Christmas

Christmas Eve we had an early dinner (homemade pizza), & took the kids to Church at 6pm. They did so well & were relatively quiet :). We were about half an hour early, but still about half an hour later than everyone else. We ended up having to sit in a room off to the side where extra chairs were set up. It worked out well & there was less pressure to keep the kids perfectly behaved. After church we picked up some hot chocolate & took a drive to see Christmas lights. A neighborhood close by has some of the most amazing lights.



Owen woke up earlier than usual Christmas morning, I guess he could sense the excitement. We wanted him to wait while Gavin ran downstairs & got the video camera, he wasn't very happy about having to wait. He didn't understand why he couldn't go downstairs with daddy. It was only a minute he had to wait, but I guess it felt like an eternity! He was really excited to see the gifts that Santa brought, & he was a pro opening his gifts this year! Noah really didn't care about opening gifts besides trying to eat the paper, but he did like some of his new toys.





My mom won this display at work. Imagine my surprise when they showed up in the afternoon with the hugest gift ever! The cardboard sleigh is in the recycle & the bigger than life dog is now downstairs. This after we told my mom to "cut back on gifts" so funny.


Christmas video

Charcoal Portraits

While in Hanoi, friends of ours were gracious enough to get some charcoal portraits made of the boys. We love how they turned out! photos don't do them justice but you get the idea.

Noah


Owen

10 Months Old

My little baby turned 10 months today, soon we'll be planning his birthday party. In many ways it feels like Noah has always been a part of our family & in other ways it seems like he was just born yesterday...minus the postpartum pain of course!

This past month Noah has really become more fun. He plays more with Owen & his favourite game is to have Owen chase him around, or have us carry him & chase Owen. Noah giggles so much when he plays with Owen it is really cute to see them together. He is a crawling machine & is on the go non-stop, he is a really fast crawler. Just recently he has learned to pull himself up to standing using the coffee table or a chair as leverage. He gets the proudest look on his face when he accomplishes something, & when he tries something that doesn't work out, well my boy has a temper!

Noah's personality is so different than Owen's as a baby. I find it fascinating really, & often find myself dreaming of what they will be like when they grow up. Noah is a risk taker, full of curiosity, & always finding trouble. I have a feeling his teenage years are going to be really difficult for us!

Finally some teeth! his two top teeth came in first. Gavin affectionately calls him "baby beaver or little chomper" because he still doesn't have any bottom teeth! They are coming soon though.


playing peek-a-boo


When Noah had the stomach flu we had him weighed at the doctor's, he had lost a pound and weighed 18.9lbs. but I think he's starting to gain weight again.


I just love Noah's hair, it's an awesome colour with perfect highlights. It's starting to get curly & I love how it curls up on the sides. So cute!


First major ouchie. Poor baby bumped his forehead off the tile floor :( the bruise came immediately but luckily with a little ice there was no bump.


We love you Noah!

Owen Singing

Snow Day

Owen was begging to go out & play in the snow this morning. Noah & I enjoyed watching him from the patio doors, Owen seemed to really be having fun! With Noah still not feeling well I didn't bother to take him out.

"look mommy - I brought you a piece of my snowman!"


It was difficult to walk in the snow. I should know, I had to go out twice to help him up, put his boot back on & help him with his mittens.





everything about this boy is adorable!

We were hit with a nasty stomach flu on friday and just now starting to feel better. I won't go into detail, but it was bad. I am so thankful that Gavin wasn't sick & was able to care for us. I was so worried about Noah getting dehydrated & stressed about that for the past few days. We took him to the walk-in clinic saturday to make sure he was getting enough fluids. It's so hard when your baby is sick, you feel so helpless. Luckily, Owen got a very mild case of the flu, & after a good nights sleep on saturday was better.

We missed a Christmas party with friends that have adopted from Vietnam, but there was no way we could make it.

Noah could only keep down about 2 ounces of formula at a time, & small amounts of pedialyte. Today he is able to eat 4-5 ounces at a time. He hasn't had any solids since friday morning, if he continues to keep his formula down I will try him with some cereal at supper.

He's playing with some toys now so that's a good sign! up until now he's been mostly cuddling & sleeping.