Totally exhausted!

After a busy week like the one we just had, I'm exhausted!!! We did everything from early morning doctor appointments and hot air balloon watches to late night family get togethers- and did I forget to mention, there were even a few days where instead of toting around just two kids, we lugged around 6! The last week has been super fun and I secretly love all of the madness of constantly being on the "Go!" but it tuckered us out! I don't quite remember which day exactly it was that things started to pick up pace keeping us constantly busy- but I do know it was right around the same time Ian had just started sleeping through the night. That lasted for about a week- but with random events keeping us from giving him his scheduled naps through out the day, our luck has started to wear thin and he's back to waking up once maybe twice every night. Hopefully when we return to our "Lazy summer ways" he can begin sleeping through the night again. Our busy schedule has also brought out the "Rock star" in Noah! Please note, all the following are characteristics of a "Rock Star": He's reckless (running into walls from sleep deprivation) defiant (his favorite two words right now are "NO!" and "don't")rebellious (he does as he pleases, when he wants) his look is disheveled (hair a mess even after I've combed it a million times, pants falling off of him, shirt usually stained or wet from something he's gotten into and his face usually has bits of food still stuck to it, or even more gross, boogers!), loud and out of control, and lastly, he's been partying like a rock star late after his usual bedtime (that's usually our fault though since we haven't been good about getting him to bed on time the last week). I can usually handle his rock star behavior- but ohhhh,... yesterday he was really pushing buttons! From the moment he woke up in the morning, till we laid him down at night to go to bed, the boy had us coat tailing him all day long! I managed to find some great new time out places around the house for him- downstairs it's in the baby's play pen, and upstairs it's in the baby's swing. We don't have an official time out stool yet but I'm thinking this week I'll probably invest in one. Oh by the way, who's about to turn two soon??? Yep, you guessed it- Noah! Okay, so maybe he's demonstrating a case of the "terrible two's", but with similar characteristics, I like to say he's being a "Rock Star". Unfortunately Noah is also getting in his back molars and "I" teeth right now too- adding to his discomfort and terrible behavior, explaining why he's been gnawing at everything (books, table tops, Ian's toes and even his nose!). That's actually a funny story I have to share- you see, Noah loves to give Ian kisses, but recently in the last few weeks I've had to keep my eye on him as he kisses Ian, cuz there were a few times there where Noah would appear to be giving Ian a kiss, but if Spencer or I looked closer, we could actually see Noah gnawing on Ian's nose or one of Ian's knuckles! Thank goodness Ian is too young to remember any of this. I'm not trying to paint a bad picture of Noah- he really is a sweetheart- unfortunately for him I just happen to be writing this blog the day after he really pushed my buttons and his bad moments are still fresh in my memory. I'm really quite impressed with the learning progress he's been making recently. He's been talking up a storm and we have to be especially careful now of what is said around him because he repeats everything! He loves to call his Lego toys the "guys". I'm not quite sure where he picked that up from. He's a real goof too- he loves the attention he gets when he chooses to be silly- it's interesting to watch him interact with adults because he really wants to get a good laugh out of them so he works it pretty well, teasing and dancing, even making silly faces. He's been doing lots of partial hand stands lately too and every now and then a few tumbles- maybe the kid will be a gymnast. Actually I think he'll be a swimmer- he sure spends a lot of time in the water. Lets see, he spends anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour everyday playing in the bathtub and then quite often he spends another 2-3 hours in the water later in the day when we go to the water park. Sometimes he'll even play in our kiddie pool outside for another hour after getting home from the water park. I still have yet to find out where he hides his gills, but I'm almost positive, he's a fish! I would need some help to coach a gymnast, but I think of myself as being perfect for nurturing a water bug like Noah since I practically spent every hour of my childhood in a pool or at the beach. Ian really enjoys the water too. He loves the bath and since I bring him along when we go to the water park, he's really gotten a lot of opportunities to enjoy pool time too. We bought one of those Amazing Baby Water Carriers, (it's like a Baby Bjourn, only it's made out of wet suit material with the intention mothers can wear it in the water to tote around the baby.) He particularly enjoys the Lazy River- he always falls asleep as I wade through it with him. We've been going to Sevenpeaks a lot lately since it's been soooo incredibly stinking hot here! I'm talking 100 degrees plus! Too hot for my personal comfort. No wonder Noah's always in a pool of water! Back to Ian,... hard to believe he'll already be two months old tomorrow! He's beginning to chunk up a little. His face especially is starting to fill out and not look so hollow like it did as when he was a newborn. He's still super long and lean. In just a year or two, I'm sure Ian will have Noah beat in height- maybe they'll be mistaken for twins if Ian actually catches up to Noah in size. He's really a pleasant baby- especially now after his surgery and that he can eat without throwing up. He smiles quite a bit, still not enough though so that when I have my camera I can get a picture of his adorable dimples. I'm still curious, I wish I knew who he inherited those from???... He's been taking a lot more interest in not just myself but also Spencer and especially Noah. He'll watch and smile as Noah goofs around... being the showman that Noah is, he absolutely loves the extra attention, but usually he ends up throwing himself onto Ian in a fit of joy- thus bringing Ian's amusement to an end. Noah's still dancing like a maniac- in fact his new favorite song to dance to is Lil' Mamas "My lip gloss is popping". Noah learned how to stomp his feet to the beat of the song- it's really funny to watch. He's been pretty lucky lately in that he's gotten to play more with his cousins since they're all out of school now and their schedule is a little less busy (Tricia's kids.) By the way, did I mention before that she is expecting their 8th child- another boy! She has 4 boys right now, all of whom Noah loves to play with. He especially loves to play with Daniel, probably since Daniel is the same size as he is. Noah is Daniel's shadow- he has to do everything that Daniel does. It's so funny cuz whenever we're over at my sister's house, I always catch the two of them seated in the rock pile by the playground throwing rocks at one another. The funniest part of it all is that they kindly take turns pelting one another in the face with the rocks- surprisingly, neither one of them cry. Speaking of rocks, every time I do Noah's laundry now, I always find rocks in his pockets! It makes me laugh cuz he's definitely beginning to show off his boyish nature- I can't wait to see if in a year or two he'll be storing snails in his pockets. My oldest sister Celeste just moved up here to Utah last week with her family. Her husband started a new job here with my dads employer. I watched her four kids the first day they moved here- they're all a little older but this didn't make any difference to Noah and he still enjoyed all the extra playmates. We played at the park together and watched "Ratatouille" at the movies and swam at the pool. The kids were great and super mellow, but entertaining 6 kids gets expensive and becomes exhausting! I'm excited my sister and her family chose to move up here to Utah so now we'll have more family to hang out with. Spencer's doing well. He keeps busy with the business. He accompanies me to Sevenpeaks water park when ever he gets the chance. We just celebrated our 3rd year anniversary about two weeks ago- yahoo! It's hard to believe we've already been married for that long! Things should start to slow down here for a while, but in another two weeks my entire family will be here in Utah for a reunion- even my grandparents from New York will be here to visit with. It's been a year since I last visited with them, so I know they'll be super shocked at how much Noah has changed! It will also be Ian's first time meeting them, along with dad and my other sister Janna and her kids and my brother Jeff and his wife. We'll be busy once again with all the company here, but hanging out with family is always a joy!