Say what?

I think I've shared recently that Noah's vocabulary has increased exponentially in the past couple of months. He is talking and talking and talking and talking. It's hard for me to believe that I was ever worried about his speech. So, here are a few recent conversation snippets:

-"Guess what Mommy? I love you!" (This melts my heart every time he says it.)
-"I love my Mommy." (The heart-melting goes with this one, too.)
-"Mommy my friend." (More heart-melting.)
-More often than not when you ask him to do something like brush his teeth or put his shoes on, he'll say, "I already did" whether or not he actually has. As Gary said, we're going to have to watch this one. But I love that he uses the word "already".
-When Luke did something for Noah a couple of weeks ago, he said, "I 'preciate that, Bubba."

There are many more, but this gives you a glimpse into everyday life around here.

First grade

My baby is in first grade! He was so excited when he

woke up Monday morning. He has a

wonderful teacher who is sweet and kind, and I know it's going to be a great year for him.

Birthday bash

I recently celebrated my 37th birthday, and two of my sweet friends threw me a party. The theme was "Hollywood Glamour", and the invitation said to dress as your favorite movie star. To be honest, I wasn't all that excited about dressing up at first. I thought and thought about it and finally decided not to dress up. But then, while searching for costumes online one last time, I came across the idea to dress as Britney Spears. Not the cute "Hit Me Baby One More Time" Britney, the trashy, walking in gas station bathrooms barefooted Britney. I was sold. I already had most of the things I needed (I'm still not sure if this is a good thing), and was able to find the rest pretty easily. I am so glad I decided to dress up because it was a hoot! There were lots of other great costumes, too, and I think everyone had a good time (I know I did!)

Miley, Britney, & Sandra Dee

Tori Spelling, the Playboy Bunny, Miley, Britney, Angelina, & Sandra Dee with Hef
Phil Mickelson (Gary's sad attempt at dressing up), Brad Pitt, Hef, Billy Ray, Joaquin Phoenix, and Dean McDermott (Tori Spelling's hubby)

Look how cute my cake is!

Noah sings the ABC's

It's been too long

I had no idea it had been almost two months since I've posted anything new. Yesterday it was my 10th anniversary, and now we're 3 weeks away from starting another school year. We went on vacation for two weeks (and had a great time), and now we're living the lazy days of summer. Life is chugging along.

I sometimes think about giving up this blog. I won't, though, because of my most faithful reader, my Nana. I know there are 1 or 2 others out there who stop by to read it from time to time, but my Nana loves it too much for me to stop altogether. When I get this far behind, it's sometimes overwhelming for me to get caught up, so I think I'll just start with the most recent past.

Luke turned 6 last Thursday. 6? 6! I just can't believe it. He'll be in first grade this year. We have taken our first foray into the world of hand-held video games with the Nintendo DSi. He LOVES it. I must admit I've played a few times, but I think kids his age are born with a natural ability to figure out video games. He's a whiz, and I'm quite the novice. His other newest passion is chess. Again, he's a whiz and I'm whatever is below novice status. He beat me today in ten minutes flat. Geez, that kid is smart.

Noah is 2 1/2. Boy, is he ever! He started asking, "Why?" last week, and I thought to myself, "Really? Really? Are we there already?" He is still such a hoot and is talking up a storm. Yesterday at lunch he said, "Mommy, I want more pretzels and more oranges." Just as clear as day. It's good.

Just so no one forgets how absolutely adorable my boys are . . .