5 on Friday

1) DISNEY DISNEY DISNEY!   We have officially booked our disney trip for November 2014! We are staying at the wilderness lodge, 4 days in the park, dining plan, etc etc.  We are so excited for Noahs first trip there! My dad and the Birdsalls are going too since it was one of my moms "goals" to take noah to disney for the first time we are making a big family ordeal out of it :-)  I have been looking stuff up non stop! Anyone have good restaurant recommendations?

2) Disney on Ice - For christmas my dad gave us Disney On Ice tickets, it was such a great "experience" gift that we love so much.  We go tomorrow and noah has been talking about the ice skating for days now since i told him :-) I'll update how this goes late but its perfect timing since we are now so excited about everything disney.

3) Snow - i am over it. I find zero fun in snow days... for a stay at home mom a snow day is the exact same thing as any other day except its cold and your stuck in the house all day. It's been to cold to even go out in the snow so i did bring some snow inside to occupy noah and to let him play a little in it

4) Smoothies - we are in full smoothie mode. We all love them and i am trying to get noah to eat a better diet thru them! He is so picky with veggies, he loves fruit though but his diet is basically fruit, dairy and bread (milk, almond milk, yogurt, cheese sticks, crackers, bagels, slices of bread).  He has started to eat peanut butter more regularly too. Anyway, with smoothies i can throw spinach, kale, chia, flax seed, etc in there so at least my conscience feels better.   SOOOO i am now in the market for a better blender.  I have my eye on the Ninja (vitamix is way to pricey).  Kohls has it on sale for $60 less then normal, plus %15 off, plus using some xmas gift cards i am going to get this for about $12 and i will be receiving $40 in kohl's cash!  Plus this can make all kinds of stuff! soup, ice cream, pasta sauces, peanut butter, etc etc etc

5) We have been watching FROZEN on line.... search watch 32 and you can watch it all for free.  Noah now sings "do you want to build a snow man" :-)

5 on Friday!

Here it is the first 5 on Friday of the new year! Here is a bunch of random stuff we are doing and enjoying right now!

1. Big Boy Bed!! We made the switch the day after Christmas! He never made an attempt to climb out but i figured it was only a matter of time and we wanted to make the switch and be proactive before it got bad and we had to rush into it. We talked about a Big Boy Bed for the weeks leading up, some of his other friends already made the switch so he kinda knew what we were talking about. We decided to buy the accessory to make our existing crib into a bed and we got a great deal on a foam mattress on black Friday weekend! (Foam makes it harder for jumping and no wires or springs to break) The plus of using his crib is that it can only be made into a Full size bed. So this bed should hopefully last him for years! He has so much room to grow and keep his little stuffed animals in the bed and not bother him.  He has been GREAT with it! The first time we tried to nap in it he was playing around, turning on lights, checking the door. I came in and firmly told him he was not allowed to do it. He knew he was in trouble and his eyes instantly started to water. We went back in his bed and we said many times how "we don't get out".  Now whenever we talk about his bed he will sing "we dooonnntt get ooooouuutt".  And he doesn't! Every morning or after nap when i go in he will ask "Mommy Happy?" cause i told him that to make mommy happy he needs to take good sleeps and not get out! :-)

First night! 

Big bed for a little boy

2. 2014 Goals: We have some things we want to focus on this year so here they are so i can be hold accountable :-).  

• Drink More Water
• Try to go on Date Nights (just me and Brian or with another couple,,,, just no kids!)
• Keep up with and make photo albums (i finished the Bermuda cruise album this week!)
• Walk Kona more
• Meal Plan and cook 3/4 times a week (other nights are leftovers or order out 1night a week)
• Keep up with blogging so i have stuff to look back on :-)
• De-clutter (we already have 6 bags of clothes from mine and Brian's closet ready to be picked up!)
• Attempt to get back into running and try some 5K's this year!
• Travel: Make experiences for our family!  Doesn't have to be big long vacations. weekends away, new day trips and activities! Some things on my mind:  Hershey Park, Niagara Falls, Baltimore, Key West, Renault Winery (for Brian and i getaway), 
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3. Netflix - we have been loving netflix lately… specifically Scandal! I don't know why it took so long for me to watch this!  Now i am trying to find where i can get the beginning of season 3 so i can catch up! (On Demand starts at like episode 6 of season 3 and i don't want to pay for each episode thru amazon yet).  We also got a Roku for Christmas and i am in the process of cutting our cable way down. Its silly to keep HBO when i only want to watch Game of Thrones right? Plus it doesn't even start again till april!

4. Noah Says:  Now when the sun is in his eyes in the car he will go:

           "Oww Oww my blue eyes! My Blue Eyes!!!"

5. Finally….  I am loving this print :-)

Project 52

II

I am going to try and complete project 52 this year:  a picture a week if Noah! Ill keep editing and put them all on this blog  post so that at end of the year it's fun to scroll down and see the changes and memories all in one place. (I might forget and not post every week but ill be able to go back and post a bunch at once if necessary!) sometimes ill write a little something about picture and sometimes not :-)

Week 1: January 1-4 2014 (starting with this first few days of jan as week 1)

I think I have broken the record for the number of times I say "leave the dogs alone, gentle,etc" but Kona is such a trooper!

Week 2: jan 5-11, 2014

Sometimes we demand a Slice of bread before bed

Week 3:  jan 12-18

Reading before bed is a new favorite. He has been loving this book!

Week 4: jan 19-25

Snow days. To cold outside so we played inside!

Week 5 jan 26- feb 1

Disney on ice

Week 6 feb 2-8

This kid dances and now "ice skates " all day

Week 7:  feb 9- 15

First snow man

Week 8: feb 16 - 22

Olympic fever: sledding/skeleton luge

Week 8: feb 23- march 1

Silly faces when we lay in bed and "chit chat" before going to sleep

Week 9:  March 2 - 8

Not always pretty around here:   He got goldfish as a party favor....silly mommy moved them from ziplock baggy to a fishbowl.  He was not happy about it :-)

Week 10: march 9-15

Finally warmer weather!

Week 11: march 16-22

Such a big kid!

Week 12:  march 23-29

Popcorn park zoo trip

Week 13: march 30- April 5

Karate!

Week 14: April 6-12

Loving superhero pjs

Week 15: April 13-19

Pirate Noah 

Week 16: April 20-26

Noah's first wedding! Jon and kens on April 25th! 

Week 17: April 27- May 3

Special treat wih mommy at the library 

Week 18: may 4- May 10

Week 19 may 11- 17

Mother's Day at the beach

Week 20 may 18-24

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (lots of pics!)i

Christmas Eve is always one of my favorite days. Something about all the kids and family and the visit from the Big Guy. Doesn't hurt that everyone enjoys some beverages and plays games. This year was fun cause even though Noah is only 2 we didn't have to be all over him all the time. He could play and run around with his cousins and we just kinda had to be in the same room with him. It also helps that his cousin Luke is a HUGE help and so great with him! We got to brains parents house after nap, we snacked and let the kids open their gifts. We played some christmas bingo, and this years drinks of choice were moonshine and Jack Daniels Winter! The kids liked putting out the reindeer food and when Santa came Noah wasn't scared at all. There were times he would run up to him before his name was even called.  He was really determined to ask Santa for Jelly Beans!
Here are just some pics that captured that night:

Every year since 1983 brians mom makes a placemat highlighting the year. Everyone gets a big kick out of what pics and event "made the placemat". We also have started doing a quiz prior guessing… this year i won!

its blurry but i love this pic! They are so excited to put out the reindeer food

Great Grandma and all her great grandchildren

Christmas Day! 

This year we did something a little different. Noah woke up his normal time and we went downstairs so he could see that Santa had come! He checked out the cookies first, and noticed his new shopping cart. He then noticed the Jelly Beans that he has asked for from santa for the past month! Around 8:30 my dad and aunt vicki came over so they can witness all the excitement and had breakfast with us. Then around 10 my grandfather and Uncle Fred came over.  We did all the presents and were done around 12:30. Then everyone went home and all 3 of us got to NAP! It was great!! Then we met up with them again at the Stines house for Christmas Dinner. It worked out great. Everyone got a break and we got to  hang out with friends and family!

in his new tent playing a new game

Christmas dinner at the Stines

Days Leading up to Christmas

There were so many events and activities over the period of time between thanksgiving and Christmas! Here is just a quick rundown with some pictures :-)

• First Snow Storm of the Season

• Christmas pajamas are my favorite!

•  Sesame Place at Christmas time

• Cute Ornament Noah brought home from School

• First trim to ER! (Double Ear infection, stomach flu, vomiting, lethargy, listlessness…. i called to make him an appt and his dr said to take him to ER instead. He got hooked up to an IV and blood drawn… poor little guy)

• Haha our newest Christmas Decoration

• Christmas with the Birdsalls

• Christmas with the Mullers

• My attempt at being Crafty

• Jingles last morning with us.