The first tooth.

Noah has had a loose tooth forever! Uncle Dan told him that if he could pull it he would give Noah a dollar. Noah told him he could have one pull. Aaaaaaand that's all it took. I was so nervous.

FIVE

Noah turned 5 (yes 5 can you believe it?) the other day.
I can't believe it.
5 years ago I had my first baby.
5 years ago I felt the most anxiety I've ever felt watching a tiny little baby in a little suitcase under lights for being jaundice.
5 years ago I felt love in a way I've never felt it before and understood a lot more about love and sacrifice.
I realized some time later that mommy is the best name in the world and that parenting would be the hardest thing in the whole wide world. (Good thing I don't have to go at it alone)

FIVE! Go here to see him in the chair for his other birthdays.

He had a Batman birthday party but more like a superhero birthday party. 

Yes, I made that. I know, AWWWWWWWWWWW-some :)

Yes, he was Captain America at his Batman birthday party. 

AND just have to say thanks to the moms who let their kids come on such short notice and even got Noah presents. I let them know at 4 pm that the party was at 6 pm. Good thing we have so many kids in our neighborhood :) Good friends for sure.

Colorful! I think she might be getting bottom teeth.

Hannah with her cousin. They are one month and one day apart. Hannah's older. 

Then there is this guy...

I love him so but he sure puts me through the ringer sometimes.

He's been through a lot.

He still doesn't like to gain weight.

We are going to take him to the NAET doctor next.

He's funny and stubborn, cute and tiny, determined and polite.

The other day I took time to tickle my boys. I can't remember the last time I did that. Heath does it all the time. I love their laughs. Our windows were open and before long there was a knock at the door. We opened it to 2 little neighborhood kids. They said, "What are you doing?", I said, "tickling". They said, "Can you tickle us?".   Sure, come on in. The laughing commenced.

I find myself talking in high, silly voices to get a smile out of Hannah. 

I've been feeling a little poopy the last few days so I put on some inspirational music this morning and thought about all my blessings. I think today will be a good day.

I love my husband.

AsherNothat'spoop!

Today I decided to take the boys outside.
They wanted to take a walk so I took them on a walk through the wooded area behind our house.
There are still no leaves on trees so you can see straight back to the little pond.
Anyway, I told them not to touch anything unless they asked me first.
Moments later from behind I hear, "Mom, gwapes!"
I turn and do the only thing I can do with the amount of time I'm facing.
I yell, "AsherNOthat'spoop!" Yes, I'm pretty sure that came out as one word.
Deer poop in fact. It was not a grape at all and it was within inches of his lips.
Sooooooooo glad I caught it before it went in.
The rest of the walk we heard "more poop!, more poop!"  Lots of deer behind are house apparently.

Also, right now it's snowing outside.

Dear PA,
Don't you know it's the end of March, that the official first day of Spring was the 20th, all the snow just melted. Seriously, STOP SNOWING!

Tonight's dinner:
Noah: I don't want it, it's really really gross! (crying, crying, more crying)
Asher: Noah, calm down! Eat dinner!

He finally ate.

In the past week I've made gluten free corn bread muffins, lemon pound cake (oh so good), pancakes, bread and tortillas are on the list for tomorrow. I don't think I've been feeding Heath very well so this past week I've been trying to do a little better.

Dancin'

We danced today. Don't judge, Asher likes to wear big boy underwear too.

Pass the mallows!

Don't leave them alone too long. Notice they're on the T.V. in the background. Yes, another webcam pic. Looking into the warranty on our camera.

Yummy pizza - GF style! (that means gluten free)

Today I made pizza for dinner. Heath's not home so I don't know if he likes it but both kids liked it.
I'm not quite sure what the real test is...Heath or the kids!?!
Noah has been saying lately, "So, mom, I don't fink so."
Tonight when I was putting a little chocolate in their milk, I was helping Asher and trying to put chocolate in the milk at the same time. Then I hear a little gasp from Noah. I look over and I'm not even over the cup. Noah said, "mom, are you ok?"
This may not be funny to you but it was to me.
Asher has had his brace off most of the day.
The therapist came and she said she thinks he had a little more range today. Yippee!
She also has a call in to his doctor.
He's so funny. I'm going to put a video on here that only...well, grandparents might enjoy.
It wasn't really what I was trying to capture but notice he's not wearing his brace.

Yes, these are unusually large pepperoni's but gluten free. I bet you didn't know some meats have gluten in them as a filler.

The Birthday Boy...Noah is 4!

Tonight we had a small birthday party for our "baby" Noah.
He's into Spider man and Iron Man lately so Heath found him some cool Iron Man toys.
He soooo loves them.
Heath even got a little present for Asher to open so he didn't feel left out.
How sweet of a dad is he?

Anyway, here's some pictures.

Don't worry that thing is gluten free. I did, however, make the icing a little too thin but made it with organic extra virgin coconut oil instead of shortening (tasted yum).

Pay no attention to the dirty kitchen in the background.

Can't believe he's 4. How does that happen?

The birthday hat. 

Smashy's present. 

ONE

TWO

  THREE

(DON'T KNOW WHY THIS IS BLURRY BUT IT'S THE ONLY ONE I CAN FIND)

 FOUR

  

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Love you!

I love them. I reeeeeally really do.

Asher is such a sweet baby.
He always wants to help me.
Today there was some "O" cereal all over the floor in the living room. Yes, Noah!
Anyway, I got the vacuum out and Asher went for the broom saying "help, help".
He "swept"  saying "help, help" while I vacuumed.
Yesterday I was unloading the dishwasher and all that I had left to put away was the silverware.
Something on the computer pulled me away.
While I was on the computer I hear "cling" "clang".
Asher who is not tall enough to put the silverware in the drawer where it goes was throwing it in and making practically every shot.
He likes to grab wipes and "help" me when I'm changing his diaper.
He also grabs one after  the change and wipes his bum over his pants for good measure.
He likes to clean things.
He will point for a paper towel. I give him one and then he is off wiping things down (including his nose).
He calls his little stuffed money poop.
If you ask him the monkey's name he'll say "poop" and than usually "toot". I don't know.
He loves to help stir when I'm baking (which has been a lot lately)
He drinks green smoothies with me.
When he has an ouchie he knows to grab the lavendar essential oil and a band aide.
The band aids are usually Diego (got them for free) so he'll sing " eeeeeeaaaaago"
He also like to sing "Bob builder"
He never watches T.V. he doesn't like it but Noah does so he hears it.
He sleeps in my bed with me.
He's had a rough week with therapy. He is suppose to be able to put his arm down by his side by now but that's not happening.
He won't let it down for the most part but that's on top of tight muscles.
I have made an appointment at Shriner's to get the pediatric occupational therapist there.
He loves chocolate. I bribed him with gherardelli milk chocolate chips so he would get in the jogging stroller this evening. he says "mmmmmmmmmmmmmm" when something is good.
When he sees a picture of himself  or the video on the blog he says, "babies"
When he decides he wants a drink, instead of swallowing what he's got in his mouth, he spits it out. I don't know.
When his brace is off and he's nervous about doing his exercises and/or crying he says "bace, on"
Something he says often is "pants on" cause he's so skinny and his pants will fall down. I see him every now and than trying to walk while holding his pants up. other times the pants have fallen to the floor and he yells from where he stands, "pants on! pants on!"
If you're eating he likes to share.
and share he does.
When he's asking for something (like yesterday I made some gluten free chocolate muffins) he says, "ont" for "I want". I gave him a muffin and he looked at me and no lie he said, "two" so I gave him another.
He took one into Noah who said, "nank you"
He did the same with a sucker.
He really is sweet and so cute.  

and Noah
he is so funny.
last night while reading scriptures he said, "Jesus is a superhero!"
We said, "yes, he is." 
Today he told me he was going to Jesus' house. I said Ok tell him I said hello.
He likes to grab anything he can find out of the kitchen and make it a spaceship.
a can opener, a steamer, some forks, a baby food processor thing, wooden spoons. you name it.
Now this kid loves to watch movies and anything at nick jr.com
He would watch it all day (i'm sure) if I let him but we set a timer. 
He does a really good job a quoting movies and acting them out. I'm really impressed.
He likes it when we act a long.
He's not much of an eater.
He's very polite and says "please", "nank you" and "excuse me".
He's finally got his colors down (well still a little trouble with purple)
He's still a little nervous about pooping on the potty but has done really well the last few weeks.
He always says just randomly "I like you mommy"
Today the light was shining through one of the windows and Noah had hit the couch or something (can't remember exactly) anyway there were little dust particles floating through the air in the sunshine. He licked his finger, swished it through the air as if he were getting a particle on his finger, put it in his mouth and said, "mmmm, tasty! mommy it's candy. You like candy?" and than repeated the finger licking.
He loves chocolate too and yes, I did bribe him.
Ok, I've got to get these kids off to bed.
I'll save some for another post.

Ready for Halloween and gluten free.

this is my 202nd post. crazy!
Ever think that if you leave a mess long enough that it might just clean itself?
Don't ever think that. It won't.

We got Noah's Halloween costume. He's been wearing it around and excited about it. I hope trick or treating this year will go a little better than last year.

He watched a few Iron Man cartoons and now he says that the costume is Iron Man. So we go with it. He does quiz me when he puts the suit on. He says, "what's my name?" 

Asher's going to be a monkey for Halloween. No, his costume isn't on in this picture but he sure is cute eating his banana. 

Grandpa Gary (that's what Noah calls him) came with his digger thing and Noah kept wanting to sit on it. So, he let him and he let him work the controls too. He loved it. 

My first ever loaf of gluten free bread. It didn't turn out the greatest but it was pretty good. Heath liked it enough and first thing he did was make grilled cheese sandwiches. That made him happy. He's been feeling like he's starving lately with almost everything having gluten in it. We're getting there. Plus, he LOVES sandwiches.

A good day for a nap.

Today is a good day for a nap.
It's cold and rainy here in PA.
Fall is here.
Leaves are changing.
The sweat shirts are out.

Look at those two smiling. Two peas in a pod I tell ya. 

Asher saying "What's up"

I think Heath was in the middle of saying something when I took this. He loves when I put pictures like this on my blog for your entertainment. 

Fall pics from the garden.

It's true that my love handles are getting smaller and that I'm going to a jewelry making class tonight. The lady makes her own glass beads. Aaaaaaaaaaawesome! True, too, that I want to make a rug out of random pieces of fabric and old clothing. Don't know if I'll actually do it but I have the desire.  What will I do next? I know it's always something. I have a wild eatables class this Saturday. I never got to go to the soap making class but it is rescheduled for October.  Here's hopin'

Heath's new toy and some mud pies.

Heath got a new toy. Yes, a weed eater. We needed one bad. Our friend Deric called and told us about a sweet deal at home depot. A $140 weed eater for $40. Plus, we have a gift card to home depot from one of the jobs Heath did this summer. Noah likes to "pix" (fix) things with his daddy. 

You should have seen Heath walk around with that thing. It was like he was THE MAN. ;)

Noah pixing the weed eater. 

Then there was some throwing of the dirt, digging of the dirt, and making of the mud pie. 

Asher wasn't happy with his mud pie. I had the boys strip down (well Noah) before he went inside. They went directly to the bathroom (did not pass go, did not collect $100) right to the bathtub. I had to spray Noah off before I got bath water going. I had to wash Asher's splint, wash the straps and put them in the dryer. I had to hold him until they were dry to hold his arm up. I should have asked for another set of them.

Anyway, both boys are clean.

It's true that you should check out www.greensmoothiegirl.com

Determined and a personal watermelon.

De

ter

mined!

This is our little shed/barn thing in the back. 

Asher wanted in, squeezed through, got stuck for a sec., made it in by himself.

He knew what he wanted.

daddy's bike.

Asher likes to pick things from the garden. Things like unripened tomatoes, small watermelons (pictured here with Noah), and I stopped him just before he picked a pepper. We only had two. 

I like to call these our personal watermelons. They're small but ripe. When you open them up there red and sweet. Asher loves "melons". 

Noah starts school soon and seems to be excited.

He wants to be Boots off of Dora for Halloween at the moment.

Asher likes to dig. Just wanted to show you that he still uses that hand. He has to wear that splint at night for 6 months. 

My boys are silly.