Celebrating 80!

On Saturday all of the family got together to celebrate Grandpa Pebley's 80th birthday.

Nate's mom and her sisters threw an awesome and memorable party for their sweet dad.
I felt like I had stepped into Martha Stewart Magazine for the evening. Everything was just so perfect and lovely.
Getting together with family is always a good time. This family is firmly built on a foundation of love, and that love radiates from Grandpa and Grandma to the rest of us. We are so blessed.
The night was full of good food, great conversation, Grandpa feeling a bit uncomfortable about all the fuss being made about him, and just a lot of fun. Everyone was smiling.
Grandpa has a bunch of cute great grandkids.
Notice no pictures of Noah? Rare is the time that he's not with us, but we decided to leave him at home.
Um, that was kind of lovely too. Sometimes a mommy just needs a little time off, I guess. This party was the perfect break. We had an incredible night and were so happy to celebrate one incredible Grandpa.

A New Cousin!

Noah got a new cousin today.

Baby Brennan finally decided to join the family. We've been waiting on him for a week and a half!

Noah thought he was pretty cute. In a few years they'll be mischievous buddies, I'm sure.

These two brothers and their boys have lots of adventures ahead.
When's the first father/son campout?

Welcome to the world little Brennan!

8 Months

Noah is 8 months old and becoming sillier every day!

This was a BIG month for developmental milestones. On a Monday (7/25) he crawled, Tuesday (7/26) he finally sat up for good, and the following day that first tooth broke through.

All of that growing up means a few changes, like a big boy car seat...
...and the crib losing its bumper and the mattress being moved down.
Noah is already showing his independence. He'd much rather feed himself, which is a little tricky when you've only got one nub of a tooth to help with biting and chewing. But it's amazing to see those little motor skills hard at work as he figures out how to get even little things, like Cheerios, into his mouth.
Trying to act like a big boy, Noah really likes using a glass to drink out of. He's pretty good at blowing bubbles in the water.

Books are finally becoming interesting and worth focusing on, at least for a little while. Noah and his dad usually spend time together reading at night before bedtime. Nate pretty much has The Little Blue Truck memorized.

Every month that goes by seems to be my new favorite. We love Noah's wide range of noises and funny faces.
Seeing Noah army crawl through the house is so fun. Even better is when he sees me walk into the room, he takes off crawling as fast as possible until he's at my feet waiting to be picked up and loved on. Most Sundays at church we have to take him out of the meeting because he's too happy and can't possible be silent any longer. We just can't believe how much happiness this guy has brought to our family.

A New Face

Noah is still a happy guy, but recently he's added a new face to express his excitement for things.

We're loving, and getting a good laugh from the wrinkle nose look.
It takes a lot of work to make a face do that!

We're also loving that after the wrinkle face, we usually see this:

I love this kid!

Swim Class

Noah and I finished up our little swim class at the Aquatic Center today.

Guess how much he liked it?

a LOT.

He was a good boy and obeyed the lifeguard every day.

He worked on floating on his tummy and back. Kicking is practically second nature for this kid, so I just laughed when his teacher was so impressed. In or out of the water it seems like his legs are always moving.
He can hold on to the side of the pool all by himself for about 20 seconds. He'd probably hold on for longer if he understood that he'll sink once he lets go.
Noah knew just how to charm the moms who were waiting as their kids swam. He'd get their attention and make the sweetest noises and then smile. He had quite the following every day at the pool.
It is hard to ignore a happy, sweet boy who smiles all the time.

It's a little early to tell if this kid is going to have any real swim talent, but he does love the water. Next summer, though, I'm expecting to see perfect freestyle form for one length of the pool. :-)

Cousins

It's been SO fun having the cousins all together!

After about a month of being here, they headed for home today.

These girls are such happy, creative wonders.
They have been great helpers with Noah and are always making him smile.

We've had fun swimming and being silly.
We've gone to the library and Nuyo. We even headed over to Burger King one night so that all of the grown ups could try the new Coke Freestyle machine.
Thanks Aunt Brittany for getting the kids their crowns!

We can't wait to add one more cousin to the mix very soon!

Seven Months

Noah is seven months old!

Seven months. It's going too fast.

Before long the scooting will turn into crawling, and the crawling will lead to doing lots of big boy things, like running. I'm excited for those milestones, but trying to hold on to the sweet experiences we have every day right now.


Last month Noah found his feet, and this month those feet made it to his mouth. Such cuteness.

Sitting for longer than about ten seconds is still tricky. Twenty-two pounds is a lot of weight to hold up!
Right now sitting is accompanied by a very forward lean for balance.

As soon as we give Noah a toy, he maneuvers it in his hands until he can find the tag to chew or suck on.

At first the sippy cup was just a fun biting toy, but Noah likes drinking out of it too.

This guy is a happy swimmer. He kicks his legs and likes to splash.

Since Noah was born I've thought a lot about sacrifice.

Never in my life have I sacrificed more. That's not a complaint, it's just reality. It seems like 'sacrifice' often has kind of a negative connotation...and it really shouldn't. Sacrificing some good things for something better (and definitely more important), like being Noah's mom 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, has been a process of refinement. Sometimes it's an exhausting process. But, it's a choice I'm glad that I've made.

Refining isn't always easy or rosy and sweet, but it does create new strength. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven. I see that everyday. The blessings of heaven, many as they are, come daily; and those blessings would not be mine without the challenging beauty of sacrifice. I love being a mom.

Oh, and I liked reading this recently.