Our Little Beef Cake

Now we know it's probably not appropriate to give your daughter the nickname Beef Cake but this is the title that truly resonates with Jason and i when we think of Nora. She's this stout little thing who just barrels through life. Something her nickname doesn't encompass is her contagious smile and giggles and her silliness. We are so overjoyed with this baby who continues to make a us smile and crack up daily. What a breath of fresh air this little girl brings to our life!

cereal

So i've had 4 bowls of Honeycomb today. Other than eating the lasagna leftovers that Will and Nora left from lunch that's all i've eaten today. I hope this craving ends soon b/c i think i've only got a few more days then Honeycomb won't be on sale anymore. :)

Baby Girl or Baby Boy?

Here is the first ultrasound for our soon to be third addition. I will find out in 3 weeks whether the baby is a little girl or a little boy. Since my grandpa recently passed and he meant so much to me we felt that we would name our baby after him. So if it's a little boy we'll call him Joseph and we'll call her Josephine if we have a little girl.

Family Picture

Here's our current family picture.

Daddy reading

The kids love it when their dad reads to them. Nora especially enjoys looking at book these days and we often catch her flipping through books upside down looking at the pictures.

How many rolls can you eat?

Jason showcasing his talent for roll consumption at Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving with the family

Besides Will getting bitten by Polo Thanksgiving was nice for us. We enjoyed being with family once again and enjoying yummy food. Here are a few pictures showing the kids playing and the family eating. Jason of course had about 10 rolls.

Gettin Along

W is now 32 months and Super N is almost 16 months. They're really cute together when they get along.

Removing the Stitches

I took W to OSU today to have the stitches on his cheek removed. Hopefully the scars will fade over time since he's only 2 years old. The stitches in his eye should dissolve over the next few weeks.

This Thanksgiving was a bit stressful. It started out normally but ended a bit stressful and sad. While spending time with family at a relative's house, Will was bitten by a family dog. The dog bit through Will's lower right eyelid and clawed his face in two spots. Will received 10 stitches but as you can see from the picture he's mostly back to normal. We're very grateful that he's okay.

Corolla Beach, NC 2007

We went to Corolla Beach in North Carolina this year for vacation. The trip down was an estimated 11.5 hour drive but it took us about 14 hours as a whole. The night before we were to leave Jason had to go to the ER with an 104 degree temperature, dizziness and chills. He was diagnosed with the flu and released that night. He did get better as the week progressed but the drive down required me to drive so he could try to rest. I drove us to Charlottesville, VA which is about 8 hours south of Columbus. We stayed the night at a hotel and then picked up the next day and Jason drove another 6 hours to the Outer Banks.

The kids loved the beach right away! We couldn't keep Nora from crawling toward the ocean! Every chance she got she was in the water. She sometimes got hit with a wave and still giggles and squealed. Will wore his daddy out by wanting to be held while they played in the waves.

At one point Jason and our friend Eric dug a hole and put Nora in it, she fell asleep immediately. They then buried her arms to protech them from the sun and then proceeded to build a castle around her. Nora won the coolest baby award that week! She slept for over an hour in that hole. She's such a fun kid!

I think we plan to wait a few more years before we plan another beach vacation in North Carolina. Summer doesn' t feel like summer unless we go to the beach but with little kids, it's very tiring.
We plan to wait until the kids are a little older and self reliant, we will also stay for 2 weeks instead of 1 week.

Super N's 1st birthday party

This year we celebrated Super N's 1st birthday on August 18th. We threw her a party and invited family and friends. She seemed to really enjoy the time and it was fun to watch her enjoy her first cupcake! I'd hoped to get pictures of the cupcakes but i guess i forgot to!

Siblings

Here they are at one of their "good' moments. Sometimes Will is just the sweetest big brother to Nora, but sometimes his two year-old schizophrenia will set in and the baby poop hits the fan! Sometimes it feels like we have to walk on eggshells around our house so as to not incite the two year-old wrath. But Jason and I are trying to learn constructive and loving ways to address the tantrums so they're not controlling the whole household. I guess be proactive versus reactive. These are the times that remind me that raising children is difficult.

Super N Is Officially Crawling

Super N is crawling now. She is starting to just go, go, go! She is very independent and it's almost as if a bubble appeared over her head and in it were the words "I'm so bored I've got to move around this joint and get to my toys before my brother does!"
As Super N's starting to change a lot more, I'm finding myself very excited. I'm excited mostly to see her and W playing together and talking together. I anticipate next summer will be a lot of fun. I plan to get a membership to a pool and take the kids a lot during the week. The little kids are such a blessing!

Super N's New Tooth

As you can kind of see from the picture, Super N has gotten her first tooth! And her second one has crowned, you can't see that from this picture. It was a crazy struggle to get her to let me photograph her new teeth. This was the best shot i could get!

Super N's cannonball

Super N is fearless. today she scared me and her daddy to death. i sat nora on her changing table/laundry room counter and held her leg while i leaned over and looked for a shirt for her in a laundry basket. I got distracted by will who was behind me and i must have taken my hand off of norals leg b/c the next thing i see is nor hitting the floor in a cannonball position. It was very loud and there was lots of screaming. I was scared to death that she was going to die so i ran immediately to the phone and called an ambulance/paramedics to check her out. before they arrived Super N had stopped crying (which frightened me even more) and was very calm. the paramedics didn't seem the least bit rattled and said she looked fine and they inspected her and said she seemed fine. i was just encouraged to watch her for and make sure there were no unusual behaviors.
forunately she's okay. as you can see from the picture she has a scratched up face and forehead and rug burn but overall nothing major...thanks God.

Little toothbrusher

W is getting so big. He can say so many words now and very clearly. He's now almost 27 months and is such a little helper. He likes to help mommy and daddy unload the dishwasher. He'll grab a piece of silverware at a time and throw it into the silverware drawer and keep doing this until the pile is so big you can't shut the drawer. Mommy and daddy appreciate the help and have to contain their giggles and sometimes tired frustration at this cute kid.

Super N 10.25 months

Super N is going to turn 1 soon. I can't believe it. The last almost year has gone by somewhat fast. Having a second baby only spaced by 16 months from a first baby is a handful. Both kids are at an age now though where it's getting to be a lot more fun.

Super N is a silly baby. A different silly than W at this age though. She is more laid back it seems but very fearless. We often forget we can't leave her just sitting on the couch to play or we'll return just in time to see her flying through the air. She is often touching down on the floor or in some instances on the coffee table. She fortunately takes her injuries like a NFL player, brushes herself off and gets right back up!

I'm starting to plan her 1st birthday party and her daddy and i are trying to figure out "What do you buy a 1 year-old little girl?!". So the next few months should be fun.

I don't know why but i wanted to include pictures of my parents when they were younger and see if i look like them so i included a picture of myself. My parents are in their early twenties here.