Happy Halloween/ Happy Birthday Daddy

Happy Birthday Daddy! Halloween is that special time of year when everyone gets to dress up and celebrate Matt's birthday.  This year we started out by taking the boys trick-or-treating at Daddy's work.  Joshua was a bumble bee and Noah was a Cebu, or cow.  Of course if you ask Joshua, he was a Bumble bee Cebu and Noah was a cow.  So what is all this talk about Cebu's about?  When Noah was born, Joshua was given his first Veggie Tale DVD which was called "Josh and the Great Wall."  The Silly Song by Larry on that episode is about 3 Cebus.  A Cebu is a cow.  Anyway Joshua really, really likes cebus and singing about them. I tried to get him a cebu costume for Halloween, but couldn't find any I liked in his size, but I did find an adorable bumble bee so that is what his costume was.  I did find an adorable cow costume so that is what Noah was. (It did come with tights, which he wore and was called a "cute little girl" all night, so hopefully this was the first and last time he'll wear tights. Ha! )  Apparently our house was only big enough for one Cebu because when you asked Joshua what he was for Halloween he'd say a Bumble bee Cebu, but if you asked him what Noah was for Halloween, he'd say a cow.

Joshua the Bumble Bee Cebu

Noah the Cow

Anyway, our area voted to celebrate Halloween on Saturday, October 30th so we started out by going to Publix where they had stations set up for the kids to play games.  Then we went home where we gave out candy.  Joshua got really excited whenever someone came to the door.  Then Mommy took Joshua and Noah trick-or-treating to a few houses while Daddy gave out candy, then Mommy and Daddy traded jobs.  It was a really fun night.  Joshua liked knocking on people's doors and then walking in like he owned the place when they opened the door.  He wasn't too interested in saying "trick-or-treat", but he did say thank you.  I was excited that he seemed to get most enthusiastic about suckers instead of chocolate. More for Mommy and Daddy! Also we gave Daddy cards and presents and had a wonderful day. We love you Daddy! Happy Birthday!

Funny side note: One of the Veggie Tales songs talks about the Promised Land and how God said it would be "flowing with milk and honey." I find it amusing that Joshua says he is a Cebu Bumble bee, which if that combination could produce something, wouldn't it be milk and honey?

2 Months Old

Noah is 2 months old!  I can hardly believe it.  He is a happy baby, our little chunky monkey.  He has a couple new tricks.  He sleeps through the night now (from 10pm-4am).  Yea!  I am so excited about this!  He continues to smile big gummy grins.  He seems patient with his brother.  What I mean by that is that he doesn't fuss and cry when Joshua gives him a big shove in the baby swing or when Joshua says "Baby Noah's eyes" as he pokes him in the eye.  I am working hard with Joshua not to poke Noah in the eye or mouth or ear, but the concept hasn't stuck yet.  He is either very happy or very fussy - not much of a gray area.  He loves to be held.  Noah does not mind tummy time.  He's really good at holding his head up and can even pull his chest up some when laying on his tummy.  He is a strong baby.  He is really filling out his 3 month clothes and comfortably fits into 3-6 month clothes.  Daddy says he looks like the Michelin baby and all we need for a Halloween costume is a tire.  He's coos and "talks" these days.  His face is expressive when you "talk" back to him.  He gets so excited, his legs start pumping and he waves his arms.
Noah recently had his 2 month checkup so here are his stats:
Weight: 14lbs 6oz - 95%
Length:  26in - 99%
HC:  16in - 60%
That's a healthy boy!  He got 5 immunizations in the form of 1 oral and 3 shots.  He did really well despite a slow nurse.  Noah still does not like pacis so mommy just loved on him and he calmed down.  You are such a handsome little boy!  We love you so much and are excited to watch you grow!

Side note: I couldn't post this without mentioning Joshua's goofy behavior during the appointment.  He was wearing a jack-o-lantern shirt and was given a Halloween sticker right off the bat.  When asked what he was going to be for Halloween he said "Cebu Bumblebee." Very sweet! Anyway while I was undressing Noah, Joshua took off his shoes.  A nurse saw this and put them back on for them, then the next time I looked down he was sitting on the floor with his socks and shoes off.  Eww!  Then when they left to get the vaccines Joshua pulled his shirt up and started taking off his pants.  "Joshua, what are you doing?" "I take it off."  "No, we don't take it off.  Please stay dressed!" My silly little nudist.  What am I going to do with you?

Pumpkin Patch

While we were visiting family we went to the Pumpkin Patch in Hayden, AL. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts Celeste, Elaine, and Denise, Mommy, Joshua, and Noah all went and had a great time. Joshua enjoyed the hayride, particularly the tractor pulling the wagon. I remember looking around and being surprised at how many pumpkins were cracked or split apart. I was thinking that this must not be a good crop since there were so many "weak" pumpkins. Then I saw Joshua pick up a pumpkin, take two steps, realize it was too heavy, and then drop it. Fortunately it did not break, but that mental image explained all the broken ones.

There was still a huge selection of pumpkins and Joshua enjoyed counting them. He would walk by touching each pumpkin and count them saying "One, two, three, four, five, that one, seven, eight..." It was cute that the higher he went, the more "that ones" there were as well as the occasional slide back to three. Like last year, I think Joshua's absolute favorite part of the pumpkin patch was playing with the hay. He threw it all over the place. I probably took 80 pictures of him throwing hay because he was having so much fun. Noah pretty much just hung out. He was not particularly impressed with the trip and didn't like how dusty it was. He kept sneezing. Hang in there Noah, it'll be more fun next year! We were able to get Joshua to sit still for a couple brother pics. It was another great day. Thanks to all the adult supervision for helping me keep up with my boys!

Noah and his Great Grandma

Lastly I have to include a picture of Joshua hanging out with Miss Sarah Katherine on the princess couch. It was great to see the Coram family!

Fun in Birmingham

We had a great time in Birmingham! Noah got to meet friends and family which was wonderful. Also we visited a pumpkin patch and a scarecrow trail. We learned that Noah travels pretty well, barring no standstill traffic or any other stopping. (Yea!) We started out the week meeting Daddy's extended family. We took tons of pictures of all the cousins, but it is impossible to get everyone looking in the same direction...unless you start a Veggie Tales DVD (see below). We may have started it to entertain a 2 year old, but everyone enjoyed it. Thanks for hosting Aunt Dana!

Next the boys and I went to stay with Mommy's family while Daddy went to Granddaddy's lot to work on his new house. The pumpkin patch was so much fun, it will get it's own posting with pictures. Noah and Joshua got to spend time with Grandma, Grandpa, and Granny (My Grandma). They also got to go to the park while Mommy and Celeste took a short shopping trip.  We visited Aunt Stoppie and her broken ankle at work and Joshua sat in her lap while Celeste pushed them in a wheelchair.  Then at the end of the week we watched the Alabama - Tennessee football game at Aunts Celeste and Elaine house.

A big smile from a small guy

We took an afternoon trip out to Granddaddy's lot to see all the progress and meet more relatives.  Afterwards we went back to Grandaddy's house to eat dinner and meet his step-cousin Miller who is a couple months older than Noah. Here is Granddaddy with arm arm (and leg) load of grandsons.

Next we went to Huntsville to see Grandottie and Jerry Pop. We all went to the botanical gardens in Huntsville for a picnic and to see a scare crow trail. Most of us had a great time. I say most of us because early on we came to a tree house exhibit that had a slide. I was at the bottom catching Joshua and on the last trip down the slide he went air-born and flew into my front teeth. Joshua had a knot at his hairline and my top four teeth were numb for a couple hours. When the feeling did come back my whole face hurt. It was still a good trip.  I'm glad we stayed because we took a ton of great pictures and enjoyed the company and pretty location.

Hanging with the Smiths

Alice, Titus, Joshua, and Noah

We started the Chatham Family Road Trip 2010 in Tuscaloosa visiting the Smith Family. We went to the Kentuck Festival, then Matt and Wade went to UA Homecoming game (Alabama vs Ole Miss). Audrey and I had fun chatting and staying home with our babies. I got to thinking about it and roughly 4 years ago we were vacationing in Europe and now collectively we have 4 kids. It's amazing what can change in time! Titus and Joshua had a great time playing together. And Alice tried so hard to keep up with the boys. Noah pretty much just hung out with the mommies. It was a great trip and we look forward to seeing them again. I've included some pics from the trip though I should mention it is nearly impossible to get a picture with everyone looking at the camera. I tried to get 2 out of 3 or 2 out of 4 depending on who was in the shot.

October News

Almost a Smile

October is really flying by. Through the beauty of technology, most of my updating about life with my boys is done through facebook (plus I just got a smartphone - Yea!), but I still like to keep up the blog as a single location for pictures and stories.  Here are some bits of news about life in the Chatham house.

Noah has not been a good sleeper lately and it is wearing his mommy out! However on Oct. 11th, he gave me his first real smile and it made my whole day - though he did make me work for it. He continues to coo and soothe himself which is amazing.  I think he'll be my chatty boy.  In other news, the win streak is over as Bama fell to South Carolina.  I liked to say that my boys had never lost a regular season game but that is no longer true.  Perhaps we'll get to start another winning streak.

Joshua is turning into my little helper - this can be both good and bad.  It's good when I'm nursing Noah and drop the burp cloth on the floor and can ask Joshua to hand it to me.  It's bad when he comes out of the bedroom saying "Noah's cold" because it means he put a blanket on Noah's head in the cradle.  He has the best intentions, just not the knowledge to make the right decisions.  I found out that PBS really has some great TV shows for children.  One of Joshua's favorites is called Super Why and encourages reading and spelling.  He knows all the characters and sings the alphabet with them.  Of course I have to be sure the TV is off before 11:30am or I'll be roped into watching Barney - which is an educational show, but it also is incredibly annoying.  I should note that J doesn't watch TV all day, but it provides a nice diversion while mommy takes a shower or updates the blog.  It's funny how your perspective can change.  Before Noah was born, Matt and I rarely let J watch TV because we would read or build blocks instead, but now with 2 there are times I can't adequately entertain both and really need a break so a little TV can't be too bad.

I like Mommy's shoes!

Also noteworthy is that I was able to wear my pre-baby jeans for the first time last week.  Yea!  It made me feel great considering it took me a lot longer to wear them with Joshua.  I think keeping up with two boys, especially one being a toddler makes all the difference in the world.  We are hitting the road next week.  Our first stop is to Tuscaloosa to visit with the Smiths.  Matt and Wade are going to the Homecoming game while Audrey and I watch the kids.  Then we are headed to Bham and Huntsville to visit with family while Matt helps his dad build his house.  It should be a great trip visiting friends and family and I know I'll have tons of pictures to post.












One last funny story from earlier this week:

Tuesday morning I got up early to go to my Bible study.  On the way there I realized I left my phone at home, then I arrived a little late, then saw that Joshua was not wearing shoes, then signed him in using my maiden name (yes, it's been 6 years), and then at lunch I left the table to refill my drink at the machine right by our table.  In the two seconds it took me to turn my back, Joshua decided to take off his shirt because "It too hot!"  *sigh*  It is pretty funny though!

6 weeks old

Noah is now 6 weeks old. He's getting so big! Matt weighed him the other day and he was a whopping 13 pounds. He also holds his head up pretty well and when flailing his arms, will clasp his hand together if they make contact. I wouldn't say he's "discovered" them, but it's a step in that direction. He recently upgraded to size 1-2 diapers. And he still gets up every 3-4 hours. He is a happy baby boy who loves to be held.I recently took the boys out to lunch with daddy and our coworkers then took them to the office. Joshua and Noah slept through lunch. At work Joshua was unusually friendly. He's a sweet boy but often a little standoffish when he first meets people, until he warms up. However he was climbing into people's laps, giving out high fives and telling them "Roll Tide!" Joshua's favorite part was wearing mommy's "helmet" while carrying a football autographed by Bear Bryant. It was a great day as mommy and daddy enjoyed showing off our beautiful boys!In other news, Joshua continues to undress and redress himself. He woke up from a nap recently wearing no shorts and both socks on one foot. He also enjoys emptying his dresser of neatly folded clothes into a pile and jumping on them before shoving everything into 2 drawers. I guess the silver lining is he's picking up after himself. Lastly the Great Nap Resistance of 2010 continues. Mommy has taken to loading the boys into the car which always puts Joshua to sleep. Noah doesn't mind riding but hates it whenever I stop for those pesky red lights and stop signs. Fortunately Joshua can sleep through Noah screaming.
I like how similar their body positions are in this picture.Fell asleep singing "I love you" song to Barney.