Vacation and The Mobile Mishap

Adam left in late June for a 3-week work trip so my mom and I came up with a plan to take a road trip while he was gone. She flew out to Dallas on July 6th and we left that day for our road trip to Atlanta (Adam would fly out there when he returned from his trip to drive back with me). We were to stop in New Orleans and Gulf Shores before our final destination to the ATL.

New Orleans was great! It's such a fun city and I can't wait to go back with Adam. We walked down Canal Street, where our hotel was, and then headed to the Marketplace area for the evening. We even ate at Cafe Du Monde for breakfast before we headed out of the city. Yummy!

I had to get a picture of Bourbon Street. Ha!

Noah and the Mississippi River

I don't remember the name of the church, but it was gorgeous!

Grandma and Noah

"Yeah! I'm in New Orleans!"

Once we left New Orleans, we headed for Gulf Shores, Alabama. While in Mobile, we were involved in a 5-car accident on I-10. Luckily, we were at the very front of the collision so we were the least impacted. We were all okay, but my van, not so much. After a trip to the hospital to have everyone looked over, we were able to get a rental car and head to Gulf Shores for the weekend. Here are some pics of the van. We get to go back to Mobile in about 3 weeks to pick it up from the dealership where it is being repaired. Yay.

The back of the van - glass is everywhere! The back windshield completely shattered.

Noah's seat. Again, glass is everywhere. I'm SO happy is forward facing now!

Front passenger side. If you look close, you can see the glass that flew all the way up to the front. And it knocked my Coke out of the cupholder!

Back of the van

This angle is much worse. :(

Once we arrived in Gulf Shores we just relaxed and then headed to the beach the next day. I forgot my camera in the hotel so didn't really take any pictures while we were there.

Grandma and Noah napping in the hotel.

We left for Atlanta on Monday and were so happy to get there! Noah loved spending time with his Grandma. They picked tomatoes and flowers in the garden and went for walks together. I'm so happy we were able to spend some time with my mom and I know Noah is looking forward to the next time!

Noah's Birthday Party

I'm SO far behind on blogging! We've had a pretty busy month since Noah turned one.

We had Noah's party the day after his big birthday. It was a semi-Backyardigans theme. I didn't want to go crazy with Backyardigans items, but I wanted everything to be colorful. We had his party at our house and invited family and some of Noah's friends. I had a lot of fun putting together some of the decorations and small details.

I had a banner with all of Noah's monthly pictures displayed along the fireplace.

A close-up of the banner. I added the pictures, but ordered the banner here

I made a balloon wreath for the front door. I got the idea from the same place I ordered the banner.

I didn't really take many pictures because I was busy talking with everyone. Noah had so much fun playing with his friends and family. He did not, however, have fun with his smash cake. Ha! We did give him a smaller piece after the party and he enjoyed that one a little more.

Noah's smash cake. We had cupcakes for the guests.

Giving him the cake after singing Happy Birthday. Doesn't he look thrilled?

First taste....

"Okay, I'm done, Mom. Get me out of here."

"Get me OUT!!!"

"Why is everyone looking at me?!"

Noah and Doc

Noah and Grammy

I cannot believe my baby is considered a toddler now! Over the past month he has gone from bottles to sippy cups, from formula to milk, from baby food to table food and is walking 100% of the time. I feel like he is growing up too fast!

Sharing

Noah loves his animal crackers! And so does Lola! When he has his snack cup with him, she follows him around everywhere! When he is sitting still, this is usually what it looks like:

Notice her eyes are always on the food! Ha! Sometimes he does feed them to her and we are trying to discourage that but he slips one by most of the time. I've even caught him taking a bite of the cookie and then feeding the rest to Lola. Hopefully he will continue to share toys, etc. with his friends when he gets older and stop sharing food with Lola. Ha!

12 Months

Noah, you are twelve months old!! Your first birthday was this past Friday and we've had such a fun and busy weekend celebrating your party, Father's Day, and your cousins baptism. Here are some of your highlights:

• You are wearing mostly 12 month clothing and a size 3 diaper.
• You have 4 teeth with one more that just broke through.
• You are now WALKING! You still crawl about half the time, but your little legs are getting stronger every day and you are walking farther and longer. It's such an exciting time!
• You are eating about half baby food and half table food. You really enjoy feeding yourself!
• You weighed in at 22 lbs,  8oz. You actually lost a little bit of weight since I took you in to see the doctor about a month ago for a sick visit. I'm guessing it's because you are much more mobile now. 
• You are 30 inches long. You are right about in the 50-60% for all stats.
• We turned your car seat around and you are loving it! It's a whole new world for you!
• You can play peek-a-boo by covering your own eyes now. It's so cute!
• You love the water! We've taken you to the pool a few times and you seem to really enjoy it. We'll be spending a lot of time there this summer!
• You can give hugs and kisses (when you want to). I love it!
• You have recently started to really like wearing hats and your sunglasses. You are so cute!
• You also enjoy resting your head (and hugging) your Pillow Pet. Thank you, Granny!
• You are constantly babbling in your own little language. 
• You've also started to enjoy getting your picture taken lately. You can smile silly for the camera when Mommy asks you to.

We had your birthday party at our house on Saturday (I'll have a separate post later). So many of our family members and friends were able to come and celebrate with us. You had fun playing with the other babies and showing off your new walking skills. :) 

I cannot believe you are officially considered a toddler now. It blows my mind! Can you please slow down?! I cherish every moment with you and love to watch you grow. Mommy and Daddy love you more than you could possibly know!

Happy Birthday, Noah!

Another attempt at taking his monthly picture. He can smile, but not hold the sign the right way. Ha!

I was vacuuming the sofa cushions and had all the pillows on the floor. Noah decided he would climb the mountain and then take a rest.

Climbing on the pillows.

Chillin"

Daddy and Noah

"Check out my hat!"

Could he BE any cuter?!

Say "cheese"!

Too cool for ham and cheese.

Lounging on the Pillow Pet!

Big Boy!

Look Who's Walking!

YES!!! Noah has started walking. He took his first steps over Memorial Day weekend and has been practicing since then. He's not walking 100% yet but he is taking those sweet baby steps! He always has such a big smile on his face when he starts to walk. I think he's very proud of himself and of course, we are very proud of him! He is growing up way too fast for me.

Here is a video I took of him today with my phone. I should let you know there is some crawling in the beginning before we get to the walking. And he's wearing his shark foam visor we bought at Target the other day (just in case you're wondering what the heck he has on his head! Ha!). He loves to wear it!

Pool Time!

We took Noah to the local pool near our house. They have a "rainforest" area with a zero-depth entry pool for the little kids and Noah LOVES it! He kept trying to crawl into the "deep end". He also really enjoyed being in the big kid pool with Mommy and Daddy.  I think we have a water baby on our hands!

I'm ready to go, Mom!

Relaxing in the water

Snack time after swimming

11 Months

Noah, you are 11 months old today! Just one more month until your big birthday! We're so excited! Mommy has already started party planning and we're looking forward to your big day. Here's what you've been up to this past month:

• You weigh just over 23 lbs
• You now have 4 teeth
• You are wearing mostly 12 month clothing.
• You are sleeping 10-12 hours a night, with 2 naps each day.
• You are crawling, very fast, all over the place. You are also cruising very well along all of the furniture and anything else you can pull yourself up onto.
• You can say ma-ma. da-da, and ba-ba, along with all of the other babbling you do. You've been saying "cah" lately whenever you see one of the cats.
• You love to clap your hands and grab other people's hands and clap for them. It's so cute!
• You are waving hello and good-bye and wave to yourself when you look in the mirror.
• You can give hugs (sometimes) on command. It melts my heart when you give me hugs!
• You are eating more table foods. You've had pancakes, strawberries, bananas, cereal bars (which you LOVE), chicken, and even some cupcake!
• You are learning to use your sippy cup.
• You love to be outside and enjoy rides in your wagon.
• Your favorite toys right now are your mega-blocks legos and your cars/trucks. You've learned to push the around the living room.
• You also like to play with Lola's toys and play tug-o-war with her sometimes. Ha!
• You also enjoy reading books. You have started to turn pages all by yourself!
• You still love bath time and we cannot keep you still in the tub! You also enjoy brushing your teeth!
• Lately, you've been sticking out your tongue and making funny noises. It's so fun to see and makes me laugh every time.
• You can also click your tongue and sometimes roll it!
• You love to be around other kids and babies. You are so intrigued by them!

So serious.

"I love cereal bars!"

So good!

Stuffing your face!

nom, nom, nom

Playing in your wagon, after our walk outside.

"Look Mom! Only one hand!"

Watching cartoons in your rocking chair.

Sweet face.

"Hey!"