Help!!!!

See what my little girl has learned to do. I was checking my email this morning when I heard Zoe start to cry. I figured she was just mad because she couldn't get into the office due to the baby gate. Boy was I surprised when I looked over saw half of her body above the gate. Some how she managed to climb up on the lock lever. And at that point became stuck, she wasn't sure what to do next. I probably should have gotten her down right away, but decided to take a picture to show her Dad when he got home. With all the stories I've heard about his childhood, I believe she gets her climbing skills from him.

Where's Zoe?

Here's a picture of Zoe's favorite place. I call it her hiding place. If she has managed to disappear from the room and doesn't come running when you call her name, you usually find her here on Noah's bed. She's just started doing it this week. I guess she's discovered she can climb up on her own and how much fun his bed can be. Sometimes we find her laying on his pillow, but on this particular occasion she decided to pose when I came in the room. Luckily the camera was near by.

ZZZZZ zzzz ....

This is what happens when you take some time for yourself.

The other night I locked myself in our office to work on an outline for Music Time in Primary. Zoe cried and banged on the door for a bit, but eventually stopped fussing. I thought that Dan had convinced her to sit on his lap, or that she decided to play with Noah. So, I continued working. When I finished I went out to join the rest of the family and stumbled across this. My little girl was asleep under a dinning room chair. I guess she realized she wasn't going to get her way so she crawled under the chair and cried herself to sleep. Where was her Dad and brother? Well, Dan was asleep on the couch and Noah was sitting beside him watching, "The Little Einsteins."

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this, because I find it quiet funny. However, it is also kind of sad. She really isn't neglected and she does have a nice crib to sleep in.

What's wrong with this picture?

There could be several right answers to that question. Am I washing the dishes, or a baby? Or better yet, what is the baby doing in the kitchen sink? However, the correct answer is what is Zoe doing with a bottle. Yes, that is my little girl who for several months would have nothing to do with a bottle. No matter how hard I tried, she refused to take one. I finally had one very sleepless night and forced her to start drinking from a cup. But, after spending a week with her triplet cousins, she's decided she loves bottles. I know it is kind of a step backwards to go from a cup to the bottles, especially at 15 months. For some reason it doesn't bother me, I'm just glad I have another way to get calories in her.

Tag - Noah's It!!

Noah has been tagged by his friend Tayden, so here it goes......

1 - Noah Timothy McDonald was born July 22, 2005 at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. He arrived at 9:30 am via an emergency C-section, weighing in at 7 lbs. 6 oz. and 22 1/2 long. His first night out of the hospital was spent at the Holiday Inn Express, we signed papers on our house the following day.

2 - One of Noah's favorite people is his Dad. He wants to be just like Daddy. He loves to help him cook and work in the yard. Some of his most repeated phrases are: "Daddy go to work tomorrow...to make money," or, "Daddy stays two times with Noah." He know that his Dad works at Progressive Auto Insurance looking at wrecked cars, and can pick out any advertisement for it. However, he also insists that his Dad is the Verizon man and gets excited at all the Verizon TV commercials, print ads, or radio ads.


3 - Noah has a little sister. He has learned that her full name is Zoe Sofia and uses it regularly. They have a love hate relationship. One minute he is as sweet as can be, the next minute he can be so mean. However, she is learning how to defend herself. On a positive note he is very protective of her and won't let anyone mess with her.

4 - Noah is very proud of his Cars bedroom, that Daddy painted for him. He loves Cars the movie and has several shirts and toys. His favorites are Rookie (Lightning McQueen) and Mater. He also knows that Luigi is his dad's favorite.




5 - This is what Noah got for Christmas this year. He told everyone that he wanted a fishie in a bowl for Christmas and Zoe needed a pony. There are a total of 12 fish, one of them has had 4 babies since Christmas.




6 - Here's a picture of part of his toothbrush collection. He loves to brush his teeth and one brush just won't do it. It's fun finding new and interesting ones for him. Noah currently has 2 Cars ones, an Elmo one, two that light up, a Little Einsteins one, and a Wiggles one. I'm sure I've left out a few.

7 - Noah is growing up so fast and trying to do everything himself. The other day he wanted to go outside so bad that he got himself and his sister dressed with out any help. He picked out very interesting outfits but he was determined to get the task done. He even brought me my shoes. Too bad I wasn't yet dressed myself.


8 - Noah is obsessed with anything Disney. He loves the Disney Channel, and Play House Disney. His favorite shows right now are: The Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse Club House, Handy Manny, and The Wiggles. His favorite movies are Peter Pan and Cars. He really wants to go to Disney Land and see Mickey Mouse's house. He knows that his Grandma Lynie and Papa Mike live by Mickey and wants them to take him.

9 - Noah loves playing with his cousins and his friends. He's always so good about pointing out "the rules". He cries when any kids have to leave his house and asks about them for days. Here's a picture with his cousin Brianna, who stopped by on her trip to Southern California. They had so much fun together, he can't wait until she can come back. He also misses his other cousins: Chelsea, Trenity, Michael, Michelle, Ella, Chandra, Maddie, Luke, Max, and Jacob. And we can't forget Adia and Layla.

10 - Noah has asthma. Lucky for us he's very good about reminding me to give him and taking his nightly medicine. He's also getting better about doing his breathing treatments. On a positive we manage to keep it pretty much under control, except when the seasons change. And of course right now we are finally heading into spring around here, so we are dealing with allergies.


11 - Noah is a very good and adventurous eater. He loves artichokes and noodles. He's even tried octopus and other various seafood. However, I think he's got my sweet tooth and loves anything and everything chocolate, even dark chocolate.

12 - My most favorite time of the day. Nap time, that is when he will still take one. He keeps me running from morning until night and wears me out most days. However, he is a really sweet, loving, and fun kid to have around. I know as his mom I am very biased. But, I love it when he just wants to hold me on the couch or tells me that I'm pretty or that he loves me.

Hope you all enjoyed reading about my little guy, who is growing up so fast. Unfortunately I don't know of anyone to tag, so I guess it stops here.

Thanks Ruthanne for giving me this neat experience.

Granny's Bath

Who knew bath time could be so much fun? Our Granny has a real cool bathtub, or at least the kids think so. It's the kind with a door ,so you walk into it a t sit down, it even has jets. The kids think it is so fun to take a bath in there, that they tend to fight over it.

On this particular night we started out with three of the kids, but Zoe insisted on joining the fun. She took off her own clothes and diaper to get in on the action.

Garbage Duty

Zoe likes to hang out with me in the kitchen while I cook dinner, or fix lunch. On this particular day, she was managing to stay out from under my feet. I didn't realize why until I went to throw something in the trash.

She was having a lot of fun throwing her cousin's unopened PediaSure cans in the garbage. I guess she liked the sound it made, or the hinged door on my mom's trash can. Luckily I caught her before I had to do too much digging.

It just makes me wonder what has been thrown out that wasn't supposed to be. I guess I better check it more often.

Pine Cone Pals

Here is a picture of Noah with some of his cousins. From left to right: Chelsea Hale (4), Michelle Thueson (3), Michael (5), and Noah himself (2). They decided to climb up on a little wall in my mom's front yard, Michael helped Noah get up there, I thought it made for a cute picture. My mom gave them all buckets and sent them on Pine Cone duty. The assignment was to pick up pine cones in the front yard. They had a blast and managed to filled up a whole box to take to the annual free dump day.

Usually she offers to pay a nickle per pine cone, but this time around the payment was a Happy Meal at McDonald's. They didn't care what it was, they were just enjoying the warm California sun, and felt like they were doing a real important job.

I'm still alive...

I'm still alive and am finally back home after spending 2 1/2 weeks helping my Mom out. Well, I actually got back Saturday evening, but it has taken some time to get caught up on things. Mainly wash and sleep.

I've had the privilege of helping out with many of my nieces and nephews. We had a house full of 9 kids all under the age of 7. My Brother and his wife went to Mexico for a week leaving their five kids, we had my Sister's two, and my two. There were 4 one year-olds (Zoe and the triplets), a two year-old, a three year-old, a four year-old, a five year-old, and a six year-old. Needless to say, things were kind of hectic at times, but all in all a lot of fun. Luckily the weather was so warm the older kids (Noah on up) got to spend a lot of time outside. They'd wake up in the morning eat breakfast, get dressed, and go outside. We'd pull them in for lunch time and rest time. They'd go back out until dinner, come in and eat, and then go back out until the sun went down. I've never seen my son have so much fun or be so completely dirty. So, we'd bath everyone and send them to bed. So, every spare moment was spent getting ready for the next task. which left no time for the computer - plus I didn't have access to my pictures.

For the most part everyone got along great and I know Noah is sure missing his cousins right now. It was a great experience, but I'm very thankful for my two.

I'll have to post some pictures of our great adventures.

We need a new one...

Noah got a fish tank this past Christmas and during the first few weeks as we were trying to get the water all acclimated a few of his fishes got sick, or died and were flushed down the toilet. So, we got new ones at the store. Since then if something gets dirty or broken he thinks we need to get a new one at the store and that everything is easily replaceable.

Well this past Sunday, Dan stayed home from church as he wasn't feeling well. So, we told Noah he was going to stay home to sleep so he could feel better. Turns out he has walking pneumonia. Anyway, when people asked at church where Dan was Noah replied. "Dad's really sick, we need to put him in the toilet and get a new one." A couple of days later, Zoe wasn't feeling well so his solution again was, "we need to put her in the toilet and get a new one." Plus he's been asking lately for a new baby girl like Zoe. Needless to say, I've had a lot of fun trying to explain that we don't need a new Daddy or Zoe and that people don't get flushed down the toilet.

As of today, I think he might be finally getting it. When he started in today that we needed to get a new Daddy and I told him we didn't need a new daddy, he quickly stated, "No, we don't need a new Daddy, we have an old one." So, I guess he's decided he can make due with his "old" Daddy.

However tonight, I'm feeling really loved and I'm thinking I rate a little bit higher than his Dad or his Sister because I've had a bad headache and his only solutions have been to, "sleep and feel better", or "take a shower". Nothing has been said about putting me in the toilet and getting a new one, or that he has an "old" Mommy.

Aren't 2 year-olds great?

Pop! Go the Wiggles Live

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Hello, we're the Wiggles, we'd like to say hello to you.....Toot, Toot, Chugga, Chugga Big Red Car....Fruit Salad, Yummy, Yummy....Hot Potato, Hot Potato....Can you point your fingers and do the twist...and many, many more favorites. Noah especially liked Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the Itsy, Bitsy Spider. Here are a couple shots from the show. I'll have to add a few later when I'm not in such a hurry to get things caught up. Dan and I took Noah and his cousins Trenity and Chelsea to the big event. Zoe stayed home with Grandma. We all had a great time. We had to work at keeping Noah awake through part of the show, since he didn't get a nap before we went and had been playing hard all week with his cousins. But he sure got a kick out of seeing his favorite wiggle Murray (the red one) play his guitar and Captain Feathersword fall out of the castle window. When the show was over he simply said, "let's try it again and Noah's house" since we have a bunch of the dvds and a few cds. It was fun to see the kids and adults dancing and singing along. Plus, the Wiggles are even better looking in person. I can't wait to take Zoe next time

Too Cool

Noah has figured out the curse of having blue eyes, light sensitivity. He's been saying for months, "it hurts my eyes, need sunglasses." At first I thought he was saying that because I always wear them, but he never gave up the idea. So we finally gave in and bought him a pair. To my surprise, he actually wears them every where. He puts them on as soon as we get in the car and sometimes even wants to wear them at night. He sometimes even keeps them on in the store unless I can convince him to put them in my purse or leave them in the cup holder of his car seat. When we get home he has to bring them in the house and put them right by my sunglasses. I'm curious to see how long this new trend of his lasts.

We also got a pair for Zoe, she doesn't know what to make of them yet, but she sure thinks she's hot stuff when she has them on.

Happy Easter

Here are a couple of pictures from Easter morning. Noah was pretty excited about the bunny coming and leaving him candy and other various treats. He also had fun hunting eggs with his cousins Chelsea and Trenity. Zoe didn't really get what was going on, but thought the plastic eggs were fun to play with. We've discovered her favorite Easter treat are the marshmallow Peeps. She can't get enough of them. I had to finally hide them so she didn't stand and beg for them all day. Noah didn't care too much for them. He'd rather eat his chocolate and mine too. He loves to share with others as long as it involves eating their candy. However, he did willingly give up a peanut butter egg his music teacher gave him earlier in the week with a "No Problem!" when I asked if I could have one. I can't believe how much difference a year makes. Last year on Easter we had Zoe's blessing and Noah didn't get the concept of Easter. It's fun that they are old enough to participate in some of the traditional activities. On a side note we managed to get a household of 9 children and 6 adults to church on time. Noah even went to the Nursery on his own. He's sure growing up fast.

Happy Anniversary!

Here are a few pictures from our early Anniversary trip. We spent a night at the Sonoma Wine Country Hilton in Santa Rosa, California. We had a nice dinner at a place called Tex Wasabi's. It's a Rock-n-Roll Sushi BBQ created by the Food Network's Guy Fieri. He's the guy who does the show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network channel. I love this channel. He's got another show, but I can't think of the title at the moment. It was so nice to have dinner out where you don't have to worry about keeping your kids entertained. I also enjoyed a night of uninterrupted sleep. I don't remember the last time I slept 9 hours straight. The next day we walked around the town of Windsor before making the trip back to reality. I'm not sure our kids even missed us, they had so much fun with Grandma, Papa, Auntie, and their cousins. It was so nice to get a way and take a break - thanks to all who helped with the kids. I can't wait to do it again.

Noah with his Chocolate Granny

It's been awhile and I have so much to catch up on, I'm not sure where to start. First of all we had a nice family vacation and I will do my best to highlight some of the events. Here's a picture of Noah with his Chocolate Granny. A nick name he came up with on his own because she gives him chocolate. Chocolate milkshakes that is. He loves her milkshakes and she'll make him one whenever he asks. He's favorite flavor right now is Chocolate Malt. He loves to help her make them on her old fashioned mixer. He knows exactly what to put in the metal cans and how much too. He rushes to place his order as soon as we get here. He knows she can't say no. As you can tell from one of the pictures Zoe loves them too!!