocolate covered strawberries and so did Sunil and Julie!   I had 24 strawberries total and somehow I finished them in a week and a half. 
On Sat. Feb. 16 we went to Brant's Bday party at a fire station downtown.  Joshua loved climbing in the fire truck and taking pictures.  He also got to hold the hose with a fireman.  Sunil and Julie visited us on Sun Feb 17 after they spent a weekend at Barton Creek. Joshua and I went to Sesame Street Live at 1 pm.  This was the day that Noah just started walking more than 4 steps at a time.  He started doing it right when Sunil and Julie came.  We also had a good evening eating Rudy's BBQ.
Sat. Feb 23  Joshua went to soccer practice while Noah and I went to the grocery store.  It was the first time I let Noah sit in the grocery cart.  He had a blast.  We met Suzanne, Benoy, and Bethany at Bob and Mike's Chicken for lunch and then went to Sushi Zushi without kids that evening with Tony and Bindhu.  Good dessert at Austin Cake Ball.  On Sun. we went to church and then Kiddie Acres since it was a beautiful day.
This past weekend, March 2 was Shanyn's baby shower so I left at 9:45 to LaVonne's house and Steve took the boys to Mom and Dad's house for the whole day.  I went to dinner with the girls including Sheri, who flew in from Atlanta, at Oasis.  The boys finally came home around 7:30.  I missed them so much.
Since the boys were feeling sick, we skipped church and just did grocery store and house hunting today.  It was a relaxing Sunday.

Addendum:  Posted this a week late so I will recap this week.  I was able to go to dinner with Diana on Thu and Steve went to poker Fri night.  Joshua went to soccer Sat morning and we went to a birthday party at Brushy Creek park in the afternoon.  Then we got to visit with Teena, Anil, and Ajay in the late afternoon. 

                                      Noah's 1st train ride - (1st time for all of us on Cedar Rock Railroad)

                                                Valentine's Day with their respective candies

 

2/17/13

                                                               2/17 - Sesame Street Live

Joshua's 1st cotton candy

 

                                                               He loves doing this!

                                           Joshua and Noah in the cart together for the first time

 

                                             My boys enjoying their favorite treat - ice cream