Jude's Christmas Performance

Jude's class performed in the Christmas concert at his preschool this morning. He did a great job!

Oh Boy....or GIRL!?!?

We found out we are expecting our third baby right after Noah started Kindergarten. We have been anxiously awaiting the ultrasound to tell us if we are having a boy or girl! Mom and Noah were convinced that it was another boy. Dad and Jude were on Team Pink... certain that the baby was going to be a girl. Our great friends Heather and Ruthie offered to throw us a Gender Reveal Party the day after our ultrasound. We didn't peek at the ultrasound and we had the tech put the results in a sealed envelope and it was taken to the baker to bake a cake with either pink or blue icing in the middle! Everyone wore either pink or blue, based on their guess. The anticipation was almost too much, but we made it to the party and Mom could not have been more shocked when the cake was cut and the icing was PINK! It looks like a little girl will be joining our family in late April!

4 Year Old Checkup

Last week we finally made it to the doctor for Jude's 4 year old check up. He weighed in at 37 pounds (75%) and is 41 3/4 inches tall (75%). He was a little upset about getting some immunizations, but bounced back pretty quickly.

We also attended Jude's Thanksgiving celebration at preschool. His class did a great job singing on stage.

Happy Halloween

Noah dressed up as a Ninja this year and Jude dressed up as Spider Man. We were supposed to go to a neighborhood party, but the host family came down with a stomach bug so it was cancelled. We had a fun evening though, walking around the neighborhood and seeing all of our friends. One of our neighbors puts on a huge haunted house- we debated going through it this year, but we decided to wait a little longer. Neither of us felt like staying up late with 2 scared little boys!

Jude is 4!

We're a little late on this, but Jude turned 4 earlier this month! He shared a Star Wars birthday party with his friend Eli and we rented a big bounce house for all of the kids. It rained almost all day, but the kids didn't seem to mind bouncing in the rain!









Jude also got to pick where we went for dinner on his birthday. He chose Chuck E. Cheese's!

First Day of Kindergarten

Noah started Kindergarten this morning at our neighborhood school. Mom has had major anxiety about this day, but he did great- barely even said goodbye! It is going to be a big adjustment, he goes to school from 8:30-3:00 everyday. We can't wait to pick him up this afternoon and see how much fun he had.

Camp 2011

We just got back from another week at Camp Greenville! This was our second year going to "Family Camp" week and it did not disappoint. The weather was perfect and everyone had a blast. Shawn, Regina, Jack and Emma met us again this year- and we convinced our friends from Jacksonville, Sally, Mike, Tucker and Cameron to join us too! The week was fun filled with tubing down the Davidson River, hiking to Rainbow Falls, horseback riding, touring Dupont waterfalls and swimming holes, archery, riflery, the ropes course, swimming, a square dance and campfires. The kids were worn out at the end of each day and the adults spent some quality time outside of our cabin overlooking the lake. We are already counting down the days until camp next summer! Who wants to join us next year?

Just keep swimming...

Noah and Jude just completed a week of Swim Lessons with Coach Sally (aka Aunt Sally). They both did a wonderful job! Check it out for yourself...

Reflections of a Preschooler

Noah's teachers made a book for him that captured his growth from the beginning of the year until the end. These are 2 of my favorite pages- a list of random questions with his answers...

Noah in September:


Noah in May:

SJPK Graduation

Noah graduated from preschool last month! He started out going two days a week in the 2 year old class at St John's Presbyterian Preschool and then went on to three days a week in the three year old class and he finished up in the 5 day Pre-k class. Noah loved his time at St Johns and he was lucky enough to have Mrs. Lackey as his teacher in his two year old class and then again in Pre-K. We were a little sad that preschool ended- but we know he's ready for Kindergarten. His end of the year party was a "water play day" and the kids had a blast. I couldn't even bribe Jude to leave and go to his own class party because it was so much fun! One of his classmates also hosted an end of the year party at her house. It was a great way to end the school year!


Noah was a big fan of the shark float!



Yummy Cupcakes!


Dinner with friends.


One last funny face class photo with Mrs. Lackey!

Here comes the tooth fairy!

We started noticing that Noah was getting one of his permanent teeth a few weeks ago- without first losing his baby tooth. Neither of us had seen that before, but after Googling it we realized it was common. We did go see the dentist and she said to just wait it out. She also informed me that Noah already had all four of his 6 year molars. He never complained and we never really noticed when they came in.

And then today- the baby tooth came out! Noah is so excited about the upcoming visit from the tooth fairy! We just can't believe that our baby is already losing teeth and getting permanent teeth!

Animal Kingdom!

We still had a few days on our Disney pass to use before the end of May, so we headed down to Orlando Saturday night and went to Hollywood Studios for a few hours. We were up bright and early on Sunday and let the kids pick which park we would visit- they both picked Animal Kingdom. Neither of the boys had been there before and they loved it!

The weather was perfect and the lines were nonexistent! The boys even got to ride Kali River Rapids (their favorite) twice! Mom opted out of the second trip after getting soaked the first time.







Noah and Jude loved all of the rides, the parade and meeting a few characters. It was a great Disney day!

5 Year Stats

Noah finally had his 5 year appointment with the doctor. He is still maintaining his spot at the top of the chart...

47 inches (97%)
58 pounds (97%)

He is up to date on all of his shots and ready for Kindergarten in 5 months!

Easter 2011

Uncle Shawn, Aunt Regina, Jack and Emma came to visit for their spring break the week before Easter. We had lots of fun at the beach and pool. The kids always love time with their cousins.





We also had plenty of egg hunts at school and church. Noah's class had a little tea party after their egg hunt. It was so much fun!

A bit of catching up to do....

We haven't done such a great job of blogging lately, but we have been busy...

We went to the annual circus at Noah and Jude's preschool. Jude's class was the marching band and they lead the entire circus into the circus tent! The boys in Noah's class were the "strong men" and the girls were the tight rope walkers. It is such a fun event.







Noah also achieved some major milestones! He can now ride his bike without training wheels and tie his shoes.





We went to the zoo and saw the new "Dino Alive" exhibit. The boys loved it!



And of course, we have been spending a lot of time at the ball field. Jude has become an expert at sitting on the bleachers and watching! It helps that he has few other "little" brothers to hang with.

T-Ball here we come!

We are ready for opening day Saturday.... Noah is so excited!

Happy Birthday Noah!

It rained all day Saturday, but that didn't stop us from throwing Noah his Spider-Man party!



Noah has been eying this Spider-Man cake at Publix for about 6 months. Every time we walked near the bakery, he would check to see if it was still on display. He was so excited that he could have it for his birthday!



The rain prevented us from playing outside, so we made up a game of "pin the spider on the web". It went over pretty well with the 3-5 year old crowd.





The cake turned out to be even more amazing then we were expecting- you could wind it up and then Spider-Man swung around the building. Noah was a little afraid of getting hit by Spider-Man, but he finally blew out his candles.





Thanks to everyone that celebrated with us, Noah had a fantastic day. And we have more Legos than we know what to do with!! :)