Another 3 year old for me!

October 5th was Noah's 3rd birthday and we had a great time. It happened to fall on Sunday so we had a simple little celebration with just our family. The Miracle's happened to stop by and join in the song and cake. All day Noah felt like the king of the world. And we let him. It was his day.

Then the following Wednesday we had the full blown party. And I loved it every bit as much as the kids. We did it total Halloween style and I even decided to embrace the "cool mom" and dress up. Oh yeah, a witch. How appropriate right? For the ward party I am going to try add a wart to my nose. But the night of the party my time was running out and I barely had time to spray my hair purple.

All the kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes, or whatever their mom's could pull together and we had a spooky party. Even my yard turned a little white trash with all the decor. Please see "cool mom" above.

We played Pin the Eye on the Jack-O-Lantern, Spooky Halloween Twister and decorated Halloween sugar cookies. I decided to do a cupcake tree instead of a cake since I made a birthday cake for Noah on his actual day. And it was so easy and fun. Spider webs. So easy.

So, to my crazy little 3 year old. . . I love you more than you will ever know. Even on the days when I want to pull all my hair out and go to a hotel all by myself (or just the bathroom would be nice), I wouldn't trade it for the world. You make me laugh harder than any other child I have ever known. You can also make me a bit nuts. :) But that is what we love!!!! You always know how to make me smile. I love you little Noah. Every single thing about you!! I am so proud to be your mommy.

And the news is. . . .

Well, I guess it is time to officially announce something that most of you already know. And for those of you that I haven't told yet, it is purely out of laziness and being severely over occupied.

Today I had my ultra sound and we got to see the little baby in motion for about one hour. There was a tiny little calcium deposit on one of the babies heart muscles, but not to worry. The Dr. came in to take a look at it and said that it is totally fine and not to stress about. But of course, I will be googling it later.

The baby looks great. Everything is where it should be and working how it should be. What a relief. Last night I didn't feel the baby move and it started to stress me a little. I got up to go to the bathroom around 1:30am and laid awake until 2:45 praying a worrying that the baby would move and everything would be fine. It was a serious concern for all you that think I am a little worry wart. (Jason included. He had the nerve to even tell me that I probably wasn't really awake all that time).

So, when the tech asked me if we wanted to know the gender of the baby, I got very excited. But I told her to wait a little. I wasn't quite ready for the anticipation to be over quite yet. And then I was ready.

It's a boy!!!! And we couldn't be happier. Really, at this number of child, I am thankful for either. If Ellie never was born and this was my 4th boy, yes. . . I would be so sad. But now that I have each, I am set. So, boy it is. I am very happy and excited to start all over with boy things. My sister Jocelyn just had her first children. Get it? Twins. :) And she had little boys so I gave her all I had. Jason is worried. But I am ready to go shopping. :) As a side note. If I do decide to have a 5th child, it better be a girl. Ellie needs a sister and someone to fight about scrunchies with. Didn't we all hate it if our sister touched our scrunchies?!! :)

So, congrats to me! :)

Boston and Vermont

Boston. . .

We have been back for almost a week now, but I just figured out how to do that grid thing so it has taken me awhile to post this. Our trip to Boston and Vermont was great. In short, here is what we did.

Marriott Residence Inn. We got into Boston around 11pm. I went to pull the sofa bed out and found no mattress. One little call from your truly and off we went to the PENT HOUSE. Hello two story hotel room. That was wonderful. We love the Residence Inn because it is like staying in a house. Especially when it is bigger than our actual house. :) And the yummy breakfast each morning. Mmmmm.

Whale watching. This was AMAZING. Whales were 20 feet away from our boat and it was so close you could see the white under belly. Loved it. Luckily the weather was prefect this day. Breezy and cool, but nice. By far one of my favorite days of the trip.

Freedom Trail. I loved this. Paul Revere's home was pretty neat to see. The boys were B.O.R.E.D. to say the least.

Trolley tour. It was POURING rain so this was really our only option. Too bad the vinyl windows were covered in steam so we saw very little. And to be honest, I really didn't care. :) I just wanted to sit and be dry. We were dripping with water. Ellie was out of control at one point so we decided to get off. In the rain. With no appropriate gear. Drenched. And in the theater distract too. Bor-ing. And when we went to board the next trolley, there weren't 5 seats available. So we waited another 25 minutes in the rain. So fun.

Quincy Market. YUM-O is all I have to say. I could have spent several hours in there. Me and food. . . together at last.Ben and Jerry's was tons of fun. Our tour guide was a little strange, but made us laugh. Did you know how unsuccessful Ben and Jerry were destined to be? And who doesn't love some free samples of yummy ice cream? The boys loved it there. For obvious reasons.

Salem. The scary witches. We had a fun time there. And that is a really cute little town. We even found a bit of Mormon history there. But I don't remember what. I know, I was really fascinated by it.

The boys bought swords that make "clanging" sounds when they move. Like metal on metal. And they are the WORST swords EVER! They went off NON-STOP the whole drive home. I ended up shoving and wedging them in the back of the van under all our luggage, hoping they would break. But no. They win the award for the world's most durable toy. SERENITY NOW!

Vermont. . .

I loved every bit of it. We spent 3 nights there in a beautiful resort town called Stowe. Check it out if you are ever heading to Vermont. It was prettier than I ever imagined. And we hit it at a perfect time. The trees were all rich with color and the weather was so fall like. It was everything I was wanting it to be.

We rode the Gondola to the tallest peak there and although there were too many clouds to see the bottom, the ride up was breathtaking. We were all a bit freezing once we hit the top. :)

Each day we ate at different local restaurants and each day we ate a ton. The food was so delish!

We stayed at the Green Mountain Inn and it was perfect. Jason took the kids all swimming in the "nicely heated" pool and they loved it. Especially Ellie.

We spent a lot of time driving up mountains and getting out to take scenic pictures. Something I actually think is lame unless you are a good photographer. But it was just too gorgeous not to capture. Unfortunately, I am no photographer so the pictures will never do ti justice. And I stand firm on believing there should be people in pictures. (Unless you are skilled like I mentioned earlier).

We also drove to Burlington, Lake Champlain and spent a few hours walking and shopping on Church Street. Very fun. And apparently we ate the world's best chicken fingers. Coated it Kellogg's and almonds. I had mine in a wrap with sweet potato fries and get this. . . horseradish honey mustard dip!! It was heaven. I think I need to use "the Google" to find the recipe. (Did anyone get that?)

Then we drove half way back home and stayed in New York for the night. Panera in the hotel room. And a little bit of Gossip Girl for me while the boys went out to get dinner. (Stop judging me. I am not perfect).

It was one of the best family vacations we have taken. We loved every bit of it. And I highly recommend taking the time to go to Vermont in the fall. There really is nothing like it.

I had to add some extra pics that are already in the grid but for some reason heads are cut off. I guess I didn't really learn how to do it all that well after all. :)

WICKED!

I had heard from a couple of my friends here that Wicked was doing a lottery for tickets to Wicked. A bunch of my friends actually went to the show and I decided not to go since I had seen it awhile back. But hearing all of them talk about it made me sad to have missed it. So Libby and I tried to do the lottery and got in!!

Our seats were front and center and it was awesome. I actually loved it so much more than when I saw it in NYC. Thanks Libby for leaving your new born and coming along. It was so fun and totally worth it.

And THANK YOU lottery man. I love you for picking me.

The first day!

It has been awhile since I have updated, and I have no excuses other having nothing too interesting to tell. But today I have a blog worthy entry.

Jackson and Noah started school today. And for Noah, it was his FIRST day of school ever. Jackson has already been to two years of pre-school so this was no big scary thing for him. He was just so ready and excited to start school. Noah did great too. He was a little shy, but still kept asking me when I was going to leave. I asked him, "Why? Do you want me to go?" And he said. "Yes. Leave." :) But when it came time to actually talk to his teachers, he wanted me RIGHT there. They both looked so cute in their back packs. Noah was LOVING it. I really liked the teachers, their classrooms and all the fun things they have planned for the kids. I am glad there are people that love their job so much and love all these (MY) kids so much. It gives me a lot of comfort knowing they are in good hands with people that really do care about them. But please don't mistake me for the crying mom out in the parking lot. I am glad to have them go and experience new things and build their character. And I am seriously glad to have a little less noise in the back round for 2 1/2 hours. So, here's to another fun and wonderful year of school.

I took a picture of Noah with his teachers, but they weren't on the camera when I went to upload them. So, I will be taking another next time. And I had to promise Noah a piece of candy to smile in his. All for nothing.

My friend Brooke did this with her 4 year old daughter and I thought it was pretty funny. So I decided to give it a try with my boys.

NOAH:
1. What is something mom always says to you?
Do naughty things.

2. What makes mom happy?
me

3. What makes mom sad?
me

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
say, "stop laughing!"

5. What was your mom like as a child?
I am a pirate.

6. How old is your mom?
I can't know.

7. How tall is your mom?
this tall. Stretches his arms high and can barely get the words out he is stretching so hard.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
not let me have candy.

9. What does your mom do when you are not around?
be naughty at me.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I can't know.

11. What is your mom really good at?
putting us in the tub. I can't take credit for that. I let Jason have tub time. But I am probably better at it. :)

12. What is your mom not so good at?
not talking to me.

13. What does your mom do for her job?
go to work. I asked him what my work was and he said having a baby.

14. What is your mom’s favorite food?
chicken. Not so. I love tacos. I think Noah loves chicken.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
I can't know. Sad. Maybe when I am not being naughty to him? :)

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
that's funny. A pirate. Totally a pirate. He is still laughing.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
go outside. He wishes. It has been so hot and humid. I send the boys outside for peace and quiet.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
we're bigger. Your clothes are not getting soggy.

19. How are you and your mom different?
I can't know. We are working to teach him correct English.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
I can not say it. I asked why and he said he is too little.

JACKSON:
1. What is something mom always says to you?
Ahh, make my bed.

2. What makes mom happy?
mmm, helping Ellie.

3. What makes mom sad?
uh, not helping her.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
by tickling me.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
you liked having a doggy. I did. If you can believe it.

6. How old is your mom?
39. Are you 39? You're 31? He knew the answer to this a few days ago. What happened?

7. How tall is your mom?
really tall.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
help Ellie.

9. What does your mom do when you are not around?
look on the computer. Nailed that one!

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I don't know.

11. What is your mom really good at?
helping.

12. What is your mom not so good at?
fixing the TV. It's for convenience purposes.

13. What does your mom do for her job?
go to the gym. That's a good one.

14. What is your mom’s favorite food?
vegetables. Again. I like TACOS!!!!

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
You know what makes me proud of you? When you turn on Monster Trucks.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Sponge Bob. Help me.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
you and me go to the store. And go to school.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We both like hugging each other. I'll take a hug any time from my kids.

19. How are you and your mom different?
I don't like going to Baby Gap. He didn't even hesitate on that one.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
By showing me how to make my bed. I think I might be a bit of a drill sergeant.

In a nutshell.

I really haven't been up to blogging the last few weeks, but we have done some fun things.

Two weekends ago we went camping for our first time as a family and had a great time. We went to Raccoon Creek State Park and had so much fun. We bought all the gear needed to be campers and off we went. The boys LOVED it. And that is putting it mildly. We had hot dogs for dinner, jiffy pop, smores, and treats. And for breakfast we made scrambled eggs and sausage. And pancakes!!! We went all out.We hiked around a bit, rented a boat for the lake and just had a fun time spending time together. The boat ride didn't last as long as we thought since Noah had to go to the bathroom SO bad. I wanted to let him go over the side of the boat, but Jason isn't quite as white trash as I am apparently. :)

The only complaint I had was that Raccoon Creek gets its name somewhere. There were TONS of raccoons during the night that scarred me to death. I made Jason check outside several times. I was sure there was a bear. And the boys were all bunched up in the corner of the tent and those dumb raccoons were sniffing hard into them. It was making me sick! But the sun came up and all was well. We are planning on going back next weekend.And last weekend we spent the day at an amusement park here in Pittsburgh called Ildewild. LOTS of fun for the kids. It is the #2 largest theme park in the world for children. And Jackson and Noah loved every second of it. The splash lagoon was my favorite part. I made sure to do the big slides and Jackson even did them with me on an inter tube. We were both laughing so hard at how fast and dark they were. Great memories.And that is it. Other than those two things, there isn't a whole lot to blog about. But HELLO!!!!! I was freaking out that Joshua won!!!!! I knew my votes would pay off. I loved him so much. Does anyone think or know if Katee and Joshua are dating? I really want that to be. That is Noah giving a "thumbs up!" :)