Lori and the Boys

Halloween

2009-11-03T21:39:00.003-05:00

Noah was a greaser for Halloween. Several people thought he was a girl, but I thought he was adorable!

Asher loves the boys

2009-11-03T21:33:00.001-05:00

Asher LOVES his daddy and big brother.

Notice the smile on the little guy's face when the other boys are around!

The Boys

2009-10-31T10:14:00.003-04:00

The boys are together and as happy as can be!!!

Asher Edward is Here!

2009-10-26T10:43:00.005-04:00

Little Asher Edward decided to throw a curve ball and come two weeks early!! I woke up Thursday morning with a few of the same indications I had with Noah the day before he was born. With Noah, the minor cramping and other things happened all day before I went into labor, so this time I decided to go ahead and take Noah to "school" and go on to work, especially since I had an appointment with my OB at 10:30. Well, Asher was a little more anxious than Noah was. My water broke at 10:00 am while I was at work getting ready to leave for my appointment. I went to the doc, she sent me to the hospital, and Asher was born at 2:41 pm weighing 6lbs 12oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Billy is coming home this Friday, Oct. 30th, for 3 weeks. Our plan was for him to be here for the birth, but obviously Asher decided he wasn't going to wait around. Fortunately, the hospital has wireless internet and we got to Skype. Billy was with me on the computer for most of the labor. About 20 minutes before Asher was born, I was 5-6 cm dilated and then we lost our connection with Billy. The contractions started coming hard and fast and I was 9.5 cm in no time. There were about 5 people in the room trying to get Billy back on the computer but we had no luck. We got reconnected with him about 2 minutes after Asher was born. So he kind of missed the actual delivery, but at least he was there for everything else.

We came home Saturday morning and we're doing good! It's a big adjustment, and Asher took two of my weekends away, so the to do list hasn't been completed, but we'll make it!

The Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-26T09:32:00.006-04:00

We decided to head out to the pumpkin patch last weekend to enjoy some fresh air and pick out a pumpkin. It was a little chilly. Notice the Cars hat that I couldn't resist when I went back to Wal-Mart and saw it for the 2nd time. Of course Noah made a liar out of me and wore the hat almost the entire time we were out! He was definitely not into posing for the camera or saying cheese so here are a few of the quick shots we were able to get. His favorite thing out of the entire day was "driving" the tractors.

Noah's 2nd Birthday Party

2009-10-26T09:15:00.003-04:00

We decided to celebrate Noah's birthday a few weeks early because Asher was due to arrive 3 days before Noah's birthday. We had a small get together at the house with a Cars theme. Noah enjoyed himself... he mostly watched the Cars video while all his friends played with his toys.

Here he is looking adorable waiting for his friends to arrive.

His Cars cake

He loved it!

He got a tricycle. He's still not too sure about it, but we'll work on it!

October 12th

2009-10-12T20:56:00.005-04:00

1. Noah fell and busted his lip. He's trying to smile through the tears!
2. On days we don't go to work/school, we like to hang out in bed for a while before we get moving.
3. Pushing his wagon
4. Every night before bed, Noah pulls a ring off to show we're one day closer until Daddy comes home.
5. This boy loves salsa! Must be a Texan at heart ;)
6. We were at Barnes and Noble for over an hour while Noah played with the train set.
7. Talking to Daddy and doing the sign for "I love you".
8. Yummy pasta!
9. Noah watched a little bit of Cars in the morning while I was on the elliptical.
10. Eating blueberries - probably the healthiest thing we ate all day.
11. Me and Asher at 36.5 weeks.
12. Noah trying on hats at Wal-Mart. As adorable as it is, we didn't get it because he won't leave anything on his head.

My To-Do List

2009-10-02T11:44:00.007-04:00

Yep, this entry is more for me than for you. I know I've been MIA for a little while, but we're on a serious countdown these days. It's a little less than 5 weeks before our new bundle of joy is due to arrive AND only 4 weeks until Billy comes home to visit. Between working full time and the commute every day, I have to plan most of my To Do list and errands on the weekends. Putting it in that perspective, I have very little time to take care of business - 4 weekends! Not that you're really interested, but just so you see that I really am busy, here are just a few of the things I have to get done and unfortunately the list keeps growing instead of getting smaller.

Get tire replaced at Costco. I ran over something last weekend in our neighborhood and had a flat tire in a matter of minutes. I have a great neighbor who very graciously came over and put the spare on for me, but it was bad enough that Costco couldn't repair the tire and had to order a new one.

Find some pants and a jacket or two that fit Noah. It was 51 degrees a couple of mornings this week when we walked out the door and Noah looked pretty silly in a jacket that was 2 sizes too small. Poor guy.

Get ready for Noah's birthday party: buy invites, supplies, order cake, reserve place, etc. Plus I need to get his present put together. I hope tricycles are easy.

Have Noah's party on the 17th.

Wash baby clothes for our new arrival. They're clean, but they've been sitting in a trash bag for two years. The little guy has to deal with hand me downs, but they can at least smell good :)

Wash the car seat and pack n play stuff.

Install car seats.

Clean out the walk in closet in the nursery. It's not pretty.

Skim the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It worked great for Noah and I really hope the new little guy will be a decent sleeper so I'll do everything I can to help him out.

Pack my bag for the hospital.

Maybe pamper myself just a bit. I'd love to fit in a massage and a pedicure. A good hair cut would be awesome too! I'd like to look a little decent when my hubby gets here even if I am waddling around with an extra 30+ pounds.

I know it doesn't look like a whole lot, but on top of the every day tasks of working, cleaning, washing, making sure we're fed, etc., it adds up quickly. The biggest problem is that I really just want to hang out and play with Noah, especially since we're all in for a BIG change in just a few weeks!

September 12th

2009-09-17T21:06:00.001-04:00

1. Noah loves the big red balls that are outside of Target
2. Getting a bath - the water is yellow from color tablets, not anything else!
3. We got a new book today
4. Gammy and Noah
5. Noah loves playing with Elmo Live... he was blowing him kisses!
6. Getting ready to put Noah to bed
7. Noah has to "drive" almost every day
8. Riding in the school bus at the outlets
9. We found a new backyard buddy this morning
10. Noah relaxing and watching Cars early in the morning
11. Found a great deal on this slide at a garage sale this morning while out walking ($30)
12. Noah is pointing out a picture of him and daddy at the pool

Billy

2009-09-17T13:44:00.001-04:00

Since Billy hasn't been around I thought everyone could use a little reminder of what he looks like ; )

p.s. I can send pics from my phone now!

2009-09-17T13:12:00.001-04:00

I'd like to figure out how to blog from my phone so I'm testing it out.

Giggle Box

2009-09-10T20:54:00.006-04:00

For some reason, he just cracked up when I said "ewww".

He was actually laughing harder before I got the camera!

Sprinkler Fun

2009-09-04T21:54:00.005-04:00

After a healthy dinner of Papa John's pizza, Noah decided he wanted to play with his water sink on the patio, which led to me watering the plants and flowers, which led to him wanting to help me, which led to him getting a little wet, which ended up with fun in the sprinkler!

My Little Jedi

2009-09-03T20:51:00.003-04:00

Noah playing with light sabers.

The Small Things

2009-08-27T20:12:00.002-04:00

I was so happy when I found this vase on clearance at Michael's for $2.97. Then I bought some flowers at the grocery store for a little over $3.00. It's amazing what a difference such small (and inexpensive) things can make. This just brightened up the room and made my day.

Then I happened to be out walking and saw a garage sale on one of the side streets. It looked like they had some kid stuff so we stopped by. I found this work bench with tools and a hat for $5.00. Noah really seems to like it too! Luckily it was also cheap, but entertainment for a toddler is almost priceless! This definitely made my day!

But the thing that brightens my day the most is when I see my little guy smile and hear him laughing. It's such a small thing, but it's the best thing in the world!!!

Noah misses his Daddy

2009-08-16T20:04:00.004-04:00

We took some family pictures at the beach before Billy left. I put them in the frames yesterday and now the frames are sitting on the couch. I can't tell you how many times Noah went over and said "Dada" while pointing at Billy's pictures. The video says it all.

Then Noah had on his new pajamas so I thought we'd take a picture. I sat him down and told him to smile for Daddy, and he smiled the biggest smiles I've seen in a long time, and he did it more than once!!

August 12th

2009-08-14T13:09:00.007-04:00

1. Noah hiding behind Ruff-Ruff because he doesn't want to get ready for school
2. This is where he eats breakfast to avoid a full-blown tantrum (notice his shirt)
3. Another rainy afternoon in Charleston
4. Our yellow lantana after the rain
5. The place where I spend way too much of my time
6. Courtenay brought over some chinese food and had a good time playing with Noah
7. Noah's enjoying his fortune cookie
8. She also brought over cupcakes, yum.
9. Noah is already talking on the phone while driving - like father, like son
10. Attempting to brush his teeth
11. Our new books just got here from amazon.com
12. Attempting to brush my teeth

Happy Birthday to My Daddy!!!

2009-08-11T12:01:00.006-04:00

Love,

Noah

Happy Birthday! / Mutlu Doğum!

2009-08-11T11:39:00.006-04:00

Happy 40th Birthday Billy!!!

Here we are again, another birthday apart. If you go back and look at the blog from last year at this time, we weren't able to celebrate Billy's birthday together because he was in Alabama. I hate not being able to spend the day together, especially since this is such a milestone birthday. I mean he's technically over the hill now, right?? Haha! We did get to celebrate a month ago with a surprise party at the beach, so at least there was that celebration even if wasn't on the right day. I wish I had some pictures, but I haven't bought them yet from the photographer and I was too busy that day to take any pictures myself. Anyway, I just wanted to send birthday wishes to my babe. I hope he has a great day and celebrates Turkey style!

July 12th

2009-08-03T14:20:00.003-04:00

1. My new elliptical - hopefully I can get some exercise while Billy's gone.

2. Billy and I after a farewell ceremony at The Citadel

3. Billy and Noah heading off to the pool

4. Noah getting changed for the pool

5. Billy's award from the farewell ceremony

6. Noah saying "cheese" first thing in the morning

7. Billy and Noah in the morning

8. Noah splashing the water around before his bath

9. One of our favorite meals, chicken oriental salad

10. Noah's new bedroom and big boy bed (with all the precautions!)

11. Billy and Noah on one of our bike rides

12. Feeding the "ducks" in our neighborhood

Safe and Sound

2009-07-22T21:25:00.002-04:00

Billy left on Monday and made it safely to Izmir. He is 7 hours ahead of us, which makes it really tough to talk during the week. When he wakes up, we're sleeping. When he's going to bed, I'm barely getting off work. When we're going to bed, he's sleeping. We've been able to squeeze in quick chat while I'm at work, but it's nothing more than a few minutes. I can't wait until he gets a place to live and sets up his computer so we can skype. That will be a lifesaver on the weekends! Noah and I already miss him terribly, but we'll manage. Billy always knows how to lighten things up... he's already shared a funny story about his encounter with a bidet and the water pressure in his shower! He's far from settled, but everything seems to be okay so far.

We've all managed to survive the first couple of days. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers!

If you're interested, I've added a clock to show the current time in Turkey and at the bottom of the page is a countdown ticker that shows how much longer he'll be gone. It's still a long ways away, but it's going to help me to see the days decreasing.

You should also be on the lookout for more pictures soon. I have to post July's 12 on the 12th, the pics from our family photo shoot on the beach, and the pics from Billy's surprise 40th birthday/going away party. They should all be coming soon!!

Pictures from New York

2009-07-14T21:30:00.005-04:00

Noah in the airport ready to go!

Grand Central Station

Noah eating his first ice cream cone on his own

Central Park

We went on a 3 hour boat tour

Statue of Liberty - we only saw it from a distance

Billy and I getting ready to go watch Wicked - LOVED it!!!

Had to make a stop at the Toys R Us at Times Square

Billy and his mom on top of the Empire State Building

It started raining while were on top of the Empire State Building

Me and Noah

Me and my baby again

The fam at Times Square

So much to do, so little time...

2009-07-06T10:30:00.003-04:00

We've been in New York City for the last 6 days enjoying some time together. We took in a lot of sites, watched a Broadway show, enjoyed the weather, and ate a lot of food! Noah loved the hustle and bustle of the city. He was always ready to go! Hopefully I'll find the time to put up some pictures soon. For now, I' m just giving you a quick update. There is a lot to get done and Billy is leaving two weeks from today :( I usually don't wear waterproof mascara, but I had to go out and buy some a couple of weeks ago because I knew what was coming. The mascara has already come in handy! The next two weeks are going to be pretty hard, especially since there is still so much to do and we really just want to enjoy our time together. But we'll do what we can and figure out the rest!

Lori and the Boys

2009-06-26T21:00:00.004-04:00

When I was pregnant with Noah, I really wanted to have a surprise and not find out if the baby was a boy or girl. Billy, on the other hand, wanted to know, but he was patient enough to let me have my surprise. I told him with the second baby that it would be completely up to him if we found out or not. He liked the surprise enough the first time around to want to wait this time, too. However, since there's a possibility he might not make it back for the birth, he decided to find out. So we had our anatomy scan on Wednesday, and it looks like I won't be needing to change the name of my blog!!!

June 12 on the 12th

2009-06-14T21:14:00.001-04:00

1. Noah not wanting to get out of bed in the morning
2. Crossing the Ashley River on the way to day care
3. Noah saying "cheese" with his new sunglasses
4. A huge Elmo that was given to us and hangs out in our living room
5. Got out of work early and had to find some pregnant walking shoes
6. Grocery shopping at the commissary
7. Noah enjoyed a homemade mini pizza. He was eating sauce with a spoon!
8. Billy's in Vegas
9. Since we were taking pictures of shoes...
10. This is why I want a maid
11. Me and my big belly after a day of work, shopping, and 45 minutes on the elliptical
12. Watched the first episode of True Blood