Jay and I have decided to start this blog in order to keep track of our kids’ progress throughout the years, to give them something entertaining (hopefully) to read when they grow up, to keep family and friends in the loop of our daily life and to reach out to anyone who cares what it is like to walk a day or two in our shoes! We hope to keep up with the blog on a regular basis and to entertain you along the way. While we can’t promise anything, we’ll do our best.


DISCLAIMER: nothing in this blog is to upset anyone, it is our thoughts, our interpretation of life and our story… please do not bash us for having an opinion on life!



Monday, February 27, 2012

Noah's 2nd Birthday: Part 2

If you haven’t read Part 1 of Noah’s Birthday, you can read it here.  For those of you who have decided we are worthy of reading about, I want to thank you for returning to find out about Noah's surprise birthday destination!

It all started when Jay and I decided we needed a break from sleepless nights, screaming children, spit-up, and poop!  We knew that Noah also needed so much deserved Mommy and Daddy time, and since he sleeps through the night, he qualified to join us on a mini sanity birthday vacation!

So, what do all great parents do?  Why, ship the twins off to Nina’s and runaway with Noah to Gatlinburg, TN, of course! 

Here is Noah after going on a scavenger hunt for his packing list

We ran about an hour behind schedule after packing all three kids up for a weekend away.  The twins went to Nina's house, where it was reported they were perfect angels!  What the hell?!  Finally, we were on the road!


We booked a fabulous room where we proceeded to unplug the phone so that Noah would stop calling the front desk, 


had a quick dinner (Noah surprised us and ate EVERYTHING on his plate!),


spent an evening at Wonder Works,

Noah checking out life upside down! 

He LOVED being an astronaut!


We even flew to space!

While we were there Daddy and Noah danced!

And danced some more!

Noah met his TWIN and danced some more!

We made big bubbles!

And when Mommy wasn't looking, Noah tasted a sample of the soap!

Daddy even got in on the action!

All of a sudden Noah was sucked out of his space suit and floated off into space!

But Daddy was fearless and tethered up to climb into the heavens after him!

To celebrate his return to earth, Noah rode an elephant!

And then totally crashed before we made it back to the hotel!  Space travel is exhausting!

But don't worry, both Daddy and Noah got some work done before turning in for the night!

The next morning we set the alarm and made our way down to the indoor pool at our hotel!  Noah LOVED it, but after five minutes his lips turned blue!  Evidently the heated pool has a hard time keeping up in a glass room when the outside temp is below 20 degrees!  We have no pictures of this activity... and good thing too!  I forgot my flip flops and instead had to walk down to the pool in a bathing suit and heels!  I was a true June Cleaver at that point!  After swimming we stopped by Mommy's favorite Flapjack pancake house and gobbled down some breakfast... well, mommy and daddy ate while Noah screamed bloody murder!  Good Times!

Lastly, we spent an afternoon at Ripley’s Aquarium!

Noah LOVED all the fish!


Took us a while to get him away from all the "wheels"!

He so badly wanted to touch all the colorful coral!




Waiting for the scuba diver to show up!

And here he is now!

Noah was the only kid that got to give him a high five...

 And he was SO freakin' excited!

Hello Sawfish!


Pirate Noah

Deep Sea Diver




Even Noah agreed this thing was YUCKY!

Penguin House!  For the record... crawling in there SUCKED!


Thank you weird little girl for killing my father/son moment!  What is she doing anyway?

I had an incredible time showing Noah the sites of one of Mommy and Daddy’s favorite get-a-way spot!  We'll probably hold off on going there again until Noah's 7th birthday when he might be big enough to zip line with us! 

This weekend has reminded me of how truly blessed I am to watch this little boy grow up! 
Happy Birthday Noah! We love you! 

Friday, February 24, 2012

Noah's 2nd Birthday: Part 1

It’s official… our little guy is now TWO!  Jay and I had originally decided that every year on his birthday we would take him to the zoo.  Unfortunately, the weather told us it was going to rain, so we decided to hold off on our zoo trip and we went to work instead.  It never did rain and Mommy guilt set in within five minutes of sitting down at my desk.  It didn’t take me long to realize where I belonged, so I opted for a half day and rushed home to make Noah cupcakes! 

I arrived home to hear three children and one nanny all screaming!  I mean SCREAMING!  I could hear it in the driveway!  Turns out the twins were cranky,  and Noah was having a riot egging them on and mimicking Carter’s wails for attention.  And well, Miss Dana was mimicking Noah just to join in on all the fun!  The screams of my children continued all afternoon and somehow I managed to make the cupcakes in between popping aspirin.  It took me a while to convince Nina that I actually made them!  I think they turned out pretty good, what do you think?

Because the kids just got over being sick we decided it was not the best time to have a big birthday party.  Instead we had Nina and G-Pa over to the house for “cake” and presents, and Noah was able to Skype with Grandma and Grandpa in Illinois!  Things were going well until Daddy went out to one of Noah’s favorite pizza joints, and bought him a $20 pizza only to leave it on top of the van and drive away!  Despite the fact that our yummy dinner ended up splattered on the highway and we ended up spending another $13, the frozen pizza was a huge success with Noah (even if it did cost us $33)! We had a good laugh at  gave Daddy a hug and thanked him for his efforts!

Here are some of the gifts that came Noah's way...

Day of the Diesel and other great movies, AND a new jacket



Thomas the Train Trackmaster extension pack

Digital Camera


Grillin’ Grand Kitchen


Now that the weekend is upon us, we have great plans to celebrate Noah’s birthday!  Join us next week and read “Noah’s Birthday, Part 2”!  I won’t tell you what are plans are, I’ll keep you in suspense until then!  So tell me… how did you celebrate your kids’ 2nd birthday?  Leave us a comment, we’d love to hear from you!  While you’re there take some guesses at what you think we’ve decided to do!

If you are still with me and want to hang out for a minute, here are some other great shots from our day!