Find the Bird

We have a drawer in the guest room downstairs where we keep diapers. Noah knows where they are, so when he needs a new one, we have him go get it. We sent him to get one yesterday and he came out saying he had to go upstairs to get one. I knew there were still some in the drawer and wondered what he was doing. We looked later and noticed that the drawer looked all askew.

 

Turns out, he's been digging through them searching for ones that have Big Bird on them. When he couldn't find one, he went upstairs to find one. Apparently our little one is quite picky about which diapers he puts on his little baby bum. 

Merry Christmas 2013

Christmas this year was a much happier occasion for us than last year. Last year, Noah had a fever of 104 on Christmas Eve, we ended up in the emergency room Christmas night, and ended up spending three days at Children's Healthcare. This year we were thankful and blessed to have a healthy, silly boy on our hands.

We spent Christmas Eve with my parents. Noah actually enjoyed opening his presents this year. He really likes dinosaurs right now, so one of his favorite gifts of the day was a walking, roaring T-rex (which happens to be his favorite) with eyes that light up.

He also got a dinosaur book that makes noise that he was pretty excited about.

Another favorite gift of the day was his very own motorcycle. It had to be put together immediately so he could ride it around the house, testing out the blinkers and all the other buttons that make noise.

Taylor got several tools that he wanted, including a blower that Noah was quite fond of. Apparently it's really funny to blow it in Mommy's face and 'make her look like a model'. My big surprise gift was a new Nikon camera. I have been talking for a while about upgrading ours, but they are expensive and it just wasn't at the top of the priority list. So I was thrilled with this surprise. Now all I have to do is figure out all the bells and whistles that come with it.

Christmas morning started with checking out what Santa had delivered, which was a wooden tool bench. Noah checked out all the tools that came with it and pounded in a few nails before moving on to other presents.

Noah got more cars and puzzles, another dinosaur book, and all the bedding for his new big boy room. And let's be honest; Mommy was really more excited about that than he was. We opened all our gifts and then Noah got to play with all his new loot while Mommy got everything ready for the rest of the Larkin clan to show up. We had some yummy food and then it was time for more gifts for the kiddos. This included Taylor and his brothers, who all got remote control helicopters from their Dad. They had to be taken out of the boxes and flown immediately. They really are just big kids at heart.

Once everything had wrapped up and the little ones were about ready for bed, we got one of the cutest moments of the day. Noah and his cousin Emsley climbed up on Uncle Spencer's lap for a story.

We had a happy, healthy holiday, and I hope we have many more like it in the future.

His Happy Place

One of Noah's favorite places to go is Target. He loves to go there to look at toys. One Saturday recently when I had to be at work, Taylor took him there to let him play for a while.

He does really well. He plays until he's satisfied that he's seen and touched every toy. Then when you tell him it's time to leave, he doesn't complain or ask to get any of the toys. He just walks away. I'm not sure how long that will last, but for now it's much appreciated. And it makes me more willing to take him when we get in the car and starts saying, "Target. Toys."

Family Photos 2013

We took the opportunity in September to have some family photos taken. A friend of mine from high school took them for us and we couldn't have asked for better weather. We could have asked for a more cooperative 2 year old, but that would probably have been pointless.

 

He was not terribly happy to be participating when we first arrived at the park. He wanted Taylor to hold him the entire time and burst into tears when Taylor put him down.

We decided to let him play on the playground and have a snack. He perked up a bit after that and was slightly more cooperative. He is still 2 and won't always do what you ask him to do. But it was a fun experience and we did get some great photos out of it. Thanks Shannon, for helping us make some memories!

If you like what you see, please reach out to Shannon Smith at http://www.214-photography.com/. She does great work and I highly recommend you give her a call!

Larkin, Party of 4

It's official. Our family of 3 will become a family of 4 in May 2014.

We found out in early September that we would soon be welcoming another little one. This pregnancy has been much the same as the first one so far. Nothing out of the ordinary.

We have been trying to explain to Noah that a new baby is coming. He will now point to my belly or rub it gently when we ask him where the baby is. However, when we ask him if the baby will be a boy or girl, he says no. When we ask him if he's going to have a baby brother or baby sister, he says no. I'm not sure his two-year-old mind fully understands what's about to happen. But we have no doubts that he will be a great big brother when the new little one actually arrives.

Leave of Absence

I took sort of an unintentional leave of absence from the blog. Work was crazy for the entire month of November, and then we had Thanksgiving. I feel like things have finally slowed down a little bit and I'm going to try to get caught up over the next week or so. Hope you enjoy!

Build Tower

Noah likes blocks. A lot. We have Mega Blocks, wooden blocks, and bigger cardboard blocks, and he likes them all. His favorite thing to do is "build tower". Roughly translated, this means build me a big tower so I can knock it down. Honestly, I really enjoy doing it. Here are some examples of our best towers.

Pinterest Project: Christmas Wreath

You may recall me posting a picture of my Pinterest-inspired burlap wreath that looked like this.

I tied on the letter and flowers instead of using hot glue so that I could take them off and add new ones for a new season. I recently got the wreath all dressed up for Christmas. Now it looks like this.

I'm quite fond of my new door decoration. That's a good thing, because it may be the only holiday decoration on the outside of our house this year.

Feathered Friend

Yesterday after church, Noah and I ran into a couple of stores while Taylor headed to work to help with some construction. When we walked in Kohl's, I handed Noah one of the stuffed Woodstock characters they had near the door and figured it would keep him occupied while we were in the store. After he talked and sang to it the entire time we were there, I decided maybe Woodstock should go home with us. Noah fell asleep holding on to him in the car on the way home.

Later that same evening, he tried to stay awake until Taylor got home. He and Woodstock were so comfy on the couch, he passed out about ten minutes before Taylor walked in the door. I think Woodstock may turn out to be worth the $5 I paid for him.

At-Home Haircut

Noah has decided that he doesn't like to get his hair cut. Not even a little bit. He hates it so much that the last time my parents tried to take him, he screamed and thrashed around so much that the lady couldn't even cut it. So they gave up and took him home. I decided to see if he would sit still for me to cut it. He sat mostly still long enough for me to give it a rough cut. Maybe he'll get more used to it and we can do a little better with it next time.

Halloween 2013

Last year for Halloween, we put on Noah's costume, went to see our friends, and then just let him run around in the cul-de-sac as a little dragon chasing tennis balls for a while. This year, I got a free costume (luckily) from a friend that her son had outgrown and was excited to see Noah dressed as a monkey. He had other ideas.

A few days before Halloween, I decided maybe we should try on the costume to make sure it fit and that he would tolerate it. We quickly discovered that he did not like the hood, but he at least let me put it on. He even played in it for a bit.

When Halloween actually arrived and it was time to get dressed to go out, he completely refused to have any part of the monkey costume. We tried tricking him into putting it on, and he cried and kicked around on the floor until he got the pants off. When an adorable little ladybug and monkey showed up to go trick-or-treating with us, we tried to use that to our advantage. "Rebekah has on her costume, let's put yours on." Nothing worked.

After fighting with him for a while we gave up. We put his Dusty Crophopper shirt and athletic pants back on and went trick-or-treating. I'm glad I didn't pay a lot of money for a costume. Maybe next year we'll try letting him pick one out and see if that works out any better.

Boy in Boots

Noah puts our shoes on all the time and tries to walk around in them. Today, he decided to try my boots. These proved to be a little more difficult to walk in. Perhaps it's because they come up to his hips. Just a thought.

Pinterest Project: Fall Wreath

Burlap wreaths are really popular right now, and there are many of them to be found on Pinterest. I found a blog that had a good tutorial and decided that I could definitely do it myself. I bought the necessary supplies and picked out my fall flowers. I meant to take pictures along the way, but I got too excited and forgot about it. In no time at all, I had my finished product. I have to say, I'm quite pleased with my first wreath.

Our Little Bulldog

Mater Maintenance

Sometimes you just have to get underneath your riding toys to make sure everything is running okay.

Must Haves

Noah is quite attached to his Bulldog pillow at the moment. And his blanket. Well, any blanket really. So this is how we've had to go to daycare several mornings recently; with the pillow, and the blanket, and his milk. If it keeps him happy at 6:40 a.m., we'll take them every day.

The Campout that Wasn't

Taylor has really been wanting to take Noah camping. I'm a little fearful of how that might go, so he decided he would try it in the backyard first. Noah helped get the tent all set up. Then he didn't want to come out of it. No, really. He cried when we made him come back in the house.

Taylor even set up his hammock and spent some time in that. Not too much time thought. The strength of his chosen supports for the hammock was somewhat questionable. We didn't want anybody falling down when a tree branch decided it had had enough.

When it got dark, we got Noah all set in his pajamas and headed out to see if we could get him to go to sleep. It took some time for him to finally give in. He was very excited about being in the tent and really just wanted to play. When he was finally asleep, Taylor tucked in beside him for the night while I retreated to the comfort of our bed. I heard them come in around 12:30 and thought surely Noah had woken up crying and they had to come in. Noah was actually still completely asleep when they came in. Turns out Taylor heard some questionable noises coming from our neighbors' house and decided it might be best to come back inside. So things didn't exactly go according to plan, but it seems like Noah would have been just fine for the night. Maybe we'll try again soon and hope the neighbors cooperate this time.

Halloween Artwork

Just a little hand and footprint fun for Halloween.

Noah Goes to the Aquarium

One of the things we wanted to do with Noah for his birthday was take him to the aquarium. We ended up not being able to go until a few weeks after his birthday, but that's okay. We were really excited about taking him because we were sure he would love it. He has a movie about a shark that he's been crazy about recently, so we were sure the aquarium would be a huge hit. It turned out to be less exciting than we thought.

The big tank was by far his favorite thing. He pointed out the sharks and whales every time they went by. He seemed a little interested in the giant rays they have in there, and liked the brightly colored fish. I think he could have stayed in this room the entire time we were there and been happy.

The only other thing he seemed to really care about at all was trying to touch the small rays. I'm not sure he was quite tall enough to reach them over the side, but he sure tried to.

In the end, he decided what he really wanted to do was push his stroller around and eat crackers. So we headed to the car to go back home. It was a fun trip, even if he wasn't as excited as we thought he might be. Maybe he'll have more fun next time.

That's What You Get

Sometimes when you get mad and decide to throw yourself down on the floor to have a little fit, you hit the end table on the way down and bust your lip.

Maybe if he hurts himself enough times he'll learn not to handle his emotions a little better.

I'm Stuck

I walked into the living room one day to find Noah standing there like this saying, "I stuck".

He had managed to shove his arm all the way down into the neck of his shirt. Even I had a hard time getting him back out of it. I guess there are worse places to be stuck than in your own shirt.

Happy Birthday Noah

I'm not sure how we got here so quickly, but today our sweet silly boy is two years old. He is incredibly smart, and picks up on things quickly. He has so much personality and is such a funny, goofy little guy. He loves to be outside throwing rocks in the creek or playing in puddles. But he also loves to snuggle with us on the couch to watch a movie. He loves cars, trucks, and airplanes, and is especially attached to a little stuffed bunny puppet. The last two years have been so amazing, and I can't wait to see how much he changes in the next year.

We had a small party for him on Saturday at our house. Like last year, he was not at all interested in his cake and wouldn't even blow out the candle. Luckily, Miss Rebekah was there to help us out with that part. He was a little more excited to open gifts. He got lots of trucks, airplanes, some blocks, clothes, and shoes. He liked all those, but this was the most exciting gift.

A battery powered Tow Mater. Can't you tell by the big smile on his face how much he enjoyed it? Even though he wouldn't smile for a single picture all day, he did not want to get off of this toy. He also has Lightning McQueen at his grandparents' house, so they brought him for the other kiddos to ride. They had a blast just riding around in the cul-de-sac. It was a fun day with our sweet silly boy. I can't wait to see what the next year holds for us.

Labor Day 2013

For Labor Day, we took Noah to the mountains to Vogel State Park. We wandered around the lake for a while looking for ducks (which we didn't find), then headed to play in the creek. Noah really likes throwing rocks in the water. So he found a good spot with plenty of rocks within reach and planted himself there. He stayed in that one spot for quite a while until we convinced him to go play on the playground. He had a lot of fun going down the slide and climbing up the plastic rock wall over and over again.

We took a break for a picnic lunch and then explored a little more. I kept trying to get a picture with this little weasel all day, and every time he would run away and say "Nooo!". So we had to trick him into taking a picture with me. We stood him on a bench and got him to say cheese, and then I snuck in behind him.

We explored a little more and then headed over to Helton's Creek to check out the waterfall. Noah found more rocks to throw and had a blast climbing around on the rocks and playing in the water. He was completely worn out by the time we headed home. As soon as we got off the mountain, he passed out and slept the whole way home. It was definitely a fun day.