Noah's Birthday(s)

I've been trying to write this post for days now. And every time I go to work on it?

We have another party.

And we have another planned for this Sunday (with extended family). So before I get overwhelmed by more stuff to blog about, I need to get this out. This may be boring to a lot of you, so my feelings won't be hurt if you skip it. But I need it down to document. Just for my own purposes.

So here we go.

Before I was married and had a kid and did all that grown-up type stuff, I worked at a costume jewelry store. One of my coworkers told us all once how every year for her kids' birthdays, she would hang streamers from the ceiling at the stairs. It was a fun tradition that she started. I had taken that idea with me and wanted to start my own fun tradition for my kids, but I wasn't sure what yet.

Then I found this idea on pinterest:

via

I thought it was the best idea ever.

So Saturday morning (um... on the 6th. wow, I'm behind...), this is what he woke up to.

You should have seen his face. He was totally amazed.

We spent the next half hour playing with balloons.

Actually, we spent the next week playing with balloons.

Noah and his little friend, Alice, are exactly one year and 2 days apart. Originally, we had planned to do a fun kid party on his actual birthday, but I needed more time (and $$) to plan. So I told Jessica (Alice's mom) to go ahead and take that Saturday. So we headed on over to Alice's house for her "princess" birthday party. Noah was content to eat his chips and cake (hey, no judging. it was his birthday after all) while all of the girly stuff transpired.

(our friend Nate with his baby Carolina)

(little Sydney)

(Alice trying on her necklace)

(get a look at that hair! Brad styled it for his birthday. Isn't he cute??)

After the party, we all crashed for a nap. It was good, because it helped us transition from Alice to Noah again.

That night, we took him to one of his favorite restaurants for dinner, Jason's Deli. He had his usual random assortment of cornbread muffins, grapes, chips, and cantaloupe (seriously, cheapest way to feed him!). The best part is their free soft serve ice cream. It's low cal, so I didn't mind letting him have some as a birthday treat after dinner.

Once we were done there, we went for a quick visit to Brad's parents, which of course thrilled his mom. We didn't stay too long, since it was getting late, and Noah still had to open his gifts from us.

Our gifts to Noah:
1. A discarded Harris Teeter kiddie grocery cart that Brad asked the manager for (he works near them), and he took it home and fixed it up. The only thing wrong with it was one of the wheels had been screwed up. So he worked on it, gave it a nice coat of paint, and it was good to go.
...Noah has yet to play with it...
2. Curious George books
This was a huge hit. He looks at them over and over, and he actually insists on having one of them in his bed when we put him down for a nap.
3. A wooden train set.
He's loooved this. And while he enjoys playing with it, he really loves destroying it after I put it all together. He thinks it's funny.

Brad's brother and family have officially moved back out west. We received a package the other day for Noah. It was a gift from them... a Noah's ark book, a Superman shirt, and some stickers. Thanks, yall! We miss them so much, and I know Noah misses playing with his cousins.

(Before I go on, I need to warn you that the lighting in our parents' homes and our home at night is horrific. It's so dim that it's like pulling teeth trying to get an excellent picture. And had I spent all that time editing to attempt making them good? This post never would've happened.)

Last Friday night, we celebrated both Noah's and my brother Harrison's birthdays (he hit the big 21) at my mom's. We kept it simple with a cookout and cake. My favorite part of the night? My MamMaw was there, and we were talking about my little sister starting high school. My mom mentioned that I was taking Madison to get her hair and nails done. My MamMaw then looked at Madison and asked, "Well, are ya lookin' for a feller?"

I'm not sure my little sister knows how to talk to any "fellers", much less date them. Plus, her dad has an extensive gun collection and a black belt in Kempo. Pretty sure dating is not an option at this point for her. But still. It had us cracking up.


(Noah was excited MamMaw knew pat-a-cake too)

My mom hadn't ordered Noah's present yet (it's a big bead maze table, which he's going to looooove), and my MamMaw gave him some cars and money. My little sister made him a gift. She took a piece of board from her old swing set and spelled out Noah's name out of Curious George stickers.

How creative is that?!

(isn't my brother so handsome?)

(Noah playing with the cars MamMaw gave him)

Sunday night, we hosted a cookout with my dad's side of the family and Brad's family.

We also celebrated Harrison's birthday (again).

Poor little Noah's teeth have been driving him crazy. His 2nd year molars arrived right on time, and they've been giving him a run for his money.

He spends the majority of his time like this... with his blanket in his mouth. It's gross, but at least it makes his teeth feel better (I promise you I've probably washed that blanket 15 times in the last 2 weeks).

They had gotten him an ice cream cake and Noah his own little cupcake. He wasn't sure what to think about everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to him, but he loved the cupcake. :)

(told you the lighting was bad... the lights are actually ON here)

For his gifts from this party:

His Granny and Granddad (Brad's parents) gave him some super cute shirts and a toy truck. My stepsister gave him a couple of cute outfits. My little brother gave him a Paul Frank shirt (because it has a monkey on it, of course). Brad's sister Lia (and nieces Skyler and Annah) gave him a fun Playdoh set. And my dad and stepmom gave him a denim jacket and one of those red and yellow cars.

And then they spent the next two hours putting it together.

Noah helped too.

But once it was all done? Noah was SO into it.
He loves that thing.

And I know I don't really post videos much. Mainly because it drives me nuts waiting 2 hours to upload a 1 minute clip. Obviously, we should look into upgrading our internet, but it's easier just to avoid uploading them altogether. But I got a request for one, so here ya go.

This is Noah and Brad doing a Fast and the Furious reenactment with his new car.

 Phew. I wasn't sure if I'd ever get all that out!