Merry Days

What a wonderful week we've had! We had the McGinnis Christmas last Sunday, then Grandma Norita came down to keep an eye on Noah on Christmas Eve. She wore him out! He slept for hours and hours! Yea for that!

Dave was on-call for Christmas, so the family came to us this year! It was nice to spend the day with everyone. We missed Josh and Veronica, who couldn't make it up from Texas. They just closed on their new house, and he had to work the next day. Maybe next year!

Noah made out pretty well for his first Christmas! He received many books and clothes and a few toys, including an Ocean Wonders crib soother! You strap it to the side of the crib, and it plays classical music and has a screen with fish swimming and plants waving. It also has a remote we can hang on Noah's bedroom door, so we can turn it off without disturbing him if he's fallen asleep!

Dave and Tracy were excited to get new pots and pans and a power washer . . . think we're growing up!

Here are a few photos from Christmas.


Napping with Grandma Norita in the morning


Opening Noah's stocking


Noah's future is so bright


Hanging out on Christmas


Noah and Tracy


Surrounded by all his loot


Aunt Kelly tried to pack Noah in her new suitcase


Such a happy guy


Worn out at the end of the day

We've had a fairly quiet week since then. We're enjoying a Saturday at home with nothing to do!

Hope everyone has a great New Year's - stay safe!

December to remember

Noah has now mastered rolling over! He even tried flipping from back to stomach to back to stomach today! He's taken to sleeping on his stomach. We make sure he has plenty of room to breath, but we're not fighting it anymore! If he' comfy and will sleep, so be it. Usually, though, we find him sleeping with a leg out the side of his crib (or his foot headed that direction)!


We had our first Christmas this afternoon with the McGinnis family. Noah made out like a bandit, as I'm sure he will the rest of the week! He briefly tried pulling paper off one gift, but that was not as interesting as trying to eat the bottom of another gift bag.

He received a Care Bears pillow, which is about his size!


Grandma Norita came home with Tracy today, so she can watch Noah tomorrow. Carol is off, so a day with a grandma sounded like just the thing! Then we're having Christmas at our house Tuesday. Should be a wonderful time!

Oh, and Dave won employee of the year at Socket! Yea for Dave! So proud that his bosses recognize all the hard work he has put in at work, especially the past year! He was actually a co-winner . . . Jessie won a car! Dave had to suffer through hearing he won, seeing Jessie's prize and a comedian before they presented him with his prize. He won an iPhone, a play set for Noah and a trip to Hawaii! Next year is our five-year anniversary, so we're going back to Hawaii! Woo hoo! The play set is incredible, too! We can pick the parts for it, but the picture they had at the presentation included a play house, a sandbox, a picnic table, swings, slides, etc. They're also going to install it for us when we want (we're thinking not for a few months!).

Happy holidays to all of you! Hope everyone has safe travels and cozy days!

Rocking and rolling (almost)

Noah has been so busy lately! He's almost constantly moving, usually those long legs! Noah is rolling to his side a good part of the time, either to practice rolling over or to try to see what's on the TV! We flip him back around pretty quickly or read a book instead if we catch him trying to watch the TV!


Tracy and Dave celebrated their birthdays the last week of November. Dave had the big 3-0! We had a few friends for taco night on Tracy's birthday, and Luke and Alissa babysat Noah on Dave's birthday, so it was out to Jazz for dinner! Mmm!



We went away for the weekend to celebrate some more . . . Noah got to hang out with his grandmas and Grandpa Rusty for the weekend. Grandma Pat took Noah and Kaylor to see Santa on the Saturday morning; apparently Noah did great (we're guessing he loved the red/white contrast), but Kaylor wanted nothing to do with him! Noah also got to visit with Grandma Norita's cousin and her grandson! Busy weekend!

Last weekend we went to Westphalia to eat at Mickey and Regina's restaurant and to borrow their truck. Noah was a hit with regulars and new customers alike! He was particularly entranced by all tbe lights around the cafe. So we are surprised he doesn't stare like that at our Christmas tree. He really doesn't even notice the huge piece of nature covered in lights and Star Wars and angel ornaments! He's more interested in kicking around on the floor and playing with his little gym. And that's OK, too!

Noah's seeming to like reading with us. He is much calmer when we read to him and likes to "turn" the pages. Or eat them. Whatever.




We're really enjoying watching him grow smarter by the day. You can really watch the wheels turn! He's also figuring out how to pass things between his hands - it's fun seeing him hold something, grab it with his other hand and wait to let go with the first hand until he's got a good grip with the second!