Noah turns 2!

I'm a little behind on things but I really want to get the blog caught back up. Noah turned 2 the end of January. He's such a little cutie wearing this adorable birthday shirt with a football on it. Footballs are by far his most favorite thing in the world to play with. He calls them buh balls. We have one of those rope buckets that has all of the balls in it and its completely full of different balls but several footballs Noah has collected. We took the boys out to eat on his birthday. They loved it! The next weekend we had a little family party for him with cousins and stuff.

His "cheese" face

Blowing out the candle on his cake!

I wanted to make him his birthday cake and improve on last years cake but my health just wasn't up to it. But I did bake this chocolate cake from scratch.

The boys after the party. Noah loved his brother Jackson's lightning mcqueen blanket so he got one of his for his birthday.

He also got some farm animals and a new ball.

Here are some cute pictures of the 2 year old who loves to dress himself.

More about sweet little Noah. He is a very active little boy. Climbing, running, and jumping everywhere. You can tell he has such a natural athletic ability. He can throw balls with aim, kick a soccer ball everywhere. He loves to wrestle and can pull Jackson down,who's double his weight, and roll him over to pin him. He LOVES balls and has long as he has one he's happy no matter what we're doing. He adores his big brother and wants to be doing everything he does. He anxiously waits by the door every day for Jackson to come home from school and screams with joy when he sees the bus. He loves to snuggle, give hugs and kisses.

Noah's oral motor skills are improving. He no longer needs his liquids thickened and he's finally not coughing when he drinks something. He's eating and chewing a lot more. He's even had 2 new foods this week and loved them! We have an appointment next week for his 2 year check up and to check his weight. We'll find out how he's doing weight wise. I don't think he's continuing to loose weight but he's not gaining much either. His talking is also improving and he has lots of words now. Most of them are pretty cute to hear him say them and some of them I'm the only one who can understand. He's even had a few phrases so overall he's doing really good. He's still getting OT and speech every week and he's doing better when they come over.

Snow on spring break

Jackson is on spring break this week from school. The first day we got about 4 inches of snow. What a way to start off his break. Hoping for nicer weather the rest of the week. But I thought I would share some pictures of the boys playing in the snow this past month. We had some great snowfalls and the boys loved playing outside. We didn't get out as much as they would of liked because of my health and Jackson's temp issues. But we had a lot of fun!

Making snow angels

Jackson had his own little shovel and helped us shovel the driveway!

Bittersweet

I knew this day would come I just didn't expect it to be this soon.

After Jackson was born he immediately had some problems from the beginning. His entire first year there was so much going on. In and out of the hospital we didn't really know where things where going. After he turned one and closer to 2 we knew that his life would be different and he was not simply going to "grow out of" the things he was going through. I knew that having another child would be difficult but I felt very strongly that Jackson needed a sibling. He needed that relationship. He needed someone to be there for him in ways that I wouldn't be able to. That was one of the many reasons why we had Noah. Ever since Noah was born I've felt a very different relationship with him compared to Jackson. Noah and adores his big brother. Wants to do everything his big brother does. Jackson loves his little brother. (most of the time,except when he's stealing trains). They have a very special bond and its very clear to see it. I knew there would come a day that Noah would pass Jackson up and in a way become the big brother. I figured it would be a few more years and Noah would cognitively pass him. But in a way in happened today. This afternoon we went for a short walk up the street. We don't go for walks very often because Jackson fatigues so quickly he can't walk very far before needing to be carried. Between the 2 of them I can't carry both of them. Today they both where running around outside enjoying the fall crisp air we decided to walk for a little bit. Jackson running as fast as his tall 4 year legs would carry him and Noah running as fast as his little 20 month legs would carry him we all ran up the street. Most of the way of the street the where side by side, giggling the entire way up. Best friends. But as we got closer to the top Noah was still going and Jackson was slowing. I could see the pain and frustration in Jackson's eyes. His little body failing him. How desperately he wanted to run more, to get to the top of the hill, to be with his best friend. But he couldn't. His body giving out and not allowing him what his little heart longed for. Within seconds of passing Jackson Noah realized he was passed his brother and turned towards him. He slowed down and waited for his brother. For the last few feet to top of the hill the walked together. Jackson collapsing at the top and crying to be carried home. Noah wanting to run and play more. It had happened. At 20 months old Noah can do more then his brother physically, can fun faster, can go farther. At 4 Jackson realized this today. It hurt him. But his brother was there. He waited for him and they where best friends walking to the end. Just how imagined it when Noah was born. It was bittersweet to see Noah running faster then his little legs could carry him but also passing his brother was heart wrenching. I know there will come more and more times where Noah will pass Jackson. This will be the first of many. I just hope and pray that they will be always be there for each other like they where today. Finishing hand in hand as a best friends.

First Post

Picture taken of Jackson and Noah driving the fire truck on the playground

So after deciding on starting this blog I couldn't decide on what to do as my first post. I kept thinking about the different topics that I would post about or describing myself but what it came down to is being a mother. That's why I started this blog. I have found my greatest joy in being a mother. I've grown and changed over the past 4 years and learned so many new things. My children are my joy and make me want to be a better mother for them. This will be about my family with updates on my kids, things I've learned, and things that have helped me be the mother I am. Topics may include, of course, my kids, natural family living, breastfeeding, c0 sleeping, gentle parenting, babywearing, and anything about homemaking. I will also be updating about health concerns of my boys and navigating our way through special needs parenting.

To start off I will tell you about my boys. Jackson is 4 years old. His greatest love is for trains! He is the sweetest funniest little boy who keeps us laughing about all the random fun things he comes up with. He deals with many health concerns daily. Noah is 17 months and adores is big brother. He loves to chase him around. Nothing else matters if Jackson is around to play with. He also has a love for any balls. Any time he's playing he usually has a ball in his hand. I'll update more about them more specifically later.