My love... you are now 3 and I have so much to say about you!

Bubbuh! Yes you are still our Bubbuh! You are three years old. Passionate, wise, smart, brave, curious, adventurous, determined, yet understanding. Driven. Calm yet energetic, happy, cooperative, funny, and seriously talented. You love all music... especially a good beat. You close your eyes, raise your head toward the ceiling and move to the music in the car, in your soul, in the room, or the music coming from the drums you're playing. You love anything from nursery rhymes, to bad upbeat pop songs on the radio. I can get you to do almost anything if I make it into a song. Tutu learned that when she took you to get your hair cut and you started to get a little nervous and she sang "we sit still in the barber chair. We sit still while we cut your hair." You did great and still love that song. You are so dramatic! When you watch a movie, you don't just watch it... you act it out! Scene by scene. You are amazing at T-ball. When you hit the ball across the yard, you say "Almost!" because you know you can hit it further. So you put the ball back up and hit it as hard as you can... and THEN you say "Yayy I did it!" Haha. You know your strengths and you know what you love. You don't even need the T in order to hit a ball though. I have a video of me pitching you the ball across the room and you hitting it. This was at age 2. IMPRESSIVE. You can actually carry a tune too! You are three years old and depending on the day, you still let me rock you to sleep. You say, "sing Mom. Sing lullaby, go to seep deow Noah." My heart melts. Just when I think you are more independent than affectionate, you bring me a blanket and say "snuggle Mom." You love your Grampa and Tutu but wow you are still so enamored by Grampa! You guys are so close. No one compares to your Grampa. It is the sweetest thing. You guys are always wrestling. It's like your guy time. You wrestle with Dad too. Male bonding I guess. Haha. You and Tutu read books and play out on the beach. It is your special time. The other day I went out to join you and you told me to go back inside. You also sat on her lap and read a whole stack of books. It was adorable. You change every day at this point. Sometimes it is hard to keep up but God finds a way to bring us closer through these changes. You've been able to spell your name and count for quite a while now. You are so quick to learn when you are taught. You know how to sing your abc's but we are working on getting a better understanding of each letter. You are so adorable and sweet and aware of your surroundings.

Your "terrible two's" mainly consisted not of behavior issues, but more of training you not to run away from Mom & Dad! Haha you are soooo ready to run run RUN all the TIME. There is always something new to see, but that is scary when we are in a parking lot, or near a street or in a store or busy place. Haha. You are learning to listen and obey and as much as I love seeing you run free, you need to know there is a time and place for everything. :) You have adjusted very well when it comes to learning who is boss and what is appropriate at which times. Like I said, you are independent and have so much confidence in your ability to explore and see new things. You get much joy out of this and I believe you will carry these brave and curious traits into adulthood with you. You make Mom and Dad soooo happy Noah. You are a peace maker. You bring us together when we're happy and when we're not. You make sure that we go places together as you say "As a fammy (family)." You are intuitive and aware of peoples feelings, even as a toddler. In times like these, it's hard to believe that you are only three because I look in your eyes and see a depth and understanding that most kids don't have.

I am fascinated with watching you interact socially in comparison to how you act at home. I see so much of me in you in the sense that you come to life and vibe off of everyones energy when you are in a room full of people. Yet when it's just you and me, you are calm and interactive. Bubbuh, you are a little bit of everything... and a whole lot of Noah James. You continue to impress me and humble me and bring me to life via your life, love, and passion for each new day.

Some things you say . . .

I woke you up one day and had breakfast made for you and you were so grateful. "Woww thank you for breakfast Mom. OH I gotta pray hands." you crossed your little hands, closed your eyes, bowed your head and said "Ank you for bweakfast. For fwiends. Ank you for juice. Jesus, Amen!" Heart MELTED!!

We were standing in line at starbucks and an older man came up to you and said "Aren't you a little young to be a coffee drinker?" You said, "No." He said, "Oh! You like coffee?" You: "Yeah!" Him: "Are you fibbin?" You: Yep!" Him: *laughed. "I'm guessing you're more of a tea guy?" You: "pshhh no!" Hahaha it was hilarious and random. So the guy laughed and left and we got up to order and you leaned towards the barista and said "I want a cake pop!" haha I looked at you and you said "pease. Ank you."

After you had your third birthday, people asked you how old you were and you said "Four... hahaaa nooooo not fourrrrrr. I jokin'.... cree (three)!"

Daddy said, "You're number one, son!" you said, "OH I AM??" then you ran out and yelled out "Mom!! I'm NUMBER ONE!" 

I went to get a coffee and the barista said "okay it's double punch day!" you said, "HEYY you can't punch my mom!!!"

I said "Noah, you're my hero." you said, "No I'm not, I'm an angel." Haha. :)

"BABE!! BAAAAAABE!!" yelling for Dad.

"Hugs, kisses, snuggles. Not hit." me: "Yep that's right, who taught you that?" You: "Daddy did."

I straightened my hair one day and while I was bent down tying your shoe, you ran your fingers through my hair and said "wow. Pwetty hair Mom. Beautiful."

We were driving and you said, "where that moon go? Where my moon, Mom?? It's so gorgeous."
:D



I have it documented that you sat on potty at 15 months but getting you to continue that has been quite a journey in itself! You're finally potty trained and wearing big boy pants at daycare... which means you're basically there! :) WOOOOO! SO sick of poopy pull-ups!

You had a phase where you put yourself in time out.
You bring me wipes, socks and pants from your room. Little helper.
You like to "go fishing." you hang a string off of a chair and wait for fish. Haha.

The other day we were at the dinner table and I asked you what else you did at Daycare and you said "Ohh. Hit my fwiend. Barb said go to time out cuz I hit my fwiend, Mom."

You have your first crush and her name is Everly. Again we were at the table and I said "talk to me, how are ya?" you said, "Everly... is my fwwwiend Mom!" It was around Valentines day so I said wow is she your valentine? You made a face like eeeeeeeeek, paused for a minute and said "No way..." cracked yourself up and said "yes wayyyy!" and laughed. It was adorable.


FLASHBACK:
At 15 months you said bye, boots, dog, ball, whoaaa, Tutu, Gampa, baby, diaper, juice, book, oh yeah, no no, yeah, nigh nigh, geez, goodness, wowww, whats this?" And more. You grabbed the keys and said bye bye, walking towards the door. Searched the whole house for Grampa. Found the bee on your flashcards. Pointed your finger at Mom. Loved barking dogs and kitties meowing. Patty cake. Pointed no no with finger at things you knew you shouldn't touch. Waddled around with those adorable blonde curls and big blue eyes. Such a sweet age!
"Mom I threw the ball." 7/30/12
"Picture." 8/22/12

MORE SUMMER LOVE

 GRAM <3 br="">

 HELPING PUSH GRAM

 TUTU & NOAH IN THE POOL

 MY BDAY WITH GRAMPA & TUTU

 RIVER WITH UNCLE P

 FROYO

 BEAUTIFUL SOFIA!

 SHADES

 STRIDER LOVE

 POPCORN PARTY FOR DAD

PNW Summer photo batch 1: Age 2

 Cracking me UUP!^

Yummy Fro-yo

 T-Ball STUD.

Our little reader... ^

Fourth of July with Grampa & Tutu while Mommy and Daddy went camping! You were scared of fireworks at first, but then they made it fun and said "BOOM" every time one went off. You were much more comfortable while inside the house though. :)

Head to head with my little bear

I sometimes get overwhelmed with the impeccable standards we put on ourselves as parents. I know that it is one of the greatest and flattering gifts God could give, and therefor I don't want to let God or my family down. I have had "mommy guilt" off and on for a while now, regarding numerous things. First of all, my heart yearns for another baby, but when I think about dividing my time and attention, I get mom guilt like crazy! Noah loooooves his attention and our days are dedicated to making him happy and playing with HIS toys in HIS house. I know intellectually that it would be soo good and humbling for him to get a sibling and he would learn oh so very much but hey I can't help but just get worked up sometimes. Noah I just want you to know that I love you beyond words and you have made my life something I never thought it could be. I tear up just thinking of the place you have in my heart and how much we have been through already in life. We are so bonded and you will ALWAYS be my baby. I am soo proud of who you are. I know that I have to remember that God is good and if He leads us to it, He will lead us through it! Amen. :) I love you boo!

The 3 of us & the Oregon Coast ~

Bubbuh you were just shy of two years old and I was in need of a break from school and your dad was in need of a break from his grueling work, so he planned a weekend get-away to the Oregon coast for a family trip full of quad riding, pool and water park fun, and of course a room RIGHT on the beach with a perrrfect view of the sunset. Soo sweet and perfect choice Babe. You were soo excited to find your freedom on the beach and run free to the ocean's edge. You got as close as we would let you and would have ran all the way in if we were dumb enough to allow it. ;) You decided that it would be okay to hold my hand and let the waves crash against your knees and brush your cheeks. You didn't care how cold it was... you are such a little water baby, and Noah James you are soo brave. I love seeing you experience things for the first time. I think that is one of motherhood's biggest gifts. Witnessing this little happy human being see water, and sand and food and trees and EVERYTHING for the FIRST time in their life. We as parents can either take it for granted or embrace the blessing it is with grace and thanks and make it as special as it should be for our little ones. Anyway, Dad enjoyed the quad ride in the vast Oregon dunes and got lost in his world for a little while, as we got lost in ours in the small grains and very cold water. You finally realized that umm it wasn't warm... and ummm, you were kinda freezing! haha we got you stripped down, bundled up, and into our heated car faster than you could say "burr" and let you play with your cute toy four wheeler that matched daddy's real one. You looooved matching Dada. Our hotel had a mini indoor water arena for kids, so we spent one of the evenings in there. There was a little kiddy pool as well, which you loved. It apparently wasn't enough however, and you kept trying to jump into the deep end of the big pool!!! Eeeek how many gray hairs am I going to have by the time I'm 30?? Mwahah. Well it was a very special trip and life should be full of short special get-away's. I LOVE our family of 3.