Choo Choo! Look Who's Two!

I can hardly believe my little baby is two years old. He has been such a blessing to our family and we love him more with every passing day. I thank the Lord for trusting in us to raise him into a God-fearing man and my prayer is that He will grow up to serve God in amazing ways.

We went with a train birthday party theme this year as that is pretty much all we hear about from our little man. It's an understatement to say that he is obsessed.

I managed to find these cute wooden train whistles and train suckers to go in the goody bags that went along with the train theme.



I wanted to keep things somewhat simple this year and just focus on Noah getting together with a few of his little friends for a play date at the park. Lucas was able to take a couple of hours off of work to join in on the fun.

The spread.

I had the idea to make a personalized placemat for all of the kids. I was able to snag some Thomas & Friends images from online to print out and laminate. Almost all of the boys were into Thomas so I figured it'd be a huge hit! Oh, and check out the little conductor's hats I found for each of the boys. I was so excited about these but when I went to give one to Noah to wear he ran from me and refused to put it on. Go figure.


One of the boys looking cool in his conductor hat.

Madeline got into the birthday spirit as well by wearing her cupcake outfit.

The birthday boy!

What is better than getting messy with a truck and some sand? Let's just say most of us needed to undress our boys before they went into the house.

A few of the boys.

Noah attempting to blow out his birthday candles.

The gang. Five 2-year olds and one almost 4-year old. Fun times! I couldn't help but laugh when one of the boys grabbed a toy and yelled "mine" and within seconds you hear several of the other boys repeating him yelling "mine" as well.

We opened gifts as a family later on in the evening once Lucas was home from work. I promise I didn't even ask Noah to put the bow on his head. He's a natural.

We love you Noah! Happy 2nd Birthday!

What a beautiful day.

Sweet pics

A sweet friend took some photos of Madeline as a gift to us. They turned out so adorable and of course I had to share them with everyone! I'm saving my favorite until I get all of the baby announcements mailed out.


Look at that pout. Boy are we in trouble.







And then of course we can't forget Noah. I was offered a free portrait session from a local photography studio. I took them up on the offer of the free session plus one free 8x10 portrait. The photos turned out great, but there was definitely no chance of purchasing more as just a couple of photos were a couple hundred dollars. Crazy! I did walk away with the free 8x10 though! Check out that handsome fella.

Finally...an update!

I can't believe our little girl is already a month old. Time has flown and boy has she grown! Yep, I can rhyme. Noah is quite the proud big brother. Just ask him to show you his t-shirt.

He does a great job with Madeline and cries out "sister" or "mon" when he sees her.

Madeline is such a sweetheart and such an easy baby. She definitely has us wrapped around her little finger already. And I don't mind at all.

Noah is also very proud of his trains. It's what we hear about all. day. long. Unless, of course, he takes a break and talks about his cars.

Apparently the play mat can be used for kids of all ages...

LOVE these sock monkey flannel pajamas that some friends gave us. Very cuddly.

I had purchased this outfit for Madeline before she was even born, thinking it would be perfect for Thanksgiving. Well, it was a tad too big but I told Lucas I had to put it on her anyway and at least take a photo. At the rate she's gaining weight, I'd say she'll fit into it next week! Little chunker.

The day after Thanksgiving we got the kids in their pj's, loaded up the car and went with Lucas' parents to ride on the Polar Express. I figured given Noah's love for trains he'd be thrilled to ride on a real one. While Noah did have a good time, I think the lack of an afternoon nap and the fact that we were nearing his bedtime left him in somewhat of a zone for most of the train ride.

The train goes straight to the North Pole to see Santa. Here's Noah staring out the window at all of the Christmas lights.

Unfortunately Noah was still afraid of Santa this year. I think once he catches on that Santa = presents he'll run to sit on his lap.

When Maddie was first born I instantly saw Noah in her face. She's changed so much over this last month and I'm noticing the resemblance less and less. Can't wait to see who she becomes!

Grabbed a photo of our family just before leaving the Polar Express. So happy to be a family of four and are counting our blessings this Thanksgiving.

After my first day home with two kiddos by myself, Lucas took Noah out for an errand and came back with a bouquet of flowers as a thank you for "being a good mommy." Makes my heart happy.

She's arrived!

Our beautiful Madeline Grace arrived early on Thursday, Oct. 29th at 6:26 a.m. weighing 7 lbs 11 oz and 20.5" long to two beyond-blessed parents. After weeks of suffering from severe kidney stone pain, it was decided to bring her in to the world a little early and I have to say we believe it was the best decision we could have made.

We are so thankful for all of the prayers that surrounded us for the birth of Madeline. The delivery was so different than when I had Noah and I'm so grateful to have had a positive experience this time around. Thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts to all of our prayer warriors!

There is nothing sweeter than seeing the immediate love between a father and his daughter.

While I missed Noah tremendously during our stay at the hospital, I have to say that there is something so special about the bonding I was able to have just between Madeline and I. Sort of a "get to know you time" before all of the craziness of home life begins. Lucas stayed the nights with us which was a huge help and also a great bonding experience.




Those eyes melt my heart. She is just oh so sweet to hold that you never want to put her down.

I immediately saw Noah when I laid my eyes on Madeline. It brought back so many memories of first getting to hold him in the hospital and I love getting to see the relation between our two children already.

Maddie has such cute brown fuzzy hair. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that her hair will stay dark like mine. I told Lucas he already has a mini me so I deserve one too!

On our way home from the hospital with our bundle of joy!

Noah is doing great adjusting to having a little sister around. While I'm told there still might be some jealousy issues pop up in the weeks to come, right now he loves hugging and kissing on Maddie and yelling "baby" whenever she enters the room. The word "gentle" has become our mantra for a little while I think.

We had purchased a gift to give the big brother once we arrived at home. He loved the additional GeoTrax set he received to add to his collection. Baby? What baby?


The Lord has blessed us so much with our family of four. I cannot tell you how much we love having pink and blue in our lives.

God is good.