Birthday, birthday...Birth-DAY!

Having 3 blogs to manage is A LOT harder than I anticipated...fun, but very time consuming!

This blog is designated to do one thing, and one thing only - to inform our friends and family about the daily happenings/adventures {whether BIG or small} of our little family - and I plan to do just that....however long it may take!

On Saturday {as many, if not ALL, of you know} we celebrated little Noa's birthday. He's ONE!!! I say this all the time, but it's true = Time seriously flies! - I can't believe it has been a year already!

from this:

to this:

to finally this:

i can't believe it...in 12 months?....really?!

Noa has truly been a blessing in our lives. It has made me grow up so much more than I could have ever imagined being a MOM, and he has taught me to be a better person, a better friend, a better daughter, a better wife, and a better mom. He is so happy all the time - and can brighten up a room with no effort at all...He seriously means everything to me.

For this very special occasion, we decided to have a little picnic - just as a family - low key and very simple. Our goal was to make this a memorable day for Noa, and for all of us. First birthdays only come ONCE...

needless to say, I've never planned for such an event, so this was a first for everyone involved :)

I made some cupcakes - thinking that all babies must have cake on their 1st birthday!

I think they turned out pretty cute, don't you?

the theme was "blue/ocean" in honor of the next chapter of our lives fast approaching...

Noa hesitantly took a bite a lick...

and.....

He DIDN'T LiKE it!    :O

{I thought ALL babies loved the first taste of CAKE?!? what's wrong with my baby??!?}

...was the first thought that came to my mind...and then, i thought:

but wait, shouldn't I be happy that my 1-year-old doesn't love everything sugar? I mean, really, did I WANT Noa to love/be addicted to sweet, sugary foods? - of course not! So why was I so upset/crushed?...

well...I made the cupcakes especially for Noa...envisioning how he was going to devour the whole thing in seconds...and secretly hoping to get those adorable "first birthday cake smashing/bashing" pictures...even though I didn't get the first of my wishes to come true, I did get this:

...which was plenty "frosting-covered baby" for me!

isn't that just ADORABLE?! my favorite is when he gets frosting all over his hand from blowing a *kiss*...I just love him to death!

While all this was going on, us "adults" enjoyed a little Cafe Rio and juicy watermelon...YUM

and some quiet peaceful time in the beautiful breezy weather under the trees.

This was the perfect day!

ONE YEAR OLD!

It's so sad to think that  my baby isn't a BABY any more.....

Noa turned 1 today {August 21st}!! 

(@ 1:35AM, to be exact - click here for the labor/birth story)

It's SO hard to believe that it has been a whole YEAR already! Time has truly flown by, and it's been one of the happiest years of my life. I am so thankful to have this sweet angel in my life!!

Here's a {month-by-month} look back at the most AMAZING year with this bundle of joy:
{Sorry, I don't have very good "comparison" photos}

*Just born*

＊8lbs 5.5oz, 19in

One month old:

{blessing day}

Two months old:

＊First real laugh

Three months old:

＊Supports his head perfectly

Four months old:

＊first tooth

＊Sits without support

＊Rolled over

＊first solid food

Five months old:

＊Gets up into half-sitting position

＊Army-crawl

Six months (half-way):

＊Crawls

＊Sits

＊4 teeth

＊Pulls himself up and stands!

 {fat-lip, first big boo-boo}

Seven months:

＊More hair!
＊Climbs up stairs
＊Signs "milk"

Eight months:

＊5 teeth

＊Stands up w/o holding on

＊Waves bye-bye

＊Tongue-clicking

＊Claps

＊First steps

Nine Months:

＊6 teeth

＊WALKING!

＊High-fives

Ten months:

＊First word = Banana

＊Listen to voice commands

＊Drinks with straw

＊Feeds himself 

Eleven months:

＊Has a vocabulary

＊Shakes his head saying "no no"

＊Headstands

＊Bows

＊Immitates sounds

AND NOW, at TWELVE MONTHS:

＊has his 8th tooth coming in

＊is pretty much running

＊moving non-stop

 ＊Adding to his vocab: "nya-nyan"=cat/dog, "bvoo-boo"=car, "ba-be"=baby

＊falls asleep on his own (kinda)

＊can "clean-up" toys, clothes, etc.

＊is becoming very sneaky about doing things that are "bad"

＊uses the TV remote {he actually points it at the TV and pushes buttons}

＊Gets UP on top of the coffee table 

＊"jumps" and "dances"!!

＊Signs "more" when he wants something

＊Can get off couch/bed without help

＊Noa is the most amazing, fun, adorable baby ever!＊

He has blessed our lives so much! We are so lucky to have him.

Looking forward to more wonderful YEARS watching him grow and progress in life.

We love you so much, Noa!

Love, mommy {& daddy}

{PS videos are coming soon, I promise...Im still trying to figure out how to connect/upload our new camcorder/video to this comp. thanks for your patience!!}

Good (?) sleeper

Just last week, Chad and I decided that it was time for Noa to start sleeping on his own...

it was a hard, but necessary decision, especially now that he is coming down on his one-year mark.

Ever since he has been off of the pacifier (like 5-month-ish), Noa has been needing to nurse to go to sleep for the night....and that means, when momma's tired, we both just fall asleep on the bed together....and that has been going on waaaay too long! 

So...the very first night that we left him in his crib {the hardest thing ever!}, he lasted 25 minutes! ~ which felt a lot longer...but nonetheless, he was able to fall asleep, and WE were also able to last the whole 25 minutes, not going in the room to comfort him and rock him back to sleep. {i'm so proud of us!}

Last night was both amazing and sad...AMAZING because he only screamed for 5 minutes {YAY!}, but SAD because this is how we found him 10 minutes later....

Poor little guy, he must have been so tired!!! - I felt so bad and so cruel for letting him fall asleep like this....I just think of how tired he must have been to be able to fall asleep in this position - it makes me hurt a little inside....

Anyway...I hope that we can keep improving from now on...{keeping our fingers crossed!}

and hope that he will have an easier time falling asleep tonight!