Happy Easter!

This year we stayed here in Tampa for Easter and none of our family came down. Even though we missed being with family, we know that this is the last holiday where we will be far away from everyone, so we took the day to enjoy it just the 3 of us. We went to church of course, but only I got to enjoy the whole service. Because it was Easter, the nursery (which is the smallest room I have ever seen) had 14 children in it and poor Noah had a complete emotional breakdown. He tends to get overwhelmed when he is around a lot of kids he doesn't know. Anyway, Wes ended up outside on the playground for the last half of the service...oh well. Afterwards we went to some friends' house for lunch. They had invited several couples who weren't near family and everyone brought some food and we had a great time. They have a little boy very close to Noah's age - who is also obsessed with Cars - so Noah and Grantham played with cars together. Wes and I got to eat and visit without being interrupted, it was great! It was 3:30 by the time we left, so we decided Noah could just skip his nap (a risky move, I know!) He was quite sleepy on the way home. He fell asleep a couple of times and I tried to take his picture, but every time he heard me turn around, he would open his eyes and grin for the camera. He is quite the little ham these days!

A drowsy Noah mugging for the camera!

When we got home we gave Noah his Easter basket. It was filled with all sorts of goodies, but the biggest hits were Cars stickers from Bebe and the Cadbury Mini Eggs. Since we wanted to keep him distracted from the fact that he was really tired we decided to do an egg hunt. Now, I really thought it would be an exercise in futility. I was sure he would not understand what he was supposed to do, get bored, and run off. But to my surprise, he caught on really fast. We hid the eggs in his room and he walked around and filled his basket. He would look very intently and get so excited when he spotted one! He found all 10 eggs that I hid and had a blast doing it. He also had a blast eating the candy that was in them! All in all, it was a really fun day (despite no nap) and we really enjoyed spending it with our little guy! Hope you enjoy these pictures from his egg hunt!

Noah with a mouthful of candy.

Zoo Trip

On Friday Noah and I joined some kids in our playgroup for a trip to the zoo. We went early in the morning and were surprised to see how crowded it was. Because it was Good Friday, lots of kids were out of school and apparently all of them were at the zoo. I wanted to push Noah in the stroller because it was so crowded but of course he wanted to walk. I can't say that I blamed him though, you can only really see the animals if you are walking or being held up by Mom. Needless to say, it was a bit of a disaster because of the crowds and because, as usual, Noah was in hyper speed mode as he made his way through the exhibits. Most of the other kids would take their time and look at the animals. Not Noah! He would point say, "Wow!" and then take off down the path yelling "More, More!" He did enjoy the tigers and the chimps and some disgusting wart hog thing. I was very happy when 1:00 rolled around and it was time to leave!

Noah looks at the elephants with Grace.

Noah giving me the look that says, "I saw all there was to see - lets move!"

Noah was very happy to be back at home where he could play with his cars (i.e. line them up in weird places)

Time is Flying!

I realize that we have been very bad about updating our blog. In fact I had a special request this morning from my friend Julie to please update it so, here we go!

Speaking of Julie I will start by telling you about her wedding. I flew to San Diego at the end of February to be a bridesmaid in her wedding and it was so much fun! Both Julie and her husband Devin have great groups of friends (and family) who made their wedding weekend really special. The rehearsal dinner was awesome - great Mexican food and margaritas! - and the reception was beautiful. Cocktails, dinner, and lots of dancing. Plus,it was kind of nice for me to have a whole weekend kid free. I slept in a huge king size hotel bed without having to keep one ear open for the kiddy whine that turns into a scream - it was very nice! While I was in San Diego Wes was in Charlotte at an eye conference and stayed with our friends the McKees. He got to spend quality time with Baby Maggie and I am very jealous, as I still have not met her! He did take some pictures of her (she is adorable!) but we are still having camera trouble so you can click on our link to the McKee blog to see pictures of Maggie - Noah's future girlfriend!

Speaking of Noah, he is doing really well. He has just recently had a huge burst in his communication skills which makes my life easier and him a lot happier. His new favorite thing to do is to color (if you can call it that) in his Finding Nemo coloring book. We have to flip through every page and name all the characters. His other favorite thing to do is go for our afternoon walks with Baby Sydney and her mom Claire. Sydney is his first crush as far as I can tell. He loves seeing her and he always gives her hugs and kisses (with remarkably un- Noah -like gentleness). Whenever we are in the vicinity of her house he says, "Sydney, play Sydney?" I think he will be very upset when we move in May.

Noah giving Sydney a kiss!

And here is a running update for those of you who care. Wes and I are deep into double digit runs on the weekends and it is not all fun and games! Our first 10 mile run was a disaster. Lets just say we got lost, had a huge fight, and one of us had an emotional breakdown - all while running! It was not pretty! But, we redeemed ourselves this past weekend with our second 10 miler. We stayed on course, did not fight, and finished in 1 hour and 50 minutes! You can think of us this Saturday as we go for 12 miles - our last long run before the half marathon in 2 weeks. Time is just flying for us right now - it will be time to go to Charleston before we know it!