New friend???

This is what we found on our door step Monday morning.

Not sure where he came from, but he just kind of made his home in the corner of our porch. Matt and I decided that because of the rain and us being one of the few covered porches is what made us the target. He seemed very friendly when I gave him some water, food, and a couple of towels to sleep on. We tired to see if he had owners and even knocked on a couple of doors. Later we found out that animal control and the police had been circling our neighborhood the day before, probably because of the pit bull feature. Upon hearing this we decided to call animal control because we didn't want to be responsible if something happen to someone. (There are a lot of kids around here.) We called to late for them to come on Monday so he spent the night on our porch for another night and animal control came in the morning. We hated to call, but thought it was the only option at the moment since no one was claiming him. After helping animal control and a couple scratches later he is gone. Animal control did say that he would probably be put up for adoption so that made us feel a little better.

Be careful what you say!?!

A couple days ago we were headed to church for our morning activity. I told Noah that we needed to go get Paisley up since she was still sleeping. Noah ran to the stairs, turned on the lights, and this is what I found by the time I made it to her room.

She didn't seem to mind and after watching him do it again the next day I'm very happy that she was not hurt in the process. Now it just seems to be a daily occurrence. Even if I try to keep her door closed he opens in and climbs in with her.

Noah where is your diaper?

I went to get Noah up from his nap today. I thought maybe Paisley and I would climb in bed with him and read books. However, once I got in his bed and I looked down and Noah didn't have a diaper on. I asked him where it was and he pointed to the garbage can. Sure enough his diaper was there. He hadn't had an accident yet, so I asked if he needed to go and the reply was yes. To the potty we went and sure enough he went and now won't let me put a diaper back on him. Not to sure what this is about. Like I said I'm fine either way (diapers or underwear), but he can't pull his pants down, so I'm not really trying to work on this. Is he trying to tell me differently? Hum...

What do you do with a boy who wants to take a bath?

Throw him outside in the rain!!

Not sure what the deal is with the hat, but as soon as I said he could play in the rain he ran to get his hat.

Of course he still got a bath once Paisley got up. He has too good of a memory.

Paisley's latest

Paisley has a few new tricks up her sleeve. She has finally started rolling over. Part of that is because she's been playing while Noah is napping. (She gets uninterrupted floor time.) She is also trying out a few other things as well like sitting up, eating more, and using a sippy cup. She can't really sit on her own and only last for about 30 to 45 seconds before she falls forward, but she's trying. We discovered that she doesn't not like rice cereal! She really hasn't wanted to try it, but we keep introducing it. So at the end of last week we picked up some oatmeal. As you can tell from the pictures she was a little more receptive. She also keeps admiring Noah's sippy cups, so I thought I would let her have a go at her own. She really likes to chew on it and is starting to pick up on when something comes out the top.

Noah doesn't really like to have his picture taken anymore, but he did let me take this one.

Tennessee tailgate

We took the kids down to tailgate before the game today. There were just a few of us, but we had a good time. Matt and I decided that tailgating with kids is a different story. Noah and Paisley did great, but we were always on watch. Now we just hope that we can pull this game out with a win!

Both of these are Paisley. We just gave her Noah's hat for a little extra coverage.

Morning in review

WOW what a morning!! Noah woke up bright and early so he could tell his daddy bye. Not a problem at all. We just let Paisley sleep and played ball. Noah decided to help me with some laundry and sweeping upstairs once Paisley was up. In the process he learned a few new tricks. First, he climbed into Paisley's bed. He can't get out, but is now a pro at getting in.

I'm not trying to potty train right now, but I've been curious to see how he would do. On Wednesday he made it three hours without an accident. He loves to use his 'Peter Potty' now. Yesterday he made it two hours in his under-roos. This morning I was just changing his diaper when he jumped up and ran to the bathroom. He decided he wanted to sit on the potty and tried to climb up only to step in the toilet. Nice, huh! I have to give him credit thought because he did go. While trying to finish laundry Noah found another pair of under-roos and insisted that they be put on, but he didn't want his picture taken. Oh well. (This is why we aren't potty training yet...he doesn't quite know how to get his pants on and off.)

Then Noah built a new block tower that he was pretty proud of.

Then I got this face because I put on the movie Letter Factory instead of Monsters Inc. It has since been changed so he would quit trying to climb up the TV and get the movie he wanted.

Just thought I would let you know how our morning was going.

Boomsday and rain

Sunday we spent the night watching some fireworks. Dean and Debbie met us at UT for Boomsday again. It was interesting getting everything ready. We tired to get there early enough to have good seats. So, how do you keep two kiddos entertained in the mean time...Paisley decided to take a nap and Noah had fun eating peanuts and putting rocks on the railroad track. Who knew rocks could be so much fun? They both enjoyed the fireworks and the sound never bothers them. Actually the louder they get the harder Noah laughs. We had to deal with a lot of smoke this year so we didn't get to see a lot, but fireworks are always fun to watch.


Trying to figure out the night setting on the camera. You have to hold it completely still. Not fireworks, just a cool picture.

Paisley at the table
This is how Paisley sits at the dinner table with us. This night she was having some fun with daddy. (Yes, we know all about the bumbo and tables, but we are all sitting at the table during dinner and we don't leave her by herself.)


Rain!!
Last night for dinner I was making a steak. I had the grill going and then it started to pour. Noah decided he wanted to play in the rain. Since he hadn't done this before I thought why not. He had so much fun! He was hilarious to watch and we are not sure about the hat. This is a construction hat he got at a birthday party almost two years ago. He thought he had to have this on to go outside.

Yes, I know it's blurry, but it's the only one where you can see his face without the hat.

It's football time in Tennessee!!!

We are very excited to be able to begin the football season today. To start the morning off I made a cookie cake with Noah's help. (Yes, he is licking the beater after I was finished for those of you reading this that enjoyed the cookie.) Then we started to get ready for the game when I realized that Paisley didn't have anything, but a white oneies and orange bib to wear. (All her cheerleading outfits are for next year.) Now, don't get me wrong this was a good outfit, but it made her look like a boy. So Matt let me run to Joann's where I grabbed some tulle and made her an orange and white tutu real quick. I think it turned out great for the time I put into. I tried to make it a little long as well in hopes that it will still work for next year. Noah was another story...we bought him a jersey this year to wear. He wanted to buy it, but didn't want to wear it. Then he decided he wanted to wear it, but didn't want to have his picture taken. We finally got a shot of him hiding in the pantry before dinner. Overall we are proud of our VOLS and can't wait to see what the rest of the season holds for us.

I think we figured it out!

So this evening we took the second package of door knobs back to babies-r-us and bought a completely different one. I put it on the door and tried it out while Matt was giving Noah a bath. It worked because even I was having a hard time getting the door open. Needless to say Noah didn't really care about going to bed tonight because he thought he could get out. After Matt left his room we heard him jump out of bed to find the new knob. He didn't think it was very funny, but after crying for about two minutes he is asleep. I guess that's what happens when you don't take a nap after a long day. I will say that the baby gate is still up though in case something magical happens during the night.
What an adventurous day!!

SERIOUSLY!?!?!

I was at Babies-r-us this morning at 9:30 when the opened. I went in and bought 2 packages of three door knob things. We stopped by mom and dad's to cut the grass, went by Chick-fil-a for lunch and to play, and then came home. Noah fell asleep in the car for 20 minutes. I brought him upstairs, changed a dirty diaper, put a lock on the door and left. I swear not five minutes later I hear him coming down the stairs. YES, FIVE MINUTES. He got the door handle off and was looking at me with his "what" expression. I took him back up, but it back on and he was downstairs in no time flat again. Third times a charm right...I now have the baby gate in his doorway as he is yelling at me from the top of the stairs, because he has once again taken the door knob off. Any suggestions!?!
I guess I will be taken the other package back tonight and see if we can find something else.

And the pictures from no nap today...great!

He didn't just learn to open the door. He learned how to take the thing off.
Already trying to scale the gate. This is what happened when I told him we could get up and go downstairs after he yelled at me for an hour.

Oh no...the door!!

**UPDATE!!***Noah put himself to bed last night after walking down the stairs the second time. We told him to go to bed, so he went back up the stairs, closed his door, and when we checked on him an hour later he was asleep in his bed. The bad news is that we woke up to a door opening at 6:15 this morning. I tried to get in bed with him, but he just wanted to be up. He then crawled (actually Matt helped him) into our bed, but still would not lay down. He said he wanted back in his own room so that's where we let him go. He never made it and after waiting in the hallway for a while he must have heard Matt and I whispering because we heard him in the pantry downstairs. Yes, there is a definite trip to Babies-r-us planned today.

We knew we would be there sooner or later, but it seems like tonight Noah has finally learned how to open his bedroom door. Darn it!! Matt has already put him back to bed three times and I have done it once. However, he has now walked the stairs twice without entering the living room because we have told him to go back to his room. Guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow! The funny part is that when he goes back to his room he shuts the door behind him only to open it again to come back down. I will admit that at least he hasn't gone and woken his sister up yet. (Fingers crossed!)

The Last Week in Review...

Family Photo

My friend Kate was in from Spain and came to visit. While she was here she updated our family photo. It was nice to have both children look at the camera at the same time and all under five minutes. The real problem was Polly who kept trying to jump in the photo, but wouldn't look at the camera.

Getting bigger...

Paisley is getting bigger by the moment. It's hard to believe that she is already four and half months. Where has the time gone? We have been amazed at how much she picks up from Noah.

Chores

Noah has always loved feeding Polly. For the most part he has done a good job. However, I'm not sure what has gotten in to him lately. This was his latest feeding....

Cereal

We started Paisley on cereal hoping to avoid the weight issues we had with Noah. She is doing, okay, but not a big fan at all. Not sure if she doesn't like the consistency, texture, or the rice cereal. My guess would be all of them. Noah is really starting to get into helping feed her and will stand beside you or in your lap and say 'ahhhh' to get her to open her mouth. (Sorry for the fuzzy pictures, some were taken with a flash and some without, but you get the picture.)

Diaper changing

This is how we change diapers in our house. The two lay down together and hold hands while I move from one to the other. I just hope this love continues down the road.

I love my exosaucer!!

Smokies baseball

A few weeks ago we went to another Smokies baseball game. I ended up catching a foul ball thanks to Matt for yelling at me to grab it. Noah thought it was the coolest thing, but really hasn't gotten a chance to play with it because it's so hard I'm afraid we might lose a window. The best part of the game was Noah learning how to call a strike. He actually got in the aisle and watched the umpire for about five minutes. After that he started to hunker down and point with a loud yell for every strike. He definitely was the entertainment for the night, especially the people behind us who kept laughing.