Homecoming

Noah always finds a way into the action with his brothers... Here, Noah crashes the photo moment with Matt and his friend as they posed with their little buddy between shots with all the rest of the Homecoming Dance crew
Matt says "Good Morning little buddy" one morning before heading off to school... they're both in great moods in the mornings!

Ben has all kinds of school spirit with his Thompson Tommies face paint on... I think his class (the class of 2014, can you believe it?!) won the school spirit contest between the other grades.

This is what an entryway looks like when 17 kids storm you house, to hang out and watch a movie, when it's too damp outside to have a bon-fire after the homecoming football game. It was quite a sight to see this many pairs of shoes in my entry way at one time.

This group of friends all hung out together (most of these kids belong to the shoes shown above, ha) for their senior year Homecoming Dance. Everyone was dressed to the hilt, and had a great time. They're a great group of kids!

Life is GOOD!

Life is Great for this little guy... a tooth finally broke through, so as you can see, he's happier and more full of smiles!!! His mouth isn't hurting as much, and he's squacking and babbling LOTS more!!!
Sometimes when I get started snapping pictures, I get on a role, and can't stop capturing these amazing and fun moments. Sometimes, when I'm stressed about this or that, all it takes is a slobbery kiss from Noah, and a giggle or coo, and my worries are lessened. He's a constant reminder of what's truly important in life, and what is just fluff.

Sleeping Beauty (Handsome)

Sometimes Noah's naps take place in our arms, as was the case on this particular afternoon. Sometimes, if we're having a lazy afternoon (RARELY are we lazy, maybe just catching our breath instead, ha), we'll just hold him if we think laying him down would cause him to wake up. As you can see in this picture, there wasn't much danger in him waking up, as he was OUT FOR THE COUNT! (I think he may have even been snoring).
He was sleeping SOOOO soundly, that his little dreams were pretty enjoyable I think! Either that, or he was REALLY processing his dinner, and his tummy was tickling him with rumbles of gas bubbles. haha. We couldn't stop laughing at his cheesy grin in his sleep!

When he woke up, the puzzled look on his face was equally amusing... he must have been wondering what we were all looking at, and why he was being laughed at. He's a non-stop source of joy, entertainment, and wonderful memories!

Six Months Old!!!!!

Daddy helps Noah try on his newest jammies... what a big boy in the button up "Cars" pj's! He is so long in the torso and his legs are like stilts, that he has outgrown all the little baby sleepers already. We have to shop in the toddler stuff just for the length of outfits. Needless to say, he's so lean that the bulk of his clothes are far from tight around his tummy, but the length is always stretched to the max.
Noah is really getting good with his finger dexterity... he puts his own pacifier in his mouth, and even surprised me the other day when he held his hand in front of his mouth when he sneezed, so his pacifier wouldn't go flying out of his lips! He munches on it more than he sucks on it, trying to soothe his aching gums I imagine. Still no teeth for Noah, but hopefully soon! Can't you just MELT from the handsome eyes he looks at us with though?!!!

Yes, his hair really is this wild 99% of the time! ha... He has a little ring around the back of his head where most of the hair has been rubbed off, but now that he's sitting on his own, and upright more often than laying down, hopefully some of that hair will start to fill back in. In the meantime, he just loves playing with his brothers, and is SO curious when he sees the camera come out (thus, no smile... he was just laughing before I snapped the picture, but wonders what's in front of mom's face when the lens cap comes off).

NOAH'S SITTING NOW!!!!!

Noah has really been learning how to sit on his own!! He even has such great concentration, that everything can still go in his mouth while practicing his balance and sitting techniques. Here he slobbers all over his rubber ducky... one of his newly crowned favorites!!! It gets tricky to hold on to after a while, because it's thoroughly coated with his slobbery drool.
When not sucking on a toy or a toe, he's sucking on his tongue and trying to soothe his gums, which are surely going to burst with teeth erupting soon! His amount of drool and slobber surely indicates he's working on teeth at least in the NEAR future, if not immediately (although I've been thinking they're going to pop through the surface in his mouth for the past couple months). I think waiting for baby teeth to arrive is like waiting for Christmas when you're 5... it just seems to never happen. ha.

Daddy and Noah have countless moments of enthralling conversation!!!! Noah's looking over at Coconut, Kristen's doggy, as he tries to come over and steal Noah's ducky.... little does the pooch know that there's no way he'd give it up on purpose (unless his mommy left it in Wisconsin by mistake) ha. But you can just see the balance and skill he's developing quickly as he grows WAY too fast!!!!!

Hard Working Baby...

As a part of a weekend project, we dug a spot where we're going to be moving a shed to in the near future. We had a truck load of sand delivered, and all that sand had to be shoveled into place. Ed got out there and got started early Saturday morning, expecting Benjamin to come out and help him when he woke up. Noah and I watched from the house, and it wasn't long before guilt overtook us. We went outside to help daddy (yes, that's mommy's shovel in the trailer... I just HAD to take the photo for a minute).
Noah's "Bumbo" seat was the perfect thing for keeping him close to us (he didn't like laying on a blanket I'd put down for him in the shade), and keeping him entertained while we shoveled all the sand. He liked riding around behind the lawn tractor, and he didn't even put any dirt in his mouth!!

"Hey Mommy, aren't you going to jump on for a ride?" He seemed amazed at the whole process of riding through the yard, and watching us work, while he kicked back in his seat.

Just a peak over the edge, as the trailer went by. He was really getting the hang of this "yard-work" gig. We finished the job, and now we're ready to move the shed in the near future. I wonder how Noah will help us out then?

Bottle Dance from Matt's Play

Watch this amazing fun clip from Matt's play... he's the one on the far left (of the four gentlemen doing the dance). I was skeptical at first, but they all assure me that they really ARE balancing the bottles (so did the director, when he told me how many bottles were dropped and/or broken in rehearsals), ha. Not a bottle has fallen during performances!!! At the end, when they all yell "HEY", Matt's the one they have hoisted up in the center! (No, the beard's not all his... mascara does a lot in theater appearances) ha. Enjoy!!!