Noah is 6 months old

Noah is 6 months old already.  We can hardly believe it!!  His personality is shining through and we adore him!  He is very snugly baby, giving hugs and resting his head on our shoulder often.  He also remains a big boy with a few rolls, as you'll see below.  He's already 20 lbs and wearing 12 month clothing.  He really enjoys watching our cat, Angel.  If he is having a crabby moment, which doesn't happen very often, he starts smiling as soon as he sees her.  He also enjoys: sitting while playing with toys, jumping, playing peek-a-boo, bath time, and watching his sister.  He continues to be a great sleeper, with a few hiccups here and there now that he is getting teeth.  His first two bottom teeth are in and the doctor said the top two will be here soon.  Mama's not too excited about teeth.  He had his first double ear infection with a cold a few weeks ago, but has recovered.  I can't get enough of this little guy.  I often thank God for letting me stay home and soak in this time with him and Joy.  Enjoy his pictures and video below.

Joy is 3!

Well, it's been a month already, but Joy turned 3 on September 12!  She is a pretty amazing little girl.  If she is comfortable around you, she will talk nonstop and tell you everything you did, or did not, want to hear.  She loves her little brother, a little too much sometimes.  :)  Her favorite things include: hiking, visiting her grandparents and the kids at Grandma Rainbow's childcare, playing with her baby dolls, baking, board/card games, and reading/looking at books.  Right now, if we had to guess, Danny and I think she will someday be a Broadway or Movie star.  She loves to watch videos and have books read to her, which is almost always followed by her acting out what she just watched/read.  Danny often gets drug into the pretend play and has to play a role in her scenario.  He's a much better sport about it than I am.  Joy's most recent, great accomplishment is giving up her pacifier.  The timing was finally right and she rose to the occasion.  God surrounded her with angels during this transition because I never expected her to do so well.  She shed only one tear the first night, but was excited to earn her 'BIG' cupcake for working hard to sleep that night.  She made it from 8:30 to 7:15 AM!  And, now we are past the rewards and she is doing fine.  She is so proud and has told everyone what a big girl she has been.  We continue to praise her for being so brave and working so hard.
Below is her 3 yr old pictures and a video capturing her during the month of September.

August catch-up

Here are clips from videos we took in August.  I'm a little late because we had a birthday to celebrate a few days ago.  I'll comment about that in a future post, since this is my catch-up post.  Joy and Noah continue to keep us busy and happy.  We are so blessed with such great kids!  In the video, you will see that Joy continues to adore her brother.  She did have a change of heart one morning when she told us we could give him to another little girl.  But soon after that, she was upset because we didn't have time for her to sit and hold him.  You'll also see that Joy is our little performer and she is getting more and more coordinated.  Noah is growing SO FAST!  Someone please slow it down for us.  He likes to lay on his back and play with his toes.  He started sitting at exactly 5 months old.  He also started perfecting the skill of spitting in August.  As you will see, he can really get some distance now, which causes a problems when he eats.  Yes, eats, Noah has started baby food.  He has had sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, and green beans.  And, Noah has started to laugh and giggle a lot more.  He finds his sister especially hilarious and giggles at about anything she does.  He has also discovered his voice has volume, all of which you'll see in the video below.  Thanks for checking in!

Highlights of July

Hi.  July came and went without warning.  Our family is doing well.  Noah and Joy are both growing fast.  They are amazing gifts.  I thank God for them often.  Joy has enjoyed visiting my parents at the farm, twice so far this summer.  We hope to make our first visit, as a full family, to the farm towards the end of August.  I haven't been home for almost 6 months.  It will be a nice get-away!  Joy also spends about one day a week at Grandma Rainbow's childcare.  The kids there have all become good friends and are at an age where they play really nice together.  It's so fun to see her interact with them - or be a mom to them.  In the video below you will see clips of Noah, at 3 months old, babbling with us (while on his back) and then scolding us (when we put him on his tummy).  Then you will see footage of him sucking his thumb, also so cute!  He has also started to giggle a little, especially when those around him are laughing.  Lastly, the video ends with Joy trying to walk the day after she fell and skinned her knee pretty bad, twice on the same walk.  Enjoy!

Our Daily Life

So Noah is growing like a weed.  He is in 6-9 month clothes already.  He rolled over again, after quitting on us two months ago.  He loves to smile and coo at us, watch his sister, and lay on his back while he kicks about.  His sleep is up and down.  He slept 11 hrs without getting up for 3 nights, then started getting up once a night again, but not necessarily to eat.  So it is hard to know what a night holds when I go to bed.  I might get anywhere from 3 hours to 6 hours of sleep these days.  But, I have to say, Noah is an awesome baby!  We are having so much fun!
Joy is really maturing.  Her language is clear and she has a large vocabulary.  With that has come more talking back and attitude.  She definitely has a mind of her own now and likes to do things her way.  Danny and I are really learning how to pick our battles.  But, if you were to hang out with her, she would be very pleasant, sweet, and cooperative, which is proof she is learning what we struggle to teach her.  She will be 3 in just over 2 months.  She continues to love on her brother a lot.  Her biggest accomplishment of late is she no longer wears diapers!  She quickly took to wearing underwear and is very proud of herself.

Here are a few pics and videos of the kids.  The one of Joy and Danny racing around the house has become more common due to the HOT weather this summer.  Enjoy and God Bless!

              Joy was 'watching' Noah for me.  When I returned, I found this (above).

                       Above: playtime with dada          Below: bedtime with mama

Noah's Baptism

Noah was baptized on May 27.  We were honored to have it be the first baptizm at this church location and the first for our good friend and vicor, Matt, to perform.  God has been so present in Noah's life so far.  We praise Him for choosing Noah to be in His family and ours.

                               Godparents:  Aaron and Jenni Hughes, Ben and Amy Lassanske

                                                 Grandpa Allan Krafve with Noah Allan

Joy and Noah

Hi.  I apologize for how long it's been sine I last made a post.  Life has become significantly busier, in a good way.  :)  Noah is now two months old.  He is smiling a lot and cooing at us.  He gets up one or two times a night.  He is on a stretch of twice a night this week, so I am feeling a little bit more tired lately.  Joy loves being a big sister and is really good about entertaining herself when I am feeding Noah.  I thought she'd be watching more videos at this point, but we've been able to maintain her 1 hr per day limit.  We are eating!  We were very blessed with meals delivered to us from our church family and friends that lasted about 6 weeks.  Now we are using up frozen meals I prepared before Noah was born and making simple meals.  Danny is getting to cook more these days since Noah likes to eat whenever it is time for the rest of us to eat.  Joy bounces between being a trying 2 yr old and being really sweet and helpful.  I do my best to get us out of the house for her sake and she goes to Grandma Rainbow's childcare at least once a week too.  Here are some pictures of the two kiddos.  We are so in love with our little family!
                                                                                               April 24

                                                                                          April 24

                                                                                       May 24