The Development of the McDonald Babies

Christmas 2011

2012-01-28T16:06:00.011-05:00

Wow, it is almost February and I am just getting around to posting about Christmas. I'm going to blame it on being pregnant- or maybe on the fact that we have sold our house and are moving to a new house... they are both good excuses, right?

Ready for Church and dinner on Christmas Eve

Reading The Polar Express before bed

And the fun begins Christmas morning

And we finished the day off with Christmas Dinner

Jude's Christmas Performance

2011-12-16T18:30:00.003-05:00

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

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

2011-12-16T09:39:00.005-05:00

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

2011-11-29T09:27:00.002-05:00

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

2011-11-02T13:23:00.002-04:00

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!

2011-10-31T12:02:00.010-04:00

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

2011-08-22T09:30:00.003-04:00

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

2011-08-20T16:07:00.010-04:00

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...

2011-06-27T21:04:00.005-04:00

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

2011-06-27T20:56:00.006-04:00

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

2011-06-27T20:35:00.008-04:00

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!

2011-06-01T21:36:00.003-04:00

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!

2011-05-03T11:53:00.004-04:00

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

2011-04-27T09:43:00.003-04:00

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

2011-04-27T09:35:00.008-04:00

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....

2011-04-27T09:16:00.010-04:00

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!

2011-03-04T09:53:00.001-05:00

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

Happy Birthday Noah!

2011-02-08T13:18:00.014-05:00

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!! :)

Guess who is 5?!?

2011-02-08T09:22:00.003-05:00

Noah's birthday started out at The Fox with Dad for some birthday pancakes before school!

Happy New Year

2011-01-12T13:57:00.010-05:00

We were invited to Jessica and Matthew's house to have dinner and celebrate New Years Eve. Good thing too, since our power went out for most of the evening! It was a really fun night with all of our kids running around. We even had a "countdown" for the kids at 9:00.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-12T13:44:00.007-05:00

A little late in getting these photos up... but we had a great Christmas this year. After we went to dinner with Grandma and Papa on Christmas eve, we headed home to open one present. The boys got matching pajamas! We put out cookies, milk and lettuce for Santa and his reindeer (we were out of carrots and figured the reindeer liked lettuce too). We ended the evening with the annual reading of The Polar Express.

It looks like the reindeer like lettuce too!

Since we celebrated Christmas early with our family that lives far away, we had a very calm Christmas. Noah did wake us up at 5:00 though! We let Jude sleep until 6 and then we woke him up to see what Santa left for us.

Grandma and Papa came over for breakfast and then we had a relaxing day at home. The early morning wake up let us all take a long afternoon nap! We hope you all had a holiday too!

Christmas Eve 2010

2010-12-28T13:49:00.012-05:00

We went to the children's service on Christmas Eve at church again this year. It is such a neat tradition at our church that the children can dress up as one of the characters from the Christmas story and they all parade to the front during their part. Noah decided he would dress up as one of the Wise Men and Jude was Joseph.

Everyone in costume, ready to go!

Noah anxiously awaiting his part!

Eli, Emily, Jude and Noah after their award winning performances. Emily's decision to be Mary totally solidified Jude's decision to play the role of Joseph.

Christmas Play Date

2010-12-21T13:45:00.003-05:00

We went to a Christmas play date hosted by my Garden Circle this morning. The boys had so much fun and are getting more and more excited about Santa coming in a few days!

An Early Christmas

2010-12-17T12:59:00.003-05:00

Aunt Leigh and Uncle Frank decided to come all the way from Alaska to celebrate Christmas early with us. Sarah, Heidi and Bodie joined in on the fun. We had such a good time with everyone here and the boys especially loved playing with cousin Bodie. We didn't do such a great job of taking photos while they were here, we were too busy having fun! We hope you all come back really soon to visit!

Pumpkin Carving

2010-10-30T16:58:00.007-04:00

Dad got back from his week of traveling, just in time to carve pumpkins!

Pumpkins guts are gross!!

The kids were interested for about 5 minutes, but Dad continued on. Everyone was happy with the final product!

What a difference three years makes...

2010-10-24T13:01:00.003-04:00

Jude 2 weeks, Noah 20 months

Jude 3 years, Noah 4 years

Paper Boat Regatta 2010

2010-10-21T17:29:00.009-04:00

You might remember that last year we joined Noah and Jude's friends Kirby and Roe to sail paper boats. We decided to continue the tradition and sail our paper boats again- it looks like we may have started a tradition. The boys have so much fun setting the boats in the creek and watching them float away. Roe was big enough this year to join in on the fun!

Jude turns 3!

2010-10-13T13:10:00.011-04:00

1 Day Old

1 Month Old

1 Year Old

2 Years Old

3 Years Old

We had a little party to celebrate Jude's birthday this weekend. He got his requested Go Diego Go Birthday cake. I can't believe our baby is three! Where does the time go?

G O A L!!

2010-09-25T18:39:00.003-04:00

Here is Noah scoring a goal at this morning's game. We couldn't be more proud! :)

Wonders of Learning to Read

2010-09-25T18:32:00.003-04:00

Learning to read has opened up an entirely new world for Noah. Mostly he is interested in what all of the signs on the road say. We will be driving along and he will blurt out "No Turn on Red" and "Green Light Must Yield to Traffic". The funniest came today... we were getting ready to go on a bike ride and he was in the driveway getting his helmet on. He screamed "Hey Mom, did you know my helmet was Made in CHINA?!?!"

Soccer!

2010-09-01T21:30:00.005-04:00

Noah is playing soccer this season and Dad is the coach. We had our first practice Tuesday evening and almost everyone had a great time. Noah was a little hungry and complained/cried the entire time because his tummy hurt. Next time we'll remember he needs a snack beforehand. Can't wait for our first game!

First Day of School

2010-08-31T19:53:00.003-04:00

This morning was the first day of school for Noah and Jude. They were both super excited! They were all smiles on our way to school.

Noah ran right into school and barely said goodbye to us. He was so happy to see a lot of his friends from last school year. Jude was not too thrilled about his new classroom or teacher. He was screaming when I left him, but everyone was all smiles when I picked them up.

Beach Day!

2010-08-24T19:36:00.010-04:00

We have been having a blast this week hanging out with Aunt Sarah, Aunt Heidi and Cousin Bodie. Monday we spent the morning at the beach and the pool. The boys had so much fun (the adults did too)!

Square Dancing with Jude!

2010-08-14T21:28:00.004-04:00

Jude loved the night of square dancing at camp! Noah did not- in fact, he completely lost it when it was time for him and Daddy to go down the middle. Here is a video of Jude having a blast dancing with Uncle Shawn and Jack.

Family Camp 2010

2010-08-14T21:09:00.012-04:00

We spent 4 days at Camp Greenville's family camp earlier this week. It was such a wonderful experience for all of us! Uncle Shawn, Aunt Regina, Jack and Emma met us there and we had so much fun. This was the camp where Dad spent his summers as a child and he was so excited that we all wanted to visit it with him. We got to swim in the lake, canoe, shoot rifles and bow & arrows, play horseshoes, hike, go tubing, roast marshmallows and go to a square dance. We also got to watch the sun rise one morning at the camp's chapel, Pretty Place- and it was amazing! We opted to just do the half week option this year- since Mom had never been to camp before and Jude is only 2- but we are ready for the full week next summer!

Fun with Friends

2010-08-04T21:29:00.001-04:00

Here is Noah and a few friends having fun at church on Sunday. They had built a "boat" and were cruising to Disney World.

Swimming Jude

2010-07-30T13:27:00.007-04:00

Jude took a week of swim lessons with Aunt Sally last week. He was the youngest in his class, but he jumped right in and gave it his best shot. He struggled the first few days with breathing in the water, but he kept trying. On the final day of swim lessons, the kids get to show off all of their skills and even get to go down the big slide! Here are a few shots from today and a video of Jude swimming.

Noah can read!

2010-07-27T12:51:00.004-04:00

We were surprised by Noah last Friday when we bought him some BOB books and he sat down and read them all by himself! He flew through all 12 of the books in the set. I guess he was ready to do this before we realized! Here are a few videos of him showing off his new skills.

Happy 35th Birthday Daddy!

2010-06-14T16:52:00.003-04:00

We celebrated Daddy's birthday on Friday. The kids helped me make a cake and we all enjoyed it together!

Riverside Arts Market

2010-06-05T16:13:00.003-04:00

We ventured out in the heat this morning to the Riverside Arts Market. PBS was having a character meet and greet and the boys were excited to see some of their favorites. We missed out on Curious George, but we did get to see Angelina Ballerina and Alpha Pig (from Super Why).

Nice Long Weekend

2010-05-31T20:43:00.005-04:00

We had the chance to do a little relaxing over the long holiday weekend. Dad has been pretty busy recently setting up his new business, but he did take a little time off to hang out over the weekend. We did a little swimming, hanging out with friends and even went out to the beach to visit Noushin.

It was a really great weekend and gave us time to think about how thankful we are to live in such a great place and for the many men and women who have sacrificed so much to protect our freedom!

Fish in the Water

2010-05-13T12:56:00.005-04:00

We have been practicing our swimming skills learned last summer at Aunt Sally's swim classes. Surprisingly, Noah still remembers most of it! We are scheduled to take another week long lesson later in the summer. Jude has his own version of swimming- basically he squats in the water and splashes his hands. I'll have to catch that on video next time.

The McDonalds Storm DC

2010-04-25T21:32:00.006-04:00

After spending Easter weekend in Norfolk, we drove up to DC for the week. We got a lot of sightseeing in and visited with a lot of friends. We went to the National Zoo, the Lincoln Memorial, went on a tour of the White House, went to the Museum of Natural History and went to the Air and Space Museum. It was VERY hot, Noah's allergies were worse than ever (I think he is allergic to the cherry blossoms!)- but it was a fun week! Here are a few pictures to prove it:

Great Grandparents

2010-04-25T21:30:00.003-04:00

While in Virginia we were able to visit with Noah and Jude's great grandparents.

Easter 2010

2010-04-25T21:19:00.011-04:00

This year we went up to Norfolk for Easter and celebrated at Shawn and Regina's house. Noushin flew up with us and the boys were great on the flight. Alexander came down from DC for the weekend so that we all could participate in the annual birdfeeder contest.
Here were the entries this year:

Uncle Mike

Aunt Shelley

Mom

Dad

Uncle Alex- he had to catch his train before we got a picture of him with his birdfeeder

Taylor

Caitlin

And the 2010 Winner- Uncle Shawn!

An "Egg"cellent Day!

2010-03-26T13:22:00.008-04:00

Jude and I joined Noah's class for their egg hunt and party today. Jude was more than ready to leave the house this morning when I told him that we would be hiding eggs for Noah and his friends to hunt. He was a really great helper and I think Noah's friends appreciated his ability to "hide" eggs (he mostly just scattered them around in plain sight).

I was so impressed with Noah and his classmates. The teachers told them they could each find 11 eggs and each child continued to count their eggs until they reached 11. I even saw a couple of kids realize they had more and then give some to their friends!

After each child found their eggs, they all sat down together and looked at each egg.

It was a perfect opportunity for a class photo!

We all came inside and enjoyed some Easter treats. Jude even got to pull up a chair and sit at the table with Noah and his friends. Noah was so sweet to him and introduced his little brother "Judi" to everyone at the table.

Four Short Years

2010-02-08T13:39:00.007-05:00

It is amazing how time seems to fly by. It seems like just yesterday that Noah came into our lives - and now he is a 4 year old! He is such an amazing little boy and brings joy into our lives everyday.

Look how far we have come:

One Day...

One Month...

One Year...

Two Years...

Three Years...

Four Years...

Jude and Ben

2010-01-26T12:48:00.001-05:00

Jude and Ben
Originally uploaded by Obie Fernandez

Random picture from 2008 of Jude and I.

Bottoms

2010-01-25T23:23:00.002-05:00

Noah: "Mommy, where is your penis"

Sherry: "Girls don't have those"

Noah: "Oh, right. You just have bottoms"

Happy New Year!

2010-01-08T14:35:00.005-05:00

We took a mini-vacation with Aunts Leigh, Sarah, Heidi and baby Bodie! We headed down to Amelia Island Plantation on New Years Eve and stayed for 3 days.

Noah loved spending time with his cousin Bodie!

It was a little cold, but we enjoyed being so close to the ocean.

On New Year's Eve, they had a child-friendly dinner/party that we all enjoyed. There was music, face painting and a magician.

We have so much to be thankful for and hope that you have a blessed year! Thanks for following along with us on our journey as a family. Happy New Year!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-08T14:20:00.008-05:00

After dinner with Aunt Leigh, Grandma and Papa, we got the boys all bathed and ready for bed and Dad read them the Polar Express. We set out cookies, milk for Santa and an apple and carrots for the reindeer (Noah insisted that reindeer eat apples).

After Noah's morning meltdown because he didn't see his presents on the other side of the couch.....Christmas morning, was full of excitement! The boys had so much fun opening all of the presents and playing with each of them. Noah was so happy that Santa brought him an orange bike with a horn.

The sleeping bags from Aunt Leigh were a big hit too!

Santa must have known that Jude likes to throw things (i.e. the sippy cup incident of November 2009) because he brought him a basketball hoop!

Christmas Eve Church Service

2010-01-08T14:12:00.005-05:00

Our church has a wonderful children's service on Christmas Eve where all of the children are encouraged to dress up as something from the nativity story. When I asked Noah what he wanted to be, he immediately decided he would be the star! And boy, was he the star! Most boys, including Jude, dress up as shepherds. Some dress up as Joseph or an animal. I am not quite sure they knew what to do with such a large star, but they improvised and picked him up high above everyone else and he did a great job acting out his role!

A special thanks to Aunt Leigh for helping me make this memorable costume! :)

Disney 2009

2010-01-08T14:00:00.002-05:00

We took a trip to Disney this holiday season. It was a really great day, although the crowds got out of control in the afternoon. The boys were so excited and had a blast and we had a good time too. We started the day off by getting personalized Mickey ears for them both. During our adventure, we managed to ride Dumbo, Peter Pan, It's a Small World and Winnie the Pooh. We ate lunch and saw some of the Christmas parade too. Our friends from Orlando, Andrew and Annie met us there to hang out for a little while too!

Noah and Jude were both really excited to meet Mickey and Minnie and were troopers in the long line at their house. They got a little nervous though when it was our turn to say hello!

We all had a wonderful day at the park and can't wait for our next visit!

Catch up...

2010-01-08T13:51:00.006-05:00

So we slacked off on the blogging this holiday season... but we are going to attempt to play catch up! Here is what our December looked like...

We had numerous attempts at getting a holiday card picture. The difficulty involved in trying to get a 2 year old and a 3 year old to smile for a picture together can not even be put into words. Here were some of the finalists:

And then Jude went a got a horrible black eye! He ran into the corner of the table and it was not pretty!

And here was our holiday card photo choice... with Jude's black eye removed!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-30T20:35:00.005-05:00

We drove up to Virginia last Wednesday to spend the Thanksgiving with Mom's family. Aunt Shelley and Uncle Mike hosted their first Thanksgiving dinner and they did an excellent job. Aunt Shelley decorated her house beautifully and even had a special kids table with crafts, place cards and pilgrim hats!

After dinner, all of the kids jumped on the trampoline and the adults played corn hole. It was a great afternoon and we enjoyed catching up with our family.

We have so much to be thankful for!

Sailing Boats

2009-11-23T13:18:00.006-05:00

We were so excited when our friend Kirby invited Noah and Jude to sail paper boats with him last week! His mommy, Bebe, made boats for everyone and we launched them in the Willow Branch creek. Noah called Grandma afterward to tell her to be on the lookout for his boat, he was convinced it would make it to the river and sail to her house!

Noah ready to sail his boat

Jude showing off his boat

Kirby and Noah watching their boats sail down the creek

Baby Roe can't wait until he's big enough to sail a boat!

Thankful

2009-11-20T13:49:00.007-05:00

Today we went to Noah's Thanksgiving celebration at preschool. He was so proud of his pilgrim hat and he sang his class song so well! It was funny to watch him search the crowd for us and to watch his eyes light up when he finally spotted us. He was even more excited when he saw that Noushin, Uncle Alex, Grandma and Grandma's friend Penny were there to watch him too. Noah loves going to school and we have so much to be thankful for!

Triple Trouble!

2009-11-17T13:04:00.009-05:00

Cousin Bodie came to visit for the weekend and the three boys had a blast! Noah and Jude wasted no time in showing Bodie all of the fun in our backyard.

We headed down to grandma's house on Saturday and played all day!

Genie drove us around for a little while...

We fished for a little while...

And we swung in the hammocks!

Sunday we had a great lunch outside by the river...

It was such a fun weekend and Noah and Jude were happy to teach Bodie all of their tricks!

We can't wait to see Bodie for New Years!

2 Year Check Up

2009-11-05T21:13:00.003-05:00

Last week, Jude went in for his 2 year check up. He weighed in at 27 pounds (50%) and is 36.5 inches tall (90%). Noah tagged along with us to the doctor- and for the first time, it was not chaos with both boys there! Noah sat quietly and drew pictures while Dr. Sanchez examined Jude. He said that everything looks great and was satisfied with his speech development. Jude is picking up new words each day and it seems like we are on the verge of a vocabulary explosion... at least we hope so! The frustration level is getting pretty high as he tries to communicate his desires! We are working on it though!

Halloween

2009-11-05T21:06:00.004-05:00

This year for Halloween, Noah was a Fireman and Jude was a dalmation.

We went a great party at our friends' Ruthie and Edward's House and then everyone trick-or-treated together.

It was a pretty hot afternoon, but the kids all had a blast!

Jack-O-Latern

2009-10-31T14:23:00.002-04:00

We finally got around to carving our pumpkin this morning! The boys had fun watching Dad get messy, but neither one wanted to get their hands dirty!

Happy Halloween!

2 years already?!

2009-10-16T14:52:00.005-04:00

Jude turned 2 on Monday and we had a little pirate party for him over the weekend.

Aunt Shelley and Uncle Mike sent a really cool tricycle for Jude. Now he gets to "ride" his bike alongside Noah.

Boy Genius! (from a biased perspective)

2009-09-23T13:25:00.004-04:00

It's official, Noah can write his name! He just picked up the magnetic pad yesterday and with a little instruction, wrote his name. This morning he continued to write it and even wrote a lot more letters on his own. It think another thing is official, he is left-handed!

New School Year

2009-09-02T09:48:00.008-04:00

Noah and Jude started school this morning! Noah will be in the three day threes and Jude will go one morning a week to the mother's morning out class. They have been really excited to start school this year. And Mom is excited too, she has Wednesdays free!

Jude is mostly excited about his new lunch box. He has been carrying it around, filling it will all sorts of goodies!

Noah is excited about seeing his friends from last year! We went to orientation on Monday and Noah got to explore his new classroom. He is really looking forward to playing with the cash register... he has been talking about it all week!

It is nice to have a big brother that will show you how much fun school is!

There were no tears at our house or at school this morning! We are ready for school!

While Mom & Dad were away...

2009-07-27T21:27:00.003-04:00

Grandma let the boys play!

Thanks to Grandma and Papa (and Chester the dog), we got to get away for the weekend. Congratulations to Jennifer and Chuck- it was a beautiful wedding and we were happy to be there to celebrate with you!

Summer Fun

2009-07-17T19:46:00.009-04:00

We can't believe summer is already half way over but we've been having lots of fun with friends recently. We met lots of friends at the park this week to have popsicles and play.

Jude and Eli are driving the fire truck!

Jackson and Noah are holding on!

Let the Unsupervised Play Begin...

2009-07-08T18:46:00.005-04:00

Just kidding! But seriously, we finally got a privacy fence in our backyard! Now I don't have to take everyone back inside for every potty break or phone call. Now we can have friends over and not worry about their little ones wandering out front into traffic.

Now we just need a combination lock for the gate, to keep Jude inside!

Big Changes...

2009-07-08T16:00:00.002-04:00

Big Changes are coming to the McDonald Backyard!

Stay tuned for the "After" pictures....

Happy Independence Day!

2009-07-04T20:30:00.006-04:00

Busy June

2009-06-24T20:03:00.012-04:00

So we started off June with a visit from Aunts Sarah and Heidi. Noah and Jude had so much fun playing with their cousin Bodie... he is already 10 months old!

While they were here we had a little party to celebrate Daddy's 34th birthday! Noah helped me make a yummy lemon cake for the occasion.

Then we piled in the car to drive up to Virginia for Taylor's high school graduation. Jude decided to cry most of the way there and as a result, we stopped what felt like every ten minutes. We were very happy to finally get to Uncle Shawn and Aunt Regina's house! We spent the next 4 days running around and watching the kids play together.

After visiting with family for a few days in Virginia, we headed down to Myrtle Beach for 5 days. We had never been there before and we probably won't go back- let's just leave it at that! We did enjoy the aquarium and Noah played his first game of miniature golf. Here are some photo highlights of the trip:

Noah's Bedtime Routine

2009-05-20T23:06:00.004-04:00

We just got our new HD video camera, the Flip Ultra. It was under $200 and I am pretty impressed with it so far.

So here is one of our first video's with it. This is Noah's bedtime routine. (If you are reading this on email, you should go to the blog to check it out).

Jude's Masterpiece

2009-05-19T14:02:00.004-04:00

Miss Kelsey comes one day a week to play with Noah and Jude while Mom runs errands. This week she did a fun art project with the boys. They both made their own coconut trees like the ones in Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Here is Jude's creation.

Jude's first crush...

2009-05-19T13:55:00.005-04:00

Jude's girlfriend Margaret came over to play this morning and I caught a few pictures of them together...

Weekend of Fun!

2009-05-17T20:57:00.006-04:00

The fun started early on Saturday when Daddy and Noah decided to plant their vegetable garden. They managed to get the zucchini planted before we headed out to our friend Jackson's 3rd birthday party.

All of the kids loved the firetruck!

Everyone went for a ride around the block and then they got to test out the fire hose!

Then we finished off with pizza and cupcakes... all that by 1:00!

After the party, we drove down to Grandma and PaPa's house to visit with them and celebrate mother's day (a little late) and Papa's birthday. The kids had a blast running around outside and Noah learned how to fish! It was a great Saturday!

End of the school year, already?!

2009-05-16T21:43:00.006-04:00

It seems like yesterday that Noah started going to pre-school two mornings a week. Now we have started the final countdown until summer break. He only has one week left! Friday was his final singing program at school, followed by a ice cream sundae party. Dad took the day off work to help celebrate!

Noah was a little nervous on stage as usual, but he got into the song and dance towards the end.

After all of the classes performed their songs, we each got to enjoy an ice cream sundae! Noah requested all of the toppings available on his sundae!

Then he quickly decided he didn't like any of them and we had to pick them all out!

Growing Like Weeds

2009-04-16T10:05:00.003-04:00

We went to the doctor a few weeks ago for Noah's 3 year appointment and Jude's 18 month appointment. It is definitely easier on my schedule to take them at the same time, but it is not easier to control both of them together for the exam. I think next time I will opt for separate appointments!
Jude now weighs in at 25 pounds, 4 ounces (50%) and is 34 inches tall (90%). There is still some concern over his delay in speech- but since our appointment he has picked up a few new words. He can now say Mama, Dada, Noah, Hot, Go Go, Uh Oh, and Hi. We are making more of an effort to give him the opportunity to answer questions and stopping Noah from talking for him- and it seems to be making a difference!
Noah is still so big for his age! He now weights 42 pounds (97%) and is 41.5 inches tall (97%). There is no doubt that he is going to grow up to be a very tall man!

2009 Annual Bird Feeder Contest

2009-04-14T13:44:00.004-04:00

We hosted our Annual Bird Feeder Contest this year and we all think it was the best one yet! There were numerous contenders for the "Best in Show" award and we are proud to say that BEN won!! His modern design and supreme use of the power tools secured him the winning trophy- well there is not really a trophy, but he does get bragging rights! As you can see, he is very proud!

Shawn put up quite a fight, he even lobbied that Ben's feeder was really a squirrel feeder. His design was great, but in the end, he did not win.

Here is what the rest of us could come up with in 2 hours and shared materials from the garage!

Alex went with the minimalist approach:

Sherry went with the cute approach:

Shelley went with the holiday inspired approach:

Mike went with a basic approach:

But in the end, it was the kids who had all of the fun! They got to get naked and paint!

Wonder who will take the prize next year?!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T21:02:00.003-04:00

McDonald Family Baptism

2009-04-02T20:56:00.003-04:00

Mom, Noah and Jude were all baptized last Sunday at Riverside Presbyterian Church.

Aunt Shelley came to Jacksonville for the weekend to help celebrate. It was pretty difficult to keep the kids under control during the service and they managed to make most of the congregation laugh. Noah kept screaming "HI!" to his babysitter and Jude pulled down a sash from the pulpit! If nothing else, at least our baptism was entertaining! Grandma planned a really nice luncheon at our house after church and we were able to celebrate with family and friends all afternoon.

Cruising the River

2009-03-08T21:44:00.004-04:00

Mom came back from her weekend in NYC and we were more than excited when our good friends Shelley and Cooper called and invited us on a river cruise with them this afternoon. The weather could not have been better and we enjoyed the sunshine. It was Jude's first boat ride and he loved it (although he was a little annoyed with his life jacket).

Our captain Cooper was so kind to follow all of Noah's orders to "GO FASTER!"

It was the perfect afternoon- thanks guys!

Medicine

2009-02-26T23:21:00.001-05:00

"Mommy, I'm sick!"

"What's wrong? What hurts?"

"I don't know, but I put a bunch of boogers in my mouth, they were my medicine"

Scooby Doo

2009-02-26T19:58:00.002-05:00

Here is a video of Noah and Jude breaking it down to the opening of Scooby Doo (Noah's current favorite show).

The Celebration Continues...

2009-02-08T20:01:00.006-05:00

Since today was Noah's actual birthday, we promised him a cupcake after lunch- that was before we discovered ALL of the cupcake shops and bakeries are closed on Sundays. Good thing the grocery store is always open!

We also got to visit with Grandma all afternoon and play outside in the nice weather. It was a great day!

Happy Birthday Noah!

2009-02-08T10:16:00.003-05:00

Today is Noah's third birthday! I can't believe three years have gone by since the day he was born. He was very excited to have some friends and family over yesterday afternoon to celebrate with him!

He had been asking for a Cars birthday party, so he was pretty happy to see his Lightning McQueen cake.

He was also excited to open all of his wonderful gifts! Thank you everyone!

Big Boy Haircuts

2009-01-08T21:27:00.007-05:00

All of the boys got their haircut last weekend, including Jude for the first time. Noah volunteered to go first and even let them use the clippers- it was truly a momentous occasion!

Here is Jude showing off his haircut and his play skills at the park. He now goes up the stairs and down the slide all by himself!

But he still likes to swing more than anything else!

Christmas Vacation

2009-01-01T21:23:00.007-05:00

Since Dad took the week off, we decided to take an impromptu family vacation. We headed up to The King and Prince on St Simons Island for a few days of fun.

We made it to the top of the lighthouse.

We also visited Fort Frederica.

We had such a good time and can't wait to go again. Noah keeps asking when we can go back to the hotel. Maybe it will become our new family tradition? I think we would all like that!

Christmas 2008

2009-01-01T21:13:00.006-05:00

We were lucky enough to spend Christmas with Sarah, Heidi and baby Bodie this year. They got into town on Christmas Eve and went to the children's service at church with us. The kids were all supposed to dress up as their favorite nativity story character. Jude dressed up as a cow and Noah would only agree to being Tigger- maybe there was a tiger there?

After church we came home and Daddy John, Noushin and Alex came over to visit. We baked cookies for Santa and Uncle Alex helped Noah track Santa on the computer.

Grandma and Papa gave Noah and Jude new pajamas and then it was off to bed. After opening presents in the morning, we spent the day relaxing at home and had dinner with Sarah, Heidi and Bodie. It was a great holiday!

Noah and Jude loved spending time with their cousin Bodie and can't wait until the next time they see him!

Hey Jude

2008-12-28T23:54:00.001-05:00

From the mouth of a 2 year old

2008-12-17T08:48:00.003-05:00

We were driving home from dinner last night and Noah was asking for the 100th time that day, is it Christmas yet? So we went through all of the days between now and Christmas and we got to Christmas Eve. I told him that on Christmas Eve, Aunt Sarah and Heidi are coming to visit and asked if he knew who they are bringing with them. He yelled out Baby Bodie, then he paused and said, "oh yeah, and baby Jesus too."

Who is this Santa Guy?!?

2008-12-12T12:16:00.004-05:00

We went to Christmas in Avondale last Friday night and the boys got to meet Santa. Noah was a little hesitant but agreed to sit and tell Santa all of the toys he wants for Christmas.

But Jude was a completely different story!

Turkey Day Travels

2008-12-01T23:15:00.003-05:00

We went up to Virginia last week to enjoy Thanksgiving with family. It was Jude's first time flying and both boys were great on the flight up. Noah and Jude enjoyed their stay at Jack & Emma's house - even though most of us were plagued by a 24 hour stomach bug while we were there! Jude managed to not get sick UNTIL our turbulent flight home. First it was down mom's back and then down mom's front - UGH! Of course we had a change of clothes for Jude in the diaper bag, but not one for Mom! Overall it was a great trip and we enjoyed spending time with our family and friends.

Our Friends Tigger and Pooh

2008-11-01T20:07:00.002-04:00

Dad got home plenty early on Halloween and we all had pizza before heading out to trick or treat!

We left a bucket of candy on the porch and loaded up in our wagon to make our rounds.

Jude dressed up as Winnie the Pooh!

Noah dressed up as Tigger!

Last year, Jude was just 2 weeks old so he didn't get to go trick or treating. Noah was an excellent big brother and showed him how it is done.

They had a great time!

Picking Pumpkins

2008-10-30T20:37:00.003-04:00

We visited the pumpkin patch last weekend and Noah picked out a few pumpkins for us!

At first, Jude wasn't quite sure what to think of pumpkins.

But after running around for a little while with Noah, he decided they were pretty cool.

Halloween Playdate

2008-10-30T20:15:00.006-04:00

We headed over to Jacob and Kate's house this afternoon for a Halloween playdate. Their mom was nice enough to bake cookies and let the kids decorate them with icing and sprinkles. Not surprisingly, the 2 year olds were much more interested in eating the cookies than decorating them. It was fun nonetheless!

Jude and Kate had fun watching the older kids eat cookies!

Will stayed busy on the tractor!

Harriet going back for more cookies!

After eating a few too many cookies, Noah played with Jacob's trucks!

Our host Jacob was dressed up as a Florida Gator!

Pure Entertainment

2008-10-27T19:23:00.002-04:00

Here is our nightly activity these days... watching Yo Gabba Gabba and breaking it down ... Computer Science style, ya'll!

White kids dancing from Ben McDonald on Vimeo.

Jude Speaks

2008-10-24T19:05:00.001-04:00

Here is a video of Jude saying Da da or daddy.

12 Months

2008-10-14T14:48:00.003-04:00

Jude went to the doctor yesterday for his one year check up. He weighed in at 23 pounds, 15 ounces (75%) and is 31 inches tall (90%). Everything checked out great and he got 4 shots. Noah also got a surprise flu shot while we were there. He was such a big boy and did not even cry. As a reward for being so well behaved, we stopped by the park after our doctor visit.

Happy Birthday Judebug!

2008-10-11T21:04:00.003-04:00

Today we celebrated Jude's first birthday! We had some of our family and friends over for a little food and fun. The day didn't look like it was going to go so well when Jude refused to take his normal afternoon nap, but he rallied and was an angel during his party- except for when Heather tried to put the birthday hat on him. Turns out Jude does not like birthday hats! But he definitely likes birthday cake!

The cake was yummy and we had a great time watching all of the kids play. Most of the kids that came were Noah's age, so there was plenty going on to distract him from all of the attention Jude was receiving. He did manage to open most of Jude's presents, but Jude didn't seem to mind. It was the first of many more great birthday parties that we'll get the pleasure of hosting for our Baby Jude!

the life i've always wanted

2008-10-01T07:59:00.002-04:00

My home has become a sacred place. When I come home from work, I have come to anticipate the great, great joy of hearing ...

"DADDY, You home!"

... followed by the blur of a blond haired two year old streaking to crash into my legs and wrap himself around them.

That moment is precious.

Since Noah has started pre-school another thing has started showing up that provides me constant amazement and insight into his development of cognitive skills that are manifested in his weekly crafts projects.

I LOVE HAVING HIS ARTWORK ON MY REFRIGERATOR.

They are so simple, and that is what makes them so beautiful to me. I can loose myself in them, forget the stress of work, and just ground myself in the fact that the most important thing I do every day is to help shape my two little men.

In the above picture, we have our family tree (sans Bells), his owl inspired from reading Owl Babies, and his dog house from last week's Pet Week.

I meant to post this a long time ago, but below is Noah's first project. He did it with Sherry back in May at the Jacksonville Public Library, I hope it at least makes you smile :)

Note: While proofing this post before I published it, I felt like I was bragging and I don't want that to be the perception. I use this blog as a place holder (a pensive if you Harry Potter fans will allow me) for the great things about each day as I know there will be tougher ones ahead. Having posts like this available for me to go back to will someday be invaluable.

Evening at the Beach

2008-09-29T20:47:00.002-04:00

We went out to the beach yesterday to have dinner with Daddy John and Noushin. The weather was perfect so we got to enjoy a little time on the beach. Noah had a blast climbing and jumping off of a sand dune. Jude just likes to eat the sand! It was all fun and games until we went to leave and found out our car had been towed! Noah was a little upset that our car was not there and said: "Maybe the moon knows where our car went?"