No Bones About It...

...Noah is a chunk!

I have saved all of Leah's and Max's clothes in the event we would have a third baby.  After Noah was born we sold and donated all of Leah's clothes and we have started to go through all of the bins of clothes I had saved that belonged to Max.  It was my hope that I would really be able to use all of Max's clothes and still buy a few new things for Noah (every baby deserves something of their own!)  But it appears my plan has backfired.  Noah is currently 3 months old.  He is wearing 6 month and 9 month clothing.  When Max was 3 months old, 3 month clothing was still pretty roomy on him.  I had 'bones' pajamas for Max for Halloween, and he was 5 months old at the time.  They are a size 6 month.  Max wore them until Christmas because they were a little big when he first wore them.

This is Noah.  Again, he is 3 months old.  These pajamas are a size 6 month.  His toes are curled.  I don't think he will wear these until Christmas, let alone Halloween!  We have opened the 9 month bin - full of winter clothes!  I guess we have some shopping in our future!

And a side note, Noah does smile.  He just does not smile for the camera!  And as you can see Noah is still sporting the Einstein look!

Noah's Baptism

We had Noah baptized in Cleveland by the same priest who married me and Pat.  He also baptized Leah and Max.  We are so fortunate that our close friends Natalie and Sean are Noah's godparents!

Hippa's Town

Leah calls downtown Cleveland "Hippa's Town" because that is where my dad works.  So while we were in town for Noah's Baptism, Pat and I took Leah and Max downtown to have lunch with my dad and to see his office.  And we made our trip using public transportation!  Cleveland has an awesome RTA system - the 'rapids' is a must.  My brother Christopher always takes the rapid when going to the Indians game, and it makes for great people watching!  We got off the train at Tower City and then caught a trolley at Public Square to go to the Federal Building.  It was a beautiful day so we ate outside in a courtyard area at the Galleria.  Leah and Max each enjoyed a hot dog from the corner stand.  Then up we went about 30 floors in the Federal Building to Hippa's office.  Leah and Max loved looking out the nearly floor to ceiling windows.  They could see all sorts of large buildings and the lake.  Even an airplane flew by pretty close.  Leah and Max were pretty tired on the trolley trip back to Public Square, but gained their second wind when we stopped at a candy shoppe for suckers and coins to throw in the fountain.  It was a great trip and Leah and Max are already asking to go back!

Dodgems

This video makes me laugh!  Only my children would do this while riding the Dodgems at Kings Island.  Both Leah and Max are in the video and at times you can hear Max's squeaky laugh.

Date Night

When at Memaw and Hippa's house, we take advantage of a date night.

Cheers!



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Photo Shoot!

While we are here in Cleveland for Noah's Baptism, we took advantage of the extra pair of hands (thanks, Memaw!) and took the kids to Portrait Innovations to get some updated pictures.  We had taken Leah and Max during the holiday season, and that was a nightmare!  The first time we went Max was so busy and Leah had fallen down and was upset.  We did not get one single picture taken that was good enough to purchase.  We went back about two weeks later with a specific goal in mind - a nice picture of Leah, a nice picture of Max and a nice picture of them together.  And we were lucky to get that!



So here we are about six months later and hopeful we would have a better experience.  I had the same goal in mind - a nice individual picture of all three, a group photo of the kids, a family photo and one of just me, Pat and Noah.  Success!!!!  Leah, Max and Noah did so well!  It was hard to narrow down the selection of 97 pictures to just a handful, but we did it!  You may notice that we might decide to rename Chubba Chubba to  Einstein!

Here are some of our favorites!  Enjoy!

Photo Dump Friday

Some recent pictures that happen to be some favorites!

And a few videos...

Good Morning Noah:

 

One of Leah from May, 2009: 

 

And one of Max from January, 2011:  

 

Hope you enjoyed recent favorites and some oldies but goodies!

Conneaut Visit

After a few days in Rocky River, we traveled about 1.5 hours east to Conneaut, Ohio to spend a few days with Pat's family.  Rick and Connie had been wanting to take us to a few places they thought Leah and Max would enjoy.

Pymatuning: Home of the large, disgusting carp.  But Leah and Max had a great time feeding the fish and the ducks that "walk on water"

The carp at Pymatuning

The Alpaca Farm:

Max liked to throw the food rather than letting the alpacas eat from his hand; he also liked to chase them!

The Train Museum:

Taylor, Leah and Max

We also were able to spend some time with cousins!

Max, Alyssa, Taylor, Carissa, Leah and Noah

Max driving Grandpa's boat

Taylor and Leah

Pat also took Leah and Max down to the lake at the house and they were able to play on the small beach.  Grandpa gave several tractor rides and Leah and Max enjoyed feeding the duck at the lake.  Noah slept through most of everything, but he will get to experience it all again next summer!

Rocky River Visit

Most of our visit to Rocky River was featured in Leah's birthday post.  But here are some other pictures from our trip!

Splash Pad at Crocker Park: Hippa, Addison and Leah

Splash Pad at Crocker Park: Max and Pat - Max did not like the 'splash'

Leah LOVED the splash!

Herb's Tavern

Mom and Dad celebrate their 40th Anniversary!

Leah talking on her 'phone'

My favorite picture - Leah looks like she should be on Rodeo Drive :)

Memaw playing "Where Am I?" at Joe's Deli

Max - Allergy Update

Last year when Max celebrated his first birthday, we discovered he had an egg allergy.  His pediatrician had him tested for egg whites, and his levels were extremely high, so Max was referred to an allergist.  His allergist then had him tested for all of the common allergens.  Max tested positive for both egg white and egg yolk, as well as peanuts.  This felt like a mother's worst nightmare!  This was certainly going to change the way we ate some foods, and it would certainly change the way would eat at restaurants.  I was fortunate to find some pretty good blogs and websites about food allergies and I think we have adjusted well to living with these allergies.

So in May when Max was two we had bloodwork done and met with the allergist again - good news and bad news.  The bad news is that Max still tests positive for egg white, egg yolk and peanuts.  The good news though is that all of the levels have decreased!  The allergist feels Max will almost definitely grow out of the egg allergies and maybe the peanut.  The peanut one is more unlikely, but it is still possible.  We will go back in a year.

When we go back next May, Max will most likely go through Challenge Tests, provided that the levels continue to decrease.  A Challenge Test is when Max will eat a little peanut butter and see if there is any reaction.  If there is a reaction, then the test is over and it is obvious that Max still is allergic.  If there is no reaction, then Max will eat more peanut butter and again see if there is a reaction.  This Challenge Test could potentially take most of the day!

While we have learned to live with this, my fear is when Max is older and at school and he swaps lunch with another student, and it happens to be peanut butter and jelly.  Of course there are rules in place at schools, but mistakes happen.  I hope Max's levels continue to decrease and this will not have to be a worry for this mama!

Mother's Day 2012

Pat was 'out of town' Mother's Day Weekend - a band trip to Kings Island.  So I decided to go on a road trip to my parents house and surprise them.  I knew they would be home all weekend doing yardwork and I really didn't think they would have guessed I would venture north for four hours for the first time with three children - alone.

I planned to leave right after Max's doctor's appointment, about 2 hours before lunch time, knowing I would make it to an exit with a Chick-Fil-A.  This worked perfectly - almost.  Noah was ready for a diaper change and bottle and it gave Leah and Max a chance to eat some lunch - except Leah didn't want any lunch, and she swore she didn't need to use the potty.  Ok - so a successful stop for the most part.  My goal was to drive the final two hours straight to my parents house.  But Leah of course had to use the potty about 10 minutes into getting back on the road.  But Leah is funny about public restrooms - and I don't blame her!  But her main concerns are 1: does it have a loud, automatic flush and 2: does it have a hand dryer or paper towels.  She will only use a manual flush and paper towels.  For the most part I have figured out with restrooms are "Leah Friendly" near our home, but on the road, not so much.  And I had to consider where I could stop that I could fit four of us in one stall!

Against my better judgement, I stop at a rest area which thankfully had a very clean family restroom - and it was huge!  I put Noah in the stroller because I really didn't want to put his carseat on the floor, and even the stroller fit!  We were back on the road and made a very successful surprise!  It couldn't have happened better!  Both mom and dad were in the driveway and I started honking the horn to get their attention.  I LOVED the expression on their faces!  It was priceless and I wish I had been able to get a picture.  They really were surprised!

We had a great weekend!  We ate out at a favorite pizza place, did some yardwork, played in the yard.  The weekend trip went too fast and before we knew it we were headed back home.  We amazingly made it the entire four hours without stopping!  Pat was anxiously waiting to see the crew!

Max's knees after a weekend at Memaw and Hippa's house - could be a long summer!

Home with Daddy

Trying to Beat the Heat!

It's hot.  I'm tired of staying in the house listening to the air conditioning run non-stop.  We have been trying to do 'indoor' activities - arts and crafts, children's museum, walking the mall - but all Leah and Max want to do is go to the park, zoo, Kings Island.  But it's way too hot for those activities.  And we haven't quite figured out how to go to the YMCA pool yet - one adult and two non-swimmers.  We went to a great splash park last week, but it's about 40 minutes away.  And I think it is even too hot just to go in the pool in our own backyard.  But this morning while Pat was golfing - he is crazy - I decided to take Leah and Max outside while the backyard was still shaded.  I think they were happy just to leave the inside of our home! 

But it was still hot...and humid...and gross.  I felt like I needed a shower when we came inside, and all I did was sit in the shade!

Yes, it was 11am and it was already 91 degrees.  And if you look at the small print, the heat index at that time was 103 degrees.

Leah and Max enjoyed playing in the water. 

It was just too much though for Noah so he sat in his bouncer by the door watching.

Leah did a good job of keep me cool by watering my feet.

I eventually told her to just use a bucket.

Even Kaida got in on the fun.

Stay cool everyone!

Noah Loves his Mobile!

Noah has recently started to watch the mobile in his crib. We have also attached one to the pack n play in our room. He reminds me so much of Leah kicking his feet. He better start kicking those feet, his thighs could use some slimming down!

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