Thank Goodness for Attics!

And mothers who keep everything in those attics, that is... As you know by now, our boys are taken with Star Wars, right? Would have everything related to Star Wars if it were up to them, right? Unfortunately, those things cost money. Fortunately, we have A LOT of things that were purchased new 30 years ago and have been loved on ever since. All of daddy's toys were in residence in his parents' basement (their pseudo attic) and have now moved to our house where they are getting all kinds of use. Our newest Star Wars reincarnation came this weekend after mommy's trip to Michigan. See, Pottery Barn Kids is selling vintage Star Wars sheet sets for ONLY $65/set. EVERY time they look through the magazine they tell me how much they need that bedroom and then spend the rest of the day arguing over who will sleep in which bed (in the magazine picture). Well, thanks to Grandma Bonnie's well-stocked attic the boys now have their sheets. A little worn, yes, but OH BOY are they still appreciated. Check out the videos from the big reveal... And Noah's comforter? Also from 30 years ago. A friend of Grandma Bonnie's in Michigan heard about Noah's obsession and pulled it out of her attic. I usually give Grandma a hard time about all the things she has stashed away but this is a prime example of just how lucky I am that she keeps such things. So here is to two very happy boys sleeping in OP tonight.PS - And another beautiful thing about these sheets? We had been having major issues with boys getting out of bed after lights out, but not anymore. I had this great idea that if they got out of bed (or crib) I would remove one article of Star Wars bedding. All it took was one night of Benjamin sleeping on his mattress pad with nothing but a nite-nite and we have not had one single episode since. Noah doesn't even lift his head off the pillow for fear you might try to sneak it away from him. It is wonderful.

Our {Not} Funny Girl

8 Months

Sweet Abby has reached 8 months. To celebrate, she will be taking her 4th airplane trip tomorrow. She and mommy are going to Michigan to visit her great-grandparents. She has had a very busy month working on her eating, sleeping, and becoming mobile. She can now get anywhere she wants with ease. While still not crawling, she has mastered the roll and can go easily in every direction - including spinning around in circles. She loves to move and explore. Her sleeping has improved greatly and as long as her tummy isn't bothering her, she sleeps a solid 10-11 hours. She always wakes up with the biggest smile on her face. Noah loves to be the first one to greet her and she always squeals at him. Mommy is trying to get her on a more regular napping schedule so she doesn't decide to give it up too early. Eating is getting much better. As long as I hit her at just the right moment, she will eat whatever I present. She has also been working on Puffs and crackers. She now squeals with glee at the sight of the yellow Puffs canister. Abby continues to be a happy, little girl and we are enjoying every day we get to spend with her. Hard to believe it has been 8 months already!

She's Got Teeth

AND - she knows how to use them. This past week our littlest sweetheart added four new teeth. FOUR! And, really, they did not seem to bother her all that much. I have been watching them make their way down for a few weeks now and was expecting them to come in: 1, 3, 4, 2 (across the top row) but they actually turned out to be: 1, 2, 4, 3. She is even working on her cheesy smile with her nose all crinkled up so that when they are down far enough to be seen from straight on we will be able to get a picture right away. She has had a couple of crackers to celebrate these new teeth and is chomping on everything imaginable. Poor, mama. Let hope the next 14 come in just as easily. But not all at the same time...

St. Patrick's Day!

We were blessed with a beautiful spring day today with sunshine and temperatures close to 80. We packed ourselves a picnic and went to the park with Grandma Bonnie and Uncle Scott. Dinner was corned beef and cabbage. (What else?) AND, in major announcements, everybody at the table had some. That's right -EVERYbody. Turns out if you call it pork chops, Noah tries it. Oh, believe me... I will be using this one again. All 'fibbing' aside, it was a lovely day.

Bah-bah-bah bum-bah-bah bum-bah-bah

Finally! THE most anticipated day in a certain young boy's life has arrived. Now you may have heard us say that before but it was never as true as it was today. Noah has been living and breathing this Star Wars birthday party for months. Ask him about it and he were start singing the Darth Vader theme song. (Go back and read the post title to this tune. Now does it make sense?) Needless to say, mom and dad were a little nervous that we would not live up to his expectations. But it was all for not. The day was perfect - I think even Noah would agree. While still in the planning stages, we decided that more kids would definitely make this party more fun but once the invitation list was constructed, we thought 20 4 year olds might be too many for our house - especially when we added lightsabers in to the mix. We decided to have the party at the community center and we were very glad we did. It made set up and tear down a little hectic but with the help of grandparents (and Eric and family) it all worked itself out. We arrived shortly before 10:00AM. Our first activity was just to let the kids color while everyone arrived. I had found some Star Wars coloring pages online, which was nice. Having found out before hand what Eric was giving Noah, we decided to let him open that present before the party. ALL we heard about was how he would be getting a Darth Vader costume and a purple light sword. (Much thanks to the Potts family for granting this wish.) Once everyone was there we moved into Bingo. While we were playing, daddy slipped out for a special surprise. It just so happens his barber had an $800 Stormtrooper costume that he was willing to let Christopher borrow. (We found this out because Noah went with daddy to get his hair cut one Saturday and as he talked about nothing BUT his party, he told Ed all about it. Ed offered up the costume and we jumped on it.) Daddy had this great plan that we would dress Noah up too. The Stormtrooper would come in and inspect the room then escort Darth Vader in to the party while his theme song blared on the radio. It all worked out perfectly - except for the few girls who were completely freaked out by the giant stormtrooper. There were some tears and poor Gracie had to hide under the table but we did all survive. I am not sure Noah has ever been more proud than he was when he walked in in his costume. It was so cute his overly-emotional mommy started bawling. I was able to compose myself quite quickly, though, so I could appreciate the moment as he paraded around the room showing off for everyone. (Later when we were watching the video we asked him what he was doing and he started breathing like Darth Vader. We asked if he had done that at the party and he said yes. We were a little disappointed that his helmet did not have a microphone so we could have heard that.) So once Vader and the Stormtrooper were in the room, we took a photo op for the children not freaked out. Noah would look at the camera for the picture and then look back up at his dad. We are pretty certain he did not know it was his dad until someone told Benjamin to go over and stand by daddy. Noah was pretty much in awe of the whole thing. After all the pictures were done, we moved on to the pinata. Noah had spied the Vader head very early on in the party planning and just knew he wanted that. Grandpa was able to come up with an easy mounting idea and Aunt Cynthia and cousin Alex risked their lives to hold it for us. It was cute to watch the kids that had never hit a pinata before as they came forward for their turns and gently tapped the head with the bat and then looked around as if waiting to get in trouble for doing it. They seemed almost shocked when we told them to do it again only harder. No look was as classic as Delaney's when she busted it open though. She was sure she had done something wrong until everyone started cheering. The children did NOT need any instruction on picking up the candy. For some reason that idea came naturally to them. Go figure. Next up was the lightsabers. Eric's mommy had found a suggestion online for making them out of pipe insulation. Taking in to consideration the age of our party-goers, we thought the perfect thing. We modified the plans a little and added colored duct tape. (Available at Wal Mart, should you ever be in the market.) Took a few evenings to get them all put together but pretty simple, really. They were perfect and Noah even got to have a PURPLE one. Daddy gave a little talk about how lightsabers were only to be used for good, not evil. (Notice daddy removed his costume but our pint-sized Vader did not.) The lightsabers were passed out and then the kids were challenged to an obstacle course - complete with training orbs to master lightsaber swinging. They all did a great job and were just amazing in their willingness to wait patiently in line and participate. Lastly was cake and presents. It was a toss up as to who was more excited about the present - Noah or the child giving the present. They were so funny to watch as they jumped up and down in glee when he was about to open their present. As we passed the lightsabers back out for them to take home, they were able to squeeze in an unplanned free-for-all.But, remember I said they were FOAM. No children were harmed in the making of this birthday party. They really were a great group of kids and we were so lucky that so many of them were able to come and help celebrate with Noah at his Star Wars party. Noah was very pleased with the day's activities and still loves to talk about it - especially daddy's costume. What a great day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NOAH!!!

Our little Noah Douglas turned 4 today. That really doesn't seem possible, but I guess it is true. It was a big day of celebrating. Daddy and all of his Star Wars friends set up a special greeting for Noah. And as luck would have it, the boys picked today to sleep in until 8:30. Daddy was a little late for work but he just couldn't go off without seeing his big boy. Next he had a candle in his purple pop tart. Being Tuesday, it was a school day so he was gone for part of it. When he got home I asked him what he'd like to do and he said, "Watch cartoons." I explained that we had the whole afternoon to spend together, but he stuck to his guns. So we got to watch a little 'Monster Buster Club' and then play a little. We drove some trains and some cars. When the wee ones got up from their naps we headed to the Hamburger House. Noah always has the best time when they sing happy birthday so we thought he would enjoy it double when they actually sang it to him. Abby thought it was too loud but that is just Noah's style these days. Next he got to open some presents. Abby got him a Darth Vader watch and Benjamin got him a Darth Vader lunch box. I wonder how they knew... He was very pleased. It was a very fun day and I think he had a sweet smile on his face all day long. He likes being big.

And speaking of being big, there are so many things that our Noah can do now. He runs, jumps, climbs, swings, slides, and loves to ride bikes and, of course, play in the dirt. He talks a mile a minute and usually doesn't stop unless he is singing. (The check-up sheet from the doctor actually listed "likes to make loud noises" as a milestone. Seriously?!? Our son has been advanced in that category for some time now.) His singing is pretty good, really. Even when he is just belting out the notes you can always pick out the song. He loves to talk Star Wars with daddy. From the second he sees his dad he starts in with all the questions he has had since the last time they saw one another and has an insatiable thirst for learning about all the creatures. He has an amazing mind and it is fun to see him learning so many things. He also has an incredible memory and amazes us with the things he can remember. He still loves to read books and memorizes quite quickly. He does let us still sit with him, though, to turn the pages. He also still loves his movies and asks for them regularly, although he doesn't really complain when he gets turned down. As he gets older and wiser, he is becoming a little craftier. He'll often send his little brother in to do his dirty work (like asking to watch a movie) and then stand around the corner to see what the outcome is. He is a wonderful big brother to Benjamin. They love to play together and laugh. Noah loves to make people happy and has the most beautiful smile. He also loves his Abigail Mae and delights in smothering her with hugs and kisses. He is working very actively on teaching her 'Patty-cake' and even remembers to put an 'A' on her cake. Age three also saw the successful completion of potty-training - a feat that should not be overlooked. And he ventured out in his eating habits a bit, too, which we are very happy to see. He is still pretty strong-willed and loves to test us. We struggle with that at times but we wouldn't change our time with our Noah Douglas for anything. We love you, Squirt!

Let the Celebration Begin

Noah's teacher will be out of school next week so he got to do his school party early. Which translates to 'the countdown to THE biggest party event in Campbell history' is officially underway. Noah got to take a special treat in to share with his classmates AND party napkins. Would you like to guess what kind of napkins he choose? Wrong. Transformers. Well, almost anyway. We went to the Super Target on Wednesday so he could get both his cookies and napkins in one stop. Unfortunately, they didn't have Star Wars napkins so he opted for Transformers. I asked several times if he was sure that was what he wanted because, "we could just go to the other Target and get the Star Wars ones..." But I was assured, "No, Mommy! I just want Transformers." So, Thursday morning he wakes up and says, "Mommy, mommy! Today is my party at school and we are going to take my cookies and Star Wars napkins, right?" I reminded him that we had Transformer napkins and the outcome was not pretty. So, we loaded up the car AGAIN and headed to our Target. Luckily, they still had them. (I probably would have had to hire a screen printer to make them had we not found them...) Daddy met us at school at the end of the day and we got to go to his party. We entered the classroom and this is what we saw. 4 boys, 5 girls. 2 tables. Notice anything interesting in these pictures? That's right - our son is a lady's man. The teacher had a little plastic cake that held four real candles. The kids all sang and he got to blow out his candles then pass out his treats. (Notice how they all had to completely open their napkins. How cute is that?) Afterward they took a class photo. I loved his hat most of all. Daddy and I were a little concerned that having the school party so early would cause much impatience with the fact that his real party wasn't for over a week but it was all for not. He was more than happy to wait for his real special day.

Say AHHHH!

Noah had his first trip to the dentist last night. When I took him to his well appointment last March, his pediatrician said they like to have children checked out between their third and fourth birthdays. I came home and told daddy that the way Noah liked strangers and strange objects in his mouth, we should probably wait 362 days for that appointment, oh, and I was going to be busy so it was going to be daddy's job. Little did I know how true that would all be. Just one week shy of his fourth birthday, we found ourselves at the dentist. And, as luck would have it, my appointment was at the exact same time so daddy had to come along to sit with Noah. From the sounds of it, he was a champ! He was a little hesitant at first because he thought it was going to hurt. They gave him some glasses so the bright light wouldn't hurt his eyes. The hygienist was very good with him and explained everything before she did it. She also tried all the tools on his hand, so he could see what they were going to feel like. He had his teeth cleaned with bubble gum toothpaste - which was all we heard about for a while. And he liked to talk about Mr. Straw, "You know. The thing that sucks all the water out of your mouth?" The dentist then came and examined him. He thought Noah looked great. He has all 20 teeth - right where they should be and told him to keep up the good work with his brushing. Noah was also inducted in to the 'No Cavity Club' and received a coupon for a free ice cream cone at Old McDonald's.Although, he was probably more excited about digging through a REAL treasure chest and finding just that perfect prize. He ended up with a blue gummy bracelet. Let's hope he's as excited to go back in 6 months!

Abby Eats

Her first meal was actually on February 8, but mommy is a little late in posting. (And I had a little help from our champion eater. He was giving her pointers on making it through the 'baby' stuff until you get to the REALLY good stuff...) Mommy had this funny notion that if she MADE Abby's food, healthy food would be in the house (like fresh veggies) and we would all end up eating better. So far, all it has done is made mommy crave guacamole which she never ate before. Maybe the new eating habits will hit the rest of the family in the near future. So Abby started with sweet potatoes and they seemed to go right down. Next up was avocado. This also proved to be quite a hit. Third up was bananas. I think we have a clear favorite in this one. She sits right straight up with her hands on the front of the tray pulling herself towards the bowl. She keeps her mouth open wide so you have no problem seeing where to insert said spoon. Fourth on the list was rice cereal. Bad news - she hates it. Doesn't just not like it, I mean, she HATES IT! I've tried masking it with other foods mixed in but she is so much smarter than that. She even watches me spoon it up and knows which bowl has the good food and when she needs to open her mouth. When I try to give her cereal, she pierces her lips and ain't no spoon getting in there. Before learning this trick, she would spit it all back out at me raspberry-style so as to cover as much of me as possible. She's a tricky one, this one. We have since added papaya, squash, and mango. Nothing seems to be as pleasing as the bananas but I think mango might be a close second. Making the food is turning out to be much easier than I had expected. I do worry about whether or not I am getting everything smooth enough for her, but she has not had any gagging episodes (save yesterday's cereal attempt) so I guess it is going well. I am also becoming quickly schooled in telling whether or not a food is ripe enough for pureeing. Turns out no machine, no matter the sharpness of the blades, can puree avocado before its prime. It sure can dice it into the tiniest specs you've ever seen though. I am now on the look out for one of those fancy machines that sucks the air out of bags for freezing because me the straw just don't get it done alone. So, if you have any ideas, please share. Until then, we'll just be here - holding out for more bananas.