Who Knew?

On our way to meet Jenna at Howarth Park the other day I stopped by Walgreens in hopes to find some summer toys on sale. I realized we were going to a park that has sand and I had no sand toys in my bag of tricks...as Noah would say, "Uh oh, or Oh no." I didn't find any sand toys, but I found something that has proven it's well worth the $9.99 I paid. I found wagons that they could fill with sand and then I needed something like a shovel...no shovel in sight...so a Halloween cup it was! This wagon is still a favorite and we've had it now for about 2 weeks. He uses it all around the backyard for dirt, rocks, etc. A little birdie told me Jenna still loves hers as well! You just never know what's going to click and be the favorite toy of the week...or year...

 Remember the magna doodle from our airplane ride (see this post)...he still loves it!

It's the Simple Pleasures in Life

Sometimes it's the simple things in life like what we are eating for breakfast and playing at the park that Noah likes best. These days he is very into knowing what he is eating and most times he repeats the words. It's amazing how hearing him say new words never gets old. I love teaching him new things and watching him explore his world and learn from others. 

It's so nice having a small neighborhood park to walk to.  It's nothing fancy, but it makes for a fun and simple outing.  Noah loves the slide and the animals he can "ride" on.  He's getting good at them!

Recent Phone Photos

World Series Game 2 with some pretty cute little fans :)

Snuggling Baby Joshua

Gymnastics with Cambrie

Sciencetopia with our friends (not pictured)

Play date with an impromptu fort (trashy style ;)

New Giants PJ's from Nonni and Pa

Another Sciencetopia photo with Cambrie in the background

Friends!

More Videos

Sorry to just throw up more videos on the blog, but I wanted to share them with you. Noah is obsessed with Baby Wes in the sweetest way. Anytime he sees something that reminds him of a baby he says, "Bebe Wes." When Wesley visited the other day all Noah wanted to do was snuggle him. He was very gentle compared to how he is with other things ;) but it still made me nervous. It was so sweet to see him love on Wes and I look forward to the day when Wes and Noah (the only boys amongst my group of friends...seriously) can play together. 

These next two videos are of Noah playing with his favorite puzzle. It is so neat to see how his mind works. We do this puzzle often, sometimes just by saying the colors and other times just by saying the shape name. In this video I was saying both.

Gran Fondo

This year Justin's sister and her husband Jeremy, along with many of their close friends, came out to join in Levi's Gran Fondo. It's a crazy ride through Sonoma County that you couldn't pay me money to do ;) They are champs! They had so much fun together, and we enjoyed hanging out with them. It was so fun to have Nichole and Jeremy in our neck of the woods and we soaked up every moment of our time together. My mom watched Noah a lot that weekend (THANK YOU Nonni!!) so we could have some adult fun. We wine tasted, laid by the pool, and enjoyed two lengthy dinners (all things we don't get to do these days). I hope it becomes a yearly tradition. 

A little pre-ride the day before :)

Buds :)

The gang that rode together

Here they are coming in across the finish line :) Do you hear the people saying, "Careful for the bump...?" Oh man, they were serious. In the three minutes I was at the finish line waiting for Justin, I saw 2 bikers biff it over a speed bump.  They were so excited that I don't think they were paying close attention. Thankfully everyone in our group made it safely. 

Pinterest Recipes

I have tried a few of my Pinterest recipes lately and was 2 for 3-not bad!

I promise, I am not changing to a food review blog, wouldn't that be fun though??!! 

Noah will be back soon :)

Pumpkin Gingersnap Parfaits

Don't these look pretty?! Unfortunately, they seemed a little off. I'm not deleting the recipe yet, but will tweak it next time. I think I will take out most of the ground ginger (that stuff is strong) and make them more pumpkin based with gingersnaps. It could have also been the pumpkin that I used. You can find the recipe here! 

Salsa

This picture is straight from the source, Pioneer Woman, who I adore! This salsa is awesome and right up our alley :-) I added a little more salt, which I never do to recipes and I think I will also add a little more cilantro next time. It was great as is though! 

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Carmel Buttercream Frosting

Wait...read that frosting title again-oh man!! 

These were a-maz-ing! You can find them here and I wouldn't change a thing. The cupcakes I made look awful, I apologize, but I ran out of time to make the frosting look fancy, which I really wanted to do... :( It was more important for us to eat them for my mom's birthday though, so I slapped on the frosting and we chowed down. Oh man were they good! Justin loved them, and I always get excited when he's impressed with desserts because he is not much of a dessert guy. The birthday girl love them as well!

Making Traditions

Now that we are farmers and all (ha!)...we have begun a fun tradition of going to Western Farm Center.

Just after Noah gets up we load into the truck, still in our cozy clothes (appropriate for public mind you), and head to Omelette Express in Railroad Square for breakfast. Noah recognizes the restaurant and looks forward to his eggs and milk.  After a leisurely breakfast we head over to "The Farms," as Justin calls it, to pick up our chicken raising equipment. We always go check out the chickens, ducks, bunnies, and birds they have, before heading into the store-Noah wouldn't have it any other way. On this specific trip a few of the staff members overheard Noah saying "gawk gawks" and were so curious what that meant. That is his word for chickens. In the beginning when we were working on animal sounds we said that a chicken says "gawk gawk," so now he calls them "gawk gawks." The gentlemen thought it was pretty funny.  It's a fun store and I find myself wanting to peruse through and pick up other items (as if I need horse saddles and dog bowls). We say goodbye to the animals there and make our way back home. It has become one of my favorite family activities and I just love making traditions. 

He loves the milk cup they give him.

See, it's early morning. I still look asleep, hence the latte in my hand.

Fun Videos

Here are a few fun videos of Noah and what we have been up to lately!  

It was a very fun day on Saturday when I heard Noah say the word "please" for the first time. Justin and I are always speaking with manners for him ("Thank you mamma" etc.). We haven't been pushy with the words, but rather, just use them a lot so that he hears them, and it's finally paying off :) Since Saturday we have been praising him and having a lot of fun with the word. We want him to think it is fun to use! It seems to be working well. He doesn't say it naturally yet, but when prompted he says it right away. 

We do a lot of counting with random things throughout the day and its been fun to see the progression of how his mind works. First, all he would say was "1" over and over again. Now, for the most part, it's "2" (it's as if "1" doesn't even exist anymore). I was surprised the other day when he kept counting after me. I caught it on video today. He jumps from 6 to 9 usually, then I say "10" and he says "Yay!"

Noah knows his own name and I just adore hearing him say it. The voice, the tone, the smile he gets...I could just eat him up...I'm not biased or anything...ha!

Birthday Dinner for Nonni

On October 4th we headed up to Healdsburg to celebrate a birthday dinner for Nonni. We went to Healdsburg Bar and Grill so Noah would have some space to run around if needed (it's amazing how so much revolves around what's best for the little one-it really does make things easier when it happens though). I'm quite sure it wasn't Nonni's first pick of places to go, but she knows her grandson well and suggested it :)

We toasted to another great year and enjoyed each others company over a casual dinner, including delectable truffle fries-yummo!

Noah loved rolling around on the grass, meeting new friends, playing with Nonni's birthday card, and walking around to random tables saying hello. I love celebrations and getting together, and my mom's birthday was the perfect way to spend our Thursday evening.

None of these pics are anything special, but some of the expressions are just funny.

Jumping and shaking!

"What's so funny guys?"

Excuse the bib...he even had on a really cute shirt...oh well!

18 months

Our "little one," who is not so little these days, is 18 months old and doing so many fun things. Each day I feel like the baby in him is slipping away. He used to say "bye" with a southern drawl like ""bi" and now he says it just like the big kids do. Most days he is trying to repeat a lot of what we say and I just soak it up :)  He is obsessed with all things that turn on, and if they're not on, he needs them on! 

We are a busy household, with some days better than others (you know, toddler opinions, screams...blah blah blah), but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Here are some of his favorite things and what he is up to. Noah loves to:

~ play with his magna doodle and draw moons and stars

~ use his shape puzzles and sorters

~ play outside (some days I feel like we live there :)

~give high fives and "knucks" to friends and strangers

~read books in his rocking chair

~help Daddy in the garage

~fly RC airplanes and cars with Daddy

~vacuum (with Daddy-haha!)

~collect eggs from the chicken coop

~go with Nonni to the farmer's market on Sat. mornings

~climb onto everything

~chase us up and down the hall (naked usually)

~take showers and baths

~sing and listen to music

~draw with crayons

~play in his room

~play at the park

~help me cook

~eat!

Happy 18 months Noah!

Out of Order

This post is SO out of place, but I just uploaded these pictures and had to share. I completely forgot about a few pictures that were on our "nice" camera that I don't use enough (I am starting to get better). These pictures are from mid summer.  I just love the facial expressions. 

Love this one!

Ha! Soaking wet :)

Ahhh, resting after all that water in his face and down his mouth. 

Of course he went back for more!