November started off with our big move from our first home as a family, nestled in Brentwood, aka The City of Warmth, to our "Blue House" (as Nathan very affectionately refers to it) in Ballwin. We haven't found a home to buy yet so we've leased this ranch for the next 6 months. It's twice the size of our old home and Nathan is just beside himself with excitement over all the room to run around - and run he does! He works up a sweat almost daily doing laps around the house and running up and down the hallway. He also likes to lay on the kitchen floor and play while I'm in there making dinner and I just love those moments! Who knew there were these kinds of perks that came along with a big kitchen! And it sits on about an acre of land so Baxter is happy too! Another bonus - it's literally a hop, skip and a jump from our church which is very convenient!
After barely getting settled into our Blue House, we headed down to Cocoa Beach, FL for my cousin, Jodi's, wedding...
Here's Norah on her first airplane flight. I'm happy to report that she did great! She slept quite a bit and played the rest of the time. Nathan is an old pro at airplane rides so he did great too. This time around he was very excited about the "big airplane" and the pilot who sits up front and wears a hat!
I thought Nathan was going to pass out with excitement over Mickey Mouse greeting us at the Orlando airport. He was just beside himself when he saw his very favorite cartoon character "in person." He screamed at the top of his lungs, 'Mickey Mouse!' and ran right over to give him a hug...
I love this picture; it's as if Nathan is saying, 'Mickey, is that really you?!?!'...
For the first time ever, Nathan got to sleep in a big boy bed at the hotel and he really enjoyed it...
He was also a fan of the astronaut that was in our hotel lobby. He had to go over and greet him every time we were down there...
It was fun getting to visit with family from across the country that met up in Florida for the wedding! Here's Nathan and cousin Jonathan...
And Norah and cousin Jonathan...
It was so wonderful to be on the beach in November...
Here's Norah on her first walk on the beach along with big brother Nathan and cousins Elizabeth & Jonathan...
All dressed up for the wedding...
If this picture looks familiar to some of you, it's because we used it for our Christmas card this year...
The two prettiest girls in the world...
Ok, this was too funny and we had to document it with a picture. When we made reservations with the hotel we asked if they had a crib we could use and they told us they had a porta crib. Well, when they rolled it up to our room I about fell down laughing; I'm certain when my Mom was born she slept in something like this at the hospital...
Headed to the beach again...
Strolling in the water with Daddy...
Chasing the seagulls...
Sand art by Daddy...
Norah enjoyed meeting her one and only Great Lee...
The kiddos with the newlyweds, Jodi and Dustin...
A group shot with family from all over the country...
A rare family photo opp...
We had such a fun visit with Uncle Jason, Aunt Sherri, Elizabeth, Jonathan and, of course, MaMoo...
Cousin Nikki introduced Norah to the finer things in life...
And Norah was quite the fan...
Norah's first taste of the sand between her toes...
Soaking up some sun with Mommy...
Cooling her toes off in the very chilly ocean...
Nathan's new favorite past time this month has been playing his drum...
In addition to the excitement of moving into our Blue House, getting another flight under his belt and meeting Mickey Mouse face-to-face, Nathan's big boy bed arrived when we got back from our trip to Florida. Nathan was jumping out of his jammies with excitement over his big boy bed and so far it's been an extremely smooth transition. Here he is on his first night in his bed; we had to improvise on the sheets and pillow until we got all of his bedding...
We settled on this cute sock monkey set...
Here's Nathan sporting his monkey jammies, in his monkey bed, after reading one of his new favorite books, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (and by the way, he now walks around the house tisking his finger and saying, 'no more monkeys jumping on the bed!')...
MaMoo came in town for Thanksgiving and Nathan welcomed her with a private concert...
Loving on MaMoo's doggy, Gidget...
Baxter and Nathan are becoming closer with each additional bone that Nathan throws his way...
What? Haven't you ever tried brushing with a basting brush???
Getting the fake, uh, I mean, artificial tree put up a bit early this year so we can use it as a prop for the upcoming photo shoot...
Baking apple pie with MaMoo...
The finished product (which, by the way, was SO VERY tasty!)...
Gobble Gobble 'til you Wobble Wobble...
All I will say is that Nathan is still talking about this! He'll say to Daddy, 'remember this?' as he throws his head back and opens his mouth up real wide - it's hysterical...
Finally! A shot of MaMoo with both of her St. Louis grand babies (although Norah doesn't look too trusting of her big brother - perhaps she knows he's the one who gave her that nasty cold)...
In other Nathan news, he's officially potty trained and even wakes us at all hours of the night crying "pee pee!" We just go into his room, get him out of bed, take him to the bathroom, he does his business and then he goes right back to bed - not sure he even opens his eyes. Some people sleepwalk and Nathan sleep pees!
Nathan is really into matching these days! He likes to point out things in books that match, points out doll babies that "match" baby Norah and he even rearranges our bathroom vanity so that Mommy's deodorant and Daddy's deodorant are next to each other because...they match!
Nathan has all of his letters down and he is realizing that letters make up words. When he's "reading" a book he'll now point to the words as he "reads" and the other day I had my Indiana University shirt on and he pointed out and said all the letters - it blew my mind that he was spelling words (of course, he didn't realize what he was doing)!
