Cupcake Infatuation

When Noah's actual birthday rolled around, we celebrated quietly, just the four of us. It was perfect!

Owie and I secretly decorated Nosy's cupcakes while he slept. We made green, green grass out of icing, and then topped them off with tiny baseball mitts. I had saved two Diego figurines from a previous party. Since Noah has shown a partiality towards Diego ("Gay-go!!" is yelled gleefully whenever we turn the TV on), we topped off two special cupcakes with Diego and his spy glass.

Noah's first peek at his cupcakes.

I think he's pleased!

Sniffing Diego. I should have known the Diego cupcake would be his fave.

Tasting Diego. I guess the kid likes Diego more than I thought!

Diego spies Noah!
This picture was taken right before Noah stuck his chubby little finger right into the flame. Poor Noah. What was I thinking, putting a lit candle on my toddler's high chair tray?

Devouring his cupcake! Rapid sugar intake seemed to erase all memory of an ouchy finger.

Other birthday activities:

The kids sang Happy Birthday to Noah at church.

Opened gifts with the family (The Big Picture Story Bible, new Crocs, a baseball and glove, and his very own copy of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?)

Played and played and played at McDonald's after a most nutritious McNugget supper. Laughed as Mommy and Daddy got stuck in the obstacle course more than once!

I still can't believe my Nosy's TWO!?!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Nosy!

Noah in a Nutshell: 24 Months

I have been putting off this post for far too long, but for a good reason. How do I capture all of who you are, Nosy, in just one little post? Your personality is HUGE! Where do I even begin?

Nosy, my Sweet Sweet, the first word that comes to mind to describe you at two years old is joyful. You are one happy kid. Instead of walking, you bounce. Instead of talking, you squeal. Instead of smiling, you guffaw. You are joyful on the inside, and it radiates out of every part of you. I can not help but smile just being around you. Your joy is contagious!

Over the past couple of weeks, your look has changed from cuddly baby to growing toddler. You are taller, slimmer, leaner. Your face is not as round and your legs not nearly as chubby. You are big...and Mommy is more than a tiny bit sad about that.

Weight: 30 pounds (75%)

Height: 2 feet, 11 inches (75%)

Who is your number one Guy (well, after Daddy)? O! You and Owie are enjoying each other more every day. I hide around the corner of the playroom often, eavesdropping on your little boy conversations. Now that you are so super verbal, you and O chit chat constantly. You discuss game rules and block building strategies, what to "cook" for lunch and where to hide during rousing games of hide and seek. It gives me incredible joy to listen to you two play so well together and appreciate each others' company. May you always be best friends!

I am so impressed by your verbal skills, Nose! If our pediatrician was worried at 18 months, his fears will be put to rest now! You talk and talk and talk and talk...and I LOVE it!! Some of my very favorite words of yours:

"Peez" (Please) You use such great manners most of the time. "Hep (help) peez," "No peez," "All done, peez."

"Yap" (Lap) You worm your way onto my lap, no matter what I am doing, rub your rosy cheek on my chest, and say, "Yap peez, Mommy." Gets me every time!

"Ki-kin" (Chicken) I hear you in your crib, first thing every morning, asking for chicken nuggets for breakfast. You would love to live on chicken nuggets alone!

"Wa, Mommy, wa!" (Watch) O didn't start this until much later, but already you request that I watch every tiny new trick or observe your tremendous accomplishments. You crave an audience!

"YAY, O!" The president of Owie's fan club!

"Daddy's pee pee." Not as vulgar as it reads. You have very appropriately dubbed the master bath "Daddy's pee pee."

You so love a good game and have a few definite faves:

"Hie and Pee" (Hide and seek) gets huge giggles every time!

"Gol-gine" (Golfing) You can clobber a golf ball with impressive skill.

Any type of game involving a "hutt-hutt" (football) or "go ball" (goal ball or soccer ball).

Races. Lots and lots of races!

As you can see in the picture, you get pretty intense about your games.

You are still workin' it with the best of them and struggle to get your way from time to time, but I think I sold you short, Noah. I have always considered you to be a strong willed child. (Just in my head, mind you. I wouldn't want you to get any ideas!) Although you are surely stronger willed than your Brother, you have been pleasantly moldable lately. You have been obeying quickly and cheerfully and responding to discipline when you have needed it. I am so pleased with your heart attitude, Noah. You are a good, good Boy. I know you know right from wrong and I can visibly see you striving to do what is right. How we praise you and love on you when you make the right choice!

Thankfully, being obedient and good does not mean you can not be spunky and squirrelly and our resident jokester. I love your sparkle, No-nos! You are energetic and delightful and your only speed is super fast. You dance around the house and hum little songs to yourself. You laugh and giggle just for the fun of it, and you want us to laugh along with you. You try to entertain us with your crazy tricks and silly jokes, like wearing your shoes backwards or drinking from your sippy cup with no hands or sucking on two pacis at once. Nothing new or ingenious, but to you it is hilarious and you want us to enjoy it with you.

Something else that pleases me so deeply about your sweet heart, Nosy? You have a generous spirit about you. You willingly will share your brand new toy or favorite "mimi" (paci). You will give away your very last fruit snack if Owie asks for it. You will give up the best seat on the couch, if you see that I would like to drink my coffee sitting there. Even though the blue snack snack bowl is your fave, if O wants it, you happily hand it over to him.


You are generous with your affection too. Countless times a day, I find myself locked in a Nosy squeeze, tiny arms wrapped around my neck or knees. And every night when we ask for kisses before bed, it is not just one peck that we receive. "Mo! Mo!" you yell as you plant wet one after wet one on our cheeks. Nosy, I could hug on you all day and never get enough of you!


And guess what?! This week, you learned your very first Bible verse. I didn't really teach it to you, you just kind of started saying it, so it is an odd choice for a first memory verse. But hey! Writing God's Word on your heart is always an excellent thing.
Proverbs 6:6 "Go watch the ants, you lazy person. Watch what they do and be wise."
Your version: "Wa, wa wa de aint and be wi(se)."
Pretty darn good for 24 months!


So here I have painted a picture of what you are like at two years old, Noah. All in all, you are a delightful joy. That is not to say we do not have tough days. Days when you are stubborn or temperamental. Days when I spend a fair amount of time training you. But those days are rather few and far between for this phase of your life. I enjoy you to the fullest, Son, and am continually thankful for the extraordinary privilege of being your Mommy. I love, love you, more than you can ever imagine.

Positively Preppy

Still Can't Get Over Those CURLS!

Nativity Scenes

I love The Oriental Trading Company. And after Christmas, I can always find cool crafts for next year, like these wonderful nativity scenes, complete with stickers and scenic background paper. The Boys and I had a great time designing our own versions of the Nativity one chilly morning.

Nosy likes to pile his stickers high, one on top of the next. The "baa's" were his favorite Nativity attenders.

I found O taking a photo of his artwork. I guess he is so used to seeing me snap a shot of some of his best work that he thought he'd capture a picture himself.

We loved the craft so much that we saved the remaining supplies to share with our cousins at the Annual Cookie Decorating Party. Here is O's Nativity scene. When I asked him to tell me about it, he said, "They're looking at Jesus so everybody knows what kind he looks like." I love that the angel and the cow are giving the sheep a lift, and the wise men are all lined up to catch a peek of their Saviour. Notice a gift for Baby Jesus tucked safely in the manger with Him.

Our Quite Lame (But We Are Partial to It Anyway) Jesse Project

I have known for months that I wanted to do a Jesse tree with my kids this year. A Jesse tree is another way to count down until Christmas, focusing each night on one of Jesus' ancestors, starting with Creation and finishing with the birth of Christ. I found great devotions on-line for us to do as a family each night before bed during our family worship time. I was super excited to start this tradition that focused on the true reason for the season. But, as with so many things around here, I procrastinated and did not get decorations bought or made, nor did I have a small tree on which to hang the decorations. (My rock star mom friends have done an excellent job, if you'd like to follow their amazing examples: Chrys, Cheryl.) I am almost embarrassed to even post what kind of Jesse project I threw together. I did not want to miss out altogether, especially on the devotions, so thus was born the House of Halpin Jesse chain.

These pictures that coincide with the devotions were provided on-line for the Boys to color.

We made a paper chain counting down the days until Christmas. Each night, we cut out the appropriate picture and attach it to the paper chain after we study the story of the evening.

My favorite part of starting this tradition is reading the true Scripture to the kids out of the actual Bible. I had started reading O passages from the Bible (versus out of a Bible story book) this Fall during our school time and realized just how much he could understand. I want the Boys to be accustomed to the wording of the Bible, and although I still love reading them all of our wonderful Bible story books, for devotions and school, we will be sticking to the real deal from now on.

My goal for next Christmas: Start early enough (like maybe now!) to create wonderful, homey ornaments like these decorations. I love them!

This tradition is definitely a keeper for years to come!

Off to See the Choo-Choos!

We started the tradition last year of visiting the trains display at Northpark Mall with Gramps and Yaya every Christmas season. We enjoyed it even more this year than last year! This year, Nosy was intrigued by all the "tanes!" and O could appreciate all the intricate details that make the display wonderful.

Here is one such detail:

O is inspecting two wee animated men sawing a board in half. The display is full of teeny, tiny people going about their Christmas-y business.

Slightly goofy photo of our group.

After our chugga-chugga fun, we devoured some delish Chick fil-A. And afterwards? Gelato! Yum! The Boys and I have perfected the ordering of gelato. We order a small size in which you can try three flavors. We each get to pick our own flavor and then sample each other's. It's amusing to see what the Boys select. It is almost always based on color, which leads to some interesting choices!

Good-bye trains! We'll see you again next year!

Marshmallow Guys

I wanted to make a little gift from the Boys to our loved ones, something the kids could mostly do on their own, homemade and heartfelt. Check out what we came up with:

The cutest little marshmallow friends you've ever seen!

But before we even got started, we had to taste test all of our ingredients for freshness. Only the very best for our family and friends!

Everything passed our taste test scrutiny!

Now to get started.

Spear three marshmallows on a candy stick.

Apply icing in the places you'd like the tiny M&M's to stick.

Be sure to eat twice as many M&M's as you apply to your snowman!

Viola!

We made tiny snowman hats out of Oreo crisps and gumdrops. After making this first round (which actually ended up in the trash due to all the spitty fingers involved!), we washed up and got quite a system down for snowman assembly.

They turned out so cute, and we had so much fun working on this project together!

Here is Yaya accepting her personalized snowman friend created just for her. I think she likes it.

Quote of the Day

"Mommy, I am never going to ell, by-cuz I. love. God!"

You can only imagine the deep discussion this provoked. It's amazing how much a little guy can grasp!